1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My product uses a variety of conventions within the sixth form magazine so that it would look like an actual product. My sixth form magazine uses many conventions to make this happen such as; a masthead, cover lines, main image and the left third. The magazine, which I had researched, also contained these conventions so I had to ensure that I included the same things in there. The masthead used says “Post 16” which implies that this magazine is aimed at students within the sixth form. My research of the magazine “The Purple Blurb”, the masthead used was bold, which stood out, and then the colour of the masthead, fitted in with the colour scheme. The cover lines which are used shows different information which the magazine contains, but it also relates to different social groups as for example, it says “SHED - The Official Rules” which relates to students who enjoy card games. This is just one example on the front page of the magazine. In the magazine, which I had researched, “The Purple Blurb”, the cover lines were in different colours and different texts were in different sizes, to make it stand out. I had made my cover lines in different colours, to contrast with the colour scheme, but I challenged real media because I didn’t have different font sizes. Also, my media product uses a main image but I have developed this because instead of having one main person, like “The Purple Blurb” has one main person, I have decided to use the flags to represent the different houses within the school, which also relates a subject inside the magazine. As well as this, I have also challenged real media as “The Purple Blurb” has the masthead covering the main image, but in my product, I have the main image over the masthead, as this is a convention of the magazine. A final convention that I have used on the front page is images to show what is inside the magazine.

My product also uses a variety of conventions in the contents page as well. One convention that I have used is different font sizes to show the most important topics in this magazine, so that it can stand out and attract the reader’s attention. Also, I have used a clear house style, which are the colours from the school emblem, which is maroon, black and gold, so that the two pages look like they are from the same magazine. The product also uses images so that the reader is able to know what is inside this issue of the magazine. However, I have challenged real media because I have used a “DID YOU KNOW” section so that it can engage the reader.

2) How does your media product present particular social groups?

The product that I have created relates to students within the sixth form but there are certain sections within the magazine, which relates to different social groups such as students who enjoy chess, there is a chess section for them and students who enjoy cards, there is a section for them. I have done this because it means that the magazine can relate to all social groups within the sixth form, so that it doesn’t just target one certain group.

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The kind of media institution that would distribute my product would be the school because the magazine is aimed at students within the sixth form as the magazine has been specifically created for them.

4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product would be for students who attend Nicholas Chamberlaine School’s sixth form because of the information, which the magazine contains such as “Mr Smallman’s Interview” or “80’s Dress Up”, which is targeted at the students at this particular sixth form.

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

There are a variety of ways in which I have attracted the audience as one way I have done this is by “SHED - Official Rules”, which is a common game that students play while in the sixth form centre. I have chosen to attract the audience by this because majority of the students within the sixth form play this game, which means that students would want to read the magazine because there is something, which attracts them. Another section within the magazine talks about Chess, which appeals to students who enjoy chess, so this, is another way how I have attracted the audience. Some more sections how I have attracted different groups of the sixth form is by having film reviews, so that it would appeal to students who enjoy film, and gaming tournaments, so there is a little bit of everything. However, I haven’t addressed all groups because there are some interests, which I have not included within my magazine is things like music or fashion. Another way in how I have attracted the audience, which is students within the sixth form, is by images of the sixth form centre. I have done this because then the students would be able to recognize the images, so that this would attract them into reading the magazine.

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout the preliminary task, I have used a variety of software to create my work for each different section. For the research and planning section, I had used a variety of technology to showcase my work. One type of technology used was a software called Prezi. Prezi is an online software where users are able to create mind maps of different things, and in my case, I had used it for the organization of actors, locations, costumes and props. In my opinion, I believe that the software that I used was good to showcase my work in a different way, and also, it made my work seem interesting. Another technology used for this section was an online software called Slideshare. This software allowed me to import in images, Word documents or PowerPoint documents so that when using the blog, it was more convenient and easier for the user to read. A final technology, which I had used in the research and planning section was iCalander. I had used this software because it was to show my time management throughout the preliminary task.

For the construction, I had used Adobe Photoshop. I have used this software before in other subjects but not in as much detail as I had to for this task. While using Photoshop, previous skills, which I had used before, came up when constructing my product. However, there are many new skills, which I have used in this software as one I had used, which I had not used before, was Quick Selection Tool. This skill enabled me to edit photographs, which I had taken. An example of this is where I needed my main image to cover the title, so I had to use the Quick Selection Tool to erase the other flags to just have the yellow flag left. Once I had done this, I then had to use another tool within the software called Rectangular Marquee Tool to then select the entire image and then copy that onto the front page of the magazine to then place the image over the mast head, making it look like a typical magazine.

Another tool, which I had used in the construction of the preliminary task, is filters. For the images, which I have used, I had used filters because some images were too bright or I just thought that they would attract the eyes of individuals if they used filters. One filter, which I had used, was a black and white effect. Once I had done this, I then had to make my other images darker, because the black and white effect made that image darker, so I had to do the same. I had then used a lighting effect because this meant that the

images which I had used because this made the image darker so that the images would look similar together. These are the main tools, which I had never used before on this software, so these are the things, which I have learnt from using Adobe Photoshop.