AS Media Coursework

Q7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Front Cover Comparison

Q6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Strengths

Using the program InDesign gives designers a wide variety of fonts and way to adjust fonts, such as making the letters wider or increasing the gap between letters. There is also a vast combination of colours so the design can be personalised. I've also learned that the use of the internet in order to research the industry and to view designs that already exist is also useful. Furthermore, I've also used programs such as PhotoShop and FireWorks to edit my own images. This came in useful, as I often had to erase the background or crop the image. I've also progressed from my original skills audit, when I had no experience on the Mac, and had to learn how to use a whole different computer system. Now the only sections I am unable to complete are scanning images into the Mac. This is because I never had to do this. I've also developed my camera skills.

Weaknesses

The first problem that I faced was learning how to use InDesign, as I had no previous experience with the programme, or using a Mac. I feel that I have overcome this in the process of making my music magazine, as I've had to learn how to make effective shapes and prioritise the large amount of fonts. For example, in 'Pupil Paper', I knew that, because of my lack of experience with InDesign, I could not create the shapes that I wanted, and was therefore limited to rectangles, circles and hexagons. By the time I completed my double page spread, I was using triangles and could more adequately shape text within shapes to make it the most effective.

Another weakness that I had at the beginning was learning how to use Blogger effectively to showcase my work. It took me a while to decide how my coursework would be laid out, but I eventually developed a style I was comfortable with.

Opportunities
I've learned how to use the majority of the Adobe programs. I've also developed my camera skills, and have been able to take effective images.

Threats
When I initially started the coursework, I had to get used to a lot of new programs within one lesson. I had to be shown a lot of the techniques a few times before I understood it correctly.

Q5) How did you attract/address your audience?

Q4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

Q3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Q2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My target audience are teenage girls over the age of 14. As such, the magazine follows typical teenage girl conventions in a pop magazine. This includes an advertisement of clothes, a quiz of some description, usually either testing their knowledge of something or to help them discover what kind of guy would suit them. The colour scheme of pink, baby blue, white and black are quite feminine colours, and the backgrounds are usually block colours, so that the text is easy to read. The models used are within the target audience age, and are dressed fashionably in order to encourage readers to dress similarly. In addition, the 'celebrity' being interviewed is also offering fashion advice. Abigail also never looks at the camera directly, giving some hints of modestly that readers should try to replicate. The simple colour scheme also reflects how their own wardrobe should be simple and fit a single style, instead of being varied. The colour scheme is very feminist, with baby blue and pink, showing that readers are very 'girly' and are completely stereotypical of the age I'm targeting. There are also ways for the audience to influence the magazine, such as the Ensemble of the Month competition and the Fan Mail section. This will keep readers occupied, with something different every month. It will also advertise the appropriate style that the readers should be following, because they are reading this magazine. In the general media, teenage girls are often portrayed to be one of two extremes. There are the intelligent girls who care about there education, and are normally not socially accepted. The other group are the girls that only care about their appearance and getting social acceptance, using through boyfriends and being anti-school. There are an increasing number of teenage girls taking their own life through events that take place on social media sites, the most recent case being 15 year old Tallulah Wilson, who killed herself towards the end of January 2014. When I searched 'teenage girls' on the Daily Mail website, the most relevant articles were mainly related to the many health problems that teenage girls face, making them appear very vulnerable to the mass audience. On the BBC News website, when I typed the same thing in, the main stories were about sex offenders, health and eating disorders that affect young teenage girls. On the Guardian website, the main articles were about how teenage girls are groomed by society, and their opinion on certain pop stars such as Miley Cyrus. The main theme, and therefore representation is one of vulnerability and the easiness of convincing young teenagers to do something that they wouldn't normally do. They are seen as weak and unable to take care of themselves.

In this image (From the Guardian article Sex, Lies and Teenage Girls), all of the pictured girls are seen to have the same style of clothing (short shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops), the same hairstyle and all of them on their mobile phones. This shows them to be detached from the real world. To counter this sexual stereotype in my magazine, the photography shows Abigail to be modestly dressed in comparison. This shows the responsibility I feel towards my target audience of teenage girls that they do not have to wear revealing clothes in order to be accepted into society. My photography therefore shows a more positive side to a teenage girls wardrobe.