In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The masthead of my product was used conventionally but I also developed the conventions used in real media products. Just as in a professional magazine my masthead ‘Chords’ is the largest font on the page and is at the top of the page so the readers know for certain the name of the magazine. Unconventionally I used design thinking and used a graphic which was a picture of a guitar in the masthead. I zoomed in on the neck cut around it and then using paint cut the word ‘CHORDS’ I used yellow as in electricity and vibrating as if by the music. I think this is more effective than having a simple title which is what most magazines have, as not only does it tell the reader the name of the magazine it informs them of the genre of the music as guitars tend to point towards rock it even appeals better to my target audience as 16-20 year olds teenagers mostly prefer an image to plain writing.
Design was also used both conventionally and unconventionally I did this to make it unique to my magazine. My main image is in the centre which is a normal convention which draws the eye of the viewer straight to them which is what I wanted. I also used colours to match the image to make the link between the two. But around my image I made a burst of red with jagged edges which I think was really effective as it draws the eyes of the viewer straight to the image, not only that it makes it seem like the music is so loud that it smashed the front cover to reveal ‘Zara’ who is the main image. I think this is really effective because not only does it give the reader a point of focus but it’s more interesting to my target audience than a simple image of someone smiling. Also I added in yellow and blue which have no connection to the image but they do connect to the genre because there and loud like the Rock music. The colours also standout better against the background making it easier to read.
My media product uses images in both a professional and a unique way. My image is conventional in some aspects as I used a medium shot of the model which is often used also the model’s outfit shows the reader straight what genre music the magazine that way the reader knows if it’s the kind of magazine they would like. Seeing dark jackets, converse and long hair most people would normally think Grunger straight away which is what I wanted as my target audience is grungers so they can relate to the magazine. I challenged the conventions of images as I used darkness instead of lighting to create an atmosphere of mystery as they are a new band and unknown to most people. This linked to the article revealing details about the band. One of the images I used is a long shot creating space between ‘Zara’ and the camera crew as if to say she isn’t apart of their world, she is alike the readers.
I used language in my media product that related to the audience so I used Standard English I didn’t use big fancy words. I used language that connected to my target audience such as ‘Play List’ which links to the age groups obsession with music. Using language that relates to the audience will make the magazine more successful as they can read about things that they are interested in.
Layout was used in a conventional way but I also developed it to make it my own. Just as in a real media product my masthead is at the top, there are images relating to the article and there is a tagline. This is to show readers straight away that this is a magazine article and make it more eye catching. I developed my layout in a way that I think is more interesting by separating the masthead and tagline onto the two separate pages of the two page spread showing the importance of the tagline. I also made one of the main image of the article take up one of the entire page with the darkness dripping down on to the page to show how important the person, not only that the black blood dripping down the page seems inhuman making you think that the band are and maybe their music.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My magazine represents social groups through many aspects some of them are body language, costume, language, framing and design. Female grungers for example are represented through my magazine as wearing dark clothes, loud, strong and in charge. The clothes that ‘Zara’ is wearing in the main image, is typically the sort of thing a grunger would wear mostly black or dark, with converse as well as having long hair. It’s good to show the kind of clothes they wear as people who like the group tend to mimic them earning more money. The social groups loudness is shown through her body language which is a rock sign not only showing her love for the music but her passion behind it so like the music the meaning is loud/clear. Strength is also shown through her body language which is firm showing she isn’t about to back down and that she’ll stand up for what she believes. Females are represented through my magazine as in charge because out of the band the only one in the magazine is the girl and she is well dressed not exposing herself to get noticed so once again to show she isn’t going to change just to get noticed.
16-20 year olds are represented in the magazine as loving to party as it mentions clubs and festivals giving details so people can go or having competitions to win tickets. It also shows them as being obsessed with music because that’s what the entire magazine is about and music magazines main readers are that age group.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
An independent media institution such as B-Unique Records would distribute my magazine. I would choose this institution because I would be able to keep my freedom in creating my magazine and therefore keep it unique. The only problem with an independent label is the money because there is less money they have less power making them vulnerable to going bankrupt like Plan B. Unlike independent institutions, major institutions have a lot of money and resources but joining would be a sell out as the magazine might have to change it’s image which is against the message in the magazine, the bands and the audience of the magazine also the magazine supports people who work for what they get so by getting everything given to us would be hypocritical.
Who would the audience be for your media product?
My main target audience would be females, 16-20 and social demographic B-C. My magazine would appeal to them because it shows strong powerful women and cute guys that would appeal to girls as the women they would want to be like and they would find the guys attractive. The people in the magazine are close in age to the readers so the magazine relates to some of the experiences, feelings and hopes of the reader which will make it more enjoyable to the reader and not frustrating as when people say they understand what the person feels when they can’t it really frustrating. B-C is the ideal social demographic for my magazine because the language is simple and the magazine it self isn’t too expensive which is suitable for their lifestyle.
How did you attract the audience?
I attracted the audience through my magazine. For example on my front cover I used the cover lines to attract the audience eyes mentioning things like ‘Tattoos’, a free gift and ‘New Music’. To attract other people to my magazine I could use T.V advertisements or advertise in other magazines that have a similar audience to my target audience hopefully drawing other people who like the look of my magazine to read it.
How did you address the audience?
I addressed the audience through my magazine. For example I addressed the audience through the ‘Editor’s Letter’ in which the editor is talking directly to the audience also the features are written as if speaking directly to the readers addressing them with their views and thoughts.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the process of making my magazine I learnt a lot about the technologies used in the process of creating my final product. Photography I had never really thought about as I used to get images off the internet but this time I used my own images and I had to think about the angle, costume, positioning, lighting and the framing as they all have an connect to the meaning and the effect it has on the reader for example it wouldn’t make a lot of sense having a magazine about rock and having someone dressed in baggy jeans and caps as that style isn’t associated with rock music so it would be pointless and confusing for readers to have it on the front cover. I also learned a lot about photo-editing as for one of my images I used Fireworks to remove the background without damaging the image. I also lightened and increased the contrast in the images to improve the quality of the image and increase the sense of the darkness to better connect to the image. Also even though I’ve used Publisher a lot I understood some of the features better that are available as I used edit warp points to create an interesting but unusual effect around the main image and the title on the front cover also arranging the text and images to put objects in the background making it more interesting. I also learned how to use blogger to show my magazine and the process I worked through to create it.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Before I started to produce my magazine I did a preliminary task to get used to using the conventions required to create a professional looking magazine. The preliminary task was a school magazine front cover which I called ‘Shout Out’. From my preliminary task I developed my image. In ‘Shout Out’ I used my own image but I stretched the image and didn’t use very good lighting causing the image to look deformed and not very clear. When I prepared to take my images for my final magazine I made sure I took many images, I looked at different lighting/ angels and took pictures from different distances so that I wouldn’t have to change the image too much and cause it to look unrealistic again this helped develop my understanding of the use of images in my magazine. Another development I can see is my masthead as for ‘Shout Out’ I just had a simple speech bubble as if someone was shouting out but for ‘Chords’ I took a picture of the neck of a guitar then used paint to cut out the word chords having them wobbly as if vibrating I also put a jagged boarder around the outside as if the guitar had crashed through the background. I found this gave a more eye catching effect as not only is it more interesting but it shows readers the genre of music it is straight away whereas ‘Shout Out’ Doesn’t really show anything about the magazine. ‘Shout Out’ looks very empty, spaced out whereas ‘Chords’ doesn’t which I think is more interesting because it doesn’t seem so plain. By having the front cover empty it makes me think that the inside is going to be empty in contrast a full front cover would be full meaning that the magazine is more likely to have something I want to read inside.
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