In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My music magazine has used forms and conventions of real music magazines, because in my front cover I have used things such as cover lines, masthead, cover star, banner, persuasive language such as "BEST" to attract the reader, and a bar code these would all be found on any existing music magazines such as NME and Kerrang!where I have used the ideas from both mastheads and created my own masthead for my magazine, as it has a split genre which relates to NME and Kerrang! I have also used a variety of fonts and font sizes on the front cover to make some cover lines stand out more than other like "INSIDE THE SATURDAYS REVEAL ALL" this is to attract the audience to my double page spread. I have developed The conventions by using my own style to create the cover lines with a mix of fonts and colours. I have challenged the conventions by Making my masthead tilted, which I have never seen on a music magazine before as it is normally vertical right at the top of the page, I chose to do this to make my magazine different and to be seen as controversial.
My contents page has used forms and conventions of existing magazines as it has the masthead at the top of the page, I also included pictures to advertise what's within the magazine and a list of the actual contents with the page numbers. I have developed this by advertising what will be in next weeks issue which will produce reliable customers over time, by making them want to buy the next issue. I have challenged the forms and conventions as I have used a large image for the background, which gives a good affect as not only can you see the contents but you can also see the image from the back, I put other smaller images on top of it as plug for my magazine, also by using a variety of colours and fonts it makes each element stand out separately.
My double page spread has used the forms and conventions of existing magazines as I have used a large masthead to show the title of the article, a drop capital which makes the first paragraph of the article stand out and I used columns as my layout for the article. I have developed this by including a large scale picture of the stars that the article is about which I edited in photo shop using the colour balance to to make the colours stand out more. I have challenged the forms and conventions by making the image fill up both pages and used as the background this is so the audience will be able to read the article while relating it to the image.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My music magazine represents particular social groups by the use of the particular cover stars and language that I have used, will relate to different people, the cover star I have used on the front cover is from a rock band, which will relate to the particular social groups, that like rock music and are passionate about music and defined by the songs they listen to, although the language such as "Exclusive", "BEST" and "REVEAL" will aim at the particular social groups that will have the desire for discovery and want to find out more.
My contents page represents particular social groups by the choice of stars that are featured in my magazine, which will relate to the particular social groups, which admire that artist , also it targets social groups that tend to regularly buy the same things, by including something that is featured in "Next week's" issue, if it interests them they could become a loyal customer.
My double page spread represents particular social groups by the use of the stars featured also the stars that I have featured are a pop band, which would target the social groups that tend to have a range of music in their life, music isn't the most important thing in their life, as they may enjoy other things such as sport or films.
What Kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The media institution I think might distribute my music magazine would be International publishing company (IPC) as it already owns the music magazine NME, as this magazine is quite similar to mine, it has a pop/rock genre, it was launched in 1996, it is a very successful multi platform product it reaches over one million fans every week, being one of the most successful music magazines around, I would like my music magazine to be just as successful, IPC own a range of magazines focuses on different audiences, which is ideal for my magazine as I want my magazine to be as open as possible to a wide range of audiences.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media product will be boys and girls aged between 13-18, this is ,because I created a survey, that I got a number of individuals to fill in to find out the type of music they like and the existing music magazines that they enjoy reading, this is why I used ideas from the NME and Kerrang! music magazines for my music magazine, my audience will also be experientials (VALS) they will want to try new things and my music magazine is new and different, also they will be explorers (Young and Rubican) wanting to discover what my magazine is about. They will be defined by the music they listen to but also enjoy other things like sport and films in their life.
How did you attract/address your audience?
My front page attracts my audience as they will be able to relate to the artists I have featured in my magazine, as they are around the same age range, and they might be able to relate some of their experiences, also I have included a banner promoting "Free VIP tickets" as a lot of people aged between 13-18, go to concerts with their friends they will automatically be interested, I also used a mixed of colours and fonts, so it looks appealing to the eye, and not dull otherwise they won't think it's interesting.
My contents page attracts my audience, as many people aged between 13-18 enjoy a routine, a lot of people stick to buying the same magazine every week, this is why I have included whats in "NEXT WEEK's" issue as they will be more likely to stay loyal to my magazine and keep buying it. I used a variety of different sized images, as it is good to attract your audience visually, giving them something to look at, by using the large scale image as the background it stands out but doesn't over power the contents.
My double page spread attracts my audience, by filling the whole double page with the image in the background it becomes eye catching and the colours of the image match the masthead and the columns of writing, this is good ,because people don't tend to enjoy reading things where the colours clash, or feel uneasy on the eye the colour scheme works well and isn't too over powering, also the language within my article, is quite young as it shows the artists, talking as if they were talking to a friend and is not completely formal, which would relate to my audience, as normally they wouldn't speak formally.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Through the process of creating my music magazine I have learnt how to use my camera to create affective camera shots, that I have used within my music magazine, such as medium shots, close ups and low angle shots, which have been very effective for my magazine, I also used a program called photo shop where I could manipulate the images, and change the colour of the images, I did this by changing the brightness and the colour levels and the saturation. Also I used Microsoft word to create my artifacts, where I found I could insert my each element of my magazine as images and adjust the sizes, fonts and colours. Also I learnt how to use a blog, by creating pages and posts and editing each one, I could insert images onto the blog and add new pages, I could order them on the side bar and link the contents to my pages.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at my preliminary task I feel have learnt a lot on my progression to my final artifacts as with my front page I used things such as a banner, cover lines, images, masthead, puff , plug and a variety of fonts and colours, whereas in my preliminary task I used one medium shot, with a small masthead, plug and a restricted colour scheme.
My contents page for my preliminary task was very simple with a masthead and a list of the contents, whereas my final artifact I included a background image, other smaller images, plug for next week's issue and the list of the contents with a variety of fonts and colours to make it appealing to the audience.
My double page spread for my music magazine was similar to my contents page with a large background picture, I used a variety of pinks that I think was very effective, whereas in my preliminary tasks the colours throughout where plain and there was too much white space on the pages.
Overall my final artifacts are a big improvement on my preliminary task as I have included forms and conventions of existing music magazines, without all my research and planning, my final artifact wouldn't relate to existing music magazines.
