In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media?
During the research & planning
stages, we looked at various types of magazines produced from over the years
along with magazines produced by students that had succeeded in this work in
years before. We came to the conclusion that for the style of magazine that I
would be producing it would be appropriate for me to challenge current
conventions; this was further enhanced by the fact that the magazine actually
stuck to a conventional layout though.
I considered the conventions used in
the magazines that I had looked at & I decided that I wanted to base my
cover upon the Grace Jones album cover for ‘Portfolio’ because it looked quite
alternative however also stuck to some conventions. I stuck to the idea of
having the masthead at the top of the magazine for example, this is because all
successful magazines will use this style of cover because it works best at
catching the readers eye. I also stuck to the convention of a regular looking
contents page (other than the colour scheme & the pictures) which further
shows how I have actually both develop & challenge forms.
My masthead is fairly conventional,
this is because it is placed in the centre at the top of the page; although it
isn’t an overly conventional font. This is used because it is in the style of
the Grace Jones album cover for ‘Portfolio’, therefore looking quite artistic.
I placed the masthead over my feature artists head & the corner of the
barcode because it also makes it look more vintage. I didn’t want it to look
like it was obviously created on the computer. Therefore this makes it look
more like it has been manually created.
The word ‘color’ in this cover page
is a major selling point. This is because I have actually based this upon an
iconic 1980’s television that was used in the USA. This is why ‘color’ is spelt
in the American way instead of the British. This is telling the reader that
this magazine is all over the world, not just in the UK.
The colour scheme used in this is
obviously unconventional but this is used because it will appeal to the certain
audience that it is targeted at.
The graphology of the magazine pages
was a massive focus for me. I tried to make all of the pages of equal size and
proportion. This then meant that it looked much more professional than my draft
which had been extremely inconsistent. I tried to base my contents page upon
old contents pages from the former music magazine ‘Smash Hits’, especially the
ones that were created in the 1980’s. As you can on the right hand side, I
tried to bring the vintage colour scheme into the magazine without making it
looking too colourful or too vibrant. I think I succeeded in this because of
the contrasting dark colours in response to the bright vibrant ones. The page
numbers had to be clear so I also used a dark colour to equal out the colour
scheme so that it didn’t look too much.
The photographs used in this magazine
made a big difference to the final product. In my draft magazine I didn’t
really know what kind of model I would use for my pictures, however after
researching more I found a certain style that fitted in with modern conventions.
The pictures I took of my models were actually no less vintage than pictures
taken for magazines focusing on other genres, however what I did was edit the
pictures to make them look more arty & vintage looking. For example, my
double page spread picture was actually based upon the Mika album cover ‘The
Boy Who Knew Too Much’. I think that Mika is a good current artist who has a
vintage style about him. For the pictures I usually tried to create a dark
feeling about them because it again contrasted the vibrant colours involved
with the rest of the magazine. The idea of this was unconventional because I
again based a picture on an album cover from a particular artist instead of
basing my pictures on pictures from other magazines; it was also art though,
not just a photo that I tried to recreate.
The photographs used in this magazine
made a big difference to the final product. In my draft magazine I didn’t
really know what kind of model I would use for my pictures, however after
researching more I found a certain style that fitted in with modern conventions.
The pictures I took of my models were actually no less vintage than pictures
taken for magazines focusing on other genres, however what I did was edit the
pictures to make them look more arty & vintage looking. For example, my
double page spread picture was actually based upon the Mika album cover ‘The
Boy Who Knew Too Much’. I think that Mika is a good current artist who has a
vintage style about him. For the pictures I usually tried to create a dark
feeling about them because it again contrasted the vibrant colours involved
with the rest of the magazine. The idea of this was unconventional because I
again based a picture on an album cover from a particular artist instead of
basing my pictures on pictures from other magazines; it was also art though,
not just a photo that I tried to recreate.
Question 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My magazine represents a small proportion of today's teenage society. The are the people that respect old music while dislike most modern 'pop' songs. They like fashion and like going onto the internet.
I don't think there is a particular group to place this target audience into, although the stereotype of a 'young alt' is a close representation.
My magazine used an alternative approach by trying to attract readers by using artistic ideas instead of the basic magazine layout. The use of colours in my magazine is also going against conventions.
The shot I used on my cover page is a close up, this is probably more appealing to artistic people, it is also aimed towards the male audience more.
My contents page uses both modern ideas and vintage ideas, the layout her shows this. The language is quite formal however it is used in an informal manner. The colours used on the contents page are actually quite 'girly' which makes this magazine extremely alternative to other magazines for male teenagers.
The double page spread is representing the readers as youthful and quite vibrant. This is shown by using the picture that I have on this spread. The colour scheme is both conventional and unconventional.
Question 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The kind of media institution that I think would be an ideal distributer for my magazine is EMAP. This is the company that produced the 'Smash Hits' magazine from 1978 to 2006. The 'Smash Hits' magazine was actually a magazine that inspired me to create the layouts of my magazine therefore I can conclude that it is going to be very similar to my production. I think that the corporation would be a good producer for the magazine as well because they haven't got a music magazine being produced by themselves at this current date, but they obviously have experience in this market at creating an original magazine that attracts an audience. The fact that they don't have a music magazine being produced currently could also mean that they could make this magazine a priority, therefore meaning that it would probably have more effort put into it.
I could use several ways to distribute my magazine to the public, this could include posting issues to readers if they subscribe, the magazine could be sold in retailers (newsagents, supermarkets etc.) as well as certain articles being posted online (while the whole magazine can be downloaded for a price off of the internet) with advertisments making a profit instead of the income from the magazine. The use of internet could be a key area to publish my magazine as the target market for my magazine uses the internet throughout their daily lives.
I would use a method of paid circulation to sell the magazine instead of the free and controlled circulation. I think that the paid circulation would be appropriate because most music magazines will have paid circulation instead of the other two, this is so that the magazine will fit in with other music magazines and it will appeal to the target audience because the magazine will be available to a select group because of the set price instead of the free price that it would be if I chose free circulation. Controlled circulation wouldn't be ideal as it would be unapealling because of the 'qualification' issues with it, the younger generation wouldn't like this idea.
The magazine that I created would be published with a fixed price by EMAP weekly, however readers subscribing to the magazine would get a set discount off of the original price.
Question 4
Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?
This is Sam, he is a typical 16 year old boy that likes to listen to music and have a good time. He is in his first year of A Levels, he does AS Media, AS English Literature, AS English Language & AS Psychology. He loves listening to music and regulary listens to music on Gem 106 and he loves to search through his parents old music archives from the 20th century, especially the 1980's records.
He loves to go to concerts whenever he can, he likes to go to all types of concerts & festivals such as The Rewind Festival that is based all around celebrating music from the 1980's. The Rewind Festival 2011 lineup included famous artists from the 1980's that included Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes To Hollywood), Billy Ocean, Bananarama & Village People. This year he plans to go to the 2012 Rewind Festival & other concerts involving current artists that he likes such as Lana Del Rey, Jessie J, Coldplay & George Michael.
He is looking forward to seeing George Michael live in concert as he is from the 1980's however he is still a current artist making new music. He has been listening to them since he was a young child because of his mother playing his solo & Wham! CD's in the car.
He carries an iPod with him at all times because he relies on music to calm him down when he is angry or make him happy when he is sad. He has many songs on his iPod however he can't actually fit all of his iTunes library on it. He has a total of 17,678 songs on his iTunes library, most of these songs are from the 20th century.
In his spare time he does his homework, goes out with friends & uses the internet a lot. He loves using websites like Tumblr because he loves fashions created on there. This is because there are many users who like to base their fashions on the 1980's on Tumblr. He also loves shopping at shops like Topman, River Island & Urban Outfitters. He likes to buy clothes online though because there is more variety for his fashion sense.
Sam doesn't have a job, but his parents give him pocket money of £10 a week if he does jobs for them. With this he buys magazines such as Q Magazine, however he doesn't like the fact that there isn't a magazine celebrating the 1980's weekly on his newsagents shelves.
Sam is definitely a good character to describe as my target audience. He likes to read about new artists that have carried on the 80's style & he likes to read about music in general while looking at the latest 'gossip'. I think that he would like the articles included, showing articles that would appeal to him including reviews & competitions.
Question 5
How did you attract or address your audience?
My target audience consisted of the older teenager to the young adult, this is obviously an age where education is valued because education is no longer compulsory. Therefore I have tried to make the magazine look both basic and simple, but also a good enough quality to make it look good enough for the audience to read it. I am also trying to attract more men into this magazine; I addressed this by using a young male on the magazine cover but I just used his head without his body. This made it look like a piece of art and just took the basics of human life, which a man likes more than a woman. The colours used around my magazine are stereotypically recognised as quite feminine colours, however these colours are used to attract the audience because of the era that the magazine is celebrating. The 1980's was full of colours so that is what I have tried to recreate here. The magazine cover is extremely plain and just features the feature artist along with the title of the article etc. This again explores the idea that this magazine is like a piece of artwork (just like the Grace Jones album cover for 'Portfolio' on which this is based), this creates a non-conventional magazine cover that will appeal to my audience because of how they generally like to be different. I have used artists based all around the world as well, this therefore makes the reader think that this magazine is of high class; not small time like some magazines are. The word 'color' on the magazine cover is also aimed at targeting the audience as this is all based upon an iconic 1980's TV sign; this is also why the word is spelt in American fashion instead of British, this should appeal to the target audience because it is using iconic things to remind us of the actual 1980's while also looking modern and unique.
The contents page again explores many conventions, especially with my target audience being male. The pink is making it bright and vibrant like many of the 80's pop were, the white background that the headings are on are actually based around the idea of paintbrush strokes. This would appeal to the audience because it is again exploring the use of art throughout the magazine. I think that the pictures used on this contents page would be successful in making the magazine appealing because they are incorporating modern fashions with 1980's fashion. The pictures are also showing young, upcoming artists which will also appeal to the reader while also sticking to the era that the magazine is based around. I think that the idea of placing subheadings on this page also helps appeal to the reader because it is organised and makes it simpler to navigate throughout the magazine.
The language that I have used throughout the double page spread is appealing to the reader because it is formal; using proper English throughout, however it is used in an informal manner. Therefore making the reader feel more involved in the interview itself. I also think that the photo used on the double page spread is extremely effective in appealing to the target audience. This is because it is both bright and incorporates art throughout. It has combined modern art and fashions with the 1980's style, this should appeal to the audience because of it fitting in with a set convention but also being alternative. The use of the same font for all of the headings for this article again exposes the importance of the whole article, not just part of it. It is bold along with being colourful, using vintage colour schemes. The whole idea of the stars and space tries to expose the fact that the feature artist is bigger than human, as in being 'out of this world', again incorporating the personality of many 1980's superstars.
Overall, I think that I have done many things to make my magazine attract my target audience. I think I have succeeded in this because I have used the right type of colour scheme while also using a conventional layout for a modern magazine. Therefore making the experience for the reader enjoyable, although many of of my friends have admitted that they aren't attracted to this type of music they have told me that if they were then they would consider buying the magazine. This proves to me that I have succeeded in making this magazine look good enough to be classed as a good quality magazine.
Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
- Computers (Dell Studio One 19 and School PC)
- Photoshop
- Canon SX30 IS
- Microsoft Word 2010
- Scribd
- Animoto
- The Internet (Google Chrome & Internet Explorer)
Question 7
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I
personally think that my biggest progression from my preliminary task is my
ability to understand how to incorporate the basic conventions of a magazine
into the software that I am using; in this case Photoshop. I think that my
knowledge of Photoshop has improved even though I had basic knowledge of it
before hand, I have a better idea of which tool will now work better in some cases
while I also now know that sometimes editing things too much doesn’t work. I
feel that I learnt a lot from my draft magazine because I picked a hard genre
of music to base my magazine upon but I succeeded in producing it. I feel that
my preliminary task has no comparison at all to my final version of the
magazine that I have produced here. I have slowly improved at getting my work
done, while I have improved at meeting deadlines.
My
understanding of magazines has improved drastically; I have learnt what will
work in magazines and what won’t because of the mistakes that I have made
before. I think the improvement on both the magazine covers and the contents
pages are immense which shows how much I have simply improved. I have learnt
how to make a picture look much better now as well, whereas before I thought
that altering the contrast of a picture will make it look better without
anything else being done to it.
The
biggest difference between the cover pages is that the final one is looking
like a good quality magazine cover that is showing artistic qualities; the
preliminary task obviously shows that it has been put together with little
knowledge about the media industry. The differences in the contents pages also
expose how much I have improved, the preliminary page looks overly edited while
the final version looks like a good quality page that could be inserted into a
magazine that is focusing on the 1980’s.
