4. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The masthead challenges real media products as from my research I found out that the title is normally spread across the top of the page either behind or in front of the featuring artist, I chose a more realistic approach as I didn't follow the conventions as a real media product I decided to place my title beside the artist as its straightforward, clear and easy to read. Whereas if was placed behind the artist some readers may find it difficult to read and recognise the magazine.I chose the name 'BEAT' for my title as In hip-hop and R n B music, the term 'beat' commonly refers to the entire instrumental and non-vocal layer of the song and every type of music has a beat so I thought this name was well suited for this particular magazine. I chose to use black font for my title as black and white contrast well with each other. I placed the title in the top right hand corner to allow the readers to be drawn into the magazine. I used the conventions of a real media product as from the research I gathered I found out the titles of hip-hop magazine used a solid and simple font therefore I decided to follow these conventions and do something similar on my magazine. I have included a number of puffs and articles on the right side of the magazine, this is a typical convention of hip-hop magazine therefore I decided to follow it. Puffs are conventionally used in all magazines, but mostly in some hip-hop magazines. They are commonly used to make the hip-hop magazine seem better than and stand out from its competition, they are also used on magazines to show readers what is expected in the magazine if they buy it. My media product uses the forms and conventions of real media products by using similar themes to real media products, The layout of my media product is very similar to real media products as the as the positioning of the artists is the main feature of the magazine, the cover lines are placed on the left side of the magazine on all of the media products above showing that this is the conventional layout. I used the name of the main artist ‘HUSTLER’ as the title and placed it in the centre of this magazine to show that the artist is the central topic of this magazine. The title is placed beneath the artists face this is done to make it clear to the readers who the artist is. The name of the artist is written in black and red font to reinforce the magazine as a whole this is done to link the artist and the magazine together. I have also used a strap line under the masthead “music is my only love...” I did this as it gives the readers an insight of the magazine without turning the page.
5. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I once again chose to follow the forms and conventions of a real media product, as the background is of the featuring artist. The l image I took was of the typical 16-24 year old to enhance the sense of belonging to by target audience ,as they are of the same age group. I chose to use a medium shot low angle as it shows the facial expressions of the artist very well although we are only able to see half of the artists head this shows a representation of teenagers as they are seen to be rebellious, moody, secretive and mysterious. As the image is taken at a slight low angle this shows that the featuring artist is superior and in power this shows that teenagers are seen as a menace to society. The artist does not express any expressions on his face although he is making eye contact, this therefore helps create a connection between the artist and the readers. My magazine keeps in theme with the genre of music as the featuring artist on my magazine represents the audience well as it consists of black artist as most hip-hop artist are black, they also tend to wear allot of jewellery ‘bling’ portraying an image of them being successful and egotistic. The image of the featured artist dominates the cover. The real media products are very similar to my media product as I have followed certain forms and conventions to target my target audience. I have followed the conventions of real media products by including a barcode and price. The barcode is positioned in the right hand corner so it does not get in the way with the other content on the cover. The price is also printed in small font in the bottom right hand corner, this is done so that readers buy the magazine due to it’s content and not its price. By including a barcode on my hip-hop magazine it adds to the professional look and makes it look efficient . I decided to price my magazine £1.85 as the results from my questionnaire show that my main target market are willing to pay between £1-2 as most of them are students and will not be able to afford it if the price was higher than £2.
6. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I have kept up the consistency throughout my media products as I have used the same colours and font of the title I have used on the cover of my magazine as it looked efficient and linked both the cover and contents page together.I rejected the convention of writing the name of my magazine on the contents page as I personally did not think it was necessary writing the name of the magazine as the colour and font scheme made a connection with the cover and contents page without making it obvious and writing the name of the magazine. I have listed to what is to be expected in the rest of the magazine into three sections I did this because it looks efficient and makes it easier for the reader to read . The main sub-headings are in red font on black background as these two colours contrast well with each other and make the writing stand out and grabs the readers attention. This is a continuity within the magazine as the theme is continued thought out my magazine. Also I feel that this font is simple ,bold and gives off a professional look . I have used an advertisement at the top left hand corner, the reason for me doing this was to show versatility that it wasn't just based on music. The model in the picture is a girl this shows that the magazine is targeted at both genders , it makes it more comfortable for females to buy the magazine as the model is a girl and can relate to her, whereas if it was a boy they may feel it’s targeted at boys as they are more into cars. My main image is placed on the bottom right hand corner of my contents page as it would be in a typical convention in a hip- hop magazine. The image I have used is of a boy again as most hip-hop fans are boys, the model I have used on my contents page is following conventions as he is not making eye contact shows many teenagers have attitude issues. This was done to give my magazine a hard core feel to my magazine, the model is wearing a ‘hoody’ this was done to make the readers feel more at home as this how they dress on a day-to-day basis this helps them to relate with the model and makes them more comfortable as they have many similarities.
7. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The Title on the double page spread is copied and pasted from the cover of the magazine linking it back to the cover making it look professional and organised, on top of the double page spread I have used the statement ‘The Bible of Hip-Hop Music’ again linking it back to the front cover of my magazine. My double page spread used the forms of conventions as a real magazine as the double page spread is an interview with the featuring artist on the magazine cover. I found out that it was very common for hip-hop magazine’s to include interviews with celebrities as the results from my questionnaires show that interviews are the most appealing part of a magazine this is why I decided to follow this convention. My double page spread follows the conventional c shape layout as the image is placed on the right side of the double page and a anchor present to let the reader know that the article is finished. Again following the conventions of a real magazine I have used a drop cap at the start of the article this a traditional method used in articles used to grab the readers attention as it looks odd. The core attraction on this magazine is the image, this is done so all the focus is on the main artist, Therefore that's why I decided to use the left side of the double page spread for my main image to show the importance of the artist. The use of a solid colour scheme makes the article look simple and the black and red text is easy to read due to the white background, it makes it clear to the readers separating the questions and answers. Overall the use of the font links the cover, contents and the double page spread together, it shows consistency throughout my media product. I have placed floating quotes from the interview beside the main image to lure readers into read the whole article.. The use of the floating quotes makes the artist appear confident and strong linking to the stereotypes of hip-hop artists. The image already portrays the artist as strong and confident to justify this I have used floating quotes, I used bold- red stroke around the writing to help it stand out and the use of red conveys power and dominance. I am challenging the conventions as floating quotes are not usually used in hip-hop magazines.
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9. They are known to be “heavy spenders” e.g. buy the latest gadgets such as iPods, concert tickets and designer clothes.
10. Tend to be involved in hip-hip either through music or dance
14. Take pride in appearance Arrogant/confident-pose Hoody Tattoo's Masculine/ toner bodies/ strong Jewellery Boxers Bright clothing
15. How does your media product represent particular social groups? My media product represents the hip-hop social group very well through the colour scheme, models and props , language used on my media product. I intentionally used models aged between 16-19 age range, the reason for me doing this was so that the target audience can relate to the model as they are in the similar age range. The images I took where mainly of the typical 16-19 year olds to enhance the sense of belonging to by target audience ,as they are of the same age group. I mainly used black models as on my media product as most hip-hop artist are black, as hip-hop music originated from them and it is what the genre is all about. From my primary and secondary research I found out that hip-hop music was the most popular genre of music amongst 16-24 year olds which mainly read music magazines such as VIBE and THE SOURCE informing about artist like Lil Wayne and Eminem therefore I decided to include these artists names on the cover of my magazine as the target audience are aware of theses artists and it would be easier for the social group to recognised the genre of my music magazine . The fonts I have used on my media product are bold but simple I did not want to over do it as my target audience were mainly teenagers therefore it had to be basic and easy to understand this was also done to reach to a wider audience. My magazine consisted of three main colours-red, black and white these colours were used as they appealed to both genders whereas if I used colours like pink which is stereotypically known as ‘feminine’ and blue as more of a ‘boy’ colour. The use of these colours helped me to reach to both genders without excluding either one. In most hip-hop magazines it is conventional to use three colours, my reason for using red is that the connotation of the colour red in hip-hop is strength and power, the use of black associates with masculinity as it is a very dark and powerful colour another reason for using black is that it is easier to see the text. The use of black and white is appealing as both colours can reach out to black and white audiences. I used colloquial language on my media product as being a teenager myself I am aware that teenagers use this type of language on a daily basis my motive for using colloquial language was to make it easy for my target audience to relate to the artist and feel that they belong.
16. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? Publishing: The media institution that I have chosen to issue my media product is Bauer Media because Bauer Media is a division of the Bauer Publishing Group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing Group. The Bauer Publishing Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 230 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations. Bauer Media is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of many companies collected around two main distributions – Magazines and Radio - widely recognised and rewarded as being industry innovators. Although their biggest selling publications are weekly gossip magazines, the institution also has strong sales of their music magazines, Kerrang and Q magazines both boost the circulation figures considerably. I feel that Bauer Media would be the best institution to distribute my publication because they have strong sales in music magazines, and they do not sell any other magazine which is like my magazine as they currently issuing music magazines like kerrange and Q it is not the same genre therefore there will be any rivalry to out do each other as we are targeting very different audiences. An advantage that Bauer Media has is that it has many years of experience in marketing music magazines this shown through the other successful publications they distribute such as Kerrange and Q. So having a hip-hop music magazine may support them to start a radio station which broadcast hip-hop music in order for Bauer to increase the number of people viewing their media through magazine and radio so increasing their sales overall.
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19. How did you attract/address your audience? I used a male model aged 17, I used him as he fit into my target audience as my target audience is between the ages of 16-19. using a male model for my cover would be beneficial for both genders as the male audience can aspire to be like him and can follow his fashion sense and the female audience as the females can be attracted to him. I confirmed the stereotypes of hip-hop artists look wise as they tend to have allot of jewellery on and wear casual/ baggy clothes. The colour scheme of my magazine is red, black and white, as researching hip-hop magazine it is conventional to use three colours, the connotation of the colour red in hip-hop is that it symbolises strength and power, by using such colours they are able to express the strength through colours. I decided to price my media product £1.85 as from the questionnaire I found out over half the respondents said they are willing to pay between £1-2, I thought £1.85 was a fair price as most readers are students. I have attracted my target audience with the use of pugs, the fact there is extra information at no extra cost this can influence whether they buy the magazine for not.
20. How did you attract/address your audience? I used a picture of a girl in a car this was done to address that the magazine was targeted at females as well as males. It was also done to attract readers who are interested in cars as well as music by doing this it shows versatility in the magazine this can be compared to the target audience as it shows they have other interests. This is also used to attract my audience as it gives my readers an opportunity to win a car . I have used eye catching article summaries of current artists to attract readers attention which makes them buy the magazine. The use of this image shows a representation of my target audience, this attracts my audience as they can relate to him. I have used an image of a girl and a boy on my contents page to make it even as it shows it for its for males and females.
21. How did you attract/address your audience? The colours have been consistent through out the magazine this was done to make the magazine look efficient and professional. The colours I used were used to portray the lifestyle of 16-19 year olds as the connotation of red is anger, power and danger. The model used on the double page spread attracts the hip-hop audience through the use of props e.g. Hat, watch, necklace and a vest this reflects on codes of convention of hip-hop music. The main image used on the double page mirror’s the personality and lifestyle of 16-19 year olds. The facial expressions expressed by the artists which is attitude and a sense toughness resembles to the typical 16-19 year old with there creates a sense of belonging to 16-19 years olds as they fit in. From my secondary research of hip-hop magazines e.g. Vibe I establish that the common layout for a double page spread was the conventional c shape layout. Therefore I followed the conventions of a typical magazine as I wanted the magazine to look professional. The interview consisted of colloquial language and slang being a teenager myself I am aware that teenagers use this type of language on a daily basis my motive for using colloquial language was to make it easy for my target audience to relate to the artist and feel that they belong.
25. Internet Explorer To create a music magazine I needed to take pictures in order to make it look professional and look like a good music magazine. I used a Sony camera to take my pictures as I had experience using it before, the Sony camera was easy to use and produced quality pictures. As soon I had taken my pictures I was able to connect my camera to a computer and upload them and start editing them. Publisher was a great programme to use to plan my layout of the actual magazine. I made draft copies on publisher this gave me a rough idea what I was going to do on my real magazine, although publisher didn't have much technical editing aspects but it did help me to decide where I was going to place the title, images and what fonts to use. The main and the most important form of technology used to construct my music magazine was Photoshop, I had no previous experience in using Photoshop therefore it made the construction process more difficult. During my media lessons my media teacher showed demonstrations how to use Photoshop after a few practise lessons I felt more comfortable using it and starting experimenting on the pictures I took. Photoshop enabled me to use a variety of techniques on my media product as it allowed me use a ‘vector mask’ this helped me to crop my pictures at an exceptional level, this helped my media product to look professional and efficient. I also used the internet for secondary research on current hip-hop magazines, researching gave me an insight to what my music magazine should and needed to look like. It helped me shape my magazine into a music magazine which would appealed to my target audience. Before and after editing on Adobe Photoshop:
26. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression for it to the full product?
27. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression for it to the full product? The comparison between my preliminary task and my actual media product is vast, as when creating my preliminary task I was not aware of the codes and conventions of magazines. My preliminary task shows minor understanding of magazines this was due to not having access to the right technology e.g. Photoshop. The preliminary task shows I don't have a specific colour scheme which makes my preliminary task look more like a poster than a school magazine. Publisher did not express my skill’s to best of my ability as I had limited techniques I would use on the school magazine due to the programme not being efficient enough. Comparing both of these magazine shows that a school magazine and a music magazine need to have a different structures as its very normal for a school magazine to consist of two or more stories on the front cover as there is a variety of age ranges from year 7-11 so it has to appeal to everyone not just one specific audience. Whereas on the other hand the music magazine targets a specific audience which makes it easier to know what to feature in the magazine as you are aware of the likes and dislikes. With the school magazine I had to be cautious what to write as it had to be formal and educational in contrast to the music magazine which consists of informal language as the readers are older and more mature. Overall looking back at the preliminary task I have learnt that social groups are very important when producing a magazine as each social group have different needs and wants, I have also learnt that its very important to have the right technology to produce a magazine.
