1. Question 1- In what ways does your
media product use develop or
challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?

2. My media product uses conventions of a real pop
music magazine such as lots of images on the pages
within the magazine. This convention is present
throughout pop magazines as, like mine, the target
audience tends to be young teenagers and pictures are
a good way of catching the eye of a person of this age.
Bright colours are another convention present in pop
magazines and this is a reason which I have used them
in my work. I have used bright colours such as pink
yellow and blue to appeal to the target audience as
they engage them to the magazine.

3. Another convention of real pop magazines are the words that are
used throughout the product. The language used in real pop
magazines is very informal, to make the young reader feel
comfortable. These days, more and more young teenagers are using
colloquial language, slang and abbreviations in everyday life. I noticed
whilst researching real pop magazines that they incorporate this a lot.
Therefore when making my magazine I used very informal language
and also incorporated a lot of slang and abbreviations to appeal to the
target market and continue to use the conventions of a pop magazine.
For example, on the front cover, instead of writing the cover line as
'Interview with Jacob Connor and Ollie' I wrote 'We have a laugh with
Jacob Connor and Ollie' making the reader feel much more involved
and comfortable. Abbreviations have been used such as 'goss' instead
of gossip, 'mag' instead of magazine and 'fave' instead of favourite. I
have also used slang such as 'hottest', again to appeal to the target
audience.

4. I also noticed that lots of boxes and outlines
are used within real pop magazines to
highlight cover lines or stories on the contents
page. I used this convention throughout my
magazine as it helped to organise the pages
and make it look less cluttered.

5. One of the most important conventions was
the use of puffs, pugs and buzz words. These
types of words used, make the reader feel like
you're offering them something and help to
engage them when they see the magazine.

6. I made sure that, like in a real pop magazine all of
the cover lines and stories on the contents page
were worded in this way. I used words such as
'exclusive' and 'revealed' to tell the reader that
you aren't going to get this information anywhere
else and that they must buy this magazine
otherwise they'll never know this 'exclusive
gossip. The word 'free' also engages the potential
buyer as they feel as if they're getting something
for nothing, this is a convention used a lot in real
media products like mine.