1. Primary Task
Music magazine, front
cover, contents & double page spread

2. Brief
• In Media Studies my main task consisted of me creating a music magazine
front cover, contents page as well as a double page spread from scratch.
Using the skills I gained from the preliminary task I had an easier time
creating my magazine taking more appropriate and better quality
photos, with thoughts on the Mise-en-scene in my head throughout the
process. My photoshop skills also improved from the previous task
demonstrating my advance knowledge and experience in media studies.

3. Front cover and contents page

4. Double page spread

5. A lot of my magazine was based on the
Vibe Magazine format of Vibe’s as I focused on a genre My magazine (Backstage)
that they are renowned for covering. I
chose to play on stereotypes of a
particular race being associated with a
specific genre (black models, R&B
music). It has developed conventions of
real media products as the front cover
displays small items such as websites
and other online access points which is
uprising for real media products as
magazines such as Vibe display their
website somewhere on the cover. It has
similar conventions to most magazines
with the main artist being the centre of
attention with other names/stories on
the side to further attract the audience.
The dialect used in the magazine is
appropriate for the age group I targeted
with topics such as Twitter that can also
be associated with my target audience
(Late teenaged students at
college/university)

6. Representation & Institution
• My music magazine represents teenagers as a hard working, positive and creative
group of people. My artist/models clearly look like they are college/university
students as that’s who the magazine is aimed at. When teenagers see people their
own age doing something it adds an extra interest thus generating a somewhat
successful magazine/or rather issue of the magazine (if this were really on sale).
• The type of institutions that might distribute my product are supermarkets as my
magazine is media friendly, I planned for it to be media friendly and as I based a lot
of the structure on Vibe which is also available in supermarkets I believe it can be
in the same stature.

7. Audience
• The audience for my music magazine is late teenagers
and adults in their early 20’s. I attempted to attract and
address that audience by using education terminology
such as “The new class of R&B has started” due to
many people that age still in education at university or
college. Also the use of twitter and hashtags can be
associated with many people that age which could
possibly further attract the audience I was aiming at.
The terminology used throughout is more youthful as
well as some of the interview responses using jargon
that can be associated with teenagers.

8. Successes & Errors
• Although some of my pictures turned out to be good quality it
wasn’t consistent due to the green reflecting onto some of the
models clothes. This could be improved by using a better
background such a plain black wall/curtain which also would of
made cropping easier on photoshop.
• Also the variety of shots used wasn’t large which could easily be
improved by experimenting with different angles and shots.
• I also could of improved by choosing a variety of locations to take
pictures in and balancing my time between constructing my
magazine and taking pictures however relying on three models as
well as additional images is time consuming and leads to
disappointment leading me to come to the conclusion that I should
use/rely on less models.

9. Conclusion
• From constructing my magazine I’ve learnt that technologies can be unreliable. I’ve
also learnt that the use of lighting and green screens can affect a picture
essentially deeming it not appropriate.
• Looking back at my preliminary task I feel I have learnt how to choose the right
images and apply them to my music magazine, crop pictures more efficiently and
make the edges more smooth. I’ve thought about the Mise-en-scene likewise the
importance of it when it comes to making the audience believe my models fit the
genre of the magazine. I’ve also learnt how to exploit my ideas to maximum effect
creating a title and a strap line that compliments it.