1. 1. In whatwaysdoesyour mediaproductuse,developorchallenge formsandconventionsof
real mediaproducts?
Conventionsof amagazine have beenusedtorepresentmeaninginwhatthe contentis
about.I was inspiredbymanymusicgenrestobase mymagazine on.The genre that drew
my attentiononisthe “Rock” genre because itshowsthe edgystyle thatI have yet there are
still thingsthatwouldmake sense inourmodernworlde.g.nowadaysthatglobal warming
has risen,I’ve made the bandtobe role modelsbyhavinganadvocacyto raise awareness
and be more cautiousof ourenvironment.
One of the conventionsof amagazine isthe masthead.Formymagazine,Iusedthe name
“Kamikaze”whichisa Japanese wordfor“divine wind”andithas something todowiththe
Japanese civil war/ww1/ww2.I firstheardof the name froma local Asianrockband.The
name soundsrough and edgy.Therefore,Iusedthe name “Kamikaze”. The fontisatypical
colourred whichisassociatedwith“blood”and“anger”because itisstereotypical forrock
stars to be angry witheverything.
I made my ownconventionsandbreakingthe normbycreatinga more sophisticated
magazine.Mycentral image/covermode includes4membersof the bandand their
backgroundisnature.Thisis notthe typical rockmagazine central image.However,the
image isstill darkwhichfollowsthe normal magazineimage.I’vedone thistoportraythe
groupas role models (take care of ournature) because stereotypesof rockstarsare rough,
careless,etc. “GuerrillaBiosphere”rockstars have a softerside andtheyshow thisbycaring
aboutother thingsinsteadof justthemselves. I’veportrayedthemthiswaybecause based
on myquestionnaire;the people chose “nature”whenasked“whichissuesdoyouoften
worrythe most?”. Imagesmustbe appealingtothe target audience.Therefore,some are
comical,butmy image isveryseriousyetstill appealing.
My coverlinesare usuallycolouredredorblack.It’sverymuch the typical rock colourand so
it followsthe usual convention.However,some writingsare greentolinkitwithnature.I
haven’tgotmuch coverlinesbutI thinkit’sbettertohave few.
The price and barcode is at the bottomright cornerwhere it’ssmall yetstill visible.Havingit
bigwill distractpeople fromthe contents.Itisa ChristmasEditionthat’swhere redand
greencolourcomesas those coloursare associatedwithChristmas.The price isonly£1.99;
it isa fairlygoodprice in myopinionbecause it’scheapandpeople won’thave second
thoughtsof buyingit.
2. How doesyourmediaproductrepresentparticularsocial groups?
My mediaproductrepresentsteenagersfromthe lowertomiddle class.Isaythisbecause
the magazine itself ischeapandnotas sophisticatedasthose magazineswithatarget
marketof higherclasse.g.Marie Claire.
NME magazine isanotherexample of middle tohighclasstargetmarketbecause of its
discreetandworldlywise writing.Althoughmine isalittle bitsophisticated,Istill wantto
2. have a target marketof youngadultsas theyare elusive andverydistractedwithother
thingsratherthan justreadinga magazine.
The teenagers/youngadultsthathave beenmy targetaudience are aged15-24. These ages
are usuallythe oneswhomostlygotoconcerts,buy albumsandintriguedaboutinterviews.
Therefore,I’ve portrayedthemthroughlanguage andmode of address.Iusedexclamation
marks forsome of mycover line andpugs.The reasonfor thisisbecause itindicatesstrong
feelingstowardsthe productI’msellinganditcan expressadmirationandexcitementwhich
youngadultscan relate to.Thismakesme to conformto the usual language thattheycan
understandaspart of mymarketingstrategytosell mymediaproduct.
The use of mise-en-scene isanotherwaytoportrayand representmytargetaudience.Rock
genre is usuallyassociatedwithblack,dark-colouredclothes,seriousnessandexpressionof
youthrebel againstadultconformity.I’vechoseneachpersoninmycentral image tobe my
covermodel because theirchemistryasa bandis overwhelming.Theirblackclothes,facial
expressionandbodylanguage conformstothe typical rockstar that societyexpectsthemto
be.However,rockmusicisalsoassociatedwithnegative thingslike attitudestodruguse,
sex andrace. Base onmy central image,Ididnot portray my rock stars as recklessrole
modelsbecause Iwantto challenge the norm.
Furthermore,the backgroundisnature whichisnotthe usual scene ina rock magazine as I
wantto challenge the perceptionof societytowardsrockstarsbecause theynobandswould
thinkaboutnature or environment.
3. What kindof mediainstitutionmightdistribute yourmediaproductandwhy?
Bauermediaisthe kindof mediainstitutionthatwoulddistributemymusicmagazine
because Iproduce the same layoutas Kerrang!Magazine that Bauer alsodistribute.Inall
honesty,Kerrang!ismybiggest inspiration.Bauermediaproducesalotof well known
magazinessotherefore,theyhave awiderrange of audience.Thisisanadvantage to me
because itwill dragmy magazine topopularity.
The mediainstitutionalreadydistributes arock magazine,andif theydistributemy
magazine then itwouldbe beneficial forbothproductsastheywouldcomplement each
other.Thisis because Kerrang!andmymagazine – Kamikaze wouldbothshare the same
target audience.
4. Who wouldbe the audience foryourmediaproduct?
My targetaudience wouldbe malesandfemaleswhofall intothe age groupsof 15-24.
These youngadultsare a significantof the population.Theyare eagertoexpressthemselves
throughmusicand fashion.The musicindustryseemstoinfluence teenagersmore.They
oftensocialise withotherpeople withthe same style,habits,lifestyleandmusicinterestas
them.Theyare a vital part of marketingbecause theycanalsoinfluence the decisionsmade
by theirfriendsandevenacquaintanceswhetherit’sthe musicalbumtheylike orthe
clothestheybuy. These are the agesthat theycan feel the freedomof beinginbetween
youngstersandadults.
3. I chose themas my targetaudience because theyare easytocapture what theyreallywant.
I have my ownsocial mediaandI researchedaboutyoungadults.Ihave foundoutthat they
are the oneswhoshare so much informationonsocial mediawhetherwhatschool theygo
to, whattheydo on a daily basis,whatare theirfriendslike,the typical musictheylistento,
whatare theirbeliefsandopinionsaboutlife ingeneral.Withthisinformation,Ican make a
marketingstrategytomake thembuymy product.
5. How didyouattract/addressyouraudience?
I attractedmy target audience byaddressingtheminthe language,use of colourandfont
that theywouldrelate to.Forexample,the coloursI’ve usedare green,redandblackwhich
emphasisesthatit’saChristmasedition.Myaudience/readersare youngadultsandthese
are the ageswhere theystill getexcitedforChristmas.
The fontsI usedfor mostwritingsinmymagazine are verynoticeable.Forthe puff,the texts
are boldandlarge so that it can attract youngpeople.The brightnessmakesitstandoutand
appealingtomytarget audience.
The central and secondaryimagesare boldandappealingbecause itconnectswiththe
audience throughbodylanguage andthe waytheydressthemselves.Mostrock fanslike
blackclothes,whichIusedthisopportunitytorelate mymodelswiththe readers.
The contentsof the magazine showinterestingtopics,gigs,interviewsandotherinformation
aboutthe worldof rock stars. I basediton the questionnaire I’ve donewhichincludesmusic
festivalsandotherevents.Ialsoincludedpostersasa freebie andacompetitionthatthe
readerscan wina Christmasjumperof theirfavourite band.
6. What have youlearntabout technologiesfromthe processof constructingthisproduct?
I have learntthat technologieshave conformedtothe modernsociety. Ithelpedme alotto
construct mymagazine inorderto capture my target audience’sattention.I’ve used4or
more software bydoingthis.These are the onesI’ve usedtoconstruct myproduct.
Firstly,Isetup a blogto post myresearch,preliminarytask,diary,
feedback&audience,maintask,planning,targetaudience
informationandevaluation.I’vedone thistohelpme organise my
workso it will bothbe easyforme,my teacherandfor the
moderatorto findeachlabelsandeachtask I’ve finished.
The secondthingI usedisthe Serif PagePlus tomake myownmusic
magazine frontcover.Ican onlyaccessit inschool,whichisa
disadvantage.Overall,itiseasytouse andhandy because italso
helpedme make mydouble page spreadandcontentspage.
4. Microsoftword isalsohelpful becausethis isthe software whereI
practicedmy writingbefore postingituponmy blogor my speechfor
the vlogI made.It’sperfectforwritingyourevaluation.Ialso
constructedmyquestionnaireusingthissoftware.
I usedmyiPhone tofilmmyveryfirstvideologthatI postedon
blogger.It’sonlya practice one.It’salsoa way of communicatingwith
my covermodelstoarrange the photoshoot.It’sa way of converging
everytechnologyin1device.I’ve alsousedthe app‘iMovie’onmy
phone toeditmy practice vlog.
Usinga mac computerisveryuseful because
it’swhere Iwrite,update andeditmyblog.The
mac computerinthisschool has editing
software called‘Final CutPro’andit’swhere I
editmostof myvideologs.
Anothertype of technology Iusedisthe
modernslidesharewhere Iuploadthe workI
have done inPowerPointandMicrosoft
Word. Thisishelpful intermsof havingthe
code embeddedtomyblog.Prezi iswhere I
write thingsinterestingly.It’seye-catching
and straightforwardly-easytouse.
YouTube iswhere uploadedmyvideosandvlogsformy
media.Iusedthisvideosharingwebsite inordertoembed
the code ontomy blogforeveryone towatchit.
7. Lookingback at yourpreliminarytask,whatdoyoufeel youhave learntinthe progression
fromit to the full product?
My preliminarytaskwasschool magazine.I’ve learnthow magazinesare laidoutwhich
reallyhelpedme doingthismusicmagazine.Also,I’ve learntaboutthe conventionsof a
magazine thatI usedto pointoutwhich are the importantonestoinclude inmycurrent
magazine.The significantfeaturesIincludedare the central image,masthead,barcode &
price and coverlines.These featuresare importanttoemphasizethe contentsof the
magazine andoutline whatit’sall about.
