media studies question 1 evaluation

1. Media Evaluation
Question 1:
In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products

2. The Front Cover
Here is my front cover which I produced on the computer
on the programme: Photoshop. For this task I was to
produce a questionnaire for what my target audience
wanted to read about and wanted to see. This included:
• Colours
• Text
• Content
• The Image
For this I produced a number of questionnaires which
were written, asked via video & finally presented them on
different presentational devices.

3. The Main Image
• In some ways my media product challenges, has developed and uses
many different forms of codes and conventions of real life media
products. For example, my front cover produced on the platform
adobe Photoshop uses direct address within the main image, this is
useful because it anchors the audience and draws them in. It’s also
eye catching when they’re looking directly at you, like my new artist
which I used of Nina she looks directly at the audience.
• She is also dressed to suit the Indie Rock genre I believe as she is
quite subtle and basic which I know that genre is. Furthermore, she
has a stern expression on her face this is because front covers don’t
usually have the main artist smiling at them this links with other
magazines such as NME which I have used as an example as my front
cover has been influenced by this company.
• Although she is not in the centre this challenges conventions of a
music magazine as she is positioned slightly towards the side. I used
this image, whilst editing it I flipped it to the opposite side and edited
the colours such as the saturation, the exposure, the contrast,
brightness and when editing the image I removed any blemishes
using the blemish editing tool.

4. Dressing my artist in the colour yellow does not stick to the codes and
conventions of the Indie—Rock genre however it does challenge them because
by dressing her in bright yellow signifies that she is different and original which
is what the Indie-Rock genre is all about. The bright yellow shirt with cuts out
of them suggests that my artist does not follow the crowd and that she wants
to be a part of something for herself not just the people who enjoy her music.
The fact that I’ve dressed her in the colour yellow for the mise-en-scene is
useful to the audience too because she is a new artist therefore by dressing her
in this colour it stands out that she is new and makes her look more important
than the rest of the artists within the magazine.

5. At first I used ‘music for you, made by you’ but I
needed to change this as I felt it didn’t really fit
in with the Indie-Rock genre. I also like the fact
that it’s in capitals as people described the Indie-
Rock genre as ‘loud’ therefore by having them in
capitals it kind of looks like it’s shouting at you
that the music is here!
The front cover also has a large dominant brand
to make sure the audience know the name of
the company, by making this bigger it intrigues
the readers because they will know the brand
and recognise it if they’ve seen it previously. My
brand name ‘M4U’ I feel is pretty original
however I wanted it to be short, it was
influenced by the company NME. The tagline
along with it ‘where the music is’ I felt was quite
catchy as it links to the magazine because it is to
do with music.

6. • Another feature that links to the typography is the cover lines;
these stand out and body the shape of the image by being
positioned on the left hand side. I have had to develop this
because the white and purple text was previously on both sides
however this was not an original idea so I needed to develop this
by positioning the writing on one side and changing the colour
scheme to link with the genre.
• I also included more artists over the ‘new’ artist which also
challenges the codes and conventions of a music magazine due
to the fact that it covers the main image, this may seem unusual
however it is not as it is used in many other music magazines.
• The colour scheme of the text is quite basic because they all flow
easily, they are each a different shade of purple or white. The
purple, black and yellow top all link together because they
challenge the codes and conventions of an Indie-Rock magazine.

7. • The artists that are included within the magazine are positioned at the top,
this challenges codes and conventions of a music magazine as it is not
that common to have them included at the top as they are usually
positioned around the main image or over it.
• I like how I’ve done this because it proves that although it is influenced by
other magazines it does show that I do have my own original ideas that I
think look quite professional.
• It also uses the pricing, barcode and date at the bottom of the magazine it
is however on the right hand side which challenges codes and conventions
as they are usually positioned on the left hand side and they don’t usually
cover the main image.

8. Double Page Spread
• My double page spread which was created on the platform Quark which at first seemed extremely
complicated but after knowing what to do it was easy to get the hang of it. The double page spread
contains the main image of Eryn Wilson, she dominates one side of the article which takes over than more
than half of the page, this links to other distributed magazines such as Q magazine where they take up
more space than the actual text/interview.
• I have developed my product because for starters the image was completely different it’d warped and
messed with the way it looked stretching out the image, this didn’t look professional because it looked a
bit unusual and the image I have now fits the article better and also the text is a different colour which is
in lighter pastel colours challenging the Indie-Rock codes and conventions but also making it link to the
front cover colours.

9. • The font of the text uses codes and
conventions of a music magazine as it is very
easy to read and simple therefore it will be
more enjoyable to read. The layout of the DPS
is also for easy reading because it is on one
side of the page and in 3 separate columns.
• The title of the article is surrounded by a block
of red which includes text within it introducing
who the article is between. I thought this was
effective because it stands out around the
white text.
• The fact that the text is on one side and the
picture on the other was influenced by many
other double page spreads from NME. Also the
image dominates the page more than the text
does It’s useful because the text is in one
colour whereas the image is in black and white.
Inspired by NME’s double page
spreads. In ‘The Teenagers’ one the
block of colour around it and the
drop cap is also included in mine
which I created on Quark Photoshop
Express.

10. Contents Page
• Thirdly my music magazine contents page uses an
easy read layout which has the colour scheme of
blue which slightly links to the front cover however
I feel like I needed to change this because it was
previously pinks and purples to relate to the front
page. I thought this didn’t really show off the Indie-
Rock genre due to the bubble gum pastels.
• Using shades of blue and an image of the
Courteeners which also relates to the genre and the
contents page as they are included on it is
extremely helpful because not only does this link
back to my audience feedback of who they want
me to include in the magazine contents but it does
show that I’ve gone out of my way to take this
image at this gig.

11. • By adding in an editor’s letter on the contents page
this really has developed my contents page showing
off that I have completed research around music
magazines, not only is this part of the codes and
conventions but it also makes the reader feel ‘more
personal’ with the magazine already because I’ve
written this formal intro. I like how the text is at the
beginning so that the readers can first instantly get
personal with the magazine and read about who is
apart of it.
• I’ve even included a social media link, an email and
the magazine’s phone number this is linking to a
music magazine because they all include contact
details of the magazine incase the audience ever
want to contact them.

12. • I’ve also included social media platforms which again are a code and
convention of a contents page; this makes the reader have endless options of
ways to contact the magazine other than just email and a phone number
which I have also added below the editor’s letter.
• At the bottom there is a subscription note but this is useful for the audience
and a good introduction to them because it means they get something for
‘free’ too for the first 3 months. I like how I’ve done this as from my research
in the market most magazines include a subscription note and an online link
for more information.