Unit G321: AS Media Coursework

1. OCR Media Studies – AS Level
Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media
Preliminary Task, Log Book and Evaluation
Set Brief - Print
Music Magazine – Production
Preliminary Task Progression, Log Book
and Evaluation
Name: Nikita Da Silva
Candidate Number: 6627
Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College
Center Number: 64770

2. Section 1) – Log Book

3. Masthead
Stands out on the
Page due to being of a bright
colour which stands out
amongst the dark
background
Strapline
Highlights the magazine to stand out from the rest, by
making it seem netter than other music magazines
Main headline
Attracts the target
audience in which see
Cheryl Cole as a role
model and will want to
create a personal
relationship through
reading more about her
Cover lines
Attracts to the
Uses and
gratifications
(Katz) of different
audiences, if not
attracted to the
main headline
Main Image
Highlights star
appeal of the
magazine
Date
So audience can keep up to
track with monthly releases of
magazines
Convergence
To attract the wider
audience and
specifically teens
and young adultsBarcode – needed to
buy magazine (Visible in
handheld copy)
Price – to inform reader of
the cost to buy magazine
(Visible in handheld copy)
Magazine Analysis

4. Established Magazine for my Research
Masthead
Is bold and stands
out as it is black and
contrasts with the
light background to
Main headline
Stands out to appeal
to the audience with
Ariana Grande as a
role model
Main image
Uses ‘star appeal’
(Dyer) centered in the
center of the page, as
it represents and
appeals to the target
audience
Convergence
To attract the wider
audience and specifically
teens and young adults
Cover lines
Appeal to the needs
and gratifications
(Katz) of different
target audiences
Strapline
Needs to be below or
above the masthead in
order to tell the
audience more about
the magazine
Barcode –
needed to buy
magazine (Visible
in handheld copy)
Price – to inform
reader of the cost to
buy magazine (Visible in
handheld copy)
Date
So audience can keep up
to track with monthly
releases of magazines

5. Music Magazine – Genre research
The target audience is varied from the age of 16 to 25 as it
incoporates a wide range of genres of mainly pop and R&B
music. This is represented by the artist on the front of the
magazine which attracts a range of audiences. There is a varied
target audience and genre, depending on what is in the charts at
that time – showing audiences influence as the prosumer in
production process.

6. This Billboard magazine is aimed at love and belonging on Maslow’s
Hierarchy as the target audience is aimed at teens and young adults. This
focuses on the idea on feeling belonged within society in terms of social
groups.
Katz theory focuses on the idea that, women will buy this magazine as they
may be interested in Ariana Grande’s music and the gossip on her life, to get
uses out of it . Where as, men may buy it as they are attracted to the picture
of Ariana on the front of the magazine.
The main image on this magazine is focused very much on the idea of
emphasis on sexuality and physical appearance (Mulvey) in that women are
represented as passive objects of male gaze as Ariana Grande on the front
could attract men and can be seen as scopophilia.
What is the USP of this magazine?
From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP is they
provide a range of different genres, through the use of different musicians for
the main image on each front cover of every magazine. This therefore attracts
a wide range and variation of target audience. Their star appeal (Dyer) and
genre is determined by what is popular in the charts at a certain time –
therefore showing the audience to be the prosumer and determining on what is
produced.
Theory of Music Magazine

7. Publisher research
Billboard is a internationally well know American music magazine
owned by Prometheus Global Media and headquartered in New York.
It was founded by William H. Donaldson James Hennegan in 1894 and
is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. They are published
weekly and have a rough readership of 48,000.

8. Final Choice of magazine
I have chosen to use the Billboard magazine as inspiration to create
my own music magazine as it has effectively used codes and
conventions in ways that look appealing to the target audience with
simplicity. As the target audience is of a similar range to my own I can
then use this to help me design my own, through using the
conventions and design used to make a successful media product.

9. Photography planning

10. My photo shoot
I organized time to do my photoshoot, so that there
was plenty of time so I could play around with outfits
and poses - to ensure that my photos were suited to
my magazine – as I didn't’t want to rush and have
photos that wouldn't’t appeal to my target audience.
For my front cover, initially, I took my photos in a
bedroom by a plain wall- to make it easier to crop and
get rid of the background of my image. However, the
image appeared to look rather dark and therefore not
as professional, as the features on the face were
harder to see and not as focused on. I therefore
decided to move into another room with a lighter
setting, and did a mid-shot to focus on facial features
rather than her body. As this shows a greater focus on
my star appeal as a main feature of my music
magazine, and will attract the specific target audience.
My contents page shows a high angle, full body shot
of Ariana sitting on the floor. These photos were taken
on a room where the lighting wasn’t too bright, as this
wouldn't’t reflect the emotion shown. For the double
page spread I conducted the photo shoot in the bed
room as it conveys the same sort of pose and image as
the contents page which shows continuity.
Full body shot Mid-shot

11. Theory behind photography (mise en scene)
My star appeal showed Ariana Grande wearing
an iconic little black dress which makes her look
like a sexy feminine yet bold character in which
will be effective in attracting the male gaze
(Mulvey) and therefore the wider target
audience in meeting the gratifications and
needs of the different target audience. I have
also shown her in a similar pose so that it shows
her to be glamorous and girly is which many
women may aspire to be like.
I have also shown her in a more casual
outfit to represent her to also be very down
to earth and someone in which people can
relate to and aspire towards being like –
personal relationship (Katz).

12. Hand drawn Drafts – Main Task
These are my hand drawn drafts for my main task. They helped me as a
guidance when creating my music magazine in order to ensure that I was
using the correct codes and conventions in which are used to create a
successful media product that will appeal to my target audience. This also
helped me to structure my magazine so the layout looks neat and effective. I
made these decisions through a questionnaire to get the opinion of my
target audience.

13. Key features and focuses of a successful media
product – target audience feedback
From discussions I have had with those of my target audience of 16-26 females, I have
gathered key areas in which need to focus on in order to make a successful media
product are the colour scheme which must be consistent and repeated (Steve Neale)
throughout my media product in order to appeal to the target audience – such as a pink
or purple colour scheme used in order to appeal to the female audience. Also, much of
my target audience referred to the importance of a bold main headline in order to
appeal to the target audiences main needs and gratifications (Katz), this will be the main
feature in attracting the audiences attention. The star appeal (Dyer) is what is said to be
the feature that is first looked at on a magazine and therefore whether they would
purchase the magazine would be based around who the interview is on, as women who
see them as a role model may buy the magazine to create a personal relationship with;
or even for male gaze (Mulvey). I also found that the audience were attracted to the
puff as a main feature of a successful media product as it is focused around something
the target audience is interested in winning, and if they had a chance at winning
something worthwhile then they would purchase the magazine for that reason – uses
and gratifications (Katz).Convergence was considered very important in a successful
media product as with the growing technology within society today my target audience
expressed how convergence, such as social networking is widely used in order to learn
more about the magazine and therefore create more of a personal relationship.