2. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
My double page spread of the music magazine uses the conventions of
typical music magazine, due to the bold title being at the top of the page
however is also challenges conventions on music magazine because the title
is on an angle and has a shadow effect behind the text. Furthermore the
image uses normal conventions of music magazine because there is one
large image on one side of the page which is similar to the R&B magazine
BEATZ. I feel that to challenge the conventions of typical music magazine use
of images I would have had to include multiple images all over both sides of
the double page spread. My music magazine also uses the conventions of
music magazines because of the layout because it starts with a drop cut this
is how most magazine start the article also the text is set in to columns and
this is also how the majority of music magazines are set out.. In contradiction
to this I feel that mu magazine also challenges the conventions of normal
magazine also due to the text because at the end of the article I have
included information about where you can get latest updates from who the
article is about and I feel that not many magazines do this.
I feel that my music magazine is similar to the BEATZ magazine due the
layout of the image which is on one whole side of the double page spread.
Also due to the text layout which is also in columns and the colours which
are also red and white. However they are also different due to the tile of the
BEATZ magazine being a different font, colour and it is straight, but there is
still a similarity because the tile of the article is also above the text. And in
both magazines I feel that the first things you see is the image and the large
text.
3. The front cover of my music magazine conforms due the
conventions of typical music due to the magazine name being at the
top of the page and the first thing you see . Also due to the image
being the centre of the page and the focus of the front cover, and
the image is also relevant to the context of the magazine.
Furthermore due to the straplines being at the side of the
magazines, to challenge the conventions of magazines would be to
have the straplines in the middle of the page the magazine name
near the bottom of the page. I also feel that due to the colours the
text that is conforms to the conventions of magazine because there
are not many used only 3, to challenge the conventions would have
been to add multiple colours and many different fonts.
I feel that BEATZ magazine and my music magazine are similar
because of the layout both has one large image which is the
focus and the magazine name which is bold and at the top of
the page. Also due the kickers both being to the right of the
page and near the bottom showing that it is important but
not as important as the article name. However I feel that they
are also different due to the fonts, because on the BEAZ
magazine all the texts have a bold background behind each
text.
4. The contents page for my music magazine conforms to
the conventions of magazine due to the title of the
page placed at the top of the page however I feel it also
challenges conventions because it is not straight and it
on an angle. Furthermore my contents page also
conforms to the conventions of normal magazines
contents pages because of the text includes the page
number and information about that article. Also due to
the image one of the focus of the page I feel that this
conforms to the conventions of magazines. To challenge
the conventions of magazines would be to include
multiple images and not to have information about the
article just the page number and the article title.
I feel that this contents page from VIBE magazine and my
contents page are similar because both have the page
number and information about the article, however the
layout of is different because VIIBE magazine had the font
in columns in centre format. It is also similar because the
image on both contents pages is the focus of the page,
however the image on the VIBE page is in the centre and
the image on my contents page is to the left.
5. 2. How does your media product represent particular
social groups?
I feel that my music magazine represents young people from working class
backgrounds, young male and females who listen to R&B/Hip Hop music because the
lyrics reflect peoples real lives and this is something that these young people would
be able to relate to as well as being able to find out information about someone and
their life through just music. The typical person from my social group are young
adults male/female , who go to clubs and go to cheap music festivals of the genre
and wear clothing from brands likes: Adidas, Nike & Jordan. They also can not afford
to go to many concert due to them being dependent on their parents and they
would typically have a large family, which means that concerts would not be a
priority. I feel that the aspirations of people form this social class would want to
become artists in the R&B genre to make money to support themselves and their
family, however I also feel that many people from this social class do not care about
education and would make money however they can this could mean taking part in
illegally actively. However I also believe that there are people from this social class
who do care about their education and want to become successful doctors, lawyers,
teacher etc. Within the music magazine I produced I feel that I have put across this
social class in a positive way because within the double page spread article the
artists is from a working class background and she talks about all of her successes
and how she still wants to achieve more things likes Oscars and more Grammys.
6. 3. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience for my music magazine is young people
aged between 16 – 17 years old, people who come from a
working class background, due to the majority of people
who would read my music magazine come from a working
class background the price of my magazine would be
between £1.50 - £2.00, the reason for this is because I feel
that this it not too expensive and that people in this age
ranged still heavily depend on their parents/guardians this
means that would not really want to spend a lot of money
on a music magazine especially if they are working class.
The reason why I chose this aged range is that it is not to
big and that it was not to include content that is suitable
for all the age range. For example if the age range was 15 –
35, this would have been hard to include content that
would suit and entertain all the age range.
7. 4. How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract my ideal audience I included a range of
information relating to R&B/Hip Hop including: concert
reviews, album reviews, upcoming concert, upcoming
albums, artist interviews, new artist information and new
released music. The reason for the magazine content
being a wide range is so that it can suit all the target
audience because certain people might not be interested
in albums but are interested in concerts, also because
some people might not be able to afford concerts but are
able to buy albums etc. I also feel that the magazines
need to be worth the money so the audience will
constantly buy the magazine each month, I have done
this by adding in large amounts of information to ensure
this.
8. 5. What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?
I feel that the best suitable music magazine publisher would be
Bauer because they are one of the UK’s most influential music
media brand. Also they have better experience and knowledge of
music, plus they have better assess to music journalists and music
artist. Furthermore they can just focus on one subject. They also
have a specific music media topic within their publisher. In addition
I also feel that Time Inc. could also be a suitable institution to
distribute my music magazine because e it is a UK company that
produce a wide range of magazines topics. The topics range from
fashion & beauty, sports & fitness, business & technology and
lifestyle.
9. The audience for Time Inc. magazines is mostly men and
women as well as younger people aged between 16 – 18
who are interested in a particular subjects or a wide
range of different subjects. Time Inc. might be a suitable
publisher for a music magazine because they are very
popular with verity of people, this means that they know
how to attract a large abundance and keep them
interested constantly. and publish magazines on a wide
range out topics meaning that there are large amounts of
people who have a good knowledge of certain topics.
Also they already publish one music magazine “NME”
10. 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the
process of constructing this product?
11. Photoshop:
For the main image of the double page spread I used
Photoshop to improve the image. I increased the
saturation to make the model look less pale and to ensure
she stands out from the background. I also increased the
contracts to make the background look bright white and
not grey. Furthermore I darkened how black her clothing
was the make it all the items of clothing all one shade of
black and less patching, this was also to ensure the focus
on the model and to increase the colour different
between her and the background.
12. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you
feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the
full product?
13. I feel that the quality of photo taking has improved
because the image on the front cover of the final
product is less blurry, it has been framed better and
there is also a clear focus within the image. The choose
of colours has been improved because on the
preliminary task you can not see the text due to the
colour clashing but on the final product I have chosen
colours that go with each other and that do not clash.
The layout has improves and how professional it looks
because preliminary task front cover has two images
which are of a low quality, this does not look
professional because on magazine that are published
there is only one main image with one focus. Also the
text (cover lines) are all on one side making it looked
squashed where as on the final produced all the text
has been spaced out.
