This document provides an evaluation of Omar Clarke's media product submission. It discusses several ways in which Omar's product uses and develops conventions of real hip hop magazines, such as employing esoteric language targeted towards hip hop fans and using a limited color palette typical of magazine covers. It also notes one way Omar challenged conventions by including a box on the contents page advertising the next issue's stories. The evaluator concludes Omar has demonstrated learning about technologies like Adobe InDesign and Photoshop used to construct the media product in a professional manner.
2. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
⢠Through carrying out an extensive amount of research on
Hip Hop magazines, I was able to find conventions of the
genre used for other Hip Hop magazines. Through carrying
out research I found out they magazines tend to use field
specific and esoteric language throughout their magazine to
appeal directly to their audience through shared
understanding. For example the phrase below in a Source
magazines cover line âwhat are Eminem and Dre Cookinâ Upâ
is clearly informal language. The normal person may not
understand what is meant by the metaphor âcookinâ
upâ, however the target audience of this magazine would as
they are Hip Hop fans in which the Hip Hop genre is
associated with esoteric language such as
slang, colloquialisms and clippings as seen by âcookinââ. I
also tried to incorporate this convention into my
magazine, more so in the double page than the front cover
and the contents page. I used esoteric language such as
âdopeâ which is a synonym for good in the Hip Hop
discourse community; I also used non Standard English
terms such as âflyestâ replacing the term best. Once again
these are terms that the normal consumer may not
understand, but the target audience will due to having
membersâ resources, meaning they have background
knowledge and a shared understanding of the Hip Hop
culture. Through my choice of language I have developed the
conventions of a real Hip Hop magazine as from the research
I conducted on Hip Hop magazines they all use esoteric and
field specific language that is relevant to the Hip Hop
genre, thus making the magazine appeal more to the target
3. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
⢠Additionally from my research I also found out that Hip
Hop magazines use only two/three colours for their
front covers, thus making it have a cohesive structure
and not disorganised. I also developed this Hip Hop
magazine convention by using three colours for my
magazine. I used the neutral colour grey as the
background, whilst neutral colour white for text and
also the use of a the cool colour blue. From my research
Hip Hop magazines tended to use a neutral colour such
as black for the background, neutral colour white for
the text and either a warm colour such as red or a cool
colour such as blue for other parts of the magazine. I
also developed this concept in my colour scheme
following the conventions of Hip Hop magazines, as the
use of a narrow range of colours for the colour scheme
whilst having a dark neutral colour for the background
allows the magazine to not look too cluttered or
disorganised. I have also developed the conventional
structure of the cover lines in my magazine.
⢠From conducting my research Hip Hop magazines tend
to keep cover lines all aligned either to the left or the
right apart from the main cover line which is central and
has a much larger typography and a different
typography. I also followed this convention as I feel it
enables the magazine to be more cohesive and allows
the audience to interpret the text easier.
4. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?
⢠From conducting my research on Hip Hop contents
page, I found that they tended to use a layout
whereby they separate their regulars from their
features through the use of boxes. I also employed
this convention when producing my contents page
as it allows the contents page to be more cohesive
to the audience as theyâll be able to navigate
around the contents page more easily. Additionally
from my research I found out that they tend to
make their contents page link to their front cover
through placing their masthead in, I also followed
this convention.
⢠However an area where I challenged the contents
page that I researched is that I felt that they didnât
link back to their front cover enough. This
influenced me to place my front cover within in my
contents page in a reduced size, this allowed me to
make the contents page link with the front cover
even more, allowing my magazine to be even more
cohesive.
5. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?
⢠Another method I have employed that
challenges the conventions of a
magazine is the techniques I have used
to ensure that my future issues of my
magazine sustains readership. For
instance in my contents page I have
dedicated a box that tells the reader
what will be in next months issue. This is
a subversive feature of a contents page
as it challenges the conventions as from
my research contents page do not tend
to insight the reader about future
issues. This is a method I have employed
to encourage increased sales of my
magazine Raps Royalty.
6. HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL
GROUPS?
⢠My media product represents particular social groups through a range of
ways. I chose to use Medium Camera shots mainly for my images of artists. I
had done this to allow different aspects of the mise-en-scene to represent
the Hip Hop culture. The use of gold chain jewellery in the miss-en-scene
allowed me to demonstrate the roots of the Hip Hop cultures as pioneers of
Hip Hop such ass Run-DMC are infamously known not only for the Adidas
Sneakers but also the Rope Gold Chains. In addition the use of jewellery
allowed me to represent the glamour lifestyle and the boastful attitudes of
modern Hip Hop artists. Through utilising a medium shot also enabled me to
represent the costumes and props conventional to the genre as the use of
designer clothing brands such as Ralph Lauren is representative of the rags
to riches lifestyles that Hip Hop artists demonstrate. Through using
headphones as a prop also helps represent the genre as theyâre âbeats by Dr
Dreâ. Headphones are associated with the all types of music but through
using headphones constructed by a major Hip Hop producer helps to
represent the genre of Hip Hop.
Additionally through using medium shots allowed the body language to be
seen explicitly in the miss-en-scene whilst a medium shot is close enough to
allow you to see facial expressions. The main shot used for my magazines
front cover allows the body language to be seen explicitly as the artists
throws up a hand gesture that is conventional to the Hip Hop genre. Hand
gestures such as the one in my front cover is conventional and can be
associated to the gang life in the project areas that a lot of American artists
stem from.
7. HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL
GROUPS?
⢠Additionally in constructing my masthead, I
wanted to utilise a typography/graphology that
represents the âprojectsâ in America, where Hip
Hop branched out from. The projects are
essentially the council house estates within the
city in the states of America. Through the use of a
masthead typography that visually looks as
though it has blocks, can represent the
infrastructure of these council estate projects.
Additionally I wanted to represent the gritty
lifestyles and hardships that Hip Hop artists held
prior to becoming artistsâ, this is why I chose a
typography that has a gritty approach and slightly
dark connotations hence the black marks in the
text.
⢠Additionally the mode of address that I have
employed in my double page spread in particular
is relevant to the Hip Hop genre. I have used
esoteric lexical terms such as âdopeâ and âflyestâ.
The use of esoteric language and slang, creates
solidarity with the target audience as theyâre likely
to be of the only ones that can interpret those
words as they would use the same words in their
vocabulary.
8. WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT
DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?
⢠A media institution that may distribute Raps Royalty is IPC. This is
due to the IPC being the biggest publishers in the United
Kingdom, thus making them very successful. They have a
magazine in a numerous amount of fields and sectors such as the
music industry through Rock magazines like NME, whilst the
television industry too through TV Times. However through
constructing research on the IPC I drew to the conclusion that
they donât publish any Hip Hop magazines. As they donât publish
any Hip Hop magazines, there is a market for them to distribute
my magazine. In addition there arenât many Hip Hop magazines in
the UK, the closest Hip Hop magazine is the independently
published magazine Rewind Mag, thus suggesting there is a
market for a Hip Hop magazine in the UK as there isnât enough
and the IPC Media donât publish any.
Through constructing research on the IPC I found out that they
have three core audiences: men, mass market women and
upmarket women. Two out of three of these audiences are
relevant to my target audience, as my target audience age ranges
from 18-25, these are both men and woman, so on a broad level in
terms of the age of my target audience it fits in with the IPCâs
ideologies. The core audience is upmarket woman wouldnât suit
my magazine so they are the core audience that my magazine
wouldnât appeal to.
The department most relevant to Raps Royalty in the IPC would
be the department called IPC Inspire. This is due to the fact it is
where the more male orientated magazine's reside also all the
music magazines including NME are placed in this section.
9. WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT
DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?
⢠From conducting research on other
magazines that they have distributed I
found out that when they publish a
magazine they also place a lot of money to
invest in the sales and publicity of the
magazine. This makes it clear that IPC
media is a platform that help execute a lot
of sales for the magazine as theyâre willing
to place investments into magazines that
they publish.
⢠The IPC are a global institution and are the
UK's leading consumer magazine and
digital publisher, they also have a large
successful portfolio selling 350 million
copies of their published magazines a year.
This make it clear that if they weâre the
publishers of Raps Royalty they will help
boost sales exponentially.
10. WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE
FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?
The target audience will have a shared understanding of the Hip Hop genre;
they will have a firm knowledge and understanding of the genre. Due to my
target audience having a shared understanding of the Hip Hop genre some of
the terminology will attain field specific words that are relevant to the
genre, such as âblockâ referencing the projects in America, or jargon relevant to
the genre such as âdopeâ as a synonym for good. The target audience will be
between the 18-25 year old brackets, young adults potentially. Although the
roots of the Hip Hop genre is around the black ethnicity, Hip Hop has become a
global landmark since the 21st century, in which it is endorsed all over the world
thus influencing the magazine being targeted at all ethnicities as long as they
have a shared interest in the Hip Hop genre. The economic backgrounds of my
target audience will be middle class and working class as they are more likely to
be able to relate to artists who have been through tough circumstances prior to
becoming an artist. My magazine will be sold for ÂŁ1.99; I have chosen this price
so that it is affordable for my target audience of the working and middle class.
The image of the right is an indication of the target audience of my magazine as
they are from an urban environment. They are within the age bracket 18-25.
They appear to be of middle class in terms of their economic background. As
highlighted before my magazine isnât subjective to race but it is subjective to
only focusing upon those who have a keen interests in the Hip Hop genre.
11. WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE
FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?
⢠Through conducting research on Hip Hop magazines I
found out that they appealed to their target audience
through their mode of address i.e. through the use of
slang and esoteric terms such as â âŚ.It has also been
done through the use of props in the miss-en-scene
through the magazines I researched using props such as
headphones made by Hip Hop producer Doctor Dre.
Additionally props such as designer shades are relevant
to the genre as emphasises the rags to riches lifestyles
that a lot of Hip Hop artists generate. When constructing
my double page spread through my mode of address I
wanted to explicitly appeal to the target audience.
Through using colloquial phrases such as âhottest buzzâ
and âcookinâup the gameâ allowed me to use esoteric
language that only the target audience is going to be
likely to interpret.
12. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT
TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF
CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?
⢠I have learnt a lot about the technologies used construct my artefacts. The software I have
developed my understanding about the most is Adobe InDesign. I used Adobe InDesign
predominantly to construct my double page spread and my contents page. The use of column
guides allowed me enter my text and ensure that it was all aligned accordingly, thus influencing
my final product to look more professional. Additionally through the software enabling me to
set up margins and columns allowed me to divide my contents page into two on each page.
This enabled me to operate in a more structured manor when constructing my contents page.
13. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT
TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF
CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?
⢠When using Photoshop through using
tools such as the Quick Selection tool and
the Magic Wand allowed me to erase the
background of the image out accurately.
Additionally through the advancements of
the software enabled to increase/decrease
the brush size such that the strength of
the quick selection tool would be
less/more. This enabled me to erase the
background very finely and as accurate as I
wanted to be. In the end this allowed my
artefact to look more professional as real
forms of media would always have the
background very finely
removed, Photoshop enabled me to do
this.
14. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT
TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS
OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?
A limitation I found through using Adobe
InDesign is that when I linked my double page
spread to Photoshop to enable me to place
my images into my Adobe InDesign
document, my colour scheme was affected.
Prior to placing in my images, the colour
scheme consisted of a dark blue for text as
used on my front cover. The double page
spread headline on the right shows the colour
my text was initially. However once I linked
my InDesign document with Photoshop to
place my images in the navy blue was
changed into a feint blue colour. To the right
you can see my double page spread whereby
the text that was a navy blue has been
changed to a feint blue/purple colour. This
was the limitation I found through the use of
Adobe InDesign .
On the whole I never had much limitations
with the technologies that I utilised. This can
be assessed by my initial mock-ups of how I
wanted my artefact to look and the outcome
of my artefacts when I completed them.
15. LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY
TSK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT
IN THE POGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL
PRODUCT?
⢠I have learnt a lot since constructing my preliminary
task. I have learnt a lot about the technologies I have
been using to construct the artefacts whilst I also learnt
a lot about how to represent the genre and the
audience through constructing more effective and
excessive revision on real media products. In terms of
the technologies used I developed my understanding of
Adobe InDesign, thus developing my skills to keep my
artefacts structured and aligned accordingly. For
example the screen grab to the right shows the use of
columns to help separate my text from images when
constructing my contents page. Additionally Adobe
InDesign C.5 allowed me to keep my text aligned
accurately through a green line appearing when your
text is aligned. Ultimately this helped to make my
product simulate real media products as they would be
professionally laid out and constructed.
16. LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY
TSK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT
IN THE POGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL
PRODUCT?
In addition my understanding of how to Final product Preliminary Task
represent particular social groups has enhanced
significantly since producing the preliminary
task. For example through more extensive and
efficient research into real Hip Hop magazines I
found out how they represented the social group
of hip hop aritists i.e through the miss-en-scene
consisting of glamour jewellery for props. I also
endorsed this when producing my artefacts I
ensured that I had props such as jewellery,
costume consisting of designer clothes that
helped to reflect the rags to riches persona that
artists attain, body language such as the hand
gestures used that is relevant to the Hip Hop
culture due to itâs associations with gangs and
gangs tend to use hand gestures for gang signs.
In contrast, during the preliminary task of a
student magazine it could be said that I under
represented the social group of students as I
couldâve used props such as books to help
represent them or I could have placed the
picture in the location of a college/school to help
represent the lifestyle of students.