Coursework

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
EVALUATION – QUESTION 1

2. Preliminary Task:
In the preliminary task of creating a student magazine, we targeted it at High School students.
We did this because we thought we would have a large target audience of many years at a
High School, and that many students may be going through a time of trying to look cool, and
messing around or maturing which is typical. Therefore, these students will be more likely to
read the magazine, as that is where they can find advice on how to act and be better, and
where they can relax and enjoy reading gossip to help them out.

3. We used forms and conventions of real media products to create our final image to make it
look realistic and professional. One of the ways that helped to achieve this was thorough
research, such as our Similar Text Analysis, in which I analysed and looked at front pages,
contents pages and double page spreads from magazines such as a double page spread of
Paramore from the magazine Rock Sound and a contents page from Kerrang. The other
research I conducted was Codes and Conventions, Target Audience Research, and Subject
Matter Research.

4. We placed the masthead at the top of the page, which
was very common amongst other student magazines
such as College, moreover; our main image was of
two High School girls, which we thought was
appropriate considering this is a magazine for
students and so students can relate to it. The camera
shot of the image was a two shot/mid shot which
shows the two girls clearly laughing, and the
background of the school building to make it look
more realistic that they are in school and on the
benches. Looking at other Student magazines Kelsie
and I saw that even though the magazines were
colourful, it was professional as it is for school. To
cooperate this in our magazine we used the colours of
the school logo and the jumpers of the two girls to
bring it together, look professional but also seem
attractive to our target audience of High School
students. Additionally, other Student Magazines kept
their prices low or free as this is for students, so we
kept our magazine free. We kept the barcode at the
bottom of the page, which it always is in any type of
magazine, and to the right.

5. Our Student Contents page also looked
professional, simple and colourful so that it
is easy to find the pages the students want
to read. On the right we placed a big image
of a student so that the magazine is more
relatable to students. Like other Student
magazines we placed the page numbers
on the images so that the students can
instantly look at the image and see the
number and quickly turn to it. Furthermore,
other Student magazines had a colour
scheme and a house style which was
carried throughout the magazine, which we
also did. The colour scheme of red, white
and blue was used in both our front page
and contents page, and the house style for
example, the font of the straplines and
headlines were used in the writing on both
the front page and contents page.

6. Main Task:
In my main task my partner and I chose the genre of Rock and I featured a Rock group of two
people as the main image on the front page. I chose a band as that is what 42% of the target
audience wanted. We chose the genre of Rock as I already had some ideas in my head that I
wanted to try out such as the main image and the layout of the magazine but also I wanted a
challenge as I am more into the ‘girly’ magazines such as, Glamour and Heat and so I wanted
to see how well I could do.

7. I looked at existing Rock magazines to see the layout and structure of their magazines and
the colours used such as Kerrang, Billboard and Rock Sound. I saw that there was a lot of
black and so the colour scheme of my magazine is white, black and shades of red.
Our masthead of “Rock Circuit” tells
the reader quickly which type of
genre this magazine is which is
common amongst other magazines
such as Classic Rock and Rock
Sound. I placed the masthead at the
top and in bold to stand out. I also
kept the main image in white and
black to make the masthead stand
out which is used in many other Rock
magazines such as Classic Rock.

8. Using my research I saw the costumes and hair and makeup was very black, wild and bold.
And so I told my group members to wear black and for Lois to wear dark eyeshadow. Other
groups and artists also had their instruments in their hands, and so to make my Rock
magazine realistic I told Lois to wear her guitar. Both their emotions were intimidating and
scary as that is what I saw on other magazines.
Additionally, the barcode and price was placed at the bottom right corner of the page where it
normally is in any magazine. My partner and I made sure the price of the magazine of £1.99 was
reasonable as it is a common price with other magazines. I made sure the price wasn’t too bold
and big so that it catches the eye, as I don’t want the audience to be put off. The issue date was
put under the masthead on the right hand side where it can be seen.

9. In my contents page I kept the writing simple, informative and with a visual image
to brighten it up and not look as boring. I also kept the colour scheme the same
of black, white and shades of red to look similar as the front page. Moreover,
most contents pages from any magazine has an editor’s letter so I featured an
editor’s letter aswell to give the reader a bit of knowledge on this issue of the
magazine and make it seem more exciting.
Aswell as the bold image of Lois in a medium long shot to catch the reader’s
attention, I also displayed two more small images of posters in the magazine to
show the reader what is in the magazine very quickly. Furthermore, I placed the
page number aswell so it can be seen quickly and the reader can quickly turn to
it.
Many magazines offer posters inside to act as an incentive to buy the magazine,
and so I used this technique aswell by displaying a puff in a pug on the front
page saying, ‘WIN A SIGNED POSTER’ to make the audience buy the magazine
as they may want a signed poster from their favourite Rock band or artist. I also
placed the image of two posters on the contents page to make the consumer
read on and find the posters in the magazine. Additionally, my partner and I also
placed the masthead on the top of the contents page as we both liked the
technique used by other magazines such as “NME”.

10. In my double page spread I featured an Interview of the Rock band
on my front page. I did this as I knew that it was common and it
was the best way for the reader to be interested in the magazine
as they are able to know more information on the Rock band they
love. I wrapped the text around the image to make my magazine
look professional and realistic. It also brought the page together. I
used help from other magazines to place my image on the page as
I saw from Kerrang, Classic Rock and Rock Sound that their image
is bold, big and eye catching and so I made my image as big as I
could to catch the readers eye whilst flicking through the magazine
whilst still keeping space for my interview. My colour scheme of
black, white and shades of red was still kept so that it looked
similar to the contents page and front page.
I believe my media product does not challenge forms and conventions of real media
products as I wanted my magazine to be realistic and so look like a typical Rock magazine.