2. 1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?
3. 1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products? Title of my Magazine When creating the masthead for my magazine I used the font ‘Impact’ for both the ‘un’ ‘IQUE’ and ‘CUT’ parts of my logo. I created my logo in the programme Paint as I did not have any better alternatives such as Adobe Photoshop available to me at home or school. Before I begun creating my masthead I had already came to the conclusion that the colour scheme of my magazine would be red, white and black, and so decided to incorporate that into my logo. After some chopping and changing, I decided that the background would be best in red, the ‘un’ in white and ‘IQUE’ and ‘CUT’ text in black. By having all different parts of the masthead in different colours I believe that they stand out more. Title of my Magazine Two magazines which follow similar conventions to mine are NME and Q magazine. Both of these magazines use a similar colour pattern of black, white and red in different ways. For example NME uses the black as a background, where as mine has a red background. I also believe that the text is clear and easy to read on my masthead which is also a clear factor in the other two logos. The only difference on mine is that I have changed the colour of text for different parts, but I did this to signify that they are both parts of the word ‘un’ – for example un added onto cut = uncut.
4. Mis-En-Scene I think that the mis-en-scene present throughout my magazine images follows the usual conventions that you would expect from a professional magazine. My magazine has three different locations, of which relate to the particular article on the page, as well as adding variation for the reader. My images also follow the conventions in a way that the images fit in with the particular genre of the magazine, for example my article was about a rapper who's up coming so one of my shots was of the artist and his friend looking out as if ‘into the future’ These kind of shots allow readers to relate to the stories easier. Costumes and Props I asked my models to dress appropriately for a hip-hop genre which I believe is conveyed well by them, for example on the contents page my model wore a flat cap. On my double page spread my models are also dressed in hip-hop apparel such as baseball jackets and bobble hats which gives the impression that they are from a background which resembles rap. These are all conventional as other rap magazines also use similar costumes and props with their models in order to convey these genres. 1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?
5. People The people featured in my magazine are quite conventional as they are all around the age of 18, which is a realistic age for an up-coming artist in the rap/hip-hop scene. I chose specific looking people for the different shots, for example ‘Big Puppa’ is a large looking person who could have resemblances drawn to the rapper ‘Biggie’ This makes my magazine look professional as these parts of it are realistic. The girl on my front cover was chosen because I believed she could pull off a scruffy image which is similar to some of the girl rap artists of current. Title and Font Style I decided to use a title that is clear to read, as shown in the “Contents” and “Big Puppa” headlines. I believe that making headings and titles too complicated to read will put readers off of the actual content, as most people flick through magazines and when a particular image or title catches their eye they read on, where as if it is difficult to read then the initial eye catcher may not work. The font I used throughout my magazine for titles was size 36 Tahoma or Impact, and for the double page spread article I used size 12 Tahoma font. This is conventional in the way that the articles text is significantly smaller than the titles, which allows the title to stand out. 1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?
6. Written Content The written content for my article follows the usual conventions of similar magazines. The article is about a upcoming artist who is intending to make the big time. In the article there is a background of the artist which is conventional in the way that for new artists they are introduced, and there are also quotations from him which make the article more realistic. The article also gives an insight as to what type of music is actually being produced by the artist, as there is comparisons drawn to Jay-Z and Biggie. This allows readers an insight as to what the artist will be. The tone of the article is also includes some slang which the likely audience of the magazine will be able to relate to. Music Genre My magazine concentrates on the genre hip-hop, which is also similar to grime and rap. My magazine portrays this through conventions such as dark colours which are present throughout the magazine, the images which I use for my pages and props such as flat caps. I have also used names such as ‘Big Puppa’ which follow conventions of other rap/hip-hop/grime artists (big = making the artist sound larger than everyone else and puppa = a dominant figure) Props such as the dark background in some of my images also create a sense of darkness which is what the genre grime is generally about. 1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?
7. Layout The layout of my magazine is also quite conventional. It follows the usual conventions such as a large font for the title and then much smaller font for the actual text. I also use several images throughout my magazine which are used throughout professional magazines such as Kerrang and Q as eye catchers. My masthead is also always at the top of my pages if required, and in the same position and size, which is a common convention for most professional magazines. Contents Page My contents page follows several conventions. One is that clearly lays out the different articles which may interest readers in a box at the side of the page. There is also an image of one of the artists which is discussed in the content of the double page spread, which is conventional. I have also used my mast head at the top of my contents page which is a common thing to do in most magazines. 1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?
8. 2: How does your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?
9. Representation of Social Groups To the left are two images of magazine contents pages (left: Vibe magazine right: my magazine) which I have chosen to draw comparisons between social groups. Both shots are upper-shots of the model , which gives them a presence of power which is what is usually conveyed in rap and grime music. There is also Mise-En-Scene props of items such as flat caps, which conveys a gangster image. In the Vibe magazine there is a lot of ‘bling’ (jewellery) which is shown off which represents having a lot of money, and there is also tattoos which further reflects the tough/hard image which is being given off by the model. My model also conveys this image by using the hoodie and the way of which he's standing; with his hands protecting his front which conveys a protective person, however his head is tilted up with his chest pushed out and the facial expression is blank which would suggest he is also a tough/hard figure. 2: How does your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?
10. 3: What Kind of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product and Why?
11. Gordon and Gotch I believe that Gordon and Gotch would be a perfect company to distribute my magazine. The institution currently distribute Kerrang magazine which is a highly respected magazine within the industry, which would provide publicity for the initial reveal of my magazine. On the other side of things, since the company currently only distribute Kerrang which is a rock based magazine, I believe that my magazine which is considered the opposite genre (hip-hop, rap, grime) would provide them with an exceptional business opportunity. Using their experience of distributing magazines I believe that they would be able to sustain a high level of quality in terms of producing the magazines on time and to a high standard, therefore making our customers happy. I also considered maybe looking at a bigger company to distribute my magazine, however, I believe that a bigger company would not pay as much attention to my specific needs compared to a company such as Gordon and Gotch would. 3: What Kind of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product and Why?
12. 4: Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product
13. My Audience I believe that the audience of my magazine could be of either sex, and from an age range of 11-50. Male or female, I believe that there is interest in the genres hip-hop, grime or rap, which is quite obvious when you see both sex’s coming out as artists and simply looking in the crowd at gigs for artists such as Snoop Dogg. In terms of age, I would have believed that a younger audience would be interested in reading the magazine, however, the nature and grammar of the magazine may be a little too much for them to cope with and be able to understand. The magazine does however offer a wide range of artists, which is shown on the front page of my magazine – there is ‘fresh’ artists which are as new as this year being discussed and researched, where as there is also still artists such as Snoop Dogg which are of a much older generation, which would appeal to up to 50 year olds I believe. The audience in particular would be people who dress similarly to the models in my magazine contents pages and especially young artists aspiring to hit the ‘big-time’. 4: Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product
15. Attracting my Audience In order to attract my audience throughout my magazine my main aim was to use colours that stood out and eye-catching images. As shown to the side I deliberately used a dark background because of the genre of music my magazine is based on, however, when colours such as yellow and red are placed on top they stand out very much so. In the top right hand corner for example, there is an enticement which is in yellow and red, which draws people looking at magazine shelves to look at it. Once they have spotted this particular part of the magazine and have read it they will have added incentive to buy the magazine because there is a free CD included. There is also advertisements at either side which will draw attention to the reader when they see sub-headings such as ‘She’s Back’ and ‘Exclusive’ because they are words which make you want to know more – and the only way to know more is to read through the actual articles included inside. The names of artists on the side also provide attraction to the audience since if the readers have any kind of interest in large artist names such as ‘50 Cent’ and ‘Jay-Z’ then they will be tempted to buy the magazine to be able to read more about their favourite artists. 5:How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience
16. 6:What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process of Constructing This Product
17. The above MacBook is the computer which I used to create a lot of my website when I was at home. 6:What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process of Constructing This Product Microsoft Publisher was probably the most important programme to me when making my magazine as each page was created using this programme. This was usually done on the school computers. The above memory stick is the same I used when transporting my work to and from school and my house, which was essential as there was not enough lesson time to create everything. The above camera is the same as mine which I used to take all of the photos for my magazine with. This camera produces quality images and was essential in the creation of my magazine.
18. Slideshare played a big part in my coursework and evaluation as PowerPoint was the programme which I chose to upload my initial magazine pictures on and write my evaluation on. It allowed me to upload these documents to my Blogger. 6:What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process of Constructing This Product Paint was a huge part of my magazines creation as it was the programme which I used to edit my pictures and make my logo. Blogger was one of the biggest parts of my coursework since it is where all of the work I produced was uploaded to which allowed my teacher and myself easy access whenever I needed to check what stage in the coursework I was at. PowerPoint was used for both my evaluation and initial images as I thought that it laid out these two particular sections of my coursework very well.
19. What I have learnt about technology Throughout designing my magazine and uploading my coursework I have not learnt a huge amount since I am a ICT student, however I am a lot more familiar with certain programmes. I personally believe that I have improved greatly and have increased my confidence in using Microsoft Publisher. The programme is not considered a high-tech option when making things such as magazines – its normally used for more simple tasks such as business cards, however, I believe I used it to good effect. I had also never used Blogger or Slideshare, and consequently now feel as if I have widened my knowledge base in terms of I now have a solution to a sufficient place to keep my documents and if I ever need to upload a powerpoint to a website. 6:What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process of Constructing This Product
20. 7:Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task (The School Magazine Task), What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To Full Product
21. Front Page I believe that my front page looks a lot more professional compared to my preliminary task. For my preliminary task there was no structure to the front page; there was no logo, the image was not professional looking, and there was too much text. In noticing this, I tried to stay away from these aspects of my preliminary task which I felt drew me back. In particular, I spent a lot of time trying to create a logo which is recognisable and stands out, which I believe I succeeded in. I also think that the image is much more appropriate since it has been edited and fits the magazines image. The text has shortened significantly as well which does not overwhelm the reader. Instead there is short, snappy words which draw attention such as ‘Exclusive’. 7:Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task (The School Magazine Task), What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To Full Product
22. Contents Page I believe that in particular my contents page has improved significantly. The image is much more professional-looking compared to the ones on display in my preliminary task for a start. The biggest improvement I believe is the way in which the different articles are advertised, for my preliminary task they were simply listed with page numbers where as for my music magazine they are being advertised in a box which draws attention from the reader. My music magazines contents page also looks a lot more professional I believe as there is a layout which is maintained from the front page, for example the heading and logo are placed in the same place. 7:Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task (The School Magazine Task), What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To Full Product
