1) In what ways does my media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My masthead is in the top left hand of the page as it is a convention, which I have discovered by looking at three existing magazines; iDJ; NME and Uncut. It has become a convention because when on display in a shop the top of a magazine can always be seen. I have used the title – “Turn It On” – for two reasons. One reason for this is that it is the title of a Franz Ferdinand song, which provides information on the genre of the magazine. The second reason is that it makes reference to playing music i.e. turning music on.
My main cover lines are mounted on vinyl records. This is a unique design as I haven’t seen it on any magazines that I have researched. I chose to do it because vinyl records are retro and it shows that my magazine is appreciative of the heritage of music. However there is no suggestion of genre from the use of records. The placement of the cover lines on my cover is conventional as they are on the left third of the page. Again this is so they are easily seen when on display in a shop.
My barcode, date, issue number and price are all in the bottom right-hand corner of the magazine. This is a convention that I have discovered from research of published music magazines. The price of my music magazine is based on the price of published monthly music magazines. I priced mine slightly cheaper so that it was more available to a larger audience.
My anchorage for the main is on top of the image; this is different to the issue of ‘iDJ’ that I have looked at. I did those purely because I felt the composition looked best this way. The font and colour of my anchorage is consistent with that of my masthead, which helps the audience associate with a ‘house style’. I included teasing content at the bottom of the page because it is a convention in all magazines. I chose to include bands of the genre I was aiming for as tease content. I chose to include a skyline, also because it is a convention of music magazines. Having a skyline is important because like the masthead and having content in the left third, a skyline is often visible when magazines are on display in shops.
My “contents” title for this page helps create a ‘house’ style for my magazine as I use the same “ON” as I do in the masthead on the front cover. Again I maintained with the colour blue. The layout of my contents page is based on that of Uncut and Kerrang. At first I tried to emulate NME, but didn’t feel that I had the necessary amount of content and representation of my genre copying that style. Whereas with my layout as it is I have the necessary space to show the many contents of my magazine, a large picture for my main featured article, £more pictures for my three main cover stories and space for an ‘Editor’s choice’.
My double page spread contains one image that covers the whole page. This connotes how the artist has become solo and is on his own in his musical quest to become a star. The two reasons for using just one image to cover the whole screen were because of mise-en-scene and composition. The mise-en-scene of the photo shows my artist is relaxed and is a down-to-earth character not driven by fame i.e. his clothes are just laid on his bed. This also fits with the story of the piece and the main pull quote on this page, “It’s been back to basics just jammin’ in my room” as his room wouldn’t be spotless and tidy. I chose this photo for composition, as he isn’t in the foreground of the shot. This represents and connotes how my artist hasn’t been in the spotlight recently, which is what the article is about.
In my double page spread I go against the convention with my large headline as it is in the bottom left-hand corner. I chose to do this because the poster of Muhammad Ali in the background became an important use of mise-en-scene as I mentioned in the article that Ali was an inspiration to “Charlie”.
In the interview/article I stick to conventions by having an introductory paragraph, in which I talk about what the article is about but also mention artist from the same genre so that it is clear which genre the article is about. I have also used a drop cap at the beginning of the article, as well as using two pull quotes one in the article and one that is used as a secondary title for the page. I have also contained a byline to show who the journalist is.
2) How does my media product represent particular social groups?
I have tried to create a magazine that is aimed at a more youthful audience but one that doesn’t alienate itself from a wider spectrum of audience. There is no specific gender audience or ethnicity audience and I have tried and aimed to be neutral considering this.
One way in which I tried to appeal to all ages was with the use of vinyl records as a backing for cover lines. This appeals to a younger audience as a style, because the old style is becoming fashionable for a teenage/early to mid twenties audience. However it appeals to an older audience, as it was the way the older generation consumed music before the effects of digitalisation.
The clothing of my main ‘star’ would possibly be considered as stereotypical of a young male. In an attempt to avoid having a generic appearing young male on my front cover, which would be perhaps, more suited to a pop magazine, I took a photo with him wearing a quite indie ‘headband’. By doing this and using an acoustic guitar in my main front cover image I believe I create an indie/blues/alternative genre.
My chosen genre for my music magazine is Indie/alternative, but will cover all artists who are up and coming outside of mainstream music. From the front cover of my music magazine the genre and audience needs to be created. This is through the ideology of the image and the title. My magazine will be aimed at the same type of audience as NME. They promote bands and music from outside of the mainstream arena.
3) What kind of media institution might distribute my media product and why?
I think IPC Media would be the type of media institution to distribute my magazine. IPC Media institution also publishes and distributes NME. IPC media are one of the largest publication companies in the UK UK
Though they might be only a large publication within the UK
I would assume this would be the institution to produce my magazine because they are proven to publish magazines similar to the genre of my music magazine. This would indicate that my magazine would be successful. As they have a proven record of publishing this genre of magazine IPC Media are likely to profit from distributing my magazine. By already distributing other music magazines of a similar genre it means there is an available audience.
4) Who would be the audience for my media product?
The target audience for my music magazine is music fans in particular the magazine will be aimed at indie/alternative music fans. I have chosen this because indie/alternative is an area of music that I enjoy. My target audience from an age perspective is predominantly aimed at a younger audience, teenagers to mid-twenties. Because it is a music magazine, an older audience would still be interested in buying the magazine because it has a general topic of interest. The target audience is a C2, D and E demographic. This is because the target audience for my magazine is young, so they are less likely to have disposable income to spend on products like music magazines.
My intended audience could be considered as a niche audience. This is because it is a specialised audience as the genre is not what is considered mainstream music or chart music.
On my front cover I mention iTunes, music festivals and well-known artists within my chosen genre; indie/alternative. By mentioning iTunes it specifically targets a particular audience as iTunes is an example of convergence of technology; digitalisation and download all of which are aspects of modern day music. The mention of music festivals suggests a slightly younger audience as stereotypically festivals are associated with the younger generation. Mentioning existing artists targets a niche audience as they are fans of particular bands.
On the contents page I use similar techniques as I mention the reviews and interviews of well-known bands.
5) How did I attract/address my audience?
The National Readership Survey’s social grades, which are used in advertising and market research, are used by all institutions concerned by audience. The social grades are largely based on profession and estimated related income. Below are the social grade boundaries otherwise known as the demographics: S.E.G:
Because my target audience is C2, D and E on a demographic, my price for my magazine had to be appropriate for the audience. It also had to be competitive with other magazines of the same or similar genre.
The price for my music magazine is £2.99. The issue of NME that I have looked at is £2.20; however this is a weekly magazine. C2, D and E on from a demographic perspective have very little disposable income to be able to spend on a music magazine, so by making it monthly issue’s it makes it more affordable because they have less frequent payments.
According to Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ my magazine appeals to the social; the need to belong and the need to feel part of a group. It also appeals to esteem; self-esteem, status, respect and admiration for others.
Because my magazine isn’t aimed at a particularly wealthy social group, my magazine contains competitions such as the chance and opportunity to see Arctic Monkeys live, which also outlines the genre of my magazine by including a successful band within my chosen genre.
My magazine contains lots of reviews and opportunities to gain a wider knowledge for the indie or alternative genre. This attracts an audience in itself, the social type of people on Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’.
On the front cover itself I used the convention of my artist looking down the camera. This is a convention and I have used this technique because it has an effect whereby the audience feel like there is an interaction with the artist. Also as the image is in a medium shot, Charlie’s whole body is in the shot. By using this type of camera shot the audience can relate with the artists fashion, which also helps the audience realise what the genre of the magazine is.
Through all the images I have used on my front cover; contents page and double page spread, I create a feeling of calm and a desirable lifestyle. This is because, through the use of mise-en-scene, my artist appears relaxed just lounging in comfortable surroundings. Even in one of the cover story photos on the contents page the two artists are stood smiling.
My masthead ‘TURN IT ON’ appeals to a niche audience as they will appreciate that it is a Franz Ferdinand song, an indication of the genre to the audience. The style and font that ‘ON’ has is bigger than the ‘TURN IT’ and this is repeated on the contents page title. This helps the audience align themselves with a ‘house style’ of the magazine.
I chose blue as my main colour for the magazine because it is a primary colour and it is a bold colour. Despite aiming to emulate NME in terms of genre I felt that I had to make strong changes so that I could create a ‘house style’ for my own magazine but also so I created a unique product that was noticeably different from already existing magazines. This is why I didn’t want to use red as the main font colour for my magazine because I decided that it was too reminiscent of NME.
To launch my magazine on the internet, so that my audience could access it this way, I would advertise on a variety of sites. I would produce a video advertisement for YouTube. I would also use social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This is because the majority of my target audience for my magazine will use these sites.
I would need to make sure that my magazine had unique qualities compared to the internet site so that I could make money through sales. I would make sure that the magazine had exclusive interviews and particular special features that weren't included on the website. The website would contain more digital media such as the latest music videos from bands within my genre.
I would need to make sure that my magazine had unique qualities compared to the internet site so that I could make money through sales. I would make sure that the magazine had exclusive interviews and particular special features that weren't included on the website. The website would contain more digital media such as the latest music videos from bands within my genre.
After producing my music magazine I asked a selection of six my friends (three boys and three girls) to provide me with audience feedback through a questionnaire. All three questions had to be answered with a score from one to five. One being the most negative answer and five being the most positive answer.
The first question I asked was: How well would you rate the representation of the indie/alternative genre? One person said two. Two people said 4 but three (the majority) said three.
The second question was: Would this magazine have a chance of being sold in shops?
The answer was split evenly between three and four.
The third question I asked was: What would be the chance of you buying this magazine? Three people said two. One person said three and two people said four.
6) What have I learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
My first front cover draft (left) appeared to take a long time to complete and took a great deal of effort, in comparison to my final product it is very poor. I used far more Photoshop processes in the production of my final front cover, contents page and double page spread.
For my final product I used images that I had taken on a Hitachi
The majority of my work for my music magazine took place on Photoshop. On Photoshop I used a number of techniques to edit any photo’s I have taken. On my front cover the image, which is the background layer, has been edited as the image colour was darkened. I had taken photos of vinyl records to use as a back drop for my cover lines. I edited the size of the vinyl records on Photoshop and also did all writing on Photoshop. For the Masthead and the Anchorage
I learnt that the more I attempted with Photoshop the better my end product looked. I struggled to adapt to use Photoshop at the beginning of the year. I found that the more drafts I did the more I understood how to do even the basic requirements such as transforming image size and editing of the font style. Throughout the process of completing my music magazine I have improved all of my Photoshop skills including the quick selection tool and the blur tool for example.
Comparing my final product (on the left) to my first draft there is a dramatic improvement. I have edited the images on my final product whereas on my first draft it was an un-edited photo.
7) Looking back at my preliminary task, what do I feel I have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
There are many contributing factors to why my music magazine is far better than my preliminary task (college magazine). The main factors of my improvement are my improvements in using Photoshop, My improvement in planning my magazine, my improvement in the use of resources and equipment available to me as well as better quality of research and better time management.
When using Photoshop in main task I utilised more of the features available to me because I felt more comfortable using the software I had at my disposal. My college magazine (preliminary task) was very basic. At that point I still didn’t know how to transform the image size. This is something that I found very important and was a necessity when completing the music magazine task. This was because to produce anything of any quality as a front cover, contents page or double page spread the transformation of image sizes and any other layers is imperative.
The planning and preparation has been significantly better for my music magazine than my preliminary task. Although I found the necessary information for my preliminary task, I found a greater amount of information and in more detail for my music magazine. This allowed me to genuinely process and understand the information and techniques that I was required to use to represent the genre of music I wanted to with my music magazine. Whereas in the preliminary task I found the information I needed but didn’t apply it to my college magazine product.
In comparison to my music magazine my college magazine, my preliminary task, (on the left) is very basic and when producing it I didn’t grasp the concept of ideology as I didn’t choose a ‘house style’ to sell my magazine and make it unique from the competition. My college magazine was very dull and had no visual clues (pictures) to what the genre of the magazine was. The editing of my image on Photoshop for my preliminary task was very poor as it is evident that the picture had been cropped. Overall I have learnt how to create a genre and a niche audience through the use of mise-en-scene with my images, even if this is only a musical instrument. I have learnt how to create a niche audience by my use of cinematography, the medium shot I used for my double page spread shows the audience how the musician is relaxed and has a love for music. This correlates with the text that I have written. I have also learnt that to create a specific audience of a certain genre that I need to use the conventions such as a masthead and cover lines to portray the genre through the information they present and the font and colour has to be representative of a particular genre.
