AS MEDIA STUDIES EVALUATIONG321

By Lewis Glennon

Question 1. In What Ways Does Your Media Products Use, Develop, Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products?

Front CoverThrough out my music magazine I have tried to use a variety of generic conventions. I learnt about and became familiar with these generic conventions at the start of year 12 by doing a generic conventions task and learning about typographyhttp://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/media-mag-analysis.html http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/drafting-and-planning-investigating.html

To help get familiar with the generic conventions I decided to analyse a few more music magazines:http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/magazine-analysis-greenday.htmlhttp://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/media-magazine-analysis-killers.html

Question 1: Use, Develop or challenge forms and conventions

Here I have applied the generic conventions to my front cover by putting some in squares, such as a pug, the cover lines and the main cover line (Jake). I put the main cover line in red and made it bigger to pull attention to it. I also added in a left third by using my masthead (LGM), as well as a screamer at the bottom (Katy Perry on her new album) as well as adding in the basic conventions such as price, barcode and URL to the side of the masthead.

Question 1. Use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

Challenges and DevelopmentsOn my front cover I have challenged some of the generic conventions and developed my own to help create my own identity for my music magazine, LGM. I have chosen to add in an LGM logo on my front cover. Through my research I found out that magazines such as Q magazine does not have a logo and while NME does they have it as part of their masthead. Therefore I made my logo separate and clear to give my magazine seem unique and also to give the readers an insight into LGM as it explains what the words mean. I have also challenged the generic conventions by adding in a limited edition stamp to the magazine. These are rarely used in NME or Q and it emphasises how big this issue of NME is as it is a limited edition. Finally I have challenged and developed the generic conventions through the layout by putting my cover lines and main cover side to the left and my main cover star to the right. This has not been used by NME or Q with the main cover line always going across the main cover star. This helps bring the focus on my main cover star as he is taking up most the cover but also helps show how big the magazine is as it story is as equally as big as one another.

Question 1. Use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

Influences

The two influences I had for my magazine was NME and Q magazine and this is shown by my front cover. Firstly I loved how bold NME’s masthead was as it dominates the cover, but I also liked the red square around Q’s masthead. This lead to me merging them together so I have a bold and effective masthead. I hen researched NME to help me figure out where to place pugs and screamers. I noticed that the pugs are always above and to the side of the main cover star so they are visible but don’t take attention away from the cover star. I also liked how NME contain screamers in a red rectangle running across the bottom and used this to draw my target audience to it.

Question 1. Use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

Influences

I also looked at LadyGunn and NME when deciding what photo shot I should use for my magazine, http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/similar-products-shots-used-on-front.html. This blog helped me see what image was best for my layout and I decided to use a long shot as shown in LadyGunn. This was because it helped show the attitude Jake is showing with his hands in pocket, thus showing that he is not that bothered by music anymore which will help pull in my target audience. I also used my research on that blog to see the effect of direct address and this lead to me using it on my cover. This gives the main cover star a relationship with my target audience as he is addressing them. This also helps me pull in my target audience as the issue of LGM is about Jake addressing his fans on why he is retiring.

The layout of my magazine was inspired mostly by Q magazine and NME. I started to research them to find out what made them effective contents pages, http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/similar-products.html.

I really liked how the NME contents page was laid out into columns with the main story being in the centre. I also liked how each story had a picture with it to show the audience who the interviews or articles were on. I was inspired by how big and bold the ‘Inside This Week’ was as it clearly showed the reader what the magazine contained. With Q’s contents page I liked how the line went underneath the ‘Q contents’ part thus signalling it off and showing the fans what was included in the magazine. I also liked how the page numbers were next to the article as it is an old fashioned way off doing it and does not take any attraction away from the story/image. Finally I managed to find out that date lines and subscription ad which are both used in NME and Q, so I included them in my contents page

Inspired by this I started to draft my own contents page, http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/organisation_15.html. While this was a very basic draft it helped me get familiar with the layout I wanted to adopt when making my real contents page.This is my real contents page and I decided to keep to my colour scheme of my front cover of red, black and white. I did this because in NME and Q the colour scheme is consistent throughout so I decided to emulate that in my magazine as it gave my magazine its own ‘Indie’ identity which is what I intended to do as LGM is an Indie music magazine. I also decided to base it mostly around Q’s contents page and decided to do some research, http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/similar-products.html. This blog helped me identify where I needed to improve with the layout, and helped me a lot as I ended up putting the regulars, reviews and other items on one side and the main story in the centre. I then included a ‘5 songs you need to listen to’ and a link to LGM’s YouTube channel. This was inspired by NME as they included the 10 ten chart songs for fans to listen to in one album, thus pulling the fans in as they want to listen to the songs. Finally I decided to add in images of my other cover stars to show my target audience who else will be in this edition of LGM.

Question 1. Use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

Contents Page

Question 1. Use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

Double Page Spread

I was mostly inspired by Q for my double page. While I researched NME, as well as Q, http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/target-audience.html. I then started to draft double page spreads and found that it looked more effective with the image on one side and text on the other, http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/nme-contents-page-and-2-page-spread.html, which is mostly used in Q magazine.

I decided to keep the house style as red, white and black to stay consistent with my colour scheme and put my text in red to give LGM a uniqueness. I also put the parts of the interview Jake speaks in in a lesser font to show the readers which parts are Jake’s views if they are just having a quick glance. I also put in two pull quotes to give the readers an insight into the interview, and made Jake show attitude and direct address in the image again to show that he doesn’t care about music and so he builds a relationship with my target audience.

Question 2. How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?

Question 2. Representing particular Social Groups

My magazine is aimed at mostly young people. Young people are know for bottling things up, caring about how they look, as well as being cheeky and rebellious. Therefore I tried to portray all of these things in my magazine.

Cover Star

My cover star ‘Jake’ demonstrates seriousness and a rebellious image throughout my magazine and this is portrayed by having his hands in his pockets and a straight face. I wanted to portray Jake this way because part of his background is him being a ‘loose-cannon’ and being very rebellious. Also in this edition of LGM Jake is talking about retiring from music which is why I wanted him to be very serious. This mixes the representation of young people being rebellious but also being serious when it comes to making big decisions, thus making my target audience relate to Jake.

Question 2. Representing particular social groups

Other Photos UsedYoung people are represented as stylish, rebellious, cheeky and serious about stuff they care about. Therefore I tried to portray all of these things in the other pictures I used in my magazine to connect with my readers. These also represent indie artists so I wanted to portray them like this as my magazine is an Indie one. This is shown by my first image as he is trying to be serious but is slightly grinning, which is what I indented to show the readers his cheeky side. In the other image I used for my secondary band I used props to shows seriousness, style and love for music. The fact that they are all straight faced shows there seriousness, while the glasses shows their rebellious and stylish side. Finally the use of the guitar shows that they care about music. Both of these images represent young people and the Indie music genre.

Question 3. What Kind Of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product And Why?

Question 3. Media Institutions

As LGM is based on Q and NME I decided that it should be produced by a major distribution company. This is because Q and NME are produced by major companies but also because LGM is a fresh magazine aimed at young people and I can see this working well with a major distribution company.

An example of a major magazine distribution company is Bauer media. They produce Q as well as Kerrang magazine. As Bauer are involved in a range of media such as phones and TV, they are able to advertise their products quite well. However despite all of this I decided not to pick Bauer Media as the distributor of LGM.

Question 3. Media Institutions

However after doing some research I decided that the best distributor for LGM was IPC Media, http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/organisation-who-produces-my-magazine.html.

Most of the reasons I chose IPC to produce my magazine is in the blog above but the biggest reason I went with them is because like Bauer they can advertise their products in a number of ways such as tablet and phones. However IPC are a British company and as LGM is a British dominated magazine I thought that it would merge well with IPC to produce a new up and coming young people’s music magazine.

Question 4. Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?

Question 4. Audience for Media Product

My magazine will aim at boys and girls around 15-24 years old. I first decided to start researching the age group for my magazine genre near the start of year 12, http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/target-audience.html. I then decided to use a survey to help me decided what genre to decided on, http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/targert-audience-survey-questions.html.Both of these blogs helped me decided who my target audience was, http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/target-audience.html. Then I decided to figure out how I could pull in my target audience by looking at past analysis's of NME, who have a similar target audience, http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/target-audience.html. All of this research helped me develop LGM so it would

suit my target audience.

Question 5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

Question 5. Attract/address your audience

Masthead

The name of my magazine is practically identical with NME. The reason I did this was because it is short and simple thus making it easy for my target audience to remember as they go through a lot of stress during their lives as young people. Also LGM stands for ‘Loud Global Music.’ This reflects the Indie Rock genre as it can be loud at times and it has many global bands such as Arctic Monkeys and Coldplay. This gives my magazine meaning as it is representing the Indie Rock Genre.

I decided to make my masthead big and bold so it can dominate my front cover and make a statement. The use of red and black once again is similar to NME’s and gives it a modern identity which will stand out in my target audiences mind. Due to it dominating the front cover it is constantly providing a reminder to the readers of the magazine thus giving it purpose and pulling in my target audience.

Question 5. Attract/address your audience

Colour

Throughout my magazine I have kept to the colour scheme of red, black, and white. I did this because Q and NME use those colours consistently and I am basing my magazine on them. But also because each colour has a connotation which all tie in with my target audience.

The connotations of red offer either romance, or warning but in terms of music magazines it shows brightness and offers excitement. All of these things happen in young people’s lives and is a big reason I chose red as a key colour for my magazine.

Black also offers a sinister look to my magazine and offers a bit of darkness and mystery about my magazine. This attracts my reader as they will be keen to see the new ‘mystery’ in each edition.

Finally the use of the colour white offers my magazine purity and is a nice, easy base colour to use.

Question 5. Attract/address your target audience

Front CoverOn my front cover I have included plenty of things that can help me attract my target audience. I have included a host of screamers and pugs on the front cover to help me pull in my target audience. The screamers, (Glastonbury review, Katy Perry, and Limited Edition), will help attract my target audience as they will want to read about the two stories as they are about big events and stars, and this is a bonus to the main interview about Jake. Also the limited edition sticker shows the audience how big an issue this copy is and this makes them want it so they can see what makes it a limited edition copy. Also the just above Jake will help me attract them as they will want to win the signed copy of Jakes album because it is such a valuable piece of merchandise.

Question 5. Attract/address your target audience

Cover Lines

My cover lines also help me attract my target audience as I used a different cover and made the main cover line bigger than the other cover lines for emphasis. This catches my target audience’s eye and shows them that Jake’s interview is the main story in my magazine. I have also used quotes from the artist on my front cover. This gives my audience an insight of what’s in the magazine and draws them in as they want to see the rest of the interview. I have decided to keep to simple, informal language. This keeps the reader intact and makes it easy for them to read thus fitting in with my target age group.

Image

The main image of Jake helps attract and addresses my target audience in a number of ways. As Jake is giving direct address he is building a relationship with the audience. Also Jake is portrayed as rebellious with his hands in his pockets showing that he is confident in himself and many of my target audience can see themselves in Jake. Finally as Jake has headphones hanging from his top shows that he is quite stylish, which once again lets my target audience see themselves in Jake thus making them want to read his interview.

Question 6. What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing The Product?

Question 6. The technologies from the process

When making my magazine I used a verity of programmes such as Word, Publisher, Paint.Net and PagePlus. Here are the strengths of each programme.

Microsoft Word

Easy to use Spell check prevents spelling errors Easy to move fonts and image around Easy to change colour and size of fonts and images

Microsoft Publisher

Easy to use Can save document as a JPEG image Easy to go back and edit your errors As I was familiar with the programme I was able

to start my work as soon as possible

Question 6. The technologies from the process

Paint.Net

Easy to use Use of layers means it does not get overcrowded Varity of fonts, colours and shapes you can use Able to zoom in and use magic wand to erase things

you don’t want on the image Able to save document as a JPEG image Being able to change canvas size so it suits your

magazine

PagePlus

Easy to use Can save document as a JPEG image You can add filters and effects to photos without

using a different software Put’s your front cover, contents page, and double

page spread together so you can see what your magazine looks like all together

Easy to change font’s, size’s and colour’s

Question 6. The technologies from the process

Despite these programmes being useful in the construction of my magazine they do have their weaknesses:

Microsoft Word Unable to save document as a JPEG image Difficult to remove background of image if needed Difficult to change placement of text and images

Microsoft Publisher

To basic, which lead to my work not looking like a professional music magazine

Difficult to remove background of image if needed

Question 6. The technologies from the process

Paint.Net

Sometimes difficult to crop out background Text would sometimes not come up despite layer being selected Unable to edit things once you have done it Needing to select each layer when making changes can be frustrating

PagePlus

As I had not used the programme before it was difficult to get the hang off at first

There were problems moving text when I was close to finishing my magazine Wouldn't always change colour when I selected it Limited choice of shapes to use

Question 6. The technologies from the process

Drafting and Planning

During the making of my magazine I made a series of drafts to see where I could place my cover lines, what image was best to use and how effective my three mastheads were. This helped me develop my magazine from start to finish:

http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/organiasationfront-cover-analysis.htmlhttp://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/organisation_15.htmlhttp://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/organisationdouble-page-spread.htmlhttp://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/organisation-front-cover-analysis.html

All of these drafts help me compare my magazine to similar products I had researched as well as showing me basic errors and where to improve so my magazine came along nicely. I had trouble making some cover lines viable due to the colour of them and sorted this out using the filter on PagePlus.

Question 6. The technologies from the process

Before making my magazine I researched how bands set up an image so I could portray Jake the way I wanted in my magazine:http://lewisglennonmediawork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/similar-products-how-bands-set-up-image.html

By researching this I got an idea on how to portray my artist the way I wanted and took a variety of shots and decided to make a front cover and contents page around these images. This gave me freedom to see what image looked best for my magazine and make improvements where needed.

Photographic choices

By doing both of these things it made it a lot easy deciding how I wanted to portray Jake through my images, and by doing the drafts it helped me see what images were the best to use and what ones needed to be edited for my contents and double page spread.

Question 6. The technologies from the process

Blogger

Blogger was a way for me to display the development of my magazine and what processes I went through. Blogger was an easy and quick way for me to access old work when making my magazine and was much easy than putting it in a folder.By being able to post, edit, and delete posts very quickly gave you a freedom which was much easy than erasing or re doing work if you had made errors or wanted to add in more research. Also blogger was an easy and enjoyable way to post my research to help me develop my work, as I would have found it boring to write out my work. Also as I could access blogger on my phone I could also post anytime of the day instead of needing to do it at certain times at home.

Question 7. Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Full Product?

Question 7. Looking back to preliminary task

In my preliminary task the masthead takes up to much of the front cover and my main image is badly pixelated. The colour of the fonts also don’t fit in well with the background making it hard to see. Also my cover lines are not well structured around my main image and overall everything is to squashed together. Compared to my finished front cover the layout is used much better with everything nicely spaced out, the image is nice and clear and portrays Jakes emotions and the fonts I have used are simple but look very professional and easy to read.

Question 7. Looking back to preliminary task

My contents page have improved massively from my preliminary task. For my preliminary task I used Microsoft word and this is shown by its basic and poor layout. However in my final draft my layout is perfect with everything where I wanted it to me and it looks like a more professional music magazine due to the mix of colours and images. It is also nicely evened out with the columns clearly showing the audience where each segment is and the use of a black/red/white colour scheme really blends well with my images as well as keeping to a consistent colour scheme throughout my magazine.

Overall

Overall I am pleased with how my magazine has turned out, as I feel that I have fulfilled the task of making a music magazine. Due to my research into music magazines, figuring out how to attract my target audience, and working with a variety of different software's I have developed and produced my magazine. I have created an indie rock magazine which has its own uniqueness and style. I feel that my strongest page of my magazine is definitely the contents page. This is because I struggled with it at first but by looking at my research, mostly Q’s contents page, I have been able to create a page with the colours, images and layout all blending in to create a very professional looking contents page. Overall I think that my magazine turned out successful