By Chloe Francom

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE,

DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

On my front cover I have used the popular co convention of a masthead. Every magazine . I have seen has a masthead as it is a vital . part of the cover. My mast head is placed at the top of the cover and across the whole width of the page. This is similar to many magazines in my chosen genre such as ‘Rock sound’ and ‘Kerrang!’. My masthead says the word “LOUDER!”. I believe that this is an appropriate name for a music magazine as it relates directly to music. The exclamation amation mark at the end is similar to ‘Kerrang!’ and adds enthusiasm.

I have slightly developed this convention by adding the ascending bars before the ‘L’ to create a unique logo for my magazine that would be easy to recognize. This is similar to ‘Rock sound’ as they have a circle around the ‘R’ on some of their issues. However, this is not consistent throughout the ‘Rock sound’ issues and mine will be on every issue to ensure that it is a known logo and the magazine can be recognised straight away from only the logo.

MASTHEADThe t i t le or logo normal ly across the top of the magazine

Also, one feature that magazines such as ‘Kerrang!’ use is covering either a little or a lot of the masthead with part of the main image. This is because the magazine is very well-known and can be recognised with barely any of the mast-head showing. I like this feature and have chosen to use in on my magazine however, my magazine is not well-known so I have only covered a little section of the mast-head. This way, the whole word can still be read and the mast-head can still be recognized.

My magazine does not have a . consistent sell line that is presented . at the top of every issue like ‘Q’ . does. However, there are a number of magazines that do not have a consistent sell line such as my main style model: ‘Kerrang!’. My magazine would have a different sell line at the top of every issue, for example, this issue’s sell line is “You Me at Six: Ultimate guide to leads fest!” This would draw in fans of the band “You Me at Six” and also tells potential buyers/readers one thing that will be in the magazine.

SELL LINEText on the cover that helps sel l the magazine to the

audience

My main headline on the cover is big . and bold stating clearly “Megan . Hulse”. This is the biggest font on . the page, almost as big as the masthead showing that it is the main focus of this issue. It also relates to the main image of my front cover as the image is of Megan. This is similar to most magazines such as ‘Kerrang!’ as the main headline introduces the key feature of the magazine. It also presents what the double page spread will probably be about. I have ensured to use this Feature within my magazine: Focusing on the Same person on my cover and within my double page spread.

MAIN HEADLINEThe t i t le or logo normal ly across the top of the magazine

MISE-EN-SCENE OF IMAGES

I chose to have the background of most of my images a neutral colour. I took my photographs against a cream background which would make it easy to remove the background from all of the images or even look professional if I decided to leave the background in. Removing the background from my main front cover image and my contents page image makes the model stand out and ensures that the text on the pages stands out. I have chosen to leave the background on the images in my contents page. This is because the images on the contents page in most magazines are not as edited and are left as they are taken. ‘Kerrang!’ and other magazines use pictures straight from gigs and concerts within their contents page. I have used one of these images from a gig that I went to. The background of this image is a stage and the picture all together is quite dark in contrast to the other images used on the contents page.

COSTUME AND PROPS

The model in my main cover image is wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts and has on a lot of dark eye make-up and red lipstick. This is a stereotypical look for model used for a rock magazine as it shows a mysterious side and rebellious attitude, which relates to the lines around the main cover line, “Bad behaviour revealed”. The costume is very simple which means people can relate to the character created in the image and can also get the same look.

In one of the pictures on my contents page I have used a guitar as a prop. The other images on my contents page may not support the fact that it is a rock magazine, however, this specific image clearly shows that the genre is rock using dark colours and an electric guitar.

I chose friends who are good at drama to take part in my photo shoot for my magazine. This is because they needed to be able to portray the characters I had chosen realistically. My main model had to portray a moody 17 year old singer with a rebellious attitude and this had to come across within the images. Even though the costume and make-up helped to create this character, the main portrayal had to come from the model to bring the character alive.

On this issue of ‘Kerrang!’, the boy on the front (Andy Six) is clearly showing that the magazine is a rock magazine and the make-up and facial expression show his quirky attitude. It is important to portray personality so that the readers feel as if they know the person and canconnect with them.

All of the people shown in my contents page are between the ages of 17 and 21. This shows that my target audience is mainly focussed around people of this age as they can relate to the people within the magazine.

PEOPLE

FONT AND STYLE

The most important thing about text on a magazine is for it to be easy to read. The cover text needs to be not only readable from close, but also from quite a distance as the words on the cover are what draw in potential readers.I used the fonts ‘verdana’ and ‘Myriad Pro’ on my cover and through-out the magazine as these texts are easy to read and I found that they compliment each other. Magazines such as ‘Rock sound’ also use multiple complimentary fonts within their covers to make certainthings stand out more than others and to make the cover look more interesting.

The font of my masthead is large, bold and easy to read . from a great distance. It also follows the normal . conventions of a music magazine with the use of large, capital letters. The white text against the black background ensures that it is very eye-catching and the font used is unique and rock-like with the spikes coming off the letters almost like horns.

WRITTEN CONTENT

In my double page spread I chose to write do a question and answer interview with my main feature, Megan Hulse. I used a pull/grab quote which is a commonly used feature in music magazines.This specific pull/grab quote “I won’t be told howTo behave!” is an exclamatory phrase and gives an short explanation of what the article is about overall. The colloquial tone of the article and the age of the feature mean that the readers can connect.

The written content within my double page spread follows the conventions of a music magazine by using columns to split up the text. This presentational technique ensures that all readers can follow the article easily and is similar to most magazinesas they also use this feature. Another feature is writing abrief summary of the article before the article begins which is also used in this ‘Kerrang!’ issue.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

Mainly, I have followed the conventions of a double page spread within my magazine, however, in some places I have developed and challenged the conventions. For example, some style models use the feature of having half or part of the page a different colour. I have used this convention but I have used a fading feature to outline the parts of the model thatare in the black, in white. However, I haven’t use a hard line but have used the fading feature to blend the black and white . slightly to almost give the effect that the . model is glowing.

HOW MY MAGAZINE SUGGESTS THE MUSIC GENRE

My title ‘Louder!’ immediately suggests that it is a music magazine. The word louder suggests turning up the music which may also suggest the rock genre as rock is known to be very loud. The bars before the ‘L’ on louder look like a volume sign and the L is the final bar as if the volume is on full.

Also, the use of musical instruments on the contents page suggest a music magazine and is developed by them being electric guitars, which again suggests rock. The band names and pictures throughout the magazine also suggest this.

The colour scheme used throughout the magazine: red, white and black is the main colour scheme used for rockmagazines. Such as ‘Kerrang!’ and ‘Q’. However, I have also developed this colour scheme by adding yellow to the front cover to make certain parts stand out more.

LAYOUT

I believe that there are a vast number of layouts for magazine across the rock-music genre and so, as long as the magazine looks professional, there are normally other magazines with this same layout. I have mainly followed conventions of style models ‘Kerrang!’ and ‘Rock sound’ as these magazines are very popular which means that they must have good layouts within their issues.

My cover has a large image, a mast head at the top of the page, a sell line and a main headline. These are the main things to get into a front cover of a magazine and so I believe, with these and some other features, my layout is acceptable.

My contents page includes page numbers and corresponding short explanations of what is on that page, images and a message from the editor. I have seen these features used in a number of rock magazines which ensures that they are professional to use.

My double page spread includes a large image, a title and a question and answer article. This is used in not just rock music magazines, but a lot of magazines of any genre so I believe that this is a good way to lay out my double page spread.