My media product uses the forms and conventions of some other magazines (Vibe, Jazzwise and Jazziz)

Using a main image for the front cover of my magazine is a typical convention. Many real magazines have a main image in the centre of the front cover with other smaller images surrounding them.

In what ways do your media product use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Like other magazines my magazine has masthead, which my audience would use to identify my magazine.

These 2 front covers are form the same magazine. But the masthead is a different colour on the 2 different editions, the font, size and place of the masthead has been kept the same. Similarly my group has done the same thing, our mastheads are the same but the shade colour is different. We have kept the size, position all the same.

Almost every magazine that I had researched used a house style through the whole of their magazine. I also used the same house style for my front page, double page and contents page.

I have kept the background colour black through the whole of my magazine. My house style colours were Midnight Blue, White, Purple and Black. So that my edition is not the same as my groups, I later added the colour green to make my edition different.

I have used blue and green on my front cover and the double page spread.

On the contents page I’ve used the colour green for the title and page numbers, so that it would match with the lyrics column and the shade of the masthead. On the double page and contents page I have used the same purple for the article and the list of my contents.

The way my model is posing is the same pose as Chris Brown on the cover of Vibe magazine. I asked her to keep her hands the same as Chris Brown, but she couldn’t put her hand in her pocket as she didn’t have any. I have also kept the shot at a midshot like the Vibe magazine.

I haven’t crowded my front cover with lots of different colours that don’t fit into my genre or appeal to my target audience. Like this Vibe magazine I have kept a house style through the whole of my magazine. On the front cover of this Vibe magazine the main colours are blue, pink and black which have been used for all the different subheadings. On my front cover the main colours I have used are blue, green and white.

While researching magazines I noticed that on the contents page the page numbers are a different colour.

I have also kept the page numbers a different colour, I matched my page numbers with the title ‘What’s Inside’ and the shade of my masthead.

Most jazz artists wear black suits like this, whereas pop artists like to be loud through the clothes they’re wearing, like this.

As my Alex is a Japop artist I wanted her to be somewhere in the middle. So I asked her to wear this top, because it looks professional like a suit and is black and white. But it also makes her look like a pop artist because it is a shirt and because she is wearing a mini skirt with leggings under.

In this image that I have taken I have tried to take the picture from a high angle shot. So it would be similar to the cover of this jazz magazine, Jazzwise.

However I wasn’t able to do it as good as I could have. While taking this picture I did stand on a chair but I wasn’t able to get the shot from as high an angle as the one on the cover of the magazine.

In this image I asked my model to keep a moody type of look similar to the one Eminem has on the cover of this magazine.

On the cover of this magazine Eminem has his hands folded I didn’t try that but what I did try was hand on the hip. To make it different because she is a girl.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The genre of my magazine is Japop, which is a mixture of 2 different types of music with different audiences. The target audience for Jazz mostly would be elder people whereas the target audience for Pop would be youngsters.

My media product is a magazine aimed at people 15-18 (teenagers). I have tried to represent this particular social group through the image on my front cover. The girl I have used also comes under teenagers.

Who would be the audience for your media product?The audience for my media product would be teenagers between the ages 15-18. There is no specific gender for my magazine, it is aimed at boys and girls. I have made sure that my magazine isn’t too masculine or feminine by the using a mix range of colours. My house style is midnight blue, white, purple, black and green. The blue and green can be used to attract boys, and the purple can be used to attract girls.

Just by looking at my front cover you can tell that this magazine is aimed at youngsters because of the image on the front cover. the image on my front cover would only attract teenagers, because the girl I have used is also a teenager. If I had used someone older then I don’t think my target audience would be attracted to my magazine. This image can attract girls as well as boys, as girls would want to read the magazine because they would want to be like this girl on the front cover. However boys would be attracted to the magazine because they would want to be with the girl on the front cover,

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by making my main image interesting and appealing. The girl I have used is a teenager therefore she will attract other teenagers. Also by the wide range of colours I have used on my front page.

By using this question I am addressing to my audience. I think this question would apply to teenage girls as they would want to know about what’s the new look.

I have also tried to address my audience through the language I have used in my magazine. I have tried to use language teenagers use in their everyday life.

For example in the slogan I have wrote ‘Japopin’ which can come under slang word. As I could have wrote Japoping but by missing out the g from the end I am talking to my target audience the way they talk amongst each other.

My magazine is aimed at people who are into music. Specifically Japop which is the genre of my magazine. Someone who doesn’t like music wouldn’t want to read or buy my magazine.

My target audience would know this a music Japop magazine because it says ‘Japopin’ in the slogan.

What kind of media Institution might distribute your media product and why?

The media Institutions that may distribute my magazine would be Blue Note Records and RCA Records. Blue Note records is a Jazz record label, it is currently owned by the EMI Group, which is the fourth largest organisation of entertainment. Blue Note Records was founded by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff in the year 1939. Blue Note has been associated with the sub genres such as bebop, blues and boogie woogie. Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Donald Byrd and Grant Green were among the label’s leading artists. Almost all the important musicians in Jazz recorded for Blue Note on occasion. This incredibly well known organisation has also represented artists such as modern Jazz artists, Norah Jones and traditional Jazz artists, Ella Fitzgerald.

http://www.bluenote.com/

Ella Fitzgerald

Norah Jones

The initials RCA stands for Radio Corporation of America. RCA was founded in 1901 by Emile Berliner and Eldridge R. Johnson. RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment, which is the second largest organisation. It’s country of origin is the United States and is famous for amongst other genres the distribution of Pop music. RCA is the name of three different co-owned record labels. RCA Records is the pop music, rock music and country music label. RCA has produced several notable Broadway cast albums, among them original Broadway recordings of Fiddler on the roof, Paint Your Wagon and Mary Martin Peter Pan.

Rick Astley was part of the RCA Records industry in the 1980’s. A modern example would be Christina Aguilera.

http://www.rcarecords.com/

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

While making my media product I had to use lots of new technologies some of which I hadn’t used before. To end up with my final product I had to use lighting, camera, PowerPoint, Photoshop and Indesign.

We started of by using Indesign in a group. We designed a basic layout for all our editions. After that we had to use it on our own, at first it was hard because I had to make a new layer every time I changed something or put something new in.

I have also learnt about the importance of lighting when taking photos. When you take photos without the lighting, when you upload it to the computer the photo doesn’t look as good. I have learnt how tot take photos from different angels, and the affect they have on the audience.

I learnt how to use the cloning tool on Photoshop. Using Photoshop I changed this picture into this one.

In the background of this picture some of the equipment behind the stage is visible.

On Photoshop I used the cloning tool to clone the curtains and hide the equipment visible behind the curtain. I also cropped the little bit of the wall that can be seen on the right side.

This the picture I started of with, after editing it on Photoshop I ended up with this.

I first cut out the background, then I put an outer glow around the image.

I didn’t get it right the first time but in the end I got it right,

When I made my school magazine I thought it was good but now when I compare it to my music magazine I feel my music magazine is better. That’s because my music magazine looks more like a real magazine, probably because I have used the conventions of magazine more efficiently.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Audience research is essential to ensure you target the audience that is suitable for the magazine. Also making sure you use the codes and conventions effectively so the magazine looks professional and attracts the audience. The importance of correct lighting and focus and depth of field in the photography.

On both magazines I put in a main image, but on the school magazine I didn’t put in enough sub headings. Also the font I used the same fonts for the sub heading and main heading.

I think if I had out this top strip in a box out it would have looked better. On my music magazine I used a lot of box outs.

Also I have missed out an important convention from my school magazine. I didn’t put in a barcode.

I feel the images have come out good. But I think I messed up with the background and the headings,