Evaluation

1) In what ways does your media products use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Front Cover

By thoroughly researching existing music magazines, I had learnt the general conventions of front

covers which I was determined to follow when creating my own music magazine. One of the various

conventions I had noticed, mainly in R&B and Hip Hop genre magazines, was that it is conventional

for front covers to feature a solo artist rather than a band. This was common in magazines such as

Vibe. As you can see from many front covers below, solo artists are most common.

In order to create importance to my main artist on the front cover, I decided that using this

convention of a solo artist would be a good idea. It allows my target audience to realise that the

monthly issue revolves mainly around one particular artist, for example, the music magazine I

created revolved around Alisha Rai. This encourages the target audience to appreciate her as an

individual and learn more about her.

Puffs are also conventional in music magazines. Using a puff in my own front cover had made it

stand out from the other texts; it also made up for not making use of conventions such as featured

article photos and banners. If a puff was not used the front cover would not be as attention grabbing

which leads to less people picking it up and reading it. I placed it on the right hand side below the

masthead so it can be noticed straight away, below ismy own production of a front cover and two

other magazine covers from Billboard which show this convention effectively.

Medium long shots are common in the covers below and above, mainly for female audience. This

could possibly be due to showing more of their hour glass figure and beauty; therefore I did not

hesitate to use this convention in my own piece.

From the front covers above and the earlier ones from vibe, we can also see that it is conventional in

R&B/Hip Hop magazines to have a plain background. This is to add to the importance of the main,

solo, artist at the front and also keep it simple. I used it in my own media text for similar reasons.

Challenging the R&B convention, I went for a more sophisticated look for my media products,

making my front cover look simpler, and attract my target audience of older women, rather than

keeping it feisty and attracting the younger audience.

Another way my media product uses conventions of real media products, are through the layout of

the mast-head. As you can see from two of the Vibe covers and two of the Billboard covers above, it

is conventional to place the main image in front of the mast-head. I decided to use this in my own

media product for two main reasons. Firstly, to show that my magazine is well established and the

target audience are able to almost instantly recognise the magazine through its brand identity, and

can tell it’s a Rhythm issue without needing to see all the letters of the word. Secondly, I decided to

use it to continue the important image of the model in front of the mast-head, as it is an issue

revolving around her. This is also the prime reason I did not have a featured article photo. Also

because through thorough research I noticed that featured article photos were mainly common in

metal music magazines, such as NME.

The barcode is a vital convention in all magazine front covers which I was certain to follow in my

own piece, as were the sell-lines on the side which are the main features that encourage audiences

to buy the magazine. It is also positioned in a conventional place.

Contents page

The contents page I produced also follows several forms and conventions of real media products;

however, it also challenges the common conventions. When creating my contents page, I was hugely

inspired by one of Blender’s contents page which I had analysed in depth.

The Blender issue has a long shot of Katy Perry, allowing audiences to see her whole body. It also has

a plain background so that the audience focus on the first object they see; in this case it is the artist

or the giant mushroom. Similarly, I decided to take a long shot of my model and also keep a plain

white background. However, I have challenged conventions of media texts by also including two

small pictures in the bottom right corner. I did this to emphasise the importance of the model for

this month’s issue and also, it is the last thing the readership would see (the human eye reads from

top left to bottom right) and therefore they are most likely to turn to the page featuring the artist,

intrigued to read more about her. This challenges conventions because if you have a main image of

an artist, you don’t see smaller ones of the same artist.

The name of the magazine features on the front cover along with the date of issue. This reminds the

audience, especially the new readership, of the magazine they are reading which helps to establish

the brand further.

Another convention that I had come across was that most contents pages did not feature every

article within the magazine. They were categorised and the most interesting articles were displayed,

this had a good effect on audiences because when the audience flick through the pages to get to the

particular article they want to read, they would come across more articles that do not feature on the

contents. I developed used this convention in my own media production.

Double Page Spread

On my double page spread, I decided to display an interview between a member of Rhythm and the

artist. This was because the front cover and contents page both highlight her importance, which

makes the audience wonder what really is important about her. Therefore, by having an interview,

all the answers from the readership about the artist can be answered. It also maintains the

sophistication of the magazine and is a convention for magazines aimed at an elder audience,

because older women like reading about their role models in depth.

Like the contents page, I also placed the name of the magazine in the corner, which establishes the

magazine to new readerships. The most common convention of a double page spread is a large,

interesting embedded quote, especially if it is an interview. I used this convention to grabs the

audience’s attentions.

How does your media product represent particular social

groups?

My three productions represent many different social groups including gender, age, class and race.

When viewing my three productions, it is clear that a representation of women is shown. I

represented women as confident, this is a typical because it is a convention to have women on the

front cover that has a confident look and pose. It also represents women as independently

successful. They have complete control over their life and have passion to be rewarded for their

hard work. Below is an example of Beyonce giving a confident pose and the cover highlights her

success.

I decided to use this typical representation of women being confident to add importance to my artist

and also make the audience appreciate them as an individual, after all they act as a role model to

them. This confidence is represented through her pose, facial expressions and direct address with

the audience, as shown below.

Independence is also highlighted in the embedded quote on my double page spread. It shows that

her life does not revolve around men, showing that most women are now becoming independent

and don’t need to rely on their partner.

Femininity is also another representation of women which I followed by using the colour pink

throughout all three pieces. However, apart from the ‘girly’ stereotype there are other

representations of women being sex objects. The following images are examples of women who are

represented in that way.

I decided to invert this representation and give my artist a sophisticated and decent look to which

audiences can admire.

My media products are aimed at elder audiences, which is why simplicity and certain mode address

is used that maintains this simplicity rather than having many explicit language. As the audience is an

elder audience, they are more likely to be in a stable career and at the top ends of Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs.

Artists such as Beyonce, Mariah Carey and Alicia are all at a high class. My artist was given this class

and position in the hierarchy to add to her personality and become someone the target audience of

my products can relate to. This representation is shown through the mise-en-scene shown. Below

are examples of how my magazine highlights the representation of class.

Ethnicity is one particular social group that I decided to represent very differently. Asian artists are very rare in

the music industry and during my research I had not come across any Asian artists on any music productions and

therefore I thought I would bring this in to the music industry to add uniqueness and encourage a

wider audience to buy the magazine. The most common race is black artists, especially in R&B music

magazines.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media

product and why?

The media institution that will publish my media products will be Hearst Magazine UK. The company

is one of the largest and diversified communications institutions and have published more than 300

magazines around the world including Cosmopolitan, Esquire and Elle. This means that they have a

huge experience of publishing magazines over the years, making them a success. Also, the fact they

are well known will invite more audiences in to taking an interest to my music magazine. Hearst

Magazine publishes lifestyle magazine, whereas my magazine is a music magazine. However, being

owned by them is advantageous to my magazine because Hearst Magazine has a developed and

great understanding of female audiences and how to deliver them to advertisers. This would be very

useful to my own productions because they also are aimed at female audiences, and therefore,

similar audiences will be shared.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Sophistication and confidence are the main personality traits of the target audience of

my media product. The products are aimed at a female audience aged between 25 and

35. Independence is encouraged by her successful career, which prevents her from

relying on other people in life. She has a good sense of humour, encouraging her to

socialise with friends and acquaintances. Facebook is a site she uses mainly when

using the internet, posting pictures of her nights out and socialising with

friends. She also surfs the web, building her general knowledge and also to do

online shopping.

She belongs to the ABC1 professional bracket, with a well paid job that she

enjoys and allows her to use her imagination and talent After a long day at work,

she looks forward to coming home and putting on her favourite romantic comedy’s

including Love Actually and Confessions of a Shopoholic with her ultimate

indulgence; a box of Thorntons chocolates. She also watches many soaps

including corrie and Eastenders. She is in a long term relationship, hoping to get

married soon. The relationship brings out her romantic side and femininity, going

on dates with her other half and having a feminine whisky

such as Malibu. However, this does to affect her

independence and work life.

She is an individual who has a great passion for

music and likes to keep up-to-date with the latest

gadgets. Her IPhone 4 is filled with a variety of songs which she

listens to depending on her mood at the time. Artists such as Beyonce and

Mariah Carey act as inspiring role models for her, she

tries to relate to them with the similar personality-traits

they have in common such as confidence and independence.

The readership also takes pride in her appearance by visiting the gym twice

a week and keeping a healthy diet in order to maintain her

perfect hour glass figure. She is also very competitive when it comes to fashion, going

shopping every often trying to keep up with the latest trend. However, following

the crowd is not her aim. She likes to create a look of her own, having been

inspired by her favourite artists. Reading about these artists keeps the target

audience interested,the main lifestyle magazines they read from are Cosmo

and Glamour.

She believes it is important to live life to the fullest and strive for the success

youdream off. My media products will celebrate this quality of hers and also encourage it

wholeheartedly.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Through my three productions, I attracted my target audience in many different ways.

Front cover

According to the post-production questionnaire that I had given out to my target audience, the

image on the front cover was the first thing the audiences saw. The main image portrays a

sophisticated and confident pose of the artist which addresses the audience because it reflects on

their personality. With this similarity, audiences are able to relate with the artist. Another factor that

also maintains sophistication is the colour scheme of the front cover. The main colours are grey,

white and pink. Pink connotes femininity; this encourages female audiences to pick up as it is a

female aimed magazine.

The sell-lines also attract and appeal to the target audience of my magazine. Below are most of the

sell-lines which are directly aimed at the target audience.

The puff attracts the audience because it gives them a chance to keep up-to-date

with the latest gadgets and also encourage their passion for music. The fact that

it is a “brand new IPod” they will buy the magazine hoping that their intelligence

will lead them to winning something desirable.

The audiences of my magazine enjoy watching soaps, therefore this

sell line is a bonus for them because they find out the star of their soap is a new

member of the music industry and therefore they would want to pick it up and read it.

Appearance is important to the target audience of my magazine. They enjoy

keeping up with the latest fashion on beauty. Seeing a sell-line with the “secret

to hair perfection” of the famous singer Mariah Carey would be very appealing

to the target audience, because they would want to feel and look like a

celebrity.

Finally, the magazine attracts the audience by displaying the top 20 R&B tracks of

2012. This would be effective as the audience enjoy R&B music and will be kept up

to date with it every month.

The three artists act as typical role models to the target

audience, therefore seeing their name on the front cover

would encourage them to read about it.

Another feature that attracts the audience is the mast-head. One of the people I gave my

questionnaire out to have stated that the mast-head was the first thing she saw on the cover. The

name of the magazine reflects on the genre because Rhythm comes from the Rhythm and Blues

(R&B) and therefore, audiences are then further encouraged to buy the magazine.

Contents page

The colour scheme on the contents page maintains the sophisticated look of the magazine, relating

to the target audience. As highlighted in my post production questionnaire, the audiences I

questioned had said that the colour scheme remained the same through all three productions and

made sense that it was from the same magazine issue. The colours grey, pink and black were used in

all three productions, keeping the audiences attracted.

The articles listed in the contents page were placed according to the interests of my target audience.

Shopping for clothes and keeping up with the latest trends is something that is enjoyable for my

audience and that is why there is a fashion section. The articles placed in the fashion section will

directly address the audience as it is a women’s magazine and also reflect on the importance of their

fashion.Vibe’s contents page featuring Ciara influenced me on having a fashion section.

Horoscopes are admired by women. I realised this from my own interest and also

through the questionnaire I carried out during my research and planning. And

therefore I thought it would be a good idea to include one in my magazine. My

target audience would enjoy reading their horoscope, seeing how true they are

and how much they relate to their life.

Double page spread

The embedded quote was the most attractive feature on my double page spread, according to my post production

questionnaire. This was because the font was large, placed at the top above the image and had special effects

added to it. The embedded quote reflects on the personality of my target audience and therefore they are able to

relate to the article more and feel it is especially for them. It addresses the audience as independent and more

concerned about life rather than men.

The fact that the double page spread is an interview of the artist

automatically attracts the target audience because they see the are

intrigued to read about the artist on the front cover and see what is so

important and special about her. They are able to relate to her whilst

reading the whole article and look up to her, seeing her as a role model that they can strive to be

like.

All these features attract my audience in to reading the magazine and also make them feel it is directed at them

the whole time.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing this product?

This project has helped me improve on my existing technological skills and

also develop new skills. After doing GCSE Media I had learnt how to use

Adobe Photoshop, however, briefly. This A-Level course has shown me the

importance of professionalism when it comes to editing original pieces. It

also encouraged me to look deeper in to the software and make use of the

many functions I did not previously know about. For example; the fxbutton

was used throughout my whole editing process.

This function was used to add effects to my images and texts to make them look more realistic and

attractive.

I also learnt how to use blogs as I had never used them before. It shows

how advanced technologies have become as anything

can be posted and written on it. There were certain files

that could not be copied on to the blog such as

PowerPoint’s which was when I found SlideShare. It is

a straight forward site which allows you to share files.

I also improved my skills of using a DSLR camera. After many failed attempts I managed to take the

pictures I had aimed to take.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you

have learnt in the progression from it to the full time product?

After completing my preliminary task, I had realised many areas in which I had to practice on or

change when it comes to the real product. As part of the preliminary we had to do a target audience

profile and mission statement. After completing this I had learnt how to write in depth and describe

my product in detail, discussing every aspect. This would help me create a visual image of my final

product and act as a useful planning tool.

After doing my school magazine I picked up on three main aspects which needed to improve to

enable my music magazine to look more realistic and sophisticated:

1. Font – The font would look more effective it had been unique, attractive and also suit the

target audience – in this case the 6th formers. The font of the mast-head should be bolder

and more eye-catching with a distinctive font to showbrand identity, making it stand out

from the rest. I also learnt how to add effects to fonts on Adobe which made my text stand

out more and look more realistic and appealing.

2. Colour Scheme – This was also an aspect that I needed to improve on when making my final

product. Rather than using different colours, I thought it would look more appealing if

similar colours were used which suit the audience of the product. This is why I went for pink

and silver colours, knowing that my target audience are women. I also avoided using solid

colours so that it does not look plain, but attractive. An example is shown below of using the

gradient effect on my puff in the final music magazine production. According to my post-

Before After

production questionnaire, the colour scheme was the main aspect that maintained a

symbiotic link between the three productions.

3. Camera – in my preliminary task I used my phone camera, however I realised that the quality

wasn’t as good as I expected. Using a professional DSLR camera would make the whole

production look appealing. I also noticed that if the medium shot filled the frame more, it

would look more professional.

After completing the preliminary task, I was able to create three effective, realistic products

with the skills I had learnt.