AS RE-TAKE: FRONT COVER

AS RE-TAKE: CONTENTS PAGE

AS RE-TAKE: DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

AS RE-TAKE: Evaluation Question 1

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

In my media product I have used many forms and conventions of real media products in order to attract audiences by the typical magazine style. I have followed the common conventions of music magazines but have also developed and challenged some other conventions.

An example would be that I have developed the convention of the masthead on my front cover. Looking back at my textual analysis of a music magazine front cover which is Q magazine, the masthead uses the convention of the left third. This makes the title easily recognisable in a display of dozens of competitors. Whereas, the masthead on my front cover stretches across at the top of the page like Vibe magazine, giving it that distinctive look, but also making it recognisable with just the first letter of the magazine name ‘U’.

The convention of my selling line is used and displayed above the masthead on my front cover, but I have slightly developed this by putting it in a small font. Though, Q magazine’s selling line is also found at the top of the page, it is in a very large and bold font stretching across the page which is different from my selling line.

Unplugged's selling line

Q magazine's selling line

Another convention that I have developed is the main image. It is common to feature a medium close up in music magazines, but I have featured a mid-shot image instead. I did this because Blender magazine usually features a mid-shot image of a female on their front cover which is similar to my magazine as I’m using a female as well. Also, this shot type particularly shows off the model’s body as they are wearing limited amount of clothing and revealing skin. As a result, this may attract a huge amount of potential buyers of mostly girls and perhaps some boys who might be very keen on the relative attractiveness of the model.

Unplugged magazine   Blender magazine

   

Along with this, I had my model making direct eye contact connoting confidence that she knows she’s being photographed by looking at the camera. This is seen in many existing magazines and the textual analysis I did on the front cover of Q magazine which featured Cheryl Cole supports this common convention.

My model's nvc     Chery Cole's nvc

In addition, I have challenged the common convention of the dateline, price and website link being placed altogether on the barcode as seen on Q magazine. I wanted to make my magazine look more original so I placed the dateline and website link together and away from the barcode found underneath the masthead, while the barcode stands alone with the price on it at the bottom right of the page.

Unplugged's dateline/website link/barcode/price

Q magazine's barcode/dateline/price/website link

Furthermore, I have used a banner at the top of my front cover which reads “EXCLUSIVE! UPCOMING UK ARTISTS [P.99]”. This is a popular convention used in music magazines to persuade the audience even more into buying the magazine. An example of a real media product doing this is Blender magazine featuring Katy Perry on the front cover.

Unplugged's banner

Blender's banner

I have also used coverlines which are used in all front covers magazines regardless whether it is about music or not. This is to attract the audience’s attention by displaying the magazine’s content in brief, eye-catching, colourful texts. My coverlines are distributed around the main image in different colours, sizes and fonts to create a sense of variety. I chose to use colourful texts as the coverlines so that it stands out against the model’s pale complexion. However, most of these coverlines are distributed on the left third of the magazine because it is easy to read short coverlines in shops where the magazine is not shown full frontage.

The conventions I have observed in professional products in terms of design are that a contents page colour scheme matches the front cover and double page spread. I have applied this rule to my product where the colours that are mainly used include pink, blue, beige and black. However, I have kept the colours to a minimum on my double spread following a simple colour scheme of only pink, black and beige, creating a modern and contemporary look. 

Real media products often have white backgrounds to allow readers not to be distracted, keeping attention on the text. On my contents page I have used this form of convention so that pictures, headings and text boxes stick out to readers. These text boxes come in a variety with headings in a bold type and capital letters to intrigue the reader and separate the categories. I have page numbers that run up high to 104 to keep readers engaged by including many articles. My magazine contents page is also laid out in columns because it is simple to read and the pictures have page numbers labelled on them which anchors them to the text. The headlines and sub-lines are in the same font but differ in size with the sub-lines being smaller in size than the headlines which are common conventions in music magazines.







What's more, I added the magazine name ‘UNPLUGGED’ on my contents page as a logo for advertising and branding purposes. Following that is the title ‘contents’ and issue number which are typically found in Q magazine as their common conventions which make them recognisable. Another code I followed is having a smaller image of my front cover on my contents and an editor’s letter including a small image of myself as the editor of my magazine.

Music magazines usually place their issue date, website address and dateline together at the top of the page where the title is. But, I have slightly developed this convention by putting the dateline, website address with the page number at the bottom of my contents page. I did this because readers will tend to notice this in every page of the magazine and are more likely to remember it. This certainly suits my target audience who are teenagers as they are mostly persuaded by repeated exposure of the same thing.

We would say that a convention of a double page spread is to feature one large image that takes up a whole page, but occasionally some magazine might have the image blend between pages. I used this convention and had a part of the subject's clothing blend on the other side of the page to link the two pages together and also had the subject obtain a direct address pose like the pose she had on my front cover. Her non-verbal communication demonstrates her confidence and reveals the fact that she knows she’s being photographed. In order to match the subject with the article, the subjects name ‘Ella Defalco’ has been put in a different colour to denote a sense of importance.

The headline reads out a question with the subject name at the end ‘Who the hell is Ella Defalco?’ which is placed on only one page and the word ‘hell’ being in italics to show the common language teenagers used, while ‘Ella Defalco’ is in a pink font all in capital letters to make the subject appear important. The article is written informally because it allows the personality of the journalist interviewing the subject to come through such as, words like ‘yeah’ is included. After the headline follows a by-line crediting the photographer and journalist’s name and to show where the reader should start reading, a drop capital has been used at the start of the article. Just like my contents page, my double spread is laid out in columns making it look more professional and easy to read. Also, a quote taken from the interview is enlarged and positioned by the picture which is a convention seen in real media products.

AS RE-TAKE: Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product has been made to represent a female audience of an age range of 15 to 17. This teenage age range has a very dedicated interest in the pop and Hip-Hop genre as seen in my audience research. Caucasians could be members of my audience as a result of using a Caucasian model on my front cover. To represent this particular social group I have featured someone dressed as a pop and hip-hop singer on my front cover. To reflect upon my mood board my model is wearing bright pink lipstick which is a girly feature to attract female audiences. I followed the conventions of Q magazine where singer Cheryl Cole has lipstick on as well.

 My model                                 Cheryl Cole

On my front cover I’ve used a mid-shot image of a female to show off more of her body which may perhaps appeal to more than one gender group being male teenagers. In doing so, I deliberately had her wear a crop top to reveal more of her skin and this is similar to Blender magazine where Fergie creates sex appeal by wearing limited amount of clothing.

My model’s hairstyle is well represented in the pop and HIP-HOP genre. It is short and carries the trend of singers such as Frankie from the pop girl band ‘The Saturdays’ and Rihanna who has shown off so many types of short hairstyles. I chose to use a model that has a very eccentric hairstyle as this is an emblem and representation of their character. Looking at her non-verbal communication I had her looking directly at the camera to express confidence which is a characteristic most artists acquire. I’ve also had my model wear fashionable items that are popular among teenagers, such as a straw hat and several bracelets in order to appeal female audiences as seen from my mood board. An existing magazine who features a model wearing fashionable items like this is NME with Florence wearing a hat on the front cover.

On my contents page, I had one of my model’s wear these large black glasses representing the hip-hop genre very well, like pop artist Tinie Tempah is typically known for wearing different types of black of glasses as an iconic look to his style. This may also attract audiences who are interested in fashion, since the props I’ve included are the latest trend right now for teenagers.

AS RE-TAKE: Evaluation Question 3

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

Referring to back to my case study of a publishing company, I have decided that a publisher such as EMAP Metro would be likely to publish my music magazine.

Firstly, I think this would be beneficial to EMAP Metro because they have nothing similar to the genre of my music magazine in their music magazine portfolio. This would mean that my magazine would be the first to appeal to the pop and hip-hop audience in the company.

Secondly, seeing as my magazine mainly target female teenagers, this makes it different to magazines like FHM that target adult males. Therefore, they can publish a magazine that is new to the market with no competition in their company. Also, the fact that my magazine contains two genres, the female audience may find it more appealing due to its popularity of genres and variety.

Thirdly, pop is a very popular genre that goes well with hip-hop. As a result, my magazine would bring in twice as much attention from the audience and publishers. This would financially benefit EMAP Metro because not only may it attract females but males too due to its HIP-HOP genre. So my magazine does not stick to one gender group.

I would like to distribute my magazine in newsagents because my music magazine is priced at £1.50, therefore the price range will suit my audience who will be more willing to pay for a magazine that price when they visit the newsagent. I would also like to distribute my magazine in shopping stores such as Topshop which is a well known retailer and River Island. This is because my magazine partly involves fashion which is a way to attract females who may also be passionate about fashion.

AS RE-TAKE: Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My media product will mainly be targeting teenagers from 15 to 17 years of age. This is the reason why I have featured a model that is the same age as my target audience on my front cover to attract teenagers. Also, the fact that my model is presented as a female singer and somewhat creates sex appeal by its use of positioning and gaze, this may attract a male audience as well.

Ethnically, my magazine tries to target a mixed set of audiences. My magazine promotes pop and HIP-HOP music, so together they target Caucasian, Black and Asian ethnicities as seen on my audience research results. Most of them tend to have more of an interest in HIP-HOP but because I have used a Caucasian model on my front cover and fairly light skinned Asian girls on my contents page. It may be that my magazine might target more of a Caucasian and Asian female audience. I say this because artists in the HIP-HOP genre are often black.

The colour scheme of my magazine may also credit for attracting female audiences as colours include, dark blue, pink and beige but mostly pink is used overall in the magazine. Blue and pink are the common colours that go really well together and the fact that blue is included does not limit some males being attracted to the magazine. I decided the colour scheme consisting of three colours, with the third one being beige as it is pleasing to the eye and does not remove attention from the other two colours.

AS RE-TAKE: Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract a very similar age group of readers to my magazine I made sure my model was roughly the same age as my target audience. Nevertheless, you will find that in question 2, I have already discussed how I would attract my audience to my product through the use of costume, jewellery, styling, hair style, non-verbal communication and shot type.

To address my audience I have used a variety of linguistic features in my coverlines on the front cover. The coverline, “THE 10 BEST GIGS OF THE MONTH” is further exaggerated with the use of ‘best’ expressed as a hyperbole. I have also used repetition in a triadic structure where the same text is repeated three times, ‘THEY KNOW’. This coverline contain lyrics of a song to catch the audience’s recognition and make them remember the words. I’ve also added ‘5 exclusive new interviews’ following a list of several artists’ name with the last one being the name of the person featured on the front cover who is ‘Ella Defalco’. The use of list has been used in a number of real products to briefly inform readers what the magazine contain.

I used Standard English to get across my audience because people would take it seriously if it’s sounds more professional. Another linguistic feature I’ve used is alliteration, “more must” to emphasise the point that there is “176 more must-have songs”. Also, I have added an exclamation mark after the word ‘plus’ for exaggeration to communicate the tone of most 15-17 year old girls who are my target audience.

Also, the features on my contents page would help to persuade my target audience to buy my magazine as I included articles based on well-known pop and hip-hop artists to further build an interest on what the magazine contains. I included a quiz competition about winning Dr. Dre Beats headphones, where I used 1^st person pronoun ‘you’ in the coverline as a persuasive technique to address the audience like I’m talking to them directly.

The use of clothing and hair style are also factors in attracting my audience to my product. For example, the models on my contents page are wearing trendy and colourful clothing which is a good way to characterise the typical teenage style and attract people who have an interest in fashion. One of the models is wearing these fashionable big black glasses and a bright blue shamballa bracelet which are very popular amongst teenagers right now and these props let the audience know that the magazine is chic and up-to-date. Her hair is quite high up in a bun and I chose to do this because I want to show off what she’s wearing, which is a purple blouse and a pair of orange shorts. These colours combined together pops out so pleasingly against the white background, making this main image stand out on the page.

Shamballa bracelet

The other female model in the landscape image has her hair blowing backwards which was a creative decision of mine to use a hairdryer in order to do this. I have seen existing media products embrace the hair blowing appearance on females as a sense of feminine characteristics. Therefore, these factors will help to persuade my target audience.

My magazine model

Existing media products

AS RE-TAKE: Evaluation Question 6

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

I have used many different technologies in the process of constructing this product. To take my pictures I used a Canon EOS 1000D camera. This was my second time using the camera, with the first time being in the preliminary task; therefore I have had the chance to learn how to use this technology beforehand. The camera was put on a normal program with an auto flash on top of the camera to remove shadows from the model’s face.

I made sure that the camera was in the correct orientation when taking pictures. I took my pictures in a portrait orientation to fit as much of the subject as possible, excluding the unnecessary background which is why I chose to have a plain white background. At this point, I did find it difficult in getting my camera to focus well in few of my pictures. Below are two images, one is a focused image and the other is an unfocused image. I knew not to use an unfocused image in my magazine because this does not look professional at all.

A focused image shows all of the aspects in the image very clearly, while an unfocused image is quite blurry and does not show all of the aspects in the image clear enough. As a result, I chose to use the focused image on my front cover.

Focused image             Unfocused image

Another piece of technology that I used was Blogger via the Internet. I created an online account on Blogger.com – a blog publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. I didn’t find it easy at first to understand the service’s concept, for example, I cannot copy and paste images into a post unless it is converted into JPG, GIF or PNG files where I can then have upload them. Another example includes the fact that I have to copy and paste text from Microsoft Word to my post on Blogger. I also found it difficult to place images side by side and label them with text boxes, as it kept on moving to other positions preventing me from making creative displays of my work. This was time consuming and can be quite frustrating when texts and images appear in the wrong positions. However, I was able to overcome these weaknesses as I invested a lot more time in using Blogger, resulting in a decent record of my work put together.

Furthermore, I used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to help me create and edit my images with impact. My main use was to add text and edit images; I had already experienced using Photoshop in my preliminary task so I found it a lot easier to use it this time round. In my contents page, I added a thumbnail of my front cover and edited this by using Blending Options to add a drop shadow effect. To create texts boxes as well I used the Rectangle Tool and to make my pictures have a white background I used the magic eraser tool.

Thumbnail of front cover

Using magic eraser tool

To know how to do this I used YouTube to help me look at how to edit the photos on Photoshop. I watched video tutorials which were very handy and extremely helpful for me as I didn’t know what kind off tools to use in order to make my front cover and double page spread image have a white background. I decided to have a white background on my images because it makes texts and the colours stand out against the page.