2. 1.In what ways does your media product use, develop and
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
During the early stages of my research I didn’t have a defined idea of what genre I
wanted my magazine to be based around, so I just did research into a more general
collection of magazines, mainly NME and Q, which have both heavily influenced a
particular side of my magazine, which is that I include music from various genres and
don’t discriminate against era, I wanted my music magazine to be about appreciation
for music, regardless of how old it is or how popular or un-popular it is. Despite
researching a more general collection of magazines, I found that many of the music
magazines I researched focused heavily on colour to promote and entice the audience.
I felt that colour was perhaps used flamboyantly, and was often excessive and
unnecessary.
3. As a fan of black and white, in both photography and cinema, I understand the
honesty and depth that comes with putting an image in black and white. Black and
white images are usually reserved for the front covers of fashion magazines, because
the photographs don’t have the same personality or personal influence as music
magazine covers, but I wanted my magazine to challenge the convention of the
inclusion of colour, by having my magazine being entirely in black and white, with only
small hints of colour in the mastheads and various headers and sometimes specific
words. The colour of the masthead and headers would change each issue to
accommodate the featured artist’s preference.
4. Two of the most common fonts used in magazines for headlines and mastheads are
Bodoni, and Helvetic, which are not entirely dissimilar to the font I most frequently
used in my magazine, which was Broadway.
5. The convention of using a singular model on the front cover is one I followed, purely
because I like the way it looks. This is a convention most commonly used by music
magazines such as Q and Mojo. These were two of the magazines that I focused my
investigation on during the preliminary stages of production. When it came to taking
photographs I was heavily set on including only one model on my front cover.
I think my magazine does follow some conventions, it has too to appeal to the
audience, and what most people want, is a sense of familiarity with unexpected
elements thrown in. The idea of the entire magazine being in black and white I a
convention mostly used by fashion magazines, but, the idea was to include a sense of
mystery and intensity in my magazine. Using similar and common fonts, and including
only one model on my front cover also helped to achieve the sense of depth that the
black and white element instilled.
6. My magazine only includes white models, mainly due to the fact that resources meant
I only had access to white models. So, my magazines only represents that particular
social group. However, my magazine is based around indie music, and, the majority of
artists in this particular genre are white.
2.How does your media product represent particular social
groups?
7. On the other hand, the majority of indie artists are male, but in my magazine I
have only included female models. Once again, this is partly due to the fact that I
did not have access to male models, but it is heavily down to the fact that women
in the music industry are not nearly as popular as men in the industry. I don’t
think my magazine specifically caters to a certain social class, I don’t think that the
image of upper or higher class is portrayed through my photographs. My models
are people that I know, and are from the same social class that I, and the majority
of people are from nowadays. But, the aim of those photographs was not to
target or include a specific social class, it was instead supposed to capture and
promote the music style of my magazine
My magazine also does not include any photographs of people with disabilities,
and this is purely down to the fact that I don’t know any people with disabilities of
any kind. It would have been interesting to include models with disabilities
because it would break the convention of their un-inclusion.
8. A media institution is an organisation involved in and responsible for the distribution,
marketing and regulation of media texts. Institutions are business structures that
produce media texts and regulate and structure media activities. Institutions assume
the shared values of all employees and have a status and power relationship with
other institutions and the wider public. In the UK, there are a number of music
magazine institutions.
• Future PLC (Production, marketing and distribution)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (Production, marketing, distribution and (self)
regulator)
• Bauer Media Group (Production and distribution)
3. What media institution might distribute your media product
and why?
9. I think that Future PLC would be a good institution for my magazine to be distributed
by. Future PLC is the sixth biggest media institutions in the UK. I like the idea of my
magazine being produced by a company that isn’t too big or too small. I also know
that Future PLC is heavily involved in internet media, which would be a possible way
for my magazine to branch out, onto the internet, posting videos on YouTube and uses
the internet to gain readers. Future PLC caters to a very varied market, producing a
mixture of magazines, ranging from music magazines, to film magazines.
My main reason for picking this institution would be that Future PLC doesn’t
produce a magazine like mine, it does produce music magazines, but none that focus
on my genre, indie, so there wouldn’t be a lot of competition coming from the
company.
10. My media product is aimed at anyone who enjoys that genre of music. I don’t think
that music has to be associated with any other aspect of someone’s life. Because my
magazine includes both old and new music, it appeals to people of all ages, and the
aim of it is to educate people about music they haven’t heard. Some people will read
the magazine to catch up on current artists, and end up discovering an older band that
they go on to enjoy, and for others, they’ll read for older bands and artists, and In turn
learn about newer artists that they end up enjoying. My magazine also doesn’t target
a particular class, it isn’t a highly expensive magazine so doesn’t impact on people’s
money situations. I was also not trying to appeal to a male or female demographic, my
magazine was based on the idea that music is for everyone.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product and
why?
11. Reader Profile
Lizzie is 16 and lives in Yorkshire. She is an enthusiastic music fan, who enjoys
various genres, artists and bands, both old and new; she especially enjoys
Bastille, George Ezra and Queen. She mainly listens to music on her phone
and/or IPod, and mainly uses iTunes as a means of downloading and
experiencing new music. As well as music Lizzie also enjoys reading, watching
television and. Again, she enjoys many different types of books, films and TV
shows, both old and new, her favourite in two categories being The Hunger
Games series.
As a student Lizzie uses music as a way to unwind after college, and prefers it
when she can gain access to quality music fast. Also, as a young person in full
time education, it is difficult for her to also have a job, so she has little spare
money. This also means that free music vouchers and CDs would be
appreciated as it would mean less of her money would be spent on buying
the newest music. Also deals for concert and festival tickets would be
appreciated seeing as they are often quite expensive.
As a music lover, new music, bands and artists are interesting to Lizzie as it
broadens her understanding and love of music. So unknown and newly
discovered bands would be appreciated if featured in the magazine.
12. The overall image of my magazine doesn’t necessarily appeal to a certain
audience, I think the fact that it is in black and white may mean it wouldn’t appeal
to some younger people, as they are often known to be attracted to the colours
used in music magazines. However, I think this means that my magazine would
gain a more mature and developed audience.
13. 5. How do you attract/appeal to your audience?
To attract my audience, I used provocative and enticing cover lines, often advertising
interesting stories, interviews and exclusives. I also included the advertisement of a
competition to win free tickets to a music festival, which will attract not only my
audience, but also, anyone who wants to go to that festival.
14. My price is fairly low, considering the fact that my magazine will be issued monthly.
This will be enticing to my audience because it’s a cheap price for a very fulfilling
magazine.
I think that the colour, or lack of colour in my magazine would be very attention
grabbing, and would attract my audience. There are very few magazines that work
purely in black and white, and I think by being so un-conventional, and refusing to
use colour would make my magazine stand out amongst other music magazines
that rely heavily on colour to imitate a certain artists sound, mood or personality. I
also think that by using black and white, the images used actually take on more
meaning and depth than if they were taken in colour. As I’ve said before, this style,
this use of black and white may make my magazine appeal to a more mature and
intellectual audience.
15. What have you learnt about technologies from the construction
of your product?
Before this project, I had never used a blog, I had never used Slideshare, Survey
Monkey and I had never used Photoshop. Through using a blog, I learnt how many
ways I could actually display my research on my blog, and in turn, learnt how to
upload a video to YouTube, and then embed that link in my blog. I learnt how to
use Survey Monkey, and then display those results on my blog. I also learnt how
to put my PowerPoints onto Slideshare, and then display those on my blog.
16. I had never used Photoshop before, except when doing my preliminary task. My
understanding and ability with Photoshop was poor, but though consistent use I got
better and more confident with.
I had also never used a camera in a professional way, and it was difficult getting to
grips with the camera, its settings and functions, it was also very difficult using the
lighting in the studio, but, like with Photoshop, the more I used it, the more confident
I became. I also became more self-reliant, during the early stages of the project, I
would constantly be asking other classmates for help, because I was not confidant
enough to use certain software by myself.
I don’t think it would have been possible to complete my project without technology.
Obviously, there are some elements of research that could have been done without
the use of internet, I could have examined and analysed physical copies of magazines,
but It would have been very time consuming, and the use of the internet made it
faster and easier, I had access to more magazines, and existing explorations of them to
aid my investigations. Whilst I may have been able to get by without some access to
the internet, one of the most vital parts of this project was taking the photographs,
something I wouldn’t have been able to do without a camera. I also wouldn’t have
been able to do this project without Photoshop, editing my photographs was a
necessary and enjoyable part of this project.
17. editing my photographs was a necessary and enjoyable part of this project.
I do however think, that I could have done without my blog. I found having to use, and
post, and upload onto my blog very stressful, and I would have preferred if I could
have printed out all of my coursework, and handed it in. Mainly because I feel there
are too many things that can go wrong when everything is on a computer, I am
constantly anxious that something will be deleted, or that the computer will crash, or
that I will forget one of my passwords and lose all my work.
The positives of using technology were that it generally made most things easier,
research, survey distribution and editing. However, I personally find technology very
stressful to use.
As I’ve said before, I am constantly worried that it will crash. I also think that
sometimes time is wasted using technology unnecessarily.
18. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you
have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I think that I have come a long way from my preliminary task, I have learnt an awful lot
in regards to Photoshop.
19. I think that, most importantly, I’ve learnt the value of using minimalist colours, keeping
the colours used within the same pallet. In my preliminary task, I used too many
colours, too many fonts. This was mainly due to the fact that I had never used
Photoshop before, so was a little overexcited, and just used as many colours and fonts
as I could. My understanding of photography has also advanced, and I now know how
to take a well framed and compositional photograph.
20. In terms of production, there was obviously a more lengthy and detailed production
process for my final product than my preliminary task. My photographs were not
planned for my preliminary task, the ideas for the photos only materialised when I saw
the opportunity for a good photograph. But, for my final product there was a heavy
amount of planning for my photographs.
21. Overall, there was more planning for my final product, more attention to detail when
it came to the layout of the magazine.
22. There was also much more research into audiences, existing magazines, and media
institutions. This is obviously because my final product had to actually be more
advanced and all my choices for my magazine appearance and content had to be
justified, and explainable. The amount of research I did for my final product is what
helped to progress my understanding of how a music magazine has to be structured,
and how to create a conventional yet unique magazine.
23. I also did research on things such as colour, which helped to produce a stylesheet for
my final product . The research helped me to eliminate colours that would not work
for my genre of magazine.
So, overall, my final product was more thought out and advanced than my preliminary
task, because it had to be, the entire idea had to be more structured and defined.
