Media Studies –
Music Magazine Evaluation
Liam Goddard
Candidate Number: 6069
Centre Number: 36205
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Conventions;
-On my double page spread I have followed the house style of ‘Q’ magazine as they have the ‘Q’ logo in the top left corner with a red banner that stretches across both pages, I have followed this by trying to stretch my title of the bands name across both pages at the top in a red font like ‘Q’ magazine. I have also gone with this layout as with the title being in the top left of the page the reader is instantly attracted to this as it is in our direct eye line. I have used the colour red intentionally as it is proven to raise the heartbeat of males so any male looking at this article on my double page spread will instantly take an interest into the article.
-My front cover has a plug, cover lines, one dominant photo, masthead, strapline and barcode. These are all uses of conventions of a music magazine as during my research I saw these used on ‘Kerrang!’ and ‘Q’ magazines. They are all used in certain unique ways for them to attract the target audience and keep them coming back for more with the next issues of the magazine, also draws them to specific information that the magazine holds about upcoming events and bands and news about the biggest and best bands. I have also challenged/developed a convention as the logo is in the top right with the mast head starting top left. I did this because I believe it attracts the audiences eye more when the logo is in the top right of the page and makes the masthead and logo look tidier then it does if the logo was in the top left with the masthead following it going across to the top right.
-On my contents page I haven’t really stuck to conventions as I have four pictures up the right hand side quite small with large writing down the left hand side of the information to what’s inside the magazine, therefore I have challenged the conventions. I have followed one convention however with the logo and title being in the top left, and spreading across the top like a banner. I have done this because it is direct eye line of the reader so you know what magazine you are reading and can understand what page you are reading too. I do not know why I have done this because normal conventions of a contents page would be one dominant image covering most of the page with small writing on the left hand side of information of contents. To improve on this I would make my pictures bigger, or just use one dominant picture and have smaller writing of contents in top left hand corner of the page.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
-My magazine represents the rock/metal social group due to the features I have included and purposely placed there. This is because if I used a picture of a boy band like ‘One Direction’ then this isn’t representing the social group in which I intend and not relevant of any purpose for my magazine for therefore, I have used a picture of a metal band on the front cover which my target audience will see in the shops and be instantly attracted to it.
-Also the logo of the eagle crest has a form of darkness and mysterious almost gothic like appearance to it which also helps represent this social group as this sort of thing being ‘gothic-like’ is stereotypical to this social group within todays society. Therefore I have used this purposely to add to my magazines USP and attract the correct target audience because you would expect to see this on a metal magazine whereas a pop magazine you would expect to see pictures more along the line of holiday, sunshine and celebs.
-Also fitting with the stereotype of my intended target audience and social group, I have used dark colours as these are also ‘gothic-like’ and attract my target audience when they would see the magazine on the shelf as they would look away if they saw a bright pink colour on it. Therefore I am keeping my magazine realistic, relative and simplistic to my target audience.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
-I think that Future PLC would distribute my magazine as they currently distribute and own rights to/sponsor events and magazines which are similar, if not exact, to the genre that my magazine is about.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
-The audience for my magazine is people who are into rock, metal and indie music and these genres are what my magazine includes with such things as information of bands within these genres and events etc.
-These people that enjoy these genres of music are stereotyped in todays society as ‘emo’s’, ‘goths’ and ‘moshers’ which all are supposed to have a form relativity to the music.
-This target audience usually ranges from roughly the ages of 13 to about 28. However, there some exceptions as there are some people who like this music all their life rather then it just be a ‘phase’ in their youth.
How did you attract/address your audience?
-I have attracted my target audience in a variety of ways ranging from language of the text to colour of font used.
-On my front page I have used a substantial amount of red colour font as this is proven to raise the males heartbeat and also meaning that males are instantly attracted to the red colour meaning it will catch their eye in the shop. Also my masthead is in the top left hand corner meaning that this is in our direct eye-line so anyone who walks past my magazine on the shelf will clearly be able to see the masthead. I have also used a relative magazine name as ‘Mastiff’ is a very dominant word that you would not find on the front of a girly teenage magazine therefore this helps attract my target audience as it is relative to their social group. Also my picture is of 3 out of 4 band members of my ‘made up’ band for this magazine and therefore this picture helps attracts my target audience as the clothes and facial expressions of my main photo is relevant to the genre because of the hoodies and coat that look like clothes worn of metal bands when they first start out whereas for example a girly magazine of boy bands you would expect to see the boy band wearing scarves with vests and chino’s.
-On my contents page I have kept consistency to my front cover as I have used red font again to keep the audience interested within the magazine and what’s in the magazine. Also keeping with consistency is the positioning of the title and logo as they are in the same place so the audience can easily see what page they’re on and the logo of the magazine as a reminder to them so they know what magazine they are still reading.
-Something different however, are the pictures I have used on here as it is not just one main striking photo but it is four separate pictures. I have used these because each picture is a picture of the different band members so it is on the contents page as a clear viewing to who the main article is about, just like the main picture on the front cover. This is also done for promotional purposes put make sure the message and image of this new up-coming band is out across to their target market audience.
-I have kept some consistency on my double page spread as I have used red font colour on the title to this page. This red colour, as explained for my previous pages, helps to keep the reader interested. Also because my back ground is a murky dark green it also stands out and is clear to see. Also on this title I have used the drop shadow effect which also helps it to stand out as it adds a slight mysterious look to my title drawing in the eyes of the reader to look at it. The title is positioned purposely in the top left hand corner so it is in the direct eye-line of the reader.
-Also I have used one main and very dominant photo. I have done this because one striking image is all you need for the audience to be able to take an interest and find out more about them. The visuals are the most effective part of promotion advertisements as if you think something doesn’t look good then you will not be interested and won’t go anywhere near it whereas if you think something looks good then you will be interested and find out more about it.
-On here as well I have wrote a full article about my band however, I have made the font extremely small as this is a convention to all double page spreads in all magazines. Also it is on the far right hand side of the page as this are is not in the direct eye-line meaning it is not the most important part of the double page spread.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
-I learnt quite a bit through the construction process as I have never used a green screen before. The green screen was simple to use as it was set up for us prior to the photo shoot so all I had to do was tell the models where I wanted them and take the pictures. During this I learnt about the lighting as there was a lot of natural light coming into the room which didn’t make the picture looks good as I had artificial lighting in the room as well therefore I shut the curtains to help block the natural light.
-I learnt a lot of editing techniques on Photoshop CS6 as well as I used the colour range option to get rid of the green straight away without having to rub it out or by use of the magic wand. This saved a lot of time and was also the best option as it was the most accurate to get rid of the green.
-Also during editing I played about with the colour range to edit the overall colour of my picture so it made it fit onto my page better because the lighting of the original didn’t suite it perfectly however after playing with the colours it looked fine.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
-I have learnt about how effective conventions are and also learnt about different types of font, colours, layouts and photo’s can all be a factor of a very successful magazine.
-Also I have learnt about how absolutely everything on the magazine is purposely there to help it stand out to the target audience.
-I have learnt that one strong and effective photo is all you may possibly need to make the magazine stand out as the visuals are everything. I learnt this because it is used on every single magazine and makes the magazine stand out and look interesting therefore I have used it on my product as it makes it stand out and look good and is relative to my target audience.
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