Media – Music Magazine Evaluation
> 1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Language –
My music magazine both uses the conventions of a music magazine and challenges them.
The Masthead of my magazine is ‘STRIKE’ which is at the top of my magazine and fills across the page horizontally. My Masthead is large, bold and black which makes it dominant from the rest of the font on my front cover. Although my Masthead isn’t completely clear on the left third, the readers would still be able to recognise the name of the magazine on the shelves from the words which are clear, ‘STR’. This develops that or a real media product as Kerrang’s Masthead is located in the same place as my Masthead is and remains in the same place on every issue of their magazine. The Masthead of my magazine ‘STRIKE’ will also be used as the logo and would be the same on each issue and located in the same place. As my magazine is a rock magazine, the Masthead ‘STRIKE’ is supposed to resemble that of an instrument being played with a forceful contact, which rock instruments usually are.
Strike Definition.
- To hit sharply, as with the hand, the fist, or a weapon
- To penetrate or pierce
- To collide with or crash into
- To come into violent or forceful contact
- To thrust in or into someone or something
- To indicate by a percussive or chiming sound
- To produce as if by playing a musical instrument.
This is similar to ‘Kerrang’ magazine as the Masthead ‘Kerrang’ imitates the sound of a guitar being strummed with force. I think that the Masthead of my magazine represents and conveys well the type of magazine my magazine is, the niche audience would be able to tell clearly from my Masthead that this magazine is a rock magazine. My Masthead also develops the conventions of a real media product.
The Image for my magazine is a medium close up image of my model who is also my band member. The way my model is posed makes her look powerful and in control, you also get the impression that her eyes are looking right at you which connects with the audience and seduces them into buying the magazine as they connect with the image immediately. In my medium close up image, the guitar plays a very significant part as the anchorage is about “Promises New Lead Guitarist”, because of this I have placed the guitar in a way which makes it look strong. The guitar is placed in a way which makes it look like it is coming out of the page, almost like it is 3D, you can also see down the full length of the guitar from the tuning pegs to the bridge of the guitar. In this both the model and the guitar are just as important as each other. This colour scheme of this image is made up of very bright colours of, blue, white and black. Both the guitar and my models nails are the colour blue, this is because the colour blue symbolises peace, confidence and strength which are the key features that I wanted to be presented with my article. The colour scheme of blue is also seen on the full of the splash, we can see this in the anchorage, cover lines and kicker. My image and colour scheme can be seen as following the conventions of a real media product as my image and colour scheme are the same as an issue of Kerrang. In this issue, the medium close up image is of the ‘My Chemical Romance’ band. The band members seem to be looking straight at the audience to connect with them and seduce them into buying the magazine as they connect with the image and the band. The lead singer of the band, Gerard Way, is located at the front whilst the rest of the band are stood behind him which could show his role in the band, his hair is also the colour red which stands out from the rest of the image, this could show his rebellious side. The colour red is also used on the splash as we can see in the cover lines. The main colour scheme which appears on the splash the most is the colour blue which stands out from the rest of the splash and appears in the anchorage.
The left third is a very vital part for the sales of the magazine as the magazine is not shown full-frontage, the title and the sell lines are usually located on the left third of the magazine so they are in display of dozens of competitors. For the left third, my magazine both conveys and challenges this convention. If my magazine was located on a shelf, parts of the image, anchorage and masthead would be visible enough for my magazine to be recognisable on a shelf, however, my sell lines have been placed at the right hand side of the magazine. I have done this because enough of the masthead and anchorage are visible enough to draw people to my magazine as the anchorage shows an exclusive piece of news. If my sell lines had been located on the left third, the font would not be clear due to my main image and my main image would also not be visible anymore, I found that my main image was more important so instead I located my sell lines at the right hand side where they are clearly visible to the readers.
My sell lines are made to attract the reader to the articles by offering free tickets, “Sweet Revenge, Win Free Tickets To The Come Back Tour” and short sharp descriptions which will make the reader want to look inside, “Paramore Face The Future”. This is similar to Kerrang magazine as they use sell lines such as “Exclusive! My World Was Ripped Apart!” which will also attract their readers. My Anchorage
My contents page follows many of the conventions which would be seen in any published music magazine. The page title is located at the top of the page with also the Masthead of the magazine ‘strike’, the Masthead is in the same font and colour as it is on the Splash whilst the font of ‘Contents’ is used in a different font and is in the colour blue. The colour blue shows a continuous colour scheme throughout the magazine with also the colours of black and white to go along with them. The medium close up image of my band members almost takes up half of the page just by itself; this shows the reader that this is the dominant article within the magazine. My contents page also includes several other images which refer to the articles inside the magazine. The page numbers on my contents page are in the colour blue and bold font, this is also the same for my section headers, I have done this because I wanted the readers to be drawn to these first as these help give a choice as to where my readers want to be looking, this will happen as the rest of my font is in the simple colour of black. My magazine also includes a features section, a news section and a reviews section which can be seen in any contents page for any music magazine, therefore this follows the conventions of a music magazine. My contents page however does not include an editor’s letter like Kerrang magazine does, this is because many contents page’s which I looked at also didn’t include an editor’s letter, so I decided to add more pages into my magazine.
My double page spread has a large headline of ‘Hayley’ which is in big bold lettering which will draw the reader’s attention to the article and show them clearly what the article is about, the headline is in the colours black and blue which is a continuous colour scheme throughout the magazine. Around my headline I have placed the pull quote ‘Introduced to the world to show what she’s got”, this pull quote gives extra meaning to the article and gives more information on what the article is going to be about. My magazine also includes a drop cap which can be seen in every music magazine, the drop cap of my magazine is in the graphical choices of blue and black. The font of my double page spread is written in columns to make the article clear to read, the introduction article is written in bold to draw more attention to this section, within the introduction article I have included a byline which shows who wrote the article, I have highlighted this in blue.
The main image of my double page spread is a large medium close up, in this image both of my models are back to back with their arms crossed which shows that they are both confident and not afraid of anything, this goes well with the article as my model ‘Hayley’ is “being introduced to the world” as the new band member. The models look like they are looking straight at the reader; this connects the reader with the article and makes my models look strong. I have included a Photo credit on my double page spread, “Melissa Dury”, this makes my double page spread look more realistic as it has the name of the photographer.
> 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Representation
The models within my magazine are represented in to look powerful and in control, we can see this by the way they are posed in the photos, they are all looking directly at the audience and stood in positions which gives them attitude, e.g. crossing their arms. My models are wearing dark coloured clothes and some are in leather, I have done this as dark colours are usually associated in other rock magazines, none of the musicians wear bright colours such as pink, the clothes that my models are wearing are also stereotypes to be ‘rocker clothing’ . The font style of my masthead ‘Strike’ looks very distorted and harsh. My models are young which associates with my audience as my audience will be around this age too, because of this my audience will feel like they can relate to my magazine because of their age groups similarities
> 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Institution
Bauer magazine publishes 3 specific music magazines all with different genres, ‘Q’, ‘Mojo’ and ‘Kerrang. As Bauer already has a wide range of magazines all with specific niche audiences, it would be very difficult to find a gap in the market.
‘Q’ magazines music genre is Modern Quality music. ‘Q’ magazine makes 12 issues a year and is the UK’s biggest selling monthly music magazine.
‘Mojo’ magazines music genre is Classic Rock. ‘Mojo’ magazine makes 12 issues a year and is the world’s biggest UK music magazine.
‘Kerrang’ magazines music genre is rock music. ‘Kerrang’ magazine makes 51 issues a year and is the world’s biggest selling weekly music magazine.
‘Mojo’ magazines music genre is Classic Rock. ‘Mojo’ magazine makes 12 issues a year and is the world’s biggest UK music magazine.
‘Kerrang’ magazines music genre is rock music. ‘Kerrang’ magazine makes 51 issues a year and is the world’s biggest selling weekly music magazine.
As my music magazine is very similar to Kerrang in that is has the same niche audience and is published weekly, Bauer would not be willing to publish my magazine as it would create competition within the market and this niche audience is already being covered.
However, I think that IPC Media would be interested in my media product. IPC Media produces the very popular music magazine NME which reaches over one million music fans every week and is the longest published and most respected music weekly in the world. NME magazine covers the best in contemporary music. Inside NME magazine they give information on winning features, the latest releases, live reviews, and a guide on the best new bands. NME magazine has been around for 58 years and is still thriving today in the UK. NME magazine is published weekly and is sold at £2.30.
I think that IPC Media would want to publish my media product; this is due to the fact that there is a gap in IPC Media’s market that needs to be filled. Whilst NME magazine focuses on the newest and best bands, my magazine ‘Strike’ focuses on a specific niche audience, my media product covers the rock genre in the market which hasn’t yet been covered by IPC Media. My media product also covers features, live reviews, and information on the best bands just like NME, my magazine is also published weekly and is sold at a price of £2.20 which is also near the amount of £2.30 which NME is sold at. My media product would open up a new sell point within IPC media’s market.
> 4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
> 5. How did you attract/address your audience?
Audience
The genre of my media product is ‘rock’; my magazine’s main target audience is young men, this is because it is found that men have more of a passion for this kind of music, although I would also like females to be interested in my magazine. The age group for my music magazine is aimed towards young people ages 16-21. As my magazine is aimed towards young individuals who are interested in rock music, I have represented specific things within my magazine to represent these particular social groups.
I attracted the audience for my media magazine in many ways. First, the medium close up image on my front page makes my model look powerful and strong, she looks like she is in control. Her eyes are looking directly at the audience which grabs their attention and draws them to the magazine. The masthead of my magazine ‘Strike’ indicates to the audience what genre my music magazine. I have used the colour blue throughout my magazine, this is because the colour blue symbolises peace, confidence and strength, and this colour also looks very calming and will draw the readers in.
My sell lines will also attract my audience offering free competitions which will make them want to buy my magazine, “Sweet revenge win free tickets to the comeback tour!”, my short sell lines of “Paramore face the future” and “Linkin Park kick back” will also make the audience want to read on inside and find out about the article.
> 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
To make my media product I used many different technologies including, the Internet, ICT drafts/ hand drawn drafts, a camera, Photoshop, Microsoft Publisher and Blogger.
I made hand drawn drafts, ICT drafts using Microsoft Publisher and Photoshop, these drafts helped me with the production of my media product as I could decide what I wanted my magazine to look like and helped me develop my magazine from there. To make my drafts on Photoshop, I used images from Google of Fallout Boy, from these images I taught myself how to cut out images, manipulate the image and to add text over the top of them. By doing this in Photoshop, I looked at my hand drawn and ICT drafts, this helped me create a full draft of a magazine front cover; this helped me get a better view of what my actual finished product would look like. These drafts also helped me to develop my skills using Microsoft publisher and Photoshop.
Once I made my drafts, I took pictures for my magazine using a Samsung PL120 camera which was 14.2 mega pixels. The pictures from this camera came out very clear and strong. I then edited these Photos on Photoshop. Whilst using Photoshop I learnt how to airbrush my models to make their skin look more clear and to make my photos look more professional, I did this by using the Spot fix tool to clear up any imperfections on my models skin, I then used the blur tool and turned down the opacity to give my image a more of an airbrushed effect. To add my model onto my magazine with no background, I used the quick selection tool to delete everything out of my image other than my model.
I also learnt how to manipulate my photos to change the lighting, and to change the colours of my models hair and to also add makeup to their faces to make them look like they belonged to a rock magazine more.
Whilst making my double page spread, I at first wrote my article on Photoshop, I found that using Photoshop to add my article was very difficult as I could not put my writing into columns. I instead used Microsoft Publisher, by adding my double page spread image to Microsoft Publisher I found it easy to add my article to the image and to put the writing into columns, I also then found it easy to add a Drop Cap to my article
> 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
From constructing this product I have found that this has really developed my skills in using technologies. We can clearly see this as looking back at my preliminary task when I was less aware of these technologies; my full product now definitely looks more professional and has had more done to it within the editing process.
As we can clearly see from my preliminary task to the completion of my full product, my knowledge about media products and technologies has dramatically changed over time. From my preliminary task, I was less aware of the conventions of a magazine; my sell lines are not neatly placed and are very difficult to read from the graphical choices I have used. I was not as aware of how to use Photoshop, therefore my Masthead looks very unprofessional in that it was not cut out or placed in a professional manor. My medium close up photo was not edited of airbrushed to look professional in any way, this was because I was unaware of the Spot fix tool and the blur tool, the image I took was also not made to fit full width of my page.
With first attempt at my music magazine I was more aware of the conventions of a music magazine and technologies to use in Photoshop. I experimented with different fonts and graphical choices using Google to find, ‘dafont.com’ which gave me a wider range of font styles. The medium close up I used for this magazine are more clearer and fill the page better, this is due to the fact that I now know how to cut out images and change there sizes, my sell lines are also more clear. However, from audience feedback, I was told that my medium close up image looked too blurry around the edges, and that I didn’t have enough sell lines. I was also told that due to the font style of my masthead and the way my models where posed, this made my magazine look more like an ‘army based’ magazine rather than a music magazine.
This feedback helped me towards my final product as I could now change my magazine for how my target audience wanted it to look. In my full product, I have made a variety of changes that I think make my magazine look more professional and fit my target audience’s needs in a better way. I have changed the font of my masthead to a more distorted and harsh look, I think by doing this my masthead now looks like it belongs to a rock magazine. I have also changed my graphical choices to blue, black and white. I have added more sell lines which are clear to read and will make my product more appealing to my audience. At this stage of my work I also had a lot of experience now using Photoshop, because of this I can now airbrush images better, and cut them out so they don’t blur around the edges. I think that with the changes I have made my final product looks more professional.
Audience feedback:
“Good masthead, sell lines could be made more clear”
“Same colour scheme throughout, looks professional”
“I like the house style”
“Looks professional”
“I would rather the magazine was published fortnightly rather than weekly”
“I think the price would be better if there was a free gift”
To see if my magazine was now appealing to my audience with changes, I gave them a questionnaire to answer.
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