Ellie Pasley

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

Front page
When researching Music magazines I found the following conventions that I later used in my own music magazine, one of these conventions was the photo used on the front of a music magazine and the type of shot that was used. I research this when looking at the house style of different music magazine's and seeing how they presented the artists on the front cover and wether the shot was a close up, a medium shot or a long shot. I looked at different music magazine's to see how they had presented the image on their front cover I looked at KERRANG, NME and BBC classical music magazine. In the KERRANG example they have used a medium shot and so have NME to show us most of their body without losing too much focus on their face. Where as BBC Classical music has a close up of the persons face.

Another thing i came across when researching music magazines was the house style used to represent the front cover and all the different colours and fonts used to make the house style. For example when looking at the music magazine KERRANG i found they used quite bright vibrant colours like red and yellow. They were used especially with the text on the front of the music magazine which i then later used for my music magazine when putting the headlines on the front cover to help it stand out more. i looked at variety different colours to see what would go with the genre of rock for my music magazines, and what type of fonts would fit together to make it look like a rock magazine, i saw on quite a few music magazines that the name would always be bold on the front cover in order to help it stand out, i then did the same to my music magazine to help it look more eye-catching.

As well i looked into cover lines to see what stories they say were in the magazine on the front cover, and how they present the cover lines and what they say. this proved helpful as i wasn't entirely sure how to place the cover lines on my music magazine to make it work in comparison to everything else on it.

Double Page Spread
A convention i used on my double page spread when researching what would be used to help create a double page spread was images. I researched how different magazines presented artists and bands on a double page interview with them and the different ways the image could be edited and used. For example i looked at the music magazine NME i found that they usually had the main photo on one side of the double page spread to show that is what the double page spread on that artist is about and the main focus is on them. Also with larger photos its easier to capture very one who may be part of the band and as well becomes more eye-catching to the reader. I then later used this for my own music magazine so the reader could see who the main focus was on the page.

Another convention i used was font and colour, i noticed when researching that most magazines tend to change the colour of text within an interview in a magazine to show the answer of that band or artists they are questioning to make it clearer to their readers and to represent and show that an interview is within this double page spread. This was shown in many music magazines and i borrowed this style and used it in my own magazine to help differentiate between the question and the artist answering them also it helps to make the text more interesting and eye catching to the reader.

When researching i realised lots of magazines have Idents at the bottom of their music magazine to promote their website so if the readers wanted to read more they can. I thought this was an interesting touch to the music magazine and helpful as it shows the readers there is a website for the magazine which may be more useful for some people. So i included this on my double page spread when creating it.

Contents Page
A convention i used on my contents page was different fonts to show and differentiate between a title and the text when reading what there is to read within the music magazine. When researching i came across this and saw how music magazines used different fonts to show and represent more important things within the magazine, and how different fonts can make the contents page more interesting and eye-catching. This was shown a lot in the KERRANG music magazine i researched, it showed how different fonts can make a page more interesting and easier to read when searching for the right page you want to find.

Another convention i used was the house style that i used to create the contents page and the style that was used to make it look the way it does and the design of it. I researched different house styles for music magazine to find that there were many different styles that were used to create the house style and the layout out of it to fit within the magazine genre and style that has been created. This was shown through the image layout and text layout and how that fitted in within the contrast of the colours used on the contents page. I used this in my music magazine by having columns to make the contents page easier to read and more interesting to readers to have to look through.

I used another convention which was images on the contents page to promote other bands within the music magazine that may have not been shown on the front cover or have but are on the contents page to show that theres more about them within the music magazine. i found when researching a lot of contents pages have more images of artists of bands and artists on this page to show them to the readers and the ones that are included in this magazine. This was shown in KERRANG and NME even if the images were smaller or bigger than the other images they were used to show that there was more in the music magazine that you might not of seen on the front cover, showing that there is a variety of bands within the music magazine.

How Does your media product represent particular social groups?

My music magazines represents different social groups through the way my magazine is presented, by this we can see what social group its representing which is teens to young adults, this appeals to them through the artist and music presented in this music magazine. It appeals to them through the house style that is used on the magazine which includes the colour and fonts, the colours i used were mostly purple, blue, yellow and red as they came across as quite strong colours . By having the right colours and font used on the magazine to make it stand out more, helps make the magazine more eye catching, the font i used were copperplate gothic bold which was used mostly for main text where as i used different fonts for the titles for example were DINk, impact and all over again to help make the titles really stand out.This then represents the social group as bold and bright as the colours were be strong colours use and the font would be bold to make the magazine look loud. it also appeals to teens through the artists that are shown on the music magazine representing the social group as loud, since the artists images are usually large or have an expression showing their loud.

What Kind Of Media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The media institution that would distribute and promote my music magazine would be Bauer media group as they distribute KERRANG which is another rock music magazine. This particular media institution only distributes pop and rock magazines so it would be a perfect fit for my music magazine and would make sense for them to distribute it as they distribute KERRANG, and this was the magazine i looked at for ideas about mine. Another reason i think they would distribute my magazine is because they have large scale audience so having another rock magazine would help their business and their audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my music magazine would be teens to young adults so the age range would be from 14 year olds to 20 year olds, as they would like and appreciate the music and artists inside the magazine, the reason this age group would be the audience is that i think it would appeal to them more as they are experiencing different music tastes and can fully appreciate it at that age, for gender i believe both genders would appreciate this music magazine as their are a variety of different gender artists within the music magazine so i think it would appeal to them as well. Another reason they would be the audience is through the house style designs used on my magazine to make it look young and loud to attract the audience.

How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience through the house style that i used to design make music magazine to make it seem more in your face and loud which attracts teen s to young adults. The things included with the house style that i have used to create the music magazine is one font and colour, for this i decided to use bright vibrant colours so i used red, blue and purple as i thought they were quite strong colours that could catch the audiences eye. I found when researching that music magazines use different colour text to represent the importance so i used this on my own music magazine to highlight the news on the front of my music magazine which contributed the design of the house style and the layout for the front cover. Another thing i used to help attract my audience was the photos and images that were used to represent the different artists and bands. I found when researching that the images used were more of a professional photo than a normal image of the artist so i used this aspect in my music magazine to create that to make the music magazine more interesting to the audience. The layout was another thing i used to attract my audience i found when researching music magazine KERRANG that they tend to have a lot of different things all squashed onto the front cover but enough for the audience to be able to read it and understand. I found that they usually had headlines and news on the front of the music magazine along with different images of artists that are inside the magazine so i used this to create that same style of everything pushed onto the front cover to create that more interesting atmosphere of the music magazine so the audience will want to pick up my music magazine.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt new skills from using photoshop, Adobe Indesign and blogger. By using these different things i have been able to explore how use these different programs and how they work when creating a music magazine especially for photoshop and adobe Indesign, as i used these throughly when creating my magazine and making it to the best quality needed. From blogger i have learnt how to create a blog and be able to share my work to my teachers through this and posting my work on here and be able to show them my progression through my work. I have also learnt how to change and edit photos to so i have been able to produce them in better quality and help enhance the photo so its more appealing on the music magazine making it more eye-catching. With Adobe design i feel i have acquired the skills to use this program efficiently to create a music magazine and have been able to use all the tools to help me create a music magazine.

Looking Back at your premliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel i have acquired many skills through the making on the product including the use of photoshop and my knowledge of being able to use this to be able to add to my music magazine when using Adobe Indesign. the skills i have made through working in Adobe Indesign and learning how the different tools work when editing the music magazine. Another skill have acquired when creating this music magazine has been an app on the app store that has been incredibly useful when making photos for the artists more interesting and different so the audience will notice that, the app i used was called InstaEditor and it was incredibly useful in the creation of my music magazine. I feel as though I've learnt how to successfully create a music magazine and be able to design to the way it is and been able to use research to create it and be inspired from different music magazine with ideas on how to design it.

Story Types

Within in different magazines you will find different story types and information about different artists and bands depending on what type of magazine you are reading.

KERRANG
Within magazines like KERRANG the type of stories you will be likely reading is about the rock bands and artist that fit into that genre. as well you will be reading stories about them and information about them if something big has happened, you will also read information about gigs and performances they will do it and if anything outside of music has happened to them or there band mates within the band. So basically any information a fan would need to know. As well as facts and information about the people that is new and people don't know about them. As well KERRANG will interview bands and then have stories about them for the readers. As well as merchandise you can buy, They will also talk about who is the No. 1 in the charts.

NME
NME Magazine will also have lots of stories like KERRANG, it will have stories about bands and artists, information about their gigs and what there up to. It will also have information and facts about them and what their up to and doing. But as well NME will bring up stories about old bands and artists who have retired and tell you what there up to and information and facts about them, which is useful and interesting to a fan. As well with NME they will interview bands and artists and therefore have a story about them for their readers to be able to read. As well as merchandise you can buy, they will also talk about whats No.1 in the charts.

BBC Music
BBC Music will have stories about different concerts that are happening and what music will be played and who will be playing it. They will also have interview stories with different musicians and have informations and facts about them for the reader to be able to read. They will also bring up about merchandise that you can buy and classic music that is still played today even though being so old.They will also talk about the latest music and whats No. 1 in the charts.