AS Media Studies Foundation Portfolio:): 2012

In what ways does your media products use, develop, or challenge form and conventions of real media products?Within this task I was required to construct the front cover, contents page and double page spread of a music magazine. I was influenced by several other magazines in order to try and construct my magazine in a way that I wanted.

Front cover.

The front cover of Q magazine was one of the main influences in creating the front cover of my magazine. I used a similar colour scheme of red and black as I feel this represents the genre well as well capturing the attention of the audience. I also included several of the features used within the Q magazine cover to try and make my front cover look as professional as possible. For example, the masthead is roughly the same size and in the same location as the one on the front cover of Q, and I used the sans serif font in a large size to make it stand out like the one in Q does. I used the same colour scheme and within my magazine one letter of the masthead is red and the other is black.

I included a sell line as I feel that it attracts the reader into reading the magazine, as well as looking professional. The sell line on the front cover of Q magazine is located along the top, whereas I chose to locate mine underneath the masthead. I chose to put it there because when the reader looks at the title, they will automatically see the sell line too which I wanted to aim for. I also included the bar code to make the magazine look professional. The bar code on Q magazine is located in the left corner towards the middle of the page, whereas I chose to put mine in the bottom corner which is what most magazines do, as I wanted to make my magazine look as real as possible. I included the date at the top of my magazine, next to the issue number which I feel looks professional, and the date and issue number on Q magazine is located within the bar code. I was going to do this, however I located the date and price in the top corner of my magazine to make both of them more visible. The main cover line within my magazine cover is the main story. I used a larger font with bold writing across the middle of my page, and with the main image relating to the text it makes it clear what the main cover line is and who it is about. The main cover line within Q magazine is similar to this, and this is what I based my front cover on. The colour scheme of the main cover line is also a similarity within both of the magazines. The way in which I set my cover lines out is based upon the way that Q magazine set theirs out. The red text boxes and the black font used within the front cover of Q was an influence in the way that I set mine out, and with it relating to the colour scheme I feel that this looks professional and shows that I have researched into other magazines for tips on how to set my front cover out. I didn't include a skyline on my front cover, because I feel that there was too much included at the top of my magazine. I feel that I could have included one, however because I included the date, price and the masthead at the top of my front cover, the top of my cover would become a little bit overcrowded. I didn't include a splash/puff either, because I feel that my front cover was taken up by more images and text. Within Q magazines front cover, there is a splash effect located at the right hand side of the image and I feel that I could have included one in the same area as my model is facing the opposite way. However, I am happy with the way that my magazine looks at the moment.

Contents page.

Within my contents page, I also based the way I set it out upon Q magazine contents page. I used several features in order to try and achieve the best result possible. I used the same layout to include the masthead in the same place, in the top left hand corner. I also used the same colour scheme throughout to make the magazine seem consistently professional and look attractive. The issue number and the date, price etc are included in the top right hand corner of the contents page, as are the ones in Q magazines contents page which is a similarity between the magazines. I also included the main image for the cover story in the middle right corner, with the page number on the image to ensure the reader knows the page in which to go to. I also took influence from the Q magazine contents page as their main story is on Oasis and the main image is situated to the middle right. I included a features column with an image of my front cover at the bottom of the text box, and information on how to subscribe to the magazine. I included a red text box around this as I feel it looks professional and it relates to the constant colour scheme. I also included a news column within the contents page as most other music magazines do, and it looks professional and lets the audience know what is going on. Within the contents page for Q magazine, it doesn't include a subscription however with research from other magazines I wanted to include this as it looks professional. I included an editors letter to ensure that my contents page and my magazine as a whole connects with the audience, and I created my signature on Paint and pasted it into Photoshop, to make it looks like I had printed my signature. I created an editors letter as I want to ensure that the audience feels connected with the editor and understands why certain things have been created etc.

Double Page Spread.

Within my double page spread, I compared it and based it upon a double page spread from a pop magazine. I included many features in which this magazine does, to try and make it look as best as possible.

The first feature I included was a large headline, as labelled on the photo, to ensure that it is eye-catching for the audience as well as looking professional.
I used two separate fonts for the headline in different colours because I feel that they complement each other well. I also included a larger visible main image as I feel that it is important for the audience to see the artist and to know what and who the article is about.
I included the introductory paragraph underneath the main title, to give an overview of what the article is about. It will draw the attention in of the audience and I feel that this looks professional. To add an extra professional feature I added the photo credit at the bottom left corner of my double page spread, this is the name of the person who created the article or the name of the photographer. I included both of these features, the name of the photographer is on the right page underneath the main title, and the name of the person who wrote the article is in the bottom left corner underneath the main image and next to the page number. I feel that this adds professionalism to my spread as all music magazines do this, so the audience will feel that this magazine looks professional. The name of the person who wrote the article is usually called a by-line. I also included a pull quote within my article, which is situated within the middle of the page. This is professional as the majority of music magazines along with other magazines, and I feel that because I have included this, my audience will feel that my magazine looks professional and well set out. I was influenced to include this by researching into other magazine covers and spreads.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?I feel that different social groups can be represented within my magazine. The age range in which I wanted to aim for within the magazine is between 16-24 year olds, preferably in the middle-late teens. I don’t feel that I was trying to aim for a stereotype in particular, but through the process of constructing my magazine I feel that I was almost aiming for a chart/indie type of feel, and therefore I feel that my magazine will relate to those people who are interested in this genre. The stereotype for these types of people would therefore be best to be described as individual.
I also didn’t aim to represent a particular socio-economic group within the construction of my magazine, however I feel that because the magazine is trying to represent the type of music in which is common nowadays and most people listen to – I feel that because of this if anything, it would represent the working class, almost from the A-C economy. I feel that this represents the type of audience I was trying to attract when making the magazine – and because they relate to the magazine I feel that they would be more willing to read it if they feel they can relate to it.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?I mainly based my magazine upon NME and Q magazine, as I was trying to aim for this type of genre. I gathered some research of the publishers of both of the magazines, and the publisher of NME magazine is IPC Media, and the publisher of Q magazine is Bauer Media. I feel that these two publishers may distribute my magazine as I have included many of the features in which both of the magazine have included, as well as a similar colour scheme and similar content throughout my magazine. I didn’t want my magazine to be an independent label so therefore I chose to base my magazine upon major labels.

Who would be the audience for your media product?The audience for my music magazine can range in different ways. For example, the target age range in which I was aiming for was between the ages 16-24, from the middle to late teens. I tried to achieve this by including content which teenagers would happily read and be interested in, and I also included a similar colour scheme and layout to magazines such as NME and Q, which most middle-late teenagers would read, so this may attract the audience into reading mine. I also wanted the target audience to be mostly girls; however boys could read this magazine too. I feel that because my main story on the double page spread of my magazine is involving a girl artist with a relating colour scheme etc., girls would be more entitled to read it. In my research and planning before I constructed my magazine, I stated that I wanted the target audience to be along the lines of teenagers and of the female population. I feel that as my magazine as grown, and throughout the construction of the magazine, I have still achieved this by creating a female artist in which females could possibly relate to. I also included content that teenagers would read, such as real life stories and the chart music which is available to read within my magazine and it states this on the contents page.

How did you attract/address your audience?I feel that within my magazine I have used certain features in order to appeal specifically to my audience. The fact that my audience are usually from the working class, I have tried to make my magazine affordable in a way that the audience will be able to pay for it – being under £2.
I also included an offer within my magazine which is the subscription on the contents page. I feel that this will be beneficial towards my audience because if they subscribe then they will save money which is beneficial in trying to target my audience. I also researched into particular social groups and this is the research I found:

The research I found was about socio-economic groups within today’s society. Relating to my target audience, the groups C2, D and E relate to my magazine as I feel that the working class would be more entitled to buy it, and will be able to afford it.
Because my target audience will be able to afford this, I feel that they will feel more included and feel part of ‘the scene’ more. This could lead to the magazine having a larger sample, then the target market will hopefully start to grow, making the magazine become more generalised.

I also received audience feedback on my magazine cover, double page spread and contents page by constructing a questionnaire in which I printed off and gave to ten people to fill in. The following comments are some of the ones which I received:· “I feel that you could include a larger image on your double page spread”.· “The colour scheme and the way that the contents page is set out is good”.· “A competition could be included on the front cover”.

I feel that by putting my feedback into the form of a chart it gives a better insight into the answers, the audience and how many people answered the questions.

Thisimage is the audience feedback sheet which I printed off to give to my audience:

For one final research of audience feedback, I used a video camera to interview one of my friends to ask her about the magazine. I read out my audience feedback question sheet in order for her to answer the questions.

This helps me to gain a personal insight into how my magazine is coming along, and to hear personally my friend’s views on the magazine itself.

What have you learnt about the use of technologies from the process of constructing this product?Within the construction of my magazine, I feel that the use of technology has been an incredibly beneficial tool and without it I wouldn’t have completed certain deadlines on time. I used Photoshop for the majority of the work, and used a camera supplied from the college in order to take my images. By combining the two, I have been able to edit and progress on my magazine, and I have made several drafts along the way of constructing my final piece in order to achieve its best possible potential. The tools I used in order to complete my magazine included the blur tool, to blur the edges of my images making them look more realistic and fitting in with the background, I also used a spot fix tool in order to try and achieve a smooth skin to the model. I included the quick selection tool on Photoshop to move images around the page, and the free transform tool in order to resize my images. I had to include the red eye removal tool on certain images also, to try and take away the red eye in which was captured on certain images during the photo-shoot. I used the contrast tools to make the images of the model brighter and for her to stand out more, which sharpened the images and this came out positively in the final draft. Finally, I included the same model/character throughout all of my pages, which I feel ensures that the magazine is professional and looks attractive and neatly set out.The following image is the first draft of my front cover, and because I changed the article story on the contents page and the double page spread, I had to change the story on the front cover in order for the magazine to be compatible and relate to each page. The image next to it is the improved front cover with all of the changes completed and improved.

The second image is the improved final image of my front cover with the story changed. I also increased the brightness of the page and contrast of my model again using Photoshop, to highlight that she is the main focus in the edition of the magazine.

The next two images are the first and second drafts of my contents page:

I included an editor’s section within my contents page the second time to ensure that it looked more professional. I also included red text boxes in the page to try and fill up the space more. Fewer images were included as I feel that last time this was the reason that most of the page was filled therefore I tried to include more text. This time I included a completed news section on the contents page, and included a subscription box which would attract people into reading it and paying for the magazine.Finally, this is the first and second draft of my double page spread. I made many changes to this after receiving comments and feedback on the last draft. The fact that my double page spread looked more like two separate pages rather than spreading over two pages encouraged me to make several changes:

The line needed to be removed on the first image in order to ensure that it looked more like a double page spread, so I did this by deleting the layer on Photoshop. I also ensured that I kept the features on such as the page numbers and the images, in order to still keep the double page spread looking professional. Within the changes, I included the pull quote in the middle of the page in order to make it look professional. I also included the question and answers section and kept it in the same place as I feel this also looks attractive. I created an album cover on Photoshop of the artist in order to make it look professional.Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?The progression I feel I have made from constructing my college magazine up until the final task I feel has progressed a lot. I feel that my use of Photoshop has become more developed and I feel that I am more confident in experimenting with certain tools since first starting using it.

These images are of my first task of constructing the college magazine compared to the final task of my music magazine:

As you can see, the font ranges more on the music magazine to what it does on the college magazine. I also feel that I am more confident with the use of colours now than to what I was beforehand. The images are more accurately placed and I have included more of them.
I feel that I have progressed a lot.

Therefore, from using a range of different tools throughout the construction of my magazine, I have researched into other magazines also, to try and make my magazine and all of its pages look as professional as possible.