Finished Products

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

In the magazine business, some magazines have created a stereotypical look for themselves and this look is now used by multiple other magazines. These are conventions and now relate to what a magazine should look like. Some magazines use nothing but the typical conventions where as some abolish the idea and create their own style. This would normally depend on the target demographic.

1. For the masthead on my magazine, I searched for a suitable font on Dafont.com. Eventually, I found a font that had enough width to it but still looked rugged enough for the target audience. I then added a drop shadow behind it to give the letters a border. This gave the masthead more depth and made it stand out more from the background. After that, I filled it in with a dark gold, which is one of the signature colours of my magazine, along with black and white. After feeling that the title needed more depth to it, as it was lacking the strength that a good masthead has, I added so graphics behind it. These are designed to allow the title feel like it's coming off the page and therefore, makes it more inviting to pick up and read. I feel that my masthead has followed the codes and conventions of a typical magazine, the main one being Kerrang. This is because of the block, capital letters and the rough, edgy look of the font. Also, the masthead has been dropped behind the people in the main image. This is done to emphasize the main image. One other reason why popular magazine do this is because their mastheads are recognizable. Therefore, the audience will still recognize which magazine it is even if part of it is covered by the main image.

2. The Mise-en-scene differs between my set of photos. I have typical locations for the photos of a music magazine with gig venues and bands on stage, whereas, the photos for my cover story are taken from a rehearsal studio, an area which photographers do not normally shoot artists. The photos shown above were all taken at venues while bands were playing so there is a professional look to them. The venues themselves range from Wembley stadium to Norwich UEA. Because the photos were taken at these venues while bands were playing, there is a crowd which is what makes the photos look like they're from a professional magazine.

The photos for my cover story though are taken from the rehearsal of the band that i was interviewing. Therefore, they lack the action that a live shot would have. Instead, they are design to expose the raw look of the band. Also, by allowing the readers to see them rehearsing, it can give the impression that they are closer to the band and feel more involved.

For the main image of the front cover, the characters in it have both subjective gaze and objective gaze. The use of the subjective gaze makes the audience feels that they are looking at them and therefore, makes it catch the customer’s eye. On the other hand, the objective gaze gives the impression that they are too cool for the camera (something that a stereotypical "rockstar" would think).

3. When it comes to the clothing and props for my cover shoot, I used a real band during their rehearsal and therefore, would naturally make it look conventional. By using a real band for the cover shoot, I didn't have to worry about making it look authentic. Therefore, they already dressed like a typical band and already had appropriate instruments. The front man of this band emphasizes the rockstar image as he is wearing a bandanna, aviator sunglasses and a waistcoat, the typical clothes for a band of this genre.

4. The people I've included in my cover shoot are quite conventional for a typical music magazine. This is because they are young, have long hair and look like they have an attitude. The attitude of the cover stars can be shown by if they have an objective or subjective gaze, a moody rockstar would typically have an objective gaze. As mentioned before, the cover stars that i used are in a real band and therefore, already fit the codes and conventions of the typical rock band.

5. For the placement of the masthead, I decided to follow the code of having it at the top of the page. I also made it with large block letters with a border created by a drop shadow like a typical magazine. This font is unique throughout the magazine to show it's also the logo for the magazine. To emphasize the main image; I placed the masthead behind the heads of the people on the cover. Normally a well-known magazine can do this and nearly cover the masthead completely because their masthead is recognizable along with the layout of the magazine.

For the main cover line, I followed the convention again by making it a large, blocked font. I originally planned to use a unique font that could also be the band's logo, but decided that it lacked strength to it. It has been placed to be chest level with the people in the main image and also in the lower half of the page. This allows the main image to be more recognizable as it has more space.

6.   For the content of my cover story, I decided to go against the convention of doing a simple question and answer article. Instead, I composed it more as a descriptive story of the interview. This gives it a lot more detail than what a typical Q&A would. This would be more entertaining for the sub-group of my target demographic which is students. On the other hand, parts of the article do follow the convention, for example, the beginning of the interview introduces the band and the location along with a brief introduction to what the interview is about. As well as this, the introduction to the interview starts with a drop cap. This helps the reader find the beginning of the article.For the font used to write the article, I used a sans serif font that allow the article to be read more easily. For the layout of the article, I have warped text around objects like pull quotes and images.  

7.   The Genre of music my magazine is specialized with is Rock/ Alternative. This is shown by the props used throughout the magazine and what is happening in the photos I took. By using a full drum kit and guitars along with half-stack amps, it gives the impression of a rock magazine. Had I used something like an electronic drum kit, it would have indicated that the band in the magazine has an R n' B style. Another way that my magazine emphasizes its genre is by what's happening in some of the photos. For example, the picture of the front-man from Young Guns on the cover shows him on the barrier at the front of the crowd. At gigs with of a Rock/ Alternative genre, this is a regularity. The colours I used for my magazine also help distinguish the music genre. The use of basic colours like black and white can usually link with Rock music due to the dark nature of the music. 

8.   For my contents page, I followed the convention used by many magazines. I created a feature section that introduced the one-off stories of that issue and the other titles are all regulars to the magazine. Although, I decided to go against the convention when I named the regular sections. Instead of giving them all simple names, I named them with popular quotes that have a sub-meaning to what they are. I also took inspiration from Kerrang and placed a large image on the top third of the page, along with inserts on top of it. This makes the page look a lot more interesting. At the very top of the page, I added a header along with another story that was inside the magazine.  

9.  The layout of my double page spread is fairly conventional for a music magazine. It contains body text for the main article along with captions. I have included a pull-quote which is placed beneath the main image in the top right hand corner. This gives an insight to the reader, if they are flicking through the magazine, what the article is about. It is also placed off canter so that it has a more modern look to it and so that it will catch a reader’s eye more easily.  I have also place an image in the middle of where the text should be, and therefore, had to warp text around it. Another box that has been placed off canter is the side bar. This makes the page look more interesting rather than it being placed dead straight. Next to this box, I have placed an image and given it a caption in a small, black box. This was intended to add humour and more detail to the page. One thing that I did decide to go against the convention for was the footer. I decided to reverse it on the left hand side of the page. I hoped this would give the impression of it being branded through the entire magazine.

10.  There are multiple things that contribute to the "house theme". One of these is the colour gold that I have used frequently on both the contents page and cover. By using a specific colour scheme, the magazine is more easily recognized. Although, I did not use this colour on my double page spread as it would have not looked good. Instead, I used a colour that is prominent in the images, which was a pinky-red.  But, I still used the two other colours in the theme which were black and an offset white. Another feature that contributes to the house theme of the magazine is the use of the "headline" font. This was mainly used on the cover and contents, but only rarely used on the double page spread. The gap in the market that I'm trying to fill is that of a magazine that delivers rock/alternative music but in a more sophisticated manor than Kerrang. Therefore, my target demographic on the Socio-Economic scale would be around C / D.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

 For the comparison of my front cover model, I have chosen an image of "Slash", the guitarist from "Guns N' Roses". This is a very realistic comparison for the model as they have a lot in common with their appearance and are psychographically and demographically. The image of my cover model that I'm using was used as a cut-out on my double page spread and the photo of Slash was one of his promo shots.

 The first similarity between these two shots is the shot type. They are both portrait, medium-long shots taken from a low angle. This kind of shot could connotate that they have more power than the crowd beneath if it was taken from a live show.

 Another similarity between the two models is their stance. From the photos, we can denotate that they both have objective gazes. This can be used to show a model not caring or with something else on their mind but in this case, it shows that they're concentrating on how they're playing the guitar.
 
One other similarity between these two models this they're costumes. They both have long, curly hair and are both wearing aviator sunglasses. On the other hand, they're clothes are fairly different. Whereas Slash is wearing a simple t-shirt with leather trousers, my model is wearing more formal clothes. This can tell us more about him and his band. Slash has gone for more of a bikers look which fits the image of "Guns N' Roses" and my model has a waistcoat with a shirt and trousers, which could indicate that they're gigs are not so rough.

 Another similarity between them is the props that they are using. Both of them are playing Les Paul guitars, an iconic image of a rock band. Also, they're playing the guitar in the same way which shows a similarity.

 Both of these images show a slightly pro-consumerist that might reflect the magazine. This is because a guitarist like Slash is very influential so people will aspire to be like him. This partially represents the social group that my magazine is targeting. This is because some people will buy into fashions to look popular and some people prefer to create their own image for themselves. Therefore, some of the advertising in my magazine will be of product used by musicians such as Slash so that companies can directly advertise to their target audience.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

   The company I have decided to use to publish my magazine is "Dennis Publishing". One main reason for this is the fact that they do not currently publish a music magazine. Therefore, this magazine will then be one of their main projects instead of being inferior to a much larger, more popular magazine that the company already publish. For example, if my magazine was to be published by IPC media, it would always be undermined by NME. This is because NME has already created a reputation for its self for being one of the most popular magazines for my target demographic. This is also very similar with "Bauer Media" as they publish Kerrang.

   Another advantage of using a medium sized publishing company is that the magazine would not be as pressured as what it would be if I was publishing with a larger company. For example, a larger company may force the magazine to publish a certain advert that may not fit the magazine or create harder deadlines to meet.

   One disadvantage that comes with publishing with Dennis Publishing is that it doesn't have the knowledge of the music magazine industry as much as what "IPC" or "Bauer" do. This is because it does not currently publish any other music magazines; one of the reasons I chose to use Dennis Publishing.

   Another disadvantage of using Dennis Publishing is that it may not have such a wide distribution of the magazines that a much larger company may have. This will have a consequential effect on the number of issues sold as the magazine may not be available in some places.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target demographic of my magazine is aimed towards teenagers/ young adults. A good representative of this group would be "Gustav Wood", the lead singer from "Young Guns", a band that would prominently feature in my magazine. He would be a good representative as he fits into my target age range and some of my target demographic may aspire to be like him.

The average age of my target demographic is 23 though the age range is between 15 and 30. Obviously, not everyone in this age range is going to pick up my magazine due to their musical tastes being different, instead, the group that will probably like my magazine the most will be the "Young Alternatives". More information on this sub-group can be found at UKTribes. Because this group is my target demographic, I have had to design my magazine to their likes and interests.

   The interests of my target audience have been displayed on the reader profile I did before starting my music magazine. It shows that my target demographic is very modern when it comes to their gadgets. This is shown by the starts phone and the games console. The readership profile also shows that they like listening to their music on the go, shown by the Ipod. Therefore, these kinds of products will be advertised in my magazine because the target customers of these products are very similar to those of my magazine. By using modern gadgets on the readership profile, this could annotate that they listen to modern, big, successful bands. On the other hand, it's in the nature of my target demographic to also enjoy discovering new unsigned acts and watching them grow as a band. The background on the readership profile is a wide shot of Reading Festival, another link with the people in my target demographic. This also links in with the drinks shown on the profile. All of which are popular brands for this age range. Also on the reader profile, there are multiple brands of clothing, some very well known and some unknown brands. This shows that my target audience understand how to dress smartly on everyday occasions. Another feature on the reader profile is the Gibson guitar and Marshall Amplifier. This indicates that some of the magazine's readers may play some sort of instrument, most likely the electric guitar.