IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP

OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA

PRODUCTS?

By Hannah Clark – Year 12 AS Media Studies

Title of my magazine:

I feel my masthead conforms to the audience’s expectations of a music magazine as it’s font and style links to what I feel a person would expect of an indie magazine. It is positioned at the top of the page, meaning it can be seen clearly, it also means that when it has been distributed onto shelves, the title can be spotted easily. In terms of the name of my magazine, I thought of a name that sounded original and different in comparison to other music magazines, due to it being of an indie genre. I feel having a different kind of name would conform to the generic codes and conventions of a real magazine, by having such a short and simple name, that would stand out to a reader.

Mise en scene of images:

Firstly, by looking at my magazine’s main, front cover image we can see that I have kept it very minimalistic and simple, causing the model to stand out at a first glance. I have also made sure that the image is bright, further enhancing the presence and professionalism of the model. I feel my image challenges the general forms and conventions of a woman on the front of a magazine. The reason for this is due to the amount of clothing my model is wearing as often in music magazines women are seen as being an object and seen only for the beauty and bodies. I felt this was important as readers (especially women) would feel better about the company focusing less on their bodies and more on their facial expressions and the magazine’s actual content.

Costume and Props:

For costume and props I am going to be focusing on the larger image on the top, right hang side of my contents page. The first aspect noticed about this image is the simplicity of the consumes used on the models, I have made sure to keep with the same minimalistic black and while colour scheme that was also on my front cover image. This was a deliberate choice as it makes the costume look a lot more modern and up to date, which would be stereotypical of the music genre of the magazine. By keeping such simple costumes on my models, I feel my readers would be able to focus more on the people and content, instead of going crazy on colours and accessories. This definitely would challenge the general forms and conventions of a real music magazine as often images of artists focus too much on what the models are wearing and not enough on actual content. As far as props in this image go, my models are holding drumsticks and a cymbal, both being objects that link very well to music. I have done this to show the readers that although these models are focused partly on style and costume, music is always something in which they enjoy and have in common.

People:

All of the people I have used in my contents image appear to be of a younger age, I have done this deliberately in order to show the reader that this magazine can appeal to a younger audience, and therefore my targeted audience. Another concept to consider when looking at this part of my magazine is mostly the female dominance in two of the three images on the page. I feel this challenges the codes and conventions of a real indie music magazine as companies tend to include a lot more males when thinking about this certain genre. I believe that the use of more females develops the conventions of the magazine as it means they are playing an equal role with men, attracting both more male and female readers.

Representations of Gender:

When looking at the company of NME’s indie magazines on google images, I found that the dominating gender on the front covers of a lot of their magazines were male. As soon as I saw this I felt I wanted to challenge these conventions of the dominant male gender on front covers by having a woman as my model. By equalising both genders from the very beginning on my product, I feel I could attract a wider audience as readers would appreciate that women as well as men are involved within the indie music industry.

Title Font and Style:

I have again kept the title font and style of my magazine quite minimalistic and simple however, I still feel that it would stand out to a reader. It generally conforms to the conventions of a magazines due to the large bold lettering however by using more of a serif font, it might challenge the masculine feel that a title might have if it was done in sans serif instead. I have also made sure to use the same colours of black and red as they are included within my minimalist colour pallet and therefore showing my magazine as a whole and not the title separately to the rest of the page. Overall I have made sure to keep my title font and style simple in order for it to not be overpowering, just enough for the audience to take in and understand.

Written Content:

The written content of my double page spread conforms to the conventions of a magazine article as it written in columns, I feel writing in columns is effective especially within an article that contains a lot of writing as it spreads the information out, making it easier for the audience to read and take in, instead of their just being a large chunk of writing on the page. I have also made the questions and answers of my Q&A look different by the use of colour, again making it easier to read and understand. I have also conformed to conventions by including a pull quote in the middle of my article as it would grab the readers attention, causing them to want to read what is included within the actual written content.

How does your magazine suggest your chosen music genre?

My music magazine conforms to the way in which my indie music genre would be suggested. I have done this by using instruments and models of a younger age within my images. I used parts of a drum kit as props on my contents page as it is an instrument often used within the genre of music chosen. By including this in my images, I have developed the conventions as it would be something an reader would expect to see when looking into this kind of genre. In conclusion, I feel that the front cover, contents page and double page spread all contribute to suggesting that the genre of my music magazine is indie. I have also proved that my magazine develops and challenges forms and conventions of a real music magazine.