NAME: Emma Foley CANDIDATE NUMBER:CENTRE: 33435 Aquinas College

AS MEDIA STUDIESOCR G321: Foundation Portfolio

Brief from OCR syllabus

EVALUATION QUESTIONS.

Question 1: Who would be the audience for your media product

My target audience

Primary audience: Male students aged 15-25

University students

Passionate about music

Middle class

Hobbies include playing instruments or going to concerts.

Secondary audience: Female students 15-25, or older males.

Primary audience: The primary audience for my magazine “Rush” would be predominantly male due to the genre being Indie as it appeals to more males. The male audience would be aged 15-25 which could include college and university students who are passionate about music and enjoy going to gigs and festivals. This is because I believe that people of this age listen to indie music the most. My target audience are of any ethnicity, and middle class who like to socialise with friends or may even play an instrument themselves. I believe that this audience would enjoy the features in my magazine if they are passionate about it. These features include the reviews, interviews and articles.

Secondary audience: The secondary audience would include women aged 15-25 because they may also have an interest in Indie music. This audience could also include the people who would read the magazine after being given it by a friend or family member, which is the magazines readership value. They could be interested in reading the magazine but would not actually go out and buy it themselves. My magazine is for both male and female readers as shown by the colour scheme as blue, black and red are unisex colours. Where as a pop magazine that is aimed at teenage girls would be pink and that colour appeals to them. Also, older males could be included in the secondary audience because they may still enjoy listening to indie music and would therefore buy the magazine.

My Target Audience

After creating a questionnaire and finding out about teenagers aged 16-17, I have found that in their spare time, half of the people asked enjoy to go out with their friends. Other popular things to do include going shopping or just staying in. I found that the most favourite shops for these people to shop in are topshop and topman. From this questionnaire I have been able to see what sort of bands my audience like so that they could be included in my magazine. Also, knowing what they like allows me to get an idea of what prizes could be available.

Questionnaire results

I asked what their favourite genre of music was and received a number of different answers. This suggests that young peoples music taste differs and that some people have an interest in all genres. From these results I decided that “Indie” music would be a good genre for my magazine as that was the answer for all of the students who chose “other” which was a large proportion. Also, Indie music can be merged into other genres such as “Rock” which I found was the most popular genre.

In my questionnaire I asked what the students do in their spare time. As you can see by the pie chart, the most popular answers were to “go out with friends” and go “shopping”. From this I think that it shows that my magazine is important because it will give the students more things to do in their spare time. For example, some of the students say that they “stay in” and my magazine “Rush” will give them something to do when they are at home. Also, reading magazines helps with the students school/college/university work because it is good for them to be reading in their spare time. Also, if the students like to spend time with their friends

Question 2: How did you attract/address your audience?

The star on my main image represents my audience because he is presented like a stereotypical Indie musician. For example he is using direct eye contact with the audience, and has a very serious facial expression. He has his hands in his pockets which shows that he is casual, along with his jeans and t-shirt. Elliot is young and the same age as some of the target audience and therefore it is easier for them to relate.

Direct eye contact with the audience

Casual t-shirt with writing on

Black skinny jeans

Hands in his pocket

The main image

Jake Bugg cover for NME magazine.

He is using direct eye contact with the audience

Wearing a jacket which suggests he has a casual dress sense

Very casual pose, at a bar with a drink, which relates to the article

“18 year old” shows he is young and the same age as many NME readers

Question 3: How does your media product represent particular social group?

In my double page spread I have used representation in my main star. For example, she looks Indie in the way she looks and is posing. Rachel is wearing all black and even has black nail varnish on which is being shown off. She also has her hair tied up messily which is a typical indie style. She is blowing a kiss which is effective because her band was called “KISS”. This could represent her as a typical girl in a band. My cover star is an idealisation of my secondary target audience. Where as, my cover star on the front cover is what my primary target audience would be like. This is important because it will interest the reader a lot more if the people featured in the magazine represent themselves.

Question 4: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I used Photoshop to cut out the background for my main image in my double page spread. I did this by firstly, adding the image to Photoshop and went round the image with the magic eraser tool. After I carefully went around the image I used the “Background eraser too” to highlight all of the background that I didn’t want to use and then I saved the image. This got rid of the background and left me with the cut out image.

Computer skills By producing my magazine I learnt a lot about how to use different tools on Word as this in the program I was creating my magazine on. For example I used the text box tool a lot to make a text box for me to write in, I then had to change the font/ size and colour of the text.

Also, I made shapes for things like banners and badges. To do this I simply had to go onto the shapes menu and choose which shape I would like to use. After that, I could choose what colour I wanted it to be and add text.

On my magazine there are a lot of layers as I had images and writing over it. I had to sort out these layers to ensure that they were in the right order, as I didn’t want the writing to be behind the images. To do this, I right click on the image and go onto “send to back” or “bring forward”.

Question 5: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.

FRONT COVER• My media product is a music magazine, in the genre of Indie which

stands for Independent music. • Other Indie magazines include Q and NME. • I have used the forms and conventions of music magazines which

include the masthead being placed at the top left hand side of the page, in a big bold font as it is one of the first things that the reader will see when they look at the front cover.

• Also the issue, date, barcode, website and price have been featured throughout the page. These are all conventions of the media production that I have produced due to laws.

• The main image has been placed in middle of the page, so that it is covering the whole cover. I used a medium shot and he has used eye contact which is used a lot on magazine front covers. This is usually how the main image in a front cover of a magazine has been placed and therefore I followed this convention as it shows a clear representation of the main cover story.

• I have included headline and a pull quote to go with my main image, as they are used to draw the reader into the main story. These are not compulsory to use, although I think that they are a good way to draw the reader in.

• I have included banners at both the top and bottom of my front cover which could develop and maybe even challenge the conventions as usually banners are only included at one of these places if any. Banners give the chance to include extra information which would appeal to the audience. I included “free posters” and “plus” which could anchor the reader as those words could make them think that they are getting more.

• The cover stories are included on both of the sides of my main image. They include a short description of what the article is about which is good as the reader can see what the article is about before they get to it, this could persuade them to read it.

• Another form and convention I followed was to include a PUG, in the shape of a circle next to the main image. Inside, it promotes a competition which helps the reader interact. This could develop the convention of getting the fans involved.

CONTENTS PAGE • My contents page has followed the forms and conventions of a magazines such as I have included the masthead “RUSH CONTENTS” so as well as the issue number. After looking at magazines such as NME and Kerrang! whilst looking for inspiration, I have found that this is used in their contents pages as well.

• Another main story, not the one presented on the front cover, has been included in my magazine contents page. This could challenge the forms and conventions as a lot of magazines use the same story. However, I thought that if I did that then the reader may get bored of it already and I wouldn’t want to spoil anymore of the article. Also, by using another article it promotes it and shows that there is a lot of content in my magazine. My story includes an image, the page number, a pull quote and extra details about the article to inform the reader.

• I have split my pages into sections which develops the forms and conventions of magazines. Some magazines simply just list all of the pages, where as some split it into “features” and “regulars”. I decided to split it into more sections as it is then easier for the reader to find what page they are looking for. For example if they are looking for an interview, they would just have to look under the “interview” section.

• The page numbers are all listed at the side in a different colour and in chronological order which makes is easy for the reader to find the page. This is a convention that every magazine has to follow or the whole page would be pointless.

• I have put my page numbers in columns as it is the way that content pages are set out to make is easy for the reader to follow.

• I have also included an editorial in my contents page which is a form and convention that almost every single contents page includes. The editors letter is simply the chance for the editor to talk to the readers and tell them what is in the magazine that issue and why.

• Finally, I included a “contact us” box at the bottom which had all of the details of how to contact the magazine. This helps with audience interaction which is a good feature and allows the readers to get involved.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD • My double page spread follows the forms and conventions as it includes the main features. These include the headline which includes the title and grey box. This is the first bit of the article that the reader will see.

• Also I included a dropped cap, which is a convention that every article uses, which is just simple the first letter being bigger than the rest of the font.

• My article has been written in columns. This is a major form and convention and if I didn’t write it like that then it would not look like an article.

• I took up one page to include my main image with a pull quote. This could challenge the conventions as not all articles are like this. For example, some double page spreads include lots of little pictures.

• The pull quote was picked out of the article and therefore the reader would see that first and it would persuade them to read the article as they would want to know what it is about.

• I chose to do my article as a question and answer interview. This is because then it is clear to the reader exactly what questions were being asked, and they could even choose which ones to read or not. Other double page spreads could either include question and answers like this, or articles written by somebody which includes pull quotes throughout.

House style and colour scheme• As you can see I have used the same house style

and colour scheme throughout all of my pages. I chose to use the colours Red, Black and Red for my Indie magazine. This is because these colours are neutral and my magazine could attract both male and females. Also, it has been used in other magazines like NME and Kerrang!

• I also used the same font throughout my front cover, contents page and double page spread. Such as when the word “Rush” was written, I used the same font on both the front cover and contents page.

• Both of these things allowed my work to look consistent and therefore more professional as if my production was using all different sorts of colours that didn’t go together, and all different fonts then it would look unattractive and messy.

• Over all I believe that I have used all of the conventions of a music magazine that I could have. In some cases I have changed the way that these conventions have been portrayed, although I have still used them. I believe that the genre of my magazine is clear due to the font, colour scheme, images and the bands I have featured. My magazine is an Indie magazine and therefore I used features that would be interesting to the audience. This involves the interviews, reviews, information about festivals and bands that they would like.

Question 6: What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

I have decided that IPC Media will be the institution to work with my magazine “Rush” because it also works with NME. I believe that because the magazines are quite similar it would be easier for them to be under the same institution as they could help promote each others magazines rather than being rivals.

“IPC Media is the UK's leading consumer magazine and digital publisher”

My magazine is going to be published fortnightly, where as NME is published weekly, this may persuade other readers to buy Rush because my target audience are of age where they might not have a huge disposable income to be spending on magazines. Therefore, the price of my magazine will be £2.50, which is not a huge amount considering the quantity of every issue will be of a high standard.

“Rush” will be distributed through many different things to make sure that it is well recognised and successful. For example, social networking sites are a really good way to do this, as most of my target audience will be on these and be able to access pages. This means that they can gain extra information and know what will be coming up in the next issue which would encourage them to buy it. Another feature is the opportunity for readers to have subscriptions. This means that they don’t even have to leave the house to go to the shop and buy the magazine, they can get it delivered straight to their house on the date the issue is released. This would persuade many readers to buy “Rush” as it is a feature included in all different magazines which is very useful.

DISTRIBUTION

• On my front cover I have included a website for the readers to visit. This website will be a similar lay out to the NME website. Webzines have become more popular recently due to technology getting better and the internet being easier and faster to access whether it is by a laptop or mobile phone. Other good features of a webzine is that is can be updated at any time, for example if a band just released their split, the website could be updated straight away to inform the audience, however this news can only be published in the next issue of the magazine. Real time media such as videos and audio of either music videos or interviews are also able to be included on websites which cant be used on paper copies. Also, the websites can be linked with social networking sites such as twitter and face book. Here, the magazine could be promoted by people talking about it, such as hash tags could be used or pages set up for people to follow/like.

Question 7: Looking back at your Aquinas college magazine, what do you feel you have learnt in the

progression to the full product?

Aquinas to Rush• I think that from the Aquinas magazine, I have learnt a lot about the conventions of

magazines in order to make it better. I think that it was easier to make my Indie magazine, because there is a clearer genre than a college magazine as the college magazine is aimed at all students. The only thing that these students have in common is that they are all in the age range of 16-19. However, it could also be aimed at the teachers which changed the age range. I mostly used the same conventions for both of my magazines, such as using a colour scheme, masthead, main image, cover lines.

As you can see, in my music magazine “Rush” I have decided to make the background white which I think looks a lot better in comparison to my Aquinas magazines background colour. This is because it means that the main image and cover lines stand out more. I feel that I got better images for my Indie magazine because from doing my Aquinas magazine I learnt how the image backgrounds looked and how big they needed to be. This allowed me to know how close I should take the image. I firstly cropped my images to make them the right size and then used Photoshop to edit anything out such as the background or to make it brighter.

The use of banners• I also learnt that banners were a very good feature of a magazine because they allow a lot of

extra information to fit into a small space at either the top or the bottom of the page. These are one of the first things that the reader will see, especially due to the colours that could be used. On my Aquinas magazine I used black because it went with my colour scheme of red, black and white. However, even though this colour scheme continued in my music magazine, I chose to have it yellow because yellow is the brightest colour to recognise. It is very eye catching and the colour usually used for offers. I also used another banner at the bottom of my “Rush” front cover, this banner was red which is goes with the colour scheme and compliments the other colours used. I feel from the Aquinas magazine to my music magazine, I have made more use of space in my banners. As you can see below, my two banners for “Rush” magazine are a lot more full of information.

Contents page

In terms of contents page, I think that for both the Aquinas magazine and Rush magazine, they are both very similar. I have mostly used the same layout because I believe that it looks very neat and readable. However, improvements from my Aquinas magazine to Rush include the articles being split up into sections. I think this is a good feature in a contents page because it allows the audience to find what they are looking for easily where as my Aquinas contents is just split into “feature” and “regular”. In my music magazine I haven’t used a banner although I think it looks good in my Aquinas magazine. This is because I focused on putting as many page numbers on as possible. I decided to include a bit about the main article as well, next the image. I think this is effective because it may interest the reader and make them want to read it when they are looking for what articles to read.