QUESTION 1

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

Title

For my music magazine I took inspiration from Kerrang's title font. What I like about Kerrang's title font was that it has the edgy look. The edgy look I think is strongly associated with the rock/hardcore genre of music. This edgy, bold worn look is common with the magazines written for the rock and hardcore genre. Other magazines who use bold writing is magazines such a Big Cheese, Front and Rock sound. What was common which wasn't common in Kerrang but in the other magazines I found out on every issue they published the font colour was different which could mean they don't have a set colour scheme they just choose their colours based on the image or the mood they are trying to go for whereas Kerrang tend to stick to their iconic black. For my magazine I chose to do red and white because red is a bold colour and would make my magazine stand out more in comparison to Kerrang. I like Kerrang's explanation mark as it makes it look like the magazine is something to shout/talk about. I was influenced for my font type by a band font too. The hardcore band Terror influence me because it was a popular font in the hardcore scene. The font I like a varsity font and is usually associated with hardcore music.

Main images

In my images for the main article I took inspiration from magazines already out there but also the poses which are typical of the hardcore audience. The hardcore poses tend to have a hard/ tough look about them (see image on the right). In my main shoots I didn't have any props because after looking t other magazines they didn't have props so I chose to stick to this convention. To give my image the more professional look I also chose to do the shoot in a studio using my dslr to capture the images but also the image on the left which was feature in Kerrang was also shot in a studio. I used artificial lighting from the lights in the studio which helped greatly as the studio was quite ark. For my front cover I think it does give off a more edgy genre and shows off what kind of music magazine this one is. I think this because of the costume worn by my model but also the moody look my model has on his face which is typical for the 'rockstar' look. The image on the double page spread shows off the anger in the model which represents the type of music hardcore/ rock is.

For my contents page I used 5 images. The five images chosen I think all reflected my music genre. There was only two images which wasn’t taken in a studio and that

because I wanted a mix of locations rather than all studio images as that wouldn't be conventional to real media products. My

image shows off my music genre because of the serious poses my models are doing. All

but one image isn't serious and that was because I wanted to include the male gaze.

By making my model smile it makes her appealing to men. Also all the models are

looking into the camera giving the audience a sense that the models are looking at you and are drawing you in. The models have

an alternative look about them too such as brightly coloured hair, rebellious poses,

body modifications, piercings and tattoos all of these are common in my target

audience. I have numbered the images so they relate to the 'This week' bit so it

makes it easier for my audience to find each article.

The costume I chose for my model was clothing which is popular in the hardcore/rock music scene. The t-shirt I made my model wear is by a popular clothing line called Life Long which is a small label. Black skinny jeans which is

popular in this crowd of people but also fashionable in mainstream crowds too. A parka/trench coat is popular this season but the dark colours is something

which is typical in this genre of music. Lastly a beanie was chosen because a lot of young people are wearing them or bobble hats. These make my model

fashionable in this music scene and appeal to my target audience.

Language

The language I use in my product was colloquial language I chose to do this because it was for an age group which I fit into so it would have to be language that everyone can read. When writing

my magazine I used language which was directed to my audience by using words such as you.

another way I made it more direct was using the word us because it shows a connection between

the company and the reader.

I think overall my front cover has turned out very well. I have kept to the conventions of a typical music magazine by the layout of it such as having a main image, a barcode and a main text all of these things make my music magazine realistic. The use of different fonts on the front cover is also something which is common in magazines. An example of this is the Big Cheese magazine on the left of mine which has 4 different fonts. I have also kept to a three colour scheme consisting of red, white and black and Big Cheeses is red, yellow and

white which matches the striking background of the main image. Usually the colours chosen for the magazine relate to the image. This is something I went against as the colours my model was wearing are

quite dark and I wanted my magazine to stand out, by doing dark colours it wouldn’t have stood out hense why I chose a bright red.

Overall I’m pleased with my contents page. I have used the conventions of music magazines of naming the page ‘contents’ so it clarifies to the reader what page they are reading. I have also

used the convention of numbering the images with the side bar to show the reader which page to flick to for each story. Something which influenced me strongly in my contents page was

Kerrang’s contents page. What I liked about Kerrang’s contents page is the images they show in small boxes which act like previews of what images will be on the article but also they draw you

into reading that article this is something I used in my music magazine as I thought it looked quite effective when trying to appeal to your target audience.

Overall I like my double page spread. It works with my front cover as the colours are the same but also the writing is the same giving the audience a connection between the two. I stuck to

conventions for my music magazine. I used a pull quote to draw people into reading my article with a pull quote which makes you want to know more but to make it more appealing I combined two colours together and used red to show the main words in the pull quote again to make me want to read the article. I used a drop capital as that was something which was

typical in all music magazines which I think gives it a more professional look. Lastly I have sectioned my article in columns which is another typical thing of music magazines. Overall I

am happy with all three of my products and I believe they all work well together.