IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

CONVENTIONS OF A MAGAZINE!

I have started by looking into the different conventions of a magazine. I needed to find out the general conventions of a normal magazine front cover and then look into the individual conventions which i would choose to use in my magazine cover for my romantic film. Conventions of a magazine:-Bar Code-Price-Date-Title(name) of the Magazine-Information about what is inside the magazine-Bold clear text-Pictures-Captions-Colour

The conventions of a normal magazine cover is the same to what you would include in a magazine cover which was advertising a romantic film, the only conventional difference is the photograph which is used. The convention of a romantic magazine cover is to use a photograph which clearly shows the genre of a romantic film.

RESEARCH!

Empire and Total Magazines are the two main magazine covers of which i have analysed and looked at. The general conventions of a magazine front cover are visible on the front page of these magazines. They all contain a main photograph, title, barcode, price, date ETC.

When researching into magazine front covers i realised that the information on the front page was interesting short snippets of what to expect to read about inside the magazine. I wanted to create the same effect on my magazine, i needed to think of short snappy sentences that weren't too long and would draw the attention of the audience to the magazine. The front cover of the magazine has to be bold and able to stand out among a shelf full of lots of different magazines.

I wanted to follow the majority of the conventions when creating my magazine front cover to ensure that it was clearly a magazine cover. I have started off by using photoshop to create a blank file the same size as a magazine front cover. Photo shop enabled me to create the exact size of an existing magazine cover.

CREATING MY MAGAZINE FRONT COVER!

The very first thing i decided to add onto my magazine front cover was the title. I wanted to create my own title instead of using an existing title such as ‘Empire’ or ‘Total’. I did however want to think of a title which would link into the idea of me advertising a film within the trailer. I have used photo shop to create a title. I managed to create a title which was big and bold and ready to use straight away in my magazine front cover. I have decided to create a name which is called ‘Total Film’. I got the word ‘total’ from the previous film magazines which i have already looked at and i have added in the word film to show clearly this is a film magazine.

I have written the two different words differently. The word ‘film’ is the main word within my title therefore this is written in black writing. The font is plain and bold to show the title of the magazine clearly. The word total has been written vertically up the middle of the letter ‘F’ from the word ‘film’. The word total has been written in the same font as the word film has to make sure they link in together in a professional look to the magazine front cover. The word ‘title’ however has been changed into a white colour to make it stand out among the black background of the letter ‘F’ which it is on top off.

CREATING MY MAGAZINE FRONT COVER!

I have thought hard about the photograph i want to use for my magazine front cover. The normal conventional photograph which i have discovered is a photograph of a character facing forward at the customer. I wanted to go against this convention and make the photograph seem as though it has been picked out of a scene from the film trailer. When taking the photograph i have had to think very carefully about the mise-en-scene of the shot making sure the lighting, costume and setting is correct. I have decided to take the photograph in a scene from the film. I have taken the photograph up the hill which is an area where I have previously filmed some of the shots. I wanted to make sure the scene looked as though it was from the film to fit in with the typical convention of other magazine front covers. I have made the characters wear the same clothing as they have when I filmed a shot in the film. This helped to link my magazine front cover and trailer together. When taking the photographs I wanted the audience to be reminded they were looking at a cover for a film. The way in which I feel I have succeeded with this was the positioning of the characters when the photograph was taken. I have taken the photograph of the two characters, once again a boy and a girl, looking at each other stood in a field with arms around each other. This makes the audience feel like they are outside the film however they want to know the story behind these two characters and why they are the way they are with each other.

CREATING MY MAGAZINE FRONT COVER!

When deciding on the type of information which I wanted to add onto the outsides of the magazine front cover i researched into the type of information which other existing magazine front covers have used. I have realized the main information which is used is short snappy text which will catch the readers attention. I wanted to catch the readers attention when adding the text onto my front cover. I have decided to add in information like ‘Free Poster inside’ to make the audience want to buy the magazine. The reason for my deciding on a free poster was my target audience. Many teenagers would rather have a poster to stick on a wall rather then a CD they more then likely already have.

The idea of advertising a free poster was to attract the audience therefore I have had to make this stand out. I have added this information on a banner across the bottom right corner, I felt this has helped it to stand out and show the audience the information they want to see. I have got this idea from previous magazine front covers which I have researched.

I have decided to add the information about other films which are talked about in the magazine on the right hand side in black. The reasons for me adding this information in black was to make the writing clear and easier to see as the photograph was a light photograph. If the writing was in a bright colour then you wouldn’t have been able read it among the background and it would have taken some of the attention away from main picture in the middle.

CREATING MY MAGAZINE FRONT COVER!

When looking at my magazine front cover it was still missing some of the typical conventions which you would find on existing magazine front covers. I needed to create a barcode therefore I have used photo shop to add in different thicknesses of black lines parallel to each other to create my own version of a barcode. I have added this onto my magazine front cover and added on a date and price to my magazine front cover. This helps my magazine look more like a magazine front cover.

Overall I feel my magazine worked well as a magazine and through my audience feedback they seemed to have liked it as well.