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

TITLE LAYOUT:

The masthead for my magazine challenges the conventions of real media products, because the layout of this masthead is different and unique from other magazines. You would expect the masthead to be going across the magazine at the top of the image; instead this masthead is going down on the left hand side of this magazine. This is not how a real magazine would have but I decided to take a different approach and make my magazine very different to the real conventions of ‘normal’ magazines. In addition, by positioning my masthead at the side of my magazine rather than across the top, when it is in the shop along with the other magazines and if another magazine is on top of this magazine, the masthead would still be visible to the customers so it is seen easily and clearly. Since the masthead dominates a fraction of the left hand side of the magazine, it is still dominating from the top to the bottom and this is important because it allows a definite identification with the audience so that they can familiarize with the name of this magazine, also to make sure it stands out.In terms of how the masthead was presented was different to the way normal magazines would have it. They do not usually have ‘circles’ or any other form of shapes around their masthead, whereas mine does, and this goes perfectly well with the name which also makes it stand out and have its own unique signature whereas other magazines do not have this. So this is not a usual convention of a real magazine. The naming of the masthead is very different to what people’s expectations would be, which all the more makes my magazine very unique, so this doesn’t conform to the audience’s expectations.

In ways which my masthead does use the usual conventions of a magazine is that it has one main color which stands out from the image and the background to make it bright and easier for the audience to see. And this is carried on with the rest of my magazine. The color scheme is kept consistent throughout the magazine which is how all magazines should have it.The fact that letters inside the circle shapes are not in any fancy letters makes it easier for the audience to see as it is not hard to read the letters. Also, it is in all capital letters so that this stands out and usually all magazines have their masthead in capital letters to show that this is the name of the magazine and it is important that the audience familiarize with it. It is more attention-grabbing rather than lower case.

Another way in which it uses typical conventions of a real magazine is that the masthead is on top of my main image and this is how most magazines have it, especially as this is a new magazine, in time the masthead could be behind the main image if the magazine gets to be well known and successful with the public.

MASTHEAD:

The reason behind me positioning my masthead in a very different manner to the way it is usually done was because I came across this magazine while researching rock magazines and have realised that they have their masthead ‘i-D’ positioned not in the usual way a rock magazine would have it. Also, they seem to position their masthead either sideways going down or going across from the left hand side of the magazine in different issues of their magazines. I thought about this and thought this is a new, different and unique idea for my magazine seeing as no other rock magazines have this. It would make my magazine more unique than others and would also make my magazine more recognizable due to this. This was a bold approach seeing as either the audience could either like or dislike it but it was a risk worth taking because from the audience feedback I have gathered they seemed to agree with my idea and liked this new different approach. It didn’t mean I would be changing my masthead from going down and going across, it would just be going down in all my magazines. So this was not a usual use of convention for real magazines.

MIS-EN-SCENE, COSTUME AND PROPS:This magazine is my inspiration of how I wanted my rock magazine to look like. As you can see I have applied the similar colour schemes because it has a very rock-theme to it. This magazine has been very successful with the public and they have been producing more editions and the target audience seem to like it, so I went with the similar approach and decided to make my one like that to. Even though they have their masthead behind their model I did not want to do this because this was a new magazine which had yet to be recognized with the public.

Furthermore, as you can see their model is wearing full black clothing which is very typical for a rock artist to wear; however, having a bit of another colour; white, would look more nicer to the whole theme. The colour of their clothes have been picked out carefully because black and white are a very typical conventions of a rock artist to show heavy metal and drum, to show the power in their music, and these are a usual outfit for a rock artist to wear. I have gone with the typical conventions of this because it is very easy to realise when one is into rock music by the clothes they were. These colours have been contrasted to my whole magazine for the audience to easily see this magazine is a rock genre. In addition, their model is sat with a neutral look and I decided to portray this on my models face too so this does conform the basic conventions of a real rock magazine. Half of ‘Led Zeppelin’s’ face is masked with shadow whilst the other half is very clear to see, even though I found it hard to do this with my model too, I decided to make her look to the right so you can only see half of her face. As well as this, ‘Led Zeppelin’ is written in a completely different font which hasn’t been used in any other part of the magazine and the font is very large going across the page, I contrasted this to my magazine as well. This gives it a different look to it and shows the main story is about him and he is the centre of attention in this magazine. The fact that Led Zeppelin is being posed by himself without no props also gives off the fact that the whole magazine isn’t just about his music career but there is more to it, which has been reflected back on to my magazine too, which is what I wanted to show.

MIS-EN-SCENE:By looking at the color and contrast of the effect that I have put on my image it shows the very typical conventions of usual rock magazines. Black and white would instantly appeal to all rock fans and this is how other successful magazines have it. By looking at the image it straight away gives off that rock vibe. Usually they wouldn’t have an effect put on the main image but I have an effect on mine to make it look more dark and mysterious than usual ones, so it has something different about it. This I done by using ‘tools’ on Photoshop to edit my image. This goes against the usual conventions of a real media product because they do not usually put an effect on their front cover image, but I thought it would look better if it had an effect on it which would also make it different to other rock magazines. When you look at a rock magazine it consists mainly of the colors black, white with another very bright color which is usually red and this has been done on my magazine as well so it is easy to tell which genre my magazine is. Usual models of a real magazine would wear very basic clothing which is either black or white and my model is wearing mostly black with white too so this conforms the usual conventions. The model of my image is also wearing black lipstick, this is very stereotypical as to how rock bands would have it too so this is typical convention is carried on to my magazine as well. What has been used is that all rock models would have very neutral faces without showing too much emotion on their faces and this is how I have chose to make my model look too. The shot type that I used is a mid-shot and this was because usually all rock magazines use this shot on their models in most real media products which makes them look professional and the main idea was for the audience to focus on her facial features rather than any other part of the magazine.

Sometimes, the model(s) on the front cover are either in a studio posing for the picture or they are in a different outside location against a wall, etc. My magazine has her model in a studio posing for the photo and this conforms the conventions of a real magazine.

However, an aspect that challenges the conventions of my music magazine is that the model is looking away from the camera whereas, other models would be making direct eye contact. I have chose to do this because it would make my model look more sexy and alluring showing that there is more to her than meets the eye. This would also make it look different to how other magazines have it.

In a way which differs my magazine to others and does not use typical conventions of a real magazine is that you see most magazines have more than one image on their front cover as well as the main image to show the variety that contains inside, however, I have differed to it to only have one main image on my front cover. This shows that the main focus and the main story is all about her and her life, that is the main focus of the magazine. This keeps my magazine simple but affective and professional.

Also, in rock magazines, there is usually a rock band with either some sort of instruments such as drums or guitars but my image is only of one model even though she is in a rock band, and the fact that she has no instrument in her hand shows and tells the audience that the main focus is on her life only. My model has been placed in the middle with nothing else around her so this doesn’t conform usual conventions of a rock magazine.

Moreover, the cover lines on my front cover vary as to how usual magazines would have it. Yet again this adds to the mysteriousness but this also keeps my magazine simple but affective because it looks professional with only a few cover lines rather than covering the front cover up with loads of them.Other magazines would have loads of cover lines spread across the front cover to show the variety it consists; however, I could not add too many cover lines due to the piece of clothing on my model, it wasn’t very clear to see it so I had to minimalise how many cover lines I had. And the name of the band covers up most of the magazine because I have made it very large as this is the cover story of what’s going to be inside.

I decided to make my cover lines three different font because this goes well together as I have seen whilst researching on other rock magazines. And making the cover lines red then white then red again makes it look attractive because most of the magazine is black and white which adds colour to it. In addition, changing the font size of my cover lines makes it look more attractive because the main bits are in a bigger size.

I have made the bands name very large on my front cover because this is the main story that is going to be inside. This is also in red because this is important than the rest, also because the colour red isn’t used much on the front cover and red is part of the colour scheme for my magazine. By making it a different front that isn’t used any where else on the front cover makes it look very different and interesting. It also conforms with the genre ‘Rock’.

CONTENTS PAGE:The inspiration of how I was going to layout my contents page was from this other contents page from another rock magazine. They had it very simple and easy for the audience to see the images and read the text without getting confused. The images were placed at the sides without it clashing with anything else and the text in another box. I decided to go with this idea too seeing as it was easy, simple and wouldn’t confuse the readers. The images that were set out were clear to see and it went with the text because it showed what was going to be inside, I have done this too and this is a use of real media products because this is what all magazines should be doing so the audience know exactly what they are looking at. My images yet again remained with the effect that I used on the image on my front cover, I wanted to keep this effect consistent in all my images because this showed professionalism and had a real nice look to it.

I had the model who was in my front cover on my contents page too because her story was the main focus of this magazine. All my models are making direct eye contact with the camera as the way they are on the other magazine and this engages with the audience immediately and draws them in; this is a form of convention used in real media products. In terms of my location I have taken these photo’s in a studio rather than an outdoor location because I wanted to keep all the images that I used consistent in one location showing the background isn’t the main focus, the models are. Moreover, the design that I used for my masthead on the front cover has been kept consistent onto my contents page because this showed that my magazine is professional, and the way I had my masthead going down the page has been carried onto my contents page too, to show that it’s part of the same magazine. All the usual form of conventions you would see on a real media product has been carried out onto my contents page too because I didn’t want to make my magazine look too different to others, this layout is very popular because all magazines use it and it is easy to see. I have linked the number of pages at the corner of my images to lead my audience to the right pages, this has been done on the other magazine too; this reflects back to the typical conventions. The colour of my background from my front cover has been carried out to my contents page to show consistency and the colour black shows rock which goes with my genre and this is also my colour-scheme.

Seeing as my images and ‘Features’ had taken up all my space on the first page of my ‘Contents’ I had decided to do a double page contents so I could add the ‘Regulars’. A lot of magazines do this whether they are a rock magazine or not, so this is a convention of a real media product too. I decided to add one large image of my main model used on my front cover and contents page, to use her again on the second page of my contents. Yet again I had used the same effect which I had used throughout all my images which has been done on Photoshop by using ‘Tools’. This was a great way to give off that rock vibe and it engages with the rock fans seeing as ‘Black and White’ are very popular with rock fans. Keeping this effect on-going represents professionalism of the magazine and shows the consistency and has a nice, different look to it than other magazines do. I went with my colour-scheme of writing in white and keeping the heading in red. I decided to place the writing over the models hair because it complimented the white against the black and made it easier for it to stand out and be readable making it eye-catching. I didn’t want to write too much because I already had too much contents on the first contents page, I also didn’t want to go over the models hair because it wouldn’t look nice. Furthermore, having an ‘Editors Letter’ is important for all magazines to consist because this shows that the editor has played a great interest to write a note for the audience so this is a real convention of how it is done on a real media product. Having the editors signature at after the note keeps it professional as all editors do this.

CONTENTS PAGE 2:

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD LAYOUT:

Looking at my double page spread, I wanted to have one main image of my model enlarged on the first page to show that the article was going to be all about her. This is a form of conventions that is used in real media products as a lot of magazines tend to go with this layout. I have used the same effect that I used on my previous models on my contents page and front cover on my double-page spread. This showed the consistency and it would have a nice impact on the images because it was all different. Having put ‘Pull/Grab Quotes’ on top of my image is a key part to the double-page spread because it sparks an interest with the audience and engages them while they get interested and persuaded to read the full article. This technique is used in real media products too. I have placed this pull/grab quote on top of my models hair because I have done this on my contents page and my front cover so I thought by doing this on my double-page spread would show that I have kept this consistent. Furthermore, the make-up on my models face which wasn’t so visible until now, symbolises rock very perfectly as she has black kohl around her eyes to show the shadowy effect that most rock artists do; so the make-up style is a very typical convention which has been portrayed in my magazine too. I used a close-up mid shot so that only from her shoulder-length is visible because the main focus is her facial expression. The type of shots have been also fairly consistent throughout my magazine. Moreover, the colour scheme has been kept consistent so that the audience can familiarize with this, this is also a typical convention of a rock magazine because they are all dark, brooding colours which represent heavy metal music. The background is yet again black because black is a main colour of my magazine; which is also a main colour of rock which a lot of rock artists/fans use to show their differences from other genres. Having put my models name at the top shows that the article is about her and this conforms real media products to show the audience what the article/text may be about.

WRITTEN CONTEXT:In terms of written context of my magazine, the fonts that I used was kept consistent throughout all the pages including the front cover. I didn’t want the fonts to be too fancy because it was a rock magazine and having the wrong fonts wouldn’t go well. I wanted a font that was readable and didn’t clash with the rest of the magazine but which also had a edgy rock vibe to it. I didn’t want the font to be too informal or too formal because my target audience wouldn’t approve of it. I chose ‘Impact’ for my main headings, subheadings and numbers. For the text I chose ‘Francois One’ because it was easy to read which also blended in well with my images and colours.Having kept my subheadings in capital letters rather than lower case made it easier for the audience to see this first than the rest of the text. It was clear and would grab the readers attention first, this is used in other real media products too. Having small summaries of what will consist inside the magazine is a form of convention used in real media products as they all do this.The written content in my DPS is essentially conforming to the standard ‘Question and Answer’ article, this is used in many magazines as this is easy to read and gives the fans an insight of how rock artists live. The language used isn’t too informal or too formal, it’s just about right for my target audience. In addition, another technique which is used daily in magazines has been used in my article. Having it split into two coloumns makes the text much more organized and clear for the reader to see. To follow this up, the size 11 is used, this is again following up the standard conventions of how all magazines have it.