IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?Question 1

MEDIA PRODUCTS

MASTHEAD

The immediate response that my masthead provides is that it is typically conventional for a magazine. This is due to the factors that it is very bold and striking. I ensured to follow this convention, as the audience will immediately be drawn to it. The font style ‘American Captain’ was used in the colour red as I also felt that this was following a conventional magazine that aimed to appeal to an audience who are typically more youthful and vibrant in their personality. As my magazine featured a strong entertainment theme, I felt that the masthead must resemble that of something similar to a film billboard to provide that taste of excitement and attraction. By opting to use a third party website for my masthead, I developed my original idea that I would have used solely from a font in Photoshop which can be typically found in real media products. I challenged a convention that a lot of regional magazines offer usually. For instance, the crack often uses a thin, clinical white or black masthead against the contrasting background, whereas I used my red background against a blue patterned background.

MISE-EN-SCENE

The use of mise-en-scene throughout my magazine could be interoperated as very conventional as I followed several rules that are familiar with existing magazine publications. In regards to setting, I used a professional studio to take the photos that I would use across my front cover and contents page. I felt this convention represents my magazine in a way that I want it to appear as professional as possible. I also used professional, studio lighting to support my photos to avoid any unwanted shadows and to provide the correction exposure needed. I developed my idea of what is a professional photo by using photo’s from a real life setting, which in my case was a music venue. I still used a professional camera for my photos but they were taken not in a professional studio, with experimental lighting created for effect. The costume used were appropriate to whatever the model was, for instance the young female model is portraying a college student, so she wore typical clothes that her character would be seen it. The facial expressions for the female model was positioned looking directly at the lenses, this was to initiate a response from the audience member. Whereas the photos of the band in my double page spread are looking away from the camera this was to challenge the convention of an explicit connection, rather to show the realism of what the musician was doing in that moment. I also used real-world props in the form of a playing guitar to show the realism behind what the photo actually was as opposed to just a still of a guitar against a wall which I felt would lack effect and depth.

MODELS

From the offset, the importance of direct address is made from my cover star posing directly into the camera with a sultry facial expression. I felt this was highly important to do so, as the audience member is most likely to connect with the cover star over any of the other features as found by my initial research when finding what my target audience want. I felt by doing this, this shows the importance of the model, her character and the identity she is portraying which would intrigue my audience into finding out more and being interested in purchasing my magazine. I felt I challenged a social convention in the entertainment industry as there is still an uneasy balance of more successful males compared to females. This female cover star could be a role model and influence to younger females who aspire to be like her in an industry that has been misrepresented for decades.

Both Empire and NME are high respected magazines in their own rights however, from a google search, the top line shows only 1 female in a list of six and seven. This shows that females are still at an uneven balance in the entertainment category. This is why I chose to challenge a typical convention in displaying a female as my cover as opposed to a male.

FONT STYLE

American Captain was the main font that I used for larger parts of my main product this was because it was bold and sharp which is a traditional convention I chose to follow in order to attract my target audience. I specifically used this font for my masthead and some of my headings that I wanted to highlight. Boasted by the colour red, I felt this added to the bright effect that I aimed in attracting customers. I also used this font as it had to be able to show itself well against the dark background in order to contrast. This was something I had to make sure I did well throughout my magazine. For instance, another popular font I used, specifically on my double page spread was Bebas Neue. This bold font is similar to existing magazines so I felt that it would be familiar enough to magazine readers of any genre and they wouldn’t have to adjust to a wild or alternative style of font. I also used a technique in where I used character spacing, most notably across my front page in whereby I made certain portions of texts all in one width to show collectiveness. This was something I felt challenged regional conventions as I hadn’t seen anything like that I researched prior. I also incorporated the bands logo that is commonly used creating it on Photoshop and implementing it into my work. This was something I felt gave readers a connection by noticing an established trademark.

WRITTEN CONTENT

During the creation of my media products, I wanted to make it clear that I would follow conventions as seen in existing magazines such as tone. I felt this was very important as a friendly voice was important so that the reader could connect immediately but also not be put off by anything that felt awkward of vague. As my magazine is regional, I felt that it was important that this would be clearly made apparent. So in some cases such as my editors note, I tried to go for a colloquial tone as opposed to a formal one and this was too make it feel like the editor and the reader were actually friends and nothing felt awkward. I used language such as ‘lasses’ in reference to women to show this. As much as my magazine is an entertainment magazine that I hope to give off a professional feel, I also wanted the regionalism to shine through with informal phrasing in small doses.

GENRE

The genre of my main products and ancillary tasks is entertainment. I felt in 2016, the media and entertainment industry is at an all time peak with music, television and film being socially relevant in so many peoples live especially with the integration of social media. I felt my culture relevant topic was more appropriate to use as opposed to a traditional ‘culture’ magazine as there are already so many in existing that obtain a large following. Other than your major entertainment magazine players such as Empire and NME, there is little competition for my genre and this is another reason I chose to use it. Taking into account my magazine is also regional, I felt my region could prosper from an entertainment magazine as there are so many unknown and known actors, musicians, celebrities from the area that aren’t spoke about enough and the public should be able to hear about it. I made sure to speak to my younger, target audience by constantly integrating social media links, which is something a traditional magazine misses out on doing.

LAYOUT

It is very important that the layout of my magazine and ancillary tasks was to appear clear and neat. This is because an uncluttered look to a magazine automatically suggests unprofessionalism which is something I didn’t want to promote. I have taken inspiration from a range of publications. NME was an inspiration for my contents page as I felt they utilise the correct balance of images to texts with appropriate sections and borders to divide their page up. I have also taken inspiration from the crack, which is a regional magazine for my contents page where they use half a page to show off the main image whilst smaller photos support it. I also used my masthead across the width of all my pages and billboard to show the connection and a link, which is a convention which I thought would show familiarity to an audience member. For my website, I wanted to make sure it felt professional and current by issuing tabs across the bottom of the screen that moved with the user as they worked through the different pages. I opted to go for a minimal design as this was to avoid too much clutter which would be off putting. It would also take longer for the page to load for the user if I incorporated too many elements into my design.