In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

Question 1

In my research into the codes and conventions of pop magazines, I was able to explore the key features that appear again and again. I used multiple methods in order to fully understand the conventions of pop magazines. At first, I looked at different pop magazines and studied their key features. Then I looked at the different magazines and cross referenced them in order to find common features. A key common feature I found was the bright and vibrant colour scheme that appeared in every single magazine I looked at. This is why I was adamant that I would follow this key convention so that my target audience would be able to identify my media product through its conventions that signal the genre of the magazine.

Another convention that became clear to me was the layout conventions that featured throughout pop magazines. For example, on the front cover, the masthead always features in the top left hand corner, where the human eye naturally goes first. Therefore, on my front cover, I placed the masthead in the top left hand corner. I also followed the conventional fun and youthful look of the masthead through the use of a girly sans serif and bright pink font. I also established that it is conventional for there to be a visual link between the front cover of the magazine and its contents page. For example, the colour scheme is often shared between the front cover and the contents page, enhancing the likelihood of achieving a strong brand identity. This is why I used the same fonts and colours on my contents page that I did on my front cover.

Conventionally, my magazine follows the example of pop magazines such as We Love Pop in having bright colours such as pink, yellow and blue feature on the front cover. This signals the young girly target audience.

Follows key layout conventions such as the masthead being in the top left hand corner, where the human eye naturally looks first. The front cover shares visual links with the contents page and double page spread.

The visual link between the front cover, contents page and double page spread is continued through conventional features such as colour. Each piece of media uses the same colours and fonts, the same artists, the same mode of address, and on each page, the name of the magazine features. This visual link helps to maintain a successful brand identity which helps keep the audience familiar with the magazine so that the appeal of the magazine is increased.

Double page spread follows general layout conventions in that the main image is placed on the left hand side with the facing article on the other. A convention of pop magazines is the common article choice being an interview with an artist.

The contents page follows the convention of having an editors letter on the left, below the heading. Conventionally, the articles are sorted into categories for easy navigation for the young target audience. Typically, the main image is the same artist as the artist featured in the main image on the front cover.

Another key convention of pop magazines that I ensured I followed in my own media was the use of mise-en-scene which was specific to the pop genre. In the images used on my front cover, contents page and double page spread, they all followed conventional mise-en-scene features that are exclusive to pop. The artists in the images would be posing and smiling to show the innocence in the pop genre. They also follow the mainstream fashion trends in the costume choices, which is also conventional of pop. I thought it was important to follow important mise-en-scene conventions such as; body language, facial expression and costume because the images are vitally important as they are aimed at such a young audience who prefer to be presented with images rather than text. Therefore, it is vital that I used the mise-en-scene in the images to allow the audience to identify that my magazine belongs to the pop genre. In my research, I focused on images of existing girl bands in order to gain a better understanding of the mise-en-scene that is exclusive to pop. By looking at images of the Saturdays, I was able to identify the sort of facial expression, body language and costume that should feature in an image of a pop girl band. The band shows their feisty side and their attitude through their stance and body language, but their facial expressions shows the more friendly and down-to-earth side of the band. I used images of bands like the Saturdays and Little Mix to produce an accurate representation of a pop girl band.