Laura Dobson

Evaluation for media

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? To research the type of conventions that are used in real media products Ii produced magazine analysis on magazines that include billboard, rolling stone and Q magazine to identify the common conventions that are used I found that many magazines include a masthead that features across the top of the page and is stretched along the top, I also found that the majority of the magazines use cover lines on the cover to show which stories are featured in the actual magazine. Also most magazines include a mid-shot on the cover which focuses on the main article that features in the magazine. The genre of the magazines that I looked at for both rolling stone and Q were rock however billboard magazine features a mix of genres such as indie pop and rock, which helped me when choosing the conventions that I was going to use for my magazine, because it made me realise that I should make the masthead feature across the top of the page because on magazines like billboard the masthead looked better than that on Q magazine. On the cover of my magazine I have used a mid-shot which is used to attract the audiences eye and get them to want to pick up the magazine as they may notice the person who I featured on the cover and so they may want to read about them in the feature story inside. Also one convention that I have used is a masthead; my masthead featured across the top of the magazine, and is stretched along the top to stand out so that the audience will recognised the magazine instantly by the masthead. One convention that I have developed is the rule of thirds because although I havent followed the normal pattern of the rule of thirds, my magazine cover can still be split into three, this being 1 section along the top then the rest of the cover split in half. So the pattern isnt the average pattern used but it can still be seen as a rule of third. Another convention that I have used is on my contents page is pictures and captions, I have used these to interest the reader so it is clear to them what my magazine entails so this I have also included page numbers on my contents page as this makes my magazine easy to navigate through because the reader can turn to a certain page of the magazine that they may want to read for example an interview of the artist.

Laura Dobson

Q2. How does your media product represent different social groups and why? To represent different social groups I have created an artist profile which will reflect the genre and type of artists that will feature in my magazine, for this I included what the artists inspirations and role models which are mainly independent female artists such as Adele and Beyonc. The artist featured on the cover is not famous but is an up and coming artist so this will represent groups of people who wish to achieve something or those who wish of becoming a famous artist. People like the trendies are the social group that my magazine is mainly aimed at because my magazine is based on a well known genre and so I think that a group like the trendies would want to buy and read my magazine. Also I think that the colours that I have used will also fit with that social group because the colours used are quite basic and create a relaxed vibe.
The artist that will feature on my magazine is called Millie she is a 17 year old talented singer and is the daughter of a famous music producer who is trying to make a name for herself as a singer. She enjoys listening to pop music and her favourite artists are Beyonc, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga the genre of music that she creates is pop and aspires to be a famous independent singer and a good role model to the younger generations much like her favourite artists. In the future Millie dreams of sharing the stage with famous faces like Adele who she looks up to because she is a good role-model to her fans. The reason that I have chosen this artist to feature on the front of this magazine is because the artist is independent and an upcoming artist that the audience will recognise and enjoy.

Q3. What type of media institution might publish my media product and why? I think that the type of media institution that may publish my music magazine would be a company such as Bauer media group because they are quite a big company and publish magazines such as Kerrang and Q which are quite famous music magazines, they also publish other magazines such as fashion and TV magazines such as heat and closer, they also broadcast many music TV channels such as 4music and also many radio stations that are played on the TV such as heat radio and smash hits radio station. And they also publish many of their magazines websites online as well this includes the Kerrang and Q magazine website. So I think that a company that publishes so many magazines and TV and radio stations would be a good publisher for my magazine because they have a big readership with all the magazines that they publish and so a company like this could possible bring my magazine a wider readership. Also this media group publish their magazines and TV/radio channels in 19 different countries which could make my magazine quite successful.

Laura Dobson

Q4. Who would be the target audience for my media product? The target audience for my magazine is mainly females aged 16-30 I have chosen to use this age range because this is the age in which most people listen to pop music which is the genre I am focussing on. I think that the colours that I have used for my magazine also attract that age group as they are pastel colours and are quite pale which is not what pop magazines usually use and so these colours will produce a relaxed vibe towards the reader. The music that will be featured in my magazine is will also draw a person aged 16-30 because I will feature well known females vocalists which many people look up to and see as a role model because they are very successful in their own right, these people may include artists like Beyonc and Adele as they are independent women who are amazing at what they do. So using independent artist like these will attract a mainly female audience as they will want to read about their idols as they look up to them. This age range that I have used is the average age range that pop magazines use so I have decided to use the same age group as many magazines because this age is obviously successful range to aim a pop magazine at. Q5. How did you attract/address your audience? To address the audience for my magazine I used subtle colours throughout my magazine so that the cover was not in your face and so I used pastel colours such as pale pink, blue and yellow because these colours relax the reader when they are reading the magazine. Whereas as using bold and bright colours such as bright pink, although it does attract the readers attention I believe that using these colours are bit boring because lots of magazine use these colours nowadays and so I decided to use pale colours so that my magazine would stand out from the rest of the magazines that are on sale and so using these colours would be quite different for a pop magazine. Also another way I attracted the reader towards my magazine was to use a mid-shot on the front cover of an new artist who although isnt very successful right now, will be in the future and so using this person on the front of my magazine would attract the audience because they may want to read about her also it may help some readers if they wish to be a popular artist when they are older.