Matthew Needham 12MS

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

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

When choosing my main artist, I wanted to create somebody who resembled a modern take on a
typically ‘rock look’. I decided to portray a male artist on my cover as I found that males have more
of a saleability factor and also that it fit in well with my concept.

The styling of my artist was from mind but I also took inspiration from alternative artist Jack Peñate
as I felt that a fashionable audience would appreciate his style. I styled my artist in a tweed blazer
which could represent a social group as being smartly dressed and well-presented which could go
against the typical stereotype associated with a rock and alternative genre of music.

A particular cover that inspired my was a ‘Dazed & Confused’ cover of a

male model wearing a leather jacket and quaffed hairstyle. I believed this
to be a traditional, vintage representation of rock & roll that an audience
could relate to, and I wanted to take this into my consideration when
producing my own magazine.
Matthew Needham 12MS

On the contents page, I wanted to add an image of another artist as my

layout was inspired by ‘Rolling Stone’ who incorporate multiple artists on
their contents page.

I wanted to contrast the male and use a female artist on the secondary
image, the initial inspiration being taken from the artist Florence Welch;
hence the image colouring and the title
of the article ‘RedHed Rebels’.

By doing this, I wanted to appeal to my

audience as the female audience would
primarily aspire to the female artist and
the male audience would primarily lust after the female.

The main artist is photographed in a professional way; this could represent an artistic and creative
audience from a middle-class background. If my artist represents a social group that would buy this
magazine, then this would be a correct assumption.

The artist’s profile was partly true and partly fictional. The age of my artist is also correct which is
also the age of my intended audience and therefore, this could represent an audience that would
purchase the magazine.

In the main DPS article, my artist uses lexis and low register
language such as ‘Hey man’ and ‘Bit of a tune and a half to
my life really’. This could appeal to my audience as the
relaxed tone could be something that they feel more
comfortable reading. It could also represent and stereotype
a youth socialect in a social group as well as a laid back rock
& roll culture.

3. What kind of media institution would distribute your magazine and why?

IPC Media (formerly International Publishing Corporation) is the publishing company who I have
chosen to distribute my magazine. They are one of the largest distributors in the U.K and a
subsidiary of Time Inc, who have a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies a year which would
benefit to the circulation and advertisement of my premier magazine due to their population and
reputation.

I feel that this publication would be a good choice to publish my magazine as they have a lot of
diversity in the genre of magazines they print - as evidence, they print ‘i.D’ magazine which is very
controversial and art & fashion based, as I have decided to inspire my magazine from magazines
such as this, the company would be happy to work together.
Matthew Needham 12MS

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

I have decided that my magazine will be targeted at both male and female audiences. The genre of
music I have chosen is rock & alternative and therefore my magazine will appeal to an audience that
reflects this genre.

Jack

For example, Jack is a 19 year old student, studying BA Honours Fashion at Central Saint Martins in
Central London. He saunters round Camden market with his hands in his pockets, whistling his own
rendition of the Smith's 'Panic'.

He wakes up on his friends 'rented-out' sofa, whacks on last night’s socks and begins the new
fashion-forward day ahead of the rest. Loafers on his feet, slouched in a granddad cardie and a
customised band tee shirt he found in his dads old armoire, Jack walks into 'Vinyl & Junk' to pick up
the latest issue of 'Q Magazine'.

Jack is a fashionable boy, a setter and not a

follower. He is a lad who with no effort, seems to
fling together a bundle of threads and rocking it
out with his best foot on the job.

His mates say he’s the class clown with a healthy

rockaholic's appetite, listening to the likes of
Kasabian and the Drums.

Hannah

Hannah is a 17 year old sixth former who lives her life with the bands of tomorrow playing in the
background. She rocks into school with her stuff thrown into a brown
leather satchel she found in the back of a vintage store, wearing her
Doc Marten's paired with a black satin dress.

Hannah's friends say 'she’s got an ear for music ahead-of-its-time';

'she's always reading 'NME' and 'Q' magazine'. When she's not at a
festival or going to chill on the grass with her friends, guitar in hand,
she watches Hitchcock horrors and other black and white sci-fi movies.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Before choosing my artist and producing my magazine, I researched music magazines of the same
genre that I have chosen; rock and alternative. I found that there were two different portrayals of
Matthew Needham 12MS

these magazines, the more obvious and loud aesthetic rock magazine such as ‘kerrang’ and the more
stylish magazine such as ‘Q’. I decided that I would lean more towards the direction of the stylish
music magazine and my research showed me that there is a mixed gender audience as well as having
mixed gender artist featured on the cover. With this in mind, I decided that if to use a male model,
my magazine’s premiere issue could have a stronger impact appealing to both males and females
although in different ways. The female audience would primarily lust after the male artist and the
male audience would aspire to the male artist, both audiences also admiring the artist.

Referencing to Roland Barthes narrative codes, I believed that my magazine should have an open
narrative which would appeal to an audience more as they would be enticed to read and find out
more about the artist featured.

With my audience and concept in mind, I decided to use a male artist with a fashion-forward,
typically rock & roll look. I felt that by styling my artist with a quiff for example and dressing him in a
stylish way, the audience would be inspired and could relate to the artist. I feel that by dressing him
well, the magazine would appear more appealing to the audience as if the artist is dressed well then
ultimately, the audience would feel that they too are stylish by purchasing the magazine.

I feel that by using Roland Barthes semantic code with the use of a factory location, article title and
artist’s album title, the magazine would tie in together and the audience would find this a clever link,
understanding the connotations and ultimately enticing them to read on and understand why this
has been done; also an enigma code.

When deciding upon the colour palette for my magazine, it came from the styling of the model and
the editing of the photos. I felt that by using darker colours, there could be an additional semantic
code by connoting a rock genre of music, which is something that I found out when researching
other rock magazines. I felt that by doing this, my magazine would appeal to the same demographic
and an audience would understand and recognise why this has been done, making the magazine
appealing to the same audience.

Language is something that I considered a lot in order to address and appeal to my intended
audience. I felt that by using some low register language in my article and incorporating some
colloquialism in the artist’s speech, my audience could relate to it and feel relaxed when reading it,
relating to a youthful socialect. I also used the direct address on my contents page, incorporating
lexis such as ‘your views’, which could appeal to an audience as they would feel as though they have
contributed towards the magazine and to the knowledge of others.

6. What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Before beginning my coursework, I had already experimented with Photoshop and was pretty
familiar to the tools and what they can all do. When using Photoshop to produce my magazine, I was
therefore familiar with the program already.
Matthew Needham 12MS

I had used Photoshop on my Prelim task although the time limits lead me to produce a magazine
that was simplistic and comparing it to my final magazine, my finished product has an overall more
professional finish.

The equipment I used to create my magazine was a Canon Digital Camera to take all the images for
the magazine and my hp computer. I found that the camera would take quick, sharp shots as well as
some which were blurred; this was the case for most of the shoot when reviewing the images after. I
had used this camera before although not for anything like a photo shoot. I found that because the
camera was streamlined and small, it was easy to transport and manage on location.

I used Photoshop CS5 to edit my images, I initially used

a lot of the tools that I had used previously although I
discovered some new techniques, particularly artistic
ones, that I hadn’t used before that I found to be very
effective.

I used www.blogger.com as the ‘epicentre’ to upload

and present my coursework which is a website that I
had come across briefly before although never used it in
as much depth as I have on this course. I also found the
website to be useful when referring to a teacher’s blog
for terminology etc. or to compare my work to my peers. Another website I used was
‘www.scribd.com’, I used this website to upload a lot of my work and embed the files onto my blog.
This is a website that I had never used before although I found that it was very easy to use and the
way that my work was presented through it looked very professional and finished. I uploaded all of
my drafts through scribd as I found that the ‘zoom’ tool on the scribed embedded document allowed
an audience to zoom in and view my drafts close up and in detail. It also allowed my DPS to be read
easily and my images to be seen more clearly.

‘www.animoto.com’ was a website that I found to be useful when creating my Mood board and
Pitch. I hadn’t used this technology before although I found that it was simple and easy to use. I
produced my 25 word Pitch as an Animoto as I felt that because of the animations and the ability to
add music, my pitch would come alive more to my peers as the audience and clearly portray the
genre and concept of my magazine in an entertaining and more engaging way.

I also used websites such as ‘www.slideshare.com’ to present my photo shoot location images, test
shots, and final shoot images as I felt that this allowed the images to be seen clearly and in a large
scale. I hadn’t used this website before either but I found that it was very simple to use also.

Throughout the course, I used many websites for inspiration such as ‘www.dazeddigital.com’ which
are all listed at the side of my blog. www.dafont.com was a very useful website that I used to
research and download all the fonts that I used in my magazine, including the smaller print fonts. I
had used the website previously and therefore I was familiar with it although I learnt how to
properly download and install fonts to my computer in order to ensure that I had crisp text lines on
my masthead etc.
Matthew Needham 12MS

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it
to the full product?

When comparing my preliminary magazine to my final draft, there is a clear difference in the amount
of time has been put into each one and the level of professionalism.

I see my preliminary task as not being too bad considering the lack of knowledge about the
conventions of a magazine. I feel that since the prelim task, my knowledge and understanding of
layout and additional codes and meanings of a magazine has changed drastically.

I was familiar with Photoshop before my prelim, although my skills and technical ability has
increased drastically compared to by average ability before. Comparing the two covers, for example,
there is a clear contrast to the amount of layers used and the depth of editing I incorporated in my
final draft.

I feel that also, through making mock-ups and fist drafts, my technical ability to use Photoshop has
improved still, by understanding that small details are what make a magazine look professional and
look finished.

Through the research and planning section of the coursework, my knowledge of magazine
conventions and layouts has improved a lot. I can now look at a magazine and understand how it has
been produced and why the layout is how it is. My knowledge of how a magazine appeals to an
audience has improved, not only through teacher’s knowledge but also through my own discovery of
why a magazine appeals to me, or people of my age group, and how different magazines differ from
each other depending on genre.

I feel that overall, my skills have progressed greatly of editing, photography and knowledge of
magazine terminology and conventions.