Sophie's foundation portfolio 09/10

Question 1
-In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e of music magazine)

One thing that my media product uses is a masthead. Like on all magazines mastheads are a key part of the front cover. It is also the most important thing to make eye-catching and memorable. When people are flicking through the shelves looking at magazines, if the masthead doesn't appeal to the target audience the magazine wont do well. The name of the magazine has to appeal to the target market otherwise it wont sell. The title of the magazine also has to be linked or to sound like your genre. For instance the name "smash hits" is a chart music magazine. This is a good title as it links into the genre of chart music.

Like on any product you buy there comes a bar code. On my magazine there is a bar code. All magazines have bar codes no matter where and what colour. They are usually a rectangle or square shape, and come in black and white. Bar codes are important for when the product goes into sale as its used to sell the product, without it nobody would be able to buy magazines or anything for that matter, therefore they are very important. As well as the bar code a price is also included on the magazine in some shape and form. It's usually next to the bar code, but it can be situated anywhere on the magazine. The price is also important for sale, as without it people wouldn't know the price of the product, and it may be off putting to the costumer if there is no price as they will not know the cost and may have a shock when paying for it.

Any additional information on the front of magazines are usually called cover lines. Most magazines have them, however some don't. Some magazines are just plain with a picture and a masthead on the front, everything else is inside the magazine. My magazine does have a few cover lines, these being them. Cover lines are another convention used on modern day magazines. That's why on my magazine i have used cover lines. They're used to let the reader know what sort of stuff will be included in the magazine. For instance on mine i have mentioned three bands/artists. My readers will hopefully be fans of these and this being on the front may even encourage more people to read my magazine. They are also there to drag the reader's attention in. You don't want the costumer to buy a different magazine, therefore you try to put as much interesting stuff on the front as possible. The front cover is the costumer's first opinion of the magazine.

Another convention that i have used is a strap line. Strap lines are not always used on magazines, but they are see very often on a lot of them. They are mainly situated at the top of a magazine but can also be placed at the bottom. They kind of act as a header and footer of a word document. They are used for advertising competitions and offers or maybe something that's really good that's in the magazine. Things are put onto the strap line so that they stand out from everything else and so that things on the magazine stand out more than anything else on other magazines. I put one on my magazine because i think that they develop a magazine and makes it look finished.

This is not a convention that has to be on a magazine, however i have added one to develop my magazine. On most magazines you do get a date but not always an issue number. I think that with this added information people know exactly what's going on, and can buy one every month because they know what month the issue is for.

On a magazine there is usually something that looks similar to a cover line. It's used to drag the readers attention towards the magazine. I used it for that reason and for the general fact that it lets the reader know what sort of thing will be in the magazine. They use it on a range of magazines as well as cover lines. It is similar to a cover line as it includes added information. This information let the reader know whats inside without looking. This is helpful to them because they can decide whether to but it without looking inside. If the information on the front doesn't appeal to them then they wont buy it, so its best to apply bands/artists that drag the attention of your target audience.

As well as on the front cover i included my main bands pictures on the contents page. However on the contents page it's best to also apply other pictures of different artists/bands so that it applies to more people and so that it doesn't look too boring with just the same band/artist all the way through. I included a different picture on my contents page to tell the reader that it wasn't just all about the band on the front cover, and that if they were not interested in the band on the front cover, there was always something else for them to look at.

Page numbers are always on a magazine,so that is why i have included them. It allows the reader to know where about they are in the magazine if going and coming back to it at another point.It also links in with the contents page. Because there are numbers that tell you whats on what page,they then have to be point onto the pages, so that the reader can designate the right page with the page number on the contents page,especially if they were looking for something in particular that had jumped out at them on the contents page.

The last convention that I'm going to tell you about is the article that i used on my double page spread, In my magazine i have done an interview with the band that's on my front cover. However a article in a magazine can be anything from and interview, general information of a band/artist or a double page picture special. This convention is used on all magazines and appeals to a lot of people. Things like interviews are very interesting to read. You would particularly enjoy something like this if it included your favourite band or artist. In my magazine i interviewed a band, i asked them a question and they answered. They are useful to help promote new bands or bands that are thinking of re-joining together for a come back tour or for the rest of their lives.

Question 2

- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

This picture is off the front cover of my magazine. My model (Robyn Benn) is 17 years old, she is female and is white Caucasian. She is wearing black skinny jeans and a black vest top. As accessories she wears a long gold necklace and a watch.

My model was made to look as Indie as possible so that it linked in with the genre of my magazine. I told her to use the drumstick as if she was a real drummer in a real band. I asked her grip it with her teeth. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She is slim and athletic.

This picture is of Lily Allen. She is 25 years old, she is female and is white Caucasian. In this photo she is wearing a black and white indie style dress. Her haircut is short and messy and is similar to my models hair style, which is why I chose Lily Allen. She has dark hair and dark eyes and in this photo she resembles an Indie girl. In this photo, its quite easy to know what genre of music she likes best.

Robyn doesn't look that much like Lily Allen, however she is the same race and not far off the same age. Lily and Robyn are in to the same kind of music and wear the same sort of clothes and shop in similar places. They both have cute smiles and are both slim and athletic. They have the same attitude towards the same genre of music. They love it!

Question 3

- What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

Q magazine is distributed by the "Bauer media group". Therefore because my product is of similarity to Q magazine i have decided that my magazine distributor will be "The Bauer media group. The readers of Q magazine would love to read my magazine because it is the same sort of style and genre. My magazine is inspired by Q magazine, therefore the reAders of Q would probably enjoy to read mine as well. My Magzine will be distribted by the "Bauer Media Group". The distributor of Q and Kerrang Magazines.

My distributor will be the Bauer Media Group. The same as kerrang and Q magazine because my magazine is similar to them.

Question 4

- Who would be the audience for your media product?

This is Chloe Smith, she is 17 and currently studying her A-levels at Lutterworth College. She likes to be individual and has a very lovely personality. Small things amuse her and she's always someone to have a good laugh with or most of the time at. She likes a lot of different types of music, however because of her individual personality she likes to lean towards the Indie side of things. Her favourite bands include Arctic Monkeys and Vampire Weekend. She also loves Florence & the machine. As well as her music Chloe is very interested in fashion. Her favourite places to shop are American Apparel & Urban Outfitters, however she also likes to shop in small unique shops like wardrobe and wild when she gets the chance.

I think Chloe would love to read my magazine because it is totally her style. Mainly music, but with a bit of fashion as well. All her favourite bands are inside and there's always a chance she might start to like some others once read my magazine. There is something for everyone included in my magazine, but i think it's the perfect music journal for someone like Chloe to flick through.

Question 5

- How did you attract/address your audience?

Masthead: This appeals to my audience because it kind of goes with the genre and looks quite indie.

The Colours: I chose these colours because i think they look very indie. They also look good with my model's clothes, because they all flow together and look really finished. These colours are also good for my target audience because they appeal to both boys and girls.

The Font: I chose the font that i did for the simple reason that it looked Indie and it was nice ans simple so my magazine didn't look too messy, and so it looked clean and fresh.

Cover lines: I chose to include these bands in my magazine because i feel that they will appeal to my target audience and maybe reach out into an even bigger audience.

Pictures: I chose these pictures out of all the ones i took because i thought that they were the best quality

ones. All my photos were also

the ones that showed the genre in the best way.

Picture backgrounds: I chose the old style paper to go behind my photo's because i thought that it looked unique and individual. This of course was the style i wanted to give off for my Indie readers.

Features Box: I added the "features box" because i think that it really stands out. It's a really good way to sell the things that are included in the magazine. The box really catches your eye. Much better than the information just wrote on the magazine. I have also added the first draft of my contents page.

Lots of pictures: I chose to add plenty of pictures because i feel it adds realism. Photo shoots in a magazine look really proffesional and i feel that i wanted to add this look to my magazine. I think that my target audience would appeal to these pictures and that they would catch their eye better than alot of wording.
Article: Like alot of magazines i have included an article. I interviewed the band previwed on the front cover. This is a good way to advertise them and is very appealing to people. People of my target market enjoy to read article's about bands/artists, whether they are old or new, as long as it's not to long and doesnt get boring!

Page Numbers: I included page numbers so that my readers find it easier to actually read my magazine. With page numbers they have the comfort and ease of just matching up numbers on the contents page, to the numbers on the pages.

Question 6:

- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I used the computer for the use of photoshop. This help me to present my magazine in a presentable way. I only used 2 things to help me create my product, and this was the main thing, as magazines are published on photoshop. I took my pictures with my phone, and then uploaded them to this computer. Then, on photoshop i was able to cut my model oout and add her to my page. I used gradient tools and all sorts of other technologies. In this process i have learnt how to use photoshop, as i didnt have clue before. I have also broaden my skills on cutting out shapes and using tools to make photos look different.

I also used a phone in the process, which i used to take my pictures with.

Question 7

- Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product.

I worked with Hannah to complete the preliminary task and we worked vey well together. In order to finish the work on time we shared the work evenly between us. In order to create the magazine we planned the sequence by producing a draft magazine. This was helpful as if we had to change anything it could be erased easily. We found inspirationfrom other magazines such as q magazine and vogue. This helped us because we could look at what had to be included on the front cover and on the contents, before we started. It also showed us what looked good and what didnt look good. People wouldnt buy the magazine if it didnt stand out to them. We used Photoshop elements to create our magazine. Using photoshop helped us to make our magazine look proffesional. We were able to use a wide range of fonts and we were also able to upload our own pictures and add them to our magazine, so that we could add our own personal style to it. Me and Hannah were confident enough at using photoshop becasue of previously using it for our re-created magazine cover. We had to take into account the 3-colour pallette rule as most magazines have to follow this rule. We also had to take into account what sort of colours, fonts and pictures would attract the reader. I think that our magazine went really well and we hardly had any problems compared to the problems we had creating our film preliminary task. If i had to create the magazine again i would probably change the font and the colour of the font. I would make it alot more bold and vibrant, so that the reader could read it abit better and so it would attract a wider range of people. This task has made me feel alot more confident about using photoshop as i was able to practice most areas of it. Now if i were to do this for my foundation coursework over creating a film, i would be able to get on with it without not knowing what to do and so it would save alot of time.