AS Media Studies Foundation Portfolio

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

I have chosen to follow typical the typical magazine stereotype by using a centre shot for my main image. This image, despite following one norm, challenges what women are represented as in many magazines. 'Intima' has her whole body in the shot, and holds quite an aggressive pose, going against the typical nurturing stereotype women supposedly have. I think my magazine is quite postmodern, as it contains a very 21st century image of a female. This is one which is not particularly feminine, but rather rebellious- rejecting a lot of usual teen magazines- particularly aimed at females. I feel that the font I have used with the white background shows some irony in that it seems childlike- but the topics written, seem quite adult. Both my title and contents page share a house font and colour scheme- a typical convention of most magazines. However I have chosen to use a clashing colour scheme of red and pink. I believe contrasts the norms when creating a tabloid, as it deliberately makes the reader question the sanity of the producers. I feel the colours are feminine, however have different connotations. Red for example, carries the elements of passion, or danger. Pink on the other hand reflects a more innocent, naive side to women. I have also used a mid-shot main image for the title page, so that it is neater, opposed to scattered imagery that sometimes appears on more alternative magazine contents pages i.e. Kerrang! The typography I used in my final piece came from ideas and sketches I did prior to using a computer. I went on dafont.com to find fonts most similar to what I had drawn, and came found the final few. I feel that these fonts represent childlike mannerisms and a prankish sense of humour that most teenagers do have, despite feeling as though they need to 'grow up'. Ifeel that the layout of the text also hasa student feel to it, as it has a messy but organised look. I feel that by leaving the white background on the text I haver made it stand out- representing how I think people reading my magazine would like to be- unique. I feel the typography also looks like handwriting- or angsty scribbles from many teenagers.
The anchorage text on my front page gives meaning to the headline in that it is directly aimed at the consumer, 'the things you need to know' making the tabloid appeal to readers, as it seemily holds exclusive information. The mode of address is a down-to-earth tone, as well as slightly rebellious or 'down with the kids' attitude, created by using swear words.
I also feel that my magazine follows popular culture, and relates to current interests of the age group, by providing them with a gig guide for the upcoming year, as well as a chance to win Logitech speakers- relevent to both music lovers (a known target audience, as they are already buying into a music magazine) and also emphasising technology developments in youth culture.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine has chosen to focus on being individual, however conforms to the neatness of mid-generation (20-30 year olds), giving a sense of maturity to it's readers. It gives readers an identity as the 'reformed bad girl' leading to an act of escaping. Typical of this age group (16-24 year olds) is to feel the need to accepted, whilst simultaneously rebelling. I feel that the clash in colour scheme also reflects this, as the colours are fairly similar, but look strange when placed side by side. I think that I could have emphasised this idea more heavily through my interview, however due to timing, I wrote whatever I could think of at the time. Perhaps in fact this does represent the group well, as it shows the rebelling phase most teenagers have, as well as when they mature, and wanting to reform their characteristics. When doing this, I believe a lot of today's teenagers aim to keep a bit of vigour about themselves, despite appearing to conform to society's expectations. My magazine offers the chance for readers to gain an insight into celebrity gossip. I assume my readers to be active in having various opinions on celebrities, therefore giving uses and gratifications of being able to discuss the magazine with peers.

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

I think my magazine could be distributed Bauer Media, as they distribute a range of music magazines. These, in comparison to magazines with niche audiences, as they havea larger target audience- hence they sell more copies. They also use cross medias, and many of their magazines, Q being one example, have their own website, radio station as well as tabloid. Despite this, a company similar to IPC who distribute NME, maybe be ideal for my magazine as it offers an alternative genre to a niche audience, which I believe my magazine does as well. The target audience could access my magazine from local news agents, where many magazines/newspapers are sold daily, worldwide. I could also create a website, where people could read up on certain parts of the magazine, if they cannot buy one. However, on the website, I would be careful not to publish too much of the magazine content- else what is the point in purchasing the magazine?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

As mentioned previously, 16-24 year olds, possibly older. Aimed more towards to females due to the colour scheme. Based on the stereotype of this age group of being 'messy students', I believe most of their spare income would be spent on entertainment, and assuming then that these are students- they may find reading to be entertaining and this is where my magazine comes into play. My magazine plays on the idea of politely rebelling. This is the idea that students will act deviant, when actually, they're good enough too see when they are going too far- hence the use of swear words on the cover, but the article actually being about an artist reforming them self. This could be seen as when teenagers get to an age when they wish to act maturely. Although I feel that women would be more inclined to buy my magazine, I would like to think males may read it too, perhaps for gig guides, or competitions- as I feel these elements of my magazine are not gender specific.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I carried out a questionairre among my peers to try and gain an insight into a) what kind of magazines they are/would be interested in reading, and b) and whether or not they would choose to read my magazine. The most popular magazines for both genders were NME or Kerrang- however, my sample was fairly small in comparison to the age group i was targeting. Males I asked said that they wouldn't mind reading about topics included in my magazine- but a few did admit they would feel embarrassed carrying a pink and red magazine out of a newsagents. Again, I feel females are more inclined to pick up the magazine based on the colour scheme. The majority of people I asked thought the colour scheme is eye catching in itself, which attracts people with an edge about them. Along with this, the bold black and white font layered over this, reels people into reading such a magazine. I chose not to use swear words in my article- although perhapsI should have used more in the actual interview as it may have given my artist the hidden glimmer of 'bad' that she used to pride her self on. This may attract women who feel a growing sense of power in a postmodern society, where womens position is improving- I think women who read my magazine may feel some sense of escapism through reading about a woman who is confident about herself. I also attracted my audience by offering them the chance to win speakers, and as my audience are of a student age, this opputunity is appreciated.

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

I used a digital camera to take pictures and upload them to my computer for editing. I have learnt how to edit photos, and how you can change an image to convey exactly what you need it to in order to create a professional look, but using various editing programs such as PicMonkey. I have also learnt that when taking the photos, it can be extremely difficult to create the initial image you had imagined for the piece. I used Microsoft publisher and power point to create backgrounds- as I found it very difficult to decide on one that suited the article and the house colour scheme. The technologies used in creating media texts help give them a professional finish, by using editing and fonts. I enjoyed creating the fonts, using dafont.com, to find fonts similar to those that I had sketched before hand. I have also used Slideshare to upload a case study of NME magazine which shows why this style of magazine appeals to me, the publishing figures etc which can be seen at:
http://www.slideshare.net/greebob
This site allows me to upload my slideshows to the internet, by converting the slideshow so that it can be viewed online.

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

I have learnt that all magazines follow certain rules, such as the main image, the skylines (titles) and house font/colour schemes. I have also learnt that all magazines aim to please their own specific target audience by using media stereotypes based on age, gender, class etc.
My music magazine is better than my school magazine. I think the fact that this task interested me made it easier to complete. By carrying out the preliminary task, I also learnt various techniques and ways to layout text/images onto my magazine, in order to complete my final piece.