Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I feel my final product is representational of modern codes and conventions within music magazines, emphasising on the modern aspect. I have attempted to make my magazine an adaptation of various different well-known UK magazines, specifically the NME and MOJO magazine. I believe I have taken the customs of these brands and created something more cutting-edge and versatile, which is able to appeal to a specific young audience, much like myself. In that respect, I would have to admit that I indeed have constructed a magazine that best reflects myself and my interests. I partly did this blindly, but also it was a prominent idea that many of those my age would most likely share some of my interests, and I would be able to captivate these groups through my own personal experience. With this in mind, I was able to create my music magazine according to what attracts me, as well as what attracts a wider audience – which is presented by the two popular brands previously mentioned.
The genre of my music magazine is predominantly 70s, however I have also featured famous 21st century artists who I feel embody this era and its values. For example, Radiohead, Bon Iver, and Grimes. These artists do not have anything particular in common, however still imbue a sense of style that would be able to not just survive, but thrive in the 70s music industry. Specifically, Radiohead have been around for many years, and do not necessarily have a sound suited to this psychedelic decade, however they’re cult-band status would allow them to venture out into any era and return safely, in the comfort that they are known for experimentation and pushing boundaries. This links perfectly to MOJO magazine. as their themes are based on ‘artists from the past’, either commenting on their resurgence or their past legacy. This is where the title of my magazine came from. My masthead reads ‘revival’ in order to represent the revival of old artists in my magazine, that I feel should be acknowledged by the younger generation. This intention is hopefully fairly obvious to a reader, as my sell lines also further insinuate the comeback of artists who were widely popular in their prime. For example, Stevie Nicks, Daryl Hall & John Oates, or Patti Smith. By doing this, I tried to adhere to codes and conventions by going outside the box (with my genre idea) however still leaning right up against it (making the purpose blatant.)
The NME also plays with this concept but not as thoroughly. The main influences I received from the NME consisted of the types of things I included in my special features / content in my feature article, picking up more on the obvious conventions. For example, having such a strong social media presence and website construction. This digital technology is something heavily relied on by brands now in the 21st century as science has developed and enabled the broad availability of media through smart phones / tablets / laptop, therefore lessening the need for traditional media. This is why – as presented by my blog – I have created platforms on Instagram / Twitter in order to further promote my magazine and engage a young audience.
I also challenged the conventions of a real media product through my use of colour scheme. I really like the tonal composition of my magazine, however I do admit that the colours I chose are not necessarily stereotypical. I wanted to use soft pastels or light colouring in order to now draw away from the artistry of my photography and the overall layout of each of my pages. However, it is obvious that in most popular music magazines, there is usually some sort of bright colour that is able to over-power the imagery and catch the eye of the readership. In spite of this, I stand by my decision to use softer tones as I feel it reflects my intentions as a creator and photographer. And in regards to the photography I am constantly referring to, it is one of the most conventional aspects of my magazine, I feel. My main image is a close-up / mid-shot, which is the most common type of imagery found on a magazine front cover. I did not have a problem complying to this convention as I believe my photography was strong enough to do so. The rest of my images are fairly stereotypical also, with some photoshoots held outside, and using different backdrops, as well as positioning of the camera and body language of the model in question. Moreover, the editing of my photography – completed in Adobe Photoshop – I think is consistent throughout my magazine, with similar tones and colours kept in mind, as well as contrast and vibrancy. This is not to say my photography is all indifferent, as some are displayed in black & white in order to portray variation and maintain a clean, simplistic look to each page.
My magazine is very forward-thinking, and is based on topics that are relevant now, as well as references from the past, and relates to the impactful future. This is why I believe it identifies with codes and conventions, but in a way which adapts to the ideals of my target reader. There are sections of my magazine which are able to resinate with real, popular, media products, for example my structured photography and text layout. These properties allow me to further extend the realms of my creativity in other methods, which is why I feel my product is able to relate to famous mainstream media without limiting my own personal imagination.
Q2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My final product is representational of certain social groups through it’s use of language, artist mis-en-scene, and aesthetic. My demographic is entered around young adults who are more liberal and open-minded, as my product discusses current affairs as well as music; combining the two in order to really gage interest in the reader as this is something rarely seen in mainstream media. The portrayal of my main artist Jordan Cordingley almost embodied what I wish my target audience to be, passionate about life and art and music. However, I do acknowledge that this passion may be hard to come across in someone not directly involved with the arts – e.g studying something thought to be more creative at university / as a profession, therefore I expect to find this subgroup amongst my readership more often. On the other hand, this is not to limit my audience, as this is a stereotype not applied to all. Additionally, my product is based on music from the 70s, so this would require the younger generation to have a particular interest in this decade and it’s trends – due to being before their time.
Jordan is a young, fiery, mindful character, who is also rather introverted, though expressing her thoughts through the interview conducted (I understand this openness is necessary amongst celebrities as it maintains a fan’s interest.) I have attempted display her as an ‘IT girl’, someone to inspire young men and women, someone confident and able to portray her personality through the camera. I portray her through my use of eloquent vocabulary in the interview proceedings, as well as photography and colours. The images I took I feel conveyed her strength through harsh and intense facial expression, as well as playfulness when captured smiling and laughing with other feature article artist Emily Gleeson. This appeals to a larger audience, as she is able to portray her likability alongside the serious undertone that is linked with the contents of the article. I therefore feel that my photographs mirror the tone of conversation, which may represent the versatility in music featured, as the 70s era was home to a variety of artists from different genres, of whom all would top the charts in the same week.
This leads me onto the aesthetically pleasing aspect of my magazine, as I have tried my hardest to demonstrate the effervescent and unmistakable hippie wave that was prominent during the 70s. I did this by using light colours in both my photography and writing style, as I used yellow gel reflectors in one of my photoshoots featured. This helped portray a sense of summer and warmth, which I feel strongly resinates with this decade, in addition this would also help attract a certain type of reader. Those who are out-going and adventurous are more likely to find connection to light, happy colouring. This is the type of reader I am targeting as the features within my magazine are therefore more likely to suit their lifestyle, e.g the reviewing of concerts or discussions on protests / marches that are happening across the UK. Furthermore, there are a few edited images that are in black and white, just to ensure there is variation in my type of photography, as too much colour would be over-bearing and ruin the attempted simplicity and elegance that I hope is portrayed through my layout and imagery.
Q3) What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?
The institution that I would like my magazine to use, is TimeInc. This famous company was established in the UK and is now home to 60 different iconic brands (for example, the Horse & Hound, popularly known for it’s feature in the film Notting Hill, Instyle magazine, Sports Illustrated, Country Life magazine.) TimeInc is one of the world’s leading media companies, and attracts more than 120 million visitors each month to its global print and digital products, including over 50 websites. They are also host to two well known music magazines that are majorly influential in the British industry, the NME, and Uncut. The NME was created in 1952, and music genres could have been considered rather blurred in this decade, in comparison to the range of different subcategories we have now. I feel this is why the NME does not identify with a specific music genre, and rather is host to artists that generally receive public approval. This is certainly able to relate to my music magazine as mine does not specifically suit a certain genre, but instead portrays a variety that is in accordance to the era dedicated to, in each issue. However, I will differentiate myself from the NME due to the modernisation concept I have included within my magazine. I feel my magazine is more innovative and fresh and targets more of a specific audience. Therefore I am able to imitate the successes achieved by the NME under the TimeInc company, however remain in competition as it is unique enough to lead in its own lane. Additionally, the Uncut magazine is essentially entirely centred around the rock / alternative genre, therefore this is a magazine I am also able to compete with in a broader sense.
Furthermore, when discussing the platforms in which TimeInc has extended itself towards, the benefits for its 60 brands, deem higher than other establishments in comparison. These are across print, online, mobile, tablets and experiences; giving a wider range of possibility for audiences to consume my product. It is stated on their website that citizens interact with their clients more than 250,000,000 times a year, meaning 10 interactions per second. They have global offices, including countries like India, China, the UK, and various U.S states. Their high profile – across several continents – permits a greater potential audience, and eludes to their high expertise and understanding of running a magazine from a business point of view. This would be advantageous for my music magazine as it allows me to proceed my creations with comfortability as I would be aided by a large company with plenty of usable experience, which I am able to learn from.
Q4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
My audience will most likely come from the ABC1 family, meaning they will have access to the properties available with my magazine. This is in order to maximise the full potential of my readership, therefore by being in this category they are able to surf the internet regularly or purchase gig / festival tickets that my magazine promotes. This aspect of my audience I feel is quite conventional, as it is likely most music magazines in the industry are targeting this audience, in order to acquire certain amount of revenue.
I expect my readers to be in between the ages of 16 and 28. This range allows me to explore what kind of content identifies with what age groups, as I have attempted to target all ages within this, through my use of sophisticated language and artist value in my product. Through my 16 – 18 year old audience, I am hoping to inspire and encourage creativity with my magazine, as I wanted my subject matter to come across as motivational towards younger minds who are going through the processes of discovering what they wish to do in the future. This age is very much the time of self awareness and discovery, so hopefully my magazine is able to provoke opinion and influence a person’s ‘sense-of-self.’ In addition, the older end of this spectrum would be more appealed by opportunity for a new experience, for example the competitions I would include within my product.
I also wish for my readership to contain an equal number of men and women, however I do fully acknowledge that since the product I have made for display, does not feature any photography with a male subject, it may be more difficult for males to resinate with what I have created. I also fear that my content is rather liberal and hinders on themes of feminism and women’s rights, which typically does attract females. The shear levels of emotion and depth that is portrayed in my feature articles may not be seen as particularly masculine, however I hope this characteristic is not so hopelessly fragile amongst men, as gaining a male audience allows opportunity for creative expression and freedom, and an enhanced level of interest in this concept enables society to change its socialised behaviour (in terms of hegemonic norms.) Taking all of this into consideration, it is most likely that my audience will involve 70:30 – female:male.
Q5) How did you attract / address your audience?
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Q6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
When starting out my project, I was somewhat at a disadvantage, as I had not taken Media Studies at GCSE like most other students in my class. This meant I had not used any of the software necessary to make my magazine, before. This includes Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign, and the Canon 550D for my photography. In spite of my inexperience, I was quickly able to adapt to the learning difficulties I encountered, and began to understand how to use all of the software through constant trial and error, as well as occasional help from those around me. This was therefore a challenge I was quickly able to overcome, and made me more confident when coming to creating additional pages in my magazine that I chose to compose to fully demonstrate my capabilities.
The area I had most difficulty with, was the using of the canon camera and photoshoot equipment. I felt this took me longer to comprehend as this process was more prone to complication / mishap, due to there being so many aspects that must be taken into consideration when wishing to capture the perfect image. In the beginning, I had difficulty setting up equipment as I was unfamiliar with it and its functions, however I grew to become better acquainted with its uses and purposes, therefore causing my photography to have a stronger outcome. On the other hand, I should not fail to mention my contrasting opinion to when photographing outside of the photography studio. I felt this process to be much easier and more manageable due to only really needing a the 550D camera. The area I enjoyed the most was the photoshopping aspect. I grew very comfortable with the Adobe software, and in my ability to alter imagery and make them appear more editorial, and this is essential for my magazine as I feel the photography is one of it’s strongest attributes.
Furthermore, I used various platforms in order to present my processes on my blog. This included Prezi, Emaze, Adobe Premiere Pro, Voci, PowerPoint Presentation, PowToon, SurveyMonkey, and Issu. This large variety of software I believe really portrays my strong ability to adapt quickly to work given to me, because I had hardly used any of these features before beginning this A Level. Additionally I feel it displays my strive to be creative and unique, as I wanted to demonstrate my processes in as many different ways as possible.
Q7) Looking back at your Preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full production?
My Preliminary task was to create a front cover and contents page for a potential school magazine. In this, I feel I managed to conjure up the basics of what was required, however it is fairly obvious that I was not completely aware of magazine conventions at this time. I learnt about norms and conventions in magazines through my researching process of my journey, and this majorly impacted the vision I held in my head in regards to what my final product would look like. This impact was beneficial as I feel it has helped me better understand how a magazine cover and contents page (and even all pages) should be composed.
There are the typically aesthetically pleasing aspects of this preliminary task, which I feel portrays my sense of style and eye for coordination, however not necessarily my knowledge on mainstream products. For example the colour scheme used, in attempt to imitate my school colours of purple and yellow. I also merged the traditional, formal-looking font text, with the contemporary horizontal and vertical lines. This represents the principle of my school as the building site has stood firmly for several years, however it has been adapted and constructed to suit the needs of 21st century students. This representation proves my deep thought process, which I hope has translated into my final product as I am always hoping to demonstrate original ideas.
I also tried to use imagery that best suited the layout and composition, as well as in keeping with the tonal colours. However, I could improve the positioning of these pictures in order to adhere to conventions and further attract an audience – specifically the front page image. The photography in my music magazine is to a much higher standard, and as I understood the software I was using – more so than before – I was able to edit my images in Adobe Photoshop (which I did not in the Preliminary task). This definitely added a sense of professionalism to my magazine as the photographs could relate more to those found in mainstream media products. I think I have always had a particular style of photography, which I feel has now carried through to my final product.
Bethany Carrad's Media Coursework 