Evaluation Task 1 - In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products (i.e. Music Magazines)?
The Title
The title of my magazine is quite typical of a publication, as it is an abbreviation of something longer, to make the title catchy and easy to remember. It also reflects the target audience of young people because since the invention of virtual writing, many words have now been abbreviated or shortened, so this makes it easier for the reader to identify with. However, my title also challenges conventions of a music magazine because of the font. The font reflects the style and genre of my magazine. The title is in a graffiti style, and graffiti is one of the four elements of hip-hop, so it fits the title of my magazine, which is an abbreviation of 4 Elements, but it also makes the audience aware of what genre my magazine specialises in straight away, because the title is usually the first thing that they will see in the shop. The fact the title is in the top left hand corner of the magazine is also using a common convention of magazines.
Mais-en-scene of Images
This image fits to the conventions of hip-hop, because it is in a busy urban setting, one commonly associated with hip-hop. Also, the bandanna is fitting as they are an item of clothing commonly worn by those involved with this genre of music, it is particularly associated with gang culture in Los Angeles, where bandannas are worn as a symbol of the gang you belong to. This has been a subject matter that appears regularly in rap music, and continues to be represented by many big stars in the scene.
However, this image challenges the convention of hip-hop magazines because it is taken in a more rural setting. This is not typical of hip-hop as it is seen as a mostly urban movement. It is also seen as a male-dominated and masculine genre, and in this image, a girl is at the forefront, while a boy is further back, which goes against the standards and conventions of the genre of magazine mine is.
Costumes and Props
The props used go against the conventions of magazines because they are brightly coloured sunglasses. The fact that they are sunglasses mean that the models eyes can't be seen, which is unusual for the front cover of a magazine, as models are usually looking straight at the camera to draw people in. Also, the pink colour is unusual due to the fact hip-hop is a very masculine genre and the colour pink would not normally be seen on a male.
People
The people in my magazine go against the conventions of people in similar magazines because they do not belong to an ethnic minority, which would be the norm for hip-hop magazines, as the music is dominated by mostly African-Americans or people from other ethnic backgrounds other than white. However, they are also mostly male, which conforms to the conventions of magazines in a similar style, as more males than females are deeply involved with rap music.
Written Content
The written content in my magazine uses the conventions of other magazines in the sense that the language is informal, in order to create a sense of similarity with the audience, and slang is used, which will make the reader feel comfortable and allow them to read the magazine in an easier fashion. This is especially apparent in hip-hop magazines, because of the patois that is commonly used by people involved in hip-hop. By using similar words in my magazine, it is creating an environment in the publication that is similar to the environment the audience of the magazine live in every day.
Music Genre and How My Magazine Suggests It
My magazine is a hip-hop magazine. Hip-hop magazines are fairly common, with big names such as XXL and The Source being amongst the most popular magazines in circulation. However, my magazine specialises in alternative and indie hip-hop, a niche sub-genre that isn't touched on by most big magazines in the genre. My magazine suggests the genre in many different ways, for example, the picture on this page shows a recording environment, something which is more focused on in rap music than any other. Also, the influences on the right hand side of the page state Nas and Jay-Z, two very famous performers of the genre.
Layout
The layout of my front cover conforms to the conventions of a typical front cover in many ways. One of these ways is because of the writing on the cover. The colour co-ordinations such as black over red in the title and black over white in the main headline make the words stand out and easier to read, which is important because the front cover is what draws people in to the magazine.
A way that my magazine challenges the conventions of magazines is that the image does not obscure the title of the publication. This is because other publications are well-established, and people who buy them know the name of the magazine even if the title is slightly obscured, whereas my magazine is in its first issue, and the name is not established, so to increase awareness of the magazine the title is in full view.
My magazine also uses conventions in the baseline of the magazine, as there is a competition explained in it. This space is usually filled by similar things or something extra that may not be related to the music in the magazine.
Contents Page
One of the ways my contents page conforms to the conventions of magazines is that it is in three parts. This makes it easier for the reader to navigate their way around the page and also find any particular articles that they find interesting quickly, as the titles are clear. The page is also split into regular articles and feature articles. This is so regular readers to the magazine can look at what special articles they can look forward to, but newcomers can see what they can expect from the magazine on a regular basis. Also, the name of the magazine and the name of the page is stated at the top, which is commonly used in magazines.
Evaluation Task 2 - How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?
Here, on the cover of the famous hip-hop magazine XXL, Lil' Wayne is shown gritting his teeth and staring aggressively at the camera, which is typical of the genre of music that the magazine specialises in. On my cover, my model is looking away from the camera, with an expression of wonder, a feeling not conveyed often in hip-hop. Also, Lil' Wayne has gold teeth, which is common in the flashy attitude of many in the hip-hop scene, whereas my model has no jewellery on display. Lil' Wayne also conforms to the social group he is in by wearing a black baseball cap, but my model is wearing pink sunglasses, something not found typically in hip-hop, as it is a masculine-dominated genre, and pink is a very feminine colour. Lil' Wayne also has dreadlocks, a hairstyle associated closely with the Rastafari movement, which is popular in urban social settings. My model has curly hair, which is not often found in similar settings.
Evaluation Task 3 - What Kind of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product and Why?
There are many different forms of distribution that my magazine could use in order to be successful. For example, the Internet could be used. The use of social networking sites can be a useful tool in magazine distribution, as adverts can be placed on things such as Facebook. These adverts are targeted depending on what the particular user has already 'liked' on that website. This means that people who like the things my magazine covers will be notified of the publication, and therefore this way of advertising will be effective. Also, sponsored trending topics on Twitter allow everyone in world who has Twitter to see the name of the magazine, which will generate word-of-mouth advertising. Technology could also be used in the more recent developments of Kindle and iBooks. If the magazine was made available on these formats it would be easier for some people to access it.
Samples of the magazine could also be given out at particular concerts that reflect the type of music that the magazine covers. This will get the magazine to a lot of its target audience in a short space of time.
Companies such as IPC Media decided to publish the magazine, a deal could be set up where subscribers to the other magazines the company publishes could also recieve issues of my magazine.
Evaluation Task 4 - Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?
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| A typical target audience member for my genre of magazine |
A typical member of my audience would probably be from a poor, urban background, possibly from a broken home and part of an ethnic minority. They would wear baggy clothes that consist of tee-shirts and jeans with fashionable trainers such as high tops, and either a fitted baseball cap or snapback cap. Gold chains would also be common, along with other jewellery such as rings and gold teeth. They are also likely to be heavily tattooed. They will most likely listen to hip-hop, especially hip-hop that contains social commentary.
They will be likely to buy my magazine because not only does it focus on that type of hip-hop music, but it also includes fashion and other things that will interest them such as graffiti and break dancing pages.
Evaluation Task 5 - How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience?
The front cover of my magazine attracts my audience because it has a graffiti style font as the magazine title. This will attract my target audience because graffiti is an art form closely associated with hip-hop, the genre of music which my music specialises in. Also, my target audience will be attracted through the USP of the competition in the baseline of the cover. It is a chance to win tickets to one of the biggest hip-hop festivals in the world. This may not be offered by other magazines, and so will attract my audience that way.
My contents attracts my audience because they will see the continuity of the graffiti style font in the magazine title. This, added with the bandanna that the model is wearing in the top picture, which is typical headgear for a graffiti artist, or someone involved with any form of hip-hop. The text shows the versatility of the magazine, which covers all elements of hip-hop (beat boxing, break dancing, rapping and graffiti), which will attract an audience because although other magazines may cover a similar variety of things, it may not cover them as extensively as my magazine. There is also more details of the competition outlined on the front page.
This will attract my audience because of the props used in the picture. The pop shield and headphones display the atmosphere of a recording studio, which will draw people who are interested with the recording process into reading the article. Also, the influences stated on the page under the profile of the artist contain successful hip-hop names such as Jay-Z and Nas. People who like these artists will be included in my target audience, and so if they familiarise themselves with the artists featured in the magazine they are more likely to be attracted by it. However, the inclusion of other artists such as Blink-182 and Green Day will attract people who like other genres of music to the magazine, which is something other magazines in my genre do not offer.
Evaluation Task 6 - What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process of Constructing This Product?
Camera and tripod - I have learnt to position these in the way to get the best picture. For example holding it correctly and taking the flash off
Photoshop - I have learnt to adjust levels and colours, add drop shadows and other effects and adjust the image size. I had no previous experience using this program but I have used other similar programs such as iPhoto. I learnt how to edit the page layout and also export my work as JPEGs.
Blogger - I have learnt to edit blogs and insert images and word documents and although I have had some experience with Blogger previously, I did not use multiple pages, therefore it was a new experience for me.
Microsoft Word - I used Word to analyse the conventions for magazines and I learned how to export a Word document as a JPEG file.
Evaluation Task 7 - Looking Back at Your Preliminary Task, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt in the Progression From it to Full Product?
When I look back
at my preliminary I can see a big improvement from then to now. I think my
preliminary task was an opportunity for my to experiment in preparation for the
real thing and I think without it, I would not have gathered the necessary
experience that I needed, and my end product would not be of the standard I feel it is. The preliminary task had poorly adjusted levels and the picture was not properly fit onto the cover. These things were adjusted and fixed in my final product.
