Transcript for Question 4

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Does your project look like a music magazine? Why? What conventions have you used?
Yes, My project does look like a music magazine. I have made sure I have used conventions which are in most magazines which consist of a mast head, the main image looking at the camera, strap line, headline, barcode, sell lines, price and issue date. By following these conventions it allows my magazine to look like a music magazine. Also in the Double page spread and contents. I made sure the page numbers were there alongside the logo of my magazine. My contents talks about features and reviews.

Does it subvert conventions or conform  to magazine conventions?
Certain parts of my magazine do subvert conventions of a magazine, one of the features that subvert is the layout of cell lines all being on one side, however this only subverts the conventions of most music magazines but does not subvert the conventions of a rap magazine. I also subvert conventions in terms of audience, my audience is specifically just for females which goes against the audience of most other music magazine as they target mostly males or both genders. Also in the contents magazine instead of talking about regulars I have included news and fashion as most rap magazine are not just about rap, culture, community and politics - an example of this is the source magazine.
Most magazines I have analysed for contents page did not have an editors collumn, this subverts the stereotypes of most rap magazines. I included one simply because the rap genre  is an example of relating with the audience and also stereotypically females like to feel involved.

What analysis of existing professional products did you do?

I analysed different front cover magazines for rap/hip hop and picked up colour schemes,  lay out and conventions this allowed me to understand what would make my magazine look like a rap magazine and also it allowed me to understand what my consumer audience may like as I was going to have the same age and ethnicity demographic of the other magazines I looked at.
In addition to that I done analysis of the contents pages and double page spread. This allowed me to understand what is normally within a contents page, It informed me on what type of things I should include in my magazine such as tours, reviews, upcoming artists etc etc. The analysis of double page spreads also allowed me to understand how important layout is and how important the colour scheme is, most  double page spreads I looked at were appealing which engaged me to read on.

Does your magazine clearly fit into the music genre or is it unclear of what the genre is?

I personally believe my magazine is a good example for the genre I was looking to portray which is rap, however some people may mistake it for hip hop/ R&B, but the lay out, colours and models make it quite obvious that this is a rap magazine.
How have you used models as artists?
I have used female models, they are the same age as my target audience which is 16-25. They all are different race, this allows my audience to feel more engaged into my magazine.

How have you used photography, editing  and mise en scene?

For photography I gave my main image a mid shot, and my double page spread a long shot. The reason I used these shots is because I wanted the front cover image to be the main focus and to also have a little glimpse of the location and the long shot I wanted to show the location of where I took the photography.
Editing, I used Photoshop to edit all my photos and my front cover magazine, this allowed me to give different effects. The contents page all images have a red tint as I am trying to make the images go with the colour scheme, also my main image I blurred out the background as I wanted her to be the main focus, the double page spread I made black and white as it is more effective, I have trailed the same picture in colour but it didn't have the same effects.
Mise en scene, I made sure the costumes of my magazine were appropriate for the genre and also the location was mentioned in the front cover and double page spread, so I made sure the models were in the locations talked about.

How have you used lay out design?

My lay out design uses a colour scheme which is used throughout the whole magazine, this gives my magazine order and allows it to look more appealing, also I have used little small doses of colours here and there, an example being blue in the double page spread and gold in the contents and double page spread.