AS Media Studies Coursework – Launch of Crunk Music Magazine

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

real media products?

The leather jacket

connotates a ‘rock

chick’ persona and

idolises the model

for the target

audience.

This is then juxtaposed

with the pink tutu and

peter pan collar shirt

which connotates a

sense of innocence. The

baby pink symbolises

infancy and the typical

feminine trait of loving

the colour. It is the

mixture of the two

characters that make

the costume perfect for

the target audience by

meeting the age right in

the middle.

The conventions of the masthead are similar to a real

magazine, such as ‘Kerrang!’ due to the onomatopoeic

word; ‘Crunk’. Crunk is known as a style of intense

dancing, so is immediately related to music; however it

is also used by teenagers to describe parties etc.

The strapline of my magazine includes conventions that

are alike to media products because it has all the

necessary features. It’s simple however it is catchy due

to the rhyming. It also tells the audience what type of

music will be in the content.

I have used a variety of codes and conventions of the

front cover. This image demonstrates the contrast in the

text. I have used different styles of font and used

different colours to emphasise each feature. This is

similar to the conventions of a real magazine because

professional products never use a constant font or

colour for everything (they have a house style and them

but they use a variety of styles).

The masthead of the contents follows the conventions

of a real media product by using the month as its title

(similar to cosmopolitan). The pink box effect matches

to front cover, ensuring the continuity of the product

itself.

The images portray the idealistic life of celebrities that

the readers from the target audience will be aspiring

for. They look like album covers, or posters, rather than

a general image and this creates the idea of both artists

being idols for the target audience. The captions give a

sense of humour making the mode of address all the

more personal.

The ‘On The Cover’ section of the contents follows

the conventions of a real media product because

the majority of the current magazines all have the

cover stories listed in the contents. This is because

the front cover is what entices the audience to buy

the magazine in the first place, which mean these

articles are the most important.

The editors section is alike real media products

through the language. It immediately gains the

loyal readers attention by making it personal to

them. Rather than using formal language, they

talk in a friendly manner, making the mode of

address correct for this particular target

audience.

This is an element following the conventions of a

celebrity interview in a music magazine or lifestyle

magazine. During the interview, the artist’ latest

album/single is normally introduced to the

audience. This is for the artist to have an extent of

promotion of their own product, through a media

platform, such as a magazine.

Although this feature is minute, it helps the

magazine appear much more realistic by using this

particular convention. In magazines such as ‘more!’

each section has a coloured tab on the top corner of

the page (i.e. ‘more’s week of love’).

The images on my DPS reflect the conventions of a

real media product by portraying ‘Jazzlyn Little’ as

fashion icon. She is presented as stylish and

attractive, reinforcing the idea that appearance is a

priority in this society for a business to be

successful.

The stand-first of the article is alike a real media

product by following the typical conventions. It

gives the audience an insight as to what the

interview will be about. It is a way of enticing the

audience into staying engaged with the magazine,

rather than simply turning the page.

How does your media product represent particular social groups? The split screen below is images that I found similar. The image on the left is an image that I used for my front cover, and the image on the right is an image that featured in a real media product. The main similarity from both images is the costume. The femininity is presented within the persona through the pink lipstick and the pink skirt. This connotates a 'girly' character and the innocence of a younger female. The leather jacket then goes on to completely contrast the previous analogy. This makes the appearance of the model a lot harder and connotates more of a rebellion, than innocence. However, the image on the right is more of a typical shot to be used in a magazine because it features the elements that made a woman 'beautiful' - the blonde hair, fuchsia pink lips. The facial expression of both characters is also similar in the sense that they both bring tension to their representation. They both look incredibly serious which connotates a 'rock chick' persona. They are both standing with a nonchalant posture clearly symbolising their level of attitude and the idea that acting natural looks better than a heavy pose. Both models have intentionally messy hair reinforcing the 'rock chick' person. Furthermore, it connotates a sexy and sophisticated appearance with no effort (despite the fact they both would have high amounts of styling before the shot). All of these elements cater to helping the audience understand the genre of music that the artist belongs to. The main difference between the two images is the location and setting. The image on the left is set during the day time and the model is leaning on a baby blue car. This connotates an innocent teenager, perhaps at the age learning to drive (note that it is not a sports car). The other image appears more like a paparazzi photograph and the model is out at night - possibly at a bar or club. This connotates the older generation (the higher end of my target audience).

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 'Crunk' could be distributed by Condé Nast (Advance Publications). This is because the media institution does not have any magazine that is like 'Crunk'. However, they publish magazines like 'Glamour' and 'Vogue' which are successful women's lifestyle magazines that 'Crunk' has elements of. The institution does not have any music magazines that are for a target audience of 16 - 24, however they do publish a teen magazine; 'Teen Vogue', proving that they do cater to audiences of this age range. Therefore, Condé Nast could gain an increase in circulation levels if they were to be the publishers for my magazine. Bauer Media already have music magazines such as 'Q' which 'Crunk' has similarities to, therefore, they would not want to publish another magazine because it would not increase their sales, thus illuminating any chance of maximum profit. 'Crunk' would not be published by IPC Media because this institution is commonly known to publish niche market weekly magazines, such as 'Amateur Gardening' and 'Motor Boats' - both aimed at very specific audiences. Although 'Crunk' is a music based magazine it would

cater to a mass audience for two reasons; 1 - that it is chart music which has a variety of music genres 2 - that it features many lifestyle magazine elements.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product would be ABC1 women,

who are interested in fashion & beauty, shopping,

boys/men, celebrity gossip (all typical elements of a

women’s lifestyle magazine). However, considering ‘Crunk’

is a music magazine, this would be the most important

interest of the audience. They would be most interested in

Chart music and like to keep up to date with the top tunes

each month.

‘Crunk’ would cater to an audience who liked to shop in stores like Topshop, New Look,

Republic, Miss Selfridge, ASOS.com, H&M etc. all retailers that women are into because they

constantly have the latest fashion trends and keep to the conventions that women who

would be interested in ‘Crunk’ have a tendency to follow.

The audience of ‘Crunk’ would listen to chart music – most likely keeping up to date with the

top 10. They would listen to artists such as Rihanna, Drake, Katy Perry, Olly Murs, Cover

Drive, Cee Lo Green and Lawson.

The audience for ‘Crunk’ would be interested in numerous types of television. Due to the fact that Chart music has a mass audience, therefore making 'Crunk' have a broad audience, there would be a variety of different programmes that they might watch. For example, the target audience may watch The Big Bang Theory, Friends, 90210, Made in Chelsea, The Hills and Desperate Housewives. They would purchase my magazine because it would entail all of their interests. This particular group of women are my target audience, hence featuring their interests in my magazine.

How did you attract/address your audience?

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

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?

My preliminary task was a school magazine targeted at year 11 girls. The mode of address is

correct for my target audience as it includes the use of colloquialism. However, there are

not enough codes and conventions displayed to make it eye catching. The font style is the

same for all the headings making the front cover dull. The blue background drowns out the

rest of the font cover, and takes the focus away from the image. The image would be good

because it relates to the main heading, the use of costume has been thought about and has

eye contact but it is too small (should have covered the entire length). The masthead is also

too small and needed to be at least 5 times bigger than it is. My knowledge of technology

was not very high at this stage of my AS course. I did not fully know how Adobe Photoshop

worked which meant the image and the text suffered.

My final product is much better than my preliminary task. The DCI is bigger and immediately

engages the audience. My masthead is also bigger and is eye-catching due to the bold block

of colour behind the name of the magazine. I have included a variety of codes and

conventions within the cover stories and headlines by using different font styles, sizes and

colours. The mode of address is personal and relatable for the audience as it speaks to them

in a formal, friendly manner. My knowledge of technologies had increased by this stage in

the AS media course so I understood how everything worked and was not afraid to

experiment to see what happened.