NAME: Leon CheslettCandidate Number:

Centre: 3345 Aquinas College

AS MEDIA STUDIES OCR G321:Foundation

Portfolio

I aimed my magazine at…..

Who know what music they like…. Who go to gigs….

Influenced….

Male

Who like to shop at….

I feel that my magazine would be similar to Vibe and the audience that buys that, however would be slightly more mainstream. I also felt very strongly from personal experience that there was a gap in the market for an Hip-Hop music magazine aimed at young males. This would be my unique selling point.

Q1. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Q1. Who would be the audience for your media product?

This issue of Vibe uses more feminine colours that would attract women. It also appeals to the same genre of music lovers as my magazine would.However, Vibe’s primary audience is males aged 16-24, so this suggests that the brand is trying to widen it’s audience.

1. WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR PRODUCT?

Ideal Readers

The ideal reader for my product is someone who aspires to be like Jay-Z, Eminem or Drake. These are people who model themselves on these celebrities and will copy their hairstyles, fashion and style because they want to be like them. They are also up to date with their music taste and constantly aware of the best hip-hop music within the music industry and who are the biggest celebrities of the time.

Primary Audience

The primary audience for my product would be mostly males as my magazine is of a hybrid genre which includes graffiti and dance. This will be combined with the genre of dance music. The age range for my primary audience would be teenagers to young adults as I think that these make up a large percentage of people that listen to hip-hop cultured music.

Q1. Who would be the audience for your media product?

My secondary audience would be people that would not necessarily buy my magazine, but would read it when partners, friends or family members had purchased it. I would aim my magazine at 16-25 year olds, however this may not be the only age range that would read it. I would aim my magazine at a demographic who are very interested in hip-hop music, and people who are interested in graffiti and hip-hop dance I would also aim my product at people who are interested in the style and fashions that the artist promote, and readers that aspire to be like these people. However, these may not be the only people that would be reading my product as some people may just read it because it is available to them (friends, partners etc.).

Q1. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Q2 : How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

MODE OF ADDRESS:The use of typography within my features creates a code that the audience of my publication would understand.

IDEAL READER:My star represents the ideal reader, with the use of his presents on the main image. His costume and performance connote a serous and direct look, connecting to traditional conventions for male stars. Therefore my target audience would ASPIRE to be like him.

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

•To appeal to the correct TARGET AUDIENCE, my star would have to represent an idealised version of the reader. In order to appeal to as many consumers as possible, the star must appear mainstream and non- threatening.

•On the following slides I will demonstrate how Eminem, one of the celebrities my chosen audience is interested in, filters his appearance and performance depending on her audience

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Eminem: mainstream representation

Direct eye contact with audience

Serous, deep facial expression.

Short, shaved hair represents the simple but stylish cut.

Trainers show a casual look and that its relaxed look.

Eminem’s body language shows that he is posing for the camera.

Eminem: mainstream representation

Direct eye contact with audience

Eminem has a serious look which represents his music and his look. As if he means business.

The visibility of his tattoos show his artistic side

His use of accessories such as ring and necklace show a grudge style

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Both images have there similarities. The left image shows a more formal look comparing to the one on the left which is shown as a more youthful costume. This connect as it shows Eminem from an older age to a younger age

His professional simple hair cut with a blazer and jeans show a more formal and sensible Eminem.

His youthful look shows Eminem in a more ruthless Eminem. This can be show wit him clearly showing his tattoos and baggy jeans

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

COVER STAR: In all the photographs of my star, I tried to make sure he would be APSIRATIONAL for the readers. He is the same age and gender as my IDEAL READER, therefore would attract the TARGET AUDIENCE. The mise en scene of the star represents a slightly rebellious young man, and the use of eye contact connote a sense of confrontation.

Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your product?

Seymour is the largest distributor of UK magazines internationally, exporting magazines to over 90 countries. Seymour would allow the magazine spread rapidly through the UK and other countries.

Inter-Media currently hold all rights of Vibe magazine one of the biggest Hip-Hop magazines around. With connection with Inter-Media would allow good advice and publisher options for ‘The Motion.

Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your product?

The Motion would be a quarterly magazine priced at £5.00. Vibe my main magazine influence price their magazine at £5.30 this is due to the fact it is sold on a quarterly as is ‘the motion’ so is more expensive than a monthly magazine.I will use advertisement in the magazine to increase income also.

THE MOTION FESTIVAL.

Radio

Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your product?

TV

I researched the music magazines XXL and Vibe in order to get an idea of the different media conventions and institutions to how I should develop and distribute my own music magazine. Both magazines are for different genres and so using both as examples it helped me show how to distribute my magazine as my genre was a mixture of both, more chart based. The brand statement for XXL magazine is “the worlds biggest selling quarterly Hip-Hop magazine”.This statement helps sell the brand as it uses statistics and so people are likely to believe facts over opinions and buy the magazine thinking it is professional and popular. Whereas my brand statement is “This years number one Hip-Hop magazine of the year” which although it isn't facts sells the brand to the audience as it tells them that the magazine is better than others and promotes the issue. It also promises them that there will be quality interviews and stories in the magazine which beats others.

Question 3- Distribution

In what ways does your media product use, develop

or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products.

Front Cover

The conventions of a front cover of a music magazine varies with every sub-genre. My sub genre for my music magazine was hip-hop. The conventions of a hip-hop magazine are that its very simple but has that professional look. The front cover must have a mast head. This should stand out on the page with bold typography and bright colours to emphasise the text. In a hip hop magazine there is a pattern that theirs only one picture on the front cover which is the ‘cover star’ these vary from close up shots to mid shots. The cover stars wear expensive but smartly traditional clothing but a hint of ‘gangsta’ look. The way the cover stars name is shown is similar to the way the mast head is shown in how its presented in a bright colour contrasting with the darker colours to give the effect of ‘catching the eye of the reader’ The sub headings on the front cover are shown in a simple format with a continuous text style normally focusing on the colour black which then contrast with a consistent white coloured background but many hop-hop magazines go for the opposite with a black or grey background with a white font.

Example 1 Example 2 Example 3

Example 1Example 2

Example 3Contents Page

The conventions of a hip-hop music magazine have similar effect to the way the front cover is lay out but just in a different format. With the contents page it has a main title again very bold simple colours to give that grudged but professional look. There is normally a box or an object to disconnect the title to the main image and the features. The box can have a sub title or simply showing what is below the box. The main image is normally the cover star and the main story. This fills the half of the page normally with a full shot. On the other side of the image lays the features. With a hip-hop magazine it provides a simple lay out with the page numbers and story. Some have the main stories with a more detailed description others have more features shown but telling less about it allowing the reader to want to carry on reading about it. With my hip-hop music magazine contents page I followed the consistent look of a hip-hop music magazine contents page.

Example 1 Example 3Example 2

Double page spreadThe conventions of a double page spread in a hip-hop music magazine are that again are very simple but professional. In a hip-hop magazine double page spread on one of the pages has an image of the star which is normally a full shot. With the image it normally shows the star in how it resembles him/her on how they are to be read in the text. The image can often be viewed on to the other page with an overlapping image like example 1. I challenged this idea by just allowing the image to be on one side. On the text side above it has a title showing what the text is going to be about. It can be the artist name or a quote. Often hip-hop magazines place the artist name and then put a quote as sub heading. The title has to be bold and either bright or black. The text is in a small black font with the layout being in organised columns.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Question 5-

Mast Head

Main Image

Free Give away

Anchored Text

Cover Star

Features

Gender Age and ArtistGender:My magazine is aimed primarily at males but could also target females that like the same music and artists. The cover star is a male however looks serious, he just looks composed which is the look my target audience generally prefer.

Age:The target audience for my magazine is mainly aimed at teenagers from the age of 16 up to about 22. The cover star is within this age range so the reader can relate and be like him.

Genre: The genre is ‘Hip-Hop’ this is portrayed through the cover stars clothes. It is also portrayed through the other stars included in the magazine and through the stars name.

The word ‘best’ draws the reader in because there is nothing better than it and you want to know about the ‘best’ things. With it being at the top this draws the reader and this is the first thing they will see when its on the news stand.

The word ‘free’ draws the reader in because it is something that they don't have to pay for and get free if they buy the magazine. It is also bigger because it persuades the reader to buy the magazine.

The masthead stands out because it is in a bright colour and also in Upper case. This stands out as it is a convention which a lot of magazines don’t do.

ColourThe use of the red colour stands out because it contrast with the white background so the text in black stands out. The red colour contrast very well with the white and black so its eye catching drawing the reader into buying the magazine.

Extra ArtistsThe use of the extra artists listed at the side of the main star has information to offer about other artists which is widening the audience because if they don’t like the cover star there are other features they can look at.

Main FeatureThe main storyline stands out on the page because the big red text is only included there.

Using pictures emphases the main articles and draws the reader in to flick through the magazine. It also helps them get an idea of what else the features include.

The heading is in the same colour as the colours used on the front and throughout the rest of the contents page. This creates a unique selling point and keeps the house style.

The white colour used on the ‘features’ makes them stand out from the page and draws the reader into looking at them and looking through the magazine.

-A repetitive colour scheme consisting of Red, white and Black.-The black colour is quite masculine so it connotes to my target audience which is why I kept it consistent throughout.-The black and white contrast with the Red making the more important features stand out.

Question 6

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

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

The technologies I have used to help process the constructing of my product are:

Microsoft Publisher. This allowed me to create a well structured format for my Front page, contents page and double page spread using the tools of Publisher.

Photoshop. This allowed me to edit images to create a better effect. I used this with my main images to allow the images to look professional.

Green screen and High quality camera. This allowed me to produce a high quality image for my magazine.

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

I used Photoshop to create cover of the iTunes logo as I couldn’t use any real images as it is copyright. I used it for give out in my magazine.I firstly drew a straight forward circle and filled it with blue and then using the drawing tools I created the famous iTunes music sign. I used other effects such as glow and shadow to add the original view from the iTunes logo to give it a professional look.

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

I used Photoshop to create my music magazine logo. This was quite a simple task but Photoshop allowed me to give it a crisp finish. Photoshop have very good fonts and allows it to have a good structural look to it.

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

I used Photoshop to create my main image of my front page. With this I used specialist equipment such as a high quality Nikon camera to take the photo with a green screen behind it. This allowed the image to have a quality loo to it. With photo shop I used the rubber tool to erase the green from behind my cover star to give it a plan look which contrast with the white background of my magazine

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

For my double page spread I used publisher to create it. Using my music magazine logo and image which were used by Photoshop. The format of publisher allowed me to gave the DPS a realistic look also the varied fonts gave me many options to create a professional look to it.

Looking back at your preliminary task (Aquinas College magazine), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression to the full product?

Question Seven

For my first contents page I used red and black font on a white background and vice versa.

I used the bright red to create focal points and make the main features stand out so the reader could scan the page.

I used a well structured way of listing my features and images as I placed them in boxes to separate hem from the others and it was easy to read for the reader.

I didn’t use my main cover star on the contents page as I highlighted all features as an importance in the Aquinas magazine.

Evaluating My College MagazineCodes And Conventions

Evaluating My College Magazine

Technologies Used:

PublisherAdobe PhotoshopDigital CamerasAltering and manipulating photos

I find this image represents a good quality shot and angle for a magazine cover, and has enough negative space in the background to make the subject ‘jump off the page’.

The subject in this image looks as though he could fit in on a magazine cover, he is the clear focus of the image and fits the shot very nicely. Making this a good option.

I found the subject in this image had very little focus on the camera, making it inappropriate for a magazine cover.

Technologies Used:

PublisherAdobe PhotoshopDigital CamerasAltering and manipulating photos

Contents Page

I placed the features into separate boxes. I used an image of what the feature was to highlight to the reader what it is clearly. The page number was also focused heavily to allow the reader to instantly know where to go.

I anchored the main word ‘contents’ of the page by the features highlighted throughout the magazine but they weren't the main ones.

I incorporated the Aquinas logo in my contents page by using an image of the part of the building with the logo on.

I made the title featured number at an angle which fits in with other pieces of angled text on the page. It also makes it more interesting to look at.

Looking back at your preliminary task (Aquinas College magazine), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression to the full product?