OCR Media Studies – AS Level

Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

Preliminary Task, Log Book and Evaluation

Name: Aaron ThomasCandidate Number: 6508Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic CollegeCenter Number: 64770

Set Brief - Print

Music Magazine – Production

Preliminary Task Progression, Log Book and Evaluation

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceFront CoverStep-by-step

Step 1: I decided to pick the font my masthead which I downloaded from the internet. (http://www.dafont.com/) Then i decided to changed the size, colour scheme and style so the masthead can stand out. My font was EA sports covers SC.

Step 2: With much thought taken into my masthead I decided to actually change the font of my masthead. This is because it did not look as appealing as I hoped it would be. I used a drop shadow and stroke effect to make the font stand out perfectly. The fontStyle was called franchise from http://www.dafont.com/

Step 3: I wanted to make my strapline powerful and persuasive so I used words like “the best”. Also I decidedTo put in quotes to suggest Mr. Twist said this because since my magazine is about sixth form, people are more likely to read it because Mr. Twist is the head of sixth form.

Step 4: I decided to use this as my web address because it signifies the school. As it uses ‘thesixth@st-pauls.surrey.sch.uk’

Step 6: This main image of Liam Quinn was used for my frontCover to represent some of the smart and intelligentStudents of Sixth Form. Therefore, this makes my frontCover look more appealing.

Step 5: I decided to link WHSmith with my promotion because as I regularly shop at that destination, I know that you can buy school equipment whichIs essential for Sixth Form.

Step 7: These codes and conventions were used to make my magazine look professional.

Step 8: I decided to use my cover-line using the same effects as I did for my headline, ‘Liam Quinn’.This is because I wanted to keep my font clear and let the examiner know I haven’t made any major different changes in font as it would be un-professional for me to do so.

Step 9: This image was placed for my front cover to represent my cover line which was ‘Top tips on how to get an A in math’.

Step 10: This is the name of my main imageParticipant for my front cover.Techniques used to develop this Font was Drop and Inner Shadow, Color overlay and Stroke. I decidedTo use these effects to make the Writing look engaging to myAudience.

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceContents PageStep-by-step

Step 1: I used this font to represent my contents page because it is bright and engaging.

Step 2: I wanted to use the St. Paul’s logo because my Magazine is based on Sixth Form life at that particular school

Step 4: This is my editorial. I decided to make mine long and sophisticated, to show the examiner my level of understanding towards this magazine. I also used Facebook and Twitter promotions because I would like my audience to find out more about the magazine. I used my own signature, my editorial name, the masthead and email address so the audience can potentially find us.

Step 5: I decided to use the same masthead as my front cover because it makes my magazine look for professional and makes the contents page appear more appealing because of the enlarged text and the color scheme of a red overlay effect and a yellow stroke effect.

Step 6: This indicates one of the stories thatWill be mentioned in my magazine. I used thisParticular font to spell sixth form because it looks very smart and reveals that the target audience is for young adults and over. I used pink as my background because it is bright and lets the audience know The sixth magazine is for girls as well as boys. I used the open book thumbnail so the audience have a clear indication of what the story is about.

Step 7: I used this pink bar to make my magazine look professional and engaging. After this I instantly decided to move my web address to this bar, minimize, duplicate THE SIXTH masthead and move it to the bar. The page number 3 was already at the bottom corner of the page so then I just brought the bar to the back. That way, my page number is embedded to the bar.

Section 1) – Log Book

Music Magazine – Genre researchYOU MUST insert anything you can find about this genre – secondary sources (quotes from articles; statistics; other magazine front covers) Make sure your findings are neatly presented and contain images where needed.

NME is a very popular music magazine based in the united kingdom. It is aimed at the middle-late aged teenagers (roughly 20) so NME gives a vibe with a less poppy and more authoritative tone. The magazine features top artists like Eminem or Rihanna. This suggests that the magazine generates a variety of genres and therefore the magazine is for both males and females. In 2004, NME had a 5% boost, scoring 73,640 sales per week. This indicates that around NME’s introduction to that year the genre proved to be very popular.

Source - http://www.slideshare.net/poppyimogenyoung/nme-magazine-history-and-why-they-would-promote-my-artist

Music Magazine – Genre research (Secondary Source)

• http://journalism.winchester.ac.uk/?page=257• http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands/kerrang

• Kerrang magazine was first published on June 6, 1981. It was named from the onomatopoeic word that comes from the noise made when smashing an electric guitar, (Kerrang). Through its initial production the magazine was devoted to the new wave of British Heavy Metal artists and the rise of hard rock acts such as AC/DC who actually appeared on Kerrang’s first cover. Kerrang is Launched as a monthly magazine but its high demand means it can then be printed fortnightly and eventually weekly.

• The magazine is published by Bauer Consumer Media and has become the world’s biggest selling weekly rock magazine. The Bauer Publishing business has grown into a worldwide publishing empire. They have 6,600 employees and an annual turnover of 1.79 billion Euros. the Bauer family own 238 magazines including some of the UK’s biggest sellers such as Heat, Take a Break, Kerrang!, Mojo and Q.

• Kerrang! ensures that there is a constant and appealing spectrum to its target readers. Transitioning from the younger teenage readers who are more open to different genres of rock music – for example, from EMO to Thrash, to the readers who respect Kerrang! as an organization when it comes to Kerrang’s! scene of popular bands.

Established Magazine for my ResearchFront Cover and Conventions – If there is anything missing YOU MUST explain what this is and give a reason WHY it should be included.

Main image – this is used for ‘star appeal’ (Richard Dyer)

Masthead – this is in a big white font and the background is red. This blends in well together so it helps toStand out for the audience to purchase.

Promotion – This is used to help theReader bond with their favorite artist or band in specialEvents or in this case, take part in purchasing special issues (Personal Relationship) Katz.

Cover-lines (Secondary Stories) – this is used to help the Audience keep informed of what the magazine will contain.

Barcode/Price/Date/Issue

Main headline – this is used to help the audience Realize the main star of this issues magazine.

The sub-headline is missing from this issue because Q magazine wanted it’s target audience to focus primarily on the main image.

Target Audience – Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needs

The target audience for Q magazine can be denoted as 15-34 year olds and will mainly target males. This is through the theory of Hartley’s Seven Subjectivities. Also, Q magazine appeals towards ‘social climbers’ (Maslow) because as the audience read the issue of Q magazine they will be engaged and motivated to boost their self-image through the front cover and the interviews within Q magazine, which primarily focus on ‘stars’ (Richard Dyer) within the music industry that the readers would look up to. Q magazine allows the reader to show empathy towards the celebrity of the double page spread within the issue I deconstructed and thus from this develop a close ‘personal relationship’ (Katz) with the artist. The socio-economic needs for Q magazine is based on ‘C1’, this indicates that nurses and officer supervisors will be inclined to read Q magazine. Also, from C1, the Q magazine industry can link the specific target audience worldwideWhat other conventions from the front cover would appeal to the reader and link to other theory? This is why you need to complete slide 9!

What is the USP of this magazine?

From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP is that they focus on exclusives with international and well-respected artists on the front cover and in general throughout the magazine where they have interviews with that specific artist or band. As an example, Florence and the Machine is a well respected band known internationally, interviews and exclusives will bring strong USP because she has a big fan base. Readers and fans look up to this female musician and thus it engages them to read Q magazine and also helps the reader to develop a better sense of ‘Personal Identification’. The promotion of the media product would appeal to the reader because that way the audience can connect with their favorite artists.What language or other conventions on the page would appeal to the reader and why?

Publisher research

http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/Q

http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands/q

Q is a monthly magazine which highlights everything that’s in rock and roll. Since its launch in 1986 it has obtained a international reputation for its quality amongst fans, stars and the music industry. The audience for Q targets younger people. 97% of people rate Q as a high quality magazine.

Q targets younger people as there target audience between the ages of 15-34

Socio-economics is when a magazine company categorize people stereotypically in terms of needs and work out from this who there target audience are.

Source:

Conventions of a Music Magazine

Masthead – This is effective as it indicates to the audience what type of magazine it is and who the company are.

Main headline – this shows what the magazine will generally be talking about

Main image - this engages the audience as it portrays most people’s favorite singer.

Bar code – this helps to indicate the price of the magazine issue

Cover lines – The cover lines tellThe audience who else will be mentioned on the magazine issue.

Promotion – this gives the audience a chance to win something, essentially involving their favorite artists. This important because it is a chance for the target audience to connect with certain artists.

Target Audience – Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needs

The target audience for NME magazine can be denoted as for young adults (16-25) who enjoy rock/indie. I believe this is clearly shown by their main image of artists on the front cover such as Paramore, because it ‘signifies’ the way the main artist presents itself. As an example: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/4792255809_1c8ec1b290_o.jpg From this you can tell the main target audience is for students as an adult would not be compelled to read the magazine considering the fact that the rapper has a hoody which is stereotyped for what teenagers wear.

What is the USP of this magazine?

From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP for NME is the interviews it contains on the double page spread of the magazine. This is because through the understanding of Katz; informing and educating will allow the reader to learn something from consuming the NME magazine itself. Also, another USP of my researched done on the magazine of NME, includes a free CD to try and create a sense of survivor, (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) which ensures readers know the latest information about the artist/ band.

Publisher research• YOU MUST find out who published your chosen “Magazine of inspiration” from the

sub-genre of your choice.

• Then, visit their website and deconstruct the information you can find about the target readership in terms of socio-economic needs, circulation etc.

NME is said to be a truly unique multi-platform media magazine which reaches over 1.1 million music fans every week.My magazine of inspiration was created by Theodore Smythson.There socio-economic needs for NME core buyers are 74% Males with a median age of 23, students, 42%, A, B, C1: 68% and target people who are obsessed with music and are strong users of mobiles. NME have a total circulation of 20,011 from June 2013. In addition, NME’s target audience of sub-genre is mainly indie/rock, this is represented through the use of them using images of artists, content of their magazine and the bands published throughout the issues.

Robbie Williams – This is categorized in socio-economic class A, because Robbie Williams is a famous artist and internationally known as musician with cross-genre appeal.

http://www.ipcmedia.com/nme

http://heathenmedia.co.uk/cclements/2013/01/25/the-history-of-nme/

Audience Feedback -

• Complete a relevant survey that asks no fewer than 10 people about their opinions of your magazine.

• This should contain between 8-10 questions – one of which MUST be about your Progression from Preliminary Task – Main Task.