In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms of conventions of real media products?

Viet Pham, 13L4022

Viet PhamChrist the King: Aquinas13L4022

In terms of price, I did a questionnaire to find out what preferable prices the participants would ideally buy a music magazine for. The result was in the range of £1.00-£2.00.

This is very contrasting news because of the fact that most music magazines generally have a higher price than what the participants in the questionnaire would like to buy a magazine for. For example, the music magazine ‘Q’ generally has a price tag of around £4.00. I therefore made my price £4.00 as well otherwise it would not be so conventional.

Price

In all magazines, the use of colour is a key attribute to have because of the fact that colour is what attracts the target audiences attention and so is important to get colours used in a way which is appealing to the eye.

By having a colour scheme for the magazine it shows that the magazine is serious about how it presents itself to the target audience. My colours I consider to be quite appealing but yet also convention to most music magazines.

My colour scheme was white and red which were the colours that were one of the most popular in my questionnaire.

Whereas the colour red can also connote power but also passion and love which would have the effect on the reader that there is new songs out and new artists that they may not have heard of.

The colour white symbolises life and new beginnings. The effect of this is on the reader is that there is some form of professionalism.

Colour scheme

Masthead: For my masthead I decided to make it noticeable by first of all making the letters look bigger so as to automatically grab the readers attention. The colours I used also complimented the image I was using and by having it in bold would again reinforce the attraction to the reader. Also by having it above the subject’s forehead, it makes the reader already intrigued because it is commonly seen in music magazines. In general I believe that the masthead has certain conventions of a music magazine. By having some conventions, it allows the masthead to be unique and possibly an interesting choice.

Coverlines: In terms of positioning of the coverlines it seems to be very conventional because of the fact that in most music magazines coverlines are generally displayed to the side of the front cover.

Price and Barcode: The price and barcode’s function is to allow the reader to purchase the magazine as well as let the reader know exactly how much the magazine is worth. In terms of how conventional it is, it seems to be quite conventional due to its positioning and how close they are to one another.

Selling line: The selling line of this music magazine is ‘ To love music is to love CHORDS’. These words were chosen as a selling line because of the fact that it gives cues to the reader that this magazine has interesting news on music because it supposedly ‘loves’ music. Also by understanding what it means one can interpret that music is key to this magazine and is the life and soul of the very essence of the music magazine.

Main image: This image is a medium long shot of the subject, it was used because it allowed the reader to identify with the subject. It can be seen as conventional.

The layout I have chosen for my music magazine is quite convention to how most music magazines have set out their structure but mine has a few differences.

Various music magazines have different ways of presenting their masthead such as whether or not to put the title of the magazine behind or in front of the main image.

My coverlines are also just as conventional as any other music magazine as its on the side of the front cover..

I also have a barcode as well as a price tag which is conventional but the positioning varies from magazine to magazine.

Analysis of Layout:

This image is of my model. I have chosen to do a medium long up shot as it’s reasonably conventional as well as the fact that by doing this type of shot, it allows the target audience to identify with the model on the front page as well as let the viewers see what kind of person she may be.

I believe the type of image shot used is convenentional because it shows signs of musical instruments it entices the reader just because of the fact that the model is looking at the target audience. In conjunction to the fact that the coverline below the model explains who he is and what she is about so therefore making up for the fact that the image has no music connections.

This is also done in music magazines like ‘Q’ magazine who have had artists like Jay Z on the front cover without some kind of music connection in the image.

Analysis of front cover

My contents page is to some extent conventional because of the fact that with most music magazines the sub headings are usually highlighted in one way or another to let us know that it is a subheading.

I have also got cover stories of musical news with page numbers next to them to let the reader know what the article is about and where to go to read it.

Another convention is the use of colours, this is because music magazines generally have a colour for their side story and then another colour to give a little detail about what that side story is about.

I have also got and editor’s note, not all music magazines have an editors not on their contents page and so it could be considered partly conventional but I have added it to make the magazine seem like a magazine who appreciates the target audience.

There is also the use of the logo ‘DISCORD’ shown on the contents page which most if not all music magazines have somewhere shown on their contents page.

Analysis of contents page

The contents page generally seems to be orthodox as it deploys a standard column type of contents page. The sub-headings are in white and their background is in black to highlight the different sections of the magazine as these colours seem to stand out from the contents page and so would help the reader to navigate their way around the magazine.

Below, it shows the different pages and content that would be displayed on each of these pages with words that may try to persuade the reader to go and read it. There is also the editor's note which is sometimes seen on the contents page of different music magazines but not all of them. The effect of this is to give the mode of address to the audience by generally telling them that they are thankful to the consumer which would then lead to some sympathy and possibly making the reader buy the magazine more constantly.

There are two images of two different models with two different types of shots used, one being a middle shot whilst the other being a close up shot. The effect of these images is that it lets the consumer know who is the magazine and also keeps a balance between text and images as too much text may make the reader feel that they do not want to read the magazine. By having these two images, it helps the consumer to continue to read on.

I believe that my double page spread is conventional to a real music magazine for various reasons. One is because of the fact that I have devoted a page to the model at hand. The model relates to the magazine as he is the person who is being answered to these questions. Also you can see from what he is wearing and holding is that he is a musician of some sorts by the fact that he is holding a guitar which suggests that he plays it. Also he is wearing some headphones which indicates that he does not solely do one genre of music but possibly does multiple types of genres. His smile also indicates that he is excited about his future in music and is raring to go. Another convention of this magazine if the fact that I have added my logo on to the double page spread. Many music magazines do this in order to remind the reader whose magazine they are reading. Most music magazines station their logo either at the top right or top left of the double page spread.Also, another convention to this double page spread is the way in which the interview is structured in a column. Various types of music magazines do this for different reasons such as to give it a professional look or make it easier for the reader to read. This type of structure is used by magazines such as Q, Blender, Vibe and many others.

In addition another convention of this double page spread is that I have highlighted the questions as well as the singers name in red. This is also conventional in many other magazines so as to let the reader know the beginning of a new question and so makes it easily identifiable. Also I have kept to my primary code of black, red but there is no white this time as I felt that the colour would not go well with the title. This shows that I have to an extent kept it consistent throughout the magazine in terms of colour. One further convention is that this artist is mentioned in the front page therefore linking the double page spread to the front cover which generally happens in music magazines.

Analysis of double page spread

This music magazzine seems to show various amounts of conventional features that one would expect to see from s music magazine cover. One aspect that seems conventional is the placing of the brand which is generally at the top of a cover along with coverlines on the side of the cover. The main coverline is a little unconventional as the main coverline is also generally found on the side but it is instead placed at the bottom-middle of the cover. The coverlines are there so there can be some mode of address from the media product to the consumer to let them know what kinds of interviews/information there is available.

There is generally a colour scheme of black and red in the text which seems to have good effect to an extent. The white may connotate some form of professionalism as many things are done in white and so it would seem that there is the use of the hypodermic needle theory in which the media product may be trying to tell the audience that it is set in a professional way. The red may be connoted with some kind of feminism as there is a female model in the image which may support the idea that females are heavily involved in this magazine. Also, it gives of the impression that it is again professional because many primary colours usually can give that effect.

There are also selling lines to attract the target audience both at the top and bottom of the front cover which is sometimes used by music magazine covers although not all the time. It also serves as a form of address to the consumers as they help attract the reader by giving the consumer interesting stories that they may want to read or make the consumer.

There may also be some kind of connotation to the male due to her race and so this may give the effect to the reader that it may be interesting as you often do not see too many female male in music magazines. One can also denote various positions of the coverlines to see that they are all in the side which shows it is conventional, thus helping to set out a professional tone to the magazine. By reading the words the consumer can also find out that the genre of this magazine is 'Indie' because of the few 'Indie' based groups. The hypodermic needle theory from the media product may be trying to say the consumer that there could be a rise in asian singers in the near future due to the outbreak of this one. The reader may be gratified due to the various structures and coverlines of the music magazine.

There is also the 'gaze' in which Mulvey described that looking involves power. The model is looking straight which is trying to give the effect that he is not afraid which may attract the consumer as they may see this as an interesting point.

The website is also shown in the front cover although others would generally show this on the contents page. The effect of this is to let the reader subscribe or check out other features of their magazine which may persuade them to buy this magazine more in the future.

The type of shot used is a medium-long shot which is generally used by other music magazines, if not they would usually use middle shots. The effect of this is to let the reader fully identify with the model to show that there is a new celebrity in the music industry.

The double page seems to be conventional in the fact that it has various features that would be seen in an actual real magazine. One such feature would be the image of the model where the model is actually on both pages, some magazines do this to possibly show continuity or because the image needs two pages to let the reader identify with the model.

The text seems to be adhering to the colour scheme used in the contents page as well as the front cover with the red and black text. The effect of this on the consumer is again showing a mode of address in that it is conventional and professional, also by having it in columns it may make it more coherent and easier for the consumer to read. Also, another convention is that there is a drop letter at the start of the interview which is commonly in seen in many music magazines and gives the effect of letting the consumer know where the text starts from.

There is also a skyline to give the reader a little taste of what the text is about. The logo is there to remind the reader what magazine they are reading.