In what ways does your media product use, develop and or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Magazine.

Research on existing magazines.

Here I have done some research on well known magazine companies and I looked at some products these companies have produced. These companies are Empire, Entertainment Weekly and Film. I did this because I wanted my own products to look as professional as they could. I then decide to place pictures of existing magazines in Microsoft publisher and analysis each of the pictures. This system will help me to decide which techniques to use on my own magazine.

Empire magazine.

I chose this magazine cover because it stands out from their usual designs. The masthead is not on full display, this might be because it’s a well-known title. It also ties in with the theme of the film i.e. the film is the iron man and the masthead is featured as electric.

It’s good that they added reviews such as ultimate review and the Oscars special, this helps to promote the magazines. It is also under the masthead which tells people that this is a good magazine and it worth reading.

The bar code is placed neatly in the corner. It also ties in with the colour scheme as the background of the bar code is white and so is some of the text on the magazine.

I like how they have added other shows at the bottom of the magazine and how they have emphasised them stating they are ‘THREE AMAZING EXCLUSIVES’. I feel this makes the magazine complete as if they didn’t have the extra picture at the bottom then the bottom of the magazine would look empty.

They also comment on when the film is debuted however I feel this could be done in a more clear way as it just says ‘ALL HAIL THE KING OF 2010’.

I also like how they have played on the word Clooney. Clooney is an actor and obviously features in this magazine. I think this is cleverly done as it fits up the top of the magazine but still gives the information.

Entertainment Weekly magazine.

We can clearly see a known actors name in big bold letters. This catches our eye because of the font colour. There are also other actor’s names in bold to help advertise the film.

There is a clear colour scheme that is used on this magazine cover. The colour scheme also ties in with the film. We can tell what genre the film might be because of the colours for example I feel that this film will be quite dark because they have used a dark red. They have also used white and light blue which are cold colours. This ties in with the image as the character looks cold and dark.

On this magazine cover the main image is J ohnny Depp’s character. This image sets the whole scene up for the magazine. This image also suggests that the genre is a horror. This is because the photograph is a stereotypical one of a horror genre.

I like the different font styles because it makes the magazine look more professional and interesting. I also how the number is in big bold writing.

The layout of the magazine is neat and condense. The text layout of the text is in the bottom and top corners opposite one another.

I like how the masthead has a separate piece of text at the end. It informs the reader that the magazine does a weekly edition. It also stands out because it is a different colour and different font from the main masthead.

Total Film magazine.

Here is a magazine which is covering the TOTAL FILM MAGAZINE. As we can see it is an unusual magazine cover but the theme fit in well with the theme of the film. The whole of the cover is made up of people’s faces. Again this fits in well with the theme of the film. This magazine would also stand out on the shelf because it’s so different to others.

Here we can see the main character that is in the film. He is behind all of the individual people. The picture looks quite washed out however that doesn’t matter because of strange theme throughout the magazine.

Here we have the usual total film mast head. Again the mast head is behind the people. The mast head takes up quarter of the magazine cover. The title above also reflects the magazine theme as it says THE MODERN GUIDE TO MOVIES. This reflects the magazine cover because it is a new style. THE MODERN GUIDE TO MOVIES title is in front of the people. It also stands out more because it’s in front of the people.

The text at the bottom also is in front of the people. The text also plays on word as it states Get Connected. This is a play on words as The Social Network is on the internet. People might find this quite amusing. It also gives us an idea the social network is specified on facebook.

Masthead.

When looking at all of the magazine mastheads I noticed that the majority of the mastheads were placed in front of main picture. I have also decided to use this convention and have done the same on my own magazine. I also used a similar colour of Entertainment Weekly for my masthead because it was the most appealing colour out of all the magazine mastheads. The colour also went well with the theme of the magazine because the blue could be seen as a cold colour. The colour also goes really well with the mood of the picture.

Background.

When looking at the backgrounds of magazines I noticed that the covers that has a lot of information on had plain backgrounds i.e a picture whereas magazine covers with a lot of detail on the picture such as Total Film Social network edition had less information on than others. I didn’t want any distraction on my magazine so I decide that the whole of my magazine background would be the main picture. I decided this because the picture was black and white which means that any colour scheme would go with it. This also meant that I could add on more information on my own cover.

Colours match the font on previous slide. For example pink arrows = bar code.

Conventions.I looked at the cover stories on Empire's Harry Potter edition and used the layout on my own magazine. I chose this edition because I felt that the cover looked organised and neat. The individual stories are easy to read and the magazine looks interesting. Each of these points below are featured on Empire’s Harry Potter edition and my on magazine product.

•Empire have put an award on their magazine cover I have decided to use this on my own magazine so I have added the an award from the previous year so my target audience would know that this is a good magazine to read. I also put it under the masthead so the award would be associated with this magazine. •Empire has put in a MASSIVE PREVIEW SPECIAL on their cover. I have decided to use this and have also used the MASSIVE PREVIEW SPECIAL because I thought it was a great item for people to spot when its on the shelf. •Empire has put in cover other stories such as 45 films you need to know about. I have developed this and have included the extra information about 35 new films that you need to know about. I added this in because I thought that this would encourage more people to pick up the magazine and buy it. •Empire has also included films down the side of the magazine. I have decided to use this and have included a list of other films that viewers might be interested in. This could also help sell my magazine.•Empire has more films at the bottom of the cover. I have used this and added some more film names at the bottom of the magazine. This helps make the cover look more packed which is what I was going for. I also added the lines that helped me separate the films up, the lines also helped the colour scheme carry on throughout my magazine. •Empire has placed their mast head in front of their image. I have used this and have placed my masthead in front of my picture. I did this because I wanted my masthead to be in the fore ground so nothing obstructed the view. •Empire have placed a website on their magazine. I have used this and I have added my own website. I have placed the website for my magazine under the mast head on the right. This is because there was enough room under the masthead and it can also be seen easily . •Empire have added the characters name and a quote from the film. I have developed this and I have added a quote under the title. The quote says ‘ The best horror film in years’. I have done this again to help advertise my film. I have also placed the title above it just to remind people what my film is called and the title will be associated with the character. •Empire have place the bar code in the bottom right. I have used this and I have also placed the bar code in the bottom right of the magazine. I did this because the bar code is place neatly out the way but when taken to the till it can easily be scanned. Empire did the same with there edition of Harry Potter.