Comparing my preliminary

task with my current task

Front coverconventions

My preliminary task is lacking many of the main conventions needed to be a successful magazine and to appeal to my target audience (students). These would typically consist of bright colours, bold fonts, lots of photographs and images and a relatable mode of address.

The only conventional features of my magazine is the large, colourful masthead which is eye catching in contrast to the background, the informal term ‘Newz’ as it is relatable and understandable to the target audience and the photograph of the two students since they are the age of half of the students so the target audience would feel more connected. The shot type is also conventional as it is a mid shot and only focuses on the top half of the models.

However, after learning a wide range of media technologies and how to make a magazine more conventional, I was able to create my current product more successfully.

This is conventional for a number of reasons, to start with, the layout is quite cluttered which is what my target audience said they would prefer, there is a limited amount of colours, consisting of yellow, red, black and white which is extremely conventional and is the typical colour scheme revolving around metal. There are bands I have featured which would appeal to the target audience as they would expect to see these kind of bands. I also used a more gory, effective font to connote blood, violence and terror.

The image is conventional since I have used make up to create a scary and disturbing appearance. It is in black and white to minimalize the colour scheme and a close up has been used to enhance the detail and make it more eye catching.

I decided to name the magazine ‘Destruct’ since it means to destroy something which is a connotation of violence which is highly related to the genre.

photographyIn my preliminary task, my photography was very limited since I only used one photograph. This is a very simple mid shot showing two people which is conventional but very minimalistic and boring which is not what would appeal to my target audience.

The models I used are clearly students and therefore the same age as my target audience, this would make the magazine appear more relatable and would also make the student reading it feel more obliged to picking it up and reading it.

The photographs included on my improved front cover ranges in variety compared to my initial magazine.

The main photograph is an extreme close up of my face to enhance the detail of the make up and make it look more scary which is also makes the conventions of my magazine clear.

There are also some smaller photographs to the bottom left which advertise the posters that would be in the magazine. These include a close up, a mid shot and a long shot of the same person, which all individually have their own settings, costume, and lighting to make them different from each other and more realistic.

MISE-EN-SCENEThe photograph was taken in high key lightning which creates a cheerful and lively atmosphere which is appealing. The models are also wearing school uniform and since it is a school magazine this is conventional.

To improve this there could’ve been both a male and female model rather than two models to appeal to both genders.

I have used a wider range of mise en scene in my second magazine to make it more conventional and more attractive.

For example I have used make up on the main photograph to create the skeleton-like effect on the models face which connotes the kind of dark terror connoted with metal.

In the smaller images which display previews of the posters, Ben is wearing conventional ‘rocker’ clothing; black skinny jeans, denim jacket, tight t-shirt etc, and is also sporting bleached hair which portrays his rebellious personality a lot of the target audience can relate to.

A microphone is also used as a prop in the second image to relate to the music genre.

IMAGE EDITTING

There was very little editing on this image, all I did was remove the background and enhance the light slightly to make it brighter, both of which using just a simple tool on Microsoft word.

I edited the main photograph by turning it black and white to enable the colour scheme stayed as simplistic and as masculine as possible. I then increased the contrast to enhance the make up and the contrast between the blacks and the whites, this makes it look more bold and more skeleton-like.I also edited the left eyeball using ‘retouch’ to make it appear quite alienated, which adds a more creepy twist to the photograph and makes it just slightly more interesting.

The smaller images previewing the posters have not been edited a great amount however I did reduce the saturation slightly to make them look more ‘grungey’ and to also stick to the simplistic colour scheme.

LAYOUTThis magazine is conventional in a select few ways, in that it follows the route of the eye, the barcode is in the terminal area, there is one main photograph which all the headings are set out around and the masthead is the boldest piece of writing, placed at the top.

Despite this the layout is quite messy which is something that is not conventional for its purpose. The headings are scattered around in an unordered fashion which may be off-putting to a student.

Something I would expect to see is more smaller images involved with the headings too, this would make it seem more fun-filled and interesting.

The layout I have used is conventional since the masthead is very bold is placed at the top of the page.

There is a banner at the very top which consists of band names which would entice the audience into buying the magazine.

There are headings to the left which are placed in quite a cluttered way, but this is conventional and is also the audiences preference.

FONTS

Only two fonts used which are ‘Stencil’ and ‘calibri’ which are very common and quite boring – this would not attract the attention of readers.

The masthead was made using word art and I have put a reflection effect under the ‘cool’ in ‘scool’ to make it look more hip and down with the kids.

I have used a wide variety of different fonts in my second magazine compared to my first one, which is what I think sets the two apart.

The more unique, detailed style fonts I was able to find on websites such as dafont.com and fontspace.com, rather than just opting for the ones available on microsoft. This enabled me to find quite gruesome-looking ones that connote gore and blood, which is strongly related to the genre.

The smaller pieces of writing like the sub-headings and the top banners are fonts taken from microsoft, but during my research I noticed that many of the magazines I looked at such as Kerrang and Metal Hammer also used fonts very similar to these too.

COLOURS

The colours I used in my first magazine is very limited.

There is a plain white background with boring black headings, with the only flashes of colour being in the singular photograph and the masthead and slug. This would not be eye catching at all and would most probably put someone off picking up the magazine.

The colour scheme follows an extremely masculine theme which was determined by my audience in the research I did before making my magazine.

The minimal use of colours, including mainly yellows and reds (which connote danger, warning, blood, violence, anger etc.) and just black and white creates a simplistic and masculine look which would be appealing to the target audience which is dominated by mainly males and females of the masculine type.

To reduce the colours in the photographs of the posters, I decreased the saturation so they would not be too bright or stand out too much, but still holds the ‘grunge’, ‘rustic’, ‘rockstar’ effect.

MODE OF ADDRESS

The mode of address has not been thought through and my front cover does not particularly convey any thing that would attract the audiences attention.

The mode of address is definitely clearer in my second magazine since the conventions are more defined, for example the use of the make up in the photograph, the quite violent looking typography and the masculine colour scheme. It is clear this magazine is targeted at a young audience consisting of mainly males, students and rock/metal fans.