AS MEDIA STUDIESOCR G321: FOUNDATION PORTFOLIO

BRIEF FROM OCR SYLLABUS

Name: Samantha HancockCentre: 33435 Aquinas

College

Question 1

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My magazine is aimed at..

Teenagers14-20 years

Females

Interested in pop music

Go to festivals

Shop at high street shops

Influenced by

Go to concerts

Types of media my audience likes..

Magazines

Social Media

Film/Cinema

Print Media

New Age Media

Electronic MediaRadio

Electronic Media

Audience research

The audience research I did was biased on young people/teenagers and from the results of it showed me what types of things they were most interested in and what they would look for in a magazine.

Other pop magazine audiences

Bright feminine colours suggest its aimed at females and about pop

Non serious face shows that it is targeted at a younger audience

Images of people who younger people are interested in

More serious look connotes that it is a more serious magazine and there for aimed at a older audience

For people interested in fashion

Something a younger audience would be interested in

Interested in things other than music

From looking at other pop magazines and what their audiences were I found that “top of the pops” and “we <3 pop” both were aimed at a younger audience while “billboard” was aimed at an older teenage audience but was a lot more serious. I wanted my magazines audience to come between the two, of being for an older teenage audience but be less serious.

My magazines primary target audience would be similar to the audience of Billboard as it is aimed at older teenagers interested in Pop and music. How ever my magazine incorporates a section of fashion and what the artists style of fashion is, so it has a slight fashion directed audience like vogue. My audience would be a mixture of both billboard and vogue as I want to include fashion elements and Pop music for the older teens of 14-20 years old. There fore this makes my magazine a hybrid genre of Pop music and fashion which I know from research there is a niche gap in the market for, making my magazine a perfect fit. As it incorporates fashion it is mainly aimed with a target audience of females although some males will still be interested.

Primary Audience

Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Who I Am Trying to Represent

Older teens.Aged 14-20

females

Interested in fashion

Use technology, social networks ect.

GirlyFollow gossip and stories. Mainstream audience.

Wanting a light hearted read, not too serious

For my Cover star to appeal to and represent my target audience it had to be an idealised version of the reader and what they want to see. It had to appear to be main-stream and in the style my target audience would recognise.My cover star is the same age group as the reader, making it more idealised and the fact they appear to be girly can be presented as a way of appearing to be a role model and someone the reader looks up too, especially the target audience.

My Cover Star

My cover stars representation

Direct mode of address

Flowery dresses make them seem youthful and feminine

Excited and playful faces

“Fun” body language

They appeal to an older teen audience but still appear to be less serious and more fun.

Young, fun and mainstream

The flowery dresses connote a girly, innocent feel while appearing bright and outgoing

The red lipstick on the cover stars connotes a more rebellious side which may interest the older audience

Clear skin, neat hair and perfect teeth make them seem like an idealised version of the audience

The target audience are represented by people who are similar to them selves

Features my magazine uses to represent the

social group

The bright colours attract the eye of the younger audience, while the colours are bright representing pop and girly.

The girlyness of them also appeals to the target audience.

The image of the “artists” attracts the target audience as they are an idealised version of the reader.

This represents the audience by showing what they are interested in and what kind of things they will be interested in looking at. Pop artist.

It tells you exactly who the magazine is for which represents the audience as it shows their personality and the things they believe to be important.

The features of the magazine are all baised around fashion and Pop music.

MastheadHeadlineFeatures

Editors note

Image

Other representations

Beyoncé as the cover star of this magazine, represents a similar social group as my magazine does as she appeals to teens by being a role model but also appears to be sexy and aspirational.

Beyoncé connotes femininity as she is an idealised female role model, but this image shows her sexuality from the pose she is doing and from the serious look on her face. The dark eye makeup connotes a darker and more secretive side to her, which interests the target audience. She represents the mainstream social class but also girly. Which is the same as my own social class that is represented through my media product.

Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

After researching different music magazines and publications I found that my magazine was best published and distributed by Prometheus Global Media publishing company, which is the same Publication that distributes Billboard magazine.Prometheus Global Media is also the publisher and distributor of Hollywood reporter weekly, film expo group, Ad week and Backstage which I believe will compliment my Magazine as they are all very well known and powerful magazines which specify is a particular field with particular target audiences which differ from mine but would help it get started as the publication is very experienced and professional in the entertainment industry and have particular connections with people who could feature in my magazine or promote it. Billboard is the most similar to mine but where billboard is for the more serious reader, mine is more light hearted and not completely focused on music.Also the CEO, Richard Beackham was the publisher of Vogue magazine, which would help with the incorporation of fashion in my magazine.

Publication

These are some of sister publications of Prometheus Global Media, and would be sister publication to my Beat It magazine.

My magazine would be sold at £3.50 per issue.Billboard magazine is £7.50 per issue, but it is an American magazine which are generally sold at a high price in the UK.It would be sold monthly, unlike the other publications which are sold weekly, as it is a less serious magazine, and for a younger audience then the magazines like Billboard and the Hollywood reporter, and teenagers are more likely to buy on a monthly basis as they have less money to spend.

Distribution

Distribution-ways to find my product

I can make it available to find on twitter and facebook, and have the symbols on advertisement for my product aswell as the magazine its self.

Have adverts on music channels such as MTV and 4music.

Have an app available for apple and android which has the website and other links and information it, aswell as being able to buy the magazine on the device.

Distribution-merchandise

Smaller merchandise like the key ring and a cap, in some issues, can be given out for free as a way of advertising its self. The selling of these products will encourage brand loyalty and there fore make advertisers continue to give the magazine money.

Beat It events and festivals

As beat it will be part of the same company as the Clio awards, it can take part in major events as a way of distributing its self. And also provide advertisement at festivals.

Question 4

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

The magazines I chose to look at were Billboard because it is a music magazine that is aimed at a more serious and slightly older audience, and keep up with what is happening at the time, similarly to my magazine. Billboard also has a similar style to my magazine, and follows a lot of the similar conventions as my own.We <3 Pop because it is a music magazine that is biased around younger girls and is focused on pop music.Top of the pops because it is a fun, non serious music magazine that looks at popular artists of the time, especially those that girls are interested in.

Why I chose these magazines

Name of main artist

Posed studio mid shot. Not smiling and direct mode of address.

Bright vibrant colours with a 3 colour rule.

Layers used. Cover star covers mast head.

Headlines telling you what is in the issue

Unique selling point

Front Cover Conventions

Main central image. Posed studio mid shot with direct mode of address

Mast head using bright colours

strapline

¾ colour rule

cover lines

Unique selling point

Buzz words

Barcode issue number and date

Headline

Page numbers

Images to do with the articles.

Image of a feature article

Editors note

Features

Headline

Page numbers

Features

Images to do withthe articles.

Image of a feature article

Bright colours

Contents Conventions

House colours

Pull quote

conventional image of the star that the article is about.

Mid close studio shot

Columns of text with 2 colours for question and answer

Stand first

Headline

Mid close studioshot

Headline

Stand firstPull quote

Conventional image of the star that the articleis about.

Columns of text with 2 colours for question and answer

Double Page Spread

Conventions

Layers. Cover star over mast head

Bright colours

¾ colour rule

Posed mid studio shot

Direct mode of address

Mast head in top third

Cover lines

Unique selling point

Strap lines

Bar code

My magazine conventions

headline

Editors note

Page numbers

features

Images about articles

Image of feature article

Bright colours

House colours

My magazine conventions

My magazine conventions

heading

Pull quote

Stand first

Image of star article is about

Columns of text

Mid close studio shot

Button with more info

headline

Looking at my front cover in correspondence with other real media products of the same sub-genre of pop, I can see that there are a range of things making my media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions.

For the front cover a magazine a very conventional form for a pop magazine is to have the cover star over the mast head as it allows the reader to see that the magazine is popular as it doesn’t need to have the whole masthead on display, and also attracts the target audience as they know what the magazine looks like without having to see the mast head. From knowing this I made my cover stars over lap the masthead to give the idea that they were more important than it so people would want to read about them, as well as using it as it was a main convention. The Billboard magazine front cover with Lily Allen as the cover star uses this conventional form. Another form and convention that my front cover uses is bright colours. The Top of the Pops magazine uses a very bright colour scheme of pink, as does the We <3 Pop magazine, which makes it attractive to younger girls who the magazines target audience is aimed at. My main central image uses conventions and forms of real media products. They use conventions such as having direct mode of address to attract the audience and buyer, as does all three of the magazines I looked at: Top of the pops, Billboard and We <3 Pop. Also all three are studio close up/mid shots, as it my main central image, and are taken in low key and high contrast which is very conventional for all magazine images, not just pop magazines.

How my front cover uses conventions

I developed and maybe challenged the convention of having layers and having the main central image over the masthead as I didn’t cover the conventional part of the mast head, which would be the centre, I covered the far right of the mast head so that it was still very clear what the mast head was, as it is obviously and unknown magazine. My magazine front cover does use the convention of a bright colour scheme and house colours of pink, blue and green with some aspects of yellow but it also challenges the convention compared to the Top Of The Pops magazine which uses a 2 colour rule of pink and white where as mine uses a ¾ colour rule to make it seem more vibrant and exciting. Along with this idea my magazine develops the convention of the target audience for pop magazines. It develops the convention of just having one cover star, as I have used two, as it creates more attraction to the front cover from the audience as they are used to seeing just one, or at times a band. Having two cover stars challenges the convention of where the main central image is positioned. In Top of the Pops and Billboard the main central image is in the conventional place of the centre, where as mine, like We <3 Pop, is just off centre and to the right side more, which makes it less conventional as it isn't that common, especially when compared with the other two magazines.

How my front cover challenges and develops

conventions

One way in which my contents page is conventional is that it has an editors note which tells the reader what this issue is about, and some general things about the magazine itself. The we love this contents page also has an editors note in it, like my magazine, to entice the reader and get them interested in what the magazine has to offer. Another convention that my contents page uses is the use of images. My contents page features a bigger main image which ties into the contents page, like Olly Murs does in We <3 Pop as he is on the same issues front cover, like Abby and Kelly are the bigger image on my contents page and are the cover stars on my front cover. Also the real magazines use a collection of smaller images which also tie into the contents page and some of the articles and pages in the magazine, like they do in my magazine, as I have images of concerts and festivals which are names on my contents page as being features of the magazine. For the real media products the colour scheme varies but is conventionally bright in the three magazines I have looked at, as is the colour scheme of my contents page as it is blue, pink and green. The Billboard magazine colour scheme is blue, white and black, which all together make it seem bright, We <3 Pop’s colour scheme is blue, green and black and Top Of The Pop’s is Pink, yellow and white. Which are all bright as is mine.

How my contents page is conventional

The very obvious way that my contents page challenges conventions of real life media products is that it is two pages, rather than one like Billboard, Top of the Pops and We <3 Pop, which I did to make it more unique and to give the reader more of an insight as to what is in the magazine, where We <3 Pop’s contents page, We Love This, is quite vague as to what is in it. Another way is that my magazine goes into more depth about what is in the magazine, and uses less pictures than top of the pops and we love this contents page, as it is aimed at an older target audience as they are, as is the Billboard contents page which, like my magazine doesn’t include as many images but has a few smaller ones.My magazine develops the convention of the heading as it simply has “contents” rather than using a pun of the magazine name like with “we love this” or having something explaining it like “inside the mag” in the top of the pops.

How my contents page challenges and develops

conventions

My double page spread uses, develops and challenges the conventions and forms of real media products.Double page spreads conventionally have a heading which relates to the article, like the three magazines I have looked at, one article is “brother love” about the Jonas Brothers and another is “merry christmurs” about Olly Murs. Both of these cleverly use the name of the artist to create an article heading. My magazine also uses this convention as my article is about Icona Pop and I named it “your Pop Icon” as it uses the name of the group while still changing it. Another way my double page spread uses the conventions is that it breaks up the questions from the answers by using colour. The Pixie Lott article uses Blue and white to separate the questions and mine uses two colours also, how where mine is in a very different layout as I use two columns rather than three.Also my double page uses a conventional pull quote to draw in the readers as it mentions another famous artist who the reader may be interested in.

How my double page spread uses conventions

One in which I feel I have challenged the conventions on my double page spread is with the images I used as I kept it simple by owning have 2, and both are from the same studio, where conventionally one of the images will be as though it is from a different day, or of an action shot like in we <3 pop magazine there is an action shot of Olly Murs.Another way is the layout of my double page spead, conventionally the heading is with the main image, but mine is on the top left, and my main image is in the middle of the double spread, which in its self is a development of a convention as it usually takes up a whole page its self.

How my double page spread challenges and develops conventions

Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Mast head

Eyes in top 1/3

Excited facial expression

Direct mode of address At least

5 features to convey value for money

price

Different text size to show audience which features are most important

Unique selling point

Clear colour scheme

Front cover

My magazine is aimed primarily at females which is shown through the light and bright colours of white, blue, green and pink. Also the cover stars connote femininity as they are dressed in flowery clothing and look girly, which attracts in the target audience and as the girls are an idealised version of the reader, especially for the younger readers, it allows my magazine to address the audience as they are something the audience is interested in.The genre sub-genre of my magazine is Pop which is shown through the mast head as “beat” relates to the sound of pop music as well as being a famous song by the king of pop Michael Jackson. Also the cover stars facial expressions show this as they connote happiness and liveliness, they look excited and cheerful with is

associated with pop music more than any other genre.The reader can relate to the cover star as they fall within the same age group of older teen, between the ages of 14-20.

Attract and address

The mast head stands out because it is in bright colours and uses word play on Beats in music and Michael Jacksons song, to link it to pop music. The font connotes an element of electronic as it is a bold and mechanical font which can connote pop music through the use of using sound studios. Also it relates the “beat” of the name.

The language used is between formal and casual to address the audience as they want something that they can relate and understand but also want to feel as though they are being treated as adults.

The list of other artists attracts the audience as if they aren't interested in the cover star they may be interested in one of these other artists.

The cover stars connote femininity through their clothing and their facial expression shows excitement which reveals the values of the magazine.

Attract and address

The heading attracts the audience as it used white on black which stands out, so when someone is flicking through they will stop to have a look. The font used is the same as the mast head which makes it appear to be a very important aspect, also it connotes music studios and the technology used which represents the genre of pop.

The image of the main article draws in the reader as they want to see what the article is going to say. The stars also relate to the audience as they are the same age and the audience may aspire to be like them as they are good role models, shown through their posture, facial expression and clothing.

The editors note attracts the audience as it gives them an insight as to what is in the magazine. The language used is friendly and appealing to the target audience.

The sub heading draws in the audience as it is bright and stands out on the page, and also reflects the genre of pop and feminine. The page numbers allow the reader to find what it is they are looking for. Under the article name the description allows the reader to know what it is about and persuades them to read it.

Attract and address

The headings and subheading attract the audience as they are apparent who the article is about. They are in bright colours and the font used is quite girly as it is curly, which appeals to the target audience of females.

The pull quote attracts readers who maybe don’t like Icona pop but do like avicii as it makes it clear that the article isn't just about the. The font used is the style associated with avicii and connotes technology and there for pop music.

The main image connotes femininity and the fact they are the same age as the target audience and that they are looking beautiful makes them an idealised version of the reader and there for appeals to the target audience.

Using the convention of having different colours for the question and answer makes the article look more appealing and be more focused around the teenage audience.

Attract and address

Question 6

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

product?

My masthead using Photoshop

I pasted the words using the chosen font of sci-fried from publisher onto a new Photoshop document

I then added 4 rectangular shapes over the gaps in the letters

I coloured these boxes in using the colour tool

I lastly moved the layers so that the rectangles were behind the text and grouped them into one image

My cover star (and other images) using Photoshop

Firstly I pasted the image onto a new Photoshop page Next I began removing

the background with the wand too, which you select and delete where you want.

For smaller areas and around the hair, I used the rubber

To edit out the brace I selected the colour of the teeth, and then using the paint brush, on a low opacity, went over the lines of the brace.

Lastly I changed the brightness and contrast.

My front cover using fireworks

I imported my cover star image and masthead onto a blank A4 sized fireworks document and positioned them how I liked

Using the rubber tool I was able to rub out the bottom of the masthead, around the shape of the cover stars to give it the effect that the cover stars were covering the mastheadUpcoming concerts 2014

What pop artist are you most like?Biggest hits of 2013

Exclusive interview with Icona Pop“Music and singing is

our true passion. We love it”

I think started to put in the text on the front cover and changed the font to suit what I wanted

In the same way I changed the font, I then changed the colours to correspond with the image

My front cover using fireworks

I wanted to create a banner and straplines so I used the vector tool to place in a black box, and black and yellow lines to make the front cover seem more full

To give the impression that the cover stars are over the masthead, as earlier, I used the rubber tool to rub out the line over the image

I then imported some the of the images I had edited using photo shop and arranged them on my front cover

Lastly I inserted the text for the straplines and changed the colours to the house colours

My contents page using publisher

Firstly I inserted the two black boxes onto my double page and then inserted the text, changed the fonts and the colour using the font tools.

I then started to work on the actual contents. Using the text box I added in the headings and then the articles name and description.

I changed the fonts and colours as I did earlier and added the blue boxes as I did earlier using the shape tool.

Next I created my editors note by pasting a picture I had edited in photo shop and forming the writing around it using the text box tool for the heading as well.

Then I inserted the images I had previously edited in Photoshop and arranged them on the page. I added page numbers and texts to the images to link them to a specific article using the text box tool again.

My contents page using publisherNext I pasted in my mast head and added a date to make it clear when the contents is from and to show that it belongs to “beat it”.

To add some colour I added boarders around all the images and the contents. For the contents I used the line tool and for the images I used the shape tool and made it so it had no fill.

Lastly I wanted to add more colour, so using the shape tool I added some circles using the house colours, and placed them behind all of the other parts of the magazine.

My double page spread using publisher

The first thing I did was change the back ground colour on a new document.

I then pasted my already edited image into the middle of the document.

Then I added the text at the top of the page my using the text box tool and changing the font and colour to match the colours of the DPS.

I added the heading next. I used the effects of glow on the text and added a boarder using the shape tool and softened the edges of it using the picture effect tool.

My double page spread using publisher

I added in the interview using text box, and changed the colour of the font to make it more colourful, and to show a distinct difference between the interviewer and the girls.

To add conventions I added a button with more information and a pull quote. I used the same techniques as earlier using the glow effect and the shape effect.

Lastly I added an extra image to fill the gaps and I added the images of some flowers to make it seem bright and girly. I did this by editing them in Photoshop and simply pasting them in.

From creating this product I learnt how to use various tools in photo shop such as editing the colour, and the paint tool, and also similar tools in fireworks such as the wand and vector tools. I also developed my understanding of how to use publisher as I had rarely used it but I worked out how to use different aspects of it like changing the background colour or adding in shapes.I feel I had learnt a lot about all of these technologies from simply trying out different things with them.The technologies I used were a camera, publisher, Photoshop and fireworks.

Overall what I have learnt

Question 7

Looking at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression

to the full product?

The progression of my Front covers

Preliminary taskAquinas magazine

First draft of product

Final product

Progression of my Contents pagePreliminary taskAquinas magazine

First draft of product

Final product

Progression of my Double Page Spread

Rule of thirds

Rule of thirds

The work on rule of thirds helped me to create my final product as I knew that for the best result with my images I needed to use it and get my images on one of lines and the eyes on another. I tried to use it in all of images.

The eyes are generally along the top line, and the heads fall towards the second line on the right.

From my preliminary task front cover evaluation

From looking at my evaluation, I used the pointers and feedback to form my final design and as a way of knowing what I need to improve.

My first front cover, as part of the preliminary task, is a lot less detailed and lacking in conventions such as other images. It is also very plain . How ever the use of the “a” from the Aquinas logo fits the target audience as they recognise it. The image is done in Photoshop but doesn’t follow the conventions of a normal cover star. Also the colours are very bland.

First front cover

From my preliminary task front cover I saw that it was lacking a lot of conventions, from doing work on front cover conventions, so I made sure to include them. Such as a ¾ colour rule, strap line, cover stars with direct mode of address and mid studio shot. Also the fonts had to fit in with the genre of the magazine, pop, and connote pop music to the reader. All the things on the front cover had to represent the audience too. Such as the colour scheme which is bright colours to portray a girly and pop music feel.

Final front cover

Mood board

My mood board is what I used to base my whole magazine on as it gave a few ideas of what things my magazine needs to represent and what “pop” means.

Pop magazine names

Fonts and colours

From the preliminary task front cover I have learnt a lot about how important the conventions are, as from my feedback I found that it didn’t really attract the audience as there was nothing drawing people in, so with my final I made sure to include all the conventions that I could. I also learnt about what different techniques of photo shop worked, such at bringing the brightness and contrast up to make the cover stars seem perfect and idealised by the reader. Also I learnt that the mast head is very important as the font has to match the genre, so on my final design I chose to use a techno font to represent the fact that pop is modern and what is in fashion at the minute, also the colours entice the reader and draw them in.

What I learnt

From my preliminary task contents page evaluation

From looking at my evaluation for my contents page I was able to pick out what needed changing in order to create my final design, what needed to change and what needed adding.

First contents page

My first contents page, I believe, used all of the conventions well such as editors note, image of an article. How ever it did miss out a few crucial things such as having the images link to an article. I did like the design of it and from my feedback I found that it was quite eye catching and worked really well. My Photoshop skills did need improving though as the lighting on the “learning Centre” image isn't very good, and the background of the main image needs editing out.

Final contents page

From the preliminary task I knew I needed to make the font more exciting and fit the genre of the magazine more, so I used a more tech font as it connoted technology and future, which links to the idea of pop music. I also knew that I needed to link the images to specific articles, so I added page numbers onto the images to show that the image is what the article on that page is about. I used a lot of colour as well as from the feedback I found that using bright colours would draw more people in.

What I learnt

From the preliminary task I learnt all the things that I needed to improve on my magazine, as well as the things that worked well to give it an over all professional feel and attract the target audience.I improved my Photoshop skills massively, as I was able to edit them to look professional and to take out all aspects I didn’t want, such at the brace. I also learnt that it is very important to use a good colour scheme that represents the genre and the audience well, which I used in the ¾ colour rule of blue, green and pink. I definitely think that my contents page improved in all aspects.

We didn’t do a preliminary task double page spread, but I used the feedback given with the other pages and from my evaluation to create it as I was given an idea of the types of things I needed to do. I used all the conventions so that it was attractive to my target audience and I made sure that the colours used were the same as the front cover and the contents page (house colours).

Final double page spread

Overall I feel that my final product was a massive improvement from my preliminary task as I was able to see what I needed to do and include to make it better. My final product is quite similar in layout to my preliminary as I liked the design and I found that other people did, as it was quite exciting and spaced out. i think that the thing that improved the most was my photo shop skills as I learnt how different techniques looked on the page and how I could use different tools to create different effect, such as the brightness tool to lighten the image up and make it look more youthful and idealistic.

Over all