AS Practical production
In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When looking at various media products that are out on the shelves of our local newsagents I came to think about how my magazine could challenge them. I have used limited number of fonts and colours through out the magazine including on the front cover. This convention is used to keep it simple therefore means there will be less chance of confusing the reader. I have also used the convention to keep the text placed on the left or right hand side of the front cover. My text scrolls down the right hand side.
In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When looking at various media products that are out on the shelves of our local newsagents I came to think about how my magazine could challenge them. I have used limited number of fonts and colours through out the magazine including on the front cover. This convention is used to keep it simple therefore means there will be less chance of confusing the reader. I have also used the convention to keep the text placed on the left or right hand side of the front cover. My text scrolls down the right hand side.
With the main goal of the magazine is to draw the reader in to read on and to buy the magazine they need to be vaguely informed of what the magazine will consist of. This is were use of eye catching text and pictures come in which play an important role in this technique. In some cases pictures are more useful than text as if the reader was in the scenario of seeing the magazine in a shop window they would not have enough time to read the head line. Therefore if they glanced at the picture it will take half the time to receive an assumption and therefore will be more likely to go into the shop to purchase the magazine. This is the reason for me having a big picture with the use of numerous pictures surrounding it on the front cover.
Firstly other media products such as Kerrang’s front covers usually consist of lots of pictures, big bold writing, use of three to four colours, big title and slang so the magazine can relate with the reader and the social group that it is aimed at. My magazine has used similar conventions as it is aimed at the same social group. The reason why I chose similar conventions to my opponents in the media world is that they sell well and the techniques are useful in receiving the readers attention. Some of these techniques are using vibrant colours on important words, having a big masthead and the use of lots of pictures then means there is more information to catch the readers eye. I also used the convention of free give away. The reason behind this is to help persuade the reader to buy this issue as they could be in with a chance of winning an ipod touch. The reader also gets a free poster with each issue witch is similar to KERRANG.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The approach to the social group that my magazine aims at is usually young men rockers of any race around the age group of 15-25 years of age. Also because of the age that its aimed at then means they could find it hard to purchase as there income will not be that great. With the magazines price being at £1.50 this then means its quite cheap therefore people from a various financial background will be able to purchase the magazine. Also with it being a weekly magazine I thought it would be a good idea to have the price cheap as the magazine wouldn’t sell if it was £5.00 per week. How I came to the conclusion to have it as a weekly magazine is that It was proven to be what the public wanted in my survey. Also knowing the latest weekly news about the readers favourite bands means that they can have sociable conversations at school about the content of the magazine etc. Weekly magazines are sometimes better than monthly for the quickness of the information which is better in some cases. For instance the reader might want information on the upcoming gigs. With a monthly magazine this then means the reader will have to wait longer period of time for the information unlike weekly issues.
The star of the magazine fits in well with the genre of magazine as the star is holding a guitar, has long hair and wearing some black clothes which is a stereotypical image of a rocker. The star is also a working class 17year old which has a working class background. This then fits in with the social group that its aimed at and the social group can relate with him. In this front cover I have gave the model a positive reflection towards working class teenagers. Usually teenagers from a working class background have a negative image and this star gives a positive impression towards them. When talking about my main character I can then go on to say that he fits in with his social group as he is wearing the same genre of clothes and comes from a similar background because this makes it easier for the audience to relate to him, they are more likely to buy the magazine.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Firstly when creating this magazine in the process of getting it out to the public this then means that it will have to be distributed. A company called Bauer would distribute my magazine. This company deals with the genre of magazine that is similar to mine. Bauer is a private company which doesn’t just deal with publishing magazines from the United kingdom it also publishes magazines from Germany, France and Spain. Bauer now publishes magazines from Emap as they know own it. They then went on to change the name to Bauer media. Bauer publish big name brands when talking about rock magazines. An example of what they publish would be Kerrang. With them publishing this magazine and considering the genre that it consists of means that there could be a high chance that they would go on to publish my media product.
Who would be your target audience for your media product?
When deciding what my target audience would be I looked at various genre of music. When looking at rock magazines there wasn’t much choice and most magazines only looked at one style of music in my opinion. I then thought to my self there was a gap in this field of music magazines. It then came to mind that I should fill that gap as the business prospects that the magazine could behold might be worthy of investing in. when summarizing the age group of my target audience it depended on the music that the magazine would concentrate on. I then analyzed magazines and came up with my magazine which will concentrate on more than one style of music which will therefore have a wider target audience. This then means it will increase the purchase rate and the magazine should make more money than if it concentrated on just one genre of music. Stereotypically speaking men usually take a bigger interest in rock music than girls and it comes across as more of a masculine fashion of music. Therefore my magazine is aimed at young/men more than women although women can still appeal to the magazine.
Stereotypically speaking about rock it tends to be liked by white lower middle/upper lower class. When aiming my magazine at males I like to target it at the more younger generation as there is gap for this certain age group. For instance the magazine MOJO is aimed at more older men. Therefore the age group can be debated at the ages of 15 to 25. When aiming at this age group I had to think about the lifestyles that the majority of people have financially. The reason for this is that if the income isn’t much then they might struggle to buy a magazine if the price would be £6.00. If the price was £1.50 then they would hesitate less to buy it. On the other hand with Kerrang betting on the price on £2.70 this then means my magazine is almost half the price of Kerrang and has similar content which could mean that the audience will purchase Rockout instead of Kerrang. I looked at other magazines and the price of mine in the competitive world is one of the cheapest that would be on the market. This is to then help my target audience to purchase the magazine as some people out of the age group might be depending on money from there parents/guardian or might depend on them selves financially
How did your attract/address your audience?
When attempting to attract my audience to my magazine I had to use various techniques to do so. These skills would usually consist of the content that is inside the magazine, the language that I use to correspond with the reader, the models that are in and on the front of the magazine, the selection of colours and the font styles. Also in my survey one particular font proven to be the more dominant from the selection when being asked on ‘which font grabs your attention the most’. I then went on to choose this for my front cover. as it grabs the target audience’s attention efficiently The story that I chose to include in my magazine is about two famous rock bands and the lead guitarist has left the band avenged sevenfold and is moving to slipknot. This will then shock the reader as this band is liked a lot by my target audience. The reason behind me using this kind of story was proven to be popular in my question air and this helped sway me to use a gossipy story as the target audience would take interest in it. The title that I have used for this story also helps draw the reader in as there isn’t any direct indication is to what is going to happen to the band. The audience is then left uncertain and is then persuaded to read on. The language that I have used through out the magazine, in my opinion is more colloquial language. Why I used colloquial language is that I found that the reader can bond with the magazine like it was a friend if it talked less formally allows the target audience to relate to the magazine so they will be more likely to buy it.
When thinking about methods of persuading the reader to purchase the magazine I thought it would be a good idea if I included something extra when selling the magazine at no extra cost. When looking at other magazines like MOJO along with Kerrang they give away items such as free posters and CD’s. I then went on to think what I could include in my magazine. I then came to the decision of having a free competition in my magazine with a free poster attached into the magazine. The basis behind me doing this is that the competition offers a chance to win music related prizes which means there could be a high chance in my target audience wanting to enter the competition. Posters usually cost around the price of £4.00 but in the magazine they get it free. This will add help to increase the purchase rate of the magazine. As I wanted my target audience to be large I then went on to list numerous bands on the front of the magazine to reassure fans of these bands will be included in this issue of the magazine. I had to think carefully about the use of colour as if I included numerous amounts of different colours will stun the reader and they would not no to put there eyes. With the use of four colours this the allowed the reader to focus on a certain part of the front cover. To make the reader assume something is in the magazine a draw them in to read further I changed the colour of some parts of the text to formulate curiosity. When having an insight of the main story on the front cover it then achieves the audience attention therefore they want to read on.
The model on the front cover of ROCKOUT is a young man who grew up from a working class background and is now living the life of a rock star. When targeting my magazine at a younger audience it came to mind that some of these young men would aspire to be like then so therefore they will want to read about them. The theory that I have used here to help persuade the reader to buy ROCKOUT is Blumler and Katz’s uses and gratifications. I have picked out people near the age group of my target audience and there also down to earth so they can relate to them. This could then mean they might aspire to be like them and influence on there own identity. This theory is were your target audience will desire for the lifestyles of the people that the magazine promotes. The target audience when aspiring to be like them will look at the product for a sense of personal identity but they will also read the magazine for information and social reasons so they can discuss things with there friends. When constructing this product, along the way, I have picked up various techniques in how to manipulate images to how I want them. This could be in terms of changing the tones and shades to maybe blend in with the background better. Also I have used drop shadow writing as it helps to make text stand out better. This will work well on the front cover as the main achievement for this is to receive the readers attention.
Looking back on my preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
When looking back on my preliminary work the knowledge that I have from then to know has increased considerably. When doing my preliminary work I didn’t study any conventions of magazines but this time round I have carefully studied them and analysed other magazine which stand on the shelves of newsagents. Also studying magazines I had to work out there target audience and how they appeal to them. Once worked out how they appeal to there target audience firstly I needed to research my target audience and then how the magazine can appeal to them. Also the preliminary work didn’t have to compete against realistic competition where as my final product has to compete on the same shelves of my competitors. Also looking on the practical skill side of things they have dramatically improved from my preliminary work my final product. Mentioning some of the skills that have improved are image manipulation, to make judgements about colour choice (e.g. to match with photos) also the colour balance. The choice of language has a big impact to match with target audience. Due to my research I know have a greater deal of knowledge on the conventions of the magazine that exist in a competitive market place; I am also more skilled in production processes and a better idea on how to satisfy my audience. The skills within image manipulation have greatly improved as I can do it with much confidence. To get my main picture for my front cover I had to go trough the following steps. Firstly I took a picture of my model posing with a guitar dressed in stereotypical rocker clothes (which my target audience can relate to as proven in my research). In then cut that picture out and put it on an transparent Photoshop document. Once put it on a document I need a background for it. I took a picture of a band performing live. I then used that as my background and was zoomed in to the flashing lights effect.
