2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
3. Shape of the magazine I have challenged the codes and conventions of music magazines by producing my magazine in a square shape and in a look of an album cover in a size slightly larger than an album cover. The reason for this is that I wanted to emphasize that this magazine is aimed a lot and focused more on albums; for example it will have an issue every week on the latest upcoming album. I feel that it will look different to all the other magazines on the shelves as it is in a different shape, which also links well to the Indie genre which my magazine is about as it is unique from all the other magazines. I haven't seen any other magazines having this shape therefore I have challenged the codes and conventions.
4. The Title of the magazine For the masthead of my magazine I used a font from the Dafont website and then changed this in order to suite my magazine. This made it make look distinguished from the main image, and would hopefully attract readers as it is coloured in yellow. Further more, I made the masthead give this rough and scruffy feel to it by adding small black splodges on the letters which many real magazines do such as Rock Sound. The use of my colours follow magazine conventions because they continue to have a the same coloured schemeof red, yellow, black and white throughout the pages which I felt was important.
5. Mise-en-scene of images, costumes and props I think the mis-en-scene of my images challenge the codes and conventions of magazines. This is because, I have used bedrooms as the main background which not many magazines show. I have chosen to use this place because I believe this is where Indie bands and their fans relax and play or listen to music. Also it challenges real magazines as some of my models are looking in different directions and not to the camera which shows a unique look, plus my models gives a sense that they seem that they care about what they look like which not many magazines tend to do as they display the bands as moody, serious and not caring. The costumes and props used throughout “INDIvidual” are conventional. This is because the band in my magazine wore costumes which included afro hair, black suit, hat, microphone and sunglasses. All of these items could be found and are commonly used in real music magazines. I wanted each of the models in the band to have their own identity which relates to my magazine.
6. I was influenced by this particular image taken of the band Mumford and Sons. As you can see not everyone is looking at the camera and they seem very happy using props for their genre of folk.
7. People used in my magazine The people used in my magazine are very conventional. This is because I have included four male members in the band. In addition, as they seem like a young upcoming band, this will appeal to my young audience attracting more males. Also this could appeal to females as they might have a crush on one of the members with their good looks. All my members have a difference in hairstyle like no other to show they are ‘individuals’ within the band.
8. Title font and style My font choice was reflected throughout my magazine because I continued to use the same of type colour scheme, which was red and yellow, in order to create a sleek and professional look. I created the title “The Wombats” by using a brush tool in Photoshop and then adding a drop shadow to it. I think my title is slightly unconventional in the sense that the letters are positioned at a slightly wonky angle, whereas real magazines tend to keep their headlines in a straight line, though I have seen Kerrang! do this during my research. However I feel that this will appeal more to my teenage audience because of its visual impact. On the other hand the title is conventional in the sense that it has the largest font size on the page, apart from my masthead, and it’s bold and I coloured it in yellow to make it stand out even more. In addition to this, the way the title has the slightest of rough on the edges is similar to real music magazines like the ones I analysed at the start of the project.
9. Written Content The written content of my magazine follows the codes and conventions of a real music magazine by covering similar topics in the article. Similarly to other music magazines, the article promotes The Wombats new album which is the main feature in my magazine and also explained more about what we can expect in the coming months and how the album unfolded. This follows magazine codes because many readers will purely read an article to find out when an artists next piece of work is scheduled for release. I included exclamation marks to emphasize certain points.The contents has a few words which I feel only the young generation will understand and get what the lead singer is talking about which I hope will appeal to the audience.
10. Music Genre and how your magazine suggest it The music genre for my magazine is the Indie genre hence the title ‘INDIvidual’. I included many artists from that genre such as The Joy Formidable, The Vaccines, Everything Everything, Arcade Fire and many more to appeal to as many young people as I could. I followed a number of magazine conventions when I thought about genre. Props were vital for my magazine, and I felt that I followed conventions of the Indie genre by using guitars, different style in clothing and facial expressions gave a sense of cheekiness to members in the band. I feel that the use of Red, yellow, black and white colours, the wording of the title and the mise-en-scene emphasizes that ‘INDIvidual’ is an Indie magazine.Real music magazines suggest their genre by the mis-en-scene of their images and the bands included, therefore my magazines follows the codes and conventions.
11. Layout of Front cover For the layout of the front cover I followed many codes and conventions. Firstly, I placed a barcode and the price tag in however I didn't display it in the usual place which from my research was on the bottom right hand corner. Another way in which my front cover appeals to its audience is by giving away freebies of a free download on iTunes. Except for the masthead ‘The Wombats’ is the largest sans-serif font on the page placed across the middle of the cover, making it the focus point of the cover and therefore the main headline. On the bottom left hand side of the front cover I have positioned a list of featured bands. This gives the audience an idea of what bands and therefore the genre (Indie) to expect inside the magazine. I have used an image of a festival which further attracts the reader as it conveys that this magazine features information on gigs and live music! Many real music magazines uses these in their own covers, therefore I am following the codes and conventions.
12. Layout of Contents Page For the layout of the contents page I followed many codes and conventions. It follows on well from the front cover as it uses the same types of colours and fonts. In addition, I have used a CD as the main image so when you open it up it seems as if it acts like a real album cover. I haven't see any music magazines do this particular layout. I deliberately used a quote in the contents page ‘Tuesday IS the new Friday’ and it acts as a lure. Because it is quite a bold statement that some might find a bit unusual, this will grab the readers attention and encourages them to turn to the page and read more about it. I also included page numbers next to text as this is what you need in a contents page. However, in comparison to the contents pages I analysed at the start of this project, the layout of my contents is not as regimented and grid-like as “Kerrang!”, thus making it slightly unconventional.
13. Layout of Double page spread My double page spread contains elements that follow the codes and conventions of existing music magazines. For example it features a stand first and a drop capital to introduce the article. The use of a personal quote is displayed in a bigger font than the article in order to grab the readers attention and encourage them to read the interview. The use of the colour green on a darker background, makes the quote stand out more. The layout for my double page spread is fairly straightforward; a whole page for the photo is used for the left hand page, with hardly any text displayed. This gives the page a minimalist, uncluttered appearance. In contrast the right hand side of the page is filled with three columns of text plus more images at the bottom of the page. During my research I have found that many music magazines such as NME and Kerrang! Use this style.
