2. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? My media magazine is targeted at audiences who listen to Classic Hard Rock and Heavy Metal with a contemporary take on genre representation. For example, my magazine is based on a Traditional Heavy Metal band yet the way they are represented adheres to typical contemporary representation of Heavy Metal bands in magazines such as Metal Hammer for instance their larger than life personalities and aggressive attitudes which are expressed through the musical style. This is an example of how I obeyed the rules about genre conventions and representation.This can be related to magazines such as Metal Hammer who represent musicians in specific ways being mainly aggressive and larger than life. Metal Hammer magazine obeys the conventions of Heavy Metal by representing bands in a specific way despite their era/subgenre. I obeyed these conventions by representing my Traditional Heavy Metal band in this way. In comparison to my magazine, the similarities in terms of conventions are the physicality such as the aggression and rebellious attitudes. The chaotic content of the magazine fits with the genre conventions of a contemporary Metal/Rock magazine.
3. How does your media product represent particular social groups? My product is aimed to appeal to the Heavy Rock and Metal subculture. The conventions of my magazine represent this lifestyle as chaotic and larger than life, this is shown through the aggressive typeface and blood red spatters. These have connotations of masculinity, aggression and even violence. Something which is associated specifically with members of the Rock subculture and more so the musicians which belong to this particular genre of music.The model on the front cover fits the description of a typical Rock and Metal subculture who represents a select and almost secretive personality which is a reflection of this culture. The hand gesture was also incorporated in order to expand on these secretive traits similarly to gestures such as the “Devil Horns” and fist pumping, which are used to express enjoyment for the music, this makes the magazine seem very niche and secretive for specific fans only. My magazine has the ability to also appeal to an older audience. By toning down the aggression in the contents page, it appeals to the needs of fans of other “softer” Rock genres such as Rush and Marillion. Also, as it is a continuous magazine it would need a basic layout for all the issues ahead of it The model has been used to represent Rock and Metal subculture. The hand gesture was used in order to adhere to the secretive and select traits of this particular social group. In terms
4. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? The institution likely to distribute my magazine would be Future Publishing.They are suitable because they are the largest magazine publishers in the United Kingdom and are responsible for publishing successful magazines ranging from music to photography. These are magazines such as Classic Rock, PC Gamer and foto.This means that there is a huge market which future publishing covers meaning they have a great deal of control over the magazine market which would be beneficial to my magazine because of it’s reputation and the fact that it is accessible in numerous shops as well as being able to order online and subscribe. Existing magazines are advertised in magazines that belong to the publishing group which would mean free advertising and the ability to target a wide range of magazine readers.Marketing certainly would not be a concern if it was in Future Publishing control.
5. Who would be the audience be for your media project? The audience for my project would definitely be a Rock and Metal audience, mainly aimed at males ranging from 14 plus. This is because it caters to all non contemporary Rock Genres focusing on Progressive Rock, New Wave, Metal and Hard Alternative, meaning it has to adapt itself to the needs of older audiences as well as the expectation of new audiences. The contents page takes a more sophisticated approach to the context of the magazine. This is because I wanted to conform to tradition and keep a constant theme for my magazine as it is designed for multiple issues. As well as this, the sophisticated look appeals to older Rock audiences while the context of the main feature adheres to a younger Rock social groups needs. The social group I aim to market my product to are associated with niche characteristics such as hand gestures and more or less a chaotic lifestyle. This is approached in my product through the hand gesture my model uses, as well as using bold, recognisable and almost chaotic text which adheres to that associated with my target social group.
6. How did you attract/address your audience? Self identity is the most important characteristic of someone that belongs to my genre and so I looked to appeal to this by matching the content of the magazine with the reader as effective as possible. My magazine has the ability to appeal to a wide range of ages. While the front cover and double page spread target a “harder on the ear” audience, the contents page addresses the needs of a more older audience shown in the layout. The features in the layout were specifically chosen to appeal to older audiences not usually associated with the chaotic lifestyle of teenagers, things such as the text and the main image reminiscent of older generation musicians such as Frank Zappa and Angus Young. Magazines like Classic Rock also follow this convention. Firstly my model is the most effective in relating to my audience. This is shown through the way he is represented. For instance the band t shirt, hairstyle and hand gesture all relate to someone belonging to the Rock subculture. In terms of being easy on the eye I think the double page spread is the most effective. The layout is the most effective in gaining the readers attention as both sides of the page have features which are noticeable. These are the title and photograph which is a Metallica song, whilst the photo uses unusual colouring to enhance the view.
7. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your product? The main things I have learnt from creating my product is how to use photoshopand blogs. The main areas of photoshopI used for my product were things such as the crop tool, magic wand, lasso tool and auto levels. These provided the basic and necessary functions to make my magazine. The polygonal lasso tool was used to crop my main images from the background. Level adjustments allowed me to tweak the colour of this image to fit with the house style of the double page spread.
8. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I have learnt a lot in the time between creating my ancillary magazine and my main product. These were things such as appealing to target audience, creating a house style and developing technology skills. In comparison to my ancillary project, there is a more obvious house style as well as this the main image is more obvious and in some ways makes a statement with the hand gesture and as though the model is reaching out to the viewer. In contrast to ancillary project there is more of a direct target audience. My ancillary appears scattered and does not have a strong enough font in comparison to my main product. As well as this it does not really follow magazine traditions such as the masthead and a really striking image.
