1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Front Cover

I think that generally, my magazine has followed conventions of real

media products of rock music magazines.

For example, the masthead is shown clearly at the top, in the middle. The masthead is covered by the model in

the main image, to reinforce the idea that the magazine is well

known- it is still recognised despite some letters being covered.

Furthermore, the coverlines on the front cover are on the left hand side

of the page, where there appears to be an area of clear space from the main image. The main coverline is larger and bolder, to emphasise the idea that it is anchoring the main

image. The name of the singer on my own front cover is larger than the rest of the font of the main coverline, likewise is the Kerrang! main coverline, these are typical conventions of a

standard magazine.

The main image follows the rule of thirds. The eyeline is placed on the main hotspots, meaning that it is the first thing that the audience will look at. This is a convention of a real

media product which I have used in the production of my own magazine.

I have included an footer and a header on my rock magazine front cover, which is conventional to rock music magazines and general magazines. The footer displays some sort of special feature- the main topic of the magazine; the idea that it was the first issue of my magazine, I felt, was special. In the footer I have included the word ‘PLUS’, a convention of

most music magazine covers- typically Kerrang!

The bar code has been placed in the bottom right hand corner- in the dead space. It is an essential feature of a magazine to have- in order for it to sell. I haven’t followed conventions

of having the price and issue number/date beside the barcode, I have developed it so that it is clear to the reader towards the top of the page.

The colour scheme I have used are very cold colours, black white and red (with a bluey tone to the image). This is conventional for a rock music magazine to have- most real media

products have a black and white tone, with another colour to break away from the monochrome- to draw attention to important features.

Contents Page

I think that overall, my media product closely follows the conventions of real media products- particularly the conventions of an NME

contents page.

The first major convention which I used in the production

of my own magazine is the ‘Band Index’, it is a known

trademark of NME magazine and I wanted to included it because I felt that it was a

feature which is very beneficial to the reader of the magazine. It allows them to easily find what they need to.

Secondly, I used a conventional colour scheme for my contents page- red, black and white. These colours are typical for a rock music magazine to have, so I included this convention in

my production. I think that due to the frequent use of these colours in rock music magazines – it will make the topic of my magazine much more obvious to the reader. The red was used to

highlight the important parts of the contents page- such as the page numbers and the subscription text at the bottom right of my contents page.

Another convention which I used in my rock music magazine is the use of a main image dominating the middle of the page. This helped to divide the page which also made it more appealing to the reader. This image – due to the mise-en-scene and editing- clearly portrays

the genre of music I am aiming for- a similar feature which NME have portrayed in their product.

As well as this, I followed the convention of having ‘Contents’ placed at the top of the page. This is an important convention to have on a contents page as it tells the reader exactly what page they are on. I have also included the date and ‘special edition’ to remind the reader that

what they are reading is different- and of course, special.

Furthermore, I have divided the page into three columns. This is conventional of contents pages to have, as it divides the page and helps to separate the columns of information. I think

that this is important to have in a contents page as it makes it easier for the reader.

However, I have developed conventions for my editorial at the bottom left of the page. As my magazine was a first issue, I felt that it needed to have a larger editorial than other

magazines- to make it much more personal to the reader. I think that it was important to do this so that the reader has a brief explanation of the magazine as a whole.

Double Page Spread

I think that –after looking at the

overall look of my magazine - I have mainly challenged

and developed conventions of rock music magazines with my double page spread.

For example, in mainly all double page spreads, the text is on the right hand page, and the image takes up the whole of the left hand page. I have challenged this convention as I have

lowered my main image to the bottom of the page and surrounded the figures with the text. I think that this works well for my double page spread due to the positioning, size and cropping of the original image. This inevitably changed the whole look to my double page spread- but I

think that it suits the main image and –in some ways- the article itself.

A convention which I have followed is the colour scheme. A colour scheme of red, white and black is convention for a rock music magazine to have. I think that this worked well in my

double page spread overall as the image looked effective after it had been manipulated so that it had tones of red added to it, also the fact that the model on the far right had her hair dip-dyed red. It was essential for me to use this colour scheme as I wanted the genre of the

magazine to be emphasises greatly.

Furthermore, a convention which I have followed is having the title of the article in large bold font. This is so that it grabs the readers attention and informs them on the band that the

article is focused on. I followed this conventions because I felt that it was necessary to have a title of the article which is much larger than the rest of the font on the page, so that it

displayed its significance.

Another convention which I followed is having the first paragraph of my article in bold. This is conventional for general magazines to have. It informs the reader on the basic information

they need to know about the article and the band that it is focused on.

Other conventions which I followed is the page numbers in the bottom corners and also the name of the magazine in the top right hand corner. This reminds the reader the magazine which they are reading, making it a much more rememberable magazine. As well as this I enhanced the importance of this article by including ‘Exclusive Interview’ to imply to the

reader that this article is special – it is a convention used in several music magazine double page spread interviews.

In conclusion, overall I think that I have closely followed the conventions of music magazines. From my research (particularly in tasks 1-3) I understood in detail how features were used

and why they were used. This helped me greatly in the construction of my magazine and enabled me to follow all of the conventions to ensure my product could be seen as a real media magazine. This was mainly followed in my front cover and contents page. My double page spread loosely followed conventions- just by looking at it briefly – due to the arrangement of the font and the images- but overall it generally follows the conventions also.