Evaluation

Evaluation ofTOP OF THE

ROCKSMAGAZINE

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

products?The conventions of “Classic Rock” magazine…

The ‘Classic rock’ convention for the masthead is that the masthead is bold and has two stars on either side of the ‘Classic’. Also the ‘Rock’ is bigger than the ‘classic’. Underneath the masthead is the magazine slogan.

There is also an eyebrow, which acts like a cover line, showing a article inside the magazine. This makes the magazine look more tidier.

The central image is very strong and colourful so it stands out, also the image is under the masthead. The person in the image is looking directly at the camera, so that the audience has eye contact with the magazine and they are more likely to spot it as they feel as thought hey have a connection with the person in the image.

This is the main cover line, the convention of this particular magazine is that there is only one cover line on the front cover. Also the main cover line is in the bottom centre of the page and the line of the shirt collar is directing the audience to the cover line. Also there is a design above and below the cover line which is a convention that I will follow.

The barcode and the Future logo is the convention of Classic rock magazine. Also that the barcode and logo is in the centre of this particular version of Classic rock. This may also be due to the central image and the main cover line all based in the centre of the front cover.

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

products?The front cover…

All magazines have a masthead, however the whereabouts of the position of the masthead is not determined. Using the conventions of the magazine “Classic Rock”, I have placed the masthead in the centre top of the page. Also I have made the word “Rock” bigger than the “top of the” again following the conventions of “classic rock” where the “Rock” is bigger than “classic”However I have challenged the convention as the masthead is not as bold, and as large and is a different colour to “classic rock” as its more colourful. Another way that I have challenged the convention is the date and the issue number in classic rock are not shown below that masthead, instead they show their slogan, which my magazine does not have.

This the central image. It follows the convention of Classic rock magazine by having the models face the camera directly so that the audience will more attracted to the magazine. However it also challenges the conventions as the image is ¾ of the model whereas Classic Rock magazines only has the top half of the model. Also the scarf brings the audiences eye down to the cover line which follows the conventions of Classic rock as they use the shirt line to direct the eye down to the cover line.

There are no other cover lines apart from the main cover line. This also follows the conventions of this particular Classic Rock magazine.

This is the main cover line of the magazine. The convention of Classic magazine that I have followed is that there is only one main cover line, and no other. Also the cover line is in the centre of the page and there are designs above and below that cover line. However I have challenged the convention as I have made the cover line slightly diagonal so it would look more attractive a it is different from other magazines.

This is the barcode and the logo. This follows the conventions of Classic rock as it is in the centre bottom of the page as the main image and the cover line are based in the centre. However, unlike Classic rock, my magazine has the price on the side of the Future logo.

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

products?

This is the main image. It is to do with the main article/ double page spread. Also the model is not looking at the camera. It is also black and white and takes up ¾ of the page on the right hand side. These are the conventions of Classic Rock magazine.

The conventions of “Classic Rock” magazine…

The image also has a caption with the page number on it. This is also another convention.

The header of the contents page is “CONTENTS” and underneath it has the edition number and the date. Also there is a border on the page. These are also the conventions of Classic Rock magazine.

The content has a red number on the left of the title. The title is next to the number and is black. Also There is a little description of the page below every content.

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

products?The contents page…

This is the main image of the contents page. It also is to do with the double page spread and the main cover line, again following the conventions of Classic Rock magazine. Also the model is not looking at the camera. However the image is not black and white therefore challenging the conventions.

The main image also has a caption with the page number and the person in the image. However it is in a box so that the caption stands out from the image. Which doesn’t follow the conventions slightly of Classic Rock as they use red and white, whereas I only used white.

This is the header of the contents page. It follows the conventions of Classic Rock magazine as it also has a border and below the header is the issue number and the date of the magazine when it was published.

The contents of the magazine is following the conventions of Classic Rock magazine also. The numbers are also red and the actual content is black. There is also a summery and description of the page below the content.

I have added this design to the page as in Classic Rocks contents page they have a shape with extra content, however I am challenging the conventions by adding the images.

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

products?The conventions of “Classic Rock” magazine…

This is the heading of the article, it is in the same format as the cover line. Also it is at the top middle of the page. These are the conventions of the Classic Rock magazine.

The standfirst is right below the heading of the article and it also has a border below it with the writers name underneath the border. (The by-line) These are the conventions.

The start of the article there is a drop cap which goes down 8 lines in the article.

This is a pull quote and it is in the centre bottom of the article. The writing is white and the background is red. Also there is a white line to separate the two columns of the article.

The main image takes up an A4 page. It is in black and white and the model is not looking at the camera. Which is another convention of Classic Rock magazine.

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

products?

This is the heading of the double page feature,. It challenges the convention of Classic rock because it’s not the exact replica of the main cover line on the front cover. The reason for this is that the heading would not look as professional if it was tilted to the side. Also it would take up too much room and there wouldn’t be that much space for the text. However I have kept the same design from the cover line on the front cover and also put the heading of the article in the same place as Classic Rock magazine did.

The double page feature…

The standfirst and by-line are in the exact same place as the Classic Rock magazine double page spread. There is also a drop cap, however the drop cap does not go down 8 lines but it goes down two lines, which challenges the conventions of Classic Rock. I have done this so that there would be more space of the editorial.

The pull quote in my magazine has challenged the conventions of Classic Rock as it is not in the same place and that the colours have been changed. Also there Is a box outlining the pull quote. The line separating the two columns is following the convention, it also goes down after the pull quote too.

I have added another page continuing the double page spread article. The image is ¾ of the A3 page in, which follows the convention of Classic rock because in the contents page they also have the image covering ¾ of the page. Also I have added a caption of the image stating the name of the model and a little description which challenges the convention. Also behind the text there is a box which aluminates the text and makes it more inviting to the audience and makes them want to read it, this also challenges the convention.

The main image takes over one A4 page, which is the same as Classic Rock however the model in this image and the next image on the next page are both looking at the audience which defies the conventions of Classic Rock because they have the artist looking away from the camera

As the header and footer of every page I have added the Top Of The Rocks website and the page number which also follows the convention of Classic Rock.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Images and representation Pose

Dressing

Location

The Pose that I have chosen for the front cover is the model looking head on at the audience with an aggressive look. My target audience are white males who are aged 35-40, that are interested in classic and new rock. Most rock artists rebel against the norm and they tend to act more aggressive and therefore I think that the front cover image represents the rock lovers as the model has his head down but he’s looking at the camera.

The dressing that I chose for my model was a sweater vest and a scarf. However the scarf doesn’t go well with the ret of the outfit, rock listeners rebel and they wear things that are outstanding. Therefore when the audience see’s the unco-ordinated scarf and the outfit, they will identify with it.

The location that I had the photograph taken was in a TV studio in the college, I asked to have a black background as black is a colour that would represent rock artists and listeners.

Outstanding rock artists.

Social groups that I am targeting

The target audience for my media project and magazine are white middle aged (35-40), class B men, who listen to either or both classic and new rock. My media work represents this particular age range due to the fact that I have used a model that is middle-aged and also that the cover-line is about David Bowie who has been a major figure in rock music for the last 40 years (1960-1990) therefore people at this particular age would have listened to David Bowies music.Also the language that is used through out my magazine is formal as the men that would be reading this magazine would be middle classed and therefore they would not understand ‘slang’ or informal language. Classic rock is the magazine that I am basing my magazine on and classic rock uses formal language too as they want to address middle social class men. Also because the formal language used in my magazine, it would not look cheap and therefore would be able to sell it at a higher price, as the men in their 35-45 can afford to buy the magazine.

For my media project, I decided that it would be best that the images will be a mixture of negative and positive. This is due to the fact that rock magazines tend to have a gloomy effect, For example, NME have dark images to for their front covers to attract their target audience.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Design construct…

The colours that I have used for my double page spread are dark ones. I have used a lot of black because I believe that rock artists also believe inn the colour black. I have also used the colours red and orange because it represents fury and anger, which represents rock artists. The fonts that I have chosen for the heading is ‘Edwardian script’ because it looks spooky and elegant and the same time.

The colours that I have used for my contents page is white black and red. The black is used a lot in my magazine because rock artists tend to use that and red a lot. Red represents fury and that’s why I chose it because rock artists tend to have a lot of fury in them.Also I have placed a design on the bottom of the contents page to make it look more elegant because the middle ages men that will read this magazine are not exactly going to still be in to rock and roll as much as when they were younger and therefore they have a little more class.

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

By also joining with a big media institution, the theme of the magazine will have to match, that is why I have used the same house colours and some conventions of ‘Classic Rock’ magazine as they also advertise them. I feel that it would be better if my magazine doesn’t compete with ‘Classic Rock’ but they should join forces so that they wouldn't have to compete, whereas I will be competing against other rock magazines such as NME and KERRANG. However NME and KERRANG’s genre are general rock music while ‘Top Of The Rocks’ magazine has a specific target audience. Using big publications for distributing my magazine will cost cheaper and eventually bring in more profit instead of independently distributing it.

Distributing my magazine/media product is one of the most important factors in the media institution. Therefore in order to have a chance at selling my magazine I would have to go to the company that sells more magazines than any other publication. Also I would need a company that would publish the online ‘Top Of The Rocks’ magazine. The publishing company that would be able to achieve this would be Future PLC.

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

However it will also be available to buy from the internet on the official site and get a subscription delivered to the audiences house every month.

Because my magazine is a music magazine, it can be sold at any place. Such as a news agents or HMV or post offices.

However the magazine’s target audience are middle class white men, so it will be unlikely that they just stop by a post office as they are normally located around schools, therefore I will think I would be best if my magazine will be sold at a news agent so that when men come back from work they can pop in to a news agents and read the magazine on a train journey.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Demographic The target audience for ‘TOP OF THE ROCKS’

• white men• In between the ages of

35-45 • Earn around £30,000 -

£60,000 Therefore they can afford to buy the magazine at the price of £3.99.

• Social class B• Wear normal clothes,

such a suits, to work however for casual, they wear jeans and t-shirts and not the outrageous style that most rock icons wear

• For men who miss their childhood rock

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The cover is a picture of a male therefore males would relate to them so it would not identify with females as much as it would attract males. Also the masthead and the cover line is bold and manly however, it does have a few wavy lines above the cover line, but that suggests that it is for sophisticated men who earn a sufficient amount of money.

How did you attract/address your audience?The front cover is the most important when attracting your audience. So I had to think really carefully at how I would do that. Firstly I made sure that the Masthead was visible and could be seen from a fair distance and the colour red on a black background showed the colour more so that the masthead would standout. Also in the eyebrow I have put a band that is new and will have a tour soon and that would also attract the audience as they would want to buy tickets.

Then I took the image of the model. I had to make sure that the model was looking directly at the camera. This gave the effect that the audience would think that the person on the cover would be looking at them and that’s how they would subconsciously communicate with the magazine. Also I made sure that there was something significant that connected the image to the main cover line so that the audience wouldn’t miss it. I decided that a scarf would suffice. When the audience is caught by the eye of the model, their eye directly goes to the scarf as it stands out and you follow the scarf down and it takes you to the main cover line.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Through out my magazine I have been using the colours red and black. The reason that I used these colours was because red stands out on black the most. Also I have used white for the text because it also stands on black and would attract an audience to it.Also on the double page spread for the title I have used the colour white as it also stands out, I have made the text bold and also put some designs around it. This would attract my audience because it stands out with the different font and the bolder look.Also for my contents page I did the numbers in red because it would standout more and so that the audience, if they flick through the magazine, will see the numbers first and glance across and see the editorial.

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

I have used a variety of technologies. I have mainly be using Adobe InDesign and Word Processor for my magazine. Also I have used paint to print screen all the images I want to place up on to my blog due to the fact that I am very familiar with it. However InDesign proved to be rather frustrating to work with, as some of the tools were very complicated. Then I resorted to word processor for my research and my page layouts.

Also for my research I need some extra information for my article which I got from the internet using different websites. I found that it was really easy to just type in the exact thing you wanted in to a search engine, such as Google, however it sometimes gave you sites that were not relevant so that I learnt to type in specifically want I need to find out.

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

To take my images, I had to use a TV studio in the college. For the image I had to have a black backdrop, and white lighting which would place a spotlight on my model. Also I used a Nikon D300 digital camera to take my pictures. As the photographer I had to make sure that the camera was perfect for the shot that I was going to take, therefore I had to check if the exposure, ISO and aperture were correct. At first I was a little nervous about using the camera as it would have been my first time, but then it became really easy once I knew the basics.

A thing that I found that was really frustrating was that I could upload word files on to my blog. So I had to use ‘SlideShare’ to upload it. Using InDesign I think I created a unique and good magazine.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Here are the preliminary task and the final piece of my magazine. Looking back I can see that my preliminary front cover, although it had the same colour scheme throughout the front cover and the contents page, compared to my final magazine cover that has been perfected, seems very messy and really busy with cover lines that are all over the place. However my final magazine has been completed to a high standard as it looks neat. The image also looks better than the preliminary task as the model is looking directly at the camera which attracts the audience to the cover. Also I have learnt that it is important to have a very eye catching masthead. I have learnt that simple also looks good and that I shouldn’t bunch up all my work in one place.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Another thing that I have learnt is that representation is very important and if the audience can not relate to the magazine then they wont buy it.Overall I think that I have created a rock magazine that will change the way people look at rock artists as people normally associate them as outrageous however the model in the front cover does not look too outrageous and he looks like a normal person. Not everyone would like the magazine, every individual is different. But I have created a magazine that targets a specific audience.