Evaluation question 1

EVALUATION QUESTION 1:IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Leah Watts

Front cover

Front cover

• Main image

In my image for the front cover of my music magazine I have used a picture of my artist (Martha Davis) where she is wearing quite plain casual clothes to reflect the genre of music she creates and also the genre that my magazine is (indie). Her clothing is not really ‘sophisticated’ like some artists wear their clothes, showing the laid back genre and also that indie varies a lot showing there is not one ‘look’ for an indie artist. Martha is also wearing  statement red lipstick to brighten her up a bit showing that she wears casual things but also adds bright colours. The colour of her lips also links to the colour theme throughout the front cover making it more effective. Her clothing being quite darks reflects what people generally think about the indie genre, so by adding red lipstick this goes against what people think indie artists look like. Martha is also holding a guitar which is not always a convention that a magazine follows as it depends on the artist and the type of music the magazine is aimed at. Martha is looking directly into the camera so it makes the audience feel like she is looking straight at them. This draws the audience into the magazine and makes them want to read it and find out more once they have seen the front cover. This is a typical convention of a music magazine as the artist is always looking directly into the camera so that the audiences attention is directly on the artist and nothing else which then makes them read the other information on the front cover. Martha is also smiling a lot to draw the audience in which reflects the indie genre again. So my main image for my magazine fits this convention of a magazine.• Barcode

I placed my barcode in the bottom right hand corner and made it quite small, I also added the date, price and website of my magazine onto the side of this. I put this as the bottom in the corner and made it small as this is not the main point of the magazine and it should not be what the audience looks for straight away. This fits the conventions of a (indie) music magazine as they would normally put the barcode in a corner and small so everything else can fit onto the magazine.• Masthead

I put my masthead ‘DISCOVERED’ right at the top of my magazine in a very large, bold font that takes up the most space on the magazine in terms of writing. I have used black for the masthead to make it stand out from the rest so the buyer/audience of the magazine can see it and know what it looks like when they buy it as it will stand out from other magazines. The way I have made the masthead the main focus point by having it as the biggest and boldest thing fits the conventions of a magazine as magazines always have the masthead at the top making it stand out from everything else that is written on the front cover also making it the first thing the audience sees which is important for a music magazine, especially mine as ‘DISCOVERED’ links with what the magazine is all about (discovered artists).

Front cover continued…• Main cover lines/quote:

I have placed the main cover lines and the quote from the artist, that anchors the image, in the middle of the magazine but towards the bottom so that the main point of the front cover (artist) can still be seen. The colours I have used for this fit the conventions of an indie music magazine as red symbolizes news in a magazine suggesting music news relating it to music. Normally if an indie magazine involves the colour red, black and white on the front cover, then the magazine will included music news, reviews etc, as the colour red is associated with tabloid newspapers which also give general news about the world. In a way I have challenged the way real magazines are set out as I have put cover lines down one side and then half down the other and normally they would either be down one side or down both. I have done this to fit the writing around Martha and also so the guitar can also be seen which is an important part of the cover as this links to the indie genre and the music she creates.• Pull quote:

I have used a pull quote which comes underneath my main cover line, this draws the audience in even more as it is a quote from the actual artist on the front cover. I put this in a white font as this makes it stand out from the rest of the cover lines along with the cover line ‘Martha Davis’ which is also white. I did this as this is the main thing the audience need to read as it is about the main features in the magazine. This fits the conventions of indie music magazines like NME as they normally put what they want to stand out most in a  completely different colour to the rest of the front cover.• Background:

I made the background of my image a slightly grey colour so that the  white font I used for the pull quote and main cover line stands out more which is the purpose of using a white font. This fits the conventions/form of a magazine as normally the background is a slightly different colour but most of the time it is not very obvious to the audience, which I aimed to do.• Flash: I put a flash on my front cover to make that part of the magazine stand out as it lets the audience know what is included

in the magazine which will entice people to read more as it is an important point about the magazine. A lot of magazines that I looked at during my research included a flash to highlight a certain thing that is inside the magazine or about the magazine.

• Language:

The language I used on my front cover is quite simplistic so the audience doesn’t get put off by more sophisticated and hard to understand words as this is supposed to be an ‘easy read’ in free time and isn’t the same as newspapers even though they both give news.

Contents page

Contents page• Editorial:

Most contents pages that I looked at during my research of magazines especially indie music magazines, had an editorial which is written by the editor and gives an overview about the magazines and what is to come in the next editions, this helps the audience to understand what kind of magazine this is as this is on the first page of the magazine. So I put mine in the middle of the page so it is the first thing readers read, which also fits the conventions of music magazines as this is where i got the inspiration from.• Masthead:

I have used the same font/style of writing for the masthead on my contents page as I did for the front cover. I slightly changed what it says to suit this page and let the audience know what this page is going to be about. I also added a black background and varied the colour of the masthead so it stands out from the rest just like on the front cover. The way it links in with the colour scheme on the whole page and on the front cover fits the conventions of magazines/music magazines as they normally do this to make their magazines look more effective and to make them flow as a whole magazine.• Images:

I have used images of more than one artist on my contents page as this gives it more of a variety of people for the audience to look at and find out more about if they want. This fits the conventions of a magazine, however I have challenged the conventions of a magazine in a way as normally the main feature (front cover and DPS artist) isn’t on the contents page too but I put an image of Martha on the contents page too as it shows her in a different light as she is ‘at work’ making and playing music.• Contents and colours:

I have placed the contents down one side of the magazine as usually in magazines the contents is in a line on one side of the magazine. I have used subheadings to make it clear what is in each section of the magazine, I have also seen magazines make their contents like this which is why I decided to get inspiration from them as my magazine is the same genre as the ones I looked at meaning it fits the conventions of an indie magazine in this way. The colours I have used throughout this page link with the front cover and DPS as I also added yellow to the subscription box which is an important part of the page, and on the front cover the writing inside the flash is yellow which is also an important part of the front cover.

Double page spread

Double page spread• Drop cap: Drop cap is a very typical convention of a magazine as this indicates when the article starts so the audience know where to read

from when reading the double page spread. I put a drop cap at the start of my article to fit the conventions of magazine as in all of the magazines I have looked at a by line is used as it also makes the page look more effective.

• By-line: I put a by-line above my article and added in my name for both images and the writing, I did this t let the audience know who wrote the article and who took the images. This fits the conventions of a magazine as this will always be added somewhere on the page.

• Artist name: I placed the artists name ‘Martha Davis’ above the article with a line underneath so it is clear to the reader where the next part of the page starts, by putting her name here I show the audience who the article is about so it makes sense and is clear. In a\ way this challenges the conventions of typical magazines as normally the artists name would be somewhere near the picture/ on the image. I chose not to do this as the way  I have laid it out suited better not doing this.

• Main image: My main image takes up one of the pages of my double page spread, I did this because this makes both the image and the article the most important thing, so the reader will look at the image and then want to find out more and read the article which takes up the other page. I made my double page spread like this with the main image taking up one side, because this shows the cover artist/main feature really clearly and helps the audience see what they are going to be reading about and what kind of magazine this is. During my research of  indie magazines many of them had one large image for the reader to engage in rather than several as otherwise that takes the attention away from the rest of the double page spread (Name, quote, article).So my double page spread generally fits the convention of an indie music magazine for the main image.

• Colours and page numbers: I have added page numbers to the corners of the pages for my double page spread, so that it is easy for the audience to know what page to turn to find the main feature and also because this is a convention of a magazine to make it orderly and clear for the reader. I added this because while researching different music magazines they all had page numbers either in the corner or somewhere else on the double page spread.

• Pull quote: I put a pull quote onto my DPS as I thought it was  a good and effective way to start the article which would make the reader want to carry on reading and then read the article. As people may wonder what kind of music she creates and would read on to find out more. This fits conventions of magazines as they normally include a quote from the artist to bring the article together and to draw the audience in along with the image.

• Masthead: I decided to use a masthead on my double page spread even though this is not normally what is involved in a double page spread. I did this as I thought it would make all three pages more effective as a whole as this would be part of the running theme that is going on through the three separate pages. So here I have challenged the conventions.

• Mise en scene: The clothing and make up I have used on the double page spread for the model is quite simple and casual which fits the conventions of the indie genre, as they don’t dress up a lot as they are all about the music.

Article for double page spread

• Article on double page spread:• Font: • I kept the font of my article quite simple so that the magazine is an ‘easy read’ making it really clear for the audience to read

and engage in. A convention of a magazine is to have the font quite simple and clear for the audience to read so in terms of the font of my article my magazine fits the conventions.

• Language: • The language I have used in my article for my double page spread is quite informal as it is an interview that is supposed to be

quite ‘chatty’ so that the artist will reveal things to fans/the audience that they do not know. This is a typical convention of a magazine that has a double page spread article using questions and answers as it makes the audience want to read it, as f the language was really sophisticated and hard to understand people would be less inclined to read it.

• Colours:• In my article I put the questions asked in the interview in red instead of in the black I used for the rest of the article. I did this to

again fit in with the colour scheme I have used throughout the magazine and also to make certain parts stand out. This fits the conventions of a magazine as the magazine wants to make it as easy as possible for the audience to read the magazine so then they will buy it again after.