Michael Bobin AS media coursework

AS MEDIA COURSEWORK

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Michael Bobin

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

The media product ‘reLoad’ I have created falls in line by using many of the conventions of the metal media industry. By using already popular music magazines, I was able to pick out these conventions and be sure that they fit into my own project.

For example, I had to be careful that my double page spread made good use of both pages and the extended room, without crossing the boundary of the fold in the centre of the page. The pages would have to fit together as one, yet still be two separate pages.

The use of pull-quotes for impact can be seen on my front cover, and also my double-page spread.

Small, yet important details had to be inserted, such as the page numbers on the contents & double-page spread, the copyrights of certain images used on the contents page, and a frequent plug of the magazine’s website.

My main aim was to make my project look as if it were an actual magazine. When I took some comments and criticism whilst my project was in its late stages of progress, many people mistook it for a reference magazine page, rather than my project.

The most prominent aspect that my audience pointed out that made it look authentic was the background design – they said it was the smaller, perhaps less noticeable aspects such as this that make it all flow together.

The second most prominent was the use of small text for captions, such as the ‘Institute (left to right)’ on the imagery. I was told that these small items could easily have been forgotten, but add a great deal of authenticity to the project.

The general convention of Q&A sections in a magazine is the interviewer and interviewee are differentiated graphologically by a change in text colour, which has been followed.

Real-life publishing piece to my final piece

Real-life publishing piece to my final piece

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social demographic represented by my project would be 15-25 year olds, primarily male, not interested in what is considered as the social norm.

The representation of this is the prominent use of blood splatters, used to create a sense of excitement and action within the magazine, but also the death and decay element associated within the metal scene.

Grunge texts and imagery are used throughout, such as the burnt style of the landscape photograph to the top-right of my double-page spread. This grunge look is linked strongly to the social group of metal fans.

The social group understands and connect with the social issues expressed by metal, often to do with the darker side of society including death and decay. The grunge and greyness of the magazine reflects this, yet still captures the excitement, passion and emotion by this social group for metal music with the use of bold reds and crimsons, connoted with blood and emotion.

The band ‘Institute’ are a group riddled with social confrontations. The social group I have targeted will mostly find the intensity of their troubles incredible, and will respect them for staying true to what they love.

The social group targeted take pride in the love of metal. As explained in the documentary “Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey” by Sam Dunn, metal is a ‘misunderstood art form...a secret club which the rest of the word doesn’t understand’. Metal fans take great pride in their music taste, and so much of their world revolves around it. The thrill of being part of a culture which confuses more than half of the world gives fans a sense of belonging in a true culture system. My media product includes this social group, and reinforces the groups belief that they are part of something huge, yet so misconceived. The editorial section on the contents page speaks of the gigs that have happened, which unite the social group in a true atmosphere where they feel so at home with people within their ‘secret club’.

What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why? The primary candidate for media institutions who would be

interested in ‘reLoad’ would be Future Publishing plc. This well-established publishing company currently publish the huge metal magazine ‘Metal Hammer’, which means the company have already shown a substantial interest within the metal genre of music magazines. They are also the publishers of other well-known rock magazines such as Total Guitar, Revolver and Classic Rock.

The Future Publishing plc would give the ‘reLoad’ magazine good links to existing magazines which could advertise the new media product to its targeted demographic. Those already reading Metal Hammer, Revolver or Total Guitar are very likely to be interested in reading into a copy of ‘reLoad’.

The age of the magazine would also mean it may begin as an underground magazine, which the targeted demographic appreciate, and often prefer to know about underground products rather than those of the mainstream.

Who would be the audience for your media product? The metal demographic are primarily 15-25 year old

males. However, it is wrong to say that no one above 25 will be interested in the product. Metal is often a genre of music that stick with a person whatever age they are; it is not purely a phase. Therefore, this demographic is used only loosely, as the metal fan base is too vast to narrow down.

It is true, however, to say that the male audience will be targeted more than the female. This is because the idea of metal appeals to the male gender, due to its themes of death & decay, often enjoyed more by males.

How did you attract/address your audience? I attempted to use primarily the visuals of the project to attract

my target audience’s interest. As mentioned and confirmed with my feedback at the end of this section, the visuals were successful in engaging the readers interest without any reading.

The magazine style is easily recognisable for its metal genre, and the front cover includes key words such as ‘Institute’ and ‘Download’ which would attract fans who know of the band, and also who know of the huge metal festival. The mention of ‘Download’ would attract those fans who didn’t know about any of the bands included, which increases the range of audience who will be familiar with articles of ‘reLoad’.

There is a strong power message given through the magazine to be who you are and not follow a crowd. Metal fans will recognise and relate to this once their interest in engaged within the magazine.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product? Due to my previous familiarity with editing programs (primarily

Photoshop), I did not learn anything new whilst using it. However, I did use a photo editing technique I had not

attempted before. When an image was not satisfactory for the front cover, I had to edit the image so that I could fit all members of the band onto a portrait A4 template. After a few attempts, I got this how I wanted it. Other than this, the layout, colouring, image editing and text was all familiar to me.

I learnt about the process of photography whilst capturing images for my project. I was in possession of an SLR professional camera, which was very interesting to use. Testing out different settings, shutter speeds, lighting etc. which had significant effect on the image produced was something I had to adapt to quickly whilst shooting my images. It takes a lot more planning and shot set-up than I first expected.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? My preliminary task, as it was a school magazine, did not reflect many of

the media conventions that my final project conveyed. I did not put as much research into my preliminary task into my final project, which gave me a lot of information and ideas of standards to work by.

The information put into my project is much more advanced in my final project than in my preliminary. I had a much more secure target demographic for my final project, and was also part of my own demographic which enabled me to use my own judgement on behalf of my target audience. The demographic for my preliminary task had to be for the majority of people in secondary school years, which didn’t really narrow down the style, article ideas or generally focus the magazine into one specific demographic or social group.

The models used for my photography in my final project fit the needs of the magazine much better than the preliminary task model. The photographs were also much more carefully set out, with use of shot set-ups, use of natural lighting, scenery and specific costume changes. This really aided the look of the magazine.

Preliminary Task to Final Piece

Preliminary Task to Final Piece

Final feedback 1. What audience do you believe this magazine is

targeting, in terms of age, gender and social interests? 2. By looking at my product, would you believe that it were

a properly produced piece of published media by a larger company?

3. Do you believe the style of the magazine, along with its name, layout and imagery flow, and does it all fit for the metal look?

4. Does the look of the magazine appeal to you without engaging into any of the articles or text?

5. The language used is intended to reflect an audience from the metal fan base, by linking to death, decay, and generally the metal scene. How do you think the word choice works for this?

What audience do you believe this magazine is targeting, in terms of age, gender and social interests? Late teens, male and ‘metalheads’ I believe this magazine seems to be mainly

targeting teenagers, and possibly heading towards young adults. When considering the gender of the audience, I believe it would probably mainly be aimed at those of the male gender; though I'm sure women would read it aswell, just not as much as males. Clearly this is targetted towards people interested in music, especially metal and heavy metal.

By looking at my product, would you believe that it were a properly produced piece of published media by a larger company? Yes, it looks professionally produced This product looks exactly like that of a

published media. It has many similarities of other magazines out from other larger companies, yet it doesn't appear to copy them completely. It has its own personal style, while still appealing to the same audience.

Do you believe the style of the magazine, along with its name, layout and imagery flow, and does it all fit for the metal look? Yes it fits the metal look. The use of blood

and powerful colours, coupled with grunge works very effectively.

I believe the style of this magazine really fits into the metal look. The name and images of this magazine gives a great feel that would really appeal to the metal market.

Does the look of the magazine appeal to you without engaging into any of the articles or text? The eye catching images and use of colour really engages

me into the magazine. I dont feel the need to read the articles for it to appeal to me.

One of the most engaging features of this magazine is the 'grunge' styled artwork, font and background. The 'grunge' themes are well known in the targeted "Metal Fanbase" audience. Also, the whole use of the colour red makes the front cover of the magazine both eye-catching and appealing to generally look at. The contents page also contains a interesting use of a grey-white gradient background, this allows for a more inviting appearance allowing the page to clearly flow from top to bottom.

The language used is intended to reflect an audience from the metal fan base, by linking to death, decay, and generally the metal scene. How do you think the word choice works for this? The language used within this magazine does reflect quite

strongly an audience of metal fan base. The structure and the language linking to that of death, decay, etc would strongly appeal to a metal audience and the word choice works really well for this.

This magazine has made an great use of a Metal based lexis, for example, on the double page spread instead of it saying "INSTITUTE released their debut " it reads "INSTITUTE punched us in the teeth with their debut", reflecting the actions you would consider to see within a ‘mosh pit' which are highly associated with the 'Metal' crowd. The contents page asks the readers to "get to our website and get your claws on a bunch of tickets...". This idea that the readers have claws instead of hands reflects the demonic and deathly appearance that is considered to be a major aspect of the target audience.