Media studies ASFoundation Portfolio

Connor Patterson

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

My media product would fall into the genre of a hardcore punk music magazine; this can be seen by the fonts and style of images throughout the magazine also by the language used throughout. I used typically magazine traits e.g. a title but my unique selling point and the thing that I did differently was I tried to make it look effective by using only minimal type and just having effective images. I realized that having the magazine to minimal wouldn’t acquire me the most marks available so I tried to create a hybrid between the two styles. I believe this will be successful because it is a different way to approach selling to an audience. Rather than making the magazine look like it is packed with information, using an effective image to drag the reader in because an image speaks 1000 words. By my feedback I found that people did like my images but found the minimalist approach less appealing than the conventional method.

I used no headline or strap lines for a minimalist approach and concentrated more on an effective image to draw the reader in.

I feel that doing a complete minimalist approach to this task would not obtain me as many marks as could be achieved so I focused on doing a hybrid between the two. This would be my unique selling point and something different that an audience would like to see.

When I asked people if they thought it would pass a genuine magazine by my questionnaire I got some negative feedback and I found that an audience doesn't like the minimalist approach as much as the conventional method, but I also found that they thought my image was really effective and eye catching, which was the look I was going for.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The group that my magazine is representing is young males as they take up majority of the hardcore scene and it would be best to target them. Due to the unscripted nature that y magazine is based upon for example images it is hard to talk about mise en scene to help construct an overall image of the magazine like costume and appearance but the speech of language of my magazine fits very well with this genre because it is very informal and speak how people reading this magazine would read it. Due to the hardcore scene being very underground and not mainstream there is no true stereotype of my target audience so it is very difficult to adhere to one.

As you can see this image is a prime example of the market being dominated by young males as they’re no females in this image

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

Similar magazines to mine would be Kerrang and Metal Hammer, I think kerrang would be the most likely to fund my magazine because kerrang focuses on the other genres of metal e.g. punk and alternative rather than metal hammer that focuses on just metal. My unique selling point is that it gives readers an insight into the world of underground hardcore rather than the mainstream things that people read in kerrang and metal hammer.

The producer of all the successful alternative magazines (Kerrang and Q) is Bauer media and i feel they would want to produce my magazine because it is very similar in terms of genre to the magazine they already produce but just giving a twist to a mainstream dominated market

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My perfect target audience will be 16-25 white working class/middle class males, I feel this is magazine would appeal to them because the hardcore scene is dominated by people I have described and would make more of a profit off them. They would be a loyal niche audience but could expand to the wider audience such as kerrang/metal hammer readers that want some fresh new music .

Through my questionnaire i found that not only is this my perfect target audience but it is a perfect target audience for any music magazine by my results showing they are the most likely to buy music magazines.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by the title of my magazine ‘Edge’ can be related to the straight edge influence on hardcore so the title relates to that showing the audience what the magazine is like.

I choose this font because it reflects my genre very well because it is worn around the edges like the hardcore scene.

I chose the yellow and blue colour scheme to run throughout because they are two high contrasting colours that draw attention to them and reflects the thrash tie-dye culture of the other side of hardcore.

I feel that my article has many images that will draw the readers attention and the quotes from the article itself in a yellow font on a black background will draw the reader in.

The language used throughout my article would not be appropriate for any other style of magazine because it is informal and rude, but due to my chosen genre it fits perfectly.

I feel that because of effective images and contrasting colours that people will inclined to read this article.

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

Throughout this task including my preliminary task i used programs like Photoshop, indesign and blogger. I used Photoshop to make my images more clear or to sharpen up edges. I learnt this skills at school but they have developed completed this task.

I used Indesign for the first time to put together my magazine front cover, article and contents page. It was a easy program to work once i had got a hang of the controls.

I used Blogger to keep a track of my progress and to display my final work. It was a first time using this internet site but found it very easy to organize my work.

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

I feel i have come a long way since my preliminary taskI now know how much an effective image can influence a persons opinion and judgement of a magazine.

It also makes the magazine look more professional because more time and effort has been spent trying to get the perfect image.

Even though I didn't use any headlines in my finished product I did use headlines i used them in the preliminary to see how it looked and I felt that I would be more attracted to buy a magazine if it had a really effective image which I felt mine did.

ConclusionI feel overall this task has been a success and i think my final product is of a high standard. I feel the images taken and how they are represented is very good and this can be seen through my audience feedback The only thing i would do differently is maybe use more mise en scene to create a stronger sense of what the magazine is about rather than leave any confusion on what the magazine is about and what genre is belongs too. I perhaps would spend more time on the contents page because thats the first page the reader sees when he/she opens the magazine.

On the whole i feel this magazine is very professional looking because it shows all that is needed to make it in the music magazine industry.