1. Firstly I will start with my masthead. The name of my
magazine is Turn Up. I wanted this to stand and be evident to my
target audience, by enforcing this I made the mast head bold and
used the colour black to help it stand out. I think this not only
stands out but also relates to my genre, the colours black read and
white are all colours associated with the genre of rap. I chose
Turn Up as the name of my magazine because I personally think it is
engaging with my target audience. I researched many different types
of front cover from various magazines and found that magazines such
as VIBE and XXL are the ones that I tried to imitate and get ideas
from to create my masthead. Next I will move onto how my mise en
scene I use relates to a real magazine. Firstly my location. I used
several locations to obtain different images and then tried to
integrate them into a general feeling and emotion of each page. I
also tried to relate the lactation used to my target audience,
using run down and deprived areas. I have done this because my
target audience will then feel on the same level as the magazine
and they themselves can relate and trust the magazine. The lighting
used is fairly dark throughout, this is again because I want to
reflect the magazine to my target audience and help create a
realistic and emotional feel to my magazine. When taking the photos
I used a variety of shots, for example I used a mid shot for my
front cover, the model looks directly at the audience with an eye
line match, this helps create a bong between the magazine and the
audience simply because they are on the same level. For my double
page spread I used a long shot, I managed to get my model and the
location fully in the shot. The model himself is not looking at the
audience, he is looking away and towards the ground. This in my
opinion will create a familiar feel for my audience, by this I mean
some of my target audience would have been neglected or would have
felt down at some point in their lives and I think that again they
can relate to my magazine through someone similar to them
experiencing what they have maybe experiecend in the past. When it
cam to costumes and props I had to think about what my target
audience wear, so I researched into the topic, I myself had a basic
idea of what hey wore so started off on the right track. I tried to
and I think I successfully managed to represent my target audience
well. Other magazines such as XXL and VIBE both use clothing to
represent their target audience and success and fashion, I tried to
imitate this. When comparing my magazine to other rap magazines my
costume and props are fairly different, this is because I have
created a magazine that speaks out to and relates to young males
living in the rough and deprived areas of London whereas in say XXL
for example they have a larger audience and promote money and
wealth.
2. So that is one main and prominent difference, however I have
stated within my magazine that other rap artists such as Lil Wayne
also feature, so therefore this opens the magazine up to a much
wider audience. This will gain more interest in the magazine and
will therefore make it more popular and successful. Next I will
describe the people I have chosen and why I have chosen them. I
have chosen two main models that feature in my magazine, one of the
is my brother and the other a friend. The main and prominent reason
is because they are both young and are of a similar age to some of
my target audience. This in turn will help promote and sell the
magazine to my target audience. They are both males, this is
because the majority of my target audience are males, so this again
would help sell the magazine to my target audience, they will look
at the front cover and instantly see that the magazine is aimed
towards them. When comparing this to other magazines of my chosen
genre you can see that the concept of using males on the front
cover are very similar, for example the majority of models on XXL
and VIBE magazine are male, this shows that their specific target
audience is males. From viewing several front covers from these
chosen magazines I imitated ides from them. When it came to font I
researched various different fonts using the website DaFont which
was very helpful. I have used different fonts throughout the 4
pages. The front cover consisted of bold and clear font that stood
out well. For my mast head I used a futuristic type of font, I
personally think that this gives the magazine a professional look,
the target audience will be taken in by it instantly. I then used a
destructive font to write about my main feature. This again was a
bold and colorful font. This stands out well and represents not
only the genre but also my target audience. I think I managed to
maintain are professional and realistic effect throughout my
magazine and was also able to reflect the font to my genre and my
target audience. The language I use throughout my magazine consists
of colloquial. For example instead of riding I use ridin, this is
shortening the word. This is what some of my target audience do, so
again this reflects and relates to my target audience and genre,
another element that will help sell the magazine. When it comes to
genre I think that I have managed to successfully reflect my
magazine to my chosen genre. I have done this through the use of
font, language, mise en scene, colour and contents. I researched
into each of these in depth and managed to integrate what I
researched into my own magazine. For example the colours red,
white, black and grey are all associated with rap etc, so I used
these colours specifically to create a realistic feel. I used
costumes that my chosen target audience wear, connecting the
magazine and the target audience together.
3. When analysing each of my four pages I feel that each of
them reflects and relates to my chosen genre and my target
audience. I feel that I have used various techniques and elements
to create a realistic magazine and a professional one that my
target audience would enjoy and would feel accustomed to. I
specifically made sure that there was not tones of writing on all
of the pages, this would have made the magazine less appealing, so
therefore made sure there were plenty of images and ones that stood
out well and looked interesting. When choosing a magazine to base
my magazine on I chose XXL magazine, I researched into many
magazines and found that this was the most appropriate one and one
that I could not only imitate but enjoy reading myself. I used big
fonts like XXL did to enhance the appeal to my audience. Overall I
think that I have followed conventions of a rap magazine. I have
used all the techniques that other rap magazines have used and have
implemented them into my own magazine. I feel that if my magazine
was placed into the magazine industry it would survive an
thrive.
4. I think that my media product has represented teenagers and
young adults from a deprived and neglected area and a way of life.
This in turn was my chosen target audience. I feel I have
accomplished this through the use of mise en scene, language,
colour and mode of address. Firstly I will describe how I have
represented my social group through mise en scene. I used props and
costumes such as a BMX bike and clothing designs such as Adidas and
Nike. Most teenagers and young adults from deprived areas wear this
type of clothing and use bikes as transport, I feel that by using
this type of clothing, my target audience will on the same level as
the magazine and that the magazine is aimed and relates towards
them. This makes the magazine more appropriate and approachable.
The language I use throughout is colloquial. This type of language
tends to be not only used by my target audience but the majority of
young people across the world. I think that again this will make
the magazine more appropriate and will be popular with my target
audience. This will also open up a wider audience. Other younger
people will see the language used and see that it is aimed towards
them, therefore they more likely to purchase the product. The mode
address used is a simple and obvious one, it is implying that you
can achieve something from nothing, I have featured artists that
have started from nothing to being huge stars and celebrities who
have millions of fans. This will hopefully not only be interesting
but also will inject some hope and passion into my target audience.
By this I mean I hope that it will inspire them to lead better and
successful lives, defeating the odds and accomplishing a dream of
theirs.