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

Zaynab Akhtar - 5681

The first thing I did in order to construct my real media product; a rock music magazine, I develo-ped forms and conventions by researching existing magazines. To do this, I did Similar Text Analysis (STAs), in which I researched; front covers, contents pages, and double page spreads, of existing music maga-ines of all genres, and student magazines. This taught me the basic structure of magazines, such as: the masthead should always be at the top of the page, and the barcode should always be in one of the bottom corner, not to conceal much of the main image.

I saw from my Target Audience Research, that popular colours included: black, white and red for a rock magazine. Most people preferred the use of these three colours most as they are associated with rock music, as they are most relatable with the genre. So these were colours that I used as part of the house style of my magazine. By making use of the colours, I was able to develop the conventions of a rock magazine.These colours were consistent through out all three of the pages I created, and through all three drafts. I also used the colour yellow despite it not being stated, as it is another colour that rock magazines like to use.

The research I did on Codes and Conventions taught me about how my model should be presented in a mid shot. This is because this is the most common shot for rock music artists. Also that they should wear dark makeup, because this is how female rock artists such as, Taylor Momsen are usually presented. So by following these codes and conventions, I was able to develop the forms and conventions of a real media product.

I didn’t challenge the conventions and forms very much in my real media product, except in two cases. I used a female rock artist, which was something my interviewee asked for when asked if they preferred to see a band or solo artist on the front cover. The said it was rare to see a female solo artist, so desired to see one. So in this was I did challenge the forms and conventions of a rock magazine. An additional way I challenged it was by placing the issue date and issue number away from the price and barcode. Usually these are all placed close to each other, however, in order to make my magazine look as well presented as possible, I chose to put the issue date and issue number closer to the masthead. This way it was visible and made my magazine look better presented.