MY CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE

From my planning process to actually making my product, I have changed a few things to improve my magazine which I felt worked better when it came to putting my product together. I have changed the font of my masthead as well as the ‘S’. I chose a more traditional font originally, which can be found in my initial ideas, but when I put my magazine together I realised the font was only available in capitals. I felt this was too overpowering for my front cover, considering it was for a niche audience.

I also changed the positioning of the feature articles on my flat plan. I did this to work around the image. The flat plan of my contents page was just a rough idea of how I wanted it too look, but when I researched the genre of music more I felt that the layout I had originally made didn’t fit the style of music, so I changed it to look more like a similar magazine of this genre. This is the same with the flat plan of my double page spread. I had all the components on my double page spread, and just moved them around the page until I felt the layout worked by looking simple and reflected the genre of music. I think the original layout I planned for my double page spread reflected a more pop type of genre for a younger audience than mine.

Changes I’ve made

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Masthead – I feel that my masthead uses the conventions of a music magazine because the font and name on all music magazines reflects the genre of music which is being written about inside the magazine as it gives readers an immediate sign of the genre in which the magazine uses. This is done so that when on a shelf in a newsagents or a supermarket, any audience can easily recognise which magazine suits their taste in music from the font and artist featured on the front.I originally wanted to use a treble clef symbol as the ‘S’ in the masthead, but by doing this I would’ve had to use a wire or some sort of musical related piece of equipment to make the shape and I felt this didn’t reflect the classical music genre at all. So instead I found a double ‘S’ symbol on Serif Page Plus which I thought suited the genre of the magazine, was still easily read and added character to the simplicity of the magazine.

My front cover image needed to be simple but also speak for itself in putting across the genre of the music magazine. I originally made the front cover with the background included (as shown). But when looking back at similar magazines of my chosen genre, I found that the background was consistently white, with the image cut out. So I used the cut out tool on Serif Photo Plus to cut the girl out. I feel this looks much better and fits the conventions of this genre of music magazine much better. Other images on the front cover include a CD cover – this photo connotes simplicity and calmness which sums up the classical music genre which is why I chose to use it. I feel that it follows the conventions of a music magazine because many of ‘Classic FM’ ‘s magazines include a compilation CD to promote artists and the magazine. Another photo is used to promote a feature article, this photo may challenge the conventions of a classical genre because a slight sex appeal is used to promote the singer. I’ve challenged the conventions by including a violin in the main image along with the artist. Usually, the artist is seen stripped back on their own or with their band members. I chose to include a violin because I knew it would challenge the conventions.

The layout of my front cover both supports and challenges the conventions of music magazines. I’ve used a skyline, pull quotes and cover lines to fit the conventions. I also used a free CD promotion to attract the audience into buying the magazine. I layered the masthead over the image, this challenges the conventions, but I think because of the angle of the image, the masthead would be lost underneath the image if I were to layer it the other way. The layout of my contents page follows the conventions of a classical music magazine as I got the ideas to use ‘stamped’ page numbers and captions on photos from ‘Classic FM’. My double page spread follows the conventions of music magazines in general as inset photos are used, as well as a headline. However, it challenges the classical music genre as stereotypically, most double page spreads separate the photo from the text.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?My main image is of a young 17 year old girl. This challenges the stereotypes of teenagers a lot as teenagers are seen as rebellious. The media promotes these stereotypes through the use of magazines, newspapers and TV, but my magazine challenges this social group by using a teenager as a classical music writer.

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

An institution such as Haymarket Media Group may distribute my product because they distribute the UK’s best selling classical music magazine ‘Classic FM’. However, an institution such as IPC Media who distribute ‘NME’ magazine may want to distribute my magazine to create competition in the classical music magazine market.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?The audience of my classical music magazine is based on the audience of ‘Classic FM’ – 25-55 year olds, both male and female from predominantly a middle class background. I’ve chosen such a wide age range because my audience is a niche one, so the more ages I appeal to, the wider the audience becomes. I’ve chosen a similar audience to ‘Classic FM’ because I have researched their audience and found that most of their preferences for ‘Classic FM’ are the ones in which I reinforced in my music magazine.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?I addressed my audience by using a formal style of language. This is important because my audience is mainly middle class, so I had to ensure I wrote in a language they would understand and relate to. I also made sure that with each step I was taking in producing my product, I got the opinion of people from my target audience so I could immediately make any changes I needed to.

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

I used my home laptop and as well as the computers in school to create my magazineI used this Canon 450D

camera to take all of the photos used in my magazine.

I used Serif PagePlus x5 to produce both my preliminary and final product.

To edit my photos, I used PhotoPlus x5 at school and I used Photoshop Elements 9 at home

I used Slideshare to upload my PowerPoint's onto my blog

Blogger is the website I used to create my blog

I used Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 to create a presentation before uploading it onto Slideshare

I had never used Slideshare or Blogger before creating my magazine, and now I am comfortable with using both. I had little knowledge of PhotoPlus and PagePlus before, but I am also confident in using these programmes too.

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

I think my understanding of computer software programmes such as Serif PagePlus and PhotoPlus have enabled me to make my front page look more like an actual magazine. For example, I now know how to cut out an image from the background. I have also learnt how to touch up images and adjust the lighting.

I feel that there is a huge difference between my school magazine contents page and my music magazine contents page. Through learning more about layering and using backgrounds I’ve managed to make my contents page look more realistic and fit in with the music genre.