Advanced Portfolio St Angelas 2013: 2014

Monday 7 April 2014

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

In terms of how my magazine uses develops or challenges forms and conventions of real magazines; I would say that in comparison to a real music magazine my magazine is fairly professional in the sense that my front cover picture is edited and modified just as much as a real music magazine. Furthermore my magazine shares the same features as a real magazine e.g. a masthead, sell lines, headline, front cover model etc.

In relation to my music magazine, I feel it fits in to the music genre of Afrobeats through certain features such as the way my masthead is embedded into a tribal design. Also through the use of the model's Ghanaian necklace, the necklace is a key item in conforming to the Afrobeats genre. Furthermore the colours of the necklace are incorporated in to all the text displayed in my magazine. This was done to remind the reader of the genre frequently.

All the models used in my magazine have been given Afrobeat names, to ensure they conform to the conventions of a typical Afrobeats music artist e.g. Naija Boy, Fly Boy, Cosmo etc. I also helped my models take on the role of music artists by giving them certain props e.g. the branded black hat worn by a model in the DPS, a microphone, shades etc.

My magazine conforms to the conventions of a real Afrobeats magazine because it uses the same front cover shot, which is a close up shot that highlights the artists features. In terms of mise en scene my front cover model wears glasses, though shades would have been better, clear glasses worked just as well. In relation to hair, my models front cover models hair was a typical low one level cut. Furthermore my model adopted a plain background to ensure all his features were seen and he stood out amongst the background. In addition my front cover models picture was edited removing all imperfections e.g. dark spots, rashes and uneven complexion.

Thursday 3 April 2014

Q1

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

In terms of what media institution might distribute my media product I would say IPC as it is the UK's leading consumer and digital publisher, meaning it holds the best potential to ensuring my magazine sells out. They engage with 26 million UK adults - almost two thirds of UK women and over 40% of UK men. In stating this, I know from statistics that this is the best possible publishing house for my magazine. In terms of where my magazine will be distributed; I feel it will be along the lines of it being sold in clothing retailers. Simply because my target audience ranges from 16-30, the best possible place to find the majority of this target audience is at clothing retailers like H&M, JD, Primark etc. In doing this my magazine will draw them in as I designed it to and they will purchase the magazine. My magazine could also be distributed in retail stores such as HMV,WH Smiths and local news agents so it is widely accessible for my audience. As my magazine relates to this target audience I feel it will sell out quickly if distributed at a club. In addition my magazine will be frequently circulated monthly as I feel more time could be spent creating the best possible magazine for a specific target audience, there will also be more content in a monthly magazine than a weekly magazine as it gives the audience more information and broader content.