By Georgina Dovaston

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE THE FORMS AND

CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

• How does my magazine use the forms and conventions?

• What has my magazine done that real magazines do?• Refer to the forms and conventions.

USES

FRONT COVER

I have used the forms and conventions in my magazine front cover because I have done it so the artist on the front cover is looking at the camera so it looks like they are looking directly at you so when you go to buy it in a shop you will just see the artist on the front cover looking at you tying t get you to buy the magazine, the mast head is also the biggest graphic on the page so it is clear to read and it is big and bold so you don’t have to search the front cover for the name of the magazine. Also on both of the magazines the main artist on the front of the magazine takes up most of the page so you can also see who the magazine is about, you will also be able to see what sort of artist they are if you have never head of the name of the artist you can normally see what sort of artist they are by the way they dress and the way the look. On my magazine I have got the mast head at the top of my page going from the left of the page to right, it is like this so when you go into a shop to buy it all you will see is the mast head of the magazine so you know which magazine your looking at. Also the headline of the magazine is big so you can see what the main feature in the magazine is before you buy the magazine so you know if it is going to be a magazine that you will like and actually want to read. The name in the head line is also normally the artist on the front cover so you know what the artist looks like if you haven’t heard of the name before. The sub headline is slightly smaller underneath the main head line because when you pick the magazine you will see which artist its about but then when you read the sub headline you will see why it is about that artist so you know what sort of article it is going to be and what it is going to be about, quite often the sub head line is a quote from the article that features the artist on the front of the magazine. The cover lines on both magazines tell you a little more of what is inside the magazine so you know what else is in the magazine apart from the headline. Sometimes the cover lines are quotes from inside the magazine so you know what things are said in the magazine. Most magazines have also got a date line on the front cover which shows the website and the barcode and the issue number.

FRONT COVER

Artist looking at camera

Mast head at the top left hand side of the page

Headline

Sub headline

Dateline

CONTENTS PAGE

I have used the forms and conventions in my music magazine contents page because all the articles have got a page number by them so you know which page they are on so you don’t have to flick through the magazine trying to find one article. My contents page and the one I’m comparing it too have both got more than 1 picture/photograph because on most magazines they have got more than 1 photograph to show different artists that are in the magazine. The title is always at the top of the page either the top left hand side, the top middle or the top right hand side so when you are flicking through the magazine you will see at the top of the page that it is the contents page so you don’t have to look at every page to find the magazine you will see it straight away because it will be at the top of the page. The colour scheme and the house style will follow on from the front cover so the colours and the fonts will follow on from the front cover so it matches. On a contents page it has also got columns on it so all the writing is neat and in columns. It is also broken down into categories so if you are looking for a certain thing in the magazine you will be able to look under the category it would be in to find the page that the feature/article would be on that you are looking for. Most magazines including mine have got a bit of writing underneath the title of the article saying what it is about and also what it is in so you know whether you will like the article or not so you know whether to read it or not.

CONTENTS PAGE

Page numbersMore than 1 picture Title in the centre of the page

Categories

ARTICLE

On my magazine and every other magazine you have got lots of columns to put the text in to make it easier to read. The headline on the top of the page includes the name of artist. Most magazine articles have got a pull quote which is part of article that is lifted out, made bigger and writing put around it. On quite a lot of magazine articles the text is on a white background so that it is easy to read and also black writing on a white background goes with most colour schemes and house styles. Nearly every magazine has got a lead in which is a little introduction to the article so so you know what is in the article and so you know exactly what the article is about, it is often in a bigger font to stand out. Most magazines have got a splash advert which is something that is to tie you into the website. Every magazine has got a page number usually in footer and has the magazine name or website. Most magazines have got an index tab which helps you to find the article when you’re flicking through the magazine. My magazine has got a caption which is something describes what you see in the picture or what’s happening and is often quite humorous. Quite a lot of magazines has got drop capital letter which is a big letter at the start to signify where the article starts. The text in article is normally aligned to the left of the page.

ARTICLE

Columns Headline

Pull Quote

Lead In

Splash/WebsitePage Numbers

Index Tab

• How does my magazine develop the forms and conventions?

• Where did you get your ideas from? • Why did decide to take my photographs the way

they are?

DEVELOP

FRONT COVER

I get my ideas for my front cover from Billboard magazine because they do the sort of genre that I am doing for my magazine because both of the magazines don’t have a particular genre they both look at lots of different genres so it will be something that most people will like and want to read and look at. I decided to take my photographs the way I did because it makes my artist look like a pop artist which is what the genre for this issue of my magazine and it makes her look jolly and happy. She is also wearing a hat which is a bright colour and pop music is associated with bright colours and happy people.

CONTENTS PAGE

I got my ideas for my contents page from my magazine from a contents page that I found on Google. I liked this contents page because it was different and I hadn't seen a contents page like it before so I thought I would use it to help me lay y contents page out. I decided to take my pictures the way they are because it looks similar to the contents page that I liked the look and that I wanted to copy the layout of and also I liked the way the pictures were taken.

ARTICLE

I decided to do my article for my magazine the way I did because I wanted to do a question and answer article so I used lots of different magazines to help me layout my article and I also used them to help know what sort oft thing to write. I decided to take my photographs the way I did because I like the photographs that you get where the photograph is just full of the artists hair with their head in the middle with them wearing a plain coloured top, with them wearing a bright coloured lipstick to make it stand out and to give the picture a bit of colour. I got my ideas from a magazine that I found on the internet where the whole of the one side of the double page spread was a picture and on the other side it was the writing and the actual article.

• How does my magazine challenge the forms and conventions?

• How has my magazine broken the conventions?• If you haven’t broken conventions show real media

products that have.

CHALLENGE

FRONT COVER

The only things that I have challenged on my front cover is that I haven’t used that many cover lines because most magazines have got a lot of cover lines on them, which in my opinion I don’t think I did very well because now the reader doesn’t really know what sort of things are going to be in the magazine so they My not buy it because it may not be things they like and they may not want to risk not liking the magazine. Also I have only used 2 fonts to keep it simple but most magazines use more than 2 fonts so my front cover and my whole magazine may look a bit plain and boring compared to other magazines but I wanted my magazine to be a simple magazine and so that it wasn’t over powering with colours or fonts. Also on the Billboard magazines they use a lot of colour and fonts and they like to make things stand out and I was using Billboard magazines as a guide because my sort of magazine is a magazine that will cover a lot of different genres which is the same as Billboard magazines.

CONTENTS PAGE

In most music magazines on the contents page they use more than one font but I only used the one font because I wanted my magazine to be the sort of magazine that will appeal to everyone and will be one that most people will want to buy because it will be a different genre every month and it will also be the same font on every issue so there will be one thing that will be the same on every issue because the colour scheme will change depending on sort of genre it is because different colours signify different genres of music.

ARTICLE

My magazine challenges the forms and conventions because my headline for my article isn't straight it is at an angle and on most magazines their headline is straight. Also on most magazines they have got more than one picture on their article but I only have one picture like the magazine article I am comparing it too.