Name: Georgia Evans Candidate number : AQ131509Centre: 33435 Aquinas College

AS Media StudiesOCR G321: Foundation PortfolioBrief from OCR syllabus

• The audience for my music magazine is people that are really into their music and have a passion for rock/heavy metal music. From my audience research you can clearly see that with the questions I asked I received the perfect set of responses. This gave me a good insight in to the kind of music magazine I wanted to do.

QUESTION 1)Who would be the audience for your media product?

I aimed my magazine

at…

People who have a passion for heavy/rock music

15+ both genders

Rebellious teenagers.

Who have an interest in the background stories of bands and not just their music

People who like to shop at afflecks

Who would be interested in up and coming bands of the same genre of music.

Teenagers that don’t have lots of money, so therefore can afford this magazine

QUESTION 1)Who would be the audience for your media product?

People that attend gigs/ festivals

This is my mood board, on this I included bands and TV programmes that my target audience would enjoy. As my magazine is for metal and rock music fans I added bands such as Bring Me The Horizon, Nirvana and Black Sabbath.

QUESTION 1)Who would be the audience for your media product?

QUESTION 1)Who would be the audience for your media product?

I based my music magazine on these sorts of magazines. This is because I felt like my target audience would appreciate it if I could make a magazine like these. It also ties in with my music theme. I felt like my magazine would be portrayed to be more for men, when this is not the case. Me being a massive metal fan I feel like there are not enough magazines that combine the genre of metal and woman together. Magazine such as Metal Hammer are aimed more at men than women. I feel like my magazine portrays both genders clearly.

QUESTION 1)Who would be the audience for your media product?

Sub- genres and hybrid publications

Based on my audience research, I have found that there is a gap in the way women are perceived in rock music industry, you very rarely see

women on the front of ‘Kerrang!’ or ‘Metal Hammer’

The primary audience for my music magazine was any gender and ages 14+. I chose to do it from this age, because I believe that this age range gives me a broader audience to reach and makes my magazine more appealing. Even though my magazine looks like it is for a male audience, I can clearly prove that is not the case and there is things that apply to both genders.

QUESTION 1)Who would be the audience for your media product?

PRIMARY AUDIENCE

SECONDARY AUDIENCEMy secondary audience for my music magazine would then be people that would not necessarily go out and buy the magazine, but perhaps might pick it up if a friend or family member has it in their house. Even though I aimed it at 14+ I still think that younger audiences may want to read this, as they might be interested.

QUESTION 1)Who would be the audience for your media product?

DEMOGRAPHICThe demographic for my magazine would be people who have a massive interest in rock/heavy metal music. Also anybody that would shop in places such as ‘Affleck’s’, people not of a mainstream background but like to be different.

QUESTION 1)Who would be the audience for your media product?

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

An example of similar products on the market now, would be magazines like ‘Metal Hammer’ ‘Kerrang!’ and ‘Rock Sound’ these magazines have been around for a very long time and therefore I think it is time for a new updated version of these magazines. They are sold widely both around the UK and America.

AUDIENCE IDOLS

QUESTION 1)Who would be the audience for your media product?

Within my research I have been looking at the biggest stars of the rock and metal genre at the moment. I found that there isn’t one specific artist or band focused on through out this genre. At the beginning of the year I found that Biffy Clyro had taken over the rock scene, as they had brought out a new album after years of not having an album out. I would not include any artists such as, Justin Bieber, Beyonce or Katy Perry. This is because they would not appeal to my target audience.

IDEAL READERS

QUESTION 1)Who would be the audience for your media product?

My ideal reader would be someone who is very interested in music, but also bands behind the scenes stories. I would say my ideal reader would also be interested in playing music or being in a band. Also my ideal reader would be someone who is up to date with their music.

QUESTION 2)How does your media product represent particular social groups?

“Representation” How a person, group, social group or brand is FILTERED to send specific messages to audiences.

Representations are CONSTRUCTED to INCLUDE and EXCLUDE different groups of people

QUESTION 2)How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Mode of address: The use of intertexuality within my features creates a code that the audience of my publication would understand.

Ideal reader:My star represents the ideal reader, with the use of mise en scene. His outfit and performance connote a rebellious side, keeping to the traditional role of the lead singer of a band. Therefore my target audience would ASPIRE to be like him.

QUESTION 2)How does your media product represent particular social groups?

To appeal to the correct target audience, my star would have to represent an idealised version of the reader. To appeal to my target audience the star must show the genre of rock and heavy metal within the picture.

On these next few slides, I will show you how ‘Simon Neil’ one of my chosen stars filters his appearance and performance depending on his audience.

QUESTION 2)How does your media product represent particular social groups?

QUESTION 2)How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Un natural hair colour.

Non-direct eye contact with audience

Caught off guard, cheesy grin

Wearing a suit, shows he is somewhere important

Messy hair, shows he isn’t that bothered about appearance

Microphone, shows he is in the middle of talking.

Natural/positive facial expressions

Body language shows he was not ready for the picture to be taken

QUESTION 2)How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Direct mode of address

Top half undressed, shows he is there maybe to show off his tattoos

Smiling, shows the picture is not serious

Hands by his waist, shows he is stood up straight and is not slouching.

Whole persona is in-formal

Beard, shows that he is showing himself as himself and not pretending to be someone he isn’t

Question 3:What kind of media institution might distribute your product?

I would choose Bauer Media Group to distribute my music magazine, as they already distribute Kerrang and Q magazine, therefore I think they would be a good distributer, as they know where to distribute and where would be hitting my main target audience.

Bauer Media Group have offices all over the world e.g. Germany, USA, Spain, France, Mexico, Australia and United Kingdom. This gives me a good base for my magazine, as they might be able to publish my magazine all over the world and therefore I would have a bigger fan base.

Question 3:What kind of media institution might distribute your product?

‘s Kerrang website.

Having podcasts and making it easy for people to listen on line as well as on TV gives the magazine a wider audience as they are being able to access Kerrang wherever they are.

Gives Kerrang a chance to interact with the audience.

Easily recognisable logo

As you can see from the examples, the colour scheme from these magazines are not bright and are colours you would normally expect from the music they promote. Other features such as:• The main image, enticing the audience to pick up the

magazine and buy it.• An extra feature at the foot of the magazine which gave

the audience chance to see what posters are inside• Secondary images to show the audience who else features

in the magazine.• Anchorage text to explain what the Double Page Spread

will be about. • Also ‘buzz’ words such as, ‘PLUS!’ and ‘EXCLUSIVE’ both

these words are there to help me sell my magazine to the correct audience.

• In the top right- hand corner of my magazine I have used a graphic, within this graphic I have text that reads ‘THE UK’S BIGGEST GIG GUIDE’ it is in bold lettering and in colours that will stand out from the page so this would hopefully be one of the first things the reader sees.

When finally deciding what genre of music I would do for my music magazine, the first idea that came to mind was ‘Kerrang!’ but after research I finally decided to use ‘Metal Hammer’ as a source of inspiration. I chose this magazine, because I felt that it would give me lots of ideas of how to style my magazine (From Hell and Fire.) The title of my magazine comes from the band ‘Iron Maiden’ who inspired me, after seeing them at Download Festival 2013. The main theme of my magazine was Rock and Heavy metal, which also ties in with the theme of ‘Metal Hammer’ as you can clearly see from the examples I have shown you, you can see the PUG, which includes things like ‘Poster Special’ or ‘Free CD’ I included this into my magazine as I think it would give a positive effect on my target audience, this is because people (especially teenagers) enjoy getting something for in magazines, so this would entice them to choose my magazine over any others.

Question 4)In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Question 4)In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

After finishing the plan of my contents page, I had to pull together some ideas, the main influence for my contents page design was ‘Kerrang!’ I chose ‘Kerrang!’ because I felt their layout for the contents page was a lot clearer and easier to understand. I then decided I would continue to use most of the layout for the structure my contents page. As you can see I have used most conventions of the average contents page, this includes:• The image layout, I decided to copy where the image would go on my contents page and tried to give it the feel of an actual magazine.• The top left-hand corner is identical too, this includes the texts ‘CONTENTS’ and the date and the issue number, these are all key

conventions to a music magazine and/or any magazine. • I challenged the whole idea of a music magazine as I didn’t want any secondary images placed on my main image, purely because I think

it ruins the feature for the whole magazine.• I have included page numbers so that the reader has a clear indication of where each article is, this is another key convention of any

magazine. • The editors letter I felt gave a personal touch to the magazine and I felt like the reader could interact with the editor and the people

behind the magazine, just by reading it, and this is why I included it. • I made sure I included things like headings above my articles as I think this adds a good structure to the magazine. It makes everything

clear and easily understood. • I made sure everything I put on my magazine was key to the music magazine industry as I wanted it to look as authentic as possible.

Question 4)In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? With my Double Page Spread , I had no real inspiration for what

magazine it would come from, so I featured bits of both within it, most of the magazines I looked at featured the main image on the left-hand side, this is what I would do, I placed my chosen image on then left-hand side, but it didn’t feel quite right, I therefore played around with it for a bit and found out it looked better in black and white, it stood out from the page. Other key conventions I used were:• The writing on the right-hand side, this is a key convention of especially

music magazines, but also any magazine. I made sure it was all neat and tidy and by doing so I found it easier to write everything in columns , as it helped the structure of the whole spread.

• At the top of the ‘Kerrang’ magazine with ‘Oli Sykes’ in, I found a good key convention. I really liked the ‘news’ sign at the top, I thought it added I real touch of individuality.

• In my text I featured a drop cap, I believe that at the beginning of texts in magazines, they use a drop cap to indicate where the text starts.

• I also featured a subheading for my image, I believe this adds an in-depth touch to the article you’re reading.

• I made sure that everything was quite plain and to the point as I think readers are not looking for articles that are full of things that are irrelevant to the main feature.

Question 5:How did you attract/address your audience?

• How did you ATTRACT your audience?When your magazine is on the newsstand with competitors, what codes, conventions and features have you used to persuade your primary audience to pick up and buy your product?

• Bold Masthead• Bright, bold colours• Striking main image• Pug that gives away one main

feature• Good value for money• Many features, featured on the

front cover

• Different text sizes to show importance of articles

• Price clearly stated• Colour scheme (house style

throughout) • Brand identity

Audience Research With my audience research I found out that most of my target audience prefer to wear converse or vans. From this research I could easily find things to entice the audience such as; showing them new arrivals at stores or giving them a guide as to what ‘rock’ celebrities are wearing.

As you can clearly see from these pie charts we can see that there are lot of bands that would fall under the ‘rock’ genre and therefore I found a base for me to start my magazine. This gave me good indication of what to do.

Mast Head

Secondary images

Price clearly stated

Other articles

Main image

Entices the audience

Free giveaway

Features

Unique selling point

Question 5:How did you attract/address your audience?

Gender and Age

Gender:With my magazine, there is no set ‘ideal’ gender. I made my magazine suitable for both genders, even though my main image is of a man, I think if girls are into the type of music my magazine promotes, they wouldn’t care.

Age: I originally planned for my magazine to have a 16+ age rating in case of any ‘explicit’ content inside, but then thought, they were going to experience and see it soon anyway. So I thought make it 14+, this also gives me a more broad audience.

Question 5:How did you attract/address your audience?

My mast head stands out because of the way it is a white font on a black background, this gives a good contrast to my magazine.

The word ‘biggest’ makes the audience feel like there is no competition. It is clearly made to stand out as it is in white circle.

With this, I feel like that the words ‘exclusive’ and ‘give away’ entices the reader to pick up the magazine, because they might have a chance to win a ticket to Download Festival.

‘Plus’ shows that there is more featured inside the magazine than what is shown on the front cover and this gives makes the reader want to buy the magazine, to see what else is inside.

Question 5:How did you attract/address your audience?

Colour:The use of the colour, black, white and red, compliment each other as the white stands out on the black and the red also stands out on the black, these colours work very well and I think pull my magazine together even more.

Extra artists:The use of extra artists shows that my magazine can offer a wide range of artist coverage, also when the reader is finished reading about the main article they have something else to read.

Main Image:With my main image, I made sure it stood out from the rest of the magazine. I also made sure it went with my colour scheme and luckily it had a red background and with a bit of work, I made it look darker so the red would stand out more.

Question 5:How did you attract/address your audience?

The use of an image, draws the audience to flick through the magazine, to see what the rest of the magazine is like.

The white writing on the red background makes the heading stand out so people can easily see where everything is.

‘WIN’ this word gives the reader a chance to get involved with the magazine, it also makes the reader want to participate.

The heading for the contents page is in the same font and the same colours as the whole of the magazine. This sets a good house style.

Question 5:How did you attract/address your audience?

This helps the reader understand what is happening and what the article is about. Shows the audience/reader who

the article is about.

Heading for the main article and it shows the reader what the article is going to be about.

Gives the reader an insight into how they feel about the band but also life in general.

Question 5:How did you attract/address your audience?

The repetitive colour scheme throughout consists of; red, white and black. These colours represent the type of genre I want to promote in my magazine.

The white on the black stands out and then the red on the white also stands out. This makes the magazine more appealing so the audience buy it.

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

Publisher: Front Cover

With my front cover it took me a while to decide what I wanted on the front, I decided to use this image as I felt it represented what my magazine was about. It gave a good colour scheme as it matched the red and black.

Publisher: Contents Page

With my contents page I realised that darker the better. I enhanced my image by changing the lighting. It added a good effect to my work.

Publisher: Double Page Spread

I made sure that my image stood out from the page and by doing so I thought switch the image round and change into black and white, I thought the black and white added a really good effect to the Double Page Spread.

Looking back at your preliminary task (Aquinas College magazine), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression to the full product?

Question 7:

Front Cover: Practice Draft.

Front Cover Practice 1

Front Cover Part 2

From my first draft to my final piece I feel like I have been able to achieve lots more skills, this includes being able to use publisher in an effective way. I have quickly learned about key magazine conventions; masthead, barcode and price etc. I think this had reflected through my three magazine front covers.

My first front cover design is plain and boring and this would not stand out to someone walking past. I feel like there are not enough magazine conventions within my first design. The colour scheme represents the genre of music my magazine is trying to promote. (Rock/Heavy Metal)

With my second design for my front cover I decided to stick with the same image but move all of the conventions around a little. With this I still was unsure about the magazine on a whole. I was unhappy with it, it looked boring. I made sure I added a few more key features.

My final piece I was extremely happy with, I felt like it was complete after trying so long to improve it , as you can see I added more conventions e.g. the poster special and the secondary image at the bottom, I also added a caption to explain the main image. My skills that I have learned helped me understand how Microsoft Publisher worked and this ensured I got my potential out of it.

Colour schemes are important when trying to represent different ideologies within any type of magazine. With my magazine front covers I tried to keep to the same colour scheme as I think it worked. The red, white and black all stood out. When designing my final piece I added more of the red colour, this is because it could reflect on the attitude the artist on the front cover may have.

Contents Page

With my contents page I stuck with the main colour scheme of red, white and black, this is so it was more recognisable because it now had a house style. My main image is of the same band that features on the front of my front cover, I decided to use this picture because I feel like it sets off a good feel for the magazine. I chose to take the theme of the Kerrang contents page idea and turn it into my own. I made the heading boxes red with white text because

Double Page Spread

The colour scheme throughout my work is the same. I used the colours red, black and white. I felt like the white stood out on the black and the red contrasted the black, I felt like it worked really well.

With my second design I decided to elaborate on the text and add some secondary images. I moved around the image and added a few extra bits onto it, this includes; ‘NEWS’. I took the idea from a Kerrang double page spread. I think it adds more of a personality.

Throughout my work I have kept the same colour scheme and also have kept the way everything is presented pretty much the same. I feel like I have incorporated a good house style. The house style runs throughout my Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread.

Evaluating my Aquinas Magazine

Technologies used:• Publisher• Digital Camera• Altering and manipulating

photos. • Photoshop

Evaluating my Aquinas Magazine

Strapline- this entices the reader to read the magazine. Gives the reader an excuse to open the magazine. ‘WIN!!’ this is in capitals to emphasis that it is free and all you have to do is enter.

Pug- this also gives the reader and excuse to open the magazine as they are getting something for free, it is in a star to make it stand out on the page.

Features- gives the reader and insight as to what it featured in the magazine, it also gives page numbers so it is easy for the reader to find the article they want to read. Masthead- is overlapping

the main images hair, contrast of the lettering 70%

Photography

The main image is not centre, and is pushing left. Georgia’s eyes are not looking directly at the camera and are looking right, this shows that she is shy and hiding away.

The image is placed on a white background to make it stand out, also it is to make the lettering stand out too. This created negative space, and makes it all stand out.

I used photo shop to cut out the background of the main image.

Choosing a cover photo.

I changed my mind a lot on deciding who to have as my cover star. I felt like his picture was not right for the front cover.

I decided not to use this picture either as I wanted one cover star not three

I felt like this picture was good as it portrayed her personality by looking away.

Contents Page

Technologies used:• Publisher• Digital Camera• Altering Photos • Photo shop.

I made sure that the page numbers were fairly larger than the text, this is so the reader can easily identify with the articles

I added a editors letter to give an interaction with the audience. Also gives a bit of detail about the magazine itself

I incorporated the Aquinas logo to make it link with my colour scheme. ‘A’ ‘M’