OCR Media Studies – AS Level

Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

Planning & Research

Name: Jack ConnellCandidate Number: 1103 Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number: 64135

Set Brief - Print

Music Magazine – Production

Preliminary Task Progression and Planning & Research

Section 1) – Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceFront CoverStep-by-step

I started my preliminary front cover by applying a gradient with the st andrews colours for a background. I then placed shapes and added a colour overlay to create the bars at the top and side.

I then used the text tool to add the masthead and strapline and I also added in the st andrews logo and applied a drop shadow. All the time I was using the ruler tool to make sure everything lined up.

After this I placed in the main image and used the magic eraser tool to get rid of the background. After this I added a drop shadow and stroke effect.

I then got images off the internet to back up the stories that would would be in the magazine and removed the background. The I used the text tool to write the main story “Too Much Work?”

Then I went round with the text tool and added in all of the text to support the pictures for my magazine’s stories. I made the font white and added in drop shadows and stroke effects to make the text stand out.

The next steps involved creating my barcode. I made a white box with the shape tool and added a barcode image as well as images of social media sites. The I used the text tool to write the date, price and issue.

The last thing to do was place an image of another student to back up one of my stories. I placed the image and removed the background then added a drop shadow to complete my prelim front cover.

Finished Product

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceContents PageStep-by-step

I started my preliminary contents page by applying a gradient with the St. Andrews colours for a background. I then placed shapes and added a colour overlay to create the bars at the top and side.

I then used the text tool to add the masthead and strapline and I also added in the St. Andrews logo. I also used the shape and text tools to create the “contents” headline. All the time I was using the ruler tool to make sure everything lined up.

I continued by using the shape tool with colour overlays to get the initial background shapes down so that I knew where everything would go.

I then placed in the cover photo of the school building and my editor photo along with the writing “Coming up this week.”

After that, I typed up and placed in my editorial along with my signature and details with a drop capital in the house style colours. I also used the text tool to place in the school website in the bottom right corner.

I then used the text tool and the shape tool to create titles for each box which say what category the contents in that box will fall into. This makes it easier for the reader to navigate their way in the magazine using the contents page. These were displayed in the house colours.

The last thing to do was to write out the contents itself in each of the boxes which I did using the text tool. I did a colour overlay on the text making it a house style colour. My contents page was now complete.

Finished Product

Section 2) – Log Book

Music Magazine – Genre researchRock music genre:

These statistics from album sales in the UK shows that rock music takes up over 1/3 of sales at 33.2%. This directly correlates to music magazines as the publishing companies should expect to have to cater for at least 1/3 of customers in the UK. Their biggest rival would be pop music magazines.

Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/276213/genre-distribution-of-music-album-unit-sales-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/ Market leaders in the genre are magazines like Kerrang and Q that are both published by Bauer. Kerrang has a net circulation of 85,377 magazines.

Established Magazine for my ResearchMasthead- Situated behind the main photo is still impactful with the bright colour red. Red is a theme on this front cover could connote to anger/danger/alertness.Incentives- Give the reader a reason to buy the magazine to get exclusive content, method of persuading the reader to buy with words like ‘exclusive’.Cover lines- Give additional information about content in the magazine with other big names, also incentives to buy magazine.

Barcode and price- Contains information on the price and date of the magazine. Well presented low down on the page could also present info such as the magazines website.Main headline- Supports the main image and gives information on the content the reader should expect about the star. Presented in a bold and sleek font style.

‘Star appeal’ (Richard Dyer) is the main image of the star that makes people interested to buy the magazine. Takes up majority of space on the page showing he is the most important and main feature.

Strapline- The verbal code of the strapline connotes to how Q want people to recognize them as having great music content for people to discover.

Q Magazine Target Audience – Q magazine is particularly directed toward fans of rock and contemporary music. This suggests that the age group for this magazine would be young adults and teenagers aged roughly between 16-35. Probably suited more towards a male audience with the colours of red and black although many of the conventions could appeal to both genders. 60% of readers are male and 40% are female. Q builds up a relationship with it audience (Katz). 71.8% of their readers fall into the abc1 category.

What is the USP of this magazine?I think that the unique selling point of this magazine is the easily recognizable image of the lead singer of the Foo Fighters Dave Grohl. The image is very ‘in your face’ which means it is the first thing that people see on the front cover so they are instantly interested because they know that the issue will contain content to do with the Foo Fighters. There are also incentives placed on the front cover in this example it is “Free exclusive unheard Foo’s album!”

Publisher researchWhen Bauer Media publish Q magazine they try to really connect with the reader by producing in depth content about the music artists. They claim that they have unparalleled access to some of the biggest names in the music industry. Bauer’s slogan “We think popular” connotes to the fact that they want to reach out to as many people as possible with their media products. Q magazine is available in all major supermarkets and most newsagents as well as being available digitally.

Conventions of a Music MagazineMain Headline is clear and bold. It goes over the top of the picture clearly displaying the brand.

A ‘big name’ band member on the front cover gets the reader gripped and immediately is intrigued into the content of the magazine. This is the ‘star appeal’ (Richard Dyer).

Main headline is displayed boldly on the front cover that gives an insight into the content. Displayed in red which is in contrast to other colours used. Connotes to danger/alertness.The barcode displays the price and the issue number of the magazine. Displayed neatly in the bottom right hand corner. Also presents magazines website.

The masthead font style contrast colour and large typeface appeal to the target audience.

Kerrang! Target Audience – The target audience for “Kerrang!” magazine is for teenagers and young adults having an average age of 22 years old. The people who read “Kerrang!” are people who are heavily into rock music and on average purchase 6 albums per month. They are also 5.5 times more likely to attend a rock gig. 52% of readers fall into the abc1 category.

What is the USP of this magazine? The unique selling point for my researched media product “Kerrang!” magazine is the artists that feature on the front covers and within their magazines – in this case Jared Leto. This is because “Kerrang!” will be the only magazine to have that particular content on that particular artist so the customer will have to purchase a copy of “Kerrang!” magazine to look at the content. In this example there is a picture of Jared Leto on the front and you would have to buy the magazine to read about him and the band that he is in “30 Seconds to Mars.”

Publisher research“Kerrang!” magazine is published by the Bauer Media Group. “Kerrang! is the most exciting youth culture brand in existence. We’re everywhere our audience lives.” This quote comes directly from the Bauer Media website and clearly illustrates how involved Bauer Media want “Kerrang!” magazine to be with their readers lives. The word “everywhere” could connote that they are on multiple accessible platforms such as music, internet, television and of course the magazine. “Kerrang!” is available to buy in all major supermarkets and most newsagents as well as digitally. Bauer’s slogan “We think popular” connotes to the fact that they want to reach out to as many people as possible with their media products.

DPS - Analysis Main Headline is clear and bold. The connotations behind red could be danger.Pull Quote is presented across the page with bolt text in contrasting colours. Key phases are highlighted like ‘casual’ which could suggest that Kerrang have a casual approach to their magazine.Main Image is presented with the man in a medium close up shot looking fairly casual like in the pull quote. Tattoos reveled fit in with rock music genre.

Interview Text is presented with contrasting questions and responses to make for an easier read.

Date and Issue Number is presented to inform the reader the date of the magazine.

Name Photographer is presented neatly and professionally in the corner.

Drop Capital reinforces brand identity