Question 1: In what way dose your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

By Oliver Harradine

Front Page

• You can definitely she a different in the image quality because Q’s image is very crisp and high focused were as mine is less focused and bit grainy but this is on purposes because I wanted my image to have a retro look to them so I took them on a older camera to get this less focused image which is a bit grainy to give it this retro look.

Here is my front cover compared to Q magazine front cover which is a professional magazine

• My main image is placed in the middle third and is a medium close up this layout and image shot is very commonly found on music magazines. You can see that Q have also used a close up medium shot for their main image but I have put mine in black and white to give it a retro look were as Q have put there image in colour with a filter because there magazine is about all types of music and by using colour they can show all the different types of music.

• After my research I have made sure that I had a house style that was not the same as another music magazine so it stands out more. If you compare my magazine to Q’s house style you can see there are very different because Q’s is a very bright red which will make it standout off the shelf were as might is a an orange blue, pinkie red and pastel yellow. This might not make it standout off the shelf like Q but it tells the audiences clearly that this is a retro music magazine because the colour are classic retro colours.

• Both of our magazine have follow most of the conventions of music magazine but Q have chosen to uses a puff on their magazine in the top right hand corner to highlight a special article in the magazine were as I have chosen to highlight a special article but in the form of a banner I have chosen to do this to achieve more colour on my front page so it eye catching to the audiences

• We have both also followed the convention of putting the image in the middle third of the page and having the coverlines either side of the image and we have both chosen to put the main coverline in a bigger font than the other coverline so it stand out of the page and overlaying the image but at the bottom so it doesn’t block the image or draw to much attention away from it.

Contents page • We have positioned are title of are magazine in

the top left hand corner with contents next to it to make sure the audiences know which page they are on because a person reads from the top left to the bottom right.

• Also we have put these titles in a banner which is coloured in with are main colour to create synergy with the front page and also to have a clear house style which will set us apart from the rest.

• We have also decided to us more than one image on are contents page to give the audiences more of a look into the rest of the magazine, we have also sized our images to show which are the most important article. The bigger the image the more important the article. We have also made it clear what picture goes with which article by the uses of number on each of the images.

• I decided to add a editors note on to my contents page which Q have not done. I chose to uses a editors note to give the audiences a closer relationship with the writer which will make them buy it again and again. This is what I feel is lost in the Q contents page because without the editors note it distances itself more than my contents page.

• Next Q have decided to give the audiences a view at one of the double pages in the magazine. I have chosen not to do this to not give too much away about what the rest of the magazine, so it forces the audiences to look through my magazine to find out, in turn persuading them to buy it because they see something that catches there eye.

• I also decided to put on a section on my contents page about how the audiences can subscribe to my magazine . Which Q have no done but I have found that this is very common on other music magazines such as NME.

Here is my contents page on the right compared to the contents page of Q’s on the right.

Double page spread Here is my Double page spread at the bottom compared to the double page spread from Q’s an the top.

• The big thing that you can see is the same in my magazine and Q’s is we’ve both positioned are image on the right hand page taking the whole page up. This is too make the page eye-catching to the reader and also means the two pages are just not taken up by a lot of let which will be boring to the reader and might forces them to put the magazine back on the self.

• We have also both decided to began are double page spread with a pull quote from the article to help give the article a title and give the audience a fell for the article before they go a head a read it. Also by doing this we are marking a key moment in the article which the reader should look out for making it more enjoyable to them.

• We have both continued are house style on are double page spread with Q’s massive red “T” and my banner and highlighted words. This means we have both created synergy between are double page and the other pages giving my magazine a professional look because creating synergy between all the pages is a big convention in making a magazine.

• There are some differences in the images of are double page spread. Q have used a long shot of an artist which is good because it means it can take up more spaces with out pulling to much focuses of the text. Were as mine is a medium shot because I used the prop of a guitar and I wanted this prop to be in the middle of the image to catch the audience eye and draw them into the article. Also I wanted the camera to be closer to my models face to capture more of his facial expression to give him a closer relationship to the audience.

• I believe my text of my double page spread looks professional because like Q I have followed the convention of using columns to layout my text making it easier for the audience to read and keep the page organised.