In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions or real media

products?

Masthead/ LogoMy newspaper masthead has used the conventions of real newspapers by inserting

a masculine font style (Arial Black) this makes the masthead big and bold in order to stand out from the newspaper front cover. Also, by presenting the masthead in a masculine fashion it would represent the newspaper itself as being conservative and with the black font colour, it portrays seriousness and introduces the mode of address by hinting it’s for the A/B/C1 Class readers. Lastly, using Arial Black for my masthead as it is used throughout other local newspapers such as the Harrow Observer because it help’s the audience to interpret that this is a source to consume factual information.

However, my masthead has challenged the conventions of real newspapers by taking the word ‘The’ and rotating 90 degrees anti clockwise in order to be next to the ‘Scoop’ I have implemented this within my newspaper because it makes the newspaper itself more unique and the audience can therefore identify with which newspaper they pick up because my newspaper differentiates from other newspapers for example there is no ‘The’ used is Islington Gazette and on ‘The Sun’, ‘The’ is not tilted. I have done this because this may attract the audiences attention giving them an incentive to pick the newspaper up.

In addition, I have developed some conventions or real newspapers by inserting a logo next to the masthead, by analysing that some newspapers have a logo next to them, I have developed it by choosing the logo that represents Brent and inserted it next to the masthead in order to help it’s audience to identify with the newspaper so for example if my newspaper was in a shop next other newspaper and 2/3 of my newspaper was covered, just by the audience seeing the logo they are able to identify and associate this logo with ‘The Wembley Scoop’ also using the logo helps anchor the masthead by providing more strength of the masthead due to it’s strong logo and also it brings proximity so by using the Brent logo it brings the Brent Community together and it helps by highlighting ‘Wembley’ in red so therefore the audience who live in the area can identify with it.

Lastly, I have used, developed and challenged conventions of real newspapers by making some letters capital and some lower case, unlike some local newspapers whereby all the letters are capital (challenged), ‘coo’ were lower case in order for ‘Wembley’ to fit in between the ‘S’ and ‘P’ making the masthead look more organised and meeting conventions of a real newspaper which I have used because it looks realistic therefore it will make the newspaper look more appealing. Developing conventions I have decreased the font size of ‘Wembley’ in order for the red font colour to stand out from the all Black part of the masthead giving it that binary opposite of Dark & Bright.

Mise-En-Scene/ People/ CostumeThroughout my newspaper and website I have used mixture of images that consist

of either people or objects. This is useful because it gives the newspaper range so it gives the audience ‘choice’ and a chance to read about humans and other aspects of interest such as technology in my case, throughout my website I have used pictures of humans and objects such as the picture of the Blackberry phone. I used conventions of a real local newspaper as they to provide a wide variety of human and non-human pictures such as the Islington Gazette, it’s website consists of a story about a human which is the splash however a cover story, we see the image is of a building, this makes the newspaper neither to humanising nor dehumanising by providing a composition of balanced human and non-human images.

In addition, I have used conventions shown on local newspapers across my newspaper and website, I have used a range of camera shots to address the audience about the type of story and what they need to interpret. For example, on the inside page of my newspaper consist of a medium shot of the criminal clearly displaying her jail number and on the background the height measurements that are seen in prisons, also it gives us an opportunity to observe her body language and appearance, her sharp muscular face and the way she puts her chin up, shows the audience an aggressor in addition using iconography for example the height measurement and jail card, the audience can recognise that she is in jail. Also, there is a close up of the victim before and after, a before and after photo is displayed because it makes it easier for the audience to interpret how the victim was before the tragic incident and how the victim was after giving the audience a chance to assess the consequence of the criminal’s actions.

Furthermore, I have used and developed the conventions of a real local newspaper by providing a range of tight and loose framing. For example the medium shot of the image which belongs to my splash consist of little room symbolising to the audience that she has no where to escape and no room to move. Similarly to the way the image is used in the splash story of the Islington Gazette, because it’s a close up therefore it may symbolise to the audience that he has no room to escape and he has to answer to the £90M charge, also it gives the audience an opportunity to assess the individuals emotions to help build a bigger picture within the audience’s head.

Mise-En-Scene/ People/ CostumeI have used conventions of a real local newspaper by adding a dominant picture

which the wife in jail, this image anchors the headline as well as the copy and because it’s the largest picture taking the most space of the newspaper it will certainly grab the audience’s attention and would be more likely that they will read on. Also focusing on the headline image it uses binary effects because it’s a composition of bright and dark colours being used which gives it another reason to make the headline story stand out other than possessing the large and bold headline. We can see of an example in Islington Gazette as the image that is associated with the splash takes up most of the room in comparison with other images therefore remains the dominant picture so it grabs the readers attention. However, against Islington Gazette I have challenged it’s conventions because I used a medium shot with props and iconography such as the jail card and the height measurement background to symbolise a prison, however the image in Islington gazette is a close up of a man in a suit, this makes it slightly unambiguous because we do not know why he is in a suit. However within my inside page I have used close up camera shots to expose the victims condition to the audiences, a before and after image, this makes the audience feel involved and due to it being a negative story, it’s actually good for the audience.

Also, focusing on my inside page; I have developed and challenged conventions of a local newspaper by providing a triadic composition whereby it stresses about the dynamics and interplaying with 3 main elements, the 3 main elements are the 3 different types of pictures that possess 3 different dynamic and meanings to it. This makes it more eye catching for the audience as it gives them an opportunity to consume more visual information rather than textual information making it more easier for the audience to interpret and creating more excitement and the story will consequently be more appealing. In contrast to the example of another newspaper, Islington Gazette’s splash does not consist of a triadic composition therefore would make it less appealing to the audience never the less it could give more room for texts. Coming back to my inside page, there is no spaces in between the 3 images therefore suggesting to the audience that those 3 images should be seen as 1 so therefore interplaying with the 3 pictures provided giving the copy around it and the headline more emphasis and anchor.

Font & StyleWhen it comes to font and style I have used the

conventions of a real local newspaper because the masthead and the main headline is usually the biggest in size and style (Arial Black) to attract the attention of the audience, as the newspaper wants the audience to first establish which newspaper it is and then to read the main headline. Furthermore, the copy is a much smaller size and usually different font style (Times Roman) because the audience want as much information in the front cover as possible about the main headline story so therefore to meet the satisfaction of the audience the newspaper must make the copy a much smaller size in order to get the most out of the headline story, also it makes the newspaper look more presentable in terms of a range of font style and size used throughout the front cover making the newspaper look attractive. Lastly, the cover stories within the plugbox are set out in a much smaller font size but still using the same style to address fluidity throughout the newspaper. The small cover stories with smaller fonts illustrate the lack of news values in contrast to the splash and portrays it’s lack of importance to the newspaper, this gives the audience a hint to read the cover stories after reading the main headline story.

Written ContentI have used and developed conventions of a local newspaper by

presenting tabloid language throughout my newspaper production and website. E.G: ‘Wife Given Life After Murdering Husband’ because it’s short and witty headline it attracts the readers attention and gives the demographic a reason to read on. Also the copy provides clear, accurate and factual information which helps the audience interpret the story that is given to them. For example, ‘Mr. Rahman was found dead.. 3:21am.. Friday 23 January.. Found barbed wires with bloodstains as well as a gun’. By proving clear, time accurate and factual information it helps the audience to build up a clear picture in their heads giving them a sense of involvement and excitement. Examples of tabloid language found on Islington Gazette, ’£90M parking find challenge’ due to the short and catchy headlines, it builds up enigma and urges the audience to ask questions which makes them feel more involved within the story.

However, analysing the website, I have challenged the conventions of local newspaper websites because as we can see on the website of Islington Gazette, there’s a splash story providing the main headline story and a little bit about the story underneath the headline to give the audience a taste of what the story is going to be like, however I have just added the headline to the splash story making the story on the website itself unambiguous in terms of HOW did she kill her husband, and why? For all that information the audience must click on the story so they can be navigated to a separate page providing full details of the main headline story, this slight unambiguity builds up excitement and enigma for the audience because they are not given any details other than the headline of the main story on the homepage of my website.

Layout NewspaperI have used conventions of a local newspaper by placing the masthead at the top so

the audience can clearly establish which newspaper they are picking up and also allows the audience to build a picture of the newspaper through it’s unique masthead. As it’s at the top, it shows superiority in contrast to other aspects within the newspaper such as the headline story or the copy. Next, I have used conventions of a local newspaper by placing a dominant image within the newspaper to anchor the splash and gives the audience a clear idea of the story and as the image and the copy are side by side it juxtaposition. Also using conventions of a local newspaper by providing cover stories to engage in a variety of readers interest, giving the audience a range of stories to read about, this makes the newspaper more appealing to it’s demographic. Lastly, it uses a strict rule of ‘Masthead, Headline, The Copy’ so the headline is always under the masthead and the copy is always under the headline. This rule makes my newspaper look more realistic and organised, so it can look appealing to the audience. In relation, the masthead is always larger than the main headline and the main headline is always larger than the copy, these conventions are crucial in order to make my newspaper look more realistic

I have developed conventions of local newspapers by attaching the dominant photo of the splash to the right hand side of the copy, in contrast Islington gazette had inserted it’s associated image for the splash in the middle, I attached it on the right hand side because it gives the image a chance to increase in size and to anchor the copy and the headline and also it gives the copy some room, in contrast to the Islington gazette whereby it’s harder for the image to anchor the text due to it’s small size. Lastly, developing the conventions I have placed the plug-box with all the support stories on the right hand side in contrast to Islington Gazette whereby it puts it support story around the splash. I moved the plug-box towards one size so that the rest of the space can be occupied by the splash because it is the more superior story, however looking at Islington gazette, we are not sure which is the superior story because the images used are practically the same size making more difficult for the audience to interpret.

I have challenged the layout conventions of local newspaper by placing a logo next to the masthead to help anchor the masthead and make it standout, also it gives the audience a chance to associate the logo with the newspaper itself. Also in contrast to the Islington Gazette, I do not add the full story of the splash on front cover, after a brief factual information I insert ‘Continued’ this builds up excitement for the audience and gives them a chance to build some enigma, to ask questions about the splash. Lastly, looking at the font; I have used capital and lower case letters for my main headline in contrast to islington gazette using all lower cases, I have used capital letters in order for the headline to stand out and emphasise it’s seriousness and superiority among other cover stories throughout the front cover.

Layout WebsiteIn contrast to the newspaper, the website consist of a masthead banner across

the top of the page but to the corner, however I have challenged the conventions of Islington Gazette by making my masthead banner larger than the masthead banner on Islington Gazette, this is done because I want the audience to be aware of the website they are visiting and help establish the image of the newspaper.

Also, using conventions of local newspaper I have added navigation links within the website, this gives the audience an opportunity to navigate throughout the website, giving them a choice of reading whichever story that interests them.

Using conventions of local newspapers I have added lots of pictures throughout my website, to give the audience visual information and because the image helps anchor the story it is associated with, it helps the audience to build a clearer picture of the story and makes the newspaper itself extremely appealing. However I have challenged the conventions by making the pictures of the cover story the same size as the splash, this takes superiority off the splash and spreads it amongst the cover stories to which does not occur on the newspaper front cover. I feel as if I have made a mistake there because I should have made the splash on the website look more superior by decreasing the sizes of my cover stories, now my audience may be confused as to which story is the splash.

I have used conventions of local newspaper by adding various sources of advertisement and other interactive activities such as facebook and twitter like the Islington Gazette, this gives the audience a chance to participate and make the demographic feel more involved by the website being more interactive.

Lastly, I have challenged the conventions of local newspaper by not adding videos because I feel visual information should come from images rather than videos, however consisting of a video is useful within a website because it helps the audience to interpret a clearer image of what the story is about so therefore it is more likely that the audience may be more confused within my website because it does not consist of any videos to give them a clearer image of the stories provided within the newspaper website.