OCR Media Studies – AS Level

Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

Preliminary Task, Log Book and Evaluation

Name: Katherine HulattCandidate Number: 6664Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic CollegeCenter Number: 64770

Set Brief - Print

Music Magazine – Production

Preliminary Task Progression, Log Book and Evaluation

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceFront CoverStep-by-step

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceContents PageStep-by-step

Section 1) – Log Book

Clash magazine– Genre research• ‘Clash’ magazine, is a popular music

and also fashion magazine based in the United Kingdom, (Scotland).

• The first issue of ‘Clash’ magazine was released in 2004 and is published

every month but only 10 times year by Music Republic LTD who over took Clash Music LTD after they fell into

liquidation.• The editor of ‘Clash’ magazine is a man

called Simon Harper.• ‘Clash’ magazine have won a number

of awards including, ‘best new magazine’ in 2004 and later on at the

‘record of the day awards’ won ‘magazine of the year’ in 2011.

• ‘Clash’ magazine feature and wide range and variety of music bands and artists such as; ‘The 1975’, ‘Lana Del Ray’, ‘Jake Bugg’, ‘Lorde’ and ‘Artic

Monkeys’.• As well as alternative artists bands

like the ones listed above , clash magazine have featured more main stream artists such as DJ Shadow

and Kanye West and also older bands such as the Beastie Boys.

Established Magazine for my Research (Clash Magazine)

Masthead-The masthead is located in the top center of the magazine’s front cover. The conventions of the masthead Is very bold and large and has been separated out neatly to attract the prime ‘pass along audience’. The editor has chosen to keep the coloring of the masthead white in theme with the monochrome colors with the rest of the front cover to represent that the band ‘the 1975’ is an alternative indie band.

Main image-There is only one image on the front cover, which therefore makes it the main image. As it is the only image on the front cover it takes over the whole page to make the ‘pass along audience’ who are fans of ‘the 1975’ want to buy the magazine as the image is of the lead singer in the band.

Strapline-The strapline is positioned on the top right hand corner of the front cover. The strapline is usually a phrase or slogan telling the consumer what is going to be featured in the magazine, ensuring the consumer that they know what's going to be in there genre of magazine so the consumer will get the best value for money. Clash’s strapline is kept simple stating the 3 aspects which the magazine covers. Barcode-The barcode is positioned at the bottom right hand corner of the front cover. Along side the barcode is has the date, month, price and issue number of the magazine.

Cover lines-The cover line's on this magazine are located on the top middle right of the page. It carries the colour white from the masthead which stands out as its on the face of Matt Healy (lead singer of ‘the 1975’). The cover lines are designed to attract the ‘pass along’ audiences attention

Main headline-This gives people a quick bit of information on what the main story is going to be about.

Publisher Research • From my research on ‘Clash magazine’ the information I have

gathered is that the readership of ‘Clash’ is 188,940, following on fro this the circulation is 47,235. Surprisingly, the approximate gender split is on a 50/50 basis and the average age readers is 71% 21-31 which is a similar age group that I want my magazine to be for.

• Clash Magazine’s Mission statement • The average ‘Clash’ reader is “in employment and following

music, films, books, gadgets and clothes. When they choose to spend their hard earned cash, its well considered and based on recommendations from the sharpest sources. They are gig-going, fashion conscious, teeth hungry and consider the

Target Audience:The target audience for ‘Clash magazine’ can be detonated/clarified for both the female and male audiences between the ages of 18-35 which are described as the ‘download generation’. ‘Clash magazine’ target this expanded age range of readers by alternating between modern bands such as ‘The 1975’, ‘Coldplay’ and ‘Oasis’ to artist and bands such as ‘Jay Z’ ‘Kanye West’ and the ‘Beastlie Boys’. Following on from this, ‘Clash Magazine’ also attract the people who are interested in fashion and film as the feature this in their magazine. ‘Clash magazine’ press pack states that 37% of their readership is between the ages of 37% of their readership is between the ages of 21-25 and other 34% states that the target ages are from the ages 26 to 30. Furthermore clash’s press pack represents that 52% of their readership Is actually male. Thus concluding that the target audience is men aged between 21 and 30.However, due to the very slim difference between the percentage of male and female readers this magazine could be deemed that it is actually aimed at both sexes which are the ‘download generation’ as previously stated, then this makes this magazine a unisex magazine. Additionally, ‘Clash’s’ target audience is displayed as being avid tech users with a strong interest in music with links back to my point about the target audience being the ‘download generation’. Finally the magazine magazines target audience is primarily located in the UK with 43% of readers located in the area of London and the East of England.The target audience are mainly males and this is because they write about the kind of music that the males of these particular age ranges will be interested in, therefore they can personally identify with themselves with the articles (Katz). As ‘Clash’ have such wide age ranges of readers, this connotes the they have they ability to appeal to a lot of people as the also feature fashion and film. Social climbers (Maslow’s) are the most likely to read this magazine as it is about music artists and celebrities, therefore these people will want to be just like the people in the magazine because of the lives that they have. In addition to this, social climbers will want to read this magazine because they feel as it they are being forced to improve to improve their status within society. To conclude, I think that audience of Q magazine fit into the ‘B’ ‘C1’ category of the socio-economic needs, which means that Q magazine are able to make their magazine more expensive as people in these groups will be able to afford the magazine.

What is the USP of this magazine?From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP is mainly the pictures which relate to the stories in the magazine. They are an effective USP because they help the readers visualize and picture the stories better and more interested in the story. Following on from this another USP is the fact that ‘Clash magazine’ also feature a fashion and film section. This then attracts a wider audience which ‘Clash magazine’ will make more profit on the magazine and also there is an alternating variety of bands and artist which allows ‘Clash magazine’ to elongate their ages in their target audience. Lastly, a final USP of ‘Clash’ is the main articles that are featured because they can have exclusive interviews which no other existing magazine has so this will attract the reader more to buy ‘Clash’ more as pass along audiences are very much attracted to ‘exclusive’ features as they know that they are not going to read that in any other magazine.

Conventions of a Music Magazine

Masthead.

‘Puff’ Promotion.

Small thumbnail images that relate to the existing cover lines within the magazine itself.

Main image which Is ‘star appeal’ (Richard Dyer) Black and white contrast with the yellow and red colour scheme, this could be a USP or help for the pass along audience to be attracted to buy and read the magazine.

Cover lines

Barcode

Target Audience:The target audience for ‘NME magazine’ can be denoted as again, similar to ‘Clash magazine’ a largely male dominated audience starting from the age 16-30 which again, like ‘Clash’ is a rather expanded age range. From doing statistic research, it shows that 73% of ‘NME’S’ readers are exactly males and only a tiny 27% of their readers are actually females which surprised me. NME mainly try to attract the male audiences and they do this by trying to add a basic masculine effect to the magazine by putting male artists in their articles like ‘Jake Bugg’ which is the front cover I have chosen to annotate. The target audience for ‘NME’ can personally identify (Katz) themselves with the articles with the issues of the magazine as they are interested in the specific genre of music of each ‘NME’ issue, therefore this means that they can relate and personally identify themslesbs with each other and let each artist inspire them. Following on from this, the audience of ‘NME’ are social climbers (Maslow) because the magazine has articles on a variety of successful celebrities which is an inspiration to readers. A large percentage of people want to raise their status with society so that they can end up like their favorite celebrity, therefore this classifies them as social climbers. To conclude, I personally feel the target audience of this magazine can be denoted as the c1-c2 category of the social economic needs table as the magazine is not formal it’s a casual light read and is inexpensive.

What is the USP of this magazine? From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP is…

Publisher research

• YOU MUST find out who published your chosen “Magazine of inspiration” from the sub-genre of your choice.

• Then, visit their website and deconstruct the information you can find about the target readership in terms of socio-economic needs, circulation etc.

Section 2) – Evaluation

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

Within the music magazine I created throughout the pages it ‘repeats’ (Steve Neale) codes and conventions from ‘Clash magazine’. The issue I chose of ‘Clash magazine’ that I used for my magazine of inspiration was the issue that featured ‘The 1975’. The reason why I chose this particular issue was because the main feature (The 1975) I wanted to incorporate within my magazine and it also linked nicely with my genre of music that I wanted my magazine to be which is alternative/indie pop. This photo of Matt Healy of the issue of ‘Clash’ was in colour and my images of the front of my magazine of ‘DropOut’ was in colour, therefore I ‘repeated’ this convention to make my ‘DropOut’ look similar to this particular issue of ‘Clash’. Following on from this, I also ‘repeated’ where I placed my main headline which was In the middle and replaced the main story name from ‘working on a dream’ to ‘the road to success’. Additionally, the masthead on ‘Clash’ is spread out and I have done that on my magazine ‘Dropout’. Below I have inserted my magazine of inspiration, ‘Clash’ front cover and my magazine ‘Dropout’ front cover. This connotes how I have used conventions effectively from existing media products. However, I didn’t want to make my magazine the exact same as ‘Clash’ therefore my magazine does ‘challenge’ some conventions that would be in a typical indie pop magazine, for example, I have ventured out and used burnt red colour instead of the trypcial colours used in a magazine like black and white. The reasoning I used a burnt red colour within my magazine is to attract the ‘pass along’ audience more.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my opinion, the denotation of the representation is the ‘E’ category of the socio-economic needs table; (Unemployed, students, pensioners and casual workers). This is because my target audience of my magazine is for younger age ranges such as the 16-25 year olds of todays society. This means that the type of people that will be reading this magazine would be ‘stereotypically’ students, people in casual work or the unemployed. This means that my magazine I have created appeals to my audience profile because of the 16-25 age group. Because of the category my magazine my magazine needs to be affordable so even the unemployed can afford my magazine. My magazine will be the price of £1.00 for a month and then will go up to £1.50 which is a very affordable price for all the types of people within the ‘E’ category. Following on from this, the burnt red colour in throughout my magazine will attract my target audience and ‘pass along’ readers as it’s an appealing colour to the eye. This magazine will be especially attracted to the unemployed as these readers can ‘divert’ (Blumer and Katz) from there everyday problems and routine and have the chance to read and enjoy my magazine and build ‘personal relationships’ from the artists so this can give them inspiration to find work.

What kind of media institution (Publisher) might distribute your media product and

why?From the research that was completed pre-production, I would envisage that ‘Bauer Media Group’ may publish ‘Dropout magazine.’ This is because this publishing group has not only published very successful lifestyle magazine such as; ‘Closer, Grazia and Heat’ but very successful music magazines such as; ‘Q, Kerrang and Mojo’. This would be good for the publicity of my magazine as they are a reliable and successful publishing group. My magazine of inspiration ‘Clash’ publisher is ‘Music Republic LTD’ but they are not as big as ‘Bauer’ so my magazine wouldn’t get as much publicity. I have done a range of research regarding ‘Bauer Media Group’ and it has some similarities to ‘clash’ even though ‘Bauer’ is not its publisher. This is because ‘Clash’ is an Indie pop magazine and the music magazines that ‘Bauer’ have produced are also of that genre. ‘Clash’ magazine also ‘signifies’ (De Saussure) that the genre of my magazine will appeal to this publisher as this is the kind of magazine that they are looking to publish, considering that my magazine is of the same genre of the music magazines they produce as previously stated.

Who would be the audience for your media product and why?

Hartley’s seven subjectivitiesAccording to Hartley’s seven subjectivities, the age of my audience 16-25 class ‘E’ people of society. This is shown

through the low pricing of my magazine and a special opening offer of £1 for the first month, this will make sure that the people of the ‘E’ class will be able to afford my magazine. The target gender for my magazine is not specific its for both male and females who are into the indie/alternative types of music and the magazine features things that will relate to both genres. The stereotypical ethnicity for my magazine is White British Male and Females.

Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory

According to Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory, the audience can ‘personally identify’ themselves within the articles of the magazine. When the 1975 started to make music they were unemployed students but have now made It in the music industry. This is how the audience can ‘personally identify’ and help them ‘divert’ from everyday problems. My contents page is welcoming and the editorial informs the reader everything within the current issue and upcoming issues.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needsAccording to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, my audience are identified as ‘social climbers’. This means that when

reading this magazine they will take inspiration from the artists within the issues of ‘DropOut’ and want to aspire to be like them. This therefore means my audience will read my magazine and aspire to do something within music if that’s their passion.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The Inclusion of codes and conventions such as featuring the burnt red colour throughout my magazine rather than the standard colours of black and white typically used throughout indie/alternative music magazines. The pop of colour would attract the young audience which I am aiming my magazine a. The use of font as well is different and ‘grungy’ so automatically the audience will be aware of what music genre of my magazine. Following on from this, another code and convention I have used to attract and address my audience is the ‘puff promotion’ which is directly linked with my main story, also the first months £1 addition will be very popular as it will be saving my audience money. Finally, another code and convention that I have included in my magazine to attract my target audience is the images that I have used with thee magazine pages. The images all relate to the stories in the magazine, therefore this means that my stories attract my target audience as they are about the topics that people of those ages would be interested in.

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

To make sure for my music magazine ‘Dropout’ to look fit or purpose and appeal to my target audience I decided to use a full length image so I could capture everything from facial expressions to body language. I originally took the image with a background but then decided to edit it out as it was too much on the page. I felt that this worked better as each member of ‘The 1975’ stood out much clearer. I used the quick selection tool to select the areas of the image which I wanted to keep and delete. By doing this is allowed the image to look more professional, sharper and clearer. Following on from this, the use of the shape tool allowed me to create the shapes for features of magazine and to help create further emphasis on areas that I wanted to stand out more to my target audience. I then also used the shape tool throughout the other pages on my magazine to again emphasise key areas. I used the pen tool on my double page spread to neatly fit the text round my images to make it look more professional like.

Photography Planning – Front Cover

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Photography Planning – Front Cover

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Photography Planning - Contents

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Photography Planning - Contents

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Photography Planning - Interview

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Analysing my Front CoverMasthead-The purpose of this masthead is that it informs the audience of what the magazine is and is the first thing the pass along audience look at as well the image so it needs to stand out clearly to the reader.

Strapline- This is what persuades the audience to buy the magazine. Thee strapline is often catchy so the reader remembers it and encourages the audience to purchase the magazine.

Cover lines- these are specifically used to attract the target audience, cover lines have to be interesting so it intrigues the audience to buy the magazine

Social media- This is so the target demographic can access the magazine from a different format and can suggest their ideas for the content of the magazine on the social networking pages.

Puff/Promotion- this convention is featured in my magazine because its an extra feature to grab the target audiences attention and is a specific USP to the magazine.

Main image- this is the main focus of the magazine to the target audience as it’s the first thing the audience see.

Main headline- this convention is also used to attract the target audience, because if they are interested in the story then it then persuades the audience to buy the magazine so that they can read that story, the main headline is usually something very interesting.

Analysing my Contents Page

Editorial- I have included an editorial as it welcomes the pass along audience and helps them feel at ease. It helps to create a ‘personal relationship’ (Katz) with the target audience.

Screen grab of Magazine page positioned in the Center of the slide

(Remove the BLUE box once placed in as well)

Masthead- this is carried on from the front cover. This helps the reader to feel a sense of continently and the pages then link together, this use of ‘repeating’ (Steve Neale) this convergence is already existing in professional magazines.

Image- the image is a small indication to one of the features/regulars are going to be about. They can visually imagine what the story is going to be about.

Page numbers- this kindly allows the audience to see clearly what pages link to what story which is a neat aspect.

Regulars/Features- this gives a quick idea to the target audience what the content of the magazine is going to be.

Social Media- is again something I have ‘repeated’ (Steve Neale) from the front cover. Its another reminder to the audience how the can access the magazine in another format if they are in touch with the media side of the magazine.

Analysing my Double Page spread Interview

Quote- The quote is the most interesting and eye catching part of the interview, it is also what attracts the reader to read the interview.

Masthead- This has been clearly repeated through the pages that I have created. It again creates continuity between each of the pages because the masthead is clearly and neatly shown.

Credits- this tells the reader the people who assisting in the article, it gives a professional- like touch to the double page spread.

Convergence- This allows the reader to access the article in different formats.

Main headline- Clear establishment of what/ who the magazine is about so the reader knows before they start reading. Following on from this, the summery is used to clearly show what will be covered in the interview.

Interview- the interview is based on one subject and the sub questions are asked around the topic. This gives the reader information that they wanted to hear as its usually ‘gossip’ ‘must know’ topics. By reading about a certain artist/band allows the reader to ‘personally identify’ (Katz) with them as they feel as if they know them better.

Looking back at your Preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I feel that, having completed the preliminary task and learning about the demands of this production process. Following on from this, doing the preliminary task helped me to refresh my memory on Photoshop from GCSE, so that therefore my final product of my music magazine looked, organized, professional, and to a good quality. I have learnt to use extended tools on Photoshop that I previously didn’t know how to use. By doing the preliminary task and the main task it gave me a chance to show of my creative skills and what I previously learnt from GCSE media, this meant I had a slight advantage to some of the people in my glass who didn’t study media for GCSE or have never used Photoshop.