In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media product in my ways develops the forms and conventions of real media products. From the two gospel magazines that I researched which were Gospel Truth and Gospel USA, I found that there target audience was late 20’s and above old with a B/C1/C2 social status. In addition these magazines were a reflection of mainly the black-American culture where the magazine dominantly has images and articles which associate and reflect the black-American culture. My magazine challenges this form as the target audience is different. The target audience for my Gospel magazine is youths: from the age of 13 to young adults. This target audience can be seen from the images used as well as the style and content of the magazine. In addition my media product also challenges the fact that it is not aimed at African-Americans but through many races which is displayed through again, content and images used.
My front cover uses the conventions of real media products as it consist of a big bold masthead, a cover image, cover lines, a bar code and pricing. However my magazine also challenges this form of real magazine products through the arrangements of these features. On the front cover Gospel magazines from my research, the cover lines where not arranged all over the page but in one section of the magazine. For example on Gospel USA, there were only 3 cover lines, 2 placed at the right side of the bottom of the page and the other cover line at the left side of the bottom of the page. The cover lines being at the bottom of the page allows the reader to focus on the main image which is effective, however due to the low placing of the cover lines and the small fonts used, it is not eye catching to the reader. My magazine challenges this. Instead of my magazine to have 3 cover lines, it has 7. These 7 cover lines are arranged all over the page, with use of different fonts and different colours. This makes it attractive appealing to the younger generation – my target audience.
For my front cover, the theme colours are white, orange and black. I have chosen these colours as I feel that they complement each other. The white and orange are bright colours which stand out from the black. Furthermore, the use of white which is seen as a colour of perfection connoting purity as well a religious reminder of Heaven with angels dancing among the clouds in white clothing with white wings. The colour white is complimented by the colour orange as the orange stands out vividly from the white. The model used on my front cover addresses the age of the audience, but not so much the race of the audience as the young female is white. However, my intended audience is appealed by the content of the magazine which is portrayed through the cover lines. The cover lines are relevant to my young audience as they are contents of their interest such as appealing artist’s e.g. ‘Maria’ plus appealing events for example KVG Gospel concert which is strictly for youths.
The average cost of my two research magazines is £3.50 ($5.75), therefore - in order for my monthly Gospel magazine to fit into the market and also taking into consideration that this is a youth’s magazine, my magazine price will be between £2.50. This price is suitable due to the fact it’s a monthly. This pricing allows good profit too be made while not being too expensive.
For my contents page, I researched two other contents pages and this is what I found: There both had plain theme colours such as white and blue which were appropriate for the genre of the magazine as white connotes purity and blue connotes serenity and infinity. One magazine had 3 large images labelled by the page of its story while the other magazine had no images. There were different sections, categorising its contents for example one magazine had 3 Sections: “Features”, “Standing features” and coming events. Lastly the two content pages of these magazines consist of the name of the magazine. My magazine contents page challenges this forms as it consist of sections.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
‘Maria’ who is the main story for this issue of my magazine is a young female artist which represents young people as achievers and gives hope other young people. The 1st large image on my contents page is of 3 young males singing in a choir at a church. In the media, if there was an image of 3 young black boys it would usually be associated with the streets; ‘Gang, violence, drugs etc’. This image portrays young men being sensible which a big achievement in the media is. It appeals to the target audience as they know how hard it is to be portrayed as something good in the media.
When planning my contents page, I wanted it to be very appealing to its target audience, therefore I had to think well of how I wanted to use colour, images in addition to the arrangement of the page. I wanted to use images relating to the contents stated in the contents page. To have an appealing contents page, I needed appealing images as images are what appeals to the target audiences. I decided to change the theme of the contents page in contrast to the front covers theme of orange, white and black. In my contents page, I used these colours but not as dominant as my front cover. I introduced the colour grey as a dominant colour while still using the theme colours from my front cover.
The contents stated on my contents page represent my particular social group of teenagers of an E/U background. This is because the contents appeal to them, for example; ‘Gospel Rave’. The word ‘Rave’ is a word used my many young people in London which is another word for party. This word alone appeals to the target audience as they know the meaning of this word as they are very familiar with it. Moreover, many young people who live in London are into ‘Raving’ therefore the fact that a Gospel magazine is holding a Rave is appealing to them as ‘Gospel Raves’ are not that common. Too much ‘Raving’ is not seen as so much of a good thing, so having a Gospel rave, purifies the idea that raving is a bad thing and makes it a good thing in Gospel.
As there are not many youth Gospel magazine on the shelves of England, I wanted my product to be one of the first and to be very successful. In addition, my social group that is being targeted have not and up to date, are not being represented in the good light in the media, therefore representing the youths in a good light in a Gospel magazine will be an achievement on their behalf. As a young person myself, I know what it feels like to be represented as something negative in the media all the time. We hardly get praised for doing something good. I feel that it will motivate more young people to continue to do well and to feel appreciated by the media as well as the world.
The content of a magazine represents the social grouping as it reflects their interest which reflects them. Through the contents of my magazine, it can be suggested that young people like to have fun, this is because most of the contents is to do with going out to ‘Raves’ and concerts. This can be interpreted that young people have not got any major responsibilities yet; therefore it’s a time where they can just enjoy their life. In this case it’s enjoying their life religiously through gospel.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I would like for my media product to be distributed in hard and soft copy to give my target audience an option to cater for their needs acknowledging the change form hard to soft copies. My media product should be distributed by the best distributing company i.e. IPC Media. This is because; this company has a highly good reputation therefore give my product more value. If my magazine was in soft copy form, I would benefit from the social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace etc. This is beneficial as it would give the editors of my magazine to communicate quicker and interactively. My magazine would have its own website where links can be made to these social networking sites. There are many benefits for soft copies of my magazines for the reader as well as the editors. One other reason for this benefiting the reader is the fact that they can read exactly what they want, when they want as well as taking advantage of interactive facilities such as media players etc. In addition readers can get up-to-date news. A benefiting reason, for the magazine to be having a website, is that it allows more easily for the editor to get opinions from the target audience in order to improve the magazines through questionnaires and surveys.
In hard copy, my Gospel magazine will be distributed in well respected retailers such as W H Smith, Asda and Sainsbury’s. In addition to these well respected retailers, my magazine will also be distributed in corner shops/ off licenses shops such as Costcutters where Gospel magazines and youth magazines can be found. These hard copies will tailor the need of the people who are not familiar with the digital world.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
As previously stated the audience for my magazine would be young people from the age 12 with demographic profile of D-U. The magazine has contents specifically for young people who listen to Gospel. This low demographic profile of D-U can also be suggested by the low asking price of £2.50. However, this magazine is not strictly for those with a low demographic profile as others may be attracted to the magazine. In the Gospel magazines that I researched, many were aimed for the black race nevertheless my magazine is aimed for both the black and the white race which can be seen by the white model, modeling on the front cover.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I had to attract my audience through the contents and display of my magazine. From my front cover, I addressed my audience with a young female who as part of the production of the magazine is a ‘Famous’ Gospel artist. Due to her great labeled achievement of winning a BET award, this attracts my audience as she is a young influential person who they may want to know more about for hope into becoming something like her. They may be able to relate to her story, as she was once in a low demographical profile and she can inspire them. In addition BET addresses to the black race of my audience as BET is a black entertaining television channel aimed at black people. Therefore the black race would be interested as BET entertains them. However, this does not mean that it’s strictly for the black race only as other races may enjoy the contents of BET as well.
At the bottom right corner of the front cover of my magazine, there is an opportunity for the reader to ‘WIN’ 2 tickets for the BET Awards show. Winning something is always appealing as the reader feels they are getting more that what they deserve for the price they paid for the magazine. As well as this, the winning prize that is being advertised is quite expensive which may be out of zones for the target audience’s low demographic profile, so for them to get it free will is very exciting for them.
The interview on my double page spread denotes the trials and tribulations that Maria had to face becoming getting to where she is now. This appeals to my target audience as it is something to learn from. They would want to read her story to enlighten them about her so they may feel closer to her as a fan or for the simple fact that it will inspire them never to give up hope and continue fighting for their dream because nothing is impossible.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From the process of constructing this product, I have learnt many skills in Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop. InDesign has taught me how to construct different opponents such as images from Photoshop and text form Microsoft word to make a media piece. I have learnt key skills in editing images, changing colour schemes and fonts.
When taking my pictures, I had the opportunity to work with my Uncle who works in the media industry and as professional photographer. I was able take a photo on a clear white background with an expensive canon camera. In this process I learnt that a key to clear, highly pixilated pictures is the camera lens I also learnt about positioning and lighting.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt many things in progression from my preliminary task to my full product. At the beginning of this AS Media course, I hardly knew how to use Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop, with just little knowledge from GCSE Media. I have learnt many skills in these programs which allowed me to create, what I would call a fantastic piece of media work.
