1. In what way does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

 

Below is the script I used for the above video:
The media product I have created is an acoustic/folk music magazine aimed at a young audience who are interested in the genre and are keen enthusiasts of new music.

The music magazine I have created was supported and inspired by other music magazines such as NME and Q. I feel that the support from the real like examples challenged my original ideas; they were highly limited in the conventions I planned to include. Therefore made the overall outcome of my music magazine look professional and real. 

During the creation process of my front page, contents page and double page spread, I always used real life examples beside me to ensure I was conforming to the expected conventions. Below, are a few examples of music magazines that supported me during the creation process.

NME was the first magazine I analysed and I felt that the front covers they had were the best option to support me during the creation process of my front page. When creating my front page, I understood the importance of the conventions such as cover lines, plugs, puffs and left thirds as well as the photography conventions, considering the rule of thirds. When creating my front page, I followed some aspects of NME's front pages like how they situated the left thirds and the behind the head points. I am pleased with the outcome of my front page although, I have acknowledged some changes I could of made. Refer back to "finished front cover" post for the reasons why I didn't change my front page. 

The music magazine Q had a vast influence on my contents page. This is because I liked the way in which they situated their text on the page as well the picture. Moreover, I found that the main image on the contents page was posed, as most contents pages are and that the mis-en-scene was limited so that the audience were not distracted by what's in the background and were focused on the artist or anything thing else obviously shown. During the creation process of my contents page, I debated to whether I would challenge the forms and convention to do the opposite with my main image positioned on my contents page. For example, I'd have the image of the musician with numerous items in the background, creating a busy mis-en-scene. I decided against this as I knew the importance of good photography and didn't wish to confuse my target audience. I feel that the more objects in the picture, the more interpretations the audience can have. I didn't wish for this, I wanted my audience to have a grasp of the passion and enthusiasm the musician in the picture had towards their music. 

I wished for my double page spread to look real and professional but be my own. That's why I din't use one pure music magazine to support me during the creation process of my double page spread. I used numerous examples of music magazine double page spreads to contribute to my ideas on what I wished to have in the outlook. I found this process challenging but highly rewarding as it gave me a more, broad understanding of the creation of music magazines and how they are made to work with their audience. Personally, I believe that my double page spread is the the best piece out of all three pieces.

Below are some opinions of those who have seen my music magazine:
Source: Facebook