Media Evaluation Question 1
In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My MagazineMy music magazine
both develops and challenges the
conventions for magazines. My music magazine started off
as a mixed genre magazine, but I now think that it is more
for indie artists.
Professional Magazines
These are some of the magazines I used to get the
look of mine, and to look at the
conventions that they use.
Conventions - PugsI have followed the convention of
using pugs.On my magazine I have a pug at
the top of my magazine. Pugs are ‘the ears’ of the magazine and are
used to attract the readers attention. These pugs allow the
readers to see what articles are in the magazine. With mine, I have made it stand out by using bright colours. My pug may also slightly challenged the convention as it
only says “Never before interview”, where many others go ingot more detail about the article
(such as the one on the right).
Conventions - Plugs
Plugs are a form of promotion to try and gain interest of their
audience. With magazines, they tend to
use competitions for their plugs, to try and
get more people to buy the magazine. I followed this
convention and added a competition onto my
magazine which features on the front page and on
the contents page.
Conventions - MastheadsWhen I researched mastheads used on
music magazines, I saw a running theme with what characteristics they have.
When I looked at them all I noticed that they all were in bold, clear texts in either black or in some bold colour. They do this
to make it stand out and attract the audience. They also do this so the
masthead is noticeable, when all the magazines are stacked on a shelf.
Again, I followed and challenged this convention. With mine, I made it bold
and in colour, to make it stand out. However, I made the text lay on its side. The main reason I did this is because it
didn’t work sitting upwards, as it covered the models face. I could have changed
the photo, but I felt like that one was the only one that looked right sitting on the
front.
Conventions - Numbers/ ImagesMagazines also have images
and numbers on their contents page.
Magazines do this to show the readers what is inside the
magazines. It shows what the articles are about, and also
directs the reader to the page they would need for that
article. I have followed this convention by putting in images and page
numbers in for my articles.
Conventions–Double Page ImageWhen I looked at magazines double pages, I notices that most of them had one page with just a picture o the artist/celebrity, and the interview on the other side. I think that they do this to make it look more clear, instead of having a load of text working it way around a image, with can make it look cluttered.
I even saw that some of the magazines
having multiple double pages as
they are normally long
interviews, so I also did this.
Conventions - Introductions
When I was looking at double page spreads, I noticed the introduction to the interview was on many different magazines. Because of this,
I tried to include this in my own magazine. Just under the headline is where the
introductions were mainly placed. Magazines do this so that the reader can have a brief introduction to the article, and find out a
little more o what it will be about.
Conventions - Quotes
Many magazine interviews also include quotes from the person who they are interviewing. These statements are usually made out of context to make it looks like a shocking statement. Magazines usually do this to catch peoples eyes, and pull them into the article as they want to know what they are talking about. I used this technique in my magazine on my front cover, and double page spreads.
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