1) IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR

CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA

PRODUCT?

By Jumana Yasmeen

My magazine genre is R&B & Hip-Hop. My magazine both conforms and challenges my chosen genre. It conforms to the genre R&B & Hip-Hop with the use of colloquial language also the use of the clothing the model is wearing.

Most R&B and Hip-Hop genres use trainers as it is what’s current in the teenage world and this is what I wanted as it is a common thing in most R&B and Hip-Hop genre so I wanted to create a sense of familiarity for the expected audience and this conforms.

The use of the girly clothing is deliberate as my target audience is girls. The target audience for R&B & Hip-hop is usually both males and females however, I decided to break this stereotype as I wanted to do something different and there are not commonly female artists portrayed for this genre.

My model was wearing minimal make up. This challenges the codes and conventions of real media product as most female models would be wearing a lot of make up to look perfect however, I decided not to conform to this as I wanted to represent natural beauty as I wanted females to feel comfortable in their own skin.

I decided to use different props which was a chair and glasses. I used glasses to connote intelligence as I believe that women in the R&B & Hip-Hop are stereotyped as having a lack of intelligence and I wanted to break this stereotype as this is a very negative stereotype which is not entirely true. I used the chair as this prop is used in most R&B and Hip-Hop magazines and the use of the chair in my magazine is to create a sense of familiarity as I did not want to completely challenge the codes & conventions of R&B & Hip-Hop as my magazine would not be classified as a R&B and Hip-Hop magazine.

Here is an example of Vibe magazine (R&B magazine) using a chair- like prop

Another way in which my magazine conforms to the conventions is the use of the three colour scheme- Red, white and black. In task 2, I discovered that most R&B & Hip-Hop such as vibe magazine (see below) magazines use a three colour scheme throughout the magazines so I decided to implement this throughout my magazine to follow the conventions.

Red

White

Black

Red

White

Black

Red

Black

White

Example of three colour schemes in an R&B magazine: White, Blue and Black.

I decided to use the colours red, black and white as these colours are all associated with the R&B & Hip-Hop as these colours are mostly used in R&B and Hip-Hop magazines. Not only did I use these colours to create a sense of familiarity but I also used these colours to create a professional look which challenges the forms & conventions as you would expect R&B and Hip-Hop to be scattered and I wanted to challenge this as I wanted to represent intelligence.

The layout of my magazine was an important factor to me as it plays a critical part in constructing the magazine. Looking back at task 2, I discovered that most R&B and Hip-Hop magazines layout such as NME (see below) was quite scattered however, I decided that I did not want my magazine to look like this as it represents the R&B and Hip-Hop artists as having a lack of intelligence and quite crazy which is not always true so I decided to subvert this codes & conventions.

I tried to get the right alignment so that it does not look scattered like normal R&B & Hip-Hop magazines. I also used columns to make my magazine look neat.

Example of an R&B magazine (NME) layout looking scattered.

Another way in which I subverted the codes & conventions of R&B & Hip Hop magazines was through the use of both colloquial and formal language. In task 2, I discovered that most of the R&B and Hip-Hop magazines I looked at either only used colloquial language or formal language. I decided to use both types of language as I wanted to break the stereotype of the artist being represented as showing a lack of intelligence. I used colloquial language so that the audience can engage with the artists. I used formal language such as ‘considering’ so that the artists and the magazine is taken seriously and inspire people. Inspiring was the foundation of the magazine.

Example of colloquial language used in my magazine: ‘Haha’

Example of formal language used in my magazine: ‘considering’

I tried to use different camera angles to represent the different moods as I feel that the R&B and Hip-Hop genre is a versatile genre. The use of the contact sheet representing the shoot in my DPS subverts real R&B and Hip-Hop magazines as it is something that has not been used. I wanted to use a contact sheet as it is quite a unique thing to do and also I wanted to represent that artist go through hard times and this is depicted through the use of different moods.

This is a medium close-up of the model. I wanted a medium close up shot as I discovered that most R&B and Hip-Hop magazines such as Vibe use medium close-ups on the front cover so I decided to implement this to give the audience a sense of familiarity of the genre.

I used a range of images to create a contact sheet for my DPS representing different moods. I used both white and black images which challenge real media products of R&B and Hip-Hop magazines as they either only use white or black images. I decided to challenge this as I wanted to bring something unique to my magazine.

Overall I would say that I conformed and challenged the forms and conventions equally. I decided to conform to the forms and conventions to create a sense of familiarity and I also decided to challenge the forms and conventions to break the negative stereotypes of the genres.