Evaluation Question Two: How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Posture/Gesture - The model in my photograph (left) is doing a similar pose to Beyonce (right). Both have their left arms raised about their heads slightly, however the model on my photograph has her right arm relaxed by her side. Both are conveying the fact that they are confident women, however my model is facing the camera with a smile, where as Beyonce is tilting her head sightly, looking provocative. Both are popping their hip to the right, which emphasizes their femininity and curves.

Angle/Shot Type - The angle of both photographs is eye-level, I chose to use the same shot type as the photograph of Beyonce as I thought it allows the audience to identify with the model more, and they become someone that readers can associate with. The shot type for both is a medium-long shot, yet Beyonces' legs are shown more in her photograph, which is probably to show her femininity. The use of a medium long shot allows their whole shape to be shown on camera, which is important for female R&B celebrities, as they are stereotypically proud to be a woman and proud of their curves. This shot type also allowed their clothing to be shown, as fashion is an important aspect to the R&B genre.

Lighting - Both photographs have bright lighting, focused on the artists, this makes them look as though they are constantly in the spotlight, making them look more important. This also makes them stand out, as the lighting is on them, and so the photograph appears bright and eye-catching.

Costume - Both my model and Beyonce are wearing clothing that is quite revealing, which is a well-known stereotype for R&B Artists. The use of revealing clothing allows the models shape to be shown and also shows their body confidence. However, Beyonce is wearing white, where as my model is wearing black and gold. I chose to put my model in black and gold as this was my colour scheme, but also as these are colours that are heavily associated with the R&B genre.

Expression - My model is looking directly at the camera and smiling, this makes her seem happy and content, which fits in with the story about her (on the contents page). Whereas Beyonce has her mouth slightly open in a pout, which gives a more seductive and provocative impression to the audience. Beyonce's photograph also conveys a slight attitude.

Hair - Both models have long hair, in a natural style. Beyonce has her hair thrown back, which gives the impression that she has a bit of an attitude, where as my model has her hair in front of her chest, which highlights her femininity.

Evaluation Question One: To what extent does your magazine use, develop and challenge forms & conventions of other media products?

 To what extent does your magazine use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

F R O N T  C O V E R

To what extent does your magazine use forms and conventions of real media products? 
I have used a similar style of masthead as Vibe magazine, by choosing a block font with slight curves. This makes it stand out, and is also something which you would associate with a magazine of this genre. I have also shown my font to be of a similar size, as this makes it attract the audience, as it is very eye-catching.
I have also placed my models head above the masthead, and I have used a similar style of model. My model has similar hair, and is also doing a similar type of pose. This is the type of pose which is common in R&B magazine, as it portrays attitude from the model.
I have also placed the title for my main story on the left underneath the masthead, I have done this as I think this is one of the main places you look after the masthead and photograph. I have also used a similar type of font.
Another convention which I have used from other media products, would be the use of the banner along the top of the magazine, which contains the artists names. The reason I chose to include this banner would be that it is an easy way to associate the magazine with R&B, due to the use of existing artists names.
I have also placed my bar-code in a box, similar to that of Vibe magazine, and placed it in the bottom-left.

To what extent does your magazine develop forms and conventions of real media products?

 I have started to develop the conventions of similar magazines, for example I have changed the colour scheme, to Black, White & Gold. I still think this gives an R&B edge to the magazine, as I think this conveys a glamorous quality, which is a massive association with the R&B genre.
I have also made the cover look a lot more busy and as though something is going on, I thought this made the magazine look as though a lot more is going on. Other R&B magazines also use this approach.
I have started to develop the conventions here by also putting a banner across the bottom of the page, I thought this gave it a much cleaner look, whilst also looking slightly different to Vibe and other R&B magazines.

To what extent does your magazine challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My magazine challenges forms and conventions from other magazines, by the use of the side bars, which add little details as to what to expect from the magazine. Other magazines of this genre have not used this convention, however I thought that this would give an insight into the magazine. 

C O N T E N T S  P A G E 

To what extent does your magazine use forms and conventions of real media products?
My magazine has used a similar column layout for the text to Vibe magazine, however I have places them on the opposite side of the model. In this genre of magazine, the contents page have fewer stories as oppose to other genre of music magazines, as there are usually two or three contents page. I have taken this into consideration when creating my magazine, as I have included a few stories however they are from a more broad range, due to my audience research feedback, as I have tried to show stories the audience would want to read.
I would also say that my magazine has used the same layout in terms of how the model is positioned on the page. The photo of the model in my magazine fills the full length and width of the page, with the stories on top of the photographs background. This is similar in the Vibe contents page. Kanye West covers the whole of the page. I have also used a similar mise-en-scene to this photograph in the photograph of my model. The background is plain but greyed out, as oppose to perfect white. This is a quality in which my photographs also portray.

To what extent does your magazine develop forms and conventions of real media products?

 I have started to develop the forms and conventions of real media products, by my use of the title of the page; contents. I have used a similar font, however I have not chosen to use the same type of layout as Vibe magazine, as I wanted to make my font automatically readable, and I have also used the same font as my masthead on the cover to keep the similar house style.
I have also started to develop away from Vibe magazine, by not having the separate headings for different sections of the contents page, such as 'Features' and 'Fashion' as shown in this example from Vibe Magazine, however I have used pages which could be placed into these sections.

To what extent does your magazine challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My magazine challenges forms and conventions from other magazines, by the use of the text on the right hand side, which shows the reader the story about the model that is pictured. Vibe magazine has not used this convention, however I thought it would be interesting to use this, as the audience can automatically see what the story would be about. 

D O U B L E - P A G E  S P R E A D

To what extent does your magazine use forms and conventions of real media products?

My magazine has used a similar type layout to the one shown from Flavour Magazine, I have used the used the two photographs on the page, similar the the photographs of Alexandra Burke. The use of a main photograph draws the attention of the eye, and so I thought this would be a good thing to include in my magazine. 

I have also pulled out quotes from the interview, similar to the way Flavour magazine have pulled out quotes from Alexandra Burke's interview. These give a quick insight into the main interview, so that the reader can see automatically what type of things that the Artist will be talking about, without giving away too much of the story, so that the readers are still interested in reading the story. 

Another convention, in terms of the layout of my double page spread compared to that of flavour magazine would be the fact that I have also used the three columns on the one half of my double page spread.
The type of story is also similar, as I have chosen not to do a typical question and answer interview, but make it into a more story-style interview, feeding quotes from meeting the artist into it. This allowed to give more information on the artist, whilst also giving the reader information straight from their favourite artist or singer.

To what extent does your magazine develop forms and conventions of real media products?

 I have started to develop from other magazines, by my use of shot type. The large photograph in flavour magazine is a medium close-up, however I chose to do show a long shot of the artist. This allows the models clothes to be shown, and also this shows the pose, which  I felt is an important aspect to R&B magazines, as the pose can convey attitude, which is something which all R&B singers give off. The way my model is stood, with her legs parted and her hands on her hips shows that she has a certain aspect of arrogance, however if is taken from a slightly high angle with her looking upwards, showing that she does not think she is better than other people. I have also varied on shot type with my smaller photograph, as a close-up is shown in Flavour magazine, where as I have used a medium close-up.
I have also developed away from other magazines, as my main photograph is in black and white, where as flavour magazine is in colour. I thought that the use of black and white would show a contrast to my strong colour scheme of Gold, Black and White.
Another way in which I have developed away from the forms and conventions of real magazines, would be the fact that I have used the Gold from my colour scheme as a background for my page. I wanted to carry the colour scheme throughout my magazine in order to keep the same house style, and I thought that the Gold really conveyed the glamorous edge to the R&B genre.

To what extent does your magazine challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Despite using the same layout as the double page spread from Flavour magazine, the example of the double page spread was the second part of the interview, and so does not show a title for the story, or even the Artists name. However, I liked this use of layout and so customised it to include the artists name. I have used the artists name in the same font as the masthead for my magazine, in order to keep the same house style fluent throughout.
The main photograph is also different to that of the Flavour magazine double page spread, as I have not filled the whole page with my photograph, which has allowed me to fit in another column of text.
I have also added a little snippet of information that will be discussed in the interview, which helps feed the artists name into the interview, as it provides a link into the story.
I have also included a bar in the corner of the page, which says 'cover story' and 'interview'. this allows the reader to see what they are reading when flicking through the magazine. 

Tweaked Final Double Page Spread

I have made a few changes to my final double page spread, I have added a box behind the words 'Interview' and 'Cover Story' in the top corners, and also added some text which links the title into the story. I also made the page numbers smaller, lining them up with the text 'pause music magazine'