AS Media D1: April 2016

Q1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Q2.HOWDOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product reflects a social group of teenagers. It has an artist on the front that suits the stereotype of an indie artist, through the use of the expression on her face. Also, due to the artists on the front being a teenager herself, it reflects what type of audience would read the magazine as they could relate to her. The colours in magazine are mixed, but together they reflect a dark colour scheme, which attracts an older audience. In the demographic table the most popular group is lower middle class to middle class; these are the working people who are on average just getting into jobs or students. My magazine represents this as the artist on the front is either related to them, or they are able to think of their youth when looking at the image. The Mise en scene of the photo suggests the genre also through the black t-shirt, the Fred Perry jacket and the bandana. It corresponds with the age and social class of my product as these are the clothes that the social group would wear, so it creates verisimilitude amongst the social group of teens to early adults. The magazine is £3.99, and is weekly as this is the price of what other magazine of this genre are, NME, Q and MOJO, they are all in the range of this and are weekly and also targets the same age range and social group, suggesting that if my product was a real product it would be appealed by an audience of what I am targeting. Also, through the use of the subscription of 20% off, it makes the audience feel like they get a deal and don’t actually feel full price for any more of the magazines as it is 20% off, so it essentially comes across as a bargain, which appeals and helps represent the social group as if there is a deal, and they enjoy the product they will get the deal. The age range of my product is 14-25, which means that they will have free time, especially the younger percentage, so they will be able to consume more of the magazine. The freebee in my magazine also appeals to the younger percentage of my age range as, if they can get a free poster of an artist they like they will immediately be more appealed as they can get it for free and they can have it for as long as they want. Through the use of my reader profile, I was able to incorporate the ideas to appeal to my social group. This makes the product more trustworthy as it is purely based on my social group and age range, through the use of the artist. This is conveyed through the content within the magazine, it all involves the artist in the genre and the artists that consume the products in my reader profile, which helps represent my product and link it to the social group as they are both represented as equals, not seen as higher than others.

Q3.WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

Q4. WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

This is a video, from the point of view of a person in the genre of my magazine, within the video she answers questions

1. what do you think that target audience would be and why?

2. what do you think is successful?

3. do you think anything needs changing?

4. is it a successful or unsuccessful product?

The front cover, contents page and double page spread below are the ones which the person in the video analysed.

Q5. HOW DID YOU ATTRACT / ADDRESSYOUR AUDIENCE?

How did you attract/address your audience?

The target audience for my magazine is late to young adults of a middle class. This is why I have put the price of my magazine at £3.99 as it is affordable, which makes it more appealing to an audience. Also the free gifts of the Stone Roses poster would attract as the Stone Roses have an upcoming gig, which is their first gig since 2012, so it is big news in the industry, so the more they get exposure, the more attraction they get. The plugs on the magazine are an exclusive interview with an old legend, perhaps appealing to a wider audience but also a new audience who want to know more. On my contents page there is a red block with yellow writing which is offering a discount on subscription, this stands out as it is in bright colours and a filled red box, making it more appealing to an audience and it encourages them to subscribe at the discount. The font on the magazine cover, contents page and double page spread differs throughout. They’re all bold and large so that it can be easily seen. The masthead is the biggest part of the front cover, which is conventional. The font size which is the biggest on the page is the text that is needed to stand out as it would appeal to the audience more. Through the features on the front cover and the quotes on the contents page and the double page spread. The lighting on the front cover is light on one side of the artist’s face, which creates a shadow. This Mise en scene suggests that there are two sides to the artist, which appeals to the audience as they will want to know more. With many artists from this genre being ‘in’ at the moment the magazine would be more in trend, creating more of a buzz for the magazine to launch. The Mise en scene is on the front cover could also make the audience feel part of the scene, for example the artist is wearing Fred Perry, which has spiked in popularity since 2014 and is still growing. The use of the language could also illustrate how I attracted my target audience. For example I used ‘Miles Kane A-Z of Indie’, this could appeal as it is from the perspective of a well-known and liked indie artist who is talking about his favourite people in the industry which would appeal as they could be introduced to new artists from another well-known artist. I would also use an app to appeal to my audiences through the proliferation of phones, it perhaps would be more accessible on an app, which would update an audience and allow them to become familiar with the magazine.