Forms and Conventions evaluation question

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

My music magazine uses the conventions that all magazines have on their front covers. The masthead for my magazine covers the top of the front page. This is done because when the magazine is stacked in shops where they are sold, it is likely they will be stacked on in front of the other. Having the masthead at the top of the page makes it easy for the target audience to find the magazine because the masthead is in easy sight.

The main cover photo follows the magazine convention using mis-en-scene. The use of direct mode of address in the shot, which means the subject of the shot is looking directly down the camera lens, is common in many magazine covers. Also, the shot was a medium shot, showing from about the waist upwards. This is common in most magazine covers as when the whole body is shown in an image it is harder to see who’s in the image, and also means the subject of the image is further away making it harder to show dominance in the shot. In my shot, the image cuts of from the waist downwards. This convention means that the camera seems closer to the person being photographed. For all of my images I have in the music magazine I have created, I have only used medium shots or close ups. Also, in all of the shots the background is empty, so there isn't anything to distract the target audience from the person in the shot.

For my magazine, the image of the person on my front cover is in the middle of the frame. This means that there is more room for the cover lines to fit, as they can be placed on both sides of the photo in the frame, it also means they can be made bigger because there is a larger space for them to fill. This makes them easier to be read from a distance; for example when in a shop. They are also on the lower half of the image because it means the face isn’t covered up by the words. The cover lines are also in the same colour as the masthead, following the convention that using too many colours ruins the look of the magazine cover. One of the cover lines is in a different colour to the rest, this breaks them up making each of the cover lines easier to read, and because its only one in a different colour it also means that very few colours are actually used in the front cover and then the number of colours doesn't ruin the look of the magazine making it look childish and that all the colours were just thrown on the cover.

The colour scheme for my magazine uses a blue colour in the masthead as well as in the main cover line, and an orange like colour for the other cover lines. The same blue colour and font is used for the titles of pages, creating a house style by using that colour and font for the largest writing on each page. For example, for the contents page, the font used is the exact same colour and size as the masthead on the front cover.  This font is also used on the double page spread I have created showing that the font is used throughout.

In the Double Page Spread that I have created, I have used a kicker to explain what the section is about and it also acts as an introduction to what the page is talking about. On the kicker I have used a drop cap, this gives an added importance to that section of the double page spread, and it is an indicator of where to start reading from.

In the contents page I have created, I have separated the usual things you would find in the magazine, for example the interviews and posters, and then the features are in a different section of the contents page. This splits up the usual from the one off making it easier for the audience to read up on what they are going to read. The fact on my contents page that the numbering isn’t in order means that the reader will have to read through the magazine to find out what other content is included.