Claire's AS Media Studies

Sunday 13 May 2012

There have been many alterations to my work due to both the contribution of media teachers and also my own preference and improvement. Mainly, I had to alter my double page spread, as my media teacher pointed out that the content of the article was not as related to music as it could be; instead it diverted from the subject of music slightly, and therefore she recommended that I altered it, as can be seen above. Also, the first drafts of my production pieces consisted of the same photos sometimes, which my media teacher suggested that I took away and captured more photos, and I did so. I also altered my double page spread drastically from it being segregated by two colours, to it being just one colour for the background, as I felt that by doing so it would connect the two pages of the double page spread more, and therefore the target audience would see it as one article instead of segregated pieces of information. Also, I was influenced by the double page spread that I analysed from the pop music magazine 'Top of the Pop's', and therefore decided to place a single image of "Priya" in the centre of the double page spread, taking away other photos that were originally upon it, likewise to the image of "Selena" upon the 'Top of the Pop's' double page spread.

Final Double Page Spread

My double page spread was influenced by many aspects of 'Top of the Pops'. For example, the sentence that introduces the double page spread article in speech marks ("Actually had forgotten what it felt like to just sit infront of the tv with a tub of ice cream!") is similar to the title for the interview included within 'Top of the Pop's' below, and also the idea of celebrities doing normal things (relating to the front cover, the main cover line where it refers to Priya doing "normal things like me and you") This is indicated through the title "I still have to CLEAN my room!", as the celebrity carries out something normal, just like "Priya" within my pop music magazine does. The target audience are likely to be attracted to this as they begin to relate their lifestyle to the lifestyles of their admired artists/celebrities. Priya is located within the centre of the double page spread, and therefore the image goes across both pages; and this is influenced by the double page spread that I analysed from the pop music magazine 'Top of the Pop's', which I have also placed below. The target audience connect both the pages through this; they see the double page spread as connected and therefore are likely to be interested within the full double page spread. There is an introductory paragraph included upon my double page spread, that has been influenced also by the double page spread that I analysed from the pop music magazine 'Top of the Pop's' below. By including this, the audience receive a summary of the content of the article, and it makes them want to read on once they have read it as it highlights the exciting and significant parts of the interview.

"Sam.W" is mentioned within the interview, and this is likely to intrigue the target audience as it incorporates celebrity endorsement within the magazine, and Sam.W has been mentioned previously, which keeps the subject and content connected and with a sense of consistency. The magazine tries to talk to Priya also with a sense of friendliness, in order for the target audience of young females to also feel as though this friendliness is being shared between them and the celebrity "Priya". There is a section segregated from the rest of the article, below the interview with "Priya", and this was partly influenced by the double page spread that I analysed from the pop music magazine 'Top of the Pops' below. This is because, shapes are included as visual tools within the double page spread, and I was influenced also by the front cover that I analysed from the pop music magazine 'Top of the Pop's', as shapes were also included upon this page in order to segregate information, as I have done here.

Interview from 'Top of the Pop's'

Double page spread from 'Top of the Pop's'

Final Contents Page

Learning from 'Top of the Pops', I made sure that my contents page had a title/introductory line to the page that directed the target audience to read the content of the magazine beneath it. This line is "We hope you like what we've lined up for you..." This is effective because the magazine suggests that they have "lined up" something for the audience, and therefore this seems as though they have done something for the members of the target audience. This is appealing, as the audience feel as though they have benefited from the magazine's actions, and therefore will be intrigued to see exactly what they have lined up for them. The "..." included at the end of this title entices the readers to read the content below, as it directs them to it. I have included many images upon my contents page, and they all link to the content of the magazine (the articles listed). This is effective, as visual tools entice a younger audience and allow them to connect what they see with the writing that is displayed upon the page. They are more likely to turn to a page that has been connected with an image; as the magazine implies to the target audience that it is an important/more interesting article as they have highlighted it through connecting it with a visual tool for them.

The articles are influenced by the stories that I read within the 'Top of the Pop's' contents page that I analysed. For example, within the 'Top of the Pop's' contents page, there were sections of the magazine that were highlighted and which consisted of articles relating to the main topic. These topics, particularly; "Shopping", "Celebrities" and "Competitions". To elaborate, I tried to include articles that related to the topic of shopping, such as "Going to a party/barbeque/day out? Ideal accessories + looks", and "Your fave high street shop Facts and figures". Both of these articles are likely to attract the target audience of young females, as it strives to appeal to their lifestyles away from music; their styles, as well as shopping in general. The reference to "Celebrities" throughout my articles; for example, the incorporation of "Sam.W", "Priya" and "Popstars". This is appealing to the target audience as if they read that their favourite artist is included within the magazine's content, then they are likely to read on and want to read this article/information surrounding them/connecting to them. The section of "Competitions" that was found in the contents page of the pop music magazine 'Top of the Pops' when I analysed it is a subject touched upon, upon my contents page, with articles such as; "Sam.W's favourite inspirational story Your chance to win prizes!" and "Capital Competition VIP day at HQ to be won". These competitions entice the target audience as the prizes that are offered to the readers if they win are linking to their interests (pop music), or a celebrity artist is incorporated into the competition which makes it seem appealing.

The main article that relates to the front cover of the magazine is written larger and in a different colour, in contrast to the remaining articles. This is so the target audience recognise almost instantly that this is the main article and it is the one that features upon the front cover; "Ways to make your holiday perfect and how Priya does normal things like me and you..." The colours are consistent; and they seem to go in a pattern and match together, which is beneficial for the target audience as they follow and keep engaged with the content upon the page as a result of this. Alongside each of the images, and the articles are page numbers, and this is effective as the target audience are immediately aware of which page to turn to when they see the visual tool that is an image, or alternatively when reading the title of a specific article. Referring to "Priya" with only her first name indicates how the majority of the target audience will be aware of her as a pop star, and this was an influence from the pop music magazine 'Top of the Pops', when the magazine referred to Selena Gomez as "Selena" upon the front cover. It also emphasises the friendliness of the pop stars that the magazine is trying to convey to the young female audience. I also looked at different contents pages from different genres of magazines, away from music, in order to establish an understanding of the forms and conventions of contents pages, such as the one below:

Final Front Cover

My final front cover follows many of the forms and conventions of a pop music magazine. Firstly, I called my magazine 'Pop', and this is similar to other pop music magazines such as 'Top of the Pops', as this masthead implies straight away that the genre of this magazine is pop music. The target audience trying to be appealed to therefore are more likely to identify the magazine as a pop music magazine as this indication can be found through the masthead. Likewise to 'Top of the Pops', I have included a banner which is a useful section upon this front cover, as the target audience are likely to be attracted to this as it's segregated from the rest of the magazine. Therefore, the information that is located within this banner is likely to be read initially, before the rest of the information is consumed by the target audience. This information that I have placed here reads "WOW! Dance like a popstar with Pop!'s dance move guide!". Firstly, as I have written "WOW!" at the beginning of this sentence, the target audience are likely to be enticed by this word, as it seems exciting and the magazine seems to want to imply to the audience that something fascinating is being offered to them through this magazine. As it is in capital letters and has an exclamation mark after it, this word also may catch the audience's eye at first as not only is it at the top of the front cover in a banner, but it is the left third, which indicates that the audience will see this rapidly.

The sell line beneath the masthead; "We've selected the most exciting, up-to-date pop news around!" is effective as firstly, the magazine states "We've", which allows the target audience to think of the magazine as a set of people who have done something to benefit them; by selecting "...the most exciting, up-to-date pop news around". Moreover, the words "exciting" and "up-to-date" appeal to the reader as "exciting" implies that the news is interesting and will contain information that they are likely to be engaged within, and "up-to-date" suggests that there is current news included within the magazine's content, which is appealing because the young target audience are likely to want to be kept updated by what is going on linking to pop music. The mention of "the most..." implies that it is unique compared to it's competitors (pop music magazines trying to appeal to the same audience), and therefore the target audience are more likely to purchase this magazine compared to those in the same genre, as it contains "...the most exciting, up-to-date pop news around".

The cover line "EXCLUSIVE! Share your inspirational stories with Sam.W", accompanied by an image of "Sam.W", is appealing as firstly, the word "Exclusive" is likely to attract the target audience as it suggests that this magazine contains information which is unique and therefore cannot be found in any other magazine that is in the same genre (competing magazines). The exclamation mark again makes it seem as though the information included within the magazine is exciting, which is appealing as the target audience are likely to want to read something that will interest them and evoke emotion from them. "Share your inspirational stories with Sam.W" seems attractive as it is a form of interactivity that the magazine offers, which means that the target audience may want to purchase this magazine as they are able to interact with the magazine. "Sam.W" is a popstar, and therefore the fact that the target audience have been given an opportunity to "Share" something with a pop star that they are likely to be familiar with, is appealing to them as they are being offered a chance to communicate with this person and therefore they may feel connected to them in some way. This celebrity endorsement is seen upon the front cover of 'Top of the Pops' that I analysed; pop stars such as Selena Gomez, JLS and Little Mix are appealing to the target audience and if they notice their favourite artists placed upon the front cover, they are more likely to want to read the content of the magazine as it connects with them.

The cover line on the left third of the front cover which states "Love Capital FM? Win a VIP day at the radio station's headquarters!" may seem appealing to the target audience of young females as, firstly, among this age group, it is common for people to listen to the radio. The incorporation of the radio station "Capital FM" therefore may seem attractive to these members of the audience as it is familiar to them and they are interested in it. This is similar to the incorporation of the radio station "Radio 1" upon the contents page of the magazine 'Top of the Pop's' that I analysed. Even if members of the target audience do not listen to this radio station in particular, they are likely to listen to the radio in general, or hear it at some point, and as they are interested in pop music, a radio station such as Capital FM that plays this genre of music connects with this interest of theirs, and therefore is likely to be an appealing prize for them. The cover line being on the left third is likely to cause the Capital FM logo that has been incorporated into the cover line to be noticed initially, and this is effective as this logo is a visual tool that a young audience is likely to recognise as this radio station is advertised upon the television and is also popular among this age range.

The cover line "Pop stars visit your school libraries for the annual Readathon!" is appealing to the target audience of young females because it involves them by using language such as "your", and it is also likely to cause them to be intrigued as the magazine suggests that "pop stars" that they admire may visit a library that they use, and therefore they may see the pop stars. The word "your" is in a different colour (maroon), and this emphasises how the magazine is talking to the audience. This can be seen within the other cover lines upon my front cover; words such as "EXCLUSIVE!", "Sam.W", "Up-to-date" and "Plus" are in this colour. These words are important and therefore the magazine will want the audience to recognise these in particular, and it emphasises the message that the particular cover line is trying to convey.

The main cover line; "Priya's 10 ways to make your holiday perfect! Plus! Discover how being a popstar doesn't stop her from doing normal things like you and me..." is appealing as this main cover line links with the main image of Priya, which allows the magazine to seem linked to the audience and they are more likely to be able to access the information about the front cover. The phrase "10 ways..." is appealing to the target audience as, likewise to the magazine 'Top of the Pops' which also incorporate numbers upon the front cover, this may initially catch the target audience's eye as a number indicates that there is a lot of information within the magazine's content. The fact that it is "Priya's" attracts the target audience as this implies that the pop star is providing the target audience with information from herself; and this indicates to the target audience that the information that they are going to read within this magazine if they purchase it, is exclusive and unique compared to it's competitors. The word "Discover" intrigues the target audience as it implies that there is information in the magazine that is worth reading, and information that they did not know of before (as they are going to "discover" this information and therefore learn of it).

The magazine may also succeed in attracting it's target audience as it states that "...being a popstar doesn't stop her from doing normal things like you and me...", which compares the target audience with the popstar and therefore makes it seem as though they are similar in some ways. This may appeal to members of the target audience who idolise Priya, and if they believe that they share a common activity with her, then they form a connection with their admired artist. "2.50" is the price of the magazine, and this seems suitable for a fortnightly magazine (indicated by the date of this issue; "1st-15th June 2012"). The main cover line; "Priya's 10 ways to make your holiday perfect!" links with the time of year, being near to the summer holidays and therefore the time of year whereby holidays will be experienced. This is similar to the magazine 'Kerrang' that I analysed, whereby as it was a issue within February, the special occasion Valentine's Day was mentioned.

Colour scheme

Front cover

Contents page

Double page spread

In order for the colour scheme of my music magazine to be consistent, I selected a certain amount of colours that would take up the background and basic templates for my front cover, contents page and double page spread. I did so by selecting the colours that I wanted firstly for my front cover, and then used these again throughout the rest of my production. The colours were a maroon/purple, purple and light pink/purple. As mentioned before, the reason why my production pieces should have a consistent colour scheme is because a young target audience are more likely to keep engaged within the magazine if the colours are consistent and their eyes are used to what they are seeing before them as they read the whole magazine. In addition, a magazine usually does follow a colour scheme, and I discovered this also when analysing 'Top of the Pops'. I also learnt that the colours used within the magazine usually are colours that the target audience connect to; for example, the colours for my magazine and 'Top of the Pops' seem feminine; colours that a young female audience are likely to prefer and connect with as one is likely to be their favourite colour. This links with what colours such an audience stereotypically find appealing; for a young female audience, presumably they like the colours pink and purple in particular. The use of the colour pink is also evident within the magazine 'Top of the Pops'.