Evaluation Question 1

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

To answer this question I have made a video. Click below for it to play. The quality can be improved by clicking the small cog shaped button in the bottom right hand corner and then selecting 720p HD. 

Here is a transcript of what is being said in the video:

In my magazine ‘Siren’ I have included a number of different conventions to make it recognisable as a professional music magazine.

On my front cover I have obscured my masthead in a similar way to both Decibel and Kerrang magazine, the magazine’s that I Researched earlier in my project.

I have also included Screamers, reversed out coverlines and a main sell, as well as a price, issue number and barcode.

On my contents page I have used subheadings to organise the content, I have seen this used in almost all other magazines.

My double page spread include magazine conventions such as drop capitals, pull quotes and columns. I used only one image down the right hand side of the page to match my research into magazine’s like Decibel which had one image down the side of the page.

All of these features set my magazine out as professional looking and realistic.

The genre of music that my magazine represents is metal. To show this in the front cover I have used a dark background, a model with a serious almost angry face. And I used the colour red in places to represent the aggression and anger which is associated with the genre.

However I also wanted to challenge the metal genre. When most people think of metal they conjure up images of tattooed men with beards and motorcycles. Instead of sticking to this stereotype. I only used images of girls throughout my magazine. I also used feminine colour purple in my magazine.  This is because I wanted my magazine to appeal to young female adults who like metal music.  Although I kept more masculine colours such as red and black as these have connotations of power, the women who would read my magazine also like to be seen as powerful.

The fonts that I have used in my magazine interchange between serif and thin to sans serif and bold. The bolder thicker fonts are representative of the metal genre. But I also included some of the serif, thinner fonts because they are more associated with magazines aimed at women.

On my double page spread I have both used and challenged metal magazine conventions. I have replicated the pose in this double page spread by decibel magazine, however I have used females instead of males. I have also replicated the distressed texture in the background and powerful and controversial pull quotes, to show that women are just as good as men in the rock world.