Friday, 30 September 2016

newstand task



The main image is taken at a medium long shot and is very powerful. The body language in the image creates a very classy look, the person has their hands in their pocket and their shoulders put forwarded which shows he is relaxed, but yet has a lot of class and attitude. The costume is also very important, an all-white suite to make it appropriate for college students which is the target audience. It also conveys that you should always dress smart while attending college. The person has a serious type facial expressions and is looking directly at the camera creating focal mode of attention where he is looking directly at the audience. This implies he is serious about the subject college and perhaps the magazine contains some important elements.

The lighting is not natural, the all-white background and soft lighting keeps the magazine formal and simple. The colours that are used is white, red and black and some blue which helps highlight information and at the same time keep it formal.

Thursday, 29 September 2016

Magazine 1






Front Page.

Image(s):

 The magazine involves multiple images and icons. The main image is the image on the right hand of the page of two YouTube stars (Joe and Caspar). The image is taken at a medium long shot angle, however most of their body is covered by text and other small images; this conveys that the stars are important, however there are still other stars who are equally as important.  
The stars are wearing very casual clothing, this implies they are rather humble and not ‘showing off; their expensive accessories as this would be a bad message to their young target audience. Their facial expressions and gesture is also extremely friendly; they are smiling while looking directly at the camera creating focal mode of attention. This makes them extremely likeable and almost creates this bond between the audience and the stars. Their matching outfits creates a youthful look and represents a close relationship between the main icons.

Convention of page layout:
One of the first thing you notice about the magazine is the use of intense, bright colours throughout the whole magazine. There is pink, black, purple, yellow and white. The numerous number of colours conveys the magazine is not very formal and has a very young target audience because these colours appeal to them the most. The colours make the magazine fun and inventive.

The colour pink dominates the front cover of the magazine as it is very upbeat. It creates a cheerful and lively feeling as the pink surrounds the images and many of the titles are in pink. However the over use of pink which is a stereotypical colour for girls could result in less boys purchasing the magazine and only girls purchasing it.

Language:
The language used throughout the front cover is very informal and has a natural tone of writing, words that are very commonly used specially in today's generation such as 'So jokes!'. All the text on the page is scattered around everywhere on the page next to the images. There is no specific structure or layout nor is it organised specifically. This creates a messy look, but yet it is readable. All these features is to allow the young audience to be captured by the magazine in order to buy it.

Genre: 
The genre of the music magazine which is pop is clearly portrayed through the use of certain iconic stars who a younger audience would know such as Ariana Grande who is known for her acting and singing career at a young age. There is typically a balance of male and female artist like this magazine here to convey to both genders equally.

Magazine 2

Image: The main image on this magazine is very powerful.


The black and grey image creates a classical look. It also feels very old school and has subtle colour to it, not completely greyscale. The image is a medium shot of an music artist who is wearing winter type clothing, this links into the winter theme throughout the magazine cover as it uses a lot of white. There is very subtle lighting of white and grey to create a contemporary effect.

 The facial expression of the actor is very intimidating and serious, his eyebrows are crossed and he has a very hard glare at the camera. This could imply the artist is serious about their career and take a lot of pride in it. This is very different from the previous magazine as it had artists that looked very friendly, however this magazine has more of a serious approach as the target audience is much older and more mature.

Layout:
The masthead is at the top left of the page, this is the conventional Q magazine layout. Every single Q magazine that is published will have this logo in red in the same area as it is almost like a signature and represents their company. Throughout the magazine the housestyle of colours includes red, white and black. These contrasting colours have a significant effect, it is not too bold and vivid, but at the same time its very visible keeping the formal design of the text. 

Language: 
The previous magazine used very colloquial language; however the Q magazine used standard English and used appropriate language such as "the greatest triumph", this shows Q magazine has a much more older and a range of target audience in correlate to the previous pop magazine. The mode of address is very factual and serious, it does not have any ironic 'jokes' or non-standard English words and phrases. It uses phrases such as 'I went home with a shotgun' which shows the magazine is ery dramatic and contains violant stories which would not be suitable for young children such as 12 years old.

Genre:
The genre of the Q magazine usually falls in the middle of pop and rocks music. In this certain magazine it seems more like a rock magazine. Firstly, the main musician used, Oasis Liam is a rock artist, therefore reinforces the rock genre. The colours are also daunting and not very vibrant which conveys the idea of very traditional rock where many posters were black and white.Liam Oasis face and clothing also reinforces the genre as he is wearing a coat. Jackets and coats symbolises a rock artist.

Contents page:

























Magazine 1:

Image:
The contents page is filled with multiple images and captions, almost like a collage. Just by flipping one page of the magazine we are already introduced to many actors and celebrities including the junior writer. All the images are highlighted by a bright neon pink colour to allow them to stand out. The images involve famous artists as well as normal people to allow the viewer to feel engaged and feel a sense of belonging. This links into the uses and gratification theory. 


 Layout:
The layout of the page has no specific structure of the contents page, It is called 'What's inside'. On the top left you have a little message for girls from the junior writer, on the top right you have the image of the cover page. You also have a don't miss out page followed by 'top promises to' and lastly on the bottom row you have 'Behind the scenes' with many images and caption. There is a lot going on in the context page to resemble the front cover to show that this magazine is very fun and inventive. This allows the viewers to be attracted straightway and it encourages them to be creative. The imbalance of text and images is also very significant, there is more images than text to allow the viewers to look at the fun images instead of having a lot to read as it is a young audience.
The same housestyle of colours from the front page of the magazine is also being carried out in the contents page to hook the reader in throughout and pressurise them to purchase the magazine.

Language:
The language used in the contents page has a imbalance of informal and formal English. It uses much more informal language than formal. Terms such as '#winning at life'. This is strongly evident that this magazine is aimed at a very young target audience perhaps 10-16. The audience that spend a wide range on time on social media to be able to know what these terms mean. The language on this page sounds as if the writer is directly speaking to you 'we're cheering you up' it sounds direct and in first and second person allowing the reader to feel engaged. The constants words such as 'Do not' being written as 'Don't' allows the conversational magazine to have a natural flow.

Genre:
The genre of the magazine is reinforced by many aspects of the front page. Firstly the iconic celebrity stars who are well known for their pop music such as Rita Ora. Also the page shows a lot of gossip that the articles will cover. This is a typical convention of a pop music magazine.

Magazine 2:

Image:
The contents page uses various images (up to 10 images). This allows the page to be very interactive and amusing, however the images used all involve the artists looking very stern, therefore sill keeping the serious theme. This shows that this does not involve as much gossip, but more thoughtful non-fiction stories.

Layout:
The contents page on the Q magazine uses two whole pages, this shows that there are many stories in the magazine and it is also very important readers take notice in the contents page in order to find out what all the stories are. Both of the pages have a line going down to separate into four sections. Then there’s images going down the pages with captions and page numbers. This page layout is very similar to the previous pop magazine with both the use of text and image. It allows the readers to have a visual image of what they will reading. On the page it has a picture of the artist and name of the artist for example, an image of Sam Smith next to his name ‘Sam Smith’, because sometimes audience’s may know an artist’s name, but not face; vice versa. It also contains a ‘review box’ referencing pack to the page number.

Language:
The language in this magazine takes a completely different turn in comparison to the previous magazine. Words and phrases used in the contents page is very dramatic and intense.  It mentions articles about suffering, insomnia and other matters. This magazine is generally for those who like to read about the sufferings of others and how they overcame them. The full contents page is in formal English, this is perhaps because the audience it is aimed at will not understand certain slang words.  Also it talks about sensitive matters, therefore it would be inappropriate to use certain words which may offend readers.

Genre:
The elements of the solemnity conveys that the audience it is aimed at are mature, perhaps 16-45, as many young children will not be able to understand the complex language used. The previous magazine the purpose was to entertain more than to inform, whereas this magazine is more to inform and less to entertain the audience.

The magazine does use a variety of colours in the contents page compared to the front cover page. However, it is only to highlight the page number of the magazine. This was done to allow the readers to see clearly. The colours, costumes, lighting all represents the genre of the music magazine of pop and rock which is both intertwined in this magazine.


Double page spread




































Magazine 1:


Image(s):
There are multiple images of the star Ariana Grande used. The main image is on the left side of the page taking up a lot of the page showing her superiority and importance.
She is wearing a red dress, and lots of silver jewels, this shows her wealth and elegance she has gained as a result of her great acting and singing career. Her body language is also substantial, she has her hands placed on her hips which shows how prideful she is possibly because of her success. She is also over exasperatingly pouting her lips, this shows her youthfulness and immaturity as she is still young. She also does this on a lot of her pictures, it expresses her individuality. On the other side of the page we have an image of Ariana in the early years of her acting career, yet again hands on hips showing confidence. This is a great message to her young target audience and is very motivational linking to the title ‘Ace it like Ari’.

Layout:

The masthead of the article ‘Ace it like Ari’ is very interesting. The play on words makes it very catchy and helps the audience remember it. Especially because it’s a young audience and they have trouble remembering too much information, therefore it is short and simple. The text boxes are placed along with the images. The text boxes contain very little text which makes it less boring and more fun.

Language:
The language used throughout the article is extremely colloquial. The informal language has been carried out through the front cover, contents page and now the magazine article. This shows that the target audience remains the same throughout the magazine. Words such as ‘know you squad’, only a minority group of society from certain places will be able to understand. An older generation, 25+ may not know what ‘squad’ means. The type of language used allows the reader to feel they are having a one-to-one conversation

Genre:

The genre of the magazine is reinforced by the image of the superstar Ariana Grande who is known for many things, her acting career, music career, fashion trends, beauty tricks and many more. She is admired by both girls and boys very much. She is a huge icon in pop and many compare her to Mariah Carey. The dashing red, pink and black represent her style, which is her outfit and the genre, as many young artists in pop have become extremely popular and have taken over pop. Such as Ariana grande, Justin Bieber and many more.


Magazine 2:



Image:
The image is of Sinead O’Connor who is a ‘vital presence in pop’.
In the whole double page, there is only one image, this conveys the significance of the image as no other images take the attention away from this image. The image itself is very controlling, the female has very strong gestures and expressions. One of her hand is on her face and the other hand on her head. There are multiple tattoos on her arms which may perhaps have significant meaning to her which may link to the subject of the article which is about child abuse.


Layout:
The layout of the page is very simple. The double page is divided in half, on the right hand you have the image that takes the whole A4 page and on the left hand is the story which also uses the whole A4 page. The masthead of the person’s name ‘SINEAD O’CONNOR’ takes more than a quarter of the page. This is perhaps because many audiences may not recognise therefore her name should be clearly visible. The masthead is grey behind a white background which allows a nice subtle contrast and keeps it extremely formal. This links into the subject of the article which covers child abuse. Due to the subject being extremely sentimental, dark colours are used throughout to symbolise the horrors.
The drop capital in the article is very unique, it written in white, however is boxed around in red; this looks similar to the magazine name ‘Q’ as it’s always written in red.

Language:
The magazine has a formal approach to the audience, however there are some inappropriate words used such as “stupid sh*t on my face”. However the publishers of the magazine have not written this, it is the quotes from the person herself. This allows the magazine to still remain very formal.
This also shows the target audience does not involve a young group of people as magazines would not want to expose certain things to the vulnerable young people.

Genre:

The genre of the magazine is presented by many things, although the specific article does not talk about music and it’s more about a personal account of child abuse it does have lots of links to music. The main image and article relates to the serious aspects of music.


Thursday, 22 September 2016






















My name is Fahima Begum and I have chosen to study media as part of my A levels, it is one of my favourite subjects for many reasons. Media gives you many different skills and understanding. For my GCSE's I also did media and out of all my subjects I enjoyed it the most. I did media for three years in school and throughout these three years what i enjoyed the most was the coursework. I also really liked using photoshop and designing many things such as posters and many more.





For my magazine design I have chosen the genre pop. Personally it is one of my most favourite genre of music as well as R&B and rap.
What is pop? Pop is a popular genre of music that originated in the modern form in the western world during the 1950's and 1960's.