treatment 1

NAME: Ria Eckhardt-Gordon

AS Media Studies

OCR

TREATMENT

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

My product uses and challenges conventions used in other music magazines. This is shown through the use of technical codes and how my model is being presented towards the audience. After conducting primary research which included market research and conventions of a Hip-Hop magazine as well as conventions used in music magazines in general I was able to identify many similarities such as the use of barcodes and incentives (which I have purposely used in my magazine).

My product conforms to music magazine conventions as it follows a similar layout. This is shown with the use of cover lines on the side panels of my front cover. This is used by many magazine companies in order to distribute small amounts of information about what articles are included in this issue. They’re also normally used to help fill up spaces around the image in order to keep a healthy balance of attention towards the image and text. A good example of this is shown in ‘XXL’ magazine as well as ‘Vibe’ and ‘The Source’. $D:\CONTENTSPAGE\RIA (2).jpg$

Images of other celebrities have been used in order to conform to the layout of other magazines. It also helps to identify what magazine genre my product is.

My magazine also conforms to typical magazine conventions as the image is positioned directly in the middle of the front cover. This is usually done by music magazines and supported with the use of Celebrity Endorsement. Magazine companies do this in order to attract the audience’s attention and expand their target audience to the celebrity’s fans. This also conforms to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as it creates a sense of safety and belonging as the audience feel more comfortable and safer when they can identify a celebrity they’re familiar with.

I also made sure to include a barcode. This is beneficial for financial purposes and makes it clearer for the audience what my product actually is. My slogan ‘The Top UK Magazine for All Things Hip-Hop & R&B shows how popular my magazine is and the success of it.

My magazine has over 500 issues which show that my magazine is successful and exaggerates professionalism in my layout. This cures the audience’s curiosity as it creates a sense of safety which also conforms to The Hierarchy of Needs theory and they’re more likely to purchase my magazine.

My Masthead (title) also conforms to magazine conventions as magazines are used to release news and messages. Regal also sounds like ‘legal’ which subverts against the stereotypes that are linked to the Hip-Hop genre (crime and illegal activities). This conforms to the Hypodermic needle theory as messages are constructed and sometimes manipulated towards the public. The use of incentives ‘ Win Section Boyz Tickets ‘ interests and grabs the audience’s attention.

The use of convergence is key. This shows how up to date and modernised my magazine is.

My colour scheme is also consistent throughout my magazine. I have used the colour red as red is associated with blood and terror. Both of these factors are relevant to stereotypes of the Hip-Hop genre and therefore make it clearer for my audience to identify what magazine genre my product is. This could be a reason why most Hip-Hop magazines such as XXL have a high use of red.

I’ve also used grey and black in order to balance the red in my magazine. Black and Grey are highly associated with men as most media products are made and associated in these colours. Therefore arguably my colour scheme conforms and subverts to Masculinity.

In most magazines, not only music magazines, Women are presented as objects for males. This is done through the use of technical codes such as makeup. In my magazine, my model has a high use of makeup. This can be seen with the use of bright red lipstick (which also supports my colour scheme) and jewerly. Not forgetting the fact that some areas of my body is being exposed to the audience.

It’s also shown through my body language and posture. As my model is stretching it enables curve. This shows that my model conforms to the Male Gaze Theory as my model uses these technical codes, direct address and body language in order to be presented as flirtatious, womanly and attractive for the heterosexual male.

However, the use of black clothing and a baggy oversized shirt allows my model to subvert against the male gaze theory. I have done this to show that during the 90’s (Which is known as the Hip-Hop Legends Era) Women often dressed like men and were able to get away with it. This was done a lot by female Hip-Hop artists.

On the other hand, there are some factors of my magazine which shows that my magazine challenges music conventions. This is shown when comparing my magazine to most of XXL’s magazines articles. XXL is an extremely popular Hip-Hop magazine which was created In New York. It’s most known for working with Rap Legends. However, there magazine does focus around Hip-Hop but in a explicit way. This is done through the content of its articles. This contrasts to my magazine as its most likely to be targeted for an elder audience whereas mine targets those aged 11-20. My magazine is therefore constructed and made suitable and appropriate for the younger audience.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Age – My magazine represents age in many ways. This is represented through the role and image of my model. As my model is young and it’s relatively obvious my model is represented as Independent and confident throughout my magazine. This is a positive representation especially as many stereotypes of young girls and women are that they’re put down by the media and society. This is shown through the fact that my model is more than comfortable to make direct address with the camera as she poses. I also took shots where my model is looking slightly away from the camera and slightly upwards. This could exaggerate her confidence as she could be presented to be evaluating and thinking about her success. This is all shown and presented in my double page spread as she discusses how she ‘dominates the game’.

Race – My model (myself) is from a black background. This could show how the Rap and Hip-Hop industry is mainly dominated by those from a Black background and heritage. This is a positive representation as my magazine challenges the stereotypes that’s mainly associated with the Hip-Hop genre and stereotypes of crime and violence as its not presented in my magazine. This is shown through the fact that my stories are appropriate for any aged audience and my model isn’t shown to be angry or threatening unlike the facial expressions and props used on other Hip-Hop magazines such as XXL.

Gender – Gender in my magazine is presented in numerous ways. In most magazines, not only music magazines, Women are presented as objects for males. This is done through the use of technical codes such as makeup. In my magazine, my model has a high use of makeup. This can be seen with the use of bright red lipstick (which also supports my colour scheme) and jewerly. Not forgetting the fact that some areas of my body is being exposed to the audience.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think the institution that would most effectively distribute my magazine is ‘InterMedia Partners’ as they’ve had success with the distribution of other Hip-Hop magazines such as Vibe. Vibe is now a very popular magazine in the US, Home of my genre. Distributors of magazines such as The Source a hip hop magazine that covers not only hip hop music but politics and culture also which is really good as they’re well known and therefore receive a large amount of publicity

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I have chosen to target my magazine to the age group 11-20. This wide age group enabled me to have a variety of different suitable stories and articles which are presented in my contents page. As shown in the image above my ‘Indya’ fits perfectly in the age bracket. Therefore throughout the production of my magazine I made sure to keep referring back to my audience profile. There are something’s that I have followed and there’s some things I have purposely not followed. An example of something I haven’t followed is her favourite colour. The colour purple had no relation with my genre therefore I wasn’t able to follow this; It would also be less clear for my audience when identifying what genre my magazine is.

I followed the preferred music genre as it had a great link with my result analysis from my questionnaire. Her wants were specifically followed of ‘going to a concert’. This was shown on my front cover and contents page where my audience is given the opportunity to win tickets to wireless.

I have made sure that my magazine is suitable for my age bracket. This is done through suitable articles being included in my magazine and the use of appropriate images.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by making sure that my cover lines and incentives were relatable for my target audience age group. For example I made sure I used Section Boyz on my incentive as I’m familiar with them myself and know that many people in the age bracket know and know many people listen to them.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From the planning of my product I have learnt to be more organised with my work in general. I’ve also learnt the extremely long and effective planning process which distributors and magazines go through before releasing magazines. There’s a lot of thought behind it.

Shooting my pictures for my magazine I was also able to learn about different lighting and refresh my memory on camera angles and shots which I tried to use various types in my magazine.

I have also become more familiar with the use of photoshop and in-design. For example I became comfortable re-constructing, cropping and re-sizing my images with the use of Photoshop.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Referring to my preliminary task I have been able to expand my imagination and design ideas when creating my own magazine. I’ve also been able to learn about different layers and how to operate them. For example on my preliminary task there wasn’t really a balance on the front cover. Most of the image was covered and non- viewable for the public which subverts against conventions of a music magazine. Therefore I made sure for my full product that pretty much all of my image is viewable for the audience. My font on my preliminary task was also too big as I was working with around size 22pt for my text.