Textual Analysis

This canva summarises the textual analysis that I have done, which includes annotating, making a goanimate and creating a video on final cut.

GoAnimate- Uses and Gratifications

This Goanimate looks at the aspects of the Uses and Gratifications theory. I used goanimate because it is a fun, visual way of displaying my work. The reason for doing this task was to learn about the theory and research it in detail, before putting it in my own words in a way that I understand it.

What have I learnt from this task?

• The four reasons people use the media
• What people get out of the media, why they use it and what they get out of it
• How the media hits all aspects of our lives
• Who the theorists are and the work they have done

Weather Report

Why I did this task
I did this task in order to grapple with key conventions used in a double page spread. I used a spread from Billboard magazine, as this will be similar to my magazine's target audience and it is the same genre (pop). the format of this task is a weather report downloaded as a YouTube video. A weather report is much more interactive than notes/annotations, and it is visual too. I was able to literally pin point key things the magazine did in order to effectively appeal to the target audience. Some of my editing isn't perfect, but this is okay, as I am still learning and developing my final cut skills. It helps me to see how I can improve.

How it will help me with my research
There were several key things I must remember when creating my double page spread that I have pointed out in the video. This spread allowed me to take inspiration for my own.

• Visual arrangement of the title, the way position and structure can convey an idea/message.
• Posture and type of shot of main image e.g close up/long shot/sitting/standing.
• Colours of background- plain/colourful/bleak/dark/light etc.
• Whether I want a caption box.
• Text- Use of positive/negative language and what effect I want to create.
• Capital letters/bold typography.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Why I did this task
The reason I did this task was to find out why people read magazines, and what they get out of it. This task related to the uses and gratifications theory. I used a video format because it is visual and easy to analyse. Although I asked the people in my video similar questions, I also used a few different ones to give a wider variety. A few questions were added in in order to make them expand on points they had already mentioned.
Analysis of Results

• Alice- she said she likes the gossip, pictures and news involved. This shows that she reads magazines to indulge in lives of celebrities, which is part of 'escaping' day to day life. With regards to the front cover, she said that the front cover attracts her because it's big and red. This shows me that when I make my magazine, I should use a bright, bold title as it is eye catching. She said that part of the reason she reads magazines is that they entertain her, she can sometimes use them to relate to her every day life. This shows that I should make my magazine fun and entertaining and use words such as 'you' to make the reader feel as if they can relate to it. In terms of distinguishing genre, Alice said that the name is very useful to her, as it instantly shows it is a music magazine. When I make my magazine, I must ensure that the front cover conveys the magazines content. The use of the word 'pop' for a pop magazine is very effective because it is literal and very easy to understand.
• Bailey- he said he reads magazines to escape from his surroundings. He said he likes engaging with stars that he looks up to, which shows he uses magazines for inspiration. This means that my magazine should be full of interviews and facts about pop celebrities. He said that one of the main things that entertains him are the photographs. This shows me that my magazine should be packed with good quality photos on each page, as sometimes photos stand out more than text does. Bailey thought that each genre has a vibe which enables the audience to distinguish genre. This is partly due to fashion and physical clothing, but also due to the tone. When I make my magazine, I want it to have a positive, happy feel. I could do this with use of colour, style and images. He thought it was very important that the font and typography is bold. When I make my magazine, I am going to ensure that the headline, along with key information is bold and legible. This enables the reader to read it quickly as it is large and clear. He thought that the main image of Duran Duran represented genre clearly. This shows me that my main image should be an artist/band which is relevant in the pop genre.
• Becky- she said that she doesn't regularly read music magazines. This is an area that I could focus on improving with my magazine. I should ensure that each edition links to the last, which will encourage readers to want to buy the next edition. For example, I could give a teaser of what's in the next edition. She said she likes finding out about concerts, and up and coming artists. Because my magazine is pop, I could have a feature on the front cover about upcoming concerts and gigs, as this appeals to fans who want to actively engage with pop artists. Becky said that she thinks education is a big part of magazines, especially for young people who aspire to get into the music industry. When she looked t the front cover, she specifically liked the way the main band were making eye contact with the consumer. This is something I could consider doing with my main image, it is intense and draws the consumer in. She said that one of the main reasons she USES magazines is for the information given as well as for escapism and entertainment. Like Alice, she thought that the name of the magazine was important because it helps the consumer identify genre. Another thing she thought matters is having a legible font and typography.

How this task has helped my research
I now know there are certain areas mentioned by all three interviewees that I must focus on in order to convey the ideas of my magazine effectively. These areas are stated below:

•  Having a legible font/typography
• A name which conveys the genre
• An eye catching main image
• My magazine must be entertaining, but should have elements of education/information.

Contents page analysis

From analysing this contents page, I have made the following conclusion about the conventions of a contents page:

• Images- the photographs help to reinforce the front cover as well as adding a visual appeal to the page. The many different pictures show the variety of pop artists that the magazine features. The picture are framed- this rigid structure shows how organised the magazine is. When I make my own magazine I may also keep my photos in an organised structure in boxes or frames, or I may leave them disarranged and random.
• Typography, features and text- when I make my magazine I must remember that text provides a function and purpose, not an aesthetic appeal. This means that I must ensure all page numbers refer to the right pages, and text appeals to the target audience. The font is clear, and the typography is legible and the black contrasts well with the white background. The main text is all at the bottom half of the page- this makes it easier for the reader to locate the text easily; it's accessible. When I create my magazine, the text must all be the same size and font so that each feature can be easily distinguished. The font is not too elaborate but it engages with the audience because it is bold and capitalised which portrays importance.
• Social media icons- these are small logos at the bottom of the page which refer to Instagram, twitter and Facebook. This helps to promote the magazine by readers liking and following 'Classic Pop's social media pages. This comes up on other people's feeds, which is good because more people know about it which increases awareness and readership. It also means that the reader (if they follow the social media pages) can gain access to extra information which is not in the magazine itself. This makes them feel exclusive and connected to the magazine. When making my magazine, I will consider doing the same, especially because my target audience is young people who are the biggest users of social media.
• Magazine name and main title- the main title is 'contents', written in a large, white font. It is unconventionally written sideways. Because it is unusual it adds interest and personality to the page, which helps to visually draw the reader in. The red box underneath is creates a colour contrast and gives the magazine a brand identity.

Conclusion

The reason I analysed this contents page was because it is a pop magazine, which will be similar to my own. It helped me to gain ideas and inspiration, as well as to see how the magazine creates it's own sense of identity and how it draws the reader in.

Double page spread analysis

Front Cover Analysis

From analysing this magazine front cover, I have learnt the forms and conventions used to attract and address the target audience. I have made the following conclusions:

• Photography- eye contact engages the audience and costume also has an effect on the message given to the audience- In this magazine front cover the band who are the main image are wearing black leather which gives them a harsh, intimidating, edgy look. The image is also clearly a layer above most other features, making it more 3D and noticeable. When I make my magazine, I will ensure that the main image stands out because they are the most important. this magazine has also given them a border to illuminate them further.
• Masthead- the red box surrounding 'classic' is red, which is bright, colourful and eye catching. the white of the text contrasts with the red background, making it stand out even more. When I make my magazine I must ensure that the masthead stands out because it is what people need to remember if they want to buy the magazine again. It also gives the magazine a brand identity, which should be unique and authentic.
• Colour scheme and font- the colour scheme is consistent throughout, it is red blue and white which makes it easier for the reader to focus on the page. The font is large, wide and easy to read, making it accessible to the audience. When I make my magazine, the font and typography must be clear and legible.

Summary

Summary explaining what I have found out about the genre what sub genre/angle I will take based on the research I have done and whether there a particular gap in the market that I will plan to fill:

While doing my research, I have learnt the importance of having a clear genre. Having a genre helps to make the target audience more specific. For example, a classical magazine would have the target audience of older adults, as this appeals to them, whereas a rock magazine may appeal to those over 16 only as it is harsh and aggressive. The style/connotations of the genre help the audience to distinguish what the magazine is. A heavy metal may use specific colours, such black and grey.

Iconography is another topic that I looked at within my research. Making a mind map of the iconography of different genres shows me the associations/connotations/symbols given to specific genres. An example of this is the tongue icon given to the rolling stones. If in my magazine I wanted to evoke a rock theme, I might use specific images which are striking/edgy.

 During my research, I have found lots of information about the pop genre. Firstly, I looked at the differences between pop magazines in the pop and niche market. The differences were with regards to look/style, content, and audience/purpose. All of these things resulted in different circulations. Magazines of the pop genre are always mass magazines- this is because pop is widespread and enjoyed by many- it isn't niche (smaller, but specific). This shows me that my pop magazine must appeal to the mass market. A good way of me doing this is to make my magazines content as broad as possible- I could include sub genres, such as pop-rock, country pop and indie pop. This appeals therefore not just to the pop market, but also to the indie and country fans. Making the magazine less specific helps to widen my target audience, allowing for more people to engage with my magazine. A good way of doing this, especially with the front cover is to have the main image of a very relevant pop star, for example Taylor Swift, but have smaller images of The Fray, The script, etc who are pop-rock.

From my earlier research, I am aware that there are many different pop magazines. These include Q, Blender, Billboard and Classic Pop. Many of these appeal to young people/adults. There are less magazines for young people. In the UK there is only a few including Top Of The Pops and we <3 pop. I think that this is a gap in the market, and maybe an angle which I would like to take.  I would like to give an innovative approach to a magazine for young people. If I chose this as a target audience, I would also ensure to change the layout. Most children's magazine covers are very busy, which is quite visually confusing. I would give it a sophisticated approach while tailoring the content to meet the needs of young people.

Another idea which I could consider (if I chose a young target audience) is that while Top Of The Pops (which is aimed at kids) gives relevant information about the lives of celebrities, it does not inform or educate young people about the music industry itself. For people who only want to indulge in the extravagant lives of celebrities, this is satisfying. For other kids, who actually want to learn about how music is produced, it is not. I  think this is a big gap in the magazine industry which I might be able to fill. While focusing on pop stars, I could have a small feature on the production of music videos, or even behind the scenes. A feature article could be something such as 'Vevo producer talks about the video behind Taylor's new hit 'Wildest Dreams''. I could maybe even do an insight into how new talent has been scouted, to appeal to young aspiring musicians. This way, the magazine may even appeal to music departments in schools.

Pop Magazine Wordle

In this task, I was asked to research into the names of, magazines in order to give me ideas for my own magazine. I looked into the names of pop genre magazines, as this is what I will be doing. It gave me ideas of names I could use and how they represent the content magazine- for example, a 'Billboard' is a way of showing an idea. I used Wordle for this task. This is because it is a great way of showing common words used for magazine names. The more common words are shown big. The word 'pop' is huge, because many of the magazines have the word pop in their name. Wordle is also a creative way of showing my research findings- it's colourful and formatted neatly.

What have I found from my research?

From my research, I have collected the following findings:

• Meaning of Magazine names- from my research I now know the reason that most pop magazines use the word 'pop' in their name. They do it to literally convey what genre the magazine aims its content at. This makes it easier for the target audience if they set out to buy a pop magazine, as it stands out from other music magazines which have sub- genres. There is no confusion over whether it is just a general music magazine, it's genre is clear. The names are very representative of the sub genres as well. We get the impression that mixmag features not just pop music but also dance/DJ music as it sounds like a mix/mashup of music- demonstated by DJS. Classic Pop suggests more classical pop music, and it maybe focuses on some older music/artists throughout the decades.
• Sound- some of the words actually sound like music. For example, Vibe magazine. This musical sound adds to the effect of the magazine as a whole. The names 'Express' and 'weekly' in magazine names make the audience think of a newspaper, which possibly connotes a more news-based approach to a magazine. Perhaps it is more factual and informative than gossipy.
• Length- many of the names are short. This is to put emphasis on them, and to make it flow easily. For example, Paste, Vibe and Spin are all one syllable. It's easy to say, and its catchy. However, the magazines targeted at you kids are longer, such as Top Of The Pops and We <3 Pop. This is done as for young children, it is harder to distinguish genre. Longer names act as a basic explanation for kids who are trying to choose a magazine.

How will this help me with my magazine?

For my magazine, if i want to target my magazine at young children, I might use the word pop in the name, to create a literal explanation of the genre. To create a musical/auditory effect. I could use words such as 'smash', 'bang', 'boom' etc. These words instantly create a musical image in the readers mind. I will use a short name, to make it catchy and make it flow.

Genre Mood Board Video

Explanation
I created this video to try and show different aspects of pop genre. I wanted to show the artists, the fans, the logos and locations. The format was a video mood board. It was very visual, and allowed me to categorise the different aspects. I was able to use special effects to show where each category started. I used final Cut Pro to create this video, as it was the most appropriate software. I wanted to visually show the pop conventions.

For example, I was able to see the similarities between the appearance of pop artists. Many are very striking- coloured hair is a big future as well as harsh, bold make up. Their clothing of women artists was often minimum or provocative. This is helpful to me, as my model for my front cover will need to be dressed appropriately to fit the genre. The male artists generally had piercings and wore heavy jewellery and sunglasses or hats. The fans were often pictured taken selfies, which is something I could possibly show- for example a competition to get the best celebrity selfie. The locations, generally arenas or stadiums were very extravagant and busy, and used bright lights and colours. In terms of logos, they were either hand written (to give an authentic look) or used images (for example the rolling stones). I also now know more about the genre than I did before.
better under genre.

I am now more aware of iconography as I have seen it from a  more practical point of view. Making the video required me to think about logos and pop associations. I also had tot think about key people in the pop industry, as I had to research current artists. The popular artists are the ones which have the most news/gossip/rumours associated with them. This is appeals to the target audience and is something I should think about with my magazine- the more relevant the artist, the more appeal there is to the target audience. However, I may also want to think about key people who aren't necessarily as obvious- this enables me to compete with other magazines (if my content is the same as say Billboards, it makes it harder whereas if mine is more distinct and individual, it stands out).

Emaze

The reason I have created this emaze is to state and look into my chosen genre, which is pop. I researched into its history and development, look at some of the key artists and current magazines. I have also chosen to look at fans of this genre, and what how I must consider their needs when creating my magazine. I have researched into the history and development to get an understanding of its origins and how it has developed over time, due to technology and evolution of the music itself. My reason for looking at artists of the genres is to establish how they made it into the industry and what makes them unique. I did this to get good ideas for the front covers- the feature labels and subtitles. Finding out what magazines are already out there helped me for two reasons. Firstly, I am now aware of the content, style and focus of a pop music magazine, and secondly I am aware of what shouldn't already be copied.

powtoon

The reason I did this PowToon to look at the differences between mass and niche magazine. I wanted to see the conventions used by both, how they compared and what was different. To do this, I looked at style, content, audience and circulation. For my mass magazine, I chose billboard as it is read widely by Americans and is considered one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. As my niche magazine, I chose Rock Sound magazine. Because it is rock genre, it seems appropriate for my niche research. In terms of look/style I have learnt that although the images used are striking, they have a very different tone- Rock Sound's reflects the dark, aggressive genre of the music, whereas Billboard's. The images used are more serious compared to Billboards- the artists look very distinct and unconventional. I have also learnt that in terms of advertising, the clothes that Rock Sound are advertising are very distinct and unique, whereas Billboard's fashion feature is more mainstream and conventional. There is a clear difference between the circulations in both. However, I am not surprised that more people read Billboard, because it appeals to a wider audience. Rock Sound's audience is much more specific- Rock is not broad like pop. This research helped to show me what conventions I would need to conform with in order to fit the mass/niche magazine genres.

Iconography mindmap

Brief analysis of music magazines prezie

This prezi was a way of me presenting my research on the history, target audience and front cover of different music magazines. It taught my why each magazine was started, and when. I was then able to compare which magazines have been in circulation for longest and which are relatively new to the market. For example, BBC music magazine was first published in 1992, whereas Rock sound magazine began in 1999 (7 years later). However, BBC magazine is very broad, whereas Rock sound is more specific to Rock music. This shows that there has maybe only been a recent need for magazines of a more divergent, unconventional genre e.g. heavy metal, emo, R&B.
I have also learnt that different target audiences require different content. For example, rock sound includes more concert/gig/tour information as well as interviews, whereas Top Of The Pops focuses on celebrity gossip and advice. The different genres use different conventions for the front covers to catch the eyes of different target audiences/demographics. For example the BBC magazine refers to specific classical music artists, which are known t the target audience, but not by others. Top Of The Pops uses bright girly colours, and an informal mode of address.

Quizlet on music magazine's institutions

I have created this Quizlet to teach myself about the publishers of music magazines- when they were founded, what they do and their history. It also taught me that some magazines have the same publishers, for example Q magazine and Kerrang! magazine have the same publisher- Bauer. This is interesting, as they are different genres, which shows that one publisher can publish multiple music magazines, for different purposes/genres. I also learnt that some institutions are family run/founded, and some were founded by one individual e.g. Wenner Media LLC was founded by Jan Wenner and Bauer was founded by Rudolph Bauer and is still run by the Bauer family. I also learnt that the institution can have an influence over the content. For example, the Rolling stones magazine focused on music, while it also had a political approach, which is why the founder created a Bureau. I also learnt that some publishers publish many other magazines/forms of media, while others publish just a few. For example, Bauer only publishes multiple magazines, while Prometheus Global Media only publishes on other magazine- the hollywood reporter.

Here I have uploaded a wordle of different music magazine names. This will be useful to me because I have learnt the naming conventions of magazines, and how they differ depending on the genre, and the target audience. For example, one of the pop magazines is called billboard. This is because it connotes the idea of a pop celebrity on a billboard poster promoting their new album. However, the children's magazine 'top of the pops', has a more literal name to appeal to the more basic understanding that children have. It literally features top of the pop charts artists. 

On the other hand, vibe magazine is read predominately by young people, who use the word 'vibe' to describe the atmosphere between groups of people/given situations. In music, a vibe is any musical aspect or quality indicative of a genre. Harsher names, such as Kerrang! and blaze have been used for magazines of a slightly more aggressive genre such as punk or rock.This research has also shown me the breadth of magazines available in the music industry, for example the many different genres available, such as pop, classical, hip-hop, punk, history of music, indie etc. 

I have also been able to see why specific names have been chosen to fit specific genres and how this is effective. For example, blended magazine sounds as if it features a 'blended' variety of different genres, which it does. It's clever, because the topic of the content can be implied from the name alone. From my research, I now know that when I choose a name for my magazine, it must be relevant to the genre, target audience and content. I also know what names are already out there, and how I could use them as a guide. For example, if I wanted to do a pop magazine, I would look at the names of different pop magazines, and how the names were relevant to the top and genre.

Course Intro

My coursework
For my coursework, which is 50% of my AS level, I understand that i have to: research and plan into similar products and target audiences. I will be marked on layouts, drafting, scripting and storyboarding. This will count as a third of my coursework. I will then demonstrate this knowledge in the production process. Here I will have t make a magazine front cover and a double paged spread. I will be marked on using a variety of shot distances and how I include and exclude elements as appropriate. I will also have to think about lighting, objects and setting, as well as manipulation of photographs and integrating illustration and text. Lastly, I will have to evaluate my work. This will be based on my choices made throughout production, and what went well and what could have gone better. Here I will need to display my ability to communicate.

What is a magazine?
The world magazine originated from the french word 'magasin'- meaning storehouse. We use the word magazine because magazines are like storehouses of information.  The first magazine was the 'gentleman's magazine of London'. It was first published in 1731. Magazine's differentiate from newspapers because they are thicker, glossier, less frequent and don't break news stories. Different genres mean that there is audience fragmentation and publishing costs are low. Front covers are used to create an identity and differentiates from competitors. It helps to make the genre clear to the audience, which is done by using colour, imagery and text.