PRELIM TASK- Choice of Photograph

I went against my initial ideas and chose a red printed top instead of a plain black top for my model because I wanted my model to portray a complexed character fraught with pain yet power. I chose a photograph where my model is able to show power in her eyes.

PRELIM TASK- Model's Consent

Here is my model's consent form. She is under 16 hence, her parent/guardian's consent is on there too.

Represenation & Reception Theory

Representation is a key concept in Media Studies. It refers to the 'construction' of media texts; what we see is re-presentation of events, people or ideas. This is also known as mediation.
Representation comes in many forms e.g. radio, newspapers etc. It may seem realistic but is constructed.

Stuart Hall

• People interpret media texts in different ways, depending on their background, economic standings and personal experiences.
• Audience members can play an active role in decoding messages of the text which has been encoded by the producer.

Dominant – The hegemonic response, people share the code and preferred meaning

Negotiated – they accept what the text is saying and adapt it according to their social background

Oppositional – They understand, but reject the message.

• Meaning is established by representation, by what is present, absent or different.
• A representation implicates the audience is creating its meaning.
• Power – through ideology or by stereotyping – tries to fix the meaning of a representation in a ‘preferred meaning’.

PRELIM TASK- Reader's Profile

Grace Millington

Likes: food and parties

Dislikes: dogs and exams

Hobbies: badminton and singing

Favourite Artists: Sia, Rihanna and Adele

My name is Grace and I am 16 years old. I recently started college and I do A-level music, media & business studies. Transition from KS4 to KS5 is so far very stressful, but I've found a way to keep myself relaxed by listening to R&B music. 

My mum is a primary school music teacher, hence I believe music is in my genes. Due to hectic schedules, we both dont get to spend much time with each other but I believe music keeps us connected. Our music styles are totally different; she likes to keep herself calm by listening to soul music whereas I am a typical teenager who loves R&B or Hip-hop. I think this is the main reason why I find the fusion of R&B with soul music amazing; it related to all age groups.

PRELIM TASK- Flat Plan

Here is the initial layout idea for my magazine cover page. Nonetheless, this is just a layout thus I might make some changes to the real magazine cover.

PRELIM TASK- Shot List

Here is a list of shots/angles the model on my magazine could portray. My shot list includes a range of camera angles and shots as well as mise-en-scene. I kept my target audience in mind whilst coming up with these shots/angles.

PRELIM TASK- Initial Ideas

Hey! My name is Alizeh and I am an AS Media student. Recently I have been assigned a preliminary task where I have to make a music magazine cover within two weeks.

Here are my initial magazine cover ideas:

Plan

• I am planning on doing a fusion of R&B with soul music as I believe it is a very rare mixture in today's music industry.
• My target audience is designed for teenagers and young adults. Nevertheless, I am aiming to keep my magazine cover simple and natural which might attract middle and late adults as well.
• I have chosen teenagers as my target audience because I am also a teenager hence, it is easier for me to relate to them.
• I have shortlisted quite a few masthead ideas for my magazine but I am not fully sure which one to finalise yet.

The shortlist of my magazine masthead ideas is as following:

1. Soul Rhythmz- the use of word 'soul' gives this title a unique effect. This
2. Blue Tunes- it is basic and simple. It also links with music (tunes). Because of its simplicity, it stands out and may attract my target audience.
3. Fire Soul Beats- this name represents R&B perfectly as it sounds pretty clear. It can be shortened to FSB to be used for shorter reference.

Layout

• For my feature colours, I am planning to use colours which may enhance the beauty of my model's face features. My plan for the model's clothes is something which is in black colour and does not have any designs on it. The reason why I want to keep it plain black is because I want my audience to focus on the model's face features rather than what outfit she is wearing.
• For the photograph, I plan to take a close-up shot of my model, however this might change in future as I have few other ideas in my mind too.
• As I mentioned earlier as well, I am intending to keep my magazine cover simple therefore I might not add a lot of text on it which can lead to subverted conventions.

Overall, I believe I am quite confident in doing this Prelim Task. Initially, I was slightly scared about how things would turn out because I was not sure about anything, whether it was to do with my masthead or the style of music magazine. However, after talking to last year's students and carrying out some research myself, I now believe I can bring my imaginary magazine cover to life.

PRELIM TASK- Magazine Deconstruction

I have annotated the key features of a music magazine front cover. I personally find this cover very intriguing because of its simplicity and the way its features have been organised.

Journalism

5Ws of Journalism

1. Who is the story about?
2. What is the story about?
3. Where did the story happen?
4. When did the story take place?
5. Why did it happen?

Structure of a News Story

The 5 Ws

Further Details

Quotes

Background

Opinion

Future

Newspaper Front Cover Conventions

1. Masthead- Title of the newspaper 
2. Caption- Brief text underneath an image describing the photograph or graphic
3. Headline- A phrase that summarises the main point of the article
4. Main Image- Dominant picture 
5. Stand First- Block of text that introduces the story
6. Byline- Where the name of the reporter is included
7. Standalone- Picture story that can exist on its own 
8. Splash- The main story
9. Cross-head- Subheadings
10. Plug- Displays promotions, special offers or price of newspapers

Newspaper Front Cover Functions

• attract readers
• reinforce the newspaper's identity through easily recognisable style
• demonstrate the attitude of newspaper clearly