G321: Foundation Portfolio Learning Objective: To understand what is required for the AS Coursework unit To understand the conventions of magazines and the importance of front covers Foundation Portfolio Magazine Production 2 tasks Preliminary and Main Task Coursework worth 50% of your AS mark Preliminary Task School Magazine, worth 10% of the overall marks for this module and designed to be a practice run for the main task, due in just after Christmas Main Task Music Magazine, Due in just after Easter, submitted for June entry Marked as follows: 20 marks Research and planning 60 marks construction 20 marks - evaluation Preliminary Task School Magazine Front page and contents page To be completed between now and Christmas. Today general introduction to magazines and magazine conventions Purpose of Magazines The purpose of magazines is two fold: To Entertain To Inform Sitting and relaxing whilst leisurely flicking through a magazine is perhaps the greatest pleasure of the medium. The tactile and visual nature of the medium differs form every other medium. Magazines exist to make money. An average magazine consists of 45% advertising with some fashion magazines exceeding 70%. Money is generated from the cover price of course but the primary revenue is generated by advertising. Genre of Magazines How many different genres or types of magazine can you name? Magazines can be classified according to their content, their target audience and their frequency of publication (monthly, weekly). They can also be divided into three broad groups: consumer, business and customer orientated. Consumer magazines are the most popular and have the widest readership. The Magazine Form Whatever the genre and target audience most magazines conform to a set of formal conventions: Have a discernible front cover with main image and masthead etc. Have a contents page. Include adverts. Feature articles. Forms and Conventions in more detail Editorial Style: language style, tone and register. Layout Design: fonts, size, colour, placement of information/image. Photography: composition and framing, subject matter, lighting, representation of model (if used). Advertising: products that are aimed at target audience/consumer. School Magazines What are the conventions of school mags? Content Target Audience Frequency Importance of Front Covers Think about the number of magazines competing for your attention in a large WHSmiths for example. The front cover has to appeal. The magazine front cover performs a crucial role in enticing a reader to the publication. A strong sense of the contents and style of the magazine must be conveyed by their front cover. Magazines aimed at men tend to fall into the all too easy trap of placing a scantily clad women on the front cover as sex sells. ANALYSING MAGAZINE FRONT COVERS Tone and Style: Explain why particular typefaces, types of graphics and other stylistic conventions are used? Sell-lines/Splash/Slogan Explain the purpose and effectiveness of these. Masthead Connotations/ puns of title, font, size and colour. Main Image Use of a model- what kind of representation? How are they posed. No model why not? Target Audience Who do you think the target audience is? How does the reader interact with the magazine? What else appears on the cover? Front Cover Analysis Annotation task: From the magazine front covers annotate- using post its- the key aspects. In what ways does your magazine target its audience? Sell lines: Football and cars; premiership star cars Girls: soapbabes, Abi Titmuss, Junk food: Free fry up offer, Crime: notorious serial killers Language Informal/Sensational Language- soapbabes Form: Larger than A4, imperial Style: Glossy, vibrant primary colours, tabloid. Boxes and banners. Target Audience Male Age: Representation Sexualised Images of femininity-Soap Stars in bikinis, male fantasies. Approachable girls next door Images of iconic footballers, Rooney etc. and their flash motors. Nuts connotations of testicles, the nuts or the bollocks meaning very good! Also nuts a little zany crazy, not serious. Cover photographs Women's mags. The cover photo shot is the key identifier for the whole publication. In womens mags they are often categorised in four ways: The Super smiler- full shot with a model displaying a wide smile. Confident and assertive Invitational mouth tends to be shut with a suggestion of a smile. Mysterious and sexy. Chocolate Box: slightly parted lips with a smile. Emphasis on the beauty of the model. Romantic or Sexual The overt come-on that promise sex and is largely directed at the single male. Task: have a look at some magazines. What kind of front cover model pose are they?