Introduction to Preliminary Task

On the 14th of November, my class was introduced to the AS Media Coursework. The preliminary task was to create a school/college magazine/newsletter. In the class we went through a few magazine covers and were given the list of conventions in a magazine:

• Masthead: This is the title of the magazine/newspaper usually placed at the top of the front cover. The main aim of this is so the reader can identify which magazine/newspaper company wrote the articles. Examples of Mastheads are: Entertainment Weekly, Empire Magazine, The Daily Mail, The Sun.

• Publication: A printed text that has been published. The magazine/newspaper is a publication as it has a collection of articles written.

• Flat plan:  A page plan that shows where the images and text will be laid. Editors of a magazine will have a flat plan to have a sense of understanding. Flat plans are useful for they allow editors to section certain thematic articles in an area.

• The ‘hook’: The hook is a phrase which attracts the readers attention. They can either be the headline or the small tagline. The hook is aims to instigate a feeling in the reader whether that causes the reader to be curious, happy or angry. Examples of 'hooks' are 'The End Is Nigh!' - Empire Magazine, May 2016, X-Men: Apocalypse X-Clusive Cover Edition; 'Ben Affleck UNMASKED: Why he's out for revenge?' - Loaded Magazine, January 2015, Heroes Issue

• Buttons: Buttons are small phrases with a shaped background. These help stand out to relay significant information to the reader. Examples of Buttons are 'Meet Harley Quinn' - Empire Magazine, December 2015, Suicide Squad Cover Edition; 'THE GRANDEST ADVENTURE WE WILL EVER SEE ON FILM' - Empire Magazine, November 2014, Interstellar Cover

• Plugs/Teasers:  Teasers are short phrases on the front cover of a newspaper/magazine to tempt readers to buy the publication. Teasers are there to tempt readers into other stories within the magazine. Examples of teasers are 'An engagement to remember and a marriage to forget' - Vanity Fair Magazine, February 2016, Megyn Kelly Cover; 'Ben Affleck: Revenge of the Babysitter' (Translated) Vanity Fair Magazine, September 2015, Johnny Depp Italy Cover

• Typography: Typography is the typeface or font used in print text. Alternate fonts attract readers attention because having the same font on the page doesn't strike out well to viewers.

• Skyline: The Skyline is extra bits of news placed at the top or 'skyline' of the magazine. Skyline are usually the first convention that the reader will see when picking up the magazine to read.

In class we first listed the conventions of a few magazines of our choices, to help us to understand each convention and its purpose.

In the magazine I listed the conventions and explained their purpose to the reader.

During the lesson we were also introduced to the main task which was to create a four page music magazine of any genre music. When making my music magazine, I must think about the conventions listed above in order to attain the highest marks.