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

2. What are the forms and conventions of a
children’s magazine?
When researching for my coursework, I analysed the covers of three children’s magazines. In doing this, I was able to find out
the forms on conventions of the products, which helped me when I was constructing my own magazine cover. The three
covers I analysed were; The Jacqueline Wilson Magazine, Balamory Magazine, and Hannah Montana.
Here are the analysis’ of the front covers that I have completed:
Please Click Here
Magazine title at Variety of colours –
Price, issue number the top of the appealing to young
and barcode in a magazine. children
corner.
Main image is of a
Key forms and main character(s) in
Variety of fun and conventions of a the programme
cool fonts used. children’s magazine
A selection of
smaller images A free gift or offer,
related to the cover Catchy cover lines again appealing to
lines. young children.

3. How are these conventions used in my
magazine cover?
Magazine name at the top Free Gift, which is a
of the magazine in bright big factor in
colours to appeal to target enticing children.
audience.
Variety of bright,
Selection of fun fonts that and vibrant colours
are appealing and will in unisex colours,
entice young children used to draw in both
genders.
Main image of the main
characters in the programme, Smaller images
so that children recognise relating to the
them, and this will draw them cover line
in.
Barcode, price and
Catchy cover lines that issue date in corner
relate to the characters of magazine
and are fun, therefore
appealing to young
children.

4. What are the forms and conventions of
children’s DVD covers?
When researching for my coursework, I analysed the covers of three children’s DVD’s. In doing this, I was able to find out the
forms on conventions of the products, which helped me when I was constructing my own DVD cover. The three covers I analysed
were; Bernard’s Watch, Balamory and Lizzie McGuire.
Here are the analysis’ of the three DVD covers:
Please Click Here
Simple layout Central Focus
Series Information
DVD title at
the top of
Key forms and
Main image of the the cover
conventions of a
characters children’s DVD cover
Clear and
organised layout DVD and age
Variety of font certification logo
colours and sizes

5. How are these conventions used in my
DVD cover?
Title at the top of the
DVD cover, so it is
immediately
recognised by children Clear and simple
layout, which is
conventional for a DVD
Fun and vibrant cover.
colours used to
appeal to young
children and make the Main image of the
cover stand out. characters so that
children recognise them,
and are drawn in.
Smaller images of the
cast to make the DVD
cover more interesting Series information so
and appealing. parents and children
know which episodes the
DVD includes.
DVD logo and age Variety of font types
certification. and sizes to make the
cover interesting and
appealing

6. How have the forms and conventions
been used in my ancillary tasks?
In my ancillary tasks, I tried to follow as many forms and conventions as possible. The reason I did this, was so that my
products were appealing to my target audience. When comparing my final products to existing magazines and DVD’s, there
are many clear similarities in terms of conventions, for example the main focus of both my magazine and DVD covers is the
image across the front, these are both of the main characters, this ensures that the audience will instantly see, and
recognise them, drawing them into the product . The images show the cast happy and smiling, insinuating that the
programme is fun and friendly. My magazine follows the forms and conventions, as the cover lines are conveniently located
around the main image, and they are written in fun and colourful fonts – this is something that will attract the target
audience and be appealing to them. I also used a variety of bubbles and shapes, as they break up the cover lines more, and
make the overall look of the magazine more interesting and fun. Both my magazine and DVD cover feature a logo – the
programme title, this is so that all the products relate to each other, and the programme can become a recognised brand.
These are placed at the top of the magazine and DVD covers, so that it is the first item visible along the route of the eye, and
it’s bold and stands out. The magazine cover lines are written in a tone suitable for young children, and are all short and to
the point so as not to lose the readers interest. I have included a barcode, issue date and price on the magazine cover to
make the overall design look professional. The DVD cover has an age certification logo, along with the DVD logo and series
information, all following the conventions of typical children’s DVD covers. The DVD cover has also been kept simple,
following the conventions, with the main image and mast head being the focal point.

7. What are the forms and conventions
of a children’s TV opening sequence?
When researching for my coursework, I analysed three opening sequences to children’s TV programmes. In doing this, I was
able to find out the forms on conventions of the products, which helped me when I was constructing my own opening
sequence. The three opening sequences I analysed were; Bernard’s Watch, Balamory and Lizzie McGuire
Here are the analysis’ of the three DVD covers:
Please Click Here
Editing such as
Very little camera movement cuts, fading's
Fast paced editing and wipes
Close up shot of
Key forms and each individual
Theme tune that is conventions of a character
upbeat and catchy – children’s opening
sometimes with lyrics. sequence
Transition
between shots Each character introduced
Bright and vibrant
colours for the individually
logo and any
writing in the
opening sequence

8. Conventions in my final product
Again, in the opening sequence to ‘Run Around’ I follow the forms and conventions , this helps ensure that my product will be successful and appealing to
my target market. The most notable convention that my product follows is that of the stereotypes. You often find in children’s programmes that each
character fits a stereotype, this is so that the younger audience can relate to the characters and gain a better understanding of the programme. In ‘Run
Around’ we’ve chosen to include; sporty, girly, geeky and funny as the four stereotypes. We thought carefully about how each character was introduced
in order for the audience to understand and recognise the personality trait. The sporty character is dressed in typical sportswear and is playing with a
football, the girly character is shown to be applying makeup and posing in a mirror, the geeky character is wearing nerd glasses and studying and the
funny character is shown to be trying to fit into a small box and is laughing
As you can see from the screen shots to the left this it is conventional to use vibrant
titles, and in our opening sequence, the programme title ‘Run Around’ is displayed in a
rainbow font at the end, this will appeal to the target audience as it’s fun and vibrant, and it
also matches up with the rainbow effect that I used on my magazine and DVD cover. The
combination of colourful and fun fonts throughout the opening sequence will keep the
audience members attention, something which is key if you want the product to be
successful.
When we introduced each character, we displayed their name on the screen next to
them, this is so that the target audience knew who each character was and would
remember them. We chose suitable colouring for the names, such as the girly characters
name being written in pink to show femininity, again helping the audience identify with
the character. The fonts we used were fun and childish, but also clear to read – which is
suitable for the young audience. This convention is used in programmes such as Sadie J,
which is shown to the left.
Another convention my product followed, was the limited camera movement, this is important in an opening sequence to children’s programmes as too
much camera movement can confuse young audience members, to ensure the sequence wasn’t ‘boring’ we included panning and zooming, simple
camera movements that make the overall opening sequence more exciting to view. The opening and closing shots of the opening sequence show the
cast members having fun and messing about, this is done to entice the audience in, as they will recognise that the characters are fun and enjoying
themselves, and this will make them want to continue watching the programme. Another convention that my opening sequence follows are the
transitions between each slide and each character, I used a chequered transition between each character, this ensured the sequence flowed and each
character could be distinguished, then between shots of the same character I used a fade, this is so the shots fitted together smoothly. Finally, the audio
to my opening sequence is fun, upbeat and catchy. This is so that the theme tune will be remembered by people that hear it, and also it reflects the
mood of the programme and entices you audience members in.

9. In what ways does your media product use,
develop and challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
When producing my three products; a magazine cover, DVD cover and an opening sequence for ‘Run Around’ I tried to
include as many forms and conventions of real media products as possible. This is to ensure that my products worked well as
a whole, and were appealing to my target audience. All three of my products are fun and exciting, appealing to the target
audience of young children, and grabbing their attention. I did challenge some conventions in the opening sequence, but I
still feel it worked well and the product was successful. For example, the conventional way to film an opening sequence is
with a still camera, however this wasn’t possible for some parts of ours, so we had to film by hand, which is shown by shaky
hand movements in the final product. Also, we chose not to use a theme tune with lyrics, as we felt this would be too
distracting for the target audience, and also it was incredibly difficult to find theme songs that were copyright free, that we
could use for our opening sequence. Overall, I think that my products work well together as they all follow the main
conventions, and compliment each other. The use of vibrant colours and fun fonts are appealing to the target audience and
overall the designs and layouts are very eye-catching.