Sub- genre Conventions

Front Page:

• Close up shot of a student looking directly at the camera with a neutral facial expression
• The clothing worn by the celebrities on the covers I looked at was difficult to make out, but I would want my student to wear clothes relating to the indie genre to reinforce my understanding on the conventions
• Plain background - this is done frequently by the magazine front covers I studied, because it connotes high production values
• The name of the magazine is positioned at the top of the page, usually in the left corner
• All of the cover lines are located down one side of the page
• The name of the featured artist is at the bottom of the page in capital letters, usually in a bold colour such as white or black
• The barcode is either positioned at the bottom left or bottom right of the page
• The price, date and issue number are usually located next to the barcode
• The common colours that appeared frequently throughout the front covers I looked at were black, white and red
• The typography is all in capital letters to attract attention and make the cover stand out more
• The fonts used are very basic to give the magazine an older, more sophisticated appearance
• The cover lines don't give too much information about the featured articles, but instead include famous music artist names to appeal to its audience and gain their interest
• The professional lighting suggests that the photos have been taken in a studio. The lighting is used the highlight the celebrities face to show that she is the most important feature. I might experiment with this when I take my own photographs

Contents Page:

• Similar colours used to the front cover, with white typically being used as the background with black text used as a colour contrast
• Structured layout - there is no overlapping of any kind and the different categories have clear lines to divide themselves
• The masthead is positioned at the top of the page, with the name of the magazine in capital letters. The background is usually black with white text to emphasise the text and make it stand out more
• Subheadings are occasionally used in some contents pages but not frequently enough to categorise it as a common convention. If subheadings are used, they use the opposite colours used as the ones used on the contents page. For example, if the contents page has a white background with black text. the subheading caption will have a black background and white text
• There is usually one main image (a close up/medium close up shot) positioned either in the centre of the page or at the centre right of the page
• The date of the magazine is located at the top of the page alongside the masthead

Double Page Spread:

• The main image is either a close up or medium shot of the artist featured on both the cover page and contents page to emphasise familiarity with the audience
• The mise-en-scene is appropriate to the genre of the magazine. This is why I will ensure that my photoshoot follows the common conventions used for indie music magazines. For example, I will make sure the clothing worn by my student is of the indie related nature 
• The same colours are used to follow conventions (black, white and red). This connotes high production values, because it shows professionalism and sophistication
• The text featured in the article is black to show professionalism and to stand out
• A large letter is used at the beginning of the article to give the DPS a more stylish appearance
• The main image usually dominates the DPS so the article isn't the biggest feature. This has maybe been done to make sure the audience are still intrigued with the magazine and don't become disinterested after seeing a lengthy paragraph of text 
• Page numbers are positioned in the conventional places used by every kind of magazine