Double Page Spread Feedback

After we finished making our double page spread, everyone in the class gave each other feedback. It gave me an idea of what worked and what didn't and what I could have improved to help me in the future. This is the feedback that I received:

Contents Page Feedback

After we finished making our contents page, everyone in the class gave each other peer feedback. It gave me an idea of what worked and what didn't and what I could have improved to help me in the future. This is the feedback that I received from the class:

My Inspirational Text For My Contents Page

This is my inspirational text, I tried to make my contents look really similar to this Kerrang! contents page as it is similar to what my magazine is like. After completing my survey I knew that Kerrang! was the most popular Rock music magazine with my target audience so I knew a popular layout would go down well with my target audience of teenagers. I put the masthead in the top right third like the Kerrang! cover. I also used the same colour pallet of black and yellow as it fit with the genre really well and the colours were really bold so stood out, I also used some red and whites too as these made text look really good and stood out too. I placed the puff in the bottom right third like Kerrang! too as it looked really good here and I wanted to try an copy the layout as well as I could. I made the editors note in the top left third and the essential info in the top right third just below the masthead too. I made the layout similar too as I put the articles in a grid type style and also made it messy too as my target audience like this style.

Double Page Spread Draft

So your last album went incredibly well as it was named album of the summer by BBC Radio 1, how did that feel for you considering it was your debut album?

It was a surreal feeling, I couldn't believe it when I found out...I feel so lucky to have so much support from the very beginning of my career!

Are you hoping to have just as much success this time round too?

I would love to but I am just completely grateful with all the luck I have right now so I couldn't be happier right now.

The album is due for release on the 16th December so are you hoping to do well in this years Christmas charts?

A Christmas number 1 would be the highlight of any artists career but to get a Christmas number 1 nowadays you have to be this years x factor winner.

That’s not true..Rage Against The Machine won the Christmas mas number 1 a couple years back!

That is true but they are such a legendary band I don’t stand a chance haha!

Well I think you have quite the chance! So my next question is why is your next album called “16”?is your next album called “16”?

Basically it’s all about my past year and what I've gone through and this is basically anything through my music journey, family matters and relationships and it’s called 16 because that’s how old I've been for the majority of this past year so thought it was an ideal name really. I've been for the majority of this past year so thought it was an ideal name really.

You say it’s about family and relationships so is this album a lot more personal this time round?

Yeah definitley! This album is a lot more personal. I’ve went through a lot this year and lost a lot of people so this album is basically describing how I feel after the events that has happened to me this year.

Has becoming a musician really changed your day to day life? Is it too difficult to do some things now?

Well my life has definitely changed but more for the better, it is a bit difficult to go out with my friends now but apart from that it’s not much different, I used to study music at Gateshead College before I got my big break so I’m used to writing and playing music daily anyway so in a lot of aspects my life is just as similar as it was.

So this album is going to be a lot more deep compared to the last album which was quite upbeat so are you worried it’s going to be too much of a different style to what your fans like or are used to?

Not at all, all musicians show variation in their work at some point in their career and it tends to go down really well usually so I think my fans will like the change.

Yeah I’m sure you fans are going to be nehind you the whole way, they kept you at the top of the charts for six weeks running this summer, how did that feel?

It was the most overwhelming feeling when that happened. I remember  I was out with my friends when I got a call from the charts company and I couldn’t have been with a better bunch of people to celebrate with! I was so happy but very confused at the same time!

You say you spent a long time writing our first album, has this second one been rushed compared to the first one?

Not so mush rushed I‘ve just learnt how to write music a lot quicker as I am more experienced and I’ve had more help this time round too.  It isn’t as perfected as last time but I only spent a long time perfecting it as I wanted ti get it just right and create a really good first impression.There was such a high demand for a second album so I felt quite under pressure to write and release it as soon as possible really.

So does that mean you will be having a much longer rest this time round?

Yeah I’ll be having a break over Christmas but then I’m touring in March so I can only have a couple months break before I need to start rehearsals but I love touring so much so I really don’t mind. I’ll have a little break and might even get abroad in between then and the summer because I ‘m playing a lot of festivals in the summer which I’m really looking forward to.

Antonia’s highly anticipated follow up album will be on sale 16th dec and details of her tour dates can be found on the other page. Check her website and twitter for more details and the latest news!

My Inspirational Text For My Double Page Spread

This is my inspirational text for my double page spread, it is from NME. I really liked it because I liked how the image takes up a whole side of this double page spread and the image really stands out and really attracts the reader. I wanted to try and create a similar look to my magazine with the image really dominating the article and drawing the reader in. I also really liked the font used for the pull quote so I used a similar font for the article masthead saying the artist's name. I also made sure my pull quote really stood out so I used black text on a white background the same as here which works really well and draws your eyes to it straight away.I set the article up in a similar way too with the columns and capitalized the first letter of the article too to make it look really professional.I was really happy with how my double page spread turned out and I think I applied lots of similar themes of this inspirational text to my work.

My Inspirational Text For My Front Cover

This is a front cover of Kerrang! I made my front cover look as much as this as possible as it is a similar style to what I wanted and is the same genre of music magazine. I've stuck to the same colour scheme of red , black and yellow as these are really bold colours and fit really with the theme of this genre. I put the masthead in the top third the same as the inspirational text. The puff is also placed in the top right third and along the top which is where it's found on similar rock magazines. I also put the layout of articles and images in a similar messy but neat layout the same as other popular rock magazines as the target audience like this style. The mode of address is direct to draw the attention of the reader in and this is what it is on the Kerrang! cover and it works really well.The extra info along the bottom third is in the same position and looks really similar to the one on the Kerrang! cover. I have tried to copy the themes and ideas of the inspirational text as well as I could as I knew it is really popular with my target audience.

November Time Management Update

In this month I didn't get loads done. I spent it trying to research into my genre a lot more to try and understand it a lot better and to try and identify what sub genres would work with my magazine the best after carrying out my audience research on current bands they like and after also looking at which bands are most popular in rock music magazines too. I also collected a lot of gig images and edited them so they were ready to use for my magazine as well. I got the following done:
- Carried out sub-genre research.
- Gathered up and edited concert images that I took.
- Analysed my target audience survey results again to check I didn't miss any important information.

Next month I need to get a little more work done so I want to start actually constructing my magazine. I need to decide on a final colour scheme, font styles and colours as well as deciding what final images to use as well.

Front Cover Feedback

After we finished making our front covers, everyone in the class gave each other feedback. It gave me an idea of what worked and what didn't and what I could have improved to help me in the future. This is the feedback that I received:

Researching My Sub Genre Further

Now I understand exactly what I can include in my magazine I need to look at popular, current music magazines to see who their target audience like being featured; this will give me ideas of who to write an article about. I googled what the most popular artists where in NME, Kerrang! and Rocksound, as they are my inspirational texts and here is the the top ten list for each magazine:

Kerrang                                               NME                               Rocksound

All Time Low                              Arctic Monkeys                        Green Day
You Me At Six                            Biffy Clyro                               Blink-182
Bring Me The Horizon                 The Strokes                              All Time Low
My Chemical Romance                Arcade Fire                               Nirvana                          
Biffy Clyro                                 Nirvana                                     Pierce The Veil
Nirvana                                      Foo Fighters                              Bring Me The Horizon
Green Day                                 Paramore                                   You Me At Six
Foo Fighters                               Kings Of Leon                           Paramore
Pierce The Veil                          Red Hot Chilli Peppers                Foo Fighters
Paramore                                   Kasabian                                   Biffy Clyro


I noticed that a lot of the same bands come up in all three magazines, they include; Biffy Clyro, Foo Fighters, Paramore and Nirvana. This has gave me the idea of who I should write about for my double page spread or include on my contents page as these four bands are clearly really popular with my target audience. Other bands such as Green Day, All Time Low, You Me At Six, Pierce The Veil and Bring Me The Horizon all came up in two out of three of the magzines too so these bands would be good to write about too.

Concert Pictures

For my magazine I want to include some pictures on my front cover and contents page of live shows and they need to be original so they can only be pictures that I have took from live shows so these are the images I am using. I can use live pictures of bands such as Biffy Clyro, Green Day, All Time Low, Bring Me The Horizon etc. I have decided that it would be a good idea to include live gig photos as I found out that my target audience like going to gigs as hobbies, it's actually the most popular hobby within the target audience I surveyed so including gig pictures would be very appealing to them and they would probably enjoy looking at the photos. I have included these particular photos as they fit with the genre and are popular bands within this genre and also have included pictures of Leeds Festival because it was a very popular festival in my target audience survey.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/114813395@N04/

October Time Management Update

In this month I have managed to actually get more done than I planned. I initially wanted to focus on trying to build my understanding of my magazine up a lot more by looking into inspirational texts and also trying to complete my deconstructions but this month I have got the following done:
- Finished my contents page and double page spread deconstructions.
- Planned my photoshoot by setting a location (location scouting), emailing, messaging and texting models with a time, date and information on what to wear.
- Taking and editing my final images.
- Researching into elements such as poses, facial expression and makeup ideas for my shoot.
- I also made the time management schedule which is really keeping me on track.

In the next month I need to make sure that I remain on track or even keep ahead like this productive month as it creates time to help carry out further research and tweak my magazine.

My Photos

For my photos I am using my Canon EOS 1100D, this is what it looks like. I think it is a really good camera to use as it takes really high quality photos and you can adjust settings on it that will make it look better such as changing the shutter speed, aperture, focus and adding flash. There are also features that will let you take photos that are suitable to certain weather and lighting conditions such as 'outside' and 'dark'.

http://flipagram.com/f/7U4OTwDAKI

These are some of the photos I have decided not not to use. The main reason now to use these following photos is because the photos were a bit blurry, the lighting was bad, the model wasn't looking directly into the camera or because there was people in the background:

Makeup Ideas

This is the moodboard I have made using the app Pic Collage. Two of the biggest female names in rock are Taylor Momsen and Hayley Williams so I thought they would be the best inspirations to use for the female model makeup for my photos. They both have two completely different styles and both look equally as effective. Taylor Momsen wears really heavy, black, smokey eye makeup and this creates a typical heavy rock look and I will get half of my models to do their makeup like this. Hayley Williams' doesn't look as typically rock but works so well, she uses bold, firey colours such as red, orange and yellow eyeshadow and also wear winged eyeliner. I also found an image someone posted on a closer look on how to create this look and this image has really helped. I am also going to get half of my models to wear makeup like this too. I also found an article extract from an interview with her saying what makeup she uses and this has helped a lot too as I can use it as I have a few of the things myself. I want to try and create these looks as well as I can so the images look even better and that my models fit in with the rock genre even more.

Double Page Spread Flat Plan

For my double page spread I want to make it look really similar to ones from inspirational texts that I had looked at. To do this I wanted to include a really large pull quote alongside the main image on the left hand side. In an article in Kerrang! I saw that they included a setlist alongside the main image so I wanted to make something really similar to this so decided to include tour dates as this is something really similar and looks really effective. Also after doing my reader profile and looking at other rock magazine reader profiles a real interest of a lot of the readers was going to gigs and live music so I felt like this feature would be really useful and fit with this theme really well. To also fit with the genre I wanted to create this tour date list on a crumpled up stained piece of paper, I did this using a teabag and this fit really well with the whole rock, chaotic look to the magazine. I wanted to make the image a long shot so it fits the whole page up. I made it a direct mode of address again so it really appeals to the reader and they feel some kind of personal connection with the model. For the font I wanted to make it really easy to read for the readers so I am using red and black alternative text to represent both the interviewer and the singer. I really liked a ransom style of font that I saw on a NME double page spread  that I liked so I used a similar font that I found on dafont.com and I think that it fits really well with the theme. I also added an album review at the bottom as this is another thing my target audience really find interesting. I also made a 'recommended for you' section too so other fans of similar music would be really attracted to the this artist even if they hadn't heard of her. I also used high key lighting to stick the the professional feel like the other images and I stuck to the black and red colour scheme too.

Contents Page Flat Plan

I want to stick to the same colour scheme throughout the magazine as I think this is really important as it identifies that it is the same magazine and genre. I want the contents page to be broken down into categories such as 'News' 'Album Reviews' etc because when I read music magazines I find this really helpful and it makes the layout look really neat. As well as making the magazine easy to read I want the actual layout looking a little messy like other rock magazines where the images are all over and on an angle as this chaotic look really fits with this genre. I want my background to be white as this is what music magazines do and they alternate between text colours of black and red to anchor the images which looks really good. I want to put my main article in the biggest space as this is the thing that will be the most interesting and possibly the reason people would want to read my magazine too. As well as sticking to the same colour scheme I want to use some really similar fonts too. I want to keep the style of bold, capital black font throughout this magazine. I also want to mix the font styles up a little bit too as it will help section off different areas of the contents page and this could be used to help highlight certain areas more if you want to draw the readers attention in, this is things such as the puff in the bottom right third. The model images on this page are both direct and indirect and this is so it looks more varied and so the main article image will stand out more if that is using a direct mode of address it will shift the attention to this image more than others. The shots are mainly medium close ups and close ups and all the lighting is high key also to add a more professional edge like an actual rock magazine.

Front Cover Flat Plan

I want my main image to have a direct mode of address and to be female to attract a male audience as when I looked at other rock magazine reader profiles the audiences is predominately male so male gaze would be a good thing to include. If the image is direct it feels more personal to the reader and really helps to draw them in. I want the lighting to be high key as it creates a much more professional feel and this is the lighting style they use in music magazines. I want the image to be a medium long shot as this gives the reader a large image so they can see a lot going on in the frame and there is more room to tell a story. I want the font to be mainly black as this really stands out well and will contrast really well against the red background which I want. Rock music magazines mainly use a red and black colour scheme using bold, capitalised gothic style font so this is what I want to use. Rock music magazines also use yellow a lot I have noticed to highlight the puff so I will be using a yellow font for this to make it really stand out. I think all of these features of my front cover really relate to my inspirational text and would work really well to help draw in a really interested audience.

Inspiration For Flat Plans

Before I make my final flat plans I want to look at some examples of front covers, contents pages and double page spread layouts from magazines such as Kerrang!, NME and Rocksound.


http://prezi.com/9pjhoxymsyrm/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Name Ideas

I wanted the name of my magazine to really stand out and sound good. I first of all thought of ideas like NME, and thought what abbreviations I could have that were similar. I came up with 'RMM' -Rock Music Magazine or 'RMH' - Rock Music Hits.

After I thought of these I then thought of names that could relate more to my magazine such as ideas to do with rock music for example, I then came up with the ideas 'Soundwave', 'Beat' and 'Amplitude'.

After thinking of a couple potential names I decided to go with 'Beat' as it related to the magazine as it showed the magazine was music. It also associates the magazine with being rock as the first thing you think of with the word beat is drums which makes you think of rock music. I think it will be a good name to use and sounds quite catchy too. 

Colour Palettes and Font Ideas

I have chosen a red and black colour scheme because these are dark, heavy colours and can be associated with heavy rock and metal music. When you look at a majority of rock magazines they all include red in their colour scheme, magazines such as NME, Kerrang!, MOJO, Q and Rocksound. I thought if I am trying to create a magazine that appeals to the same or similar target audience, using the same colour scheme would be appropriate.
The fonts I have used are also very similar to the ones you would find in typical rock magazines, these are heavy fonts and a cartoon, chunky kind of style. I have found these fonts on the website called "dafont" and it was really easy to use and to find the font I wanted. I just typed in things such as "heavy fonts" and "rock" and these key words brought up some really nice results.

Synergy And Convergence

• Synergy is when people work together to try and improve an original idea of a product. It can be used by companies to try and make a larger profit by extending an idea and making more money by creating more products to do with it. An example of this would be 'High School Musical'. Disney teamed up with other companies to extend this movie by bringing out a book, a game and selling merchandise in stores.
• Convergence is how one product can include a range of other media products, an example of this is a playstation is a games controller but can also be used as a dvd player and an internet modem. The iPhone is also an example as it includes a camera, web browser, video recorder and music.

To help extend my magazine I could also try and use these terms to make my magazine better. An example of this would be a CD, I could add a cd to a magazine and use it as a puff. They could team up with a record company to help promote it; this would be an example of synergy and convergence as it is a media product too. An example of synergy could be for a magazine to team up with a company such as Starbucks which could appeal to their target audience. They could use the free iTunes cards they use to help promote a band they feature in their magazine and put their magazine name and web link on the bottom of it. An example of convergence would be the magazine being available in text form, online or as an app. Using these terms could help a magazine become more well-known and make more money too.

Problems With My Photoshoot

My photoshoot was supposed to be on Monday 28th October and it would be during half term but the college is closed then so we can't do it anymore. The only day it is open is Wednesday so we will have to do it then instead. My photography teacher Robin told me that he would be in on wednesday so could help me too but I'm not sure if the studio is booked on wednesday so that is a problem as I won't be back at that college until after half term now. All my friends except one can do the Wednesday instead so that is fine but the only problem is getting there as there aren't that may buses that go past the other college so I will have to try and organise this over the weekend. The weather on monday is also really bad as it will be stormy and windy so hopefully the weather will be better on wednesday, here is the forecast:

I contacted all my friends by text message telling them the new plans:

Hopefully there should be no other issues on the day and I will hopefully get in one of the studios too. The weather will hopefully be as it is supposed to be so I can go outside and do some shots as well.

My Pitch Feedback

My Pitch

Planning My Shoot Further

Media Production

Photo shoot planning document

What emotional impact do you want your photography to have upon the reader? How?

I want my photos to have a direct mode of address so my readers feel like the images are looking at them and that they relate to the reader and encourage them to read on as it will hopefully make them interested.

What personnel do you need? Who are you going to photograph?

I am going to use my friends and I have contacted them all over Facebook and text to make sure they are available. I have plenty friends coming to help so if a couple can’t make it I will have more than plenty friends to help. I am going to use my friends Abbie and Antonia as my main models as they both fit in with the rock genre really well by their appearance.

What props will you need?

I will need musical props such as drumsticks, guitars and microphones and this won’t be an issue as myself and my friends have all these things collectively.

How are you going to emphasise colour?

I am going to be using a lot of dark, bold colours on my models such as red and blacks and these will contrast really well against the white or grey backgrounds that I will be using and it will make the colours really emphasised.

Have you briefed your personnel/models?

Yes, I have made them look at examples of inspirational texts too and I have a few copies to bring along with me on the day too so I can help them get just the right pose that I need.

What lighting will you need? Any other equipment?

I will either be using the college studio which has all the lighting equipment in their or shooting outside, the outside shoots will still look really good as I have settings on my camera to fix any lighting issues.

Where will you shoot? Will you need a backdrop?

I will be shooting in the studio or outside of the Shiney Row Campus, the location fits really well with the theme.

Make-up? Costume?

My friends will be wearing clothes suitable to the rock genre such as leather jackets, skinny jeans and a lot of other black clothing. The makeup will be heavy such as eyeliner, deep red lipstick and smokey eyes and this will fit very well with the theme.

Competition

My Third Double Page Spread Deconstruction

My Third Contents Page Deconstruction

My Third Front Cover Deconstruction

Shots, Facial Expressions, Angles and Poses Experiments

Before constructing my magazine I needed to do a lot of crucial research and planning around my target audience but also a lot of experimentation to do with colours, fonts and images. I needed to look at facial expression, shots, angles and poses. I think out of the results I took the happy, direct mode of address look works really well as the model is looking directly at the reader. I tried using high and low angles but I don't think they looked as effective as a medium close up shot. I really liked the hands on hips look as it looks more casual and relatable and the viewers would like this. The guitar prop looks nice, I like the one where she is looking at the camera so it's got a direct mode of address but I think this prop is too large and a little distracting but I really like the prop idea as it looks great and looks great on inspirational texts too. It also helps tell a story and gives the hint to the readers it is a rock magazine, a good prop would be a drumstick or guitar pick to fit with this music genre.

My Second Double Page Spread Deconstruction

This double page spread is from Rocksound magazine; the article is about My Chemical Romance. The background of the page is black and this colour is used as it will make the text and images really stand out.

The main image is of lead singer Gerard Way and it is an image of him performing live; this was used to support the article about their live shows. In the top left third it says 'world exclusive' this exclusivity will attract many new readers to buy this issue of the magazine as they can't read it anywhere else.Next to this is also says 'news' to highlight it' an important article. Below this also gives a link to the magazines website, this shows that their target audience are frequent internet users so this appeals to them. There is a pull quote featured in the top middle third that says "We're being the best mcr we can be!" this shows this is an important part of the text so is placed there in large, different coloured, capitalised font to make it really stand out to the reader. There are a lot of secondary images to support this article too; they are all anchored with text and a lot of them are jokes or puns to make the article more light-hearted. The images are all black and white too and this makes them look more serious and dramatic; they also aren't too bold or distracting so don't draw any attention away from the text. This could have been done so the reader reads the article first rather than looking more at the images and skim reading the article.

White text is used for most of this article and this goes really well with the black background and red is used to highlight certain parts of the article such as the exclusive and news signs at the top. Red has also been used to highlight important parts of pull quotes, the sub headings and the first letter of the article. Red, black and white are all really bold colours so this article will really stand out to a reader and encourage them to do it. The article looks quite serious but has some fun aspects to it too. Overall I think this article looks really good and the font style, images and colours all work really well together to produce a really appealing article.

My Second Contents Page Deconstruction

This is a contents page from Kerrang! The essential information is in the top third of the page next to the masthead, it says 'issue no:1448' and 'cover date:12/01/13'. The layout is very tidy and organised, this is good as it is set out really well so you can find articles really easy. The main colours used are black and yellow and these are really bold so attract the reader to the sub headings down the right hand side. There is a puff featured on the page and it is to 'win a meet and greet tickets for All Time Low'. The image included in this puff is big so this is the main image of the contents page. This is a really good puff to use as this will be an attractive feature for most of the target audience. The puff includes red text and this looks very bold as this colour isn't used anywhere else on the page.

The sub headings are divided up into sections including things such as 'news', 'live reviews', 'gig guide' etc. This is a really good thing to do because if the reader specifically only wants to look at an album review they will know to look in that section and find that information really quickly.

There isn't a page number or a website link included on this contents page which is unusual. In the bottom right third there is another puff and this is to get a subscription to the magazine for only £15. This is a much smaller advertised puff compared to the other which takes up half the page because it is less important. They attract readers to the smaller puff by using a secondary image and bold colours such as blue, yellow and black. In the bottom third there is also a letter wrote by the editor and this also includes a secondary image.

There are a few different sizes of text used on this page, the text in the main article is in white and a lot of it is capitalised to stand out. The text used in the sub headings is yellow and black and the yellow text is slightly larger as it is the title of the sub heading and the black, smaller text is describing what the article is about. The text included in the editors' letter at the bottom is really small as it's not as important as the rest of the page is.

None of the subheadings have secondary images or are anchored; I think sub headings look better with images as it makes them look more attractive. Overall this contents page is really bold, well organised and captures the attention of the reader really well.

My Second Front Cover Deconstruction

For my second front page deconstruction, I am looking at

NME. The main image is of singer, Lana Del Rey. The picture stands out a lot as she has a white dress on and the background is an American flag so this makes the photo look really bold. The mode of address is direct as she is looking straight at the reader. There is essential information on this image including the barcode located in the bottom right third and there is some more information in the top left third below the masthead. This issue was released on 28th January 2012 and the price is £2.40. The puff is located in the top right third and includes free posters of Nirvana, Sex Pistols and Bob Marley. The same shade of blue is used for the puff as is used for the main sell line on this page. It says "Lana Del Rey" across the main image; this makes the words and the puff really draw attention from the reader. There is a pull quote on the front saying "I'm a psycho!" This is used to encourage the reader to continue reading. There is also a caption next to the main image that says "The true face of a modern American icon." This is also used to make the article sound really interesting and to get the reader to want to read it. The sub lines are located down the right hand side and put in white boxes using capitalised blue and black text to back these really noticeable too. These include pull quotes too but don't include any secondary images next to them which could have made it look more interesting but also could have drawn too much attention away from the main image and article. There are also some other names of bands featured along the bottom in a less noticeable sized font but it's still really obvious that it's there. The only secondary images used are the images to go along with the puff to give the readers a preview of the free posters that are inside.

The layout isn't that messy but article titles and boxes are on a bit of an angle but also look really organised and this works really well. I like the way this front cover looks as the main image draws just the right amount of attention to it but the other articles are really noticable too; this is done by using the right coloured font, the right size font and the right style of font.

Choosing My Models and Poses

After completing my audience profile of my friends, I need to decide which of my friends to use and why I would be using them. I need to think of who would appeal to the audience the most and when I looked at a rock magazine reader profile it said their audience was mainly male so I think a good idea would be to use a female model so I can apply male gaze to my work. So now I know I need to use females I need to think who would be best suited. My friend Antonia does some modelling anyways so I think she would be most suitable for my music magazine main model. She also studies at a music college too so she has to do some music based modelling for band shoots their too so she would be really suited to do this shoot. Her favourite music is rock so this means she has a lot of clothing that is very suitable and the image for the magazine will look really good. For the other pictures in my magazine I will be using my other friends both male and female so it appeals to both male and female audiences.

Now I know which models I am using and who I am using as my main model I need to experiment taking some shots of different model poses, similar to ones I've seen in inspirational texts.

My Preliminary Task Feedback

Lighting Styles, Camera Angles And Shot Sizes

http://www.powtoon.com/p/fn7g9bTwXlv/

Planning My Photoshoot

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s371/sh/ed5076d5-abf6-4320-93f1-b21d27000177/54a04baf76784e7f368d2ded72daecd8



I also realised that after I sent my original text messages and Facebook inboxes I realised that I forgot that I hadn't mentioned about costume, hair and makeup. I then sent everyone an email telling them about what exactly I wanted them to look like. I sent everyone a different email as I needed everyone to wear different things, this is an example of one of the Emails I sent to my friend Abbie:

Audience Profiling

I am going to go and ask some of my friends questions about themselves and this will help me identify what things my target audience like. I know most of my friends like rock music a lot like myself and are all teenagers so fit into my target audience. I am going to make an audience profile on six of my friends who are both male and female of varied ages so it gives me really good results and a lot of helpful information.

By looking at this information on my target audience, I now know that most of my friends have similar interests to each other including the same interest in rock music and all like doing something relating to music in their spare time whether its playing an instrument or going to a gig. I also know where their favourite clothing shops and fast food places are too so all this information has given me ideas to include in my magazine.

Hair and Makeup Ideas

http://www.pinterest.com/rebeccadono/rock-magazine-hair-ideas/

I have looked at ideas and inspiration for clothing and props and the final thing to look at now are ideas for hair and makeup. To do this, like I have done for the other ideas I looked at, I am using images of artists that are featured a lot in rock magazines and examples of images from actual magazines too. I have gathered up the images using Pinterest as it's a really good website to use to show pictures on in an interesting format.

I have found four images of male and female rock stars whose hair and makeup have inspired me for ideas to use for my photos. Firstly the image of Hayley Williams has inspired me as she doesn't have particularly bold makeup on but her hair is really bold and bright; having bright hair colours is common within this genre and I have a couple friends with bright, dyed hair so it would be a good idea to include them. The second image is of Alex and Jack from All Time Low, they both have spikey hair and a dark brown/black colour which is a really common style for male rockstars. Men in the rock industry also wear black eyeliner a lot too although these two don't but I may put some on any male models I have if I think they need it. The last image is of Taylor Momsen; her style is the opposite to the first image. Her hair is not particularly bold but her eye makeup is really bold and stands out. She uses a lot of mascara, black and brown eyeshadows and eyeliner on the top of her eyelid and on her waterline.

These images have given me lots of great ideas on how I want my friends to look. Overall they need to have very messy or bold hair and have quite heavy makeup and I think this will give a really good result when I take the photos.

Prop Ideas

http://www.powtoon.com/p/cjNfRXdwr5S/

Preliminary Task Contents Page Feedback

Our contents page was improved a lot compared to the front cover as we got peer feedback that really helped us to complete this task better. We were told what improvements to the font, size and layout could be made and tried to take them on board. This time the fonts were much clearer and so was the text as we went with a white background instead of layering it over an image that was also quite dark.We could have used a better background colour, pattern or image though so it would have looked more bright, bold and appealing. More text could have been included too as overall the layout was quite bare. We also couldn't edit the masthead very well either as we didn't know how to use Photoshop too well and didn't get how to use the tools such as magnetic wand and magnetic lasso very well. Hopefully when I complete my music magazine I will have more practice on Photoshop and look at more inspirational text so will know how to lay out the text better. I also have a much better knowledge of the conventions of rock music magazines compared to college ones as I read them weekly.

Clothing Inspiration For My Magazine Photos

I need to plan my photo shoot of my music magazine really carefully and try to make sure the overall look of my models fit with the look of the magazine. To do this I need to look at popular clothing shops and current trends and look at images of what popular bands and artists of this genre typically wear in magazines such as Kerrang!

Time Management Schedule

Preliminary Task Contents Page

After we made the front cover for our college magazine, we needed to use our flatplan to help create a contents page. We used the same colour schemes and fonts as we used on the front cover to help tie it all together in a theme. We also used our feedback from the front cover to help us improve our contents page. To improve it, we changed things such as a new font, bolder, clearer colours and a larger font.

Using Semiotics In The Media

Semiotics can be used to help analyse most things. Things in the media such as album artwork, tv and movie posters can all be analysed by using semiotics and looking at the signifiers and signified. I chose to look at the movie poster of one of my favourite movies, Titanic; and then answered some questions on it.

1)What are the key signifiers in the movie and what do they signify? They include the ship, the sea, the man, the woman., it also shows upper class and expense.It also includes a lot of blue and black colours.

2)What are the denotative levels? The Titanic, the couple, the clouds and the sea.

3)What are the connatative levels? Titanic means great strength and power, this signifies the power and strength the characters in the movie use to try and survive the sinking of the ship to hold on for the lifeboats. The text says 'nothing on earth could come between them'. The ship is positioned in between them too and this is positioned on purpose as it's the ship that does end up getting in the way off them as the character Leornado DiCaprio plays, Jack Dawson, dies due to the ship sinking. The ship being positioned the way it is too shows social divide as the couple are above different sides of the ship.The two characters are positioned in the sky with the sea and the clouds being between the ship and them; this signifies heaven as they both die in the movie.

4)What are they communicating to the audience? The couple are positioned the way they are to show that they are a couple in the movie so there will be a love story involved. They have very worried and sad expressions on their face too to show it will be a tragedy. Kate Winslet is facing away from him too and this shows that their romance was frowned upon, which it was due to the social class divide.

Semiotics, Signs And Cultural Differences

http://www.powtoon.com/p/ehpEYiJZ9Ty/

Promotion Ideas

For my music magazine I need to include puffs to draw in my target audience. Since I have done target audience research and made a reader profile, I know what kind of things I could use to encourage my target audience to read on. I can include things such as festival tickets, gig tickets, clothing vouchers etc. If I include promotions and freebies that I know will definitely appeal to the teenagers then it will be a really good idea in using them. These are a couple of examples of ideas I could use for a puff:

• Win tickets for Reading and Leeds festival.
• Win tickets for you and three friends to see Bring Me The Horizon live.
• Win a £50 Topshop or Topman voucher.
• Win a £20 ITunes voucher.

I know that these will attract my target audience as I have carried out a lot of research and my friends and I are examples of people who are included in the target audience and they really appeal to us.

Researching My Sub Genre

My genre of music for my magazine is rock, to be able to produce a music magazine that relates to my target audience I need to do further research into existing magazines and features that appeal to them; these include things such as clothing my target audience like, popular bands of the genre and any other things such as tv shows and food branches they like as this gives an idea of promotions I could include. I have made a reader profile and carried out a target audience questionnaire too, I am also going to complete an audience profile and these things will help me understand my sub genre even more. Research I need to carry out on the internet will include looking into current rock music magazines and research on popular artists to include.

The first thing I am doing is looking into rock and to do this I typed in rock on wikipedia and it gave me the history of it and exactly what sections this genre also breaks down into.

Evaluating My Music Magazine

I practised making a music magazine front cover on Photoshop to give me a practise for when I need to make my own in a couple weeks. I needed to look at all my notes and research I have done to help create a music magazine that would appeal to my target audience.
I started off by finding a suitable background which was red and black. I chose these colours as these are the colours my target audience find attractive and magazines such as Kerrang! use.
I made my logo and chose white and this goes really well with the black and red background. I added my main image next, this is of the band "All Time Low". I chose this band as they are found on the front cover of similar magazines a lot so I know they are popular with my target audience. I edited it on Photoshop using a magnetic lasso tool and a magic wand and this removed any of the pictures white background so it now look better to put on top of the black background. I added the bands logo underneath and the word exclusive. After this I added a barcode and then a yellow stripe along the bottom with more band names on it who are featured inside. I chose yellow as it really stands out and I chose bands who are popular with my target audience so they would read it.
I now had to add some sell-lines and secondary images so for this I tried to include exclusivity which I said I wanted to include for my magazine. I also created a poster special and a puff with really popular bands for this genre and audience too. Overall I think I have included a lot of features on this front cover that my target audience would really like.

Movement In Photos

For my main image on my music magazine front cover I need to also think about the props I need to use in my main image. I want to use a fan as I think this would give a really good effect. I need to get my friends to dress in suitable clothing too to fit with the rock genre, this includes:

• Make up
• Clothes
• Shoes
• Hair Style

The style of my model needs to include a lot of blacks and reds and any other dark colours and this will fit with the theme. My models could also hold a prop such as a guitar, microphone and drum sticks and this shows they are a band. If I have just one of my friends on the front cover I am going to give my model the prop of a microphone to indicate they are a singer.

Double Page Spread Moodboard

For the double page spread I want to use a lot of dark, black backgrounds as it fits with my rock genre really well and black backgrounds work really well for using red, yellow and white text which stand out a lot and draw attention to articles really well. You can see a lot of examples of the use of the black, white and red on the moodboard above and they are from rock magazines such as Kerrang! and Rocksound. I also think double page spreads look best when the main image is to one side because then there is a lot more room for a large title, sub-heading and pull quotes, so I want to lay my magazine out like this. The larger font on most of these articles are in capitals too and a rough kind of looking font has been used which I really like and think that this fits with the genre and theme of my magazine so I am going to do some research on fonts and try and find a similar one to use. I really like what Q magazine uses too with the large capitalised letter behind the article to make it stand out.They get the first letter of the artists name the article is about and put it in a bold colour such as red or black to make it stand out. My only concern with this is that it may get in the way when trying to read the text so I probably won't use this but I will try and experiment around with all the ideas I now have when designing my double page spread.

Contents Page Moodboard

For the contents page most of them have a similar style to them so it is going to be easier to think of layout ideas. I like the bold masthead that is at the top followed by a large picture underneath. I want this to be on my contents page .I especially like the Rocksound contents page particularly as I like how the images are laid out on this page. The main article has a large picture of the artist  and other articles have smaller images but it looks really good how this is set out. They also include pull quotes in the contents page too which is a really good idea I'm going to try and do as well; this is done so the front cover isn't too overcrowded but it's still an important or intriguing quote so is included near the front of the magazine to attract readers to certain pages. I want my contents page to be organised really well though as it wastes so much time trying to find specific articles when the layout isn't very good. I want it in columns and put into different sections, e.g, live reviews, album reviews, exclusive interviews etc. I want it to be organised but also look crowded and chaotic at the same time, I think it looks very messy and the way I want it to look by scattering about the different sized photos.

Front Cover Moodboard

I have looked at front covers of popular music magazines which are also similar to what I want mine to look like. I have tried to find as many different poses on the covers as I could, this has helped me to get some really good ideas. I'm still not sure if I'm having one friend as my model or if I'm photographing a couple friends as a band. I think I am going to have one person as my main image but I also want a secondary image and I want more than one person in that photo. As I am thinking of using a secondary image; I made sure to include some images on my moodboard of magazine covers with secondary images on them too so I could get some ideas on poses and layout ideas including them. I think magazines look better with secondary images as they make the front cover look more chaotic and full so it also looks like there is more content inside as they act like a teaser which I think attract people to read on.

Making A Music Magazine Front Cover

This is my practice at making a music magazine. I have tried to make it similar to Kerrang! magazine and tried to use as many conventions as I could.

My Inspiration For My First Attempt Of My Music Magazine

I am choosing this cover as my inspiration as this magazine is going to be most similar to what my magazine will look like and the genre is rock too so the theme will be very similar. I will also have the same target audience so need to use the same conventions in my own magazine.I like the messy layout and I also like where all the text is positioned such as the main sell line, sub headings and puffs. I will try and replicate this as well as I can when I use photoshop for the first time.

Gaze

http://www.powtoon.com/p/bBYnIctLWq6/

Looking at this work as helped me get more of an idea of ideas to try depending on whether my models are male or female and what gaze looks most appealing. I now have a much better idea on what expressions I want my models to use when taking my photos. I like the super-smiler and invitational the best.

Recce Form

When doing my photoshoot I need to make sure I take in account anything that could go wrong including injuries. I am making this recce form to help me reduce the risk of any of these things happening and to allow me to keep a note on what objects I need to pay close attention to on the day of my shoot.I also need to make this recce form to help me plan my shoot too so it's really important that I fill this form in, in a lot of detail so my shoot goes as smoothly as possible.

1) Are there any potential hazards that could pose a health and safety risk where your photo shoot will take place?
      My photoshoot is taking place in a studio probably so I need to be very careful with the equipment. In a photography studio there are many hazards, the lights are very hot so when altering the light you need to make sure to hold it from the back the rest of it can burn your hand and hurts a lot. The lights also are attached to a rail from the ceiling and hang from an extendable metal scissor arm this is very dangerous as it's easy to get your fingers jammed in it when moving the lights up and down. There are a lot of cables around the studio on the floor so myself and my cover models need to be careful not to trip over. If my shoot doesn't happen in the studio for a reason, my shoot will take place outdoors so if it was raining or icy and the ground is wet or slippy I will need to take care and so will my friends in case they slip and injure themselves. There is a lot of health and safety risks and my friends won't know how to use the studio equipment so I won't let them use it so they are less likely to hurt themselves.

2)What will you do to ensure these risks are minimised?
      I have partially explained this answer in question 1 too but I need to make sure to not let my friends handle the equipment as I got taught how to use and handle the equipment properly by my photography lecturer. This should reduce the risk of any health and safety issues.

3)Will the time of day/weather affects the outcome of the photos? Have you allowed for this?
      My photoshoot will more than likely be in the studio so the weather isn't really important but if I can't get in the studio when I need to it will be at an outside location so i don't want it to be raining or snowing as I won't be able to use my camera as it could break. I also wouldn't want it to be too sunny as it would effect the lighting, ideally I would like it to be dry and not very sunny and that would give the best result.


4)Have you considered the background to your photos, particularly if taken outside? How will you ensure you will get the background you want?
     When I'm using the college photography studio the background won't be a problem but when I'm taking photos in public areas people and crowds may get in the way so I might have to take photos at mine or my friends houses so no one gets in the way. I want it to look as good as I can so I might have to go to a lot of locations to get the photos I need.

5)Have you considered lighting? What about the problems of natural lighting, either outside, or streaming through a window? Will you need to use a flash? Have you considered reflective objects that might spoil the effect?
      In the photography studio where I want to take most of my photos the lighting shouldn't be a problem as all the equipment I need is there and I know how to use it. Outside the lighting could be a problem as it could be too sunny so the light could interfere with the photo. To get around this problem, if it happens, I will try and get some of my friends to hold up pieces of card to block the light or I'll try and reposition the model to stop this happening. Reflective objects may ruin the effect to so I need to be really careful when taking the photos. I will need to use a flash outside if it is quite a dull day or if my location is particularly dark.


6)Do you need permission to take photos in the place/venue you have in mind?
      I don't need permission as it's at the studio at college, I just need to make sure a book a studio and my session doesn't clash with someone else's.

7)Do you need to book and time in a room?
      I need to book a date and time at the photography studio at shiney and I want to do the shoot at October half term as during the week all my friends are at college different times so it would be the best time during a college holiday. I need to make sure the college is open during half term and need to decide on a time, after lunch time would be a good time to do this if there is a space available.

8) Are other people/crowds likely to be an issue for you? What have you done to ensure that it will not spoil the effect?
      If it's outside then this will probably be a problem unless I do the shoot in my garden so I know there won't be people in the way then. If it's in a public location there is the high possibility of people and crowds being in the background and this will ruin the photo. There shouldn't be anyone in the way in the college photography studio as I am booking the studio out for a certain time so I more guaranteed to get better images in the studio.

9)Are you reliant on lifts/props/friends’ equipment/models? How have you planned that these things will come together at the appointed time? Plan B?
      I am really reliant on my friends being able to make the date as I need them for the photos I will be using for my magazine and some of my friends I need to help me with things like holding up card if I need to block the light out. I am also very reliant on props I need a guitar and microphone so need to find where I can get these to use for the shoot, I could try the music room at Shiney. It's also really important that my friends dress to go with the rock theme of my magazine so it all fits together. My plan B would need to happen if I couldn't use the photography studio for some reason and this would mean I would need to shoot in other locations. If I can't use the studio I will have to try and take the 'studio type shoots' in my room and I can do this easily as I have a really good camera and can produce similar quality photos to the studio, I just won't have the studio lights to make it look that bit better.

10)Finally, have you thought of every eventuality?
      I think I've thought of every eventuality as I have thought of all problems to do with location, weather, lighting etc. I have also a plan B too so I can rely on this and it should work if I need to use that.