Production Post 15

Over the past week I handed in my first draft and wanted to highlight my main colour schemes which were visible from my draft. I wanted to emphasize what the colours I chose represented and connotated. This meant that my magazine had a house style and a theme throughout and people could associate with it. I also decided to speak about how I would promote my magazine to my target audience as it would be new and people wouldn't know what it was about. I would put it on advertisements on social networking sites to attract my target audience and on buses and on the radio stations which my target audience would listen to - such as, Kerrang, Absolute Radio and other similar stations. These two tasks really helped me give my magazine a label and shows how exactly my audience would be enticed.

Colour

Colour

Draft 1

draft 1 by ames2468

Production Post 14

This week I have been trying to complete as much of my magazine as I can for my first draft. This is because I want to receive lots of feedback from members of my target audience and my class so I can work on improving my magazine. I have concentrated on editing my photos so they look different and unique. To do this I have downloaded various "actions" to put on the photos on Photoshop. I have used vintage effects to make photos look professional and rustic, as this is the general vibe I am looking for with my magazine as a whole. I also edited my models eyes and enhanced the bright blue iris', a video of my applying this was posted just over a week ago.

Chosen Images

 

 I decided to create this short video above to just finalize the final images I chose to use on my magazine. They are the original photos so you can really see how much they have been developed and changed through the use of photoshop and various tools! I put the video to some music to make it less boring and also the music is by Mayday Parade which is a typical band that my target audience would enjoy listening to.

Eye Colour

The model I used for my photoshoot has brigt blue eyes but you cannot see the real colour when the photo is uploaded on the computer. I decided to make her eyes the main focal point of the photo for the double page spread. The image lookes very enhanced which I think gives a good effect to the photo as it accompanies the bright red hair to ass another focal point to the picture.

Sell Line/Contents Ideas

Production Post 13

Over the past couple of weeks I have been trying to get all my planning out the way so I can focus purely on the creation of my magazine, also so I can use my planning to help me create my magazine so it will gain the attraction from my target audience by using the audience research. I have been researching into existing names and mastheads to give me a basis to design mine on. I have then produced some masthead and name ideas to try and give myself as many options as possible. This week I have also got Mollie and Clare to sign their model release to grant me permission to use the photos I took. This demonstrates that I am taking this task very serious and have a professional outlook on the entire project. Over the next couple of days I would like to gather up all my sell line and contents ideas together so I have a big variety to chose from.

Model Release

I made sure I got permission from both the models that I used for my magazine so that no complaints were made about me using images of them on any of the 11 pages of my magazine.

Masthead Designs

ewygaejfb

Image Ideas

image ideas

Before my photo shoot I decided to research into different types of images and poses I wanted to include onto my magazine. As you can see from the images above I want the majority of the photos as close-ups which will help the reader connect with my model and feel more involved with the magazine. I also want some landscape photos so that all my photos aren't the same and have some variety.

Name Ideas

name ideas 2

Production Post 12

In today's lesson I gathered together the image ideas I used when I was taking my photos of Mollie and Clare. This is evidence that I took time in deciding how exactly I wanted my models posed and researched into what the basic conventions are of photos used on any genre of magazine. This week I also continued to start to create my magazine final product. I decided to carry on with my first double page spread which I had previously just edited the main photo for. I wanted the page quite blank with the close up of Mollie and just a short, simple introduction to who she was exactly. I managed to complete this page by the end of the week and could allow me to move on to the creation of my second double page spread, followed by my front cover and then my contents page. All to be handed in for my first draft. I would then develop these pages further and make a contributing two more double page spreads following this draft.

Production Post 11

A few days ago I created an "Iconography Video" which I filmed in my own time at the shopping center in Shepherds Bush, Westfields. I wanted to try and explore the fashion world of my target audience and went into various different shops and picked out the clothes which are associated with my audience and tried them on to really get into character. I discovered that most of the clothing I was drawn to was dark clothes and those with crosses and other Gothic patterns. This is very stereotypical, I know, but it shows you that this is how the majority of people think and I need to try and involve this information into my magazine. I will do this by using dark colours but then being different and involving bright colours too as my target audience like to be different and unique. This task was very successful in helping me find out who my target audience really are. 

Article Draft

Article Draft

Roxy Knights likes to sum up her rock career as “fucking annoying” and “the greatest thing of all time”. She goes on to mention how amazing her life was before she became ‘known’. “I wouldn’t change it for the world and the public is who I have to thank and although I may come across ungrateful, you’re very much mistaken! All I have ever wanted as an artist in this genre is to be where I am now and now I’m here I just can’t get enough!! The media is shit. Complete and utter shit. The constant flow of crap they produce has high amounts of hilarity in some sense, the sense that it’s so untrue it just oversteps the line. I’ve learnt to get on with it and not listen to stories that have been published which have escalated from small, minor incidents that have occurred.” Its clear Roxy isn’t on the best of terms with the media and the stories they may have created about her but let’s not waste time speaking about her pet hates and more time speaking about her brand new album. “At last!! I’ve spent the majority of my life inspired by those bands and artists which I’m now buddies with. It’s so surreal. Although I’ve realised many tracks available to download and buy EPs of but I’ve never had a whole album all to myself! It’s scary when you think about it, before I was noticed I worked on my songs for months and months to make them sound half never hate you – could we guys?! I’m sure you’ve all checked out the hottest new album on the shelves but if you haven’t then WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING STILL READING THIS!? Oh yeah..to find out what this incredible invention is called! Forever Reckless! I then had all this pressure of producing a 12 track album in about 6months! I was so worried that they were all going to be shit and everyone would hate me!!” Never Roxy, we could  is what you’re looking for. So GO GO GO! “Haha, this has been such a relaxed interview, prefer it to all the intense specific Q&A. I like the fact I can just speak to you about anything I want!” well, not ANYTHING Roxy…let’s not get too comfortable here! “I know, I know!! You mentioned earlier about how you thought I was weird because I didn’t like tea?! Just thought I’d bring that back up, to let all the non-tea lovers know that you’re not alone! Silly concept really, drinking hot water and crushed leaves basically! Yuk! The looks I’m getting in the studio now is quite intimidating you know, hope I didn’t offend anyone..oops.” A lot of you have emailed in and asked about Roxy’s new clothing range, so let’s ask the girl herself! “Well, it’s called YAF – young and free. Tad cringe but what can you do? If you can beat em’, join em’! It’s basically a clothing range for anyone aged from about 14 onwards. My manager suggested it earlier on this year as it would be a nice asset to my career and also fun and enjoyable at the same time! I was really looking forward to it as I am like clothes-obsessed! So happy with the final product and lovely to know so many people are visiting the site and purchasing items! Major confidence boost guys!” Confidence boost!? I’m pretty sure you don’t need that missus! “Oi you! No, I completely understand where you are coming from, I don’t like people who want be loved by others but don’t love themselves. If you want other people to believe in you then you’ve got to believe in yourself – otherwise they just won’t feel the vibe. It’s all about the vibes. If I enjoy what I do and how I sing so others can choose whether they want to enjoy it with me! Why be shy and nervous about it, do what you love and then nothing can beat it!” Oh Roxy, you really are full of all the inspirational quotes today aren’t you!! Tell us, what’s in the future for us (&you) “Always full of quotes me!! Oh, this is getting serious now! The future seems a long way off but I know that it will hit me sooner or later that I need to focus! I will one million percent carry on making music and there is no way that I will stop what I am doing and writing songs. I would imagine that my next album will begin to be made next year some time so I can really concentrate and make the songs as good as they can be! I just love what I do and the support from my fans is what keeps me going, knowing that I am doing and creating something that brings such joy and maybe even help people just really makes life worth living!” WE LOVE ROXY! WE LOVE ROXY! So, last thing from us is when can we see you live next!!? “It’s been absolutely lovely, and oooooo that would be telling! And I love telling!! I have plans to be performing at Reading Festival this year so I hope everyone comes down and joins me and all the other awesome artists who are performing too!! Next year I will begin my worldwide tour which I’m starting in California where the majority of my family come from and I’m very frequent with, so I hope it will be a relaxed beginning to the inevitable stressful tour! You must check it out!” Right Miss Knights, we have absolutely loved having you here today – you have been an absolute star! I’m sure all your fans will be attending Reading Festival and your tour next year! Hope you stay well and keep in touch!! “Thank-you so much for having me, just remember next time not to stock up with tea-bags!! See you soon guys!”

Iconography - CREATIVE POST

 

This week i decided to make a creative post to try and get a better understanding of my chosen genre and My idea was to make a post on iconography and how I will represent my chosen genre by the clothes my model will wear. I needed a way of showing clothes and accessories that are associated with the Rock genre. I decided to take a trip to Westfields shopping center and film myself trying on different outfits, I managed to get permission to film in the changing rooms from the shop owners. My friend filmed the changing room door and i changed my outfit x amount of times. I then got home and uploaded the footage onto movie maker (as I haven't been shown how to use premiere cs6 yet) I sped the footage up so that it was still easy to see the clothes I was wearing but but quicker to watch. I added in some pictures at the end of shoes, clothing items and jewelery that represent my genre. Finally I added in a song which was also my chosen genre and exported the video to upload to my blog.

Key Concepts Prezi

Production Post 10

I did some more research this week which I found really helpful now I have moved on a bit in think about what to include in my magazine. I looked into how new media is viewed by my target audience and discovered that it is used highly. I created a survey which I got people who are interested in the genre of rock to take and answer 10 questions which would help me find out certain information about what to do and what not to do. The results were interesting as you can see from the previous post "Audience Data".

New Media

new media

Audience Data

I created this survey on www.surveymonkey.co.uk which is a well-known website especially for creating surveys like the one above. I thought carefully about what questions I would ask as I wanted feedback from my audience which would help me when altering certain aspects of my magazine. After making the survey, they provide you with a link, embed code and Social network link to post on these sites and get people to respond. I decided to use the web link and copy it onto facebook pages which would interest my target audience, I also posted a link on twitter with hash tag topics which revolve around my target audience. I managed to get 12 responses to my survey and below are the results of each question.

    As you can see from the results of my survey, I found out a lot of information about what my readers seek for in a magazine.
The majority of Q1 wanted a monthly magazine which is what I produced and for those who chose weekly are the minority as not everyone enjoys the same thing.
    Nearly everyone on Q4 answered with "close up" or "band/artist" this means that readers want to see and know what they are about to read before they open the magazine. This must be essential when creating my magazine.
    Regarding Q2, people varied in the ideal price they would pay for this monthly magazine, I think I will still stick with £4.99 as I feel they will 100% be getting their moneys worth and otherwise my costs probably wouldn't be covered.
    Content people want to find in interviews is interesting facts and tour dates and relationships between other celebs. I will therefore include all this in my article such as a fact box with different quirky info about Roxy and will also discuss her different relationships throughout the music industry.

    For Q6 there was a 100% same result that my readers would prefer a print copy as opposed to reading the magazine online. This was expected as it would be more of a collectors magazine. This doesn't mean a website would not be successful, the website would contain competitions and chances for them to meet their favourite bands and artists. I will steer away from discussing lots about reading the magazine online but will encourage readers to visit the website to see extended stories and unseen videos/pictures.
    Two thirds of my respondents said that they would use an Android App if it were created which is encouraging as it means my audience are into using new media. This should mean that twitter accounts should be successful if connecting and involving my specific target audience.
    The remaining 25% who said they wouldn't use the app, may not own a smart phone and not know the full benefits and whats involved with apps - may prefer to just read info in the mag.

    When I asked what the most important aspect of a music magazine was I got mixed responses as some people said they value freebies and posters and others said interviews with artists. Also, photos were a priority in really enticing my audience and the overall appearance of the magazine will be the deciding point on whether they will pick it up and buy it. Like the first respondent mentioned "if it doesn't look good, I won't pick it up and read it".
    Twitter got the highest response in the social networking question with 11 people choosing it out of the three given, one person chose Facebook and Tumblr got 0%. This emphasizes the fact that I must use new media sites (most importantly Twitter and Facebook) to try and attract and reach out to my readers. I will 100% put twitter and Facebook logos on my contents page to let readers know that Rock magazine is part of the new media revolution.


    When asking readers if they preferred to buy CD's or to download music online by the use of iTunes and other music download programs. 11/12 people responded with the choice of downloads over CD's - this could be because the availability of buy CD's is now limited due to the shutdown of big stores like HMV who once provided all the CD's you could ever dream of. I will use this feedback to make sure that I include "free EP downloads" on the website or APP as it will target my audience directly.
    Overall, from this audience feedback data, it has helped me enormously with choosing between certain aspects of my magazine which I wasn't sure about. I now know that I will not include information about CD's but more about downloadable songs/albums. Also I will 100% keep my magazine as a print copy.

    This activity benefited me in finding out exactly what my target audience want from their perspective and not just from my opinion of what I "think" they want.

Props/Costumes

Props and Costumes

Promotional Methods

Good initial promotional methods are vital when starting up a new magazine, this is because it is essential that you entice new readers into choosing your magazine over others in the competitive music magazine market. I will start off by offering a shortened versions of my magazines to put in my publishers similar magazines to give my target audience a taster of what type of magazine I am bringing out. I will then use new media to get everyone talking about Rock magazine and try and get it as one of the "trending topics". A good way I can get people to read my magazine is by sponsoring major events which would interest my target audience such as Reading and Leeds festival and also small-town gigs.

Production Post 9

During this week, I planned to do some research for my magazine. I looked at a basic audience for my magazine and created a profile for a random person who I believed would be interested in my magazine. I listed their favourite hobbies and likes/dislikes. I also researched into existing names and mastheads which are out in the magazine market right now. This helped me choose a logo/masthead which will draw attention from my reader but also fits in with the codes and conventions of a typical music magazine.

Existing Names and Mastheads

Audience Profile

Target Audience

Production Post 8

This week I completed my Timelapse from my photoshoot and put it to some music of the genre I have chosen. I sped up the video so that it fitted with the tempo of the song and also added in some images from the photoshoot at the end. Also I completed my proposal which allowed me to start thinking about exactly who I want to aim my magazine at and also what production company I may choose to produce my magazine.

Proposal

Proposal Ll Llz

Words Relating to Rock

wordle

Timelapse

Contact Sheet

contact sheet

Production Post 7 - Photo shoot!

Production Post 6

In this weeks lesson, we began the lesson with a discussion about Key Concepts and went through each one in detail with the entire class and took notes as we spoke. I was familiar with Key Concepts as I had gone into detail for my Year 11 GCSE magazine production. I used my previous knowledge to help me apply my genre of magazine to each individual concept; Codes and Conventions, Audience, Institution and Representation. Sir then explained that we were to create a post on key concepts and I decided to make it on Prezi. I chose Prezi because it is specifically designed to make presentations look stylish and attractive. It makes it more enjoyable to read the information instead of just text in a Word document. I cracked straight on with writing about each concept and explaining how my genre of magazine will be affected by each of the key concepts. We got to choose our homework for that week and I thought I would finish the task i had started in task to the best of my ability. I went home and finished off my Prezi presentation and began to finish off my Photoshoot sketches for my shoot that is Monday 15th. The scans of my sketches will be on a post very soon. In lesson I am going to start presenting exsiting name and masthead ideas to try and get some ideas for my magazine. This week, sir also created a spreadsheet for our class and has each task along the top and whether we had completed it (green) or not (red). It's a good way to work through tasks and a fun way to compete with other classmates with how many posts we make.

Production Post 5

Mood Board For My Rock Genre

Mood Board

One of the tasks we were required to produce was a Mood Board. We had to gather images and references that were ins sync with our chosen genre of magazine. If some pupils hadn't chosen their genre sir told them to create a general music mood board which covered most music genres. Luckily enough for me, I was certain on what genre I was doing. I chose images that were associated with rock music, which included well-known festivals such as Reading and Leeds. Clothing and bands which are rock-orientated are included also. The main aim of this task was to us thinking about a definite genre and also what sort of colours, images we will insert onto our magazine pages. It gives you a general feel for the overall perception of the magazine. As you can see, at first glance my mood board looks very dark and contrasted. This portrays that the rock style is very jaggedy and rough, also black connotates death and emotion as it can represent so much. The old pieces of colour create a vast contrast, the bright yellow reading set list and the red vans warped tour logo create a fun and not so dreary atmosphere.

Production Post 4

In today's lesson we began to organise what we needed to do and when it needed to be done by. Mr Fisher provided us with a planning sheet which we voted to work through independently so we could pick and choose what topics we wanted to do and in what order we preferred (to an extent). We ticked off our preliminary task as we had all completed it. The next task on the list was to analyse 3 front cover music magazines, 3 contents and 3 double-page spreads. I decided that multi-media style posts were a good way of putting out work up as it wasn't just writing and boring but more of a fun and interesting approach. I chose to do my first analysis on Prezi and I did the rest on Powerpoint.

Double Page Spread Analysis

Double Page Spread Analysis

For my double page spread analysis I decided to choose 3 very different styles and ideas to help me decide what vibe I was feeling. I discovered that the model was the main feature and icon in the double page spread story. It's clear that you need to spend a significant amount of time choosing your model, their clothes, position and any props needed. Other feautures of a double page spread is the text and title layout. How certain items are placed on the page are important and will decide in whether someone will pick your magazine up and read the entire article or simply just flick through. If I, again, follow all these steps I will hopefully create a professional look double page spread.

Content Page Analysis

Contents 2

The contents page is the one part of the magazine creating process which I struggle with the most. I find it difficult to arrange all the information I want to include in a professional, stylish way. I only analysised one page contents even though I want to create a double page contents. I was unable to find a doublt page spread one which I liked and wanted to use. Again, it's clear about the main codes and conventions of a contents page which make it look and read effectively. I know that if I use all these conventions to create my contents page, my magazine will look realistic and fit in with all the other music magazines of my chosen genre.

Front Cover Analysis

Front Cover Analysis by

The purpose of this task was to try and use existing magazine front covers to help me figure out the main codes and conventions of them. This would then eventually lead to me using these basic codes and conventions on my magazine being the same to those of existing, successful ones. I discovered that most magazine front covers include the following; Masthead, Sell Lines, Main Image, Main Sell Line, Colours, Date/Issue No. To guarantee my magazines success I will have to follow these ideas and utilise all the resources I have available.

Equipment

Good photos depend on the equipment used and how effectively it's used. The quality of my final product will depend on how professional the photos appear on each of the pages. I have to make sure all my lights are positioned correctly to allow the perfect amount of light on the photo. Here are some images of the equipment I will be using.

Production Post 3

Me, Alfie, Clare and Faye filmed a visual analysis of a few different magazines last lesson. Faye was filming and Alfie, Clare and I all participated in speaking about the main structure of the front covers of different magazines. See below for the video.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LV1PI4bVxmw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Growth of my Preliminary Task

As you can see, the growth of my preliminary task increases layer after layer, it's necessary that we use layers when using photoshop as if, for some reason, you need to change of edit a specific object or piece of text then it makes it much easier to find and delete. Also you can arrange what appears infront of eachother by simply dragging a layer above or below another layer.

Preliminary Task - Production Post 2

For our preliminary task, we were required to create a rough magazine for our school. It was to help us gain knowledge in the Photoshop basics and allowed students who weren't familiar with Photoshop, understand the basic tools needed. I decided to keep my magazine quite simple and not too busy. I included all the necessary information such as plugs, headline, main image and cover lines.

The contents page contains all the main stories included in the magazine so that the reader can go straight to them if they wanted to.

If I were to pick something to improve I would definitely add more onto the front cover on the left-hand side. I have noticed there is no bar code so that would fill in the gap that is there.

This was a good starter topic for us to begin with as it wasn't stressful at all and refreshed our memory on how to create simple things using Photoshop. Starting our Music magazine should be much less stressful now and will therefore let us be more imaginative, creative and adventurous with our ideas.

Production Post 1

In today's lesson we started to design a School Magazine in practice for our music magazine. We began the lesson by getting into small groups and taking a camera to a location where we would take our pictures which would appear on the front cover and contents page. After we had taken the photos we then returned to class and uploaded them onto the computer where we imported them into Photoshop. I am familiar with working with Photoshop so I cracked on right away with the makings of the magazine. I started by increasing the scale of the main image so it filled the entire page and would catch any audiences eye. I then moved on to decide an appropriate title for the magazine and making it stand out above the picture. I experimented with many fonts that I could possibly use for my music magazine which would save me one job to do when it come down to planning it. I chose the name "The Big H" as I thought it wasn't too cliché and may stand out over other magazines. After I had designed a suitable logo and name I began to think of some typical inside stories I could include on the front cover which would be typical of a school magazine. I also needed a cover story that would be suitable for students to read and be interested in. 

Sir also told us about the coursework side of the AS exam. He explained to us that its important that we get the best possible mark in our coursework and keep improving it until we reach the best possible mark. This is so we have something to fall back on if the exam doesn't go how well you want it too. 

Possible ideas for my music magazine:

          - Bass

          - The Bass Line

          - The Vibe/Vibes

          - Sound

          - 411