Photography Inspiration

The majority of the photographs that I have looked at of bands have been posed and taken in a studio. Although there are quite a few photographs taken outside of the studio and some naturalistic shots. These naturalistic shots are usually of the band performing live. The photographs of the artists I have looked at tend to be low key - it depends on what area of rock the bands are.

• Shot - medium shot. This photograph is a typical band shot as it's a medium shot and the entire band are doing similar things to make the photograph look tidy and not all over the place. The photograph is in black and white. 

• Shot - Medium Long Shot. Like the previous photograph the background is plain which creates no distractions from the band. Also the clothing items are colour coordinated so there aren't any clashes in the photo.                                                                                                                                                  

• Shot - Long Shot. Unlike the previous images, this photograph is a naturalistic one (not posed for). The background links in with the image so it's not entirely distracting.       

• In Kerrang! magazine they have a shots page where it shows you the images of the posters. You can see that the majority of the photographs have a plain background and are mostly posed for but there are some naturalistic shots. Most of the these images are a medium shot.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Music Magazine Pitch

Mock Up of Double Page Spread

Mock Up of Contents Page

Mock Up of Front Cover

Analysis Of A Double Page Spread - Kerrang!

DPS Analysis - Rock Sound

Analysis Of A Contents Page - Rock Sound

Contents Page Analysis - Kerrang!

Analysis Of Two Front Covers: Kerrang! & Rock Sound

Institution Research - Rock Sound

Montage Of Music Magazines

Music Genre Wordle

Initial Ideas For Music Magazine

Action Plan

Main Task: the front cover, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine.

Action Plan
6th October -

•  Music genre wordle.
• Montage illustrating range of music magazines on sale in the UK.
• Initial ideas for music magazine.
•  Institution research of a music magazine on sale in the UK.
• Analysis 2 X front covers.

13th October -

• Analysis 2 X contents page. 
• Analysis 2 X double page spreads.

20th October

• Pitch
• Pitch feedback. 
• Summery of pitch feedback.
• Style sheet.
• Mock up of front cover.
• Mock up of contents page.
• Mock up of double page spread.

3rd November

• Contents page photo-shoot.
• Front cover design work in progress.

10th November

• Front cover design work in progress.

17th November

• Contents page photo-shoot.
• Contents page design work in progress.

24th Novemeber

• Double page spread photo-shoot.
• double page design work in progress.

1st December

• Audience feedback on all pages.
• Design development in response to feedback.

8th December

• Final design development.
• Final magazine pages.

5th January

• Evaluation questions 1,2 & 3

12th January

• Evaluation questions 4, 5 & 6

Introduction To The Main Task.

The main task is to create the front page, the contents and double page spread of a new music magazine.

Evaluation

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

Before I created my media product, I researched student magazines to get an idea of what my product will need. After researching many magazines I found out that the student magazines were following the same sort of house style. This house style was bright colours, usually a happy student(s) as the central image, different interesting fonts and a masthead. I think these type of magazines follow this type of house style because it would attract the right readers into buying the magazine. The mode of address in almost all of the magazines that I researched were informal and chatty which would match the readers (younger generation). My media product uses some conventions of real media products.  My media product includes a masthead, a central image, a splash and some cover lines. The central image is of a happy student to portray the magazine in a positive way. The masthead is a student related name which should help present the product as a student magazine.

Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social group that my media product represents is students between the age of 16 to 24 years. I have attempted to do this by keeping the text informal to keep the magazine friendly and readable. My central image is of a happy student which steers away from the typical 'wild' teenager. This would hopefully portray students as pleasant, happy people. Because I have kept the colour scheme simple, the student magazine should appeal to both male and female students.

Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

I think that my student magazine would be distributed in local colleges as that is what my media product is targeted at. This is because my media product includes information about local areas and wouldn't benefit being distributed far away from the area.

Question 4 - Who would be the target audience for your media product?

My media product is specifically aimed at teenagers and young adults between the ages of 16 to 24. This is because my media product includes revision tips, student related news, reviews, competitions and discounts that students would be interested in.

Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract an audience I used a student for the central image. This is because it will be someone they recognise and can relate to the image as it's someone in their age group. I used simple bright colours which the students I asked in my research said they preferred.  I placed my masthead at the top of the cover which made it noticeable and would hopefully attract students. I also used readable fonts and informal language to help address the audience.

Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

At the start of the preliminary task we had to set up a blogger account. We did this for somewhere to keep and post our work. Blogger is simple and easy to use.

To design and put together the magazine we used Indesign. I had never used Indesign before and found it confusing to start off with. After a while I got used to creating layers to add something new to the design and learned the basics of the programme.

I also used a camera to take pictures for my contents and cover page. Using the camera was simple as I have used them many times before.