Ideal Front cover

My front cover is going to challenge the normal stereotypes of a popular music magazine. The image will mainly dominate the page and I will include a close up or a mid shot of the model. I am going to do mainly studio shots using a white back drop. I will also make use of different costumes and props too. Using a plain backdrop will allow my model to be the main focus of the image which will allow it to stand out to potential readers. I also aim to make use of different camera angles and shot types to get unique images. I would like my model to have eye contact with the camera as it makes the image stand out more to readers but the model is going to do a range of poses making use of facial expression and body language.

Photoshoot photos & Behind the scenes

Photo Shoot Plan

This is my first plan for a photo shoot. The model I am using is a female so made sure i planned around that. When creating my plan I considered the location of the shot, mise en scene, hair and make up, camera angles and shot type as well  as any types of editing.

The costume for the majority of the shots will be very simplistic e.g. jeans and a jersey this is so the main focus is on the model. Also the look will be from highstreet stores such as Topshop, Zara and Urban Outfitters so the readers can relate the the model.
I also plan to use a back drop that contrasts with the models costume which will help to make it look more professional and also will help the model to stand out more

Rule of thirds

The Rule of Thirds is a guideline for photo composition.

How does the Rule of thirds work?

Picture your frame sliced into thirds. 2 vertical lines and 2 horizontal lines. This is an example of how it should look. 

The lines are the important parts in the rule of thirds. Ideally key elements of a photograph should fall along those lines or even better where 2 lines touch. The 4 spots where the lines intersect are called power points. Visually speaking if an subject is placed on these power points, the image will look very nice

How is the rule of thirds used?

There are a few ways to use the rule of thirds. Below are some examples

Place key elements in power point positions.

Examples:

Place key elements along horizontal lines. This is most often used with landscape photography. 

Examples:

Place key elements on vertical lines this is often very useful with photographing people. 

Examples:

Target audience interview

I set up an interview with my target audience to pitch to them my magazine. From the interview I got a lot of feedback. All 3 of them said it was a great idea but a pop/ chart music magazine had very developed conventions such as cluttered and very loud colour scheme. My target audience said they would like to see a magazine that challenged the stereotypes of a normal pop magazine. Another topic that came up lots was the idea of photography and how it should influence my magazine heavily, and my magazine should include images that are very fresh, modern and arty.

Also another thing that came up was the front cover conventions that should be used for my magazine. They said they would like my front cover to be very minimalistic which is the same response I got in my questionnaire. When I asked them what they didn't like about 'loud and busy' magazines they said it looks cheap and makes it seem like it's appealing to a younger market due to the  wide range of colours.

Moodboard

Music is the main focus in my mood board as I'm creating a music magazine. I have included popular artists and albums as that's what my target audience is interested. My mood board also shows the type of content that my music magazine is going include. I have included things that my target audience likes or finds themselves doing in spare time e.g. Shopping or watching TV. I have included Reading festival as a lot of my target audience goes their. I have also included popular concerts within my target audience such as Capitals Jingle Bell Ball.

Photo Shoot Planning

I plan to do I studio shot. In the example above you can see there is many variations. Some use props, some have different background colours. Also the camera angle gives different moods and feelings. to achieve the different lighting and shadows i could use lamps and the basic flash on the camera. To create different shadows i will move the model closer to the camera and also move around the lighting it may also be a good idea to create blocking of shadows by using objects.

When taking photos the things I am going to take into consideration are;

• what the shot is to include
• what type of shot it is
• angle of the shot 
• Props
• aims of the photo

Things to consider when taking a photo

This is a list of things I think is very important when taking photographs. When taking my photographs for my front cover, contents page, double page spread and full page advertisement I plan to take all the things above into consideration as well as the rule of thirds to allow me to take great photographs. 

Front Cover Layout Plans

This is my plans for the font cover page. They all have main front cover conventions which is key to the reader being drawn in by the magazines. Also conventions make it obvious to a reader what the media product is.  

As the front cover is the first thing readers look at when they see a magazine I think it's important to plan everything carefully and take a lot of things into consideration such as the main image, house syle, mastheads and the placing of the conventions. 

I'm the majority of the plans my masthead is along tne top or the top right corner. This is because it's first in the visual syntax and also visible on magazine stands. 

Questionnaire Analysis

I am aiming my product at teenagers so I distributed my questionnaire to only people in my target audience. Doing this allowed my to accurately see what my target audience appeal to and what they think is important in a magazine

 I am aiming my magazine at both males and females so i distributed my questionnaire to both genders to get a variety of answers which would allow me to see what preferences both genders have and apply it to my magazine to get as many readers possible

I decided to see what buzz words attracts my target audience the most. This helps to give me an insight into what lures my target audience in. I may use buzz words on my front cover so this question will really help me to see what buzz words are more successful.

I asked the grouping to see what the majority of my target audience fit into. this shows they are ALL in group E. I will take the grouping of my target audience into consideration because it can help with the pricing and also it will help me to make the magazine more relevant. 

Asking this question allowed me to see what style of contents page is preferred. The majority preferred an image dominated contents page. I may make my contents page with more images  because only a minority preferred text. 

I asked if they would be persuaded to buy a magazine if it had a free gift. The majority said they would be more likely to buy a magazine if it had a free gift. To increase the number of primary readers I may want to include a free gift 

Asking this question allowed me to see what style of front cover is preferred. The majority preferred a minimalistic front cover . I may make my contents page with more images  because only a minority preferred text. 

This question sees how much the people I questioned would be willing to pay for a monthly magazine.  The majority of the people I asked said they would like to pay between £1 to £2.99.

This question sees how much the people I questioned would be willing to pay for a weekly magazine.  The majority of the people I asked said they would like to pay between £1 to £2.99.

This question analysis how often the people asked wants the magazine to be released. The majority said they would like to see a monthly magazine.

this question relates to the front cover and how important is it to the reader. The results from this question shows that the people i asked are more likely to buy a magazine based on the model.

The majority of the people i asked said that they didn't buy the same magazines. the question then expanded to ask why. The 2 most common expansions was due to the price of the magazine and the readers not being able to pay for lots of editions. The other reason was for a lack of interest in the articles included. So to increase my primary readers i may which to make my magazine within a price the buyers can afford.

Another question I asked was to see what the grouping was of potential secondary reader. The most common secondary reader out of the people i asked was group A

This question was about the genre of music magazine the people i asked would like. The Majority of the people i asked would like a pop magazine.

Mastheads

This is an example of mastheads I have created. When creating my mastheads I took many things into consideration such as:-

• Short and catchy so the reader remembers the brand

• House style

• On one line

• Capital lettering

• Clear, bold and large font 

• The first thing people read on the front cover

• Simple and easy to remember

• Relevent to the genre and to the target audience

XXL Brand Values

XXL's brand identity is very cool, young and modern. i think this because its front cover images are very minimalistic but still very eye catching which is important when its against other magazines

NME Brand values

The brand identity of NME is very edgy and bold. I get this impression from their uses of colour schemes and images on the front cover. In all the images the celebs are presented in such a way that readers find it cool and young. The brand value of NME represents that is youthful and modern. I think this because all celebs photographed are young and celebs the the readers aspire to be like.

Magazine Name Ideas

• Refrain
• Scale
• Tunes
• Vocalize 
• Chant
• TMI ( TEENAGE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE)
• GEMM (GREATEST EVER MUSIC MAGAZINE)
• Rhythm
• Accent
• Flow
• Bounce
• Swell
• Throb
• Pulse
• Drone
• Hiss
• Murmur
• Wild
• Intensity
• Tone
• UMA Upcoming music artists 

Brand Values and Identity

Brand identity is about how a business wants a brand's name, logo and other visual elements to be interoperated by consumers. The segments of the brand are created by the business itself, making brand identity the way  a business wants consumers to distinguishes its brands, not necessarily how it is actually distinguished

Brand values are things that are deemed important by a brand, the things that it stands for and it represents.

The brand identity for my music magazine will be elegant and minimalistic but will 
be young and modern to insure it attracts the target audience. I must establish a clear brand identity which will appeal to my target audience. Depending on the questionnaire feedback i will edit the layout ect to fit my target audience.

The brand values are the fact that my music magazine is original and youthful. It’s important that my target audience find my music magazine very interesting and current. My questionnaire will ask questions to see what  If my audience wants and ill try to include as much content as possibe

Questionaire

This is the questionnaire I created

Detailed Analysis & Textual Reading

Key media terms

Media representation
choices made when it comes to portraying something or someone in a mass media text. Its impossible to portray every aspect so certain features are often highlighted.

Media Audience
audience is the term used to mean the people that watch, read, buy or listen to a media product

Media Institutions
company or organisation that is accountable for a media text. The company could be accountable in may ways some examples are

• production
• regulation
• marketing
• distribution

examples of institutions are

• The Walt Disney Company
• Time Warner
• BskyB
• BBC
• ITV

Media Language

how the media produces its meaning of a story. its all about how the media interoperates a story and also how it comes across to a audience. There are 3 ways a story can come across to its audience

Dominant reading- what the creator intends

Negotiated reading- a middle ground between creators intentions and personal views

Oppositional readings- an alternative reading against the creators view

Denotation- Describing what you can see in detail

Connotation- associated or suggested meanings that photo/ images / text may have

Media Conventions- characteristics that goes into making a media form distinguishable 

Genre- the type of media. conventions help us to identify the genre of the media product
e.g horror= scary, dark and grim

Media Text- a specific media product

Media Form- Type of media a text is using to communicate 
e.g the sun is a newspaper

Serif font
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Includes hooks, feet and brackets

Sans Serif (sans = without)
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
sans serif fonts dont have hooks, feet and brackets. block lettering. Its more youthful and modern.

Magazine content

In my magazine there would be basic information of the school such as maybe a contact details for the school and recent ofsted reviews. It could also include recent exam results (GCSE and A-Level) included detailed statistics on exam results. Other things the magazine could include is a special section for each year group and parents. term dates and dates for your diary could also be included.

Planning of Photo shoot

• One idea i have  is to take a photo of a year 9 student in the corridors  the shot will be a MCU.
• another idea is of some students walking out of school (Long shot)
• student working in the library on the computer (CU/MCU)
• students opening results (long shot)
• students with their teacher (long shot)

Pictures

this is a few of the images i taken to use for my front cover and contents page. These images are taken in a lot of different places such as class rooms, school library and halls. All the photos include students that attend plantsbrook school

Contents Page 2

this is another version of a contents page I created. I really like the obvious house style that has been created using a mixture of colours and fonts. The headline really stands out which will help attract readers. To improve my contents page i might add more images relating to the articles.

final contents page

this is my final edit of my contents page. i think its good however it could be improved by all the students in images making eye contact with the camera. by doing this it may edit the order of visual syntax because the reader will automatically be drawn to the images eyes.

my first contents page

this is my first draft of the contents page the words  contents is at the top of the page this is one of the conventions of a contents page. This page has a clear house style using the colours red white and black. I like that the page numbers stand out so it alerts the reader what page the article is on.

Contents page template 2

I used grids and guidelines when creating my template this gave it a professional feel. Also I like that there is a main image at the bottom but I think it would improve the magazine contents page if I included smaller images too so that also attracted the reader