Evaluation

This is my filmed evaluation, the first video contains both my first and second question and answers. The second video features from question three-five question 5 is finished in the third video which also includes question six and seven.

Target Audience Feed Back

Final- Feature Article

My Feature article I liked because it kept to the style of my magazine and was the sort of look I was going for however I would of liked to spend more time on  it so I could make the text in the second column go around my text grab because that would of allowed me to make it larger and keep the similar  spacing between columns.

Final - Contents

The contents page I feel is my weakest part of the brief. The images are fairly boring and looking back I feel that the font of the numbers featured on the plectrums could have been better suited. I found this part of the the brief the most difficult however as it is difficult to get suitable images and then create a page with teaser and text that is still relevant to the image 

Final - Front Cover

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Personally I like the design of the front cover, however I do still feel improvements could be made. My main issue with the front cover is use of spacing and the image I used both of these coincide with each other. The image could have been more interesting as i could have involved more props or what I think would of worked better would be a mid shot with him standing to the left side allowing me more room for graphics and text. 

Construction - Feature Article

First I placed all my text out in simple font to get an idea of spacing and to ensure that all the article could fit. This is an image of me adding my title to a background I created with photoshop.

This is me adding my first column onto the page it is situated  on the left hand side of the page to ensure that the graphic design I created and the image is in clear view.

This is an image of me adding my 2nd column to my background this is the column that includes my text grab.

Feature Article - Draft

Before i started to create my feature spread it was essential that I created  a draft copy of the article I would be featuring. Here is that draft;

Relevant Children is a small band that was developed early 2010 it started off with underground gigs and bar work. However blew out of proportion when the band was featured in a remix created by nero ever since then Relevant children has been hitting the tops with its interesting take on the rock genre adding both acoustic and electric guitars and feature a piano like many modern bands. I don’t see why this is needed as surely you know who they are?

Q; what got you into singing?

Singing has always been my passion I always strived to the best at something so no one else could compete, especially with my brothers growing up, we were always competitive and always wanted to beat each other and I guess I got lucky, I got the musical genes. I remember when I was 10 and was bought my first guitar I used to sit there for hours playing and singing along trying to create my own pieces. A few years later I developed and started playing for my school as an acoustic guitarist in the jazz band. I’m not going to lie I never truly had the passion for this I missed my electric and belting out my voice. Fortunately I was recognised for this by my music teacher who helped me with the vocals and I became a fully-fledged solo signer by the age of 16. However I felt something was missing and it wasn’t until uni that I and a few friends developed Relevant Children and I’ve never felt more at home.

Q; Will you stay in America?

A; No we know that it’s our English fans that got us to this stage and we don’t want to forget that. In actual fact we are planning a tour around Britain for September into next year so be on the look out for that.

Q; who do you aspire to be?

A; Now that’s a good question I guess me myself aspire to be Dave Ghrol from the foo fighters, if I can get a crowd pumped as good as he does I know I’m going to have a good time.

Q; You have a bad reputation for causing havoc, why is this?

A; let me get this straight Relevant children are a bit like werewolf’s we are normal people in the day but the stage is our full moon. We aim to please the crowd, get them going and on their way, we’ve only been known to break instruments and give them out as freebies as this is what the crowd want and now come to expect from us.

Q; what animal would you best describe yourself as?

A; probably a dog, I’m loyal, always there for you when you’re down and I love to go for long walks!

Q; since being in America have you met anybody famous?

A; It’s funny really growing up in England you hear about all these Hollywood actors and think about how glitz and glam their lives must be, but the other day I managed to get Will Smith’s auto graph in M.C. Donald’s.

Q; How did you manage to make it in America?

A; Oprah was the biggest help, it was like as soon as we had our face on TV we were wanted everywhere and were recognised where ever we went. TV seems to be big in the states. As soon as you’re on it everyone thinks they know you or WILL know you no matter what; it’s like a door to opportunities.

Q; Is there anything that you want to do in America?

A; yea I’d love to meet Obama, maybe even get a round of golf in.

Q; Do you do a lot of sport?

A; I used to when I was little. I was in both rugby and the cricket team and I was also a casual jogger. However I just don’t have the time for real sports any more so jogging’s the only one for me. I don’t see the point in Gyms as everything you need to train is around you.

Q; What about girls?

A; I’ve had a few, we have quite the lady following there is no one special for me but I’m looking so hey girls I’m here come and get me.

Contents Construction

First I used the background image created for my front cover this includes my masthead design.

 I added a rip affect to the top right hand corner by using the eraser tool with a bristle brush on the colour layer and on a white layer. Below this I added a texture effect.

 I created a headline with use of an image I took of a plectrum and I used a layer mask to intergrate the two designs.

 Next I added images with background with a similar rip effect to what was in the top right corner.

Front Cover Construction

First I started by importing my masthead onto a A4 photoshop document on which  I had created a base colour background.

I then decided to create a style on the background so I used the area sectioned by the I and M to add a colour to the background.

I made the Y of Elysium red so it also added to the colouring this also allowed it to stand out from the brown background.

After looking through my images I decided this image was the best for purpose as it was and interesting use of props and the lighting made it easy to remove the background so i could layer it onto the background I had made. Here are some other images I considered;

This image like the one I chose has an interesting use of props however I personally feel that it does not involve the audience as much as he is not looking at the camera.

This image had good lighting and the model was looking at the camera however the large smile is not appropriate for the rock theme so there fore I opted against using this image.

After removing the background from my image I increased the image size to fit properly in the page allowing a focus on the face.

I created a folded sticker design with shadowing affect to place onto my front cover to give it a graphics design common to music magazines.

To add a grit affect I took an image of a brick wall and then changed the opacity to around 30% just so it gave and overlay and darkened the style of the cover.

Mast Head Designs

Mast head designs;

Most people when creating a masthead would go through several different fonts and stick within the common space of 0.25inch from top and sides. I also did this however ultimately decided because I wanted my magazine to me ‘quirky’ and not necessarily main stream to edit a pre-existing font so it gave a more stylistic feel yet was still in keeping with the genre.

The top 3 styles of fonts and examples I used previously when developing my masthead for my magazine the main style is big and bulky like common main stream magazines of similar style such as metal hammer and kerrang! However I chose with the results gathered from my survey monkey to instead use the bottom font a more slim stylized font. This font is suited to the genre as it has a grunge/ rock feels I also seemed to work best with it based on its space it takes up.

How I Edited The Font;

First I opened a new A5 landscape photoshop document and typed in my magazine name "Elysium" in white on a black background so it was easy to see and defined. After this I converted the layer from a text layer into a shape.

Next I increased the size of the I and M to do this I used the direct selection tool and simply dragged the parts of the letters out.

Due to the nature of the font capital letters do not particularly stand out so therefore I decided to bulk up and extend the top of the E, For this simply created a new layer and used the rectangular tool to select and area then used the bucket to fill it in white. After this I decided to replicate this to join the S and the U

  

I decided to make it more quirky by changing the colour of the Y to do this I used the quick selection tool and placed the Y on its own layer. I then used colour overlay to change the colour.

Photo Shoot - Behind The Scenes

Because I used a male model for my shoot I did not use any make up for my model and instead my major concern was positioning of lighting, intensity of lighting and how the model was acting. As you can see here I tried taking shots so it looked as if my model was hitting something,

This is an image which clearly shows my using professional lighting equipment in the correct way this shows that I am able to to take pictures using the equipment.

One of the hardest factors was getting the lighting correct and making sure it was neither to dark or to bright for my design ideas. below are some image of me adjusting different lighting.

Equipment List and Lighting Research

To ensure my Photo's from my photo shoot come out at a professional standard I researched into professional lighting set ups and specialist equipment. My equipment list is as follows;

-Camera

-Background Roll (In Black)

-Studio Umbrella
-Soft Box

-Props (Guitar and stool)

-Reflector (To give glow to the face)

A Reflector is used to ensure enough light is placed onto the face and a gold tinted reflector can add a golden glow to the side of a face. A reflector works by reflecting or bouncing light from a source for example a studio umbrella onto the subject. The smoother and more reflective the surface the more light reflected so therefore the brighter the image. Reflectors are commonly used in photo shoots give softer light to certain areas or ensure that all areas of a photo shoot have light.

Studio umbrellas; Are common umbrellas however they have a reflective surface in the inner side. common lighting equipment is attached to the inner side and when the image is taken these project the light into the umbrella this then reflects around and projects light over a wider area onto the stage area. This method is used more commonly then direct lighting equipment as it gives less harsh and also smooth lighting, it is also a very cheap solution to light a larger area.

Soft Box; Gives a nice soft lighting affect it allows for a better warping of light and allows for a nice smooth lighting it works by simply allowing light to pass through a small filter towards the front of the box because of the nature of this light boxes work better when working in small areas as they can be close to the subject.

Props are used to ensure that the model looks fit for purpose and fits in with the whole style makeup can be classed as props as different colours connote different feelings and stereotypically certain colours are associated with certain social groups.

Positioning; Positioning of light in response to the subject is very important as each angle gives a different affect. First off however it is important to note for correct lighting it is appropriate to have a minimum of two lights one to light up the background  (back lighting) and one for the subject. Different angles cause different affects; normally when taking photographs if going for and even light across the front of  the face (Flat light) then the light source will be placed facing central to the model (90 degrees to the model). However if going for a stylistic shot where half the face is darkened then any where between 45-60 degrees would be applicable.

Flat Plan - Feature Article

Here are two design ideas for my feature spread both feature on large image that takes up at least a page , both also use 3 columns as this is commonly used in the music magazine industry.

Flat Plan - Front Cover & Contents

Here are two of my flat pans that I designed for my front cover. One is standard to common conventions of having one main image with text featuring to the side and part of the image being included in the masthead area. Where as the second idea was different as it is a mid shot including torso with two extra images to the left hand side/ 

Here are two flat plans for contents page the top includes multiple images with boarders alternating angles going down the left hand side. This plan also includes two paper rip affects to give a style to the magazine the  

background behind the rip is planned to be like aluminium sheet so it allows it to be grunge type style. The second plan uses two larger images and has larger text spacing. The second plan also uses images of plectrums, which are used to play a guitar, this adds to the rock style I'm going for. 

Feature Spread Analysis - Metal Hammer

To get a better understanding of the common conventions of feature articles. I am going to analyse a double page spread featured in Metal Hammer that talks about Corey Taylor. I think the target audience would be 16-40 year olds because of the nature of the musicians feature id say it is suitable for people that enjoy the metal genre.

Layout and Colour

The layout is fairly simple it features a star vehicle image on the left of Corey Taylor. The right hand page features all of the text for the article and is clearly set into 3 columns of text with a large piece of text featuring for style reasons. The colour scheme is common to the genre of dark colours such as black the star vehicles tie is also a blood red both connoting misery and perhaps death liking to the common perceptions of the genre.

 Typography/Text

The “no” from the title has been made very large in consideration to space and features text inside the “o” the left of the “N” has been extended to form a border line towards the inner of the page. It has a 1940’s-50’s style this is very interesting as this is no common to genre. The period design could be to exaggerate the fact he has “done it before”  so therefore this style of 40-50’s could be connoting a previous life however I highly doubt this.

Imagery

The mid=close up of Corey is very dark, however his main facial features are still visible still allowing and audience to connect to the image. The clothes he is wearing are also 40’s-50’s style ( fedora ; tie ; waist coat ) this carries on the retro theme of the feature article.  A small image of bullets is featured in the lower right hand corner of the article this link with the time era clothing suggests that they are going for a old gangster feel which is very uncommon to the genre as common day gangsters are associated with Rap/ Hip-Hop music. The use of clothing however could also connote that Corey is all business when it comes to this sort of publication.

Lexicon

The text speaks like a friend and is therefore very common to music magazine genre

Feature Spread Analysis - Kerrang!

To get a better understanding of the  common conventions of feature articles. I am going to analyze a double page spread featured in Kerrang that talks about Blink-182. I think the target audience would be 14-20 year olds because of the nature of modern music and Kerrang's take on this the magazine appeals to all audiences however the higher classes could be excluded.

Layout and Colour

The main magazine story is mainly imagery but is still visibly clear to be set with 3 columns on the left page. The amount of text featured appears to be a small amount this connotes that the magazine feel as if the audience would not like to have lots of information and would rather have concise get to the point information in turn this connotes that the magazine may feel as if there audience is lower IQ or has less concentration which is a normal stereotypical trait of drunk, according to Hall's storm and stress model teenagers seek excitement  through alcohol so in turn this relates to the audience of 14-20 years old, admittedly this is a stereotypical presumption. The colours featured in the article are red white and black, these are simple colours used that appeal to a large audience which is what kerrang needs to do due to its large fan base. The red however connotes love and lust which yet again supports common perceptions of teens as Hall's storm and stress model depicts that teens find excitement through sex also.

 Typography/Text

 The main text shown is a bit like scratching thick with a biro pen commonly done in classrooms and exams by bored students. This could appeal to youth as it is something commonly seen so is easy to read and still gives this feel of wanting to read as it makes it appear attractive even though Blink-182 could be classed as an old band. The text does not take up and mass amount of space yet is still very detailed and does still include a lot, I personally feel that this is a clever thing Kerrang have done to entice audiences as it doesn’t look a lot more people are going to read. It is also clever as it allows them to include a ‘comical’ image and this graphical font that both take up the majority of the page.

Imagery

 The main image features a member of Blink-182 appearing scared or trapped this could connote to his feelings towards taking part in interviews and so it could suggest that he does not liked or has not done interviews in the past. The imagery of the toy dinosaur could connote the past as dinosaur where extinct years ago. The toy dinosaur also could have deep connotations such as about the world thinking Blink-182 was ‘extinct’ and no more. The shot is very clever as both actor and dinosaur have similar facial expressions this ties the dinosaur in as well as the story being about his “Dinosaur Life”.

Lexicon
The text uses words such as "loud" and speaks like a friend does this connotes that it is trying to appeal to a younger audience as this would support Halls "storm and stress model". this along with referring his life to a dinosaurs which in turn connotes age may suggest that Blink - 182 are seeking for a younger audience. 

 Conclusion

Personally I think this is a very clever way of re advertising a band to perhaps and old or new audience. I feel that the audience of Kerrang would be similar to that of my magazine and I also really like the way in which the layout is, so may take this as an example in consideration.

Institutions - Oligopoly Prezi

For the prezi we worked as a class creating fact files on the 4 main companies involved in magazine production. I my self worked on Bauer, this company works on many well known magazines including Kerrang and Q magazine. Bauer is a company that tries to compete on many multi media products such as radio and TV. However Bauer's branch into ipad and iphone apps is limited as they only feature  two magazines in this format but based on there history with the industry I doubt it will be long before they develop into this form of media as this is the only true way in my opinion and company can stay above water my developing and adapting into new areas.

The magazines I analysed where Q and clash magazine. Q magazine as afore mention is produced my Bauer one of the largest companies based in germany and has a large office in the UK. This knowledge of  the industry and power in the magazine market can be stated to have helped Q magazine be as successful as it is because of the this the magazine is very much mainstream.

Clash magazine is a completely independent magazine based and published in Dundee, Britain this is what gives Clash it originality in the music magazine industry it is very "Quirky" in terms of the style and tends to headline more undiscovered artist however it does also feature information on the 'big hitters' in the industry
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My magazine does follow common conventions however is slightly different in terms of style to common day mainstream magazines. Because of this the company behind my magazine would more than likely be independent like Clash as it does not stick to the generics of having the big stars head lining.


New technologies must be taken into consideration when dealing with magazines as in the common recession and money crisis institutions and conglomerates need consumers and the only way to do this is to show that the product is advancing and applying to the consumers need. The emergence of new technologies in recent years has allowed the development of allot of businesses the emergence of the ipad has been one of the biggest contributing factors. The ipad has branched the way two new and inventive ways to publish magazines, Mag + is a company that works  with converting your magazine into and app for the app store this has been amazing for preexisting companies and new new ones asking for recognition. Some magazines in the current circumstances are only available as an app a prime example of this is K composite (see video below) which aims to be different then main stream produce by having everyday people feature. New technology if nothing else aside has saved small magazines such as K composite and has saved allot of people in the industry allot of money.

Photographer - Mick Hutson

This photographer has done work for both Q and Metal Hammer. He is well known for taking images where he can be it back stage, world tours or at his studio.

The main image is of professor Green and his is depicted in a stereotypical way to common British, yet it is still very interesting. He is modeled holding a dog back which looks angry/aggressive making him appear arrogant individual it also gives him the appearance of being manly as he is holding the dog back without a sweat, this also shows dominance. The use of the dog because of these points is very interesting, The high angled shot also gives him dominance it also gives the dog dominance in turn connoting that the audience is the passive in this instance, the lowest in the food chain, this is also reinforced by the acting of the model his look suggests that we are not worthy of him. In all I think this is a very interesting piece of photography that really involves the audience

This image is similar to another image of Dave Ghrol I analysed, This one however uses the props and setup to create a different affect. This image uses the mans facial expression and connotes sadness almost. This added with the cigarette suggests maybe he has had sorrow in his life that  is why he chooses to smoke. The reason I find this as interesting as it is, is because it shows how different photographers can cause different emotions within audiences  despite the fact they use similar props.

Photographer - Andy Fallon

To get a better understanding of the type of shots big photographers use in magazines such as NME, MOJO and Q. Specifically I looked at the work of Andy Fallon and Mick Hutson.

Andy Fallon;

Andy Fallon is a music photographer and also a well known art director. He has a solid reputation in music photography because of his atmospheric images that really apply to the genre and theme of the magazine.

Dave Ghrol

The image shows lead singer of Foo fighters, Dave Ghrol, the image uses interesting mise-en-scene of a cigarette this connotes arrogance and also depicts him as a man, the image looks as if he is wearing makeup this suggests a more feminine feel so therefore I could be depicted that the whole cigarette is to counteract the make up. Dave Ghrol’s facial expression with the cigarette connotes arrogance and not caring which is very interesting and really makes and audience feel immersed as it is like Dave Ghrol is looking at you. The star vehicle of Dave Ghrol would add fandom to this particular image because of his huge fan base and successful career. The setting of the image is just blank the image itself relies on the mise en scene of the image to give the atmosphere it has. 

This is the image mentioned in the video below, It is an interesting shot as it features a naked lady laying on a mass of flowers. The theories of Mulvey can be applied to this as it is showing her in the form of the male eye and the eye of the camera however I still think the image can be appreciated by the female sex also. As is mentioned in the video allot of preparation must have been taken to create such a good quality image and it must have also taken a long time to gain access to that amount of flowers.

Target Audience Reasearch

For the nature of my magazine I have realised for it to be successful I need to apply a style to the audience of my magazine, as this is the true only way to make my magazine feel original and stand out to the consumer. I am going to create a survey-monkey similar to the one I used for my preliminary task so I know exactly what my audience would want featured in the magazine. Theorist such as Fiske claims that consumers take in all different types of media and 'rip' them adding their own meanings to text, so therefore when creating my magazine I need to appeal to this or I will not need to as much using my survey-monkey results as this is what they want anyway. By using a survey-monkey I will also be able to depict categories from Hartley (1987) as I will ask questions such as age, gender and background.

Survey monkey Results;

To ensure I appeal to a relevant target audience I created a surveymonkey. This enabled me to depict what an audience wished to see in and on my magazine. This allowed me to develop my own ideas around those of the suited audience.

One of the first question I asked was age group as this can help me when profiling and knowing that I am sticking to a suitable age group. The screenshot bellow shows that following the survey monkey would be appealing to a teenage audience which would be suitable as this age group are the most likely to be consumers of magazines.

I then asked if the people commonly read music magazines so I could know if I was appealing to someone new to the idea or converting someone from a more mainstream magazine then the one I would be creating such as kerrang!.  

I also asked what genres of music my audience enjoyed. It came out that the majority enjoyed indie or rock and so because of this is decided to appeal to this by creating a rock magazine. This was good for me as I enjoy rock music and so had a good idea of certain bands and magazine styles this is what helped me set in stone the genre of rock.

I asked what they would like to see included in a music magazine, this ultimately was to help me decide what to write for my feature spread and to hint at what stories they may wish me to mention on my contents. Their was a wide majority of results as I allowed people to select more then one option however 100% still said they would like to see interviews because of this my feature article will most likely be a interview styled prose. 

To help apply my audience to uses and gratifications I created a questioning why they would read a music magazine applying some of the key points from uses and gratification that can be applied to magazine. I found that the majority of my audience would read a magazine purely for entertainment so therefor e I need to make my magazine interesting and entertaining.