Original Images

Picture Planning

Picture	Time and date	Model / pose / costume	Location	Lighting	Set-up time	Mise-en-scene	Camera angle and distance
1	20/3/2011	Male turning his head away from the camera.	My house	Natural	14:00	Normal facial expression, stripy t-shirt, dark jeans.	Medium shot.
2	20/3/2011	Male with hands behind back looking straight down the camera lens.	My house	Natural	14:05	Normal facial expression, polo shirt, blue jeans.	Medium shot.
3	20/3/2011	Male with arms folded, looking at the camera.	My house	Natural	14:10	Normal facial expression, blue hoody, red t-shirt, blue jeans.	Medium shot.
4	20/3/2011	Male playing guitar with amplifier	My house	Natural	14:20	Concentrating on chords, stripy t-shirt, dark jeans.	Medium shot.
5	20/3/2011	Male, playing guitar with microphone.	My house	Natural	14:25	Concentrated face on chords playing, polo shirt, blue jeans.	Medium shot.
6	20/3/2011	Two Males, one holding guitar, the other with a microphone. Having a conversation.	My house	Natural	14:30	Normal facial expressions having conversation. Polo shirt and blue jeans, stripy t-shirt and blue jeans.	Medium Two Shot.
7	21/3/2011	Male holding drumsticks with arms folded.	My house	Natural	14:00	Normal face, looking away from the camera, blue hoody, red t-shirt and blue jeans.	Medium shot.
8	24/3/2011	Male with Bass Guitar, playing chords	School	Natural	10:40	Normal facial expression, Black hoody, dark jeans.	Medium shot.
9	24/3/2011	Male with hands in pockets, looking at the camera.	School	Natural	10:30	Normal facial expression, black hoody, dark jeans.	Medium shot.
10	28/3/2011	Male close up for the editors review section	School	Natural	12:40	Smiling, t-shirt	Close up.

Diary Entries - Week 3

In my third week of this media coursework I have began sketching my ideas for the design of my front cover, contents page and double page spread. I used the results of my audience research to decide on specific areas of the magazine such as colour scheme, style of font, layout of contents page as well as what articles should feature in the magazine.

We also began to analyse what were problems with some previous students work and what we could do to prevent us making those very mistakes. We found that little things such as a spelling mistake or a different font style or size can drop your grade down by several marks. We were taught to stick with one style on our content page which we should take from our audience research. This would mean that the contents page would be effective and be likely to boost our marks.

Overall it has been a useful week which has taught me many things about producing a music magazine from the overall design to the content of the magazine which can separate you from a higher grade.

Diary Entry - Week 2

In week 2 of the AS level media coursework we had a look at our initial ideas and our audience research. For our initial ideas we had to draw a spider diagram which contained all of the ideas for my magazine that I had at the time. It contained categories such the target audience, colour schemes, layout of the magazine and even the type of fonts that will appear on the magazine this was so we could gather together all of the ideas which connected to each target audience. I think this initial ideas diagram will help me develop my ideas into practical production for designing my music magazine layout.

First of all I decided I would do a indie magazine as that is my preferred gere of music and the genre I know most about. I decided that I would have a target audience of 16-30 as I felt that the people between these ages like the indie genre of music more than any other age group. I also decided that the title of my double page spread would be either the band name or the band’s new album. I also decided on a range of articles which I could include in my music magazine.

I also completed my audience research which was in the form of a questionnaire. I asked a total of 30 people for their opinions and ideas of music magazines. This will allow me to use the ideas of others to help me with the production and content of my music magazine. To gather the information I had to ask people in my media studies class and post my questionnaire on Facebook so I could have more people’s opinions and suggestions of what to include in my magazine. I asked people from both genders from my target audience.

Audience Research 3

Audience Research 2

Audience Research 1

Audience Research with Charts

Question 1 - For this pie chart the question that was asked was are you a fan of indie music? The pie chart shows that 22 people out of 30 said that yes they were a fan of indie music. This shows that an indie magazine would be a good idea as a lot of people enjoy listening to this type of music. All of the people asked this questionnaire were at the age of my target audience which is between the age of 18 and 30. As an extension to this question I asked people who were their favourite bands/artist in the indie genre. There was many different answers but the bands Little Comets, The Maccabees and The Strokes were mentioned the most times. As a result of this I have decided to include some of these bands in my magazine as I like their music myself.

Question 2 – The question for this chart was “How often do you buy music magazines?” The majority of people said rarely which means that I have to find a way of persuading my target audience to buy my magazine by finding out what would make them buy a music magazine. The next option that received the most votes was monthly, this could mean that I produce a monthly magazine as it would not cost as much over a month. NME costs around £2.30 and a new issue is released every week. If I could produce a magazine costing around £3.00 then this may prove to be a very popular decision. A disadvantage for the reader of this though would be that people may read NME very quickly so the target audience would want a new magazine to be produced quickly.

Question 3 – The third question of my audience research was “What would you like to read about in a music magazine?” The majority of people surveyed said that they would like to read interviews than guidance and new artists. This means I am likely to produce at least one interview in my music magazine as suggested by my target audience. Articles about new artists could also appear in my magazine as there is also a high demand for this type of article by my target audience. Music magazines of the indie genre such as NME include articles like these which must be a popular choice for their target audience also.

 Question 4 – This question was” What do you think would be the most suitable colour scheme for my magazine?” There was an overwhelming choice for red, black and white which I felt was the most suitable colour scheme also. This is originally NME’s colour scheme which I felt worked very well. This opinion was shared by my target audience also. This colour scheme appealed to two thirds of my target audience which was a clear winner. I also liked that the second placed colour scheme but I felt may be slightly boring and dull for the reader.

Question 5 – This question was all about the layout of the contents page, the question was. “Which style do you prefer, Blocky or Image Dominated for a contents page?” After collecting all of my results I found that both styles were equally liked. This means that I was given the free choice of which I thought was the best. This means that around half of my target market would like the layout where the other half would prefer the image dominated style. I prefer the blocky style which I the layout which I am most likely to use in my music magazine.

Question 6 – this question was asked to see what style of font is should use in my magazine. The question was “Would you prefer a Serif or Sans-Serif font?” The font that received the most backing was the sans-serif style. This font is known to be masculine and bold compared to the serif style font. I too prefer the sans-serif font so I will be using it in my magazine front cover and in all of the articles due to the results of my questionnaire. The sans-serif font received over 76% of the votes which gave it an overwhelming backing.

Question 7 – this question related to the results of the second question as I asked my target audience “What often would you want a new magazine to be released?” The majority of the people asked gave the answer weekly. This may have been because the people who read music magazines will read them within a couple of days and then want a new magazine to read soon. The only problem with producing a new magazine weekly is it will be costly for the target audience if they buy every issue. Based on this question and question 2 I have decided to produce a magazine weekly rather than monthly.

Question 8 – This question related to what makes my target audience buy a music magazine. The question was “What would make you buy a music magazine?” For this question I received a number of answers from my target audience. The answer which stood out for this question was that the target audience wanted articles and interviews which bands they like. This answer was given by half of the audience, sending a clear message that this is what should be included in my magazine. I am also thinking about adding a competition for free items and ticket information. Which are the answers with the next amount of backing.

Question 9 – I asked my target audience the following question relating to the name of my target audience. The question was “Which name do you prefer for my magazine?” I then gave the audience 3 choices to choose from they were ‘Acoustic’, ‘Amplified’ or other. I then asked the audience to put forward opinions about names that they would like if they selected other. One response gave the suggestion ‘Volume’ or ‘Set-List’. I thought that volume was a good suggestion and will consider using that against ‘Amplified’ which received 80% of the votes. I think these are both decent names for music magazines and will have to decide between what the target audience want and what I think is the best.

Question 10 – This question helped me decide what the price of my magazine should be. I asked the following question “What price would you be willing to pay for a music magazine?” Most of my target audience said they would pay between £2.00 and £2.99 rather than between £1.50 - £1.99 and £3.00 - £3.49. This obviously tells me that I should price my magazine around about the £2.00 mark rather than the £2.99 mark as more people said they would pay less than two pounds rather than three pounds. The majority of weekly music magazines are priced around £2.30 but as they are established magazines they can charge more and they know people will purchase the magazine. I will need to produce a magazine that is cheaper than say NME to have a more competitive edge in the market.

Initial Ideas Digram

Diary Entry - Week 1

In the first week of my media coursework we began the research and analysis of the project. We had to begin the research of the front cover, contents page and double page spreads of various music magazines such as NME, Q, and Kerrang as well as others. We also looked at the codes and conventions of front covers, contents and double page spreads such as the lighting and colours used on front covers and the type of text and language used in the double page spread article.

We discovered that different music magazines use different conventions for their layout. NME generally use a colour scheme of red, black and white as well as a blocky contents page layout. NME always have one image on their front cover which dominates the page, allowing the text to stand out off the image. Magazines such as Kerrang use dark colours to keep with the genre of the music they have light coloured text which makes it stand out from the dark images that are used. Kerrang also use a blocky style for their contents page. This will help me see which music genres use particular styles for the magazines.

We were asked to complete analysis of 5 front covers, contents page and double page spreads. This was so we could have detailed information in to why music magazines use particular styles from facial expressions on the people featured in the magazine to the type of font and how they link to their target audiences. We discovered what the necessary conventions which all music magazines use and what they use them for, we found that when music magazines are designed everything is based on the interests and culture of the target audience.  I think this analysis and research will help me decide on the conventions for my music magazines in all of the aspects that need to be decided such as fonts, colour schemes, language and layout of all pages.

Analysis Q Magazine - Elbow

This issue of Q contains a solo image of the lead singer of the band ‘Elbow’. His costume is very smart as he is wearing a full suit. The microphone stand in front of him instantly gives the information that this man is the singer in ‘Elbow’. This image is very plain and contains no colour which grabs the reader’s attention. You can tell by the image that this magazine is not aimed at a heavy metal audience as the image of Guy Garvey (the lead singer of elbow) does not wear any pale make up. The image sits on a dull white and grey background which I think is quite effective. There is only one image on this front cover meaning the main article in this magazine will be based around ‘Elbow’.

Straight away the title of the magazine grabs your attention, this makes it easy to recognise on the shelf and makes the magazine more eye catching to the reader. There is a mixture of serif and sans-serif font on this magazine front cover which portrays that the audience which this magazine is aimed at is both males and females. This is very effective and makes the magazine look more decorative and interesting. The bands and artists that are featured on the cover of this magazine are displayed in bold black text where as the comment about this article to entice you to buy this magazine is displayed in a red serif font. The font size changes for artists names such as ‘Amy Winehouse’. I think this looks very good and effective.

On this magazine front cover there are black lines which separate the article headlines. This magazine appeals to the many different music genres as it includes artists such as Amy Winehouse (soul), The Strokes (indie), Adele (acoustic pop) and Chase and Status (drum ‘nd bass). This can persuade more people to buy this magazine rather than magazines concentrating on just one genre of music.

This contents page is the first that I have analysed that goes onto two pages. I think this is due to the fact that it is a monthly magazine and therefore will have more articles to inform the reader about. The main article featuring ‘Elbow has a large image telling the viewer where they can find this article. The other main articles in this magazine also have images with a page number in it. The lists of articles are down both sides of this double page spread where they have their title, page number and a description of what the article is all about. The left hand side is filled with one off featured articles where the right hand side is filled with regular articles.

The colour scheme used in this magazine is similar to the classic NME magazines. They use red, white and black which is simple but effective. The banner across the top of the page contains the magazine logo, the title of the page and the issue number which is not found in any other magazines I have analysed. This is the layout I prefer as it is constructed well, easily readable and still interesting to look at. The only problem is that I am thinking of producing a weekly magazine so I may only need one page for my double page spread.

This is the layout of the double page spread issued by Q magazine. The large ‘O’ in the article immediately stands out. The text on top of the ‘O’ is difficult to read as the red used is quite dark. In the centre of the page there is a quote from the article which says “Most of all we love a quiet pub and a bloody good chat.” This is the opposite to the stereotype of a band. At the bottom of my middle column starts with a large capital letter which I feel works very well. Half of this double page spread is the article whilst the other half is filled with eight images of the band in the studio and rehearsing. I like the idea of having half of the double page spread filled with the article and the other half of an image(s).

This is the first double page spread that I have analysed that uses serif font. This font appeals to both genders widening the target audience. This double page spread has a header and a footer. The header contains the title of the article whilst the footer contains the magazine logo, the page number and the issue date. I like this layout it is formal but still attractive, I would consider basing my layout around Q with a few personal tweaks.