Screenshots of Magazine Production

Screenshots of music magazine production on Prezi

Screenshots of Magazine Production 2 on Prezi

Screenshots of Magazine Production 3 on Prezi

Rough Layout of Double Page Spread

When I finally start creating my double page spread I plan on designing it in the same way as this (taken from NME magazine)- using a full page image on the left side, a masthead that stretches over both pages, a standfirst, a by-line, a drop cap and a few drop quotes.
If needed I will also use a third page similar to this NME double page spread.

Photographs for Music Magazine

Last week I started to take photographs for my music magazine- first of all I took an image of someone wearing Nike trainers; I took this image to represent the article about Eliza Doolittle on my contents page and this is an image similar to the one she uses on her album front cover.
I then stayed after school to take photographs for my front cover and contents page; I have a range to choose from and I will also edit and add effects to the chosen photo.
I will also edit and add effects to the image that I choose to use on my contents page. I have used the props of a guitar, speakers, headphones and drums as they reflect the genre of my magazine.

Article Research

For my double-page spread I decided that I would like to feature an interview with a band/artist, I then contacted a few various venues and band managers to try and organise an interview. I eventually managed to set up an interview with american band Boyce Avenue.
I then conducted research about the band and wrote a rough draft of some questions I may ask:

Boyce Avenue are a Florida-based band popular for their strong acoustic roots; the band consists of the three brothers Alejandro, Fabian, and Daniel Manzano. The brothers first came together as a band in 2004 when Alejandro, Fabian and their older brother Daniel reconnected after pursuing their individual educational goals.

In 2007, in an effort to share their music and ideas with the world, the band decided to start filming and posting videos on YouTube of their own songs and some covers of their favorite songs by other artists. Some of the first few videos they posted included acoustic versions of songs such as Justin Timberlake's "LoveStoned", Rihanna's "Umbrella", and Coldplay's "Viva la Vida", among many others. To date, the band has gathered over 165,000,000 views on YouTube, and the total number of subscribers approaching 300,000, making their channel one of the most visited worldwide on YouTube.

As of the end of 2009, the band had finished recording a full album of original music and had produced and financed the entire project on its own; they had also developed a plan to release the album independently through its own label, 3 Peace Records. At that time, they were approached by Universal Republic Records to partner in the release of the album and eventually decided to sign with them.

Currently, the band is touring Europe and preparing its next nationwide headline tour of the United States.

This is a link to the bands official website, featuring videos, biography and downloads:http://boyceavenue.com/




Rough sample of interview questions:

-So how are you finding the tour so far?
-Have you come across any mad fans yet?
-You’re first European tour was in October of 2009, so what would you say is the best gig you’ve ever played?
-How did you come up with the name Boyce Avenue?
-Was it hard to jump to the music industry from completely different areas of work, or have you always known music is what you really want to do?
-So how did the family band begin?
-What inspired and motivated you to get involved with music whilst still studying at school?
-Does being brothers make working together easier or do family arguments often occur?
-I read that you have had over 165,000,000 views on YouTube and you have around 300,000 subscribers; did YouTube help your musical career to take off?
-You also have over 24,000 followers on twitter, how do you keep up with all of your fans and do you feel you owe a lot to them?
-Do you have any celebrity fans?
-Aswell as writing your own music you cover songs by other artists; who would you say inspires you the most?
-You’re now signed with Universal Records, how did that come about?
-You’re new album ‘All We Have Left’ has recently been released, how long did it take to produce and do you have any favourite songs on the album?

Planning Production

For my front cover I will try to re-create an image similar to this, however I will be using a model with blonde hair. I have decided to try and re-create this image as my music magazine is of the same genre of music as NME. Like this image, I will also use direct mode of address for my front cover.

 For my contents page I will need another image of the model I use on the front cover, I will also use a large image of the band/artist I am interviewing for my double page spread. To represent the feature about Ellie Gouldings album I will use an image of her signed drumstick (owned by one of my friends).

 

The coverlines I will use on my magazine front cover:
- BOYCE AVENUE HIT THE UK!
- LEAH KENT, A RISING STAR?
- ON TOUR, WITH FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE
- 100 BEST MUSIC MOMENTS
- ELIZA'S MUSICAL ADDICTION
- A WEEKEND WITH THE STARS, T4 STARS OF 2010 HIGHLIGHTS
- PLUS BRUNO MARS, KINGS OF LEON, LADY GAGA
- ELLIE GOULDING, THE ALBUM TRACK BY TRACK
- FREE CD


The text I will use on my contents page:
THIS MONTH:3  ARCADE FIRE ON SPEED DIAL
10 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE KINGS OF LEON
22 ARCTIC MONKEYS: COULD THIS BE THEIR LAST ALBUM?
39 THE STORY BEHIND BIFFY CLYRO
50 THE GIRL WITH THE POKER FACE: LADY GAGA EXCLUSIVE
71 AN ARTIST TO WATCH: LAURA MARLING
96 DO IT LIKE JESSIE J!
101 ACCESS ALL IPODS: WHAT DO YOU HAVE ON REPEAT?


EVERY MONTH:
6   SUBSCRIBE AND WIN AN IPOD TOUCH!
21  TOP 10 INDIE DOWNLOADS
34  GIG GUIDE: ALL THE BANDS YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS!
61  EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW  IN MUSIC THIS MONTH
101 Q & A: HAVE YOUR SAY
135 LETTERS: YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS MONTHS INDIE MUSIC

REVIEW:
25  2010 IN MUSIC: THE TOP 100 INDIE ARTISTS OF THE YEAR
47 HOTTEST NEW  INDIE RELEASES
63 GREAT GIGS THIS MONTH
88 ARTISTS TO WATCH: WHO WE THINK WILL BE TOP OF THE CHARTS NEXT YEAR
115 TV YOU’LL LOVE: ON SET WITH THE CAST OF SKINS

To represent the article about Eliza Doolittle I will try to use an image similar to this image used on her album cover.

The feature for my double page spread is going to be an interview with Boyce Avenue- an American band currently touring the UK. I will need to take a full length image for the double page spread and an image for the contents page.

I may also use an image similar to this on my contents page to represent an article called 'The Girl With The Poker Face: Lady GaGa Exclusive'.

 

Rough Layout of my music magazine:

Publication Plan

Today I started making my final decisions for my music magazine; I made changes from my initial plans due to the results from my questionnaire.

Title:  MUSE     

Positioning Statement: Your Musical Inspiration

Frequency of Publication: After looking at my questionnaire results I have chosen my frequency of publication to be monthly; this is because over half of the people who completed my questionnaire said that they purchase music magazines monthly.

Price: I have decided to price my magazine at £3.00 rather than my original plan of £3.50 as my recent questionnaire results showed that most people would prefer to pay between £2.50 and £3.00.

Distribution: My music magazine will be distributed to newsagents, supermarkets, music arenas, music stores and retail stores such as W H Smiths.  

Rationale: My music magazine will focus on indie music/new music releases. We will offer advice on upcoming gigs and honest reviews of recent gigs. There will also be a regular feature were readers can write in their own views/opinions on new music releases.

Style: The style of my magazine will be casual and informal, simple vocabulary will be used and the presentation will be similar to NME magazine using reasonably short paragraphs and lots of images.

Regular Content:- Top 50 tracks of the month
- Gig guide- detailing any upcoming gigs/concerts  (dates, prices, venues)
- New music reviews
- Concert/gig reviews
- What do you think? Feature- readers can write in their own opinions and views on new music releases/ gig reviews.
- Ask... – this feature will allow readers to ask celebrities their own questions.
- Everything you need to know this month.
- Fanmail
- Free poster/CD

Feature Content:- Interview- I will be using an artist/band interview for my main feature article, however I do not yet know which band or artist I will be using.
- “A Rising Star”- an article about the model I use on my front cover
- "A Weekend With The Stars"- Highlights from T4 stars of 2010
- Over the phone interview with Bruno Mars
- A day with...The Kings of Leon
- Track by Track- an article about Ellie Gouldings new album.  
( I will use articles and interviews with Bruno Mars, Ellie Goulding and Kings of Leon as they were also the most popular result for peoples favourite artists/bands.)
- “On tour with Florence and The Machine”- an article about the tour so far and images from many different venues.
- Boyce Avenue Hit The UK
- 100 Best Music Moments

House Style:
-Coverlines:  Segoe UI/ Segoe UI bold

-Headlines:  Vladimir Script

-Standfirst: Lucinda Handwriting

-Features first paragraph- drop capital: Adobe Caslon Pro Bold, 4 lines deep

-Drop Quote: Lucinda Sans

-Body Text: Times New Roman 10/11pt

-Colour scheme: I will be using purple and black in my colour scheme as my questionnaire results showed that they were the most popular colours; I will also incorporate grey/silver into my colour scheme.  

Audience Research- Results and Conclusions

After creating my questionnaire I handed them out to twenty people and I then tallied the results. The results to quite a few of my questions will influence my decisions for my music magazine plan, for example: How often do you buy music magazines?

Audience Research- Results and Conclusions on Prezi

Here is a video clip of my questionnaire being answered by a member of my target audience:

Analysis of Music Magazines

 

 

 

Questionnaire

Yesterday I created a questionnaire that I could use to conduct my audience research; I wanted to find out people's opinion on the design, price, frequency of publication and content of music magazines so I could begin to make decisions for my own music magazine.
A copy of my questionnaire:

Questionnaire

1. What gender are you?
Male                 Female

2. What age are you?
10-15         15-20      20-30      30-40       40+

3. How often do you buy music magazines?
Every week            Every few weeks            Every month

4. Who is your favourite band or artist?

5. What three colours would you prefer to see on a music magazine?
Red      Orange     Yellow      Purple      Pink     Silver
Blue     Green       White        Black       Gold

6. What music magazines do you currently purchase?


7. What do you like/dislike about these magazines?


8. How much would you pay for a music magazine?
£1.50- £2.00        £2.00-£2.50        £2.50-£3.00        £3.00-£3.50

9. What features of music magazines do you prefer?


10. What artists/bands would you prefer to read articles about? (Please give 2 examples)


11. What item would you rather receive free with a music magazine?
CD         Poster

Initial Plans For My Magazine

Using the research I conducted into existing music magazines I began to make the initial decisions for my own music magazine:

Genre: Indie/ new music
Target Audience: teenagers- young adults

Price: £3.50
Frequency of publication: My magazine will be published monthly.
Average issue size: Between 120-150 pages.
Regular content: Top 50 tracks of the month, new music releases, upcoming gigs, concert and music reviews, free poster.
Feature articles: An interview with an artist/ band, article about a "rising star", short interviews with artists/bands, festival review.

Researching The Market Place

Today we began our main task; I conducted research into music magazines that could be possible competitors to my music magazine. For each existing music magazine I researched the price, frequency of publication, issue size, regular content and feature articles.

I researched NME, Q and Mojo because all three regularly focus on new artists and bands.

NME Magazine is published on Wednesdays weekly; each issue is £2.30. The issue size of the magazine is around 70 pages.
Regular Content of NME: gig guide, new music releases, this weeks top 20, concert and music reviews, fanmail and track of the week.
Recent Feature Articles: interviews with The Wombats, Katie White and P Diddy, feature on Mumford and Sons and Bob Dylan poster. This poster would also act as a puff on the front cover of the magazine.

http://www.nme.com/

The publisher of NME is IPC Media. http://www.ipcmedia.com/

Q Magazine is published monthly and therefore has a larger issue size of around 110-130 pages per issue. Each issue of Q is £3.90. Recent feature articles: celebration of John Lennon, interview with Damon Albarn and his Gorillaz and a feature on Foals.
Regular contents of Q include: Q50- the 50 essential album tracks of the month,  new releases, live concert, music and film reviews.

http://www.qthemusic.com/

The publisher of Q Magazine is H. Bauer Publishing Ltd.
http://www.bauer.co.uk/ 

The price of Mojo magazine is £4.30 and is published monthly. The issue size of this magazine is around 150 pages. Recent Feature Articles include: interviews with The Stooges, MC5, The Incredible String Band and Judy Collins, and reviews of Kings of Leon, Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, John Lennon and many more. Mojo regularly includes a free CD with their magazine, which will act as a puff on their front cover.

http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/

The publisher of Mojo Magazine is H. Bauer Publishing Ltd.
http://www.bauer.co.uk/ 

Stages of Contents Page Production

I created my school magazine contents page on Quark Xpress and took screenshots whilst working to show the progress I was making. 

The first step I went through to make my contents page was uploading text from Photoshop; I created "Contents" on Photoshop as I needed to use the same typography as my masthead. I then uploaded the image of new school uniform as this would be the largest image on the page and relate to one of the feature articles.
I then added the section "Regulars" using size 11pt.

Secondly, I created two more of the column sections, "Features" and "Groups", using the same font style, size and colour as "Regulars".
I also uploaded another of my images, linking to the "Meet Our New Head Girl" article and added the page number in a contrasting colour.

Similarly I created my fourth section "Charity" and uploaded two other images that relate to particular articles, also adding the page number to show what page the article can be found on.

My final few steps included adding my final section "Review" and uploading my final image.

Stages of Front Cover Production

To create my school magazine front cover I used Photoshop; whilst producing my front cover I took screenshots of my work to show the different stages involved.

Firstly I uploaded my main image and adjusted it so that it was in a suitable place on the front cover.
I then created my masthead- I chose a font that would be unique to any other text on my page.

After creating my masthead I added my positioning statement "Highlighting The School Events You Care About", making sure to used a different font style and colour to my masthead. I also added my issue number, price and barcode.

I then added my main coverline "Top Results For GCSE Students" using quite a large font size so that the text would be more eye catching.

Finally I created my coverlines, for example "Year 12 Trip To Barcelona", using various font sizes and a colour that would stand out against the image. I also used buzz words such as "Exclusive".

Evaluation of School Magazine

My school magazine front cover follows the codes and conventions of real media products as it uses a main image that reflects the purpose of the magazine; this image also uses direct mode of address and is the largest image on the page. My front cover also features a masthead at the very top of the page with a unique font. I have also used a barcode, the date, price and issue number. On the front cover of my magazine I have also used coverlines and buzz words such as “Exclusive” and “Sneak Peek” and a positioning statement located above the masthead- “Highlighting The School Events You Care About”. These features are all similar of real magazines.

My contents page also follows the codes and conventions of real media products by featuring images that relate to articles in the magazine; these images also show the page numbers that the articles appear on. My contents page also uses columns to display the text- these columns are broken down into sections such as “Charity” and “Groups”, similar to real magazines that use sections such as “Gossip”. The text shown on my contents page, with an exception of the subtitles, is no more than 12pt and page numbers are found beside the article names.

The new media technologies I used in the construction of my school magazine are Photoshop and Quark Xpress; I used each programme for a different section of my magazine. Photoshop was used to create my front cover; the wide variety of fonts allowed me to use a unique typography for my masthead and I was able to edit, crop or cut out my main image.  I used Quark Xpress to create my contents page; this programme allowed me to use as many different columns as I wanted to display my text and also allowed me to import other images.

I think that one of the strengths of my new school magazine is the main image used; although I changed the image from my original plan I think that this image reflects the purpose and mood of the magazine. However, one of my weaknesses would be the background of the main image; if I had the chance to do this task again I would make changes to the mise-en-scene. Another strength is the images used on the contents page- they illustrate what will appear in certain articles and also show the page numbers of that particular feature. A second weakness of my media product is the colours of text used on my front cover- I do not think all of the coverlines stand out properly against the background, if I did this again I would choose a more suitable colour scheme.

Overall I think I worked quite well on the preliminary task and completed my work on time. Any mistakes that I have made throughout this task will help me to improve when working on my main task; I will also be able to use my new knowledge of Photoshop and Quark Xpress when working on this task.

Production of School Magazine Contents Page

For the past few lessons I have been working on the second task for my preliminary exercise. I have been using Quark Xpress to create my school magazines contents page; I imported my masthead from Photoshop and the images from My Documents, I then created the rest of the text on Quark Xpress.

When creating my school magazine contents page the only changes that I made from my plan was the layout of the columns. I also added a few extra article names to fill up the page; this is because there was quite a lot of space left after typing out my planned layout.

Production of School Magazine Front Cover

For the past few lessons I have been working on Adobe Photoshop to create the front cover of my new school magazine. Our brief outlined that we had to use a photograph of a student in medium close-up, some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead.

My School Magazine Front Cover:

I had to change my main image slightly from what I had planned in my rough layout; this is because I did not have enough time to arrange for a student to wear their old school uniform. Instead I decided to use a photograph of a sixth form student, however I did keep the rest of my rough layout how I had planned originally.

The colours I decided to use for the masthead and coverlines are colours that appear in my main image.

Photographs for School Magazine

In todays lesson we were given a camera and told to take the photographs for our front cover and contents page:

I will use this photograph of a sixth form student
on the front cover of my magazine.

I will use this photograph on my contents page to represent the
"Successful Summer Sports Day" article.

This photograph will also appear on my contents page to
represent the "Back to school blues?" article. (about how
to manage your time effectively.)

This photograph will represent the "Meet our new Head
Girl" article on the contents page.

This image will also appear on the contents page of my
magazine, it will represent the "New healthy lunch menu" article.

Rough layout of school magazine

Today we were also asked to make a rough sketch of what the front cover and contents page of our new school magazine will look like.

Front Cover                                             

      


















Contents Page

Plans For New School Magazine

Today we began work on our preliminary exercise; this involves creating a front cover and contents page for a new school/college magazine. We began by creating a plan for our front cover:
Title: Focus (I chose this title because the magazine will focus on school events and it implies concentration.)
Positioning Statement: Highlighting the school events you care about
Mise-en-scene: i will be using a photo of a girl wearing school uniform and carrying a folder (medium close-up). The background will be the school corridor.
Coverlines:

• "Top results for GCSE students"
• "Meet our new Head Girl"
• "In For a Change- a new school uniform is on its way!"
• "Dates for your Diary"
• "Year 12 trip to Barcelona"
• "Successful Summer Sports Day- highlights from your week of competition"
• "Exclusive! New Healthy Lunch Menu"
• "Visit from author Anne Cassidy"
• "Sneek peek! at Beauty and the Beast"
• "Weatherhead raises £1000 for charity!"

For my second task I made a plan for the contents page of the magazine:
Regular Content:

• "Who's done what?"- see what our pupils have been up to in their free time.
• "What's new in school?"- up to the minute news on what is new at Weatherhead.
• "Dates for your diary"- school events and holiday dates
• "Recipe of the month"
• "Which year group will win?"- find out what year group has been involved in the most school activities this month.

Feature Articles:

• "In for a Change"- new school uniform article
• "Meet our new Head girl"- interview
• "Top results for GCSE students"
• "Sneak peek at upcoming play Beauty and the Beast"
• "Year 12 trip to Barcelona"
• "Visit from author Anne Cassidy"- interview
• "Successful Summer Sports Day"- highlights from the week of sport
• "New healthy school menu!"
• "Back to school blues?"- how to organise your school and home time effectively
• "Could you be Weatherheads new superstar?"- news about the halloween talent show

Images for Contents Page:

• Pupils taking part in sporting activities- Sports day article
• Image of head girl- Interview with new head girl
• Image from the school canteen- New school menu
• Pupil wearing new uniform- New school uniform article
• Image of a clock- Back to school blues? article

Camera Angles

For the past few lessons we have been studying the many different types of camera angles, and in yesterdays lesson we had the chance to practice using them. We were given a list of certain shots that we had to take using a particular camera angle; we then worked in groups of three to take the pictures around the school.

A low angle medium close up

         A high angle long shot            

An extreme close up of the time

A big close up of someone using a mobile phone

A close up of someone in nature

                  A two shot in medium long shot                    

An over the shoulder shot of someone writing

             A very long shot conveying isolation               

               A medium close up                      

                            A very long shot                           

An image with connotations of stress

An image with connotations of friendship