Magazine Research-Rock Sound contents page

     Similarly to all of the other magazines research, Rock Sound appears to incorporate the use of subheadings in the actually content list which enable the detection of specific articles relevant to the reader quickly and easily.
       The actually colour scheme appears to follow a similar colour scheme to both Q and NME with the incorporation with black, white and red. However, the magazine appears to use these colours in a different way. The magazine appears to split down the middle, one half appears to be just off white with a slight tint of pink. This appears to give a very angelic impression. Yet the juxtaposition of the red rustic looking metal background with this white creates a bold contrast creating a sense of rebellion. Also, the use of 'rustic' style backgrounds, the contents page gives off an extremely grungy, edgy look which also seems to be suggesting by the use of grungy looking font. This gives off the impression of decay and rust itself creating a very run down, grungy atmosphere which could be a way of conveying the magazines 'underground' style. Despite the contrast between the split backgrounds being so great, the use of 'star' footer appears to link the too together and the inversion of colour schemes creates a sense of flow between the two.
     The use of an edgy declarative statement like slogan appears to act as an introduction to the magazine and sums up the entire style of the magazine and helps convey what the magazine is about giving the reader an insight.
     The interesting effecting of using torn looking backgrounds around obviously posed images creates a sense of rebellion and eliminates the idea of the magazine appearing much too formal and structured giving a much more edgy look- something i hope to incorporate into my magazine as i would like to reflect the grungy, edgy style of the music into my work.
     The images themselves seem to vary with size, the most famous bands appear to feature in a larger image which suggests an element of status and importance, almost as if the band is overemphasising the story and persuading the reader to want to read that particular feature.
      Lastly, the magazine seems to advertise its technological convergence at the bottom of the magazine with the incorporation of the website. This allows the website to become more popular which will increase the strength of the synergy between the magazine brand and the audience as they will both benefit from the audience viewing the website to obtain latest gossip and giving the brand hits and opportunities to advertise next issues and persuade them to buy.
  

Magazine Research-Q contents page

   Similarly to other magazines I have researched into, Q magazine incorporates the use of subheadings to enable easy access to relevent articles. Therefore its likely that I will incorporate a similar thing in my own contents page.
    Again, the magazine follows a similar trend of incorporating the magazine logo next to the title, creating a sense of introduction which will help engage the reader into the magazine effectively. Yet this magazine fails to introduce its audience as effectively as kerrang! as it doesnt include any introductory passage from the editor.
    The magazine contents appears to follow a monotonous colour scheme which is a similar one to NME, red, black and white. However, Q appears to feature an 'oasis special,' contents in gold, a rich, fruitful colour usually associated with status and wealth. The juxtaposition of the monotonous colour scheme with such a rich colour creates a bold contrast overemphasising the status of the 'oasis special,' implying it as being more important.
      This magazine contents page appears to be very text based with little inclusion of pictures, although they incorporate a couple of posed images, the magazine seems to have a very definite structure which gives a very organised and formal impact, something i would not like to link into my magazine as formality isn't the sort of thing i feel is appropriate to my magazine theme.
      The way that the magazine separates the review section from the rest of the magazine contents appear to be a recurrent theme and is something i find very interesting. This appears to give an idea of the reviews section being completely individual which suggests that the gig experience and reviewing gigs is a completely unique experience.

Magazine Research-NME contents

NME magazine contents page uses of variety of different techniques to convey messages and attract its readers. The use of juxtaposition of the magazine logo and the phrase 'this week,' seems to play an introductory role which enables the readers to feel a connection with the magazines and gives them the ability to engage fully in the stories and features.
    The magazine continues its monotonous colour scheme with the continuation of the use of colours black, white and red. This gives a very organised structure which differs to the laid back relaxed structure that i would like to incorporate in my magazine.
    Yet the featuring of bold, bright colours such as orange to highlight specific stories seems to overemphasise an articles importance as well as suggesting an impact of rebellion as the colour contradicts the running monotonous colour scheme. This insinuates the idea of rock music working against the norms of society.
    The contents appear to have subheadings separating the different types of articles which enables the audience to identify specific articles that they feel are relevant to their interest.
     The use of advertising subscriptions to their magazine is a profitable way to create an effective synergy between the reader and magazine. This way, the magazine profits from its sales and selling issues and the audience benefits from saving money from buying the magazine in bulk.
     Again the magazine contents makes finding pages increasingly easier with the use of the band index. From the image provided, it is clear to see that the band index consists of a list of all of the available bands included in the issue and enables the reader to directly access their favourite bands quickly and easily without the hassle of having to flick through the entire magazine. This is an extremely handy tool that i would seriously consider incorporating in my own magazine contents. The magazine also appears to have a live and review section which helps readers fully engage with the magazine and experience a musical experience effectively. The magazine also appears to feature papped images on the contents page to perhaps link into the idea of experience the music effectively as you can understand what your favourite artists perform like, live on stage.

Magazine Research-Kerrang! contents page

Kerrang!'s contents page uses an editors note at the very beginning of the contents page and will be initially the first thing that the reader will actually read. This introductory note is usually where the editor talks about the magazine in general and introduces any themes which are current in the issue. The juxtaposition of this introductory passage with the cover of the current issue enables the reader to be fully introduced to the magazine and connect effectively with the issue.
    The use of Kerrang!'s trade mark colours, black and yellow, the magazine becomes easily identified as the colours are so bright and bold.
    The use of separate subheadings to segregate the different types of article allows the reader to easily detect what articles they are remotely interested in and help them to easily find specific articles quickly and efficiently.
    It becomes apparent which of the stories in that issue are of most importance when the article title is teamed with an image. This helps the reader detect which of the stories featured in that issue is classed as most important and most worth reading. The images included are a mixture of both papped images and posed. This suggests that the magazine is able to obtain both a close up account of a specific act as well as having more of a distant overview of things such as concerts and gigs. This is also suggested with the use of the words 'reveiw,' and 'gigs.' The images provided are also shadowed, bevelled and embossed with helps the images stand out on the page. This also suggests that these stories are of higher status and importance as the three-dimensional effect implies that these stories are 'above' the other stories featured.
     Similarly to its cover, Kerrang! also appears to include quotes from their main stories in a much larger font that the rest of the content list. Not only does this help give the reader an insight into the content of the magazine but also draws attention to the specific quote. This helps emphasise the significance of the story as it is the main feature included in the magazine.
     The contents page of Kerrang! also appears to feature information about the date and issue number of that particular issue which helps inform the reader of things like this to ensure that the reader knows that the magazine is current and up to date. They also appear to advertise their website on the magazine contents page white helps promote its technological convergence to ensure that they create as effective synergy they can. The idea of a beneficial relationship between the audience and the magazine ensures that sales remain healthy and customers remain up to date and satisfied.

Magazine Research-Rock Sound cover

    Rock sound magazine appears to be a much less commercial British magazine covering more 'underground' artists yet with the mention of famous rock artists as well. This magazine champions rock music and ensures that the majority of the magazine is focused on 'breaking music before anyone else.'

     Launched back in 2000, the magazine is sold monthly with a circulation of 200011. Its target is audience is 15-25 year olds, majority male yet appeals to some women as well. The audience is said to attend gigs regularly and 54% of them and musicians themselves. The magazine seems to address its audience through a number of different techniques.
    This magazine cover is completely different to the other three magazine covers i have previously research. This cover appears to be much more busy with much more going on. The use of primary colours such as red yellow and blue as the main colour scheme helps suggests an element of simplicity despite there being a wide range of different things all over the cover. The title of the magazine itself appears obstructed by the band suggesting importance of music as the band appear to have a high status that the title of the magazine. This shows how much the magazine credit the musicians and music itself.
     The image on the cover of the magazine appears posed with the use of eye contact from the artists. This allows the magazine to address the audience directly. Similarly to Kerrang! magazine, Rock Sound appears to create a sense of symmetry with the idea of similar hand gestures next to each other. This gives the magazine a sense of structure and formality which again could be a way to enjoy the magazine in a much more civilised way. The image also appears to be be involved with the structure of the magazines format. This is show with the way the 'All Time Lows,' band name has been placed over the lead singers hand. All of the images appear to be outlined in a shadowing colour such as black and white to enable focus of the images and avoid them getting lost within the main image.
      The use of advertising freebies of posters and CD's helps attract audiences as they are able to get more for their money, something most people would find appealing.
      The use of text on the cover of the magazine and the techniques used help convey messages and draw in reader. The use of declarative quotes from the interviews and other use of declaratives give an impression of sureness and accuracy which helps eliminate any chance of doubt readers have of the press. Also they use of listing band names with just a snippet of what the story is about help advertise the magazine content without giving too much away.
      Out of the four magazines i have researched, i feel that this cover is the least appropriate for my magazine as it is extremely disorganised and there is no clear link to the  music industry other than the name.

Magazine Research-Q cover

     Q magazine is popular music magazine in the UK. First published in 1986, the magazine separated themselves to its rivals with the use of extensive photography and a higher quality of writing. The magazine was originally meant to be named 'Cue' magazine yet this may have caused the readers to be mistaken about the content magazine suggesting it may be a snooker or pool focused magazine.
     The content of the magazine itself focuses on bringing current and up to date music styles and artists to their audience. The magazine has a focus on reviewing current music with an extensive music review section accompanied by film, books and video game reviews. However the majority of the magazine focuses of interviews with extremely popular music artists. Its also extremely common for the magazine to consist of a compilation of lists such as '200 things you didn't know about the Beatles,' and '100 greatest music videos.'
     Published monthly by Bauer media, the magazine covers a wide range of different music varieties from Lady Gaga to Muse. They also use a wide range technological convergence to create an effective synergy between the brand and its audience. The use of a radio station, music channel and website allows the magazine to currently keep updating its audience with current musical trends without them having to wait until next months issue. The use of Q awards also allow the audience to get fully involved in the brand as they have input into who wins the award. With a large readership and a circulation of around 80418, the magazine targets a wide range of different audiences.

Annotated cover of Q magazine

      The actual target audience is any age range but the majority of the audience is male with over 75% of men reading the magazine. The demographic is ABC1 and Bauer media describe the audience as 'composed of passionate, engaged and open minded fans driven to continually discover new music.'
       The cover of Q magazine itself appears again, similarly to NME, as being very monotonous with the use of a running colour scheme of black, white, grey, and red. Yet unlike NME, Q fails to incorporate a stand out colour to represent any idea of individualism such as the fuchsia pink. Yet the use of running colour scheme suggests order and organisation, this is something which contrasts vastly with the idea of spontaneous rock music and concerts suggesting that reading the magazine is much more civilised way to experience music.
       The image used on the cover of the magazine automatically appeared posed due to the nature of the shot with the use of a dark plain background to ensure focus is on the foreground image of Matt Bellamy.      The costume incorporates colours such as black and red which matches in with the colour scheme giving the cover more of a flow. Matt's jacket appears to have a militaristic edge again insinuating the idea of form and organisation. The use of a slight fuzzing from the movement of the guitar (an effective prop used to convey and inform the reader of the magazines genre type and style) automatically illuminates the fact that the guitar is moving. This paired with the obviously manipulation and distortion of the headline suggests the idea of destruction and messiness, something which Kerrang! also does to help convey the atmosphere of a typical grungy, rock music concert, which is also extremely destructive and messy.
       The icon used on the magazine links in to the main headline of the issue with the use of Matt Bellamy from Muse. This again gives the magazine a sense of flow. The fact that Matt appears to be destroying such a key item to the music industry suggests a sense of rebellion as this is the industry in which he is in. This rebellion helps reflect the idea of teenagers and teenage angst which helps the magazine reflect the target audience. The anger displayed on Matts face also helps reflect this.
        The actual text included in the magazine cover is also use to convey certain things and also helps to attract audiences. The use of slang in the word 'nutjobs,' stimulates the idea of relaxation insinuating that the magazine it self is slang. The magazine also appears to manipulate phrases such as 'sex, drugs & yeah, right,' suggesting that the magazine is traditional as it incorporates traditional phrases yet with an modern, unique and individual twists.' The idea of using second person pronouns such as 'you,' enable the magazine to directly address their reader making them feel involved. Quotations from the main headline of the issue is used to give the reader an insight into the content of the magazine yet doesn't give to much away. A similar effect is also created with the listing of the people incorporated into the issue yet not saying what the stories are covering giving an element of mystery.

Magazine Research-NME cover

   NME magazine was originally launched in 1952 as a music newspaper.Yet throughout the 80's, New Musical Express gradually began to adopt a stereotypical magazine print structure and left its newsprint structure behind in 1988. It was named 'the best selling music newspaper' back in the seventies and still maintains a good reputation today!
    Back when the magazine first started in the 50's and 60's, NME focused mainly on bands which were emerging in the current times such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The magazine also incorporated polls where the readers rate their favourite artists and the winners appeared in a live concert help annually. Towards the end of the 60's, the magazine was designated as a Rock Magazine when they began to cover much more extreme musical themes such as psychedelia. Through these few decades, NME's sales were very healthy and they remained extremely popular.
    The 70's caused NME to reconsider the genre in which they focused upon. Still being printed as a newspaper, NME struggled to keep up with its rivals when covering rock in its truly progressive stages. Through the hiring and firing of several different editors throughout the decades, NME decided on changing its style to a much more cynical and funnier style which gave the magazine a unique selling point against its rivals. Following this, NME later left its newsprint style behind and began to create NME magazine, a current, modern magazine covering a variety of different musical cultures and styles in a similar way.
     Published by ICP media, the magazine is currently being sold weekly for £2.20. Its average readership is around 25300 with a circulation of 32166. The audience for the magazine is majority males aged 17-30 with a demographic of ABC1.
     The magazine attracts it's reader in a variety of ways. The magazine creates an effective synergistic relationship between itself and its technological convergence. The use of a website and radio station allows the reader to be constantly updated and get involved in the magazines competitions which allow the reader to feel fully satisfied with their experiences. The use of live events literally get the reader involved in the reality of the magazine such as rock concerts etc.
      In comparison to Kerrang! magazine, NME appears to have a much more organised and structured cover. This magazine appears to be a lot more mature than Kerrang! despite the fact that they are meant to be of a similar age range. The use of simplistic colours such as black and white create an extremely monotonous tone yet seems to carry an element of maturity and class to it. The use of fiery red and fuscia pink creates an interesting and bold effect as the pair seem to contrast vastly giving certain elements an intense and distinct importance as they stand out against the monotonous black and white tone.
     The contrast between the bleakness of the black and white and the brightness and boldness of the pink almost suggests a sense of rebellion as it contradicts the  monotonous tone and works against it. The may have been done as a cynical way to portray how rebellious rock music can be, especially in music concerts etc.
     The use of fuscia pink also links into the picture as it matches the woman's lipstick almost perfectly automatically implying that the image is representing the headline. The image itself appears to incorporate a variety of different effects and meaning. It appears to use layers as a way of merging the band together which enables the editor to complete the best image possible. Each of the band members are dressed is dark, colours to match the monotonous colour scheme which seems to be running throughout the cover. However, the leading woman appears to be dressed in stripes which help illuminate her importance and status as her costume stands out amongst the others. The use of an off white background again fits in with the running colour scheme yet also ensures that the background is as plain as possible to avoid a cluttered effect and maintain the element of simplicity.
    Similarly to Kerrang! NME's title is slightly obstructed which proves how strong their reputation is as people are able to recognise the magazines cover, despite the title being obstructed. However, unlike Kerrang! magazine, NME seems to incorporate a wider variety of linguistic techniques on their cover. The magazine incorporates alliteration and assonance in their cover, this over emphasises what is written and creates a sense of rythm which illuminate the fact that the magazine is a music magazine. The magazine also incorporates the use of exclamation points to create declaritives suggesting confidence in what they are saying and the use of rhetorical questions directly addresses readers making them feel involved and creates synergy between the two.

Magazine Research-Kerrang magazine cover

   First published in June, 1981, Kerrang! magazine originally started out as a supplement in The Sounds newspaper. Yet due to increasing interest in the magazine, it was popular enough to later become independent and started selling monthly. Again, due to a vast increase in popularity, Kerrang! magazine later went on to become a weekly magazine and focuses mainly on rock music.
   Kerrang! magazine, published by Bauer media who own over 238 magazines in 15 countries with a turnover of 1.79 million pound, obtain its name through the onomatopoeic sound of thrashing the strings on an electric guitar.
   When Kerrang! first became popular in the 80's and 90's, the magazine mainly focused on thrash and glam metal yet later discarded this theme when grunge music became immensely popular. This was discarded as well when the phenomenon of Nu-metal became popular, yet this style of music seem to last just a short period of time and Kerrang!'s sales declined in 2003.
    Following this, Kerrang! underwent a dramatic format change in 2003 in order to accommodate and incorporate much more modern and current musical trend. This gave the magazine its readership of 404000 and circulation 43033.
    Kerrang! describes its audience as 'individually minded, independent of thought and musically experienced, an audiences defined by attitude, passion and loyalty.' The magazine is said to be 'where jackass meets PlayStation and skate culture meets iPod,' and appeals to wide variety of people. Yet the magazines main target audience consists of mainly male 16-24 year old with a demographic of CD.
   In order to attract audiences, the magazine works on creating synergy between technological convergence with the use of a variety of different technologies. The idea of having a website, a radio station and a music channels enables Kerrang! to address their audience directly as keep them up to date with exclusive music video previews and even their own music tour consisting of a variety of different acts to ensure that their audience is completely satisfied.

Annotated cover of Kerrang! magazine-Britannia special

    Kerrang magazine also use their cover to convey the content of the magazine and attract their readers.
    The title of the magazine itself is written in black, a bold, dominant colour which is apparent and strong next to most colours. Although obstructed, the title is still visibly clear due to the use of the colour. The font of the title appears distressed and slightly 'rough' looking. The use of such a chaotic font could be use as an insight into what the magazine is about. The idea that the magazine covers rock music and rock concerts could be injected into the title as most rock concerts appear frenzied and hectic as opposed to a more civilised concert which more elder people would attend, therefore the font may be a way to directly address the audience.
   The cover image on the magazine is posed, with a medium shot and the use of pale blue background. It automatically becomes clear that the theme of the issue is Britannia with the use of the union jack, patriotically coloured and English musicians. The idea of a pale blue background enables the image to still fit the patriotic theme yet doesn't fully obstruct and distract from the main focus image.
   The main image itself consists with three stereotypical rock musicians which becomes apparent with the use of an act cover in tattoos, something often associated with rock music. The use of eye contact with the musicians directly addresses the audience and gives a much more intimate feeling with the magazine. Again, pale blue in the centre colour for similar reasons to the background and the symmetry created through the union jacks covering the other two acts creates a sense of structure and organisation. Although the idea of formation and organisation contrast vastly with the idea of chaotic music, it may have been used to convey the idea of obtaining the musical experience, yet through a much more civilised and organised way.
   The main focus of the issue shown is Britannia as the main stories focus on covering English rockstars such as Oli Sykes, Josh Franchesci and Rou Reynolds. The colour scheme used helped to portray this with the use of red white and blue, this helps link the magazine together as it incorporates a running colour scheme. However, Kerrang! usually incorporate a very different colour scheme, black and yellow. This theme is usually associated with 'Danger' signs as it is also used within these. This may have been used to suggest an element of danger with rock music due to how reckless and crazy it can be, this links back to the chaotic and mental atmosphere usually associated with rock music concerts.
    The magazine cover also works of advertising its content to the reader. The use of freebies attracts readers as it enables them to get more for their money, something that any person is unlikely to turn down. The idea of incorporating the word: 'plus,' followed by a list of a variety of different bands, enables the magazine to give an insight into the content without giving too much away as the magazine doesn't actually tell you too much about the story. This element of mystery draws the reader in due to a natural desire to discover.

    The text also incorporates a variety of literary techniques in the headlines to create a wide range of effects. The use of exclamation marks on several headlines enables the reader to detect which of the headlines are considered most important and allow the magazine to advertise some stories in a different way to others. The magazine also uses a range of declaritives stating information is a bold and stand-out way which may have been done to assure the reader of the magazines truth and eliminate any idea of doubt in the stories,

Magazine Research-Theme

The theme
After creating an inspirational moodboard full of a collection of different magazine cover images covering a variety of different music themes, i have decided that I would like to create a Punk Rock music magazine. Being  dedicated music lover, i feel that this theme would be most appropriate as this genre is one of my favourite genres on my iPod. I commonly go to a variety of music concerts and could even cover some of the concerts i go to for the double page spread i will incorporate in my magazine.
Inspiration
Obviously I look to take inspiration from famous Punk Rock magazines such as NME, Kerrang, Rock Sound and Q. Yet I would also like to take inspiration from some of the most influential Punk Rockers in history such as 'The Cure,' 'The Clash,' 'Sex Pistols,' and 'The Stooges.' I could perhaps do this through looking at a variety of different albums covers and previous poster to ensure that magazine relfects punk rock effectively.

Magazine Reasearch-Moodboard

In order to gain inspiration from a wide range of different sources and help me pick a music style to incorporate in my magazine project, I decided to create a moodboard with a collection of images to inspire me. The styles of music included in the magazine incorporated in this moodboard vary from heavy metal to pop music and each appear to have very different styles. The 'hip hop' magazines such as Vibe, Scratch and Spin appear to have plain backgrounds with bold foreground images of celebrities posing. They appear to use especilly plain fonts and primary colours on their covers such as blues, reds and yellows. The rock magazines seem to use much more complex fonts in bold colours. The most popular colour that seems apparent from this moodboard is red, a bold, stand-out colour which would draw potential readers eyes to the magazine. Pop magazines appear to use stereotypically feminine colours such as pinks and purples and seem to give off a 'pretty,' impression. Foreground pictures seem to dominate the majority of magazine covers, the majority of them also appear posed as opposed to 'papped' photographs which are commonly seen of the covers of fashion magazine such as 'Grazia.' The background of the cover seem to be mainly black, greys and white, perhaps to ensure that the attention paid to the actual image to avoid a confused and cluttered front cover.

My finished magazine

Film evaluation

Finally finished my film evaluation. I used a short motion picture to evaluate my film prelim as this is a much more interesting and interactive way to evaluate the product. I used the mac camera and the iMovie software to create this effect. I simply feature text to introduce the questions and then answered them myself. I used the same soundtrack as the actual film in order to link the two together effectively and also makes the evaluation slightly more interesting to listen to. I also used transitions to link the scenes together to illuminate my editing skills and again make the evaluation a lot more interesting to watch.

Evaluation of Magazine!

I feel that i stuck to my planning quite effectively. However, i did manage to alter a few things throughout the production of my magazine. Initially, i intending on featuring one student on the front of my magazine stood next a tree located more to the left of the magazine cover. However, i felt that the student being alone suggest slight isolation therefore i chose to involve two students to give off the impression that Gordano was more of a community. I managed to meet my plan when it came to the rest of the cover page to fully ensure that the magazine still reflected my initial idea.

    My contents page however, was changed quite a bit. Originally the editors note was located in a separate text box situated to the left of the image of students jumping (which i managed to do), however, i decided to feature the editors note at the top of the contents list which was then located down the left hand side of the contents. I did this because the contents page looked a bit too busy due to so many different boxes and images. I chose pastel blue for a background as during my production i noticed a running colour theme of blues and burgundy's therefore i chose to link the background into this scheme in order to give the magazine a little bit more of a 'flow.' 

    When it came to the actual content of the magazine, i managed to incorporate most of the ideas listed on my plan. I also managed to recognise a running theme throughout the content, therefore i decided to give my magazine a theme of 'the future.'

     I found planning very helpful as i was able to jot down my initial ideas to get a grip on what i wanted to include in my magazine. I could then later develop my ideas in order to ensure that my magazine included my favourite ideas yet still incorporated elements of my original plan.

     Finding my initial images was quite difficult as on the first day, i only retrieved my contents page picture and the back ground for my cover page. I later had to get my foreground cover images. However, on the day i did this, the weather was not very nice and it made the image very dull and dark. I therefore decided to feature the main foreground image but putting in on the sunnier background to give off a better impression and give the magazine a better sense of life. Cropping out the background of the foreground image was quite easy seeing as i only had to use the lasso tool and cut around the bits of the image which i wanted to use as the foreground. I then only had to copy and paste this image onto the chosen background. 

    Manipulating my images was relatively easy seeing as i am a previous photoshop user. Seeing as i copied and pasted the image onto a sunnier one, i had to alter the foreground image to lighten it in order for it to match the back better. I did this by using the 'shadows and highlights tool.' However, after the image was lightened, it appeared to me that the image look too fake therefore i decided to smudge the edges of the image and 'bevel and emboss' them in order for the picture to look more real.

    Whilst creating my cover and content page, i learnt skills on how to plan a typical magazine as well as having to think up a whole concept for the magazine. I also improved my photoshop skills and learnt how to use lots of new and different tools to edit my image effectively. I also learnt about how to position things on the cover effectively to increase the focus on one point as opposed to the other. I lastly discovered how to capture images effectively and discovered that different lighting on a picture makes a lot of difference when attempting to capture a certain mood and atmosphere. 

   If i were to redo my magazine, i would probably make the title a lot bigger and a lot bolder in order for the main focus to feature on the title. I would also change the name to the 'gordano takeover,' as i feel that this title would reflect my ideas better and would give the impression that i want my magazine to give.

   I think that my media product represent a very communal social group between sixth form and teenagers as it is mainly focused on them. It does this as my display more than one student on the front of the of the magazine portrays the idea of friendship and community. I also feature an image of students jumping on the contents page which implies the idea again of fun in the community.

   I feel that lots of different media institutions may distribute my media product as it covers quite a lot of genres throughout. Educational media institutions would definitely distribute my product as it focuses mainly on students education and future. However, further institutions may distribute my product as it too focuses on student well being and their social life. 

    The media product that i created would appeal to mainly students as it focuses mainly on their lives and makes sure that it fully supports them. However, parents may too be interested in the magazine as it provides effective advice, support and information which parents may find resourceful if they want to know about their students education. 

    I attracted my main audience by featuring them in the magazine. User peer students may encourage students to enjoy the magazine as it is, effectively about them. By focusing mainly on education, my magazine would attract students who struggling with the education and options therefore could look for advice in magazines such as my own. However, seeing as not every student is fully concentrated on their education, i decided to include information about social and humorous 'Prevetts tales' column which would wider the target audience range and ensure that it meets most students interests.

    From constructing this product, i learnt about  range of different technologies. As previously mentioned, i learnt further skills in the use of photoshop and learnt how to use a more advanced camera than what i am used to. 

    Looking back at my preliminary task, i feel that in the progression of creating and completing the product that i have learnt very valuable skills. I have learnt how to construct my vision effectively as well as being able to develop a wide range of skills in photoshop and photography. I have also learnt how to develop my initial ideas throughout the construction in order to effectively create the best product i possibly could.

Planning post

This post is about my magazine planning. My plan consists of a suggested layout of both the cover and contents page, as well as suggested titles and headlines.
   I intend to attempt to include most aspects of the school in the main cover page in order to suggest that my magazine covers a wide range of topics. The use of nature in my front cover such as the trees will help suggest that the school takes care of its environment and gives the school a very good image. The use of the newer school buildings on the cover again suggests that the school is well put together and looked after.  I chose to put a student on the cover mainly because the magazine is mainly based on the students, however, i decided to put them slightly off centre to ensure that people think that the magazine is not overly focused on just the students. I  chose to put the main headline dotted around the front cover in thick, bold, perhaps black, writing to ensure that they stand out effectively. The magazine title should be bold and standing out whilst being located at the top of the page to fully introduce the magazine.
    The contents page should include maybe a couple of students jumping to ensure that the magazine still has a 'fun' and 'exciting' vibe. The editors note is inspired by both 'look' and 'Grazia' magazine which is used as an effective way to introduce the magazine and ensure that the reader knows what they are actually reading. I chose to put the magazine title at the bottom of the page to contrast with the cover  title but still give a sense that the magazine links together effectively. The use of a pastel colour as a background ensures that images and text stand out very well.
     During my plan, i came up with a couple of titles for my magazine. However, my favourite magazine title has to be 'The Gordano Issue,' as it plays off both the original Gordano school name as well as 'The big issue.' I also came up with a couple of different layouts for the title but eventually came up with a final idea of stamping the 'Issue' over the traditional Gordano signature text.
     The content of my magazines consists of both students and teachers column to advise as well as pieces about uni, exams etc.
     Overall i feel that my plan reflects my ideas effectively to ensure that i can follow it closely to create a magazine which fits my initial vision.

Film Evaluation ... Almost there.

 I continued working on my evaluation script today after i finished my magazine. I answer a couple more questions but i feel i need to elaborate a little more on my answers in order to fully explain my product. Its quite complicated seeing as i joined late and didn't have much input into the real concept of the film therefore attempting to explain why the concept was chosen is a little more difficult than it should be. Yet the next question i can talk about some of the editing, which was my main area in the film.
   Once the script is done, i can concentrate on getting it film and edited together ready for the 'premier day' on Wednesday.

Magazine Prelim DONE!

I finished my preliminary magazine piece today. My last post stated that i had almost completed it, yet i hadn't at this point added any text to the magazine. However, during my lunch today, i managed to completely finish the magazine. Following my initial plan, I entered all of the main headlines onto the front of my magazine. Yet, halfway through doing so, i recognized that there was a running theme throughout all of the headlines; they seemed to feature elements of what students want to do with their future. Therefore, i decided to make my magazine as if it were a one-off special issue of the normal magazine. In order to make this seem more believable, i decided to write an introductory editors note just before the contents which was inspired by one of my favorite magazines: 'Look.' I think that this note addressed the audience directly which would be very welcoming to the reader.
   In the end, i chose to keep the title as the original Gordano logo with the stamp over the 'school.' This is mainly because it gives off the effect that students are rebelling over a typical magazine. However, whilst considering this, i have come up with changing the name of the magazine to 'The Gordano Takeover,' which would again add to the idea of rebellion as 'Takeover' is a much more possessive and powerful word.

My film

Seeing as i joined late, i didn't have too much input into the concept of the film. Therefore i decided to be the main editor of the piece as i have previous experience of using programmes such as iMovie. My group have chosen to focus on a spoof character of the typical teenage girl going through a break up. Most of the footage had already been filmed but just a few scenes had to be reshot due to mistakes being made. Once all of the footage had been collected, i began working on editing the piece together. Editing the film and adding the rest of the groups input was relatively simple. We worked on capturing scenes in a more humorous way with the spoof 'hand washing scene' which worked on playing with typical serious scenes. We added a cheesy soundtrack to ensure that the film was a cringey and spoof-like as it could be.
    Im still working on my evaluation of the film but should be ready to film it within the next few days.

My magazine

So far i have almost completed my magazine. I used photoshop in order to edit the photos of Courtney and Charlotte onto a much nicer background as the day we took photos was very dull and bleak. I cut them out using the 'lasso tool' and then I copied and pasted them onto a previously taken image of the newer school building in the sun in order for the cover to look more appealing. 

    After i did this i blurred the edges using the smudge tool as the edges were very rough and it was too apparent that i had cut and pasted them onto a much more appealing background. However, even after i had blurred the edges of my initial image, the difference in the lightening made the image look too fake and false. Therefore, I altered the shadows and highlights of the image to lighten it and then I bevel and embossed the image to make it look a bit more 3D. 

     I wanted the magazine to look quite rebellious so i chose to stamp over the original 'Gordano school' sign with the word 'issue.' Yet, people have often mistaken it to look like the big issue sign even though its not, therefore i may have to change it to look a little more original.

     With my contents page, i decided to have a bit more of a simply layout. Therefore i chose a light blue back with a faded image of two students jumping to give the magazine a bit of life and activity. I then chose just a simple rectangle for the text to be inserted. I also put the title on the content page to introduce the magazine a little bit more.