Main Task: Post production feedback

Music magazine front cover

negatives:

1. Most people said that I did not select a font which would suitable in attracting my target audience.

2. They also said that the font I used looked simple and "default", and that it would not fit any type of music magazine.

3. Some people said that my model/subjects facial expression should have been more fierce and confident.

positives:

1. People sid that they liked the vibrant colours in the background. Nyle said; "They grab your attention and draw you right in!".

2. David said; I like how that guy is dressed in casual clothes, these days all dem models on music magazines have eccentric clothing on, but thats not the case in real life".

Negatives:

1. There was roughly a balanced amount of people who felt that the vector (cartoon image) of my model was enough, and that there was no need for the bubbles.

2. Some people repeated the criticism that the font I used for the category names could have been more creative.

Positives:

1. People liked the vector image of my friend, although many said that I should have edited it more in photoshop so that it as more colourful and creative.

Negatives:

1. Some friends agreed that my double page spread looked dull, and that it did not catch their attention enough.

2. Allot of people said that i should have taken better photographs of my two models, making them look more "in you're face".

Positives:

Main Task: Contents page FINAL

Main Task: Double page spread FINAL

Main Task: Unmanipulated photos

UN MANIPULATED PHOTOS

I used this picture in my contents page, as one of the articles was about a music producer creating his own clothing line based on his and other producers music.

I edited this picture using Photoshop and created a vector image of it. I then coloured the image and used it in my contents page. I used this picture as it looks like the subject is thinking, and I made thinking bubbles seem to flow from his head in the vector image. On the last bubble I put the word "contents".

I used this picture in my contents page, It was another article about an artist who is starting up their own clothing line based on the 'Dubstep scene'.

I cropped out the images of the two subjects here and used them in my double page spread.

This is the image which I used as my front cover.

Main Task: Front cover FINAL

Main Task: Case study of a publishing house

Condé Nast 500-800 word essay/case study on publishing houses

Condé Nast was founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast, although the Newhouse
family has owned it since 1959. It is said that Condé Nast originated/created
the first “lifestyle magazine”, which is a type of magazine that focuses on a
specific community, class or interest. This is interesting as targeting a
larger audience helps to bring in more money for the company from sales and
advertising, but as Condé Nast is so popular and creates individual magazines
for specific audiences this fails to pose as a problem. Their range of magazine
types includes Fashion and lifestyle, Home, Bridal, Golf, Food, Travel,
Technology, Culture and Trade. As you can see they have a wide range of
different types (catering for the majority, but not all of their audience
preferences) with some being worth as much as $650,000,000. Lately Condé Nast has
begun to expand its services in order to be better accessed. They have begun to
include marketing services, licensed merchandise and even apps for phones and the
first Condé Nast title that became available on ipad in 2010 was “GQ”. Although
Condé Nast is mostly based in the U.S. Condé Nast international is an official
subsidiary dedicated to publishing international versions of the U.S. titles.
They publish more than 126 magazines and 104 websites, representing 24 markets
around the globe. The website also has a portfolio where you can view their
work in partnership with the most recognizable and famous brands in the world.
As well as this you can view an online profile of all the magazine’s which they
are publishing, and even a list of awards and accomplishments which they have
won over the years.

These include:

· British society of magazine editors – Vogue and
GQ.com where nominated for best website.
· AOP – Charlotte Duck nominated for Best Mobile
Website.
· Revolution Awards – the style channel nominated for
best wireless site.
· AOP – Online advertising sales on team of the year.
· Association of online publishers – the style channel
nominated for best use of new digital platform.
· Revolution awards – the style channel highly
commended in best wireless.
· PTC – charlotte duck, mobile features writer, highly
commended for web journalist of the year.
· British society of magazine editors – Vogue.com
named best magazine website.
· New media age effectiveness awards – CNTraveller.com
nominated for best media site.
· Revolution awards – WAP style channel highly commended
in best wireless service category and GQ.com nominated for best media site and MANY more.

Despite of this I think that Condé Nast would benefit from publishing my
magazine on a large scale, as they do not publish ANY music magazines at all. I
believe that publishing my magazine would add to their already healthy number
of readers/customers and also open the door to publishing other genres of music
magazine and other breakthrough opportunities. Also, by publishing my magazine
with through their international subsidiary they could introduce the genre to
countries/places which may not be familiar with the relatively new sound. Once
again this could send their number of readers and customers through the roof,
not only benefitting them but also the music industry too.

Main Task: Profiling you're audience

BASS HOOLIGANS Standout Reader: Calvin is 17 and has had a deep love of music since childhood. He has always had either a general or advanced knowledge of music and its history. He loves taking part in local musical activities, and took part in his schools leaving concert; mixing a few tracks together. It soon became obvious that he wanted to go further with his knowledge and talent, so he started getting in touch with DJ'S trying to get them to give him a chance. He finally made a breakthrough at 14, when an american artist, Wiz khalifa, saw him perform on a visit to london and decided to give Calvin the chance to work with a few of his associates in london and improve his skills, with a future chance of getting signed to his label (taylor gang) as a music producer; as Wiz Khalifa wants to incorporate dance and dubstep into his new album. Now Calvin is honing his skills in order to impress "Wiz" and likes to read 'BASS HOOLIGANS' inbetween small raves and studio sessions so that he can see the latest news on all the greatest artists,

giving him info on what kind of music is currently most popular

with artists.

Main Task: Mood board

Main Task: Audience research

In order to gain information on people’s expectations and preferences in
music magazines I asked 18 anonymous people the same questions and made notes
of their answers.

Here is the information I found:

1. What information do you feel is the most important to be featured in
a music magazine?
a) The latest albums or tracks.
b) The Best up and coming artists.
c) Music that continuous to top the charts.
d) The latest news about the music world.

Allot of the people I asked had to think hard about this question, and
most couldnt decide between "the best up and coming artists" and
"the latest album or tracks". This could be because people want to
found out about the latest music to come out, but they also like to find about
all the new artists that bring a new style to the music game.

• 7 people said a)
• 6 people said b)
• 2 people said d)
• 3 people said c)
  

2. How many pages would you expect to be in this magazine?
a) 20 or less
b) 35 or less
c) 50 or less
d) 100 +

• 11 people said b)
• 7 people said a)

3. How much would you be willing to pay for a monthly music magazine?
a) I will pay anything for quality
b) £5.00
c) £3.99
d) £2.49

• 11 people said a)
• 5 people said c)
• 2 people said d)
  

4. What makes you pick up a magazine?
a) A notorious publisher or magazine
name.
b) The clever selling line draws me in.
c) The contents (coversine’s).
d) The main subject on the front of the
magazine.

• 8 people said a)
• 5 people said d)
• 5 people said c)

5. What kind of colour scheme do you
think works best with music magazine?
a) Black and white, with high-key and
low-key shades.
b) Vivid colours, grungy, eye catching.
c) fluorescent/bright colouring, clashing
colours.

• 7 people said b)
• 9 people said c)

6. What matters/what do you like about a magazines presentation?
a) The magazine is neat and tidy.
b) The magazine is messy and rebellious.
c) The magazine breaks the boundaries of conventions, but with style.
d) The magazine is full of clashing colours and grungy.

• 8 people said a)
• 5 people said b)
• 1 person said c)
• 4 people said d)

Main Task: Double page spread conventions diagram

Main Task: Double page spread textual analysis

Headline:
The Headline is pretty basic, as it is the same font as the normal text, but in a larger font.
Mise en scene:
Character: The cover photograph is of the young MC wittybot. He is dressed in "urban" or "street" clothing. He also seems to be thinking.
Composition:
Whittboy is leaning more than standing, against a car park wall which connotes that he is laidback, relaxed. His head is bowed down an he seems to be looking at the floor, although not concentrating on it. This would suggest that he is in deep thought, maybe about his career.

1. Denotation: This double page spread consists of a colour photograph of a man leaning against a wall and looking towards the floor. It is a wide shot: it shows his face down to his feet, and has been taken from the side. The photo takes up the whole double page spread, and the setting of the photo seems to be a small carpark/lot and the lighting is fairly bright. The text is seperated into columns, and each column of text is placed upon a biege box. Over-all, this double page spread has a basic layout/look.

2. Mise-en-scene:
The cover photograph is of the young MC wittybot. He is dressed in "urban" or "street" clothing. He also seems to be thinking.
Whittboy is leaning more than standing, against a car park wall which connotes that he is laidback, relaxed. His head is bowed down an he seems to be looking at the floor, although not concentrating on it. This would suggest that he is in deep thought, maybe about his career.

*Costume: His costume is a mainly black hoodie, dark navy jeans with the bottoms folded up, flat trainers (which resemble vans) and a baseball cap. This costume was most probably selected by the subject to connote his proffesion/lifestlye.
*Props:
*Setting: The setting is in a carlot/park.
*Lighting: The lighting is bright, as it has been taken during the day. This gives a natural feel to the picture.
*NVC: His NVC suggests...

3. Anchorage: words that help ‘anchor’ the meaning of pictures.

4. Magazine Conventions:
· Masthead (Logo):
· Dateline:
· Main Image:
· Cover-lines:
· Main Cover-line:
· Left Third:
· Barcode:
· Selling Line:
· Website Link:

Main Task: contents page conventions diagram

Main Task: Front cover conventions diagram

Main task: Front cover textual analysis

Denotation: This magazine falls under the genre of dance/club music. The front cover consists of a colour photograph of a young woman looking directly into the camera (or the reader eyes), with what looks like a slight smile on her face. It is a medium close up showing her head, down to her stomach. She seems to be standing in a dark room with high key light beams hanging from the ceiling, with one of the light beams in her hand. The masthead and cover lines are infront of this photograph, but do not completely cover the subject. There are 14/15 coverlines in total, but they are in small text and have short descriptions so that they dont cover the whole front cover. The main subject of all the cover lines is in a slightly pale orange colour, and the barcode, price and date is on the bottom right of the page.

Masthead: The "mixmag" masthead is in the same pale orange colour as the main subject in each coverline. It is hard to identify what font has been used, but it is a sans serif modern font. The masthead fits in well with the magazine, as the word 'mix' is often used in music when a DJ puts together a group of related or non-related tracks. "Mixmag" connotes that this magazine will probably have the latest or best "mix" CD's out at the moment, and that this magazine would interest dance music DJ's and the like.

Character: The cover photograph is of Annie Mac, wearing modern flashy clothes and holding a light rod in her left hand. Annie Mac is a well known electronic dance DJ who has her own show on BBC Radio 1. Bearing this in mind, Annie Mac connotes that this magazine would appeal mostly to young people in there 20's or over, who are interested in electronic dance music.

Costume: Her costume is a jet-black cotton (or maybe silk) dress, and a large gold/black chain around her neck. This costume has been selected carefully to appeal to the target audience, because the majority of people reading this magazine are most likely to be fashion conscious university students.
NVC: Her non-verbal communication is simple but at the same time captivating. She is looking directly at the camera, with her mouth partially open, and she has a mysterious look in her eyes.
Lighting: Although she seems to be in a dark room, the lighting is high key. This is because of the light rods surrounding her randomly across the room.
Setting: There is little setting, apart from a dark room filled with white beaming light rods. GLOW STICKS

Cover lines: The main cover line that relates to the photograph says: "Annie Mac: is she ready for the biggest job in dance music". This is making referance to Annie taking over the 'weekend starter' radio slot from Pete Tong. This seems to be a big topic within the listeners and fellow dance music or Peter Tong fans. Most people think that she may not be ready, as this is a daunting task for someone who rose to fame through radio and not clubs.

Target audience: Taking into consideration all of these points, I believe the likely target audience of this magazine would be people (both male and female) aged 20-40. They would have a good knowledge of fashion and a definite interest in the music genre of electronic dance and techno, as well as a general knowledge of the music industry.

Main Task: Introduction

My name is Jeffrey James, and as part of my AS media course i have been asked to create a double page spread and contents page for a music magazine.

I have chosen to look for dance/dubstep genre magazines, although i like all types of music. I believe that i would find it easier to make my magazine relate to this audience. I already have an idea of ho

Preliminary Task: Contents page FINAL

Preliminary Task: Front cover FINAL

Preliminary Task: Front cover coventions diagram

Preliminary Task: Front cover textual analysis

Denotation: This college magazine consists of a colour photograph of a man looking directly into the camera and smiling. Its a medium-shot, showing his head down to his shoulders. He seems to be standing, although the bottom half of his body cannot be seen. The background of the photo is a dark metallic grey/black, and the photograph takes up the whole of the magazine cover. Behind the mans head is the "college" masthead and infront of him are nine seperate cover-lines in white and black. The main subject of each cover-line is either bold yellow or white text, which is larger than the rest of that cover line. There is also a barcode in the bottom left corner.

Masthead: The "college" masthead is quite basic as it's just bold yellow text. The font used is.....! The wod college connotes that the magazine is has a basis of knowledge and learning. Also, it connotes that it would be helpful, and an interest to college students.


Character: The cover photograph is of an unknown subject wearing casual clothes and holding educational books. This, along with the masthead, connotes that he is a college student. Also the subject has a smile on his face which would suggest that he is happy and relaxed. This connotes that college life is fun and enjoyable, which breakes down the ideology that people have.


Composition: He is posed in a very casual and laid-back way, using one hand to hold his books, but the other is just hanging loose at his side. His posture, facial expression, and clothing suggest that he is a laidback and care-free college student, who somehow still seems to be responsible and commited to his study's.


Costume: His costume is a plain white v-neck t-shirt under a black khaki jacket, black denim jeans and a silver cross chain. This cosume has been cleverly selected to appeal to the target audience of this magazine (college students).


Cover-Lines: The main cover line is related to the subject in the picture jeffrey "assassin" campbell. It reads: "Dancehalls Bright Future: Jeffrey "assasin" campbell". This is making referance to jeffrey's recent success in the music industry with dance hall music. This is seen to most teens as a big accomplishment, and many teens look up to him as a role-model, especially those who are looking to go into the music industry. The other cover-lines on the front page show that this magazine is not only interested in music, but also a ride range of other topics that interest college students. Topics included in the cover-lines range from mobile phones to spring break holidays, which shows that this magazine is diverse in what articles it releases.


Target audience: I think that the target audience is teenagers that are attending sixth form college. I think this because the Mast head reades "college", yet the topics shown in the cover lines seem to relate to teen interests and not adults. Also the subject on the front cover seems to be a young man, wearing a "popular" style of teen clothes.

Induction: movie poster textual analysis

We where given the task to analyse the indiana jones (kingdom of the crystal skull) movie poster in media. We found a range of observations using the help of mise en scene. Our observations are as followed:

1.COSTUME:

The costume he is wearing would suggest that he is either an explorer or an archaeologist. You can tell this by the camal tone shirt and sun-hat, along with the khaki pants and boots which he wears. Also, he is wearing some sort of utility belt which is holstering a gun, this would suggest that the things he is looking for are either illegal to posses, or heavely gaurded. Although this wonders into the observation of his posture/body language, we noticed that his sleeves where rolled up, which gives him a strong and menacing look.

2. PROPS:

The props he has are a leather horse whip, which could be considered as his main weapon, and utility belt with a gun holster attached to it. The whip and gun connote a strong, hard and masculine character, as well as suggesting that he will resort to violence at some point during the film. They also suggest that there will be some sort of eveil which he will have to face in some part of the story line.

3. LIGHTING:

The lighting on the poster is quite interesting. There is an alien skull in the background which is giving off a golden glow. The glow gives off the feeling of warmth, safety and security which connotes that the skull could be the key to the mystery in the storyline. Also the brightness of the glow gives off a kind of mystery and sci fi theme.

4. NVC:
The subjects hands are clenched at his sides which would suggest that he is a dominent and powerfull character. Although the picture of the subject was taken as a long shot it seems that the camera was at a low angle, which makes the subject look menacing and feirce. Also the subjects legs are placed apart from each other and firmly on the ground, which suggests that the subject is ready for action/ready to move.


5. SETTING:
The picture seems to be set in a jungle cavern or cave, which would suggest that the subject is abroad in an exotic country. Also the skull in the background is glowing brightly whereas the rest of the jungle background is dark. This could mean that the skull is the way out of the cave/darkness.

Induction: Recreation of a movie magazine front cover

This is my first attempt at recreating a magazine cover with photoshop. The simularity is quite poor, as ime not experienced with photoshop editing and i didnt manage to finnish my recreation. I found it hard to manipulate chosen parts of the image between two diffrent layers, and to make my font look simular to the original. I am the kind of person that insists on perfection, so when i found difficulty in doing those simple manipulations i dedicated the time i had in to getting them done, instead of moving on to something else. Bearing that in mind, not all of my efforts went to waste. Copying the bar code over to my image (from the original mag) was quite simple, as all i had to do was cut it out using the rectangular marque tool. Also, i used the brush (and changed its style to oil pastel) to help recreate the effect the magazine had on its spacers inbetween vertical text. I attempted to find the same text that the magazine used as a subtitle but i didnt succeed, so instead i decided to substitute Gill Sans Ultra Bold instead.