Research and Planning START OF MAGAZINE COVER PROGRESS

 

This is the start of magazine cover, which I have been working on today. I have chosen and added the masthead font, as well as making the image onto a portrait scale, which was needed for my magazine. I have blended the top out using the correct tools on PhotoShop and made sure all the colours go together.

Research and Planning MAGAZINE PROGRESSION CARRIED ON

Today I continued to work on my music magazine cover. I was still not 100% sure on which picture to have as my cover image, therefore, I decided to do more editing but on a different picture this time. 

Although I really like this one that I have edited today, I have finally chosen the image from the post for my cover. This is because I feel it fits more and the style and shot type work best for a cover too. 

Above I have posted two different versions of the editing I did today. This was as I couldnt decide on which way round to have the two colours. By posting it on here it enabled me to not only compare but see how it looks on this kind of scale.

Research and Planning PROGRESSION OF MAGAZINE

Today I have been working on starting my magazine. I have been experimenting wqith different colours and effects on images, this being the main one I chose. I am still not enterly sure which image I want on the cover, as I like this one but i am unsure whether it is correct for my genre of pop.

Research and Planning START MAGAZINE

 Today I began working on my magazine cover. I am still unsure of which image to put as the cover as of yet, but I decided this is one of the options and I started editing the contrast and hue/saturation levels. I did this on a programme called Adobe Photoshop.

Reserach and Planning ARTISTS FOR CONTENTS PAGE

These are the artsits I have chosen/ would choose to put on my contents page. I have specifically chose these artists for my music maagzine as I feel they fit the genre very well, and all have the correct look for it too. 

By this I mean aspects of them such as their; clothes, hair, makeup, facial expressions, and colours. They are almost all smiling, and if not, they still have the right colours and look to go along with my genre. Some are wearing colours that are plain but effective, for example; pinks and reds etc, but others are wearing plain blues and blacks. Although these last ones are quite dark colours, when my genre(pop) is suppose to be bright, I still feel they are relevant as I think they do at good job at represnting the mature girls in my target audience, who are at the age of 15-19 year old. Whereas the bright pink pop colours represnt the younger section well, who are roughly 9-14 year old.

I have also chosen these artiosts as they are all known in the pop world, as they are pop artists, or if they arent, have done at least 2 pop somgs at some point in their careers. This means they are artists my target audience will be interested in and will want to read about. Therefore by having them in my magazine it should bring in more of my audience, and make them want to purchase it, creating a substancial profit. 

Research and Planning LOCATION RESEARCH

Photography Studio

 

14 C****** Street

16 T******* Road

  

As part of my additional research for my blog, I decided to do a little exploration into my chosen locations, and analysis why I have chosen them and what is so good about them.

 

First of all I chose the photography studio at college, as I felt this was a good place to shoot for my magazine. This was as the lighting in there is spot on and there would be no risks or let downs, e.g. bad weather, animals, other people etc. Also, it was an easy place for models to locate and come to, which was needed in order for me to take my photos. Although in the end, I decided not to use this as one of my locations, as I found it wasn't unique and adventurous as much as I need it to be, because of my genre of magazine. So I decided to solemnly use it just to take my model head shots, and auditions of model shots.

 

I then chose two different locations which are further out from college, but still very near. These locations are pictured above. I decided to choose these two as I feel the bricks add a little variation from other magazines, yet still fit my genre well. As they are plain walls, when editing my photos, I could potentially add any extra detail on and nobody wold know any different. I specifically chose the white wall, for the females shoot, as  I knew I wanted the girls to be in pink clothing, and I felt white and pink together would create a perfect pop image and would stand out majorly, especially in a magazine.

 

 

 

 

Research and Planning PLAN FOR WEEK (3)

By the end of next week I hope to have finished all my outstanding planning posts, such as; weather viability for my photo shoots, and my 5 double page spreads (of my genre) analysis. I also hoped to  have completed my costume and props list, my colour scheme research, and my costume research post. I hope to have also started writing my double page spread story, and to have also started to design it- taking inspiration from the existing ones I have analysed on this blog. I also aim to have my second shot list up on here by the end of next week, with the shots on from the female model shoot, just I did for my male model shoot. Although for now, the shot types that were used in the female shoot are all on this blog under the post entitled FEMALE MODEL PHOTOS.

I also hope I will be able to update my blog as far as my social networking twitter page goes. I am in hopes I will get a good response and helpful feedback through it, and I would like to be able to share that on here within the next couple of weeks.

Although I must have all of these completed within in the next week/ fortnight , my absolute main goal is to of course start my magazine within the next few weeks. This means making a start on the contents page, and of course, the main cover. I would like to have this off to a good start before the Christmas Break, as then after Christmas I can just be tidying bits up and pulling everything together.

Research and Planning 5 DOUBLE PAGE SPREADS (MY GENRE)

Research and Planning FEMALE MODEL PHOTOS

(taken on a DSLR camera)

Medium shot - Female model 1

Shows top half of clothing and all of face and hair. Dark background, otherwise would be visible. Chosen because it shows off the correct clothing for my genre, and makeup, and also has a happy, fun expression on her face.



 Close ups - Female models 1 and 2

Only shows faces and part of hair. No background as a close up is mainly used to show facial expressions, where the attention must be kept. Chosen because they are displaying the correct makeup and facial expressions for my magazine genre.

 

 Long shots - Female models 1 and 2

Shows all clothing, makeup and hair. Background visible, but as flash was used it is still quite dark. As they are long shots the makeup and hair isn't as detailed and clear, but they have still been chosen as the expressions on their faces and the clothing there are wearing meet my specification and costume research, which it states what I wanted my female models to wear.  

 Large Medium/Long shot - Female model 2 

Shows clothing from hips upwards and clear hairstyles. Also shows a lot of background which is fine as its well fitting to my genre, as its white and simple keeping all attention on the outfit and model herself. Chosen because it shoes off well the correctly clothing, that matches perfectly with what I had planned for the female models to wear in my costume research, and she is also smiling and titling her head which is the correct attitude and facial expression to have on my magazine, as they're well suiting to my genre.

 Small medium shot- Female model 2

Shows very top half of body, meaning not a lot of outfit, but brings out details in hair well. As her head is to the side her makeup is not very clear, but as it shows the tops of her shoulders, we can still se the top she is wearing which proves appropriate for my genre of music magazine, meaning it is still ok to use in my magazine, and also meeting my clothing spec, wrote in my costume research. Chosen as it shows off headgear/ hairstyles very well, and the position of her head gives a shadow on the wall making it appear brighter and bringing out the colour of the top more, as the wall is pale and the top is bright.

 Birds eye view angled close up- Female model 2

Shows hair details and makeup look. Also shows a tiny bit of the clothing on the shoulders and a small section of the background. Chosen as it shows the girly hair off very well and makes it clear who the target audience is for my magazine. The colour of the  

clothing and makeup is pinks and purples identifying to the audience its a pop magazine, as that is the genre stereotypical colours.

Close up- Female model 2

Shows hair and makeup details very well, as well as a tiny part of the wall, and a small section of the clothing on the left shoulder. Chosen as the makeup is of the correct colours for my genre, the hair is accurate along with the flower crown, which I had planned for the female models to wear in my costume research, and also the pop of colour from the fraction of clothing you can see, showing off not only audience but also my genre as these are stereotypical colours associated with it.

Medium shot- Female model 2

Shows full top half of clothing, and hair details relatively. Not very good at showing makeup details, but as you can still see the outfit details, that doesn't matter. Background is in full view, and as flash was used, the colour of the wall is illuminated even more, making the colour of the jumper the model is wearing stand out more. Chosen as it shows the colour of the top well, which are the stereotypical colours for my genre of music mag.

Medium shot- Female model 2

Shows top half of costume well and details of hair decoration. Not very good at showing makeup, but in this shot it is unneeded as we have the hair and clothing to back up my pop genre well. The background is dark yet still visible, although when I am editing this photo in the near future, I will make sure to lighten it before putting it onto my magazine, as I feel the colour contrast is far too dark for a bright and colourful magazine genre like mine. Chosen as not only are the clothing and hair representing the genre and audience well, but also the pose. This is as teenage girls are stereotypically known for messing with their hair, which is what my model has been captured doing, this represents my audience well as it is in fact teenage girls.

Medium shot - Female model 1

Shows all 3 main objectives off, which are; the hair, the makeup and the clothing. It is showing the pink fluffy jumper, the girly eye makeup and the long flowing hair. As its a medium shot it does show off a little background, but yet not as much as others, as I decided to go a little different for this image and make it portrait rather than landscape. This is just to keep my magazine varied in photos and images. Chosen as it shows off the girly colour of the clothing, the glittery eye shadow, which all girls stereotypically love, and also the long natural wavy hair, which most teenage girls (my target audience) want.

Research and Planning SOCIAL NETWORKING PAGE (TWITTER)

For my social networking I have decided to create a twitter page for my magazine, called @bubblegumMag. On this page I have been asking questions in a questionnaire form typed tweets, where the general public and anybody who views my account can answer anonymously what they their opinion is on the question asked. All the questions are things relating to my music magazine. I have too posted a link to this blog in the description of the page, on the page so that it enables anybody willing to buy my magazine, once it comes out, can view the process of it being made and all the decision, progress and thought process that does/will go into making it.

 

So far I have asked my followers ''Which one of the following artists gigs should I review?'' with the answer options being; One Direction, Little Mix or the Vamps. The second question I have asked so far is ''Do you agree £2.50 is a reasonable price for a fortnightly pop magazine? where the answer options were either yes or no. The final question asked so far is ''Which bright colour scheme do you think would fit best throughout my pop magazine? where you had to pick one of the following scheme of 3; Pink,Orange,Blue, Pink,Yellow,Purple, or Pink,Green,Turquoise. I have had some responses so far which is promising and have gained a few followers before the night was up.

 

Once I have asked more questions, which will be within the next couple of weeks, I will be posting the responses. As you can see here, it shows me how much percentage a certain answer option has got and after 24 hours the question time is up, and the results are counted. This is good timing as I don't have to therefore wait ages for audience feedback. The main reason I have created this twitter page is in order to get feedback on my magazine by the general public, specifically my target audience, as they will be the ones who will be purchasing it.

 

Below are some screenshots of what my twitter page looks like.

 

Research and Planning COLOUR SCHEME RESEARCH

As part of my additonal research for my music magazine, I decided to give 3 examples of possible colour schemes that will run throughout. I selected these colours individually and joined them to another two colours to create 3 different options.

I chose these 9 colours and put them into these specific 3's as I feel that all 9 are appropraite colours for a pop magazine, which mine is. Also, they are all bold and stand out colours, which is too an important feature for my music magazine. When choosing which colours should go with which, it took some thought, as I wanted to be sure they all coordanated with eachother well, and of course as they are all bright and bold, that none of them clashed.

The final swatch will be chosen by me, but I have also included my auidence in the process of selection. I have done this by running a poll on my social networking page, which is a twitter page, which they have the quesion and all 3 options as answers, of which they can only pick one. Of course when it comes to making the final decision, even though I will be making it, I will be taking into consideration my audiences opnions as its them who I am selling it to, and too who will eventually be the purchasers.

Research and Planning DRAWN REDRAFT OF DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

This is my new drawn draft of my double page spread. Since my last one I received some audience feedback which then resulted in me drawing up a new one, which has now been shaped by my audience's feedback. I decided to do this as I feel its important for the audience to like my double page spread, as its the main story and their selling point, therefore it needs to be as much as they want it as I can get it, which is why I drew this new one up.

 

On this new one you can see the main title in the top left hand corner, the main image on the right page, little quotations mid text, the blocks of colour at the top, which will be the three colours eventually chosen out of my 3 possible colour schemes, and also a block of a mix of several images of the artists who the story is about. I have also labelled where the story starts and ends, but this wont actually be featured on the real one, as it will be obvious once the story has been written.

Research and Planning PRODUCTION DOCUMENTATION

This is my production documentation where I documented each day of shooting, the estimated start times and finish times, and the details of editing completed. This helped me work out where I was up to whenever I was doing the next shoot or going to edit more photos.

Research and Planning SHOOTING SCHEDULE

Pictured above is my shooting schedule.

In my shooting schedule I have wrote down the shooting date, when it has been rescheduled, the location of where the shoot has taken place (which can also be viewed on my location Recces), the estimated times of shoot calls and wraps, and whether it was 100% confirmed or provisional.

Research and Planning COSTUME AND PROP RESEARCH

For males:

This is the outfits my male model will be wearing on my music magazine. I have decided to have them wearing all denim as I think its very relevant, as its coming back into fashion, and also very simple. This is a good quality for the clothing for males to have as it keeps it cool but still has a slight edge to it.

I chose his denim jacket for not only the style but the colour too. As my male model has dark brown hair its good to keep the clothing dark too. The jacket I selected (to the left) is a very dark denim all over, there is no hint of a light colour as I feel light denim may wash him out a little. I also decided on this jacket as I think the style of it is quite trendy and has a bit of edge to it. As you can see on the picture this jacket has a thick collar, and as said in my pose research post, I wanted my model to be holding his collar up on at least one of the pictures. By having my model wearing this jacket, it enables him to do that.

I have also selected a plain white T-shirt for my male model to wear. I chose this item as I feel its very simple and will also keep all attention on the face/pose. I wanted my male model to be in simple clothes as that's how most male pop stars are dressed, linking to the artists of my genre. The plain white also keeps a lot of attention on the dark blue colour of the denim which will catch more eyes.

Finally for the clothing of my male model in my music magazine, I have chosen dark denim jeans. In the image to the right, it shows fairly baggy jeans, but I will not be having them dress in just baggy, I will be using skinny as well. For the jeans I chose a similar colour denim to the jacket as I feel its important to have coordination in clothing, especially on magazines. Its all to do with where the eyes of the public are automatically drawn. I also would like gold buttons on the denim as I think it represents wealth, which pop stars usually are and looks polished.

For the shoes, for the male model, I will have them wearing either traditional black pumps or brown Chelsea boots. I have chosen the black pumps as an option as I feel they are keeping in the simple look, that is running throughout all of my male models chosen clothing. Also, by having pumps as a footwear option, it stops a colour restrcition, as pumps come in all different colours not just black, so they can therefore be used to add a splash of colour to a plain look, if were to use a bright coloured pump.




I also chose Chelsea boots as an option for the male footwear as I feel they are very simple but effective at the same time. this is because they are usually just a plain colour, but do usually have a little bit of a funky pattern on that makes them stand out. When deciding on this item of footwear I took inspriartion from a popstar, Harry Styles. He is constantly seen wearing them in his own time and also in performances. This shows it is a popular and current piece of footwear for males seen as though people from my music mag genre are spotted wearing them.

For females:

This is the outfits my female model will be wearing on my music magazine. I have decided to have them wearing simple pink jumpers as I think its very girly, as are quite in fashion at the moment, and also represent females on a whole very well. This is a good portrayal for the clothing the females will be wearing, as it keeps it stereotypical but still has a slight uniqueness to it.

For the females first item I have chosen a baby pink, fluffy jumper as I feel this reflects a stereotypical pop girl perfectly. It is simple and plain but still very effective at the same time. It reflects girliness and gives off positive 
vibes, as its a bright colour and not a dark, dull colour, that is often used 
to portray sadness and moodiness.

 

For the next item of femles clothing I choose a similar top look to the first one,another pink jumper, as yet again it is in fashion. Although this one is a little different to the first, as it has short sleeves and is a much brighter pink. As it's brighter it represents even more of my genres stereotypical colours.

 

Research and Planning PODCAST 2

To create this Podcast I used a programme on the iMac called IShowU, I found it very useful as it enabled me to talk about what I've done and also what I am planning to do and going to achieve in the next few weeks. I found it helpful as whilst I'm talking about it, I can show what I am talking about and explainging at the same time. This made it easier to exaplin my blog and how it is develpoing as I am adding more to it.

Research and Planning PUBLICATION PLAN

Research and Planning COSTUME RESEARCH

As part of some additional research for my blog I decided to research into what the main celebrities of my music genre typically wear on a magazine cover. The artist I chose was One Direction. I chose them as they are the biggest band in the world, therefore the biggest I could get in my genre, as they are known as a pop band. If I could choose to put any artist on a pop magazine cover it would be One Direction, as they are so popular with people of my target audeince and everybody knows them, therefore they are a huge selling point. Based off this I decided to pick them as the artist I will base my costume/outfits off, espcially for my male model(s).

On the images above it shows all the boys in basic, plain coloured clothes. These pictures are taken from several different photoshoots at different points in their career, as you can see the look older on some, yet on all of them their outfits are pretty much the same. They are wearing plain tops, pants and cardians, with the odd bit of denim, and basic black pumps and boots. From doing this research I learned that males do not have to wear big, bright and bold fancy clothing on a magazine, even if it is a pop magazine, as long as they have a dash of colour somewhere that stands out in some way. 

From looking at the images above I can see that they are dressed in a lot of blue. This could possibly be because they are boys, as blue is the sterotypical boy colour. As well as this, white t-shirts come up on every picture, meaning this is a main aspect of a male pop artists outfit. Also, they too wear a lot of denim, whether it be jeans, jackets or the odd waistcoat. Finally for my analysation, I realsied they also wear either black pumps or chelsea boots. this could be to keep all attention on the outfit, as you rarely look at feet, unless they are modeling stand out shoes, which wouldn't be suitable for a male mdoel to wear, espcially for a pop magazine. It would not create the right image at all.

Once I came to this realsiation, I decided to dress my male model(s) in plain white T-shirts, jeans and the off denim jacket. For the feet I wwent with the same as One Direction, either black/ a another plain colour pumps, and/ or Chelsea boots. I felt this was the right desion as it is how One Direction are nromally dressed for the same thing, therefore if they still sell well with these clothes, my model shluld sell well with the same clothes being worn.