Research and Planning MODEL RELEASE FORMS

 

 

 

These are my model release forms. In order to use the photos taken of my models I had to have these completed otherwise releasing the photos would not be legally permitted.

Research and Planning PLAN FOR HALF TERM

Over the half term I intend to keep updating my blog in order to show my commitment. I plan to do some research into some artists of my genre and take a look at there hair and makeup styles, and also their clothing choices. I will aim to come back after half term with three makeup looks, three hair looks and three outfit looks, all suited to my genre. I will talk through them step by step in order to show people how to recreate all 6 looks and also show people where to get similar pieces of clothing from, for a possible cheaper access or cheaper price.

I also plan to take my photos for my magazine, especially my test shots, to help me identify which work best with my model(s) and the magazine itself.

Finally, I aim to show one of my looks either in hair or makeup by video. I plan to do it on time-lapse as therefore the viewer doesn't get bored watching and is still able to recreate the look, but by a way which I think is personally easier to follow. I plan to base either my hair or makeup looks off one of a pop star to show that I am linking it to artists of my genre, therefore, the makeup looks are relevant for my music magazine.

Research and Planning LOCATION RECCES

 

Pictured above is my location recces.

I completed this to show exactly where my shoot would be taking place, and to give a street view of the location itself. I also ensured I did this sheet as it gives extra information about the shoot such as; shooting information (which camera will be used), the lighting info, power information and possible hazards (which link back to my Risk Assessment). As an extra I too put the time the shoot is due to start and end, and the date. I find this helps as its a key factor: mainly to ensure daylight linking to the lighting information.

Research and Planning RISK ASSESSMENT

This is my risk assessment from the shoot. I had to take out lots of precautions and make sure I had a back up if anything went wrong. This are hazards such as bad weather, (as I have written on the sheet above), I would od had to have rescheduled the shoot as most of my photos for my music magazine are taken outside, and if the bad weather was bad, it could not have proceeded.
Without a risk assessment no shoot, nor experiment in other cases, could go ahead, therefore it was vital I had this and that it was fully filled in.

Research and Planning CONTENTS PAGE ANALYSIS

The genre of the magazine that this contents page was selected from is quite obviously pop. We can establish this because of the colours, artists featured, photos, stories and fonts. The colours that are used are all bright and bold colours that stand out and draw your attention. They are colours that are out there and in your face, for example there are bright yellows, blues and pinks. These can all be stereotypically be linked to a typical teenage girls magazine. The artists that are in this magazine also give it away as to what genre it's specified at, as the music artists that are inside are mainly all pop artists who all produce a similar sound. The stories and photos included are all about heartbreaks and celebrities. This suggests to us that it is aimed at teenage girls, as they are the gender and age known to go through major heartbreaks and be in love with big name celebs. They enjoy reading about them and their heartbreaks as its  a sense of normality to know somebody famous has gone through the same thing. All this shows us what the genre of this magazine is and who its  specifically aimed at. The fonts used on this contents page and throughout this magazine also help us to fathom the genre.

The way the artists are represented on this specific page of the music magazine also contributes to us knowing the genre. They are presented as happy or pulling funny faces. This hints a spark of immaturity which also links to the target audience of this magazine, it being teenage girls, as as a teenage you are usually still quite immature. The clothes they're dressed in, especially in the main image on this page, are bright coloured and funky unique outfits. This represents happiness and fun as they are loud colours that stand out and create a positive vibe, rather than dark, sinister clothes that create an eerie mood. The artists that are featured include ones such as; The Saturdays, Justin Bieber and One Direction. This shows off the genre of this mag more, as these are all well known pop artists.

The target audience for this magazine could not be presented to us  more clearly, as it is very obviously aimed at young teenage girls who have interests such as; fashion, makeup, celebrities, and of course, music. The social class of the audience of this magazine will more than likely be E-Class, as the majority of people who will buy this magazine will not be working or will just be starting their first job, as of how young they are. This brings us onto the age of the target audience. I think the age of this magazines target audience will be set at something like 8-15 mayb6 maybe, as certain properties and language used would be a little too immature for anybody older. In conclusion to target audience, I think the gender this magazine is aimed at is most defiantly teenage girls. This is very stereotypical but whether a boy buys it or not, it is aimed at girls, as of the colours and story lines used.

Research and Planning SHOT LIST

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Above is my planned shot lists'

To help me gather a range of different shots in my music magazine I created lists of all the different shots I wanted to snap. On these sheets I have also included a description of what each shot will entail, and also whether it will be in colour or black and white- once edited. Although, these shots may change on the day, all depending on what looks good on the day. Though whether the shots are taken as planned or not, these sheets are still worthwhile as they will help me keep a healthy variation in which shots are taken and produced.

Research and Planning PODCAST

To create this Podcast I used a programme on the iMac called IShowU, It was very useful as it enabled me to talk about what I've done and also what I'm going to achieve in the few weeks, while also showing it at the same time. This was easier as I could explain and point at the same time.

 

In the podcast I explain what I have done so far on the media course. I have learnt how to use Adobe Photoshop, a programme which I used to create my college magazine cover, CD tutorial cover, film poster challenge and also the Photoshop challenge. I also learnt how to use InDesign, on which I created my film review and my contents page for my college magazine. I also learnt how to use PhotoBooth to record my 3 interviews on my questions regarding my music magazine, and also GoogleBlogger, as I had never used it before I started the course and now use it to upload everything onto.

I also learnt how to analyse things such as magazine covers, magazine contents pages and double page spreads in detail, referring to all different areas of media. These includes topics such as Genre, where I analyse the photos, artists, colours, stories and fonts featured. Also the representation of say the artists where I would go into detail about the clothes they are wearing and their attitude/facial expressions. The audience, where I analyse my target audience in categories such as age, gender, social class and interests. Also, a quite large one, which is media language. This is where I explain the clothes and props, shot types, colours and font sizes. Then, lastly, the images used and specific language.

I have also made a collage whilst on this course, where I gathered a couple old and new pop magazines (my genre) and cut out images of artists, colours, fonts, graphics and fashion that I wanted to include in my music magazine. I then stuck all of them in a collage layout on an A3 sheet of paper. This helps show what and who my magazine is about and aimed at.

 

More into the artist element, I have also drawn draft copies of both my magazines which I do before I initially produce the real thing. These help me decide on my layout before the real process begins.

 

Lastly on what I have completed, I would like to mention the shot type research that I did. These are featured on my blog, and is basically where I gathered three sheets and stuck down 12 different types of shots that I could possibly think of. This will help me to keep the images in my magazine varied in shot types and also hopefully help me to achieve a higher grade in the exam.

 

Before the end of the course there is still  some aspects need doing. These are things such as; still needing to take pictures to feature in and on the cover of my music magazine, getting my production schedule and production documents filled in and also completing the analyses of the already existing double page spread and the contents page.

Research and Planning DRAWN DRAFTS

MAGAZINE COVER

CONTENTS PAGE

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

 

To help with the design of my music magazine I created 3 drawn drafts. These drafts included pages such as; my cover Page, my contents page and my double spread page. Drawing these helps me to realise how I want my magazine to be layed out and how I want it to be designed. Also, it helps me decide on what stories I want to include in my magazine, as seeing it layed out on paper shows me what I have room for a what I don't, and also how many images and how much information I need to gather for the end result. It too helps me see which graphics and small decoration, yet it doesn't help me decide on aspects such as fonts, as I cannot visualise that until I see it up on a computer screen, which would be the real version.

 



Research and Planning SHOT TYPE RESEARCH

As part of the research I have done for my magazines, both music and college, I did some on shot types. I thought this would be helpful to me as in my magazines I wanted to include, not only a range of images, but all different visuals, to keep it interesting. The shot types I researched and collected examples for were a wide shot, long shot, mid shot, extreme close up, over the shoulder shot, aerial shot, point of view shot, two shot, master shot, establishing shot, close up and a big close up.

By locating the images and gathering up different shot types, it will not only help me keep my magazine full of range, image wise, but also help me in the exam in May, this is because in the exam I know that we partially get assessed on shot types and how they are used, and by taking time do this little bit of research, it could potentially help me a lot in the near future.

Research and Planning DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD ANALYSIS

 

My chosen double page spread is clearly from a pop magazine. I know this because of the colours used, the chosen photos, the selective fonts, the main artist and the story present. The colours selected are very girly, them being bright pinks and purples with hints of calming white in there too. These colours represent the pop genre within itself as they are strong bold colours that stand out, which is what pop magazines are usually about. The photos that have been selected all link back to the main story across these two pages, which makes sense, but since this main story is about a pop artist, the images that have been selected to go with this article all relate to pop too. This is as they are all of the main star. The fonts that have been used could be described as sensible but with a spark of funky at the same time. The main title at the top of the page has curves and grooves in it which shows off a little fun, perfect for pop music mags. The main artist in this article is Taylor Swift, who is a well-known pop singer, who is in fact known for dating lots of guys and then writing songs about them or their breakups. This now links in with the title, in which if any young teenager saw, they would more than likely, immediately, think of Taylor. Linking this in with her, the title of the story also draws in a teenage audience, especially girls. When girls turn into teenagers they start to progress with the dating game, so therefore by putting this story in the magazine, it links well with the audience its aimed at and has strong reference to its genre. This helps make more profit as more of the audience would select it, as they may feel the main story is relatable. As this story is such a large one, once you get inside the magazine, it is most probably featured somewhere on the front cover, making a major selling point.

 



The representation of Taylor Swift is this article is a positive one, especially for the target audience. She is wearing a light purple/lilac dress, with matching earrings and perfect looking makeup. Very girly. She is pictured wearing a half smile, drawing attention to her lips covered in lipstick, linking to makeup again, and her hair is down and simple. This gives off not only a good vibe, as she looks peaceful and calm, but also a normality look/vibe, as this kind of outfit, that she is wearing, and her unoriginal hair style, is easy for a normal teenage girl to recreate. This would make somebody want to pick it up and buy it in the shop, as its relatable. All in all, Taylor Swift is represented in a good light.

The target audience for this magazine and specifically this article is very clear I think. In my opinion, the target audience that this music magazine reaches out to is teenage girls around the ages 8-16/17.  This is because the articles that are featured in the magazine, for example this one, are all things that young teenage girls go through and are interested in, therefore can relate to. It is a very stereotypical view, and possibly sexist, to group it together and say just girls, but with the articles that are featured in this mag, they may not relate to boys as much. For example, when boys go through relationship problems, such as breakups, they usually seem to put more of a hard front on and don't get as emotional as girls tend to. Although these are majority groupings, unfortunately its the way they are presented, especially in the media day today. Therefore by having stories like this, and also colours like these, such as pinks and purples, it is more likely to be aimed at teenage girls. Also, the social class of these young teenage girls that these mags are aimed at will more than likely be E-Class. This is because with the age range that is set on them, roughly like mentioned earlier being around 8-16/17 years old, they will probably not be working, or if they are, will more than likely be in their first job. The prices of these magazines aren't set that high neither, therefore they are affordable for teenagers who may not work, or be earning a decent wage. Another reason why I think the target audience of these types of music magazines are teenagers is because if you were older, and going into your 20s, you wouldn't usually be wanting to be seeking advice from celebs anymore, or reading about teenage relationships that have/are breaking down, you would much rather be reading something more grown up and suited to your age range. Therefore in my opinion, this magazine, and especially this article, is aimed at a target audience of young, 8-16/17 year old, teenage girls, with a social class of E.

The media language used in this article all suit the genre very well. The clothes and props are all specific to the genre and target audience of this glossy magazine, as they are bright and bold colours, girly too, and simple and relatable, as well as following the usual road of a pop mag, where the clothes are also unique and different. The artist in this double page spread is Taylor Swift, who does wear quite plain clothes as it is, so therefore maybe if she was a more bold character, clothing wise, she would be dressed in something a little more stand out and different. The heart graphics at the top of the page have been very clearly placed there, as they not only link with the colours from this article, but also link to the title of it itself, as the whole double page is about love. What better way to present it than with love hearts themselves. The fonts are bold where necessary in this page spread and the size changes with importance to none. For example, the main title of the article here is in big bold letters, yet here they used colours to represent the different words and to show their importance, making the more important words stand out more than the less important. At the bottom of the pages on the right, there is a speech question. Here they have used the same font as on the title, so it still links, but yet this time making all the text black This whilst making it stand out also takes a backseat as, as they're featured it at the bottom it shows its not as important. Yet, on the other hand, they have made all the text black therefore when somebody looks at the title the black in it will bring out the black at the bottom of the page meaning your eyes will divert to there and read it. Also, the shot types used here differentiate as the main image on this article is a medium shot, just above her waist, the other pictures featured are different. There is also a two-shot and a point of view/ mole shot. The mole shot shows her on stage and some of her fans hands around her. This shows that she is the main feature of this picture, just like she is of the article and presents her as the most important person of the image.
 

The images used in this article all feature Taylor Swift, as it is all about her, yet I was surprised as none of them feature a boy, as the title and whole article is about boys. There is quite a bit of text on this double page spread, but as it is for young teenage girls mainly, it is broken up in the middle twice by two different images, showing her lifestyle in two different ways. This helps keep attention so the audience doesn't feel like they're going to be reading for hours when they first glance at the article. Also, by adding pictures into the middle of the text, it makes a reader want to read it, in order to find out about the pictures and also why they are there.

 

 

The language that is used in this double page spread article is more than likely going to be the usual dialect of a young American/British teenager. There will be slang words used  as this is how people of the music magazines target audience talk, it therefore makes it more personal meaning more people will wan tot purchase it, if they are around the target age. Some American slang words may be also featured in here too as the main girl who the story is about is American, but as its in a British magazine the dialect and dialogue of the text will still be understandable for both nationalities. It just means it is able to reach a wider audience and make more profit.

Research and Planning INTERVIEWS X3

As part of my audience research and music magazine preparation, I found it important to interview a few different people and find out what their favourite music artists are and also little details, e.g. colour schemes, that seem small but are actually big jobs for a magazine editor. By doing this I found it very helpful all in all as now I know what different people who enjoy different genres like in their music magazines.

You can see the 5 questions I asked above.

The first question I asked was ''What type of music is your favourite?'' I had 3 different responses from this. These being answers such as Alternative, Indie and Rock. Although none of these are relevant to my genre, I still found it interesting to find out what other people who are my age range listen to to maybe incorporate little details of their music genre into  my magazine. This way my magazine may reach more people but still be based around its original genre and audience.

Then the second question I asked my three interviewees was ''What colour scheme would you like in a pop magazine?'' For this I got two different answers, which were both in fact quite opposite, them being dark colours and bright colours. In my opinion dark colours is more a personal favourite rather than a wide spread view as usually in a pop magazine the colours throughout are all bright and bold to capture attention and create a fun happy theme. This suits the genre much better.

 Next, the third question I asked was ''How much would you pay for a music magazine?'' The results for this question came in at around the £3.00 mark and one said £2.99, another £2.00- £5.00 and also £3.00 bang on. I think that all these are reasonable prices for a music magazine, although I think for some magazine I would personally pay more or less depending on the quality and content inside. What I mean by this is for example if the magazine had more information than pictures it should more than likely be worth more money as it has more hard work and content in it rather than a magazine that is mostly images, where not as much time has gone into it. From these interviews I shall probably base the price of my magazine around £3.00 as all 3 interviews agreed and stated individually that this is a good price and that they would pay it for a music magazine, of their choice. One of the interviewees stated that £2.99 would be 'the change you have in your pocket' which I think is a very good point as this means when someone enters a shop, the price of my magazine is affordable without trying, meaning they could buy it anytime without having to remember to bring money out with them to purchase it. This means more copies would sell. 

The fourth question I asked was ''Who is your favourite artist of your preferred genre?'' From this I got many different artists such as Imagine Dragons, Coldplay, Twenty One Pilots and The Gazette. From these options Coldplay and Imagine Dragons fit into my music magazine genre as they are artists that people of my audience may find interest in. The other two artists mentioned by the interviewees don't fit but having their input has helped me to find out what other artists are out there too.

Finally, the fifth question I asked the interviewees was ''What stories would/do you like in your ideal magazine?'' The responses I got from this were; music gossip, lifestyle stories, competitions, gigs and interesting stories about popular artists. All these answers helped me a great deal as I now know what stories and information to include in my magazine. This question was a very important question as whatever answer each person gave, no matter what genre they like/listen to, I can still include the stories they like as say a gig story or a lifestyle story and as I can incorporate it into any genre, just depending on which genre it is the language or story itself may change.

Research and Planning QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

    ABOVE are 5/8 examples of the questionnaire my classmates filled out.

Piecharts from taliasofia

 

In the PowerPoint above I have included data from the results of 5/8 questions. I decided to use pie charts to present the information I gathered from them, as I think its easier to gather and read information on them making it more clear. The questions and results I put into pie charts were, 'Are you male or female?', 'How old are you?', 'What genre of music would you like your music magazine to be?', 'How much would you be willing to pay for your ideal music magazine?' and 'What colour scheme would you like on the front cover of your music magazine?'. These were basic, simple answered questions which therefore enabled me to present the answers in pie charts, yet the other four questions I asked weren't as easily done so.

The other 3/8 questions of the questionnaire were these; Who is your favourite artist of your preferred genre?', 'What stories would draw you to the front cover of a music magazine?' and 'Which music artists draw you towards a music magazine in a shop?'. With these questions I found it harder to break them down into a category on a pie chart, so therefore I have uploaded a picture of 5/8 of the sheets above which show some examples of what people wrote in answers to these 3 questions. Some of the answers for 'favourite artist of your preferred genre' were people such as; Ed Sheeran, Martin Garrix, Bring Me The Horizon and Macklemore. In my opinion, I think this is a perfect example of how doing this task has helped me and my work as by finding out who different people like listening to and reading about, I can then try and incorporate them in some way into my magazine, still sticking to my specific genre of pop though! I feel I could do this as in, in these few examples I have listed, there is some certain artists that do not necessarily fit into a certain genre and say people who choose to read a pop magazine, may also like listening to. Examples of these could be artists such as Macklemore or Ed Sheeran.

Research and Planning FONTS FOR MY MUSIC MAG MASTHEAD

ABOVE is the sheet which I sent around the classroom, where each member of my class ticked which font they thought best suited my music magazine genre and target audience.

To create this list of possible font idea for the masthead of my magazine I used Adobe Photoshop and dafonts.com. I used dafonts.com to locate and download the fonts I wanted and then I used Photoshop to process them and use them, by typing the masthead title of my music magazine into them, therefore I could see which fonts suited my title the most and also which really didn't.

Once I had decided on which fonts I think looked best for my genre and masthead I printed them out and past the sheet around my classmates. They all then had to select the one they thought best suited  my genre and target audience the best. This enabled me to get a different perspective other than my own as it wouldn't just be me buying my magazine it would also quite obviously be the general public too, therefore I need other peoples opinions so I know which fonts would help my magazine sell successfully.

In conclusion from passing the sheet around the room, the most voted for fonts were number 2 and number 6 (from top to bottom). Personally I quite favoured number 1 and number 2, so therefore the sensible and wisest option is to select font number 2 for the masthead as its a favourite by others and also me.

As a side mark, I used the One Direction font as one of the options. I did this as it links well to my magazine. This is because one of the main artists in/on my magazine are One Direction, therefore by selecting their font as an option for the masthead it shows the genre off well, as they are known to be a pop band. Also, more specifically, a pop band for teenage girls- which is my target audience in particular.

Research and Planning MY COLLEGE MAGAZINE DRAFT

 To create my college Magazine cover draft I used a programme called Adobe Photoshop. 

These tools are what I used and how: 

*Text- I used the text tool to insert the text onto my magazine cover, but I used a website called DaFont to select my fonts. I preferred to find more unusual and better suiting fonts for my magazine genre, rather than the usual bog standard fonts that are already available on Photoshop.

*Layout- I used the layout tool to put the bubbles around my story titles and selected the white colour to go around the text as its black so this helps it really stand out. Also, I did the main masthead in white so therefore the readers eyes will be automatically directed to the story texts after the masthead as they are both the same colour. Although, I put my main story at the bottom in green as it matches the green door in the picture, so therefore attention will hopefully be yet again gained.

*Picture insert- I inserted the barcode image, as every real magazine has one therefore I needed one. I also inserted the Clarendon logo in the top left hand corner and used the pro cut laser tool to cut it out, so no white background was left surrounding it. This made it look more professional.

*Spot healing brush tool- To discard of my spots and make my skin look smooth.

Research and Planning TARGET AUDIENCE

Today I created this drawing of how I imagine my target audience to be.

I also have wrote down the sides the class I expect them to be, their age, gender and interests. I have drawn them in the kind of clothes I expect them to have on too, as I believe the way you dress also has a massive impact on what you like and express your taste to a certain extent.

Research and Planning COLLAGE

This is my collage. I made this to show which fonts, colours, artists and graphics I will be using in my music magazine. My collage turned out to be very colourful with many music artists and a wide range of unique fonts. I feel this reflects my magazine really well and it will serve its purpose of helping inspire how I create my magazine.