DVD Cover again!

new draft

Vlog 1

ITS FINISHED!

The music video I made has now been completely edited and finished! woop!

DVD COVER REDO

After being told we couldnt do a digipak anymore here is my dvd cover

Shots for tonights filming

Instead of a call sheet as I am really busy.I have written a list of shots that I will be filming tonight.

Gap 1 - Shot of finger turning light off
- Shot of putting guitar on over head
Gap 2 -Shot of mouth saying "kill"
Gap 3 - Shot of guitar. angle from the body towards neck.
Gap 4 - Above shot of guitar playing.
Gap 5 - Shot of mouth "and i'll take you home with me, i'm taking back the life you stole.
Gap 6 - shot of mouth "we never got that far, this helps me"
- shot of slide down guitar and several strums.

Narrative Shots

Shot of good guys running out of front door
Shot of evil chasing
Shot of good guys running down the street in first seconds since they got out of house
Shot of evil guy at the other side of the door and providing chase, slamming door.
2 shots of good guys running towards the camera
Shot of evil chasing, then stopping to pull out knife
Shot of Laura rounding first corner
Shot of evil throwing knife at cam
Side shot of knife going into good guys head
Shot of evil bending down to retrieve knife
Shot of knife coming out of head
Shot of evil continuing chase around corner
Shot of girl still running towards cam, pull on dolly, looking back for evil guy
Shot of evil running towards girl
Shot of girl getting tired and slowing while running around corner
Shot of evil slamming girl into wall
Shot of evil saying I love you
Shot of knife going in
Shot of girls reaction
Shot of second stab
Shot of girls reaction
Shot of third stab
Shot of girl falling sideways onto floor
Shot of knife clattering onto the floor
Shot of boy walking slowly down the street.

Success!!!

The idea of me alone in the room was a success, the effects look great and i will continue to use this in my filming

new idea

Because of several errors, and a brainstorm, a new idea has been created for the main performance elements in the music video. I have written some notes as to what is going to happen.


Elements of Bedroom Scenes

This section is going to appear violent and choppy, to represent the atmosphere created in the music video.
It will be comprised of lots of shots of me playing the guitar and singing. There will be a lot of movement and the camera will be very jerky. Some frames will be edited out.
For this I will need
My guitar
My Amplifier and wire
A torch
My TV
It will be set in my bedroom.
There will be many lights in this film, using strobe effect on laptop and mirror.
Possible use of laser ball in wardrobe.

Shots list

Shots on guitar fretboard and hand. Edited both clear and grainy, fade intohigh c/b. In b/w
Shot of amplifier on. E = Clear, b/w, c/b
Full body shot of me jumping around the room, E= high blur, obviously a body, black and white shapes. Shot from front on angle, lower leg upwards angle, On back from window sill.
Shot of electric guitar again, same effect
Shot of mouth
All shots repeated with various angles.
The shots will begin blurred and get less and less blurred. At the end of the song will cut to colour and no contrast, I will switch light on, and will se the hands covered in blood.
Final shot of guitar resting against bed.

Key

E= - Editing
b/w – black and white
c/b – contrast/ brightness – high amounts of each which I will use in a lot of my shots.

Call Sheet

Here is the call sheet for my first day of filming. :)

IDEA

Recently had the idea that I would have both male leads played by the same person, with different costumes and make up to create an enigma effect. I will play these parts as it will make it easier to film as the location is at my house.

Progression Report

1. Photos of location have been taken
2. Storyboard almost finished, done by the end of the week.
3. Call Sheet to be done today
4. Props gathered, in need of costumes. Stuck finding white bottoms for costumes.

CD Cover

Instead of using my my chem advert pic as a cover, I have decided to improve it and change it into the front of my album cover. :) so here the improved version is.

Artwork Draft for Advert

In my free i have managed to do the original artwork for my draft DVD advert.

This is it.

As you can see it is of a bloody knife covered in blood and the band logo.

It is yet to be finished, but im going for a break now. An updated version will be uploaded later.

-THBam.

Cliff Richard - What a Ledge

This is the advert for the DVD collection of Cliff Richard Live, it follows a number of generic conventions.

1. DVD Symbol

2. Artist name/logo

3. A picture/ artwork of the artist

4. Pictures of the DVD cover itself

5. Description of the different DVD's

Avenged Sevenfold DVD Advert

This is the cover for the official DVD for the Heavy Metal band Avenged Sevenfold.

It holds a number of conventions which are often used in advertising of such DVD's

1. The band name/logo

2. The DVD symbol

3. Some artwork/photo

4. In this case, a parental advisory picture to warn potential consumers about possibly risque content.

Today's Objectives

Today I have quite a few free periods today so i have decided to spend them on my media project.
First I am going to do some research into one of my ancillary products - my music magazine advertisement.
Then I am going to create a first draft of this music magazine.
After this I am going to begin writing a screenplay for my film.

Josh. aka. THBam :)

Night Shooting

As I couldnt sleep tonight I thought that I would attempt to find to find tips to tackle the problem of lighting up the night - time scenes properly in the shot.
The main idea to make it seem more realistic was to create pools of light using torches and things so that it looks more realistic but you can still see the actors expressions.
I also had the idea of using several torches to give the impression of streetlights during the chase part of my scene.

Questionnaire Results

I made up a questionnaire asking various questions so that my class could evaluate my ideas.
The questions were

1. Rate the video on a scale of 1 – 5
2. What do they like about your idea and why?
3. Why do you like the idea?
4. In what ways do you think it reflects the typical generic conventions of….?
5. What improvements would you suggest?

The answers to question one I have done in a pie chart showing my results.
Most people said that they liked the idea a lot.
This was because it reflected a typical music video for this drama
Because it was to do with death, revenge etc.
People suggested mainly that I should be careful and make sure that the plot was not too confusing.

Pie Chart mmmm :P

This is a pie chart for the ratings numbers that i received for my idea :)

Music Video Presentation

Its Not A Fashion Statement, Its a Deathwish - My Chemical Romance

T

Choice of Song

After the brainstorm I have decided to do the song - It's not a Fashion Statement its a Deathwish by US Rock Band My Chemical Romance. Prop and Location sheets etc will follow shortly. Along with full analysis of a music video by the same band, spoken on a dictaphone.

Music Video Brainsheet

One Last Kiss - Madina Lake

This is the video for One Last Kiss by the band Madina Lake. It has a narrative in that it shows the lead singer getting dumped by his girlfriend and being destroyed by it. It shows that the band has feelings along as well, as he is just asking for One Last Kiss

One Last Kiss - Madina Lake
Director Dori Oskowitz
October 2006
Target - Teenagers - rock market
Available on Youtube, and on Kerrang and Scuzz TV Stations.

Mindless Self Indulgence - Straight to Video

Straight To Video - Mindless Self Indulgence

Producer: Dan Fickle

January 2007

Teenagers - Scene Rock Market

Available on youtube, Kerrang and Scuzz

This song by Mindless Self Indulgence is called Straight to Video. It immediately shows connotations of the crazyness of the band, who are regarded highly for their crazy antics and getting themselves into over the top situations.

Muse - Bliss

Muse - Bliss

4:21

Directed by David Slade

On Youtube and Kerrang

Rock Market

This video for Muse's Bliss shows the bands true identification with the supernatural and space like things. The special effects show this as Matt continues to fall through the entire song. Showing him as cool to the audience.

Bring Me The Horizon - Pray For Plagues

Bring Me The Horizon - Pray for Plagues

Director - popcore

Available on kerrang scuzz and youtube

niche metalcore market

This is the video for Bring me the Horizon's Pray for Plagues. The use of special effects in this video makes it look very hardcore, as the genre of the music is Metalcore (Metal Hardcore) I think that this fits. The darkness really fits with the bands attitude and look.

Group

Due to a severe amount of dislike with me and one of the members of the group, i have decided to work on my own, as i feel that I would work better.

Stuffaroo

After several emails from one of our teacher we have learnt how to use two really cool websites to make storyboards and mindmaps.
http://bubbl.us
http://stripgenerator.com

will be publishing storyboard and other cool stuffs soon :)

Plot Summary for short film

We have chosen to create a short film. It is of the genre Docudrama. This is the plot summary that we created.



Plot Summary

1. Several Clips of different bad days, getting progressively worse and A getting progressively more stressed.
2. Throughout all the clips is getting interviewed about his life.
3. Goes crazy, shoots interviewer then cameraman, filming the door, walk through, door closes. Gunshots and screaming.
4. Dramatic Music (possibly requiem for a dream)
5. Cuts to a scene of A in a hospital bed. Shaking, sped up, shot at alarm clock. 2 am woken up by white light in the shape of a door. Men walk in, white coats, pull him out of the room.
6. Sat in white room on a hard black school type chair. Mixed scenes of chair. Extreme close ups of face, shadow on his face but seeing. Interviewer speaks. Then A speak “why am I being interviewed” (calm voice) “are you recording this” (angrier) “You know I don’t like it”. Throws table at the security guard, takes gun, shoots guard, camera cuts to the ground. Screaming, shoots interviewer, only see blood on white wall as camera is in Dutch angle.
7. White noise, on credits.

Music Video Analysis

Semiotic Analysis of Music Video
Song: I’m Not Okay (I Promise)
Artist: My Chemical Romance
Location: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIS2sHPs-wQ
Length: 3:29
Section Used: 0:00 – 3:29

All representations are encoded by the producer (Hall, 1980); different representations are encoded to build an effect known as the verisimilitude of the diegetic world. In this essay, I am going to show how the producer encodes various representations of “class” in the music video for the song “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” by American rock band My Chemical Romance. The target audience for this video is teenagers who are at school or college, and therefore identify with some of the themes in the video. The most important aspect of the video in terms of representation is the Mise-en-scene.

The identity of the band and of one side of the binary opposition is immediately introduced at the start of the music video. The lead singer (Gerard) and lead guitarist (Ray) are immediately in costumes of school uniforms. This immediately shows that in this video they are students. The ties that they are wearing are red and black, connoting the edgy punk rock feel of the band and this combined with the long hair of the band members connects them as part of the class or stereotype of “rock/alternative” types.

This is later cut to a shot of the binary opposites of the stereotype –the “Jocks”, or “sport types”. The uniforms and combed back hair as opposed to the band members’ untamed hair gives the jocks a very pompous effect.

After the initial shot of the band members, there is an instant cut to a shot of a swimming pool, this joined with the band members uniforms connotes that they are obviously in a typical American school.

The cuts to the band playing in the garage throughout the song show the bands importance, and therefore shows a more favoured rocker side, as they are playing music, something which is considered as talented and admirable.

The camerawork in the piece is mainly quick cuts and pans. This is used to make the music video more exciting for the viewer, though the upwards tilt onto the main band member is perhaps the most important element of the camerawork in the music video. It connotes that Gerard is in fact more important than the audience, giving him a status of power.

Another important part of the camerawork is the extreme close up of Gerard’s face during one section. There is a part in the song, when he is singing “I’m ok”, that the extreme close up of his face shows his sarcasm therefore links with the opposition in the video as it shows that the Jocks actions are making Gerard and the band members angry and sad and makes them want revenge.

The editing is an extremely important part of the music video, not because of the binary opposition that it helps to create but because of the captions. There are quite a lot of captions throughout various sections of the song. These all relate to the storyline, and related to the viewer, specifically in the first section where captions such as “if you ever felt”.... and then the words alone, rejected, confused, lost, anxious, wrong, wronged. These go on and are used to create a sense of connection with the band with the fans, which are typically of the rockers side, and often have a lot of these feelings built up, and therefore this connects with them.

The main element of the music video is in fact the diegetic music, and this is linked with the video to progress the story of it. There is a pause in the music which is not in the CD released audio version where Rhythm Guitarist, Frank and a girl are acting romantic. The outcome of this little cut is for comic effect, and highlights the effects written in the closed captions.

Use of camera in filming

On thursday evening we began filming our scene for our prelim.task. We had a short amount of time to do as many of the various shots as possible. In that time we managed to film our establishing shot, and two medium close up shots. To make sure that each shot was successful, we were told to film each one three times. To show the shot and take it was, the cameraman would place his fingers in front of the camera to show first the shot number, and then the take number.
Though I really enjoyed some of the camera, there were some techniques I think that 0ur group should work on.
1. Begin to use the camera with a tracking shot, our group changed our two close ups from track to pan shots, and i dont feel that it was as effective.
2. Use of the tripod, and the level gauges to make sure that the camera is level if it needs to be.
3. Just general mistakes, like knowing that you cant take the film out of the camera without the battery in it, for example.

More evaluating information to follow when filming is next in progress

Script for prelim

Call Sheet

This is the call sheet for the prelim task that we are doing.

Mistake

In creating the wallet, i missed out one of the names of the people in my group - Hazel Armitage, so it has been added to the final image.

Title Image - The Wallet That Dropped

For the media project that we are making we discussed creating text for an introduction title. I took the initiative on this, and used a program called Autodesk 3ds max to create a title image for the shot.

I used various techniques to create this wallet. The wallet is simply made from two boxes, with one edge welded to the other. The edges then had a chamfer modifier applied. The grip was created originally from a digital spline, and converted into an editable polygon, where it was extruded. This technique was also used with the text. For the wallets leather material The main brown colour had noise and cellular texture map modifiers placed on it. The white and leather writing is in the same leather material, just the colour is different.

Storyboard

For our short film we created a storyboard structure so that it would be easier to make our film as we would know each of our camera shots.

Shot Types for Media Production

For the preliminary task that we have been set we are going to be using a number of shot types and editing techniques.

Shot Types

Establishing shot - to set the scene, and introduce the two characters.
Medium Close Up shot - for the audience to see more detail of the characters.
Extreme Close Up, to show in detail and object in the street.
POV shot - to show the point of view of person B
Pan - to keep the movement in the scene going
Dutch Angle - to show that something in the scene is wrong, in this example that the wallet has fallen onto the floor.

Editing Techniques

Shot - reverse - shot structure
Straight Cut
Fade
Insert Shot

Shot Types

For our simple video task we will use many different shot types and editing techniques, these include:

• Establishing Shot
• Point of view shot
• Tracking shot
• Eye line match
• Shot-Reverse-shot
• Action match
• Camera Tilts
• Hand held camerawork

Introduction to Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio - Lesson Objectives

1. Complete a screenplay for my Introduction to Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio Video Task.
2. Complete a storyboard for my Introduction to Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio Video Task.

Introduction to Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio - Assessment Objectives

The purpose of this unit is firstly to assess my ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (AO3); secondly to assess my ability to apply knowledge and understanding in evaluating my own work, showing how meanings and responses are created (AO2); and finally to assess my ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research (AO4).

The unit requires me to engage with contemporary media technologies, giving me the opportunity to develop my own skills in these technologies. It also enables me to develop the skills of presentation that are required for further study at higher levels and in the workplace.

Double Page Spread

Contents Page

Front Cover

Evaluation Question 6

Although I already knew how to write blogs on the internet, the website www.blogger.com showed me a different aspect. I found that it was relatively easy to use, in the way that I could quickly and easily upload videos and pictures with ease. I learnt how to organise my work and use thinks like screenshots to make my blog stand out.

Photoshop Elements

At the beginning of the course, I had absolutely no idea how to use Photoshop, but after doing the tutorials, I learnt how to use a lot of different tools. The one that I learnt specifically to use the best was the clone brush. When I did the headstock masthead for example, I used the clone brush alone to rub out the fender signature on the original headstock but still giving it the wood effect. I think that the cursor can be quite awkward on Photoshop, but I think that it is just another feature to use and only more practice is required to get the full effect.

Quark

At first I really didn’t like Quark, I thought it was awkward, and there are definitely a few features that I really don’t like. The rotate function for example is very awkward. I definitely prefer Photoshop to Quark. There are some elements of Quark which are useful though, the guides to draw text boxes too are good, and it’s very easy to get all of the text boxes the same with the measurements tool. This is why I think that it was the most suitable choice to make my contents page. Though it is not as intricate as Photoshop Elements.

Evaluation Question 5

5. There were a number of things that I did to attract my target audience. The first reason is that it mainly features new, very niche rock music, rather than focusing on the indie rock scene which is growing rapidly. I think that the magazine will be successful because the magazine already shows that it is bringing some great information and interviews, finding out the most up to date information available in the world of rock. The front cover is really colourful and bright and features a picture of someone who could be seen as and ideal partner, therefore making the audience want to pick it up and read it.

Evaluation Question 4

To get my picture and text boxes to show up on the blog, i did this question on Microsoft word and then screenshotted it. To get rid of the bars i used to crop tool on Photoshop Elements.

Evaluation Question 3

The type of magazine that might make and distribute the magazine would be Bauer media. This is mainly because my magazine is fairly similar to their Kerrang! magazine in terms of musical genre and similar conventions and elements.
Bauer media is not a conglomerate, but an independent company that is primarily based in Germany. To begin with, Kerrang could sell both their magazine and mine together for the same price as a Kerrang – like a free gift. If the magazine began to build enough fans, then Bauer media may consider upgrading it to a full magazine.They could help to advertise the magazine by showing adverts on their radio stations and on their television channels such as Kerrang radio or Q TV.

Evaluation Question 2

2. The images that I used in my final product mediate a number of things. There were a number of stereotypes and things which were used.
The clothes that the band members wear throughout the shots detail not only the genre of music that they create but also their type of character as well. The main female lead singer for example, is wearing a stripy vest top in the magazine. On a musical level this gives us the idea that the singer is into rock/punk music, as the black and white colour infers connotes this. The fact that it is a strappy top shows the reader a bit of skin, which works in conjunction with the fact that she is at the front of the magazine cover to show her as the ideal partner, so that the male readers will be sexually attracted to her.
The male lead guitarist is wearing a plain black top, which connotes the kind of music that he creates well as black is stereotypically linked with rock music in general. This is also connoted by his quite long hair.
The male drummer’s hair in the band is also fairly long and this also connotes rock, while the grey hoody and red t shirt shows a more laid back attitude. This therefore makes the band cooler, and creates an image for the band as a fairly laid back but intense one also.
The small picture of the band on the contents page is very similar to the cover image, though the picture of the double page spread is very different.
The fact that the lead singer is jumping in the air while singing connotes the sheer energy of the band and immediately gives us the impression that they are performing live. This immediately gives us the stereotype of a rock band. This excitement and energy of the band is also connoted by the rainbow neon background.

Evaluation Question 1

1.

To make my magazine I used a lot of different conventions to make it look authentic. I tried to make my cover look a lot like this issue of Rock Sound magazine. To begin with I even used the same colour scheme to fit in with my magazine. One of the conventions which I used in my magazine was that I used a house style of Red, Yellow and White.
For my cover I used a number of different stereotypical features in just about every single music magazine. On the cover there is a masthead at the top, featuring the0 name of the magazine in bold letters with a special effect. There is also a price, issue number, barcode, and date of release like there is with every other music magazine.
As is similar to the cover of this magazine, I used a lot of different band names on the cover of the magazine. This is to create interest in the reader who is seeing the magazine cover from afar.
There are several ways which I challenged this magazine cover as well as a lot of music magazines. In the masthead, I wrote the name of the magazine over the “Headstock” of an actual electric guitar. I thought that this was a good idea as it clearly displayed the kind of music that the magazine was about – rock.
The photos that I used in my magazine followed the conventions that I was taught. I made sure that the person that the reader would think was the “ideal partner” was at the front of the picture on the front cover. Another convention that I made sure was present on my front cover picture was that I made sure that each of the members of the band on the front cover were looking into the photo, and that the photo was a medium close up shot.
For my contents page I tried to copy the design of the popular magazine Kerrang! A number of elements that I copied were that I used big chunky letters in the headings, using drop shadows on each of the coloured text boxes to make them stand out. An element that I added on my own on the contents page is that the text box that I put the page number for my main article I slanted, so it looked like someone had just thrown it on. Also down the top right hand side of my magazine I pasted my original masthead and turned it sideways down the side to give a stylised effect that I think worked really well.
I used the main splash from an interview with Paramore that was featured in the Kerrang issue 1260 which was released on the 6th of May. I basically copied the design to make it look more professional, though I used a number of elements of my own. For my background shot, I cut out the members of the band on Photoshop, and put a rainbow neon effect behind them. I thought that this would make the page look more exciting. Something else that I did different from the magazine is that I made sure that all of the text boxes in the magazine were equally sized, this was different to the Kerrang issue, of which all text boxes varied in their height and width.

Hi josh.

I really like your draft products and I think you have worked hard on your final products. I think that your blog is really detailed. I also like the pictures you have produced for your fial product, they fit the required elements of what your photos should look like. The masthead, 'headstock' is a really good idea too, I think it is very creative. I like how on your contents page your masthead comes down the side. I would by your magazine if it were out in the shops.
Well done =]

Appendix 5

There were several ideas for my magazine before i decided on Headstock, here on the main ideas.

1. Niche 13- 30 year olds, male or female
2. Rock/Metal/Punk Music
3. Attaca – Italian term for a marking on a piece of music telling the Artist to “attack the song”. Play it with very little gaps. This connotes the fast rhythm of many modern rock songs.
4. The main featured artist – Avenged Sevenfold picture of band


5. Big Article about their new tour with band Papa Roach, telling readers that A7X are coming soon to the UK, detailing tour dates etc.

6. Other possible content – gig reviews on gigs that have recently passed by, and a top 10 albums of the month.


1. Niche – 16 – 25 year olds market, mainly male
2. Death Metal/Metalcore
3.Battleaxe – a hard metal weapon of war, which brings death. As the magazine focus would be of a death core genre, this fits.
4. The main artist, metalcore band Bring me the horizon.


5. Big article on the Oli Sykes urinating incident, including an interview with him and a band, finding out his perspective on the incident.
6. A section where the audience could send in letters so that the audience can read it and a prize for the best letter.


1. Aimed at a niche market of 14 – 40 year old males
2. Focused on both old and new punk rock music
3. Studs – gives the magazine a fairly sexual male tone and also connotes the kind of clothing worn by the performers of such punk music.
4. Main picture of Jonny Rotten, the most famous member of the sex pistols.

5. Main article on the sex pistols, interviewing them on a possible comeback tour.
6.Big page focusing on new singles released, a section on songs that you should download right now!.

Appendix 4

Appendix 4


1. Bauer owns Kerrang!, Mojo, and Q magazines.
IPC Media owns Guitar & Bass, NME, and Uncut magazines.

2. The subgenre’s of Bauer’s magazines, Kerrang!, Mojo and Q are, Rock/Metal, Classic Rock and Classic Rock/Pop respectively.
The subgenre’s of IPC Media’s magazines, Guitar & Bass, NME and Uncut focus on the instrument’s of guitars and bass’s, indie rock and old rock music.

3. All of the magazines cater for niche audiences, so to a greater extent than others. For example, Kerrang! Has a lot of different genres of rock music in its magazine. As each of the magazines only cater for a specific number of people, we can call them niche magazines.

4. Kerrang! – 63.5
Mojo –15.3
Q – 1.7

5. Kerrang and Q use synergy for example to sell magazine’s through various other formats, the magazines are advertised on the radio, for example Kerrang! Radio, and they are also advertised on the TV channels, Kerrang! And Q themselves.

Camstudio tutorial - photoshop

Double page spread layout draft

Draft Contents Page

To get this draft content page in the JPG format so that I could upload it to blogger - I had to export it in Quark as a PDF and then open it in Adobe Photoshop Elements - saving it then as a JPG file.

Lesson Objectives - 27th April

After realising that I was very behind on my work. I created a schedule for which i would get all of my work done to make sure that I would get it all finished for the deadline next thursday. Therefore:
Today in the lesson I am going to finish and upload my draft contents page and double page spread and upload them.
Tonight i will make a video on my laptop about my project anad upload that, giving details about what is going on.
I will also use the camstudio software to show that i know how to use the Quark application.

The last batch of possible photos for my front cover and double page spread

Even more photos!!

we decided to do some shots like these but i dont think that they really worked

another cover shot possibility

More photos

we started off trying to do jump shots, for the double page spread but some of these didnt turn out right

New Pics

as you can tell. some people werent playing attention.

So I finally got my pics sorted for my front cover and double page spread. The stool, for example may be edited out for use if the jump shots are used for example, but here are my shots

Draft Front Cover

After many many attempts of actually trying to get my draft Front Cover of my Magazine - Headstock on to blogger - without success - here it is!

Socio-demographics

Demographics are sections that society is split into in order to describe the target audience that a magazine is aimed at.
Groups

A - doctors,chief executives
B - teachers, banks etc
C1- skilled workers - white collar
C2 - blue collar-semi skilled
D - Labourer
E - Unemployed

What a music magazine article should do for a band

The articles in music magazines are to promot the band
1. Talk up the band
2. Persuasive
3. Details of band good features

Generic Features and Elements of a Double Page Spread

5 Generic Geatures of a Double Page Spread

1. Interview
2. Best of...
3. Expose
4.Band Hiatus
5. Festival Build up

5 Generic Elements of a Double Page Spread

1. Main Photo
2. Title
3. Quotes
4. Column Text
5. Top Banner
6. By-line - photographer and journalism credit
7.Drop Caps

10 Things that are needed on any contents page

1. Masthead
2. Anchorage from the main article/double page spread in the magazine
3. Page numbers
4. Sub Headings
5. Pictures
6. Editorial
7.Subscriptions
8.Date
9. Issue number
10. Columns

5 rules

Professional band photographer Steve Taylor (Little Man Tate) etc says that there are 5 main rules to ensure you have a good cover image.

1. No Cluttered Background
2.Make sure you focus on the lead singer in a band shot so the audience knows who they are. If it is a single artist make sure it is a medium shot - close up,
A 3/4 image may be good, not centred.

3. Leave room for a masthead (oh, and don't cut off heads!)!
4. No high angle shots - they make bad cover images! Fine for a double page spread but really poor on covers.
5.Animate your band - make sure they look at the camera!

What I did yesterday

Yesterday in media i played around with Adobe Photoshop Elements to make a masthead for one of my magazines. The masthead was for a magazine called Headstock magazine. I used a number of different tools on photoshop. For example i took a picture of a fender guitar headstock, and used the clone tool to recreate the wooden effect over the label Fender so that I could put my masthead on it instead, and the words were not confused. The words in the masthead used the chrome, and the wow-chrome effect to get the effect that is on the guitar.

What I did

Yesterday in media I used how to create interesting texts using different effects in photoshop. I used plastic wrap, water mark and mosaic to make it more interesting.

3 KEY POINTS

Target Audience - The intended readership of a magazine such as teenagers etc.
Mainstream Product - One that is aimed at the majority of consumers.
Niche Product - One that is aimed at a smaller, specific set of consumers.

What I have learnt

Yesterday in Media I learnt two main things

1. To change files from Quark files to Adobe Photoshop files and in reverse.
2. To distinguish Target Audience and Sub Genre of any music magazines.

What I learned last week

well, the main thing that really helped me that i learned last week is how top0 really work photoshop elements. I have now nearly finished my cover, and have started my contents page, which needs doing. That should be done and uploaded by the end of tomorrow as I am going to come into subject workshop to do it. :)
bye Josh x

Photoshop

Today and last lesson we were playing around on photoshop after Vicky had done a tutorial. I learnt to do a number of things such as creating mastheads, fading and shadowing, using the magic tool, editing colour of objects. In the first lesson, I made a magazine called Creepy Clowns magazine and used those features of photoshop to make it look good.

Quark Xpress

Wow its hard, me and Rob couldnt figure out how to fill boxes wi8th colour. Turned out I had to use a different tool and i still couldnt do exactly what i wanted. Rob said that it would probably work better if i created the Masthead of the magazine in photoshop, which is what I intend to do soon :)

Kerrang Magazine Analysis

Assesment Objectives

To assess candidates' ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (AO3).

To assess candidates' ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research.

Magazine Analysis

Kerrang! Issue #1185
November 17th 2007

Cover
Target Audience

The target audience for the music magazine Kerrang! is mainly aimed at teenagers to young adults. As it is a Rock/Metal magazine, it is mainly from a niche market. There is no main gender target for this magazine, as they pictures that they post are mainly of male singers, some of them can be seen as ideal partners, and the male part of the audience just enjoys the music itself and the information they can get about the genre.

PUGS

The PUGS on this magazine are in the bottom right hand corner and contains the barcode, issue number, release date and the price of the magazine. It also shows a link to the website http://www.kerrang.com/. These PUGS are in an unusual format as the issue number and date of release are usually not near the bar code, and at the top. There are also PUGS at the top detailing bands that have articles written about them in the magazine. From experience i know that these bands are from different genres of rock so therefore these band names will appeal to lots of people. These are written in black and yellow chunky sans serif writing and is the house style for themagazine.

Masthead and Sell Line

The only world in the Masthead is the title of the magazine: Kerrang! This title is onomatopoeic and connotes the crash of a crash cymbal on a drum kit – an instrument which is used in most mainstream rock music. The exclamation mark emphasises this sound and gives the title more energy. The font is a sans serif font and is all written in capital letters, the colours are black writing on a white background, and the font in the title itself also seems to have shattered. These three elements combine with the onomatopoeic sound of the title.
The sell line “life is loud” connotes that life is the rock music written about in the magazine. This is because rock music is always played loudly at concerts and therefore it connotes that the meaning of life is the rock music that is written about. This is written in red with a black border around each of the words, to make it stand out.

Main cover image

The main cover image is a photograph of guitarist and front man of the famous rock band Muse, Matt Bellamy. This attracts the female readers as Matt Bellamy is known as being quite good looking and therefore is seen as the ideal partner scenario. The fact that he is playing a guitar obviously connotes the fact that he is in a band, and the lighting and background in the photo shows that he is in a live gig situation.

Main cover Line

The main cover line for the magazine is 100 Greatest Gigs Ever! This connotes excitement, and the sans serif font also increases this idea of excitement as the text has a worn effect which connotes the idea of rock being “hardcore”, and therefore this shows their own magazine as “hardcore”.

Cover Lines

There are several other cover lines on the cover of this issue. Underneath the main cover line, it says “Your votes are in! And the winners are...” This line adds to the connotations of excitement from the main cover line and makes the consumer want to buy the product more.
There is also a cover line in the bottom right corner of the magazine which is slapped over two pictures of lead singers from different bands. It says ““We’re going to crush the UK!” The Black Crusade vs. Taste of Chaos”. The violence in this phrase gives the feeling of a more rocky “hardcore” attitude, which is appealing to the target audience.

Other Images

The other images that are on the cover are frontmen of different bands which feature in the magazine. Examples of these are Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance and Matt Tuck from Bullet for my Valentine. The facial expressions of the singers on the cover are all representative of how they act when they are on stage and singing. These pictures show who is in the magazine and so people who see the cover may be inclined to buy it if they like the bands on the cover.


Contents

Content

On the contents page of the magazine, there are a number of features. There is a short letter from the editor of the magazine to the audience. This gives the reader a sense of being involved in the magazine, as if you were the editor’s friend. There are many pictures on the page with page numbers next to them. These pictures are of various band members and band logos such as the logo for Led Zeppelin. This is so that the reader who is going to buy the product can decide if there are any articles in the magazine on bands that they like.

Juxtaposition of Elements

The layout of the magazine is quite organised. This makes it easier for the reader to decide if they want to read the articles. The various band quotes on the page bring excitement and comedy to the reader so that they want to buy it. There is also a small advertisement in the bottom right hand corner advertising a subscription to the magazine.

Splash

Content

The main picture on the splash is of the lead singer of metal band “Machine Head” Robb Flynn singing to a large crowd of people. This connotes the importance of the band and therefore the article in the magazine. The text is written in the house style of yellow, black and white which is very striking.



Juxtaposition of Elements

In the spread, the picture takes up most of the page. This highlights the importance of the band Machine Head to rock music as it is the biggest spread in the entire magazine. In the banner above the main article, the bands names are also emphasised as they are written in bold print.