Production diary - Week 10

During this week, I continued to create my magazine scaffolding and completed my box text to put into the article. I also finished creating my subscription cover, however I still plan on using any contingency time that I may have to make the cover to the best of my ability. I've added sell lines to my cover and have applied the colour scheme throughout, as well as adding more photos to my contents page and adding the subtitles and captions for the articles. This will help me to save a lot of time as everything is pretty much in place, so I only have to lengthen my article and add photos as well as slightly improve anything that I do not like and I will have almost completed the project.

Equiptment

Camera / Lights
To takes images for my magazine, I took my model to one of the media classes in our school and we used a variety of different equiptment such as cameras, lights and whitescreens to mimic a professional photoshoot and create the desired look for my magazine.

I used a Canon SLR camera as it enabled me to take high quality images which is mandatory for any successful magazine. As my magazine needed to be completed to the best of my ability, I felt it was necessary to use a white screen as it allows the audience to focus on the model and nothing else. White screens are effective because they are very simple and plain, and can easily be edited on softwares such as Photoshop to enhance the image. The lights enabled me to change the way my images appeared and allowed me to create the best looking images for my shoot, and the lights also allowed me to cast the shadow I wanted so that the editing process was a lot easier and smoother.
The lights and the SLR camera were the most important to me as they created high quality images which made my magazine look professional and realistic.

Computer software
I am currently using InDesign to create my magazine as it is a lot easier to use than Photoshop (which we used for our GCSE magazines). InDesign enables you to view the document as a magazine and you can use various different tools such as the Master page which quickly and effectively adds the same text to all of the pages. This makes adding page numbers and the website name of the magazine very easy and saves me a lot of time which I can instead use to improve my magazine elsewhere. Paragraph styles has also been very effective as it also saves time and matches the fonts up when necessary.
I used Photoshop to edit the images for my magazine as there is a huge variety of tools that you can use to make the images look more appealing and suitable for the magazine. Photoshop is very widely used by successful magazines in the indistry therefore I felt that it was necessary to use it.
I also used Powerpoints, Word documents and Scribd a lot whilst planning tasks and used Scribd to upload the documents to my blog.
As I am not used to using these programmes, it took quite a while to get the hang of using all of the new tools however it was quite easy once I knew how to use them.

 

Contact Sheet #2

Here is the contact sheet of my second mini photoshoot. I needed to create extra artists for my contents page to enhance the new and upcoming acts that are I plan to feature as well as the popular artists so that there is a balance within the magazine. I took various different photos of my model, including shots where he gives direct mode of address and eye contact, as well as looking below and around him portraying that he's superior and shows very little interest otherwise. I chose the location of a brick wall because it's not a very conventional location and it illustrates the artists' edge. I felt that it was mandatory to create as many artists and bands as I can to feature on the contents page to make my magazine unique and fit within the aims that I originally set myself and I feel that I have done this well. I plan on creating a band within the next few weeks and holding another photoshoot that I can feature in my magazine, as well as another shoot with my main artist and model Ruth which will feature props such as guitars and amps.

Drafting #2

Here is the drafting of my magazine that I have completed so far. I have since created two front covers, one being the main front cover and one being a special subscriber only issue. For the main cover, I have included band and artists names that feature inside the magazine as this entices the audience to purchase the magazine as it lets them know who the reviews are about instantly and easily. I also included a cover line of '50 gigs you must see this decade' as it appeals to the audience as they typically enjoy attending gigs and this coverline exposes the most legendary gigs of the past 10 years. My main coverline is about Aurora Storm; I have used this coverline as it is about the main artist that my magazine is dedicated to. The article is about Aurora and her previous life as well as her views on the music industry, therefore I needed a coverline that represented this article well and I feel as though this portrays the article well as it indicates her increase of popularity in the music industry and makes her seem more appealing to the target audience as it foreshadows her popularity. For the special/subscriber issue, I simply combined a bold image with thoughts inside Auror'as head and quotes from the interview which creates a more personal tone and relationship between the artist and the readers. The coverline is a play on the words of 'storm' - I used the word storm as it is the artist, Aurora's surname and it also connotes the chaos she has created in the media as a new sensation of the Indie genre.

I have also put my article draft text into the draft however I still have more text to add. I've also placed images that I would like to feature in the contents page and the main article as well as adding the text into the contents page with subheadings and captions.

Production Diary - Week 9

Throughout this week I have completed a lot of work, including my coverlines, box out text and continuing to improve and design the scaffolding of the magazine.

As I have chosen to use two covers for my magazine, a main cover and a special fan/subscriber edition, I have had to balance time between the covers in order to create them both. For the main cover, I added a masthead as well as the full bleed image which includes the coverline and band names on the front. I plan on adding other coverlines in my next lesson where I also plan on improving the design again as I still feel as though it needs a bit of improvement. I have chosen this image of my model, Ruth (Aurora Storm) for the front cover as she is giving direct address of eye contact to the audience which draws them in, and her bold eyes and red lips connote her danger and seductiveness which appeals to the target audience of the magazine as well as matching the house style of the magazine. Ruth is portrayed as bare which indicates how she's being honest in the article as well as moreso attracting the target audience.


For the special fan/subscriber edition of the magazine, I first used a special device where I had to draw on a pad with a pen which was connected to the computer, so that when I drew on the pad it would appear on Photoshop and transfer the writing to the cover image of that edition of the magazine. I struggled whilst using this device, so instead I wrote various lyrics and quotes from the aritcle on a piece of paper, scanned it into the computer and used Photoshop to brighten and remove the background from the text to later add it to the image. This worked quite successfully and I am happy with the outcome of this cover of the magazine, however next time I need to bring the image in front of the text as I ran out of time to do this. I plan on using any contingency time on improving this cover as it was quite difficult and time-consuming to create, however I think it was worth it as it will overall increase the readership and circulation of the magazine.

For the coverlines and box out text, I simply did some research as to what my audience would like to read about and reflected this in the articles featured, such as the 'Top 50' and various band and artist reviews. The content in the magazine is especially important as it is essentially the main purpose of the magazine, therefore choosing the correct coverlines was important as it could make or break the magazine however I feel that the coverlines that I have used appeal to the audience quite well as they want to hear about arists and new, upcoming music within the indie genre. The box out text was also important as it gives the article an exciting twist which creates a personal relationship with the audience as it impacts hugely on their views and perceptions of the music industry and other artists.

In my next lesson, I plan on continuing to construct my scaffolding and replace the placement texts with my article and images to begin slowly constructing my magazine.

Coverlines

Box out text

Aurora Storm gives her opinion on some of the most well-known Indie artists of the generation:

The 1975:
The 1975 are one of my favourite bands!!! I especially love their song 'The City', it's so catchy and always stuck in my brain. The impact they have made in such a short time really reflects well on the type of band they are, and I encourage everyone to buy their debut album otherwise you'll regret it!

Ed Sheeran:
Ed is actually one of my close friends, he's an absolutely amazing artist and we actually plan on working together in the future! But shhhhhh... you didn't hear it from me!

London Grammar:
I've heard some of their stuff - they're great, but a little bit overrated. Maybe that's just me but I personally think that they haven't quite produced the life-affirming set they may have bee capable of... But don't get me wrong, I think that Hannah (lead singer) has an absolutely beautiful voice, however there is always room for improvement with anyone, including me. London Grammar have the potential to be a chart-topping, tear-inducing live act – but when I saw them live at Brixton, it was not their time or place.

I decided to use a box out of  Aurora Storm giving her personal opinion on other artists for many reasons; including how it further promotes the many Indie artists that my magazine intends on reviewing. It also creates a personal relationship with the reader as it makes them feel as though they are talking to Aurora and it can influence their opinion on the arists too. Using a box out feature in my magazine is effective because it increases the interactivity between the reader and the magazine as well as the artist which is one of the main goals that I strive to achieve.