Research and Planning - Equipment & Software list

Equipment

• Digital Camera & cable - provided by College - needed for taking the photographs for the magazine.
• Some form of lighting - provide my own lighting to help produce a good quality image if the day light alone is not good enough.
• Tripod - provided by myself - to ensure stability when taking the photographs; reduces blur and increases the quality.

Software

• Photoshop - on the College macs - needed for editing the photographs and creating the magazine.
• In Design - on the College macs - needed for creating the articles and double page spread for my magazine.

Research and Planning - Music magazine costume & props list

Costumes

• Black leather jacket; typical rock style clothing - seen as 'bad ass' and rebellious - will use my own if I am the model, or I will buy one from a charity shop/borrow one from a friend if someone else is a model and can not provide the right style of leather jacket for the look I want to achieve in my photos.

• Black jeans; typical rock style clothing - worn by most rock artists - use model's own black jeans, or normal jeans and Photoshop them to look black after taking the image to ensure the rock style is achieved.

• Black converse trainers; typical rock style clothing - also worn by most rock artists - Will use the model's own, or make the model wear my pair to ensure the rock style is achieved.

• Lots of black, green, red and dark colour wrist accessories; finishes off the over all rock look of the model - will use my own accessories to complete the rock look of the model.

• Chains for the jeans - different length and weight silver chains to attach to the jeans - finishes off the rock effect - I'll use my own and the models to make sure we have a sufficient amount for the shoot.

• Black t-shirt with an image/print/writing on the front, no big label/brand clothing as rock artists are against the 'consuman race' (consumer human race) and believe it destroys individuality - will buy one specifically for the model if they do not have a suitable t-shirt of their own, as the t-shirt is a very important factor within the rock style of my model.

Hair & Makeup


These factors will all depend upon the final models I choose to use and how their clothing appearance looks. I may spray colours into my models hair with 'FX colours hairspray' which I have previously used myself in a rock theatrical production, to give my model a more striking rock style. However, if the models hair is lready in the rock style (choppy cut, over the eye, with colour in etc) I may not need to use any colour and may just add extra style to the model's hair with gel and hairspray.

Again, makeup all depends on the models I choose to use. Rock makeup usually consists of thick black eyeliner and a pale face, but can sometimes be outrageously elaborate like the make up the band members of KISS wear. It will depend on what suits my models over all appearance after their are in their rock style clothing and have had their hair styled.

May need:

• FX colours hairspray - buy some from Claire's retail shop, or use existing cans I already have
• Hair spray and gel - buy from Boots or Superdrug
• Straighteners - use my own
• Black eyeliner - use the model's (if they have any, if not, buy some)
• various other make up products depending on the over all look of the model when in costume - use model's own.

Props List

• Guitar - preferably black and shiny to give a cool effect of light bouncing off it in the photos, which is very rock style - I could use my own black guitar, or take the photos necessary with the guitar in Dawsons' Music Shop and borrow one of their display guitars for the photo (Will ask the store manager before taking the photos).

•  Microphone stand & microphone - borrow one from a friend who sings in a band :)

• Rock posters for the background of the photos - pull them from magazines and use my own.

More props may be needed, as I am not entirely sure what pose/location my model is going to be in, so I don't know at this point the actual specifics of all the props I will need. I will update this list when I know more props which are going to be used or needed.

Research and Planning - Double Page Spread Analysis

Genre


The genre of this double page spread is rock. It is clear to see this is a rock themed double page spread because of the imagery, text, font and colours used over the two pages. The imagery clearly represents the rock genre as it shows various images of males from the rock band My Chemical Romance in various rock poses. There wild hair, black clothing and typical rock style poses all relays the rock theme to the audience. The text also shows the rock theme, as it says "We're being the best MCR we can be" and MCR (My Chemical Romance) is a famous rock band, therefore showing the genre of the double page spread to be rock. The font style used on the main text on the page looks distressed and distinctly rock because of the block capitals (as rock music is bold and stands out) and the distressed look (as that's often how rock musicians look!) The colours used on this double page spread; red, black and white are recurring colours in rock magazines and so immediately when I view these colours I know the genre being represented is rock. Red is a typical rock colour because it has implications of hell and rock music is often described as 'the devils music'. Black is a typical rock colour because it is dark and mysterious, like most rock artists themselves. Black is also the colour most artists choose to wear on stage when performing the rock genre of music. White is also a typical rock colour as it contrasts the black colour but is still plain and simple, which is what most rock artists want to be, as they don't believe in the latest fashions or corporate brands.


Target Audience


The target audience of this double page spread appears to be teenagers and young adults, who like rock music, of both genders. I know this because of the artist that is presented on the double page spread. My Chemical Romance are a modern young rock band that appeal to both genres and the particular age category of 13 to 25 year olds.  I can tell the double page spread is not targeting one specific gender because although the colours used are dark, they are not stereotypical gender specific colours, such as: blue for boys, pink for girls. I also know they are not targeting one specific gender because MCR the band are attractive to both genders, as boys and girls like their music and boys and girls idolize the band members. I know the target audience will like rock music, as if a person did not like rock music, they would not be reading this double page spread about this artist.


Representation


The band members of MCR shown in the images on the double page spread are all wearing black; this shows that they as a band are related to rock music, as black is the typical colour for rock artists to wear as its dark (like rock music) and is the complete opposite of the bright colours pop stars wear (as rock is the complete opposite of pop). The band members all have wild, untidy hair, which also shows they are linked to the rock genre, as rock hairstyles are usually wild, untidy and edgy to represent the style of music its self and the life style typical rock stars lead. The band members in the images are equipped with their band instrument (microphone, drums, guitar, bass) which also shows the band to be of the rock genre because other genres of music use more, or different, instruments to the ones MCR are pictured with.


Layout

The most noticeable thing about the double page spread is that the entire left side of the spread is an image and the other side contains text and images. The use of the full page image catches the reader's eye and makes them interested in reading the text on the other page. The full page image may also attract someone to buy the magazine, as they could then cut out the full page image and use it as a poster, which is what a lot of rock music fans like to do. The largest text on the page is the title, showing its important and grabbing the reader's attention due to its size. This text is spread over both sides of the spread showing that both the left side and the right side are related to each other. The main body of the text on the right hand page is in small font and split into two columns, making the information easier to read and look more attractive on the page. On the right hand side of the right page is a white column/strip containing other short pieces of information related to the main body of the text. This breaks up the page and adds a nice interesting and finishing touch to the double page spread.  The layout over all looks appealing to the reader as it is not all uniform and structured in standard boring columns, it looks appealing to the eyes because of the use of colour, images and neatly arranged (but not uniform or boring) columns of text.


Media Language

Mid shots, medium close ups and wide shot images are all used on this double page spread to show a variation in the images on the page so that they are more interesting to look at, rather than all the same shot type which could appeal uniform and boring - something the images in a rock magazine definitely should not be as rock music is anything but boring!

Ordinary Language

The language used in the article on the double page spread is very sensationalized and factual to keep readers both interested and informed by the article. The language is very positive to promote the band and give a good vibe about the band to the reader. I now know to write in a similar way and with similar techniques to make the article on my own rock music magazine double page spread just as interesting and factual to make my target audience happy.

Research and Planning - Music Magazine Interviews

To gain a better understanding of what my target audience wants from my rock music magazine I conducted some video interviews.

4 Video interviews in one video:

Research and Planning - Questionnaire Results

I put the results from my questionnaires into pie charts to make them easier to view and manage. The charts created are below:

I now know what my target audience would prefer my magazine to be like. I will use this feedback to help reshape the drafts of my magazine.

What I will include in my new drafts:

-red/white/black colour scheme (same as the original and most popular colour scheme in my questionnaire)
-the cover image will be of a male playing guitar or female in a rock pose, as those were what scored highly in my questionnaire)
-Kerrang inspired layouts, as most people read Kerrang magazine who filled out my questionnaire and if they buy it, then they must like it, so making mine similar to Kerrang will make them like mine too.
-Cost around £1 to £2 and be a weekly or fortnightly magazine.

Research and Planning - Questionnaire

To gain a better understanding of what would appeal to members of my target audience I created 10 questionnaires and distributed them amongst the members of my Media group. I chose relevant questions to my genre of music magazine and the responses from the questionnaires will definitely benefit my final rock magazine.

Research and Planning - Rock Magazine first drafts

Research and Planning - Podcast

Research and Planning - Rock Collage

Collage based on the theme of 'rock' to help with the development of my rock music magazine.

Research and Planning - Contents Page Analysis

Genre 

The genre of this contents page is rock. I can tell the genre is rock because of the use of the magazine's title/name in the top left of the contents page. The title/name is 'rock sound' which immediately tells the reader that the contents page is for the rock genre of music.

The colours used on the contents page also reflect the genre of rock, as red, white and black are used on this contents page (sticking to the three colour rule). The colours of red, white and black are often associated with rock due to the implications of hell and the devil with the colour red; the implications of darkness, mysteriousness and evil with the colour black; and the contrast against the other colours with the simple colour of white.

The images used on the contents page also show that the contents page is for a rock magazine, as the people in the images are wearing mainly black clothing (typical of rock stars), have messy hair (also typical of rock stars) and are in typical rock poses, such as looking reflective, aggressive, 'different' or confused.

The font styles used on the contents page also show that the genre is rock, as they are jagged, distorted/distressed which is often associated with rock because of the jagged, distorted and distressed sound to the rock genre of music.


Target Audience

 The target audience of this music magazine, shown through the contents page, is for male teenagers and young adults.

The images on the contents page are all of male rock artists and bands, instantly making me believe that the magazine is aimed at males, as typically people like bands with members of the same gender as them (Unless they find certain band members of the opposite gender attractive). The artists shown in the images seem to be fairly modern/current rock bands which teenagers and young adults would have heard of and liked; such as Green Day.

The colours of the contents page also makes me believe it is aimed at males, as although the colours are not particularly gender specific or stereotypical (example: blue for boys, pink for girls) the dark tones of red and black with the contrast of white is something I believe males would find more attractive than females, unless they were a tomboy like myself.

Even the font styles used are more attractive to males, as males tend to like the rough and edgy side of life and the font styles are rough and edgy.



Representation

 The people in the images on the contents page are mostly wearing black, which is typical of the rock genre, as rock artists typically like to look mysterious and dark and wearing black achieves this effect. All of their hair styles are messy and edgy, which again is typical of the rock genre. The laid back expressions on their faces show they are cool and calm, typical of rock artists and bands.

Layout

 On this contents page, the biggest font present on the page is the title of the magazine, clearly showing what the magazine the contents page belongs to and acting as a size guide to keep the right side of the page in line and in proportion with the rest of the contents page.

The contents page appears to be split into two columns, the left column's background is white and smaller than the right column's red background. The left side is the main part of the contents page, as it lists everything in the magazine, allowing readers to navigate easily around the magazine. The right side includes images relevant to the featured articles in the magazine, which can instantly make a reader interested, or uninterested in the contents of the magazine at first glance.

The left side of the page is split into content sections, shown by the red banner that separates each section from the others. All the font on the contents page, with the exception of titles, is the same small size, keeping consistency.

Media Language

The images used on the contents page are a variety of 'two shots', 'medium close ups' and 'medium long shots', both at eye level and from a low angle. The use of different shot types and angles makes the contents page images interesting and not all the same, which makes them as striking and individual.

Research and Planning - Shot Type Research

Research into different shot types.

Research and Planning - Music Magazine Audience

•  The age of my target audience is between 16 to 21, however depending on what the image on the cover is and the articles inside are about, it may attract older readers too. But the target audience I am specifically aiming for is the age range of 16 to 21.

• The gender of my target audience is going to be predominantly male due to the colour scheme and layout I plan to use on my music magazine. However, girls, like myself, may also be attracted to the magazine as not everyone sticks to the stereotypical things that each gender should like. However, I do believe that the main gender of my target audience  is male.

• The occupation of my target audience will be students, as 16 to 21 year old's are typically in higher education such as College or University. I believe music students and student interested in rock music will be within the main target audience of my magazine.

• The class of my music magazine's target audience will be lower to middle class. As rock music is not something I typically associate with upper class people and so I believe my target audience will mainly consist of lower and middle class students.

• The wealth of my target audience will be around average (not poor and not rich) as my target audience is students and so they don't have loads of money to spare, but they're not poor either - making them average in wealth.

• The interests of my target audience will include: listening to rock music (or music in general); going to rock gigs; playing typical rock instruments (guitar, bass, drums); reading about rock artists; reading rock gig reviews; reading rock artist interviews; buying rock band merchandise and other activities focused around rock music.

• The outlook for the future of my target audience would be: going on to form a rock band themselves; getting a job in music shops/games shops/gig venues; and generally following a career based around their love of rock and rock music from the age of 21 and over.

• I am going to reach my target audience by putting relevant images which appeal to my target audience on the cover of my magazine, as well as using colours which also appeal to my target audience. I will include articles in the magazine which my target audience would be interested in and sell my magazine at an affordable price so that my target audience will buy the magazine and tell their mates about it, influencing them to buy a copy too.

Typical target audience member:

Clearly a fan of rock by his 'KISS' make up, he's male, teenage and playing the mightiest weapon of freedom known to mankind - an Electric Guitar! Clearly showing he's a rock music fan and someone within my target audience.

Research and Planning - Masthead fonts

I have decided that my rock magazine title will be 'Bohemian' - inspiration drawn from the scavengers of rock music from the rock musical We Will Rock You. However, I have not decided which font I want my title to be in. Above are a few of the fonts I found appropriate for the masthead of a rock magazine. I will decide upon my final masthead next lesson.

Research and Planning - Masthead ideas

Ideas for the masthead of my rock music magazine:

-Rock Central
-Champions
-Champions of Rock
-COR (Champions of Rock)
-Amplified
-Volume
-Electric
-Bohemian
-Rockin'
-Loud
-RFE (Rock.For.Ever)
-Age of Rock

I feel the best and most catchy masthead name for my rock music genre magazine is 'Bohemian' as it sums up the style of people who will read the magazine as well as the genre of the magazine in one word. The inspiration behind Bohemian came from the group of collective rock freedom fighters in the hit rock theatrical phenomenon 'We Will Rock You'. Seeing as my rejected original magazine idea was to create a musical theatre genre music magazine based around the theme of 'We Will Rock You' the musical (along with other new musicals), I thought I'd at least get something from We Will Rock You into my rock music genre magazine!

Research and Planning -music magazine analysis 2

This is my second rock music magazine analysis and I'm starting to spot similarities between the rock music magazines I have been looking at and analysing. I have noticed that black, red and white appear to be commonly used colours on rock magazine covers. In the previous analysis I noted the reasons I believed red, black and white were used on rock magazine covers and why they were so effective on that particular magazine and those reasons and the effectiveness also apply to this magazine cover which shares the same colour scheme with the addition of the colour gold. The gold is a nice touch to this magazine as it makes the band who are being advertised seem important and valuable, like the metal gold its self, which could catch the reader's eye and influence them to buy the magazine.

On this particular magazine I can straight away tell it is a rock magazine by the image used and the title of the band in large gold letters, as Queen are legends of rock and would be typically featured in a rock genre magazine. Unlike other magazines I have viewed, this 'Q' magazine's masthead is not the biggest font on the page, which is unusual, but as equally effective as having the masthead the largest font on the page, as the band name commands attention and catches the reader's eye; the promotion of that particular band could lead to the magazine being a successful seller.

I believe the target audience for this magazine is any rock fan, as the colour scheme is not gender specific and the image/band being advertised appeal to both male and female rock fans of any age, for example: My Dad is in his 50s and loves Queen and I am in my teens and also love Queen, showing this magazine appeals to both genders and all ages.

I really like the simplicity of this magazine, as it is not over crowded with articles or colourful images, it is simple, spacious, well organized and for those reasons it really stands out and becomes appealing to the target audience, or anyone in general.

This magazine has definitely made me realise that less is sometimes more and that a simplistic design is more eye catching and appealing than a busy one. It has also confirmed by belief that red, white and black colours are perfect for a rock music magazine and those are the colours I am going to use on my own rock magazine.

Research and Planning - Music magazine analysis

This is a really good example of a rock magazine cover, as it stands out, is eye catching and is easy to tell what genre of music this magazine contains. I can easily tell this is a rock music magazine because of the masthead, the image and the text used on the cover. The masthead says "Classic Rock" which straight away indicates that the magazine is about rock music and it is in a large white font which is a contrast to the black background, which makes it stand out and easy to read. The image used on the cover also indicates that the magazine is based on rock music, as the man in the image has a wild style of hair, which is a typical style for rock artists; he is wearing black clothing, another thing which is common for rock artists; and he isn't smiling, showing he is not 'soft' or 'happy' (things which are not common for rock artists to do) which reflects the seriousness and hard edge of rock music and the message it portrays. The image is also in shadow, which shows the artist to be slightly mysterious and most rock artists have a slight mysteriousness and darkness surrounding them (for example: Ozzy Ozbourne biting the head off a bat, or Alice Cooper ringing the neck of a chicken and drinking it's blood; its dark and mysterious stuff and they are both rock artists).

I can also tell it is a rock magazine because of the text on the cover that says 'Led Zeppelin' which is a well known classic rock band for the 70s - showing its a rock magazine. This magazine also uses the 3 colour rule, using black, white and red which are common colours associated with rock for various reasons, such as: Black is for the darkness and mystery surrounding rock stars; red which is the colour of hell and most rock artists sing about the devil and hell and religious people used to call rock music "the devil's music" associating them with red; and white which is the contrast to black and the use of both colours is common in rock artists to make them stand out, but also have a simplicity about them, as rock artists generally don't believe in wearing colourful designer branded clothing as they want to be individual and different. The three colours work very well together and definitely show the cover is for a rock genre magazine.

The target audience for this magazine is literally anyone who likes rock music. The colours used are not gender specific and therefore do not appeal to one gender more than the other, which means their audience is open to both genders. I dont believe the magazine is aimed at a specific age, because although the band being advertised are an old band, most young rock fans know about them too.


I really like this magazine, especially the colour scheme and how the image has been edited to make it suit the magazine more. This magazine has definitely influenced me to use a similar and just as effective colour scheme in my own rock music magazine.

Research and Planning - Music Poll Results

At the beginning of the course I created a poll on my Blogger to see what the most popular genre of music amongst my friends and class mates was. At this point in time Rock is the runaway winner with 8 votes, with Pop coming second with 1 vote. As rock was the genre of music I was intending to base my music magazine on anyway, my poll has confirmed that I am going to create a rock magazine! I also now know that I have 8 people whose opinions and views will be key to creating the best rock magazine I can and I will interview them to gain this helpful knowledge.

Research and Planning - Music Magazine Genre

Music magazine genre

My chosen genre for my music magazine is rock.

I have chosen rock music as it is one of my favourite genres of music and one I know a lot about, which will enable me to create a good music magazine. My friends all love the rock genre of music, which means I will be able to use them as my models and interviewees in my magazine, as they look suited to the rock genre and have a good insight into the rock genre.

Originally I wanted to create a musical theatre genre music magazine, but I was told I wasn't allowed by the moderator and so I put my enthusiasm and passion for the musical We Will Rock You (which would have been the main focus of my musical theatre magazine) into a rock genre magazine, as Queen (whose music is used throughout We Will Rock You) are rock legends!

Inspirational magazines for the genre of rock:

-Q
-Kerrang
-Classic Rock
-Rolling Stone
-NME

Inspirational bands/artists for the genre of rock:

-Queen
-AC/DC
-Linkin Park
-My Chemical Romance
-Muse
-Black Sabbath
-Good Charlotte
-Status Quo

I plan on mixing together classic rock, such as Queen, with new rock, such as My Chemical Romance.

Inspirational colours for rock magazine:

- Black
- Red
- Gold
- White

Deep, dark, contrasting colours to convey the genre of rock.

All these inspirations will be used to help shape my own rock music magazine.

Research and Planning - Original Music Magazine Idea

My original music magazine idea was to create a musical theatre genre music magazine - as musical theatre is now a recognised genre of music. I had this idea as I am very passionate about musical theatre and love the storytelling style of musical theatre music. However, upon my media teacher contacting the moderator, I was told I could not do a musical theatre music genre magazine, which was a little frustrating as I already had a masthead name, an idea of what stories and articles to include and I have many friends currently in West End shows which I could go down to London and photograph backstage in costume for my magazine - which would have been EPIC! But respecting the moderator's decision I moved on to change my genre to rock, another favourite genre of music. I plan on still incorporating one of my favourite musicals (We Will Rock You) into my rock genre magazine, as the music of Queen is relevant to the rock genre. Although I was a little disappointed at not being able to do a musical theatre genre music magazine which I was so enthusiastic about, I am looking forward to changing my ideas and embracing the rock genre for my magazine.