All Three Pages : Front Cover, Contents Page And Double Page Spread.

Evaluation

After completing my magazine, i have written this evaluation, to explain how and why i created it in this way and to express my opinion and the ideas i put into it.
My overall product of the music magazine, uses conventions of real media products, because, the genre of music the front cover was portraying was hip hop/ rap / pop. All of these concepts determined the actual appearance of my magazine. So i created the mise en scene to represent these themes. I used props, clothing and styles of people and poses to create this look.
My product represents particular social groups, because it has a look that can vary through different personalities and interests. My front cover for example, has different colours on it, but not to much to make it look like it represents one specific type of social group. For example, if there was a lot of colour, it may put off people in social groups who are more into dark colours. And may give the impression that it was more feminine. The models used on the front cover also represent different social groups. I have done this by dressing them in different type of clothing, to show that the social group is not just based on one type. I have also represented different social groups, by having props and through the writing i have written on the cover. For example, i have placed a guitar in the middle of the page, so it is easily seen, which could represent and attract people in social groups such as people who are into rock music, punk music and also pop music. I have then added the phrase 'working with P Diddy' on the cover. This will attract people in social groups who are interested in rap, R&B and pop music also. From these two examples i have attracted people from five different social groups, all just form the front cover.
The type of media institution that would market this product would be one that sells other products that are aimed at a younger audience. This is because the audience would be familiar with these other products so would be even more attracted to buying them and having something produced from an institution they recognise, they would feel less worried about buying it, and would have more confidence that it will appeal to them.
The audience for my media product, as i have already acknowledged, is a younger audience. The age range would be for teenagers and young adults. This would be in the age range of 14-22. I have chosen this age range because this is an easier audience in this day and age because there is so much interest for a big variety of different things from this age range, that it wouldn't be difficult to produce something that would be appropriate and appeal to them. Also, being a teenager myself, it was easier for me to relate to the product and the stuff i put into it, helping me to produce a better product, and one that would be acceptable. The type of people my product is aimed at would be people from different varieties of groups. This is because this would equal in a lot more people, resulting in a lot more sales.
I have learnt a lot more about technologies needed to be used to produce this type of product. For example, the technologies needed would be Internet, as this is an easier and quicker way, and also a more reliable way to do surveys and questionnaires on, such as asking peoples opinion on things that they like for example their interests, and also what would attract them to a magazine and why. Photography is also a big main part in producing a magazine. This is because there will be no copy rite cases against you as it will all be original, and would be owned by the creator. And it also makes it look more unique, as different people can work different pictures from a camera and locations, hence giving a different look to your magazine. Then the main obvious technology needed to produce this produce was a computer. This is because it puts it all together to complete the magazine, and can also edit parts to make pictures, text etc, look a lot more catchy and attractive.
Looking back at my preliminary task, i feel like i have learnt a lot more about marketing a product and producing it. This is because i had to do a lot more research on things such as prices of magazines, lay outs, the types of audience they attract etc. I learnt that in order to make a successful magazine you have to do research in order to attract the right type of people you are aiming to attract and also just to attract anyone. In my preliminary task, i put thought into the mise en scene of my product, but i didn't think of why i had chosen this and who it would attract. I also learnt that producing a good product i would need to put research into it and also make sure that i have taken the feedback to produce it, and put a lot more editing into it. Even if there is not much to edit, for example if in a product it was purposely made to look a bit plain, then the editing would still happen on the rest of the product to give off the best effects.


This is a picture of my preliminary task. I was asked to create the front cover of a magazine for the college. The picture was a medium close up of three girls looking at a book. However i think there was too much in the background that could distract the audiences attention away from the main picture and article. I used bright colours that stood out a lot, however they now look too bold and unprofessional. The picture itself is too dark and doesn't have that great light in it, which could have been improved through editing like i have done on my main task.








As you can see, in my main task front cover there is a big improvement to the way it is presented, from the picture down to the editing. The picture has been planned out more and had more thought into it, and has meaning to it, which is that it is representing modern music and young people. The editing has a vast improvement to it, which makes a big difference to the way it is presented. It stands out a lot more, and each individual piece of detail has been chosen and made to look a certain way for a reason.










I have made this improvement from learning about technologies more and how to market a product. By doing the preliminary exercise and then the main task was a good example to show that by doing research and gradually developing ideas to your final piece, gives you a good finished result. I have learnt that research is one of the main priorities when it comes to the sales of a product. Because if i hadn't done any research i wouldn't have known what styles of mise en scene would be best for the front cover picture, i also wouldn't have known much about what type of things the audience the product is aimed at would like to see featured on the cover.

Priceing Research.

Now that i have produced my magazine, i asked a number of young people what sort of price they would find acceptable for this type of magazine and all its features. To do this i went online on my messenger, and asked a variety of people with different interests, between the ages of 14-22. I asked them online because i was sure to get an answer because i was talking to them at that moment and wasn't waiting for a response, like it would happen if i had sent out an email and not know when that person would next sign in, so when i would get my answer. These are the responses i recieved:
Adrian (Aged 18) - £2.30
Michelle (Aged 18) - £2.00
Rowanna (Aged 20) - £1.55
Keith (Aged 17) - £2.00
Victoria/Vicky (Aged 16) - £1.50
Breesha (Aged 21) - £1.20
Pagan (Aged 19) - £1.40
Callum (Aged 17) - £1.70
Simon (Aged 18) - £1.30
Nick (Aged 14) - £2.00

I personally, would pay inbetween £1.00 and £1.40 for this magazine. The reason for this is that it hasn't got as many pages as other magazines, which from my research cost inbetween £1.00 and £2.00. These magazines i looked at were Heat magazine (£1.65) , Closer (£1.25), Reveal (£1.00).

Double Page Final

This is my final copy of my double page spread. I have added in the interview, which makes it look a lot better. I have also added faded boxes around parts of the interview that will grab attention. By adding the boxes in these places means it will grab the audiences attention, and because it is purposely picked out parts of the text which are highlighted, that means it will be either interesting or funny parts, which after spotting them because they were highlighted, would make the audience want to read on. They also add more colour to the page, making it look less sophisticated and more fun and relaxed. I have also turned the boxes so they are on a slant, which makes it look more interesting and less common.
I have left the rest the same as i have evaluated in my 'Final Double Page Spread' blog. This is because i still agree with my ideas that i put forward, and that this was simply adding in a few extra parts to the page, to improve it.

Contents Page Complete.

I have done a few more changes since my 'contents page developments'. I have kept the background white but have put a texture effect on it. This made the background look less plain and flat, but kept its properties i explained in my developments. I have also added in 'as voted by you' with an arrow pointing to it. This is talking about page 21, and by saying voted by 'you' involves the audience more. I have finally put in the list of contents, which all relate to music, because it is a music magazine, and have put every other page contents in purple. By doing this gives the list a better effect and look less boring that keeping it one colour. It is also adding more colour to the page. I chose the colour purple because it is not biased to and gender as purple can be for males and females. The page numbers which are shown by arrows pointing to the article on the small picture of the front cover are also different. I made the text a little different and put each one in a different colour. By having them spread around the page like this gives a less formal look to the page which would appeal to the audience as it is for a younger audience which would probably aim towards people who are more informal. Overall the colours go well together but do not create a tacky look, which is what i was aiming for.

Contents Page Development

These are pictures of my development for my contents page. The first picture is of my final development, and the one i have chosen to use. The second picture is a draft of what i wanted it to look like. I have kept the same border on each page, because it is very colourful, but not in a bold 'chunky' way. The colours blend together, as though paint has been spilt and is running into each other. This gives a really good effect because it is different and stands out. The colours on the border work well because they are bright and there is colours that will appeal to both genders, and people with different interests because there are a few different colours to look at. It also adds a lot of the colour to the page as i have left the background white. I left it white because it looks more modern and if i chose a colour to make as the background, it could blend in with parts of the border and it would look to tacky and over the top. For the title i have left it black. This is because it is a bold colour and since the background is white, it contrasts very well with it. All the letters are in capital because it makes it stand out even more. On the word 'contents' i have put in a lens flash. I put this here because it gives a really good effect to the word and makes it less plain and boring, and it also makes it look a lot more interesting and professional. It also gives a more 'Hollywood' and glamorous look as it is a bright flash, which could be represented as all the photographs taken in Hollywood all day everyday.

In the top right hand corner i have put a picture of the male person from the group featured on the front cover. In the first picture i have edited it so it is in two colours only and looks like it is glowing. This will attract the audiences attention because it is different and the bright yellow contrasts against the black, which makes it stand out more. In the second picture i had used a different image of the male. I decided not to use this one as it look to plain and the pose doesn't look as 'fun' as the image in the first picture. In the bottom left corner i have put an advertisement there. I was going to put a competition but decided not to as there is one featured on the front cover and didn't want to over do the whole 'competition' look. The advertisement that i have made is for a new guitar. I chose to make it about this because it is a music magazine, so the audience who buy this magazine will obviously be into music, so it seemed obvious and necessary to make the advert about something that relates to music. In my first draft of the advert i produced it average colours. In my second draft i decided to change this as it looked to common and plain. I decided to then make the colours darker on the background and have a 'glowing' look, which grabs attention because it looks as though it is a neon type of light.
I then decided to change the box around the list of contents. I made it less smooth, which makes it look less boxed in, and also looks more modern. This will appeal to the audience because they audience is aimed to be younger people, so modern things will be familiar to them and will be their type of style.

Final Front Cover.

This is my final copy of my front cover. I have edited the picture so the colours are better and both people stand out more. I have put a lot more colour in it, which would make the magazine look more relaxed and have a happier feel to it. I have also added in information such as the price and date, to complete the cover. I have made the top half of the page darker. This is because now the pieces of text i have on the page stand out more as they are bright colours, they also contrast well with the black and give a good effect. I have put the text on slants which give a younger look, which would appeal to the audience and have them in a modern font. I have also put i transparent yellow box on the bottom left corner to highlight the competition and also to make the writing clearer so it is easier to read.
Overall i decided to use this picture because it is a lot more eye catching and has a more laid back look.

Front Cover Drafts.

In these two drafts of my front cover, it shows the picture i finally ended up using. I chose this picture because it stands out more. This is because the wall covers nearly up to half of the page, leaving plenty of room for writing to be put. Also, because the wall is a light colour, it contrasts with the females (me) clothing. It also contrasts with the males trousers, and then the top half of him is white, which then contrasts with the dark top half of the picture. This gives a really good effect and makes both people stand out. I chose this place because, as well as the picture on the double page spread, it looks like a common place and isn't at some fancy high class place, which wouldn't give the impression that the band is saying that they're better than anyone else because they are famous, but shows that they are like everyone else. The writing on the right hand side of the page in the first picture, i changed position and colour. This is because there wasn't enough colour in the picture and having it in black font didn't make it stand out much. Also by moving it meant that i got to cover i big dark space in the picture and gave me more room for more writing.
For the female in the picture i brought two outfits with me. This is because i wanted to see which would work best. I decided that the black outfit was the better option because it contrasts with the wall better and looks more like a musical artist. I also had to have an outfit that was a bit more revealing because i had that in my plan and had good reasons why. And the black outfit was the more revealing outfit so i stuck with that one to be on the front cover.
I have both people posing this way because the male looks chilled out the way he is casually sitting on a wall and looks like he isn't worried about anything and is relaxed. This is good for the audience because they would look at him and wouldn't think bad of him, so wouldn't be put off buying the magazine. He is also wearing trendy clothes which people his age would want to wear, so by the audience being able to have something in common with this person, would appeal to them. The way I (the female) am posing in this picture, gives the impression that i am confident and would attract males to look at it. Also by the way i am holding the instrument, gives off a cool 'young' look. It also places the guitar in the middle of the page at the bottom. This works well because it is black and the wall is a light colour which is a good contrast, like the clothing, and it stands out even more because it is in a position where it is not at all hidden.

Front Cover Draft

This was my first draft of my front cover. I have used the picture i eventually ended up using for my double page spread. This picture was good for a front cover because it has a lot of room for writing to go, and for the title to go. I thought it would be better for the inside of the magazine however because for the front cover, as i have put in my original planning, it is best if the female was wearing clothes that were a bit more revealing because of the 'male gaze' which would attract more males to the magazine. I chose to do the title like this because, black and white together are a very modern style of colouring and contrast well with each other, so having the white outline the black means that no matter what is in the background, the title will always be seen. It is important to have a modern looking title, because the main age ranch from the audience that the magazine would hope to attract is teenagers and young adults, so by having a modern title, this would attract them and appeal to them. I chose the name 'MBS' because it is a short catchy name and isn't complicated, so wouldn't be hard for anyone to read.
I ended up using a different picture for the cover because this wasn't catchy enough for the main page.

Final Double Page Spread (Without Interview Written In)

Evaluation Of My Double Page Drafts

These are pictures of my double page spreads. It took me quite a lot of development to come up with my final page. In my first four, i have gone with a similar lay out on my final piece, however, i have made the writing go onto the right side of the spread, and onto the picture. So i could manage this with out it looking out of place, i edited my picture, so that the sky is white, which my writing can then go onto without looking odd. The first two pictures, which the layouts are in purple and black, were just a rough copy of what i could do. I changed the way the writing was set out across the page because the way it was laid out in two columns wasn’t very exciting, and was quite dull and plain. So i then decided to place a smaller picture in between the text. This looks more catchy for the audience as it is not as dull and also adds another picture on the article, which is what the audience would want. I have the bands name on a slant in the top left hand corner because after opening the page and looking straight at the big main picture, the audience would then turn and look at the left page. Being at the top, the reader would automatically know that that is the bands name. Being on a slant adds a small effect to the article to make it look more exciting.


Also in the first four drafts, the title is going right across the two page spread. I thought this looked good, however when i done some research, i found that most double page spread interviews have the main big title on the one page only, most commonly the left hand side. (Shown below. Images taken off google images and from 'bliss' and 'more' magazine.)

After i tried this out on my left hand page, it looked a lot better and also gave me more room for writing the interview . It also evened out both pages. The font in which i have done the title in is a modern type of font, and is very eye catching because it is not to plain. I have written ‘exclusive’ in a different colour because this emphasises that one word, which is an important part of the title, because it gives the reader the information that it is ‘exclusive’.

In the first two drafts i didn't have a border around both pages, like i do on the last three drafts. This left the spread looking a bit plain and there was nothing to really ‘highlight’ the page. Then i added a monochrome sort of border on the third and fourth drafts. This looked better because it now had a theme to it, however, because there was a lot of black it looked like it was all boxed in together and gave the illusion that it was all smaller. In my final double page, i have left in two corners parts of the black and white border, however i have covered most of it in a beige type of colour. This now gives the page a bigger look to it, and lightens up the page, and because of the black corners it doesn't look as though it is all boxed in. Also, because i have left it as a light colour and not more than one colour, the more important parts of the page now stand out. Such as the ‘random facts’ and the quotes. This will catch the audiences attention more and will have information in them that would hopefully make the audience want to read the whole interview.


In my main picture i have the two artists from the band sitting on steps, with rocks in the background. I chose this background because there is not too much going on that will take the audiences attention off the band, but it is also not to plain and boring. Because it is not some fancy background, the audience would hopefully see that the band is a more down to earth group, which would appeal to them. I used a guitar as a prop because they are a band in a ‘music’ magazine so i thought it was appropriate, and also makes the picture look interesting. I have made the picture black and white apart from the two artists and their instrument. This is because it highlights them making them the main focus, however it doesn't block out the background, so you can still see it which is interesting. I thought to do this because in my fourth draft, when i put the picture in it looked to ‘placed’ on the page and i wanted it to become part of the page. This is when i blended in the sky with the background of the page.I have put a smaller picture on the left hand side because the more pictures the better, because after asking a group of my friends, in the age range that the magazine is aimed at, the most thing they liked to see was pictures and not pages and pages full of mostly writing. So after my first two drafts i put in space for a second picture. I also sharpened both pictures so the colours looked better and i made the contrast higher which also made the colours better and made the pictures stand out more.The main colours on the page are colours that will appeal to both males and females. This is because i didn't want any gender to feel as though the magazine is biased and wanted the audience to feel as though it is for both males and females to read.

Double Page Spread Draft.

This is a draft of my double page spread. For the background I have put a border which is black and white. I chose black and white because it is monochrome, which I think is a very modern theme for things, and stands out. It has a swirly pattern, which I chose for it to be like because it isn’t too much to drag your attention away from the main article, but has enough detail for the audience to at least notice and be interested in it. In the two bottom corners I have thought bubbles. I thought this would be an interesting way to add little facts about the band in, which is what the audience would probably read straight after looking at the pictures. By having them standing out like this means that even if the reader doesn’t read the whole article, they would probably most defiantly read the bubbles. By putting the bands name on a slant like I have done, makes the page a bit more interesting, and makes the page look less formal and more relaxed, which would appeal more to the type of reader. In the centre of the double page spread, i have put the word ‘exclusive’ in capital letters and in red. This is because this will grab attention from anyone reading the magazine, because of the big bold letters, and the red makes it stand out even more because it contrasts against the white, and also against the black around the outside of the page.

The way I have laid out the text of the interview, around the smaller picture and the fact bubble makes the page look neat, but not too boring. It looks interesting, and because of the way it outlines the bubble and picture, it doesn’t leave big empty gaps anywhere. By leaving the background white, makes the text contrast with it because the text is black. This would make the text stand out and be very clear. It also completes the monochrome look that the border has. Even though there is only three main colours in the lay out, when the picture is in place, it will add a lot more colour. So it is best to leave the layout without too much colour, so it doesn't get over done and look tacky.

Front Cover Draft.

This is my draft of the front cover of my music magazine. So far i like this because although it doesn't have a lot of colours in it, the photograph of the band will bring the colours to it. By putting minimal colours in the layout means i won't over do it and make my front cover end u looking tacky. I like the way i have laid out the title, because it is very big and stands out a lot because it is bold and in capital letters. I have then put the definition of the letters underneath it, which after grabbing your eye, would explain what it means. I also like the way the font is very modern, giving the magazine a modern look, hopefully appealing to younger audience. The colour of the font is black and white, which i think is a good combination because they clash with each other and give it a more professional look.

In the top right hand corner, i have put a little quote in. This is just a quote from the magazine, and tells the audience that it is 'the' music magazine, which shows it is confident in itself which is always good. I have chosen orange as the colour to do it in because it isn't a colour that represents a specific gender, which wouldn't put anyone off, and it adds a little bit more colour to the cover. It also stands out from the rest of the 'monochrome' look most of the cover has going on.

Over on the right hand side going down the page i have put in some information about the band that will be featured on the cover. I have done this because, it will explain to the people who are not quite familiar with them, who they are and if they want to find out about them then their is an interview inside the magazine. I have done it in a simple font to keep it modern and not make it too fancy or to messy looking. I have put certain words in bold and have underlined them. I have done this because they are words that will attract people to the magazine, such as 'interviews' and 'free'. Also by putting a very famous persons name on the front cover will attract attention, so i have also made that bold and underlined.

On the bottom of the page i have put a bold purple box with information in it. This is because it adds a big bold bit of colour to the cover, and has interesting information in it, so it is almost highlighting it. I chose purple because again it is a colour that would appeal to both genders so wouldn't put anyone off. It also goes well with the red which is the colour i have put the 'plus' sign in. I have made the 'plus' sign stand out because it will attract the audience to it, which will make them read what it is about, which is a competition. If the prize featured interests them, they would have to buy the magazine to enter.

I will then get my picture for the cover, and decide if the layout i have at the moment works when there is a picture there.

Final Contents Page Draft.

This is my 3rd draft of my contents page. I prefer this look a lot more, because it looks more professional and modern. For the background I have put a thin border which has different colours in it. This is because it looks more interesting and adds more colour to the page. Also, because there is more than one colour, it will appeal to both genders.
I like the title. This is because the font is a modern style, which will appeal to the audience, which is aimed to be a younger audience. Also because it is very bold and stands out.
I like the way I have laid out the front cover contents. By putting a small picture of the front cover up and labelling which page they are on by arrows, makes it look a lot more interesting than just a list of every page would, and also looks really good.


I have put in a small picture of a music note. This is because it is a music magazine, so it was a little bit of decoration. I chose for the colour of it to be red and orange , because they are represented as ‘hot’ colours, which suggests that this magazine has hot music.


On the bottom right hand corner of the page i have put in the rest of the contents. I think this looks really good, because it looks very near and because they are sorted nicely into a box, it leaves more room on the rest of the page and doesn’t make it look too cluttered.By leaving a big chunk of the page empty for competitions and advertising etc, is good because to have those sort of things on the 1st page after opening the magazine would be very attracting to the audience.I like the way i have laid out this page because it looks very neat, but not sophisticated because it looks more fun and laid back.

Contents Page Drafts.

These are my final three drafts of my contents page. The first one was just a really rough copy of ideas that I could put into my final contents page. I don’t like the colours on it and I don’t like the way it is all laid out. I do however, think the title is a catchy font which works for a music magazine, and is very bold and eye catching. The second contents page is similar to my final one in ways but looks less professional and doesn’t look as organised. I do however, like the colours on all of it as it makes it colourful and stand out. And in my final contents page, I have made it look a lot more modern and professional. I like the same title and border as I have in the 2nd draft, and also, I like the way I have neatly laid out everything on the page. It looks like a proper magazine contents page, and would appeal to a younger audience.

Photograph Ideas

I have thought about some ideas i can put into my photo shoot. When i am taking the picture, for an idea i have thought that i can take it with the light behind my models. This will show the background off and will darken the features of the models so you will not be able to see them. I want to do this because it can be introducing a new band, so it will be eye catching and mysterious because you won't be able to see them. When you then turn to the double page spread, this is where an image of the group will be where you can see every part of them clearly.

I will test out this idea to see if it works out well, and if not i will stick to my original idea of just having the band in front of the light with the background being one bold colour only, or an interesting background, such as a beach or the sea etc.

Contents Page.

My contents page will be on the right hand side of the double page. This is because the left hand page will be available for adverts and also, like the picture on the double page spread, the right hand page will be the first thing the reader sees. This means that straight after looking at the front cover, if something had really caught the audiences eye and they wanted to go straight and read it, the contents page would be the first thing they see and they can look up whatever it is they wanted to read about straight away. Also, being the first thing that the reader sees after opening the magazine, it straight away informs the reader what is in the magazine. This is good and helpful because if anything catches their eye, they will be able to look it up easily.

On the contents page, there will be pictures and quotes that are highlighted and made more obvious to stand out. These pictures and quotes will be of things on some of the pages featured in the magazine. I will do this because this will be eye catching to the audience and attract them to things featured on some pages.

Double Page Spread.

For my double page spread, i am going to have the main big picture on the right hand side. This is because when the reader turns the page before, onto the double page spread, the first thing they will see is the picture. This will grab their attention more than a page full of writing will. The picture will be of a more close up picture. It will be a medium close up of the band together. This is because the main picture on the front cover will be a long shot of the band, so the inside picture will have to be a different shot so there is more variety.

The writing will be mainly set on the left page, but will run over onto the right if there is room. It will print around the artists and not just be set out out in chunk form, this is because it will look more interesting if it is different and goes around the band.
The two pages will have to have some sort of design going around the outside of the page. This is because it will add more to the page and look better and less plain. The colours of the design however will have to be a colour that will work for both males and females because the band is a mixed gender band.
The title of the page will have to be catchy, to make the readers want to read on into the whole interview and not just either look at the pictures or scan through it. The title will probably have a sub-title which will be a quote from the interview. This is because it will be either a humorous part of the interview or an interesting part. Once the reader sees this they will want to read on.

Font Title.

I have done some research on the type of font i should make the title of my magazine. I looked at fonts on magazines for males, aka 'lads mags' and found that the majority of them are pretty much the same. I looked at 'FHM' , 'Nuts' and 'Zoo' magazine, and each font is very similar and is red. The font is also 'sharp', as in it doesn't have any soft corners. This could show that it is for an older audience and not for younger people aka children.

Children's magazines such as 'The Beano' and 'The Dandy' have soft rounded corners, to show that it is for younger audiences and also makes it look more like a 'fun' magazine.
Magazine titles that are for women are a little bit different than the ones for men. 'Heat' magazine is quite similar to 'Zoo' etc magazines but has a slight difference in the font. Some of the edges are pointed but some are also soft edges. This could give the impression that the magazine is for an older audience such as teenagers and adults rather than children, but has a fun side to it and is not a more 'sophisticated' magazine. The same as women's magazine 'Closer'. However 'Closer' has different colours, instead of using red for the font or the fonts background, it has used a pink background and white for the font. This gives off a very female look to the magazine and tells the audience straight away that it is a females magazine.


Most magazines use red and white for the colour of the background or font. This is because it stands out a lot but keeps it bright, instead of using black and white which are also a good contrast. Because doing this gets lots of attention, i will think about what the colour my font will be. Whether i should copy this idea so my magazine stands out, or think of another way to make it eye catching, but also making it obvious what the target audience is.

Mise-En-Scene

Background.
The background of my magazine is going to be either a plain background that is only one bold but bright colour, or it is going to be a background with something such as a sunset or the sea behind the group. This is because with the one bold colour, it will make everything else on the page stand out and will almost highlight the group because it will be a bright colour behind them. It will also look happy and relaxed because it will not be a dull colour. Having one colour will also stop anything else in the background from taking the attention away from the main article or group on the front. However having a cover with an interesting background such as a sun set or the sea could add more interest from the audience and result in grabbing more peoples attention. I will try out both ideas and see which one turns out looking the most impressive and works best with the type of magazine i am planning on creating.

Lighting.
The lighting on the band and background will be quite bright at the front and a little less bright in the background. This will highlight the band and make them stand out more, catching audiences eyes. Having the background in less light will also make it more interesting because the reader will have to look past the band and focus on it slightly more. The lighting on the band will also make the magazine look more colourful because all their bright clothing will be picked out by the light and be sort highlighted, making the magazine look more relaxed.

Clothes.
The clothes worn by the band on the front cover will be fashionable but also revealing. They will be fashionable because it will attract a younger audience who wear similar clothes as them and have a similar fashion sense. The clothes are also an important part of the bands image, and show the audience what type of group they are. So because the group on my front cover will be a hip hop, rap and pop mixed genre, they will wear clothes that show this. The clothes will be revealing however, because this will attract the 'male gaze' off males and will also attract attention off females.

Planning Cont.

Text And Images
The text on the front cover, for example the name of the magazine and the subheadings with short quotes and paragraphs about what is featured in the magazine can't be to intellectual as the target audience is quite a young one, so the audience won't be to fussed about the wording. It will also relate to them more and give a more laid back feel, grabbing more attention from its audience. The type of text as in the style, for example the font and colour, will not have any plain fonts but fonts that are quite fun and young. The colours will also be quite bright and colourful, to give the magazine a better look to it.
The images on the front cover will be bright colourful pictures with people on it who are fashionable in young adults sense, which will attract the young adults to look at it. The people on the front cover will also be good looking people, which will be the type of people that attract attention from both males and females.

Examples Of The Front Cover

This is an example of what my font cover will be like, based on the band who are featured on it.

I have got this image off google and it is from a magazine called ' Blender'.
This is the sort of image i will construct as it has both genders on it and people from different cultures. It also brings sex appeal as the female is wearing revealing clothes and the males are dressed nicely. This would be the sort of message i will have my magazine showing because it doesnt show any racism or sexism.

Planning

We have been asked to produce a music magazine for are work, so i have begun planning certain things about my magazine such as who the audience is going to be, what genre of music is going to be in the magazine, magazine features, who is going to be on the front cover and why.

Audience
I have decided that the audience for my magazine is going to be teenagers and young adults. This is because i will be able to relate to it more and will know what sort of stuff to put into it instead of trying to fit in with a different age group and risk getting information wrong. A younger audience will also involve the people who are interested in new music and recently successful artists. The gender of the audience is aimed mainly at females, but will have parts that will interest males, such as information on mixed gender bands, on rap artists etc.

Genre
The genre of music that my magazine will be based on will be hip hop, rap, and pop. This is the sort of music type that the band 'The Black Eyed Peas' produce, which is where i got my idea from. This is because it doesn't have only one specific genre but a mix of them, and ones that go together well. Having a mix of genres like this will be able to appeal to a bigger audience because different people like different types of music, so this will get attention to a bigger range of people. People who like hip hop, people who like rap and people who like pop.

Features Of Magazine.
The features inside the magazine are a big part of the front cover, as this is what attracts people to look at the magazine and buy it if they seem interested on what is featured inside. So on the front cover i have decided i will put the features as, competitions, interviews, best songs of 2008, etc. Having competitions as one of the features will attract attention because the prize will be something that the reader is interested in as they have bought this type of magazine. This means the prize could be free concert tickets, band merchandise, a bunch of new C.D's, etc. If someone sees this on the front of a magazine and wants a chance to win this prize they will buy the magazine. Interviews will also be a feature on the front cover because somebody who buys this type of magazine is going to be interested in the type of artist/band who is being interviewed so will want to read what is being said. The best songs of 2008 could also be a main feature on the front cover because they will be the audiences favorite songs at the moment because they are quite recent, and the audience may want to remember all of them.

Band on front cover
The band featured on the front cover will be a mixed gender group. This is because it will show the audience that the magazine can be for males and females and will also bring sex appeal to the magazine. By having a band on the front cover and not an artist allows the magazine to appeal to both males and females because it won't have just one gender on it. By having females on the front cover will attract males because the 'male gaze' will take place attracting them to the magazine cover. Having males on the cover will do the same to females but the other way round, attracting them to the males. Also having more than one person on the front cover means more than one race can be featured to show that it is friendly to all different cultures.

Why I Have Created This Blog.

I have created this account to keep a blog of my AS media coursework, to show step by step my development of my work. Over the next few weeks i will be planning a music magazine and putting all of my ideas into this blog.