Music Magazine Front Cover Mock Up

Double Page Spread Photo Shoot Planning

 

Double Page Spread Photo-shoot

 

For my double page spread I will use the same models as my front cover and I will be considering the following factors;
Location;
The location will be the same as the one that I used for my front cover; a run down area of Tunbridge Wells where the band grew up.
Body Language;
The body language and posture that I want the cover model to represent is; Some will be smiling to show a new side to the band and imply that they are not like the stereotype being shown on the front cover. Some members will still look intimidating as reflects their social background/upbringing, I want the band to be shown as intimidating but underneath it all they are just normal teenagers enjoying their music.
Furthermore their posture will have to reflect their emotions, some will be leaning against walls whilst some will be standing up straight with their arms crossed. I want a good variety of poses hopefully each one varying from the last.
I will do this because the posture and the body language that the band members use will be key in portraying what kind of band they are without needing text to explain.
Facial Expressions;
Some of the band will be looking intimidating, I will have some them looking blankly at the camera with narrowed eyes, as if they are looking right at us acting the part. Others will just look as if this is just a normal day at the office. I want to capture them when their in their down time so that I can show what their truly like.
Weather;
I do not mind what the weather conditions are around during the photo-shoot. Obviously I would not hope for heavy rain or extreme weather conditions. The weather is a minor part of the photo shoot as it will not affect the quality of the images.
Other;
I will be taking the photos from a mixture of my digital camera and my phone, I want to get high quality shots that will reflect the quality of the magazine. Any out of focus shots will be discarded.






Media Class Notes

Media

Dominant Ideology;

What gender attributes & behaviours are valued most in our society on the whole.

Stereotype Production;

- Simplification.

- Exaggeration or distortion.

- Generalization.

- Presentation of cultural attributes as being natural.

The Counter type;

- A positive stereotype.

- Focuses on positive elements of a group traditionally represented as bad.

- Oversimplification of the enormous diversity featured with the group.

The Male Gaze;

- How do men look at women.

- How women look at themselves.

- How women look at other women.

Laura Mulvey believes that in a film, "audiences have to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male"

Features of the Male Gaze;

- Camera lingers on the curves of the female body & events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a mans reaction.

- Relegates women to status of objects.

Jonathan Schroeder "to gaze implies more than to look at- signifies a psychological relationship of power"

Traditional Male Stereotypes;

- Traditional Masculine Man- muscly, strong, brave, heterosexual, manual jobs, aggressive, tall & dominant over women, works to provide for family . Does no cleaning, cooking or childcare.

-New Man- Less masculine but still heterosexual, very peaceful, looks after the family, stays at home to look after family, does cleaning & cooking etc. Shown as equal to women.

-Gay Man- Often shown as being very feminine, weak, working in jobs such as fashion or hairdressing, bitchy etc.

Traditional Feminine Woman;

-Traditional feminine woman- often shown as being girly, likes pink, wears dresses, does feminine jobs such as working in fashion, hairdressing or stays at home to look after the children, needs a man to cope, weak, scarred of things, needs rescuing, pure & innocent.

-Sexy Woman- very flirty, dresses in a revealing way, more powerful, uses men to get what she wants, no loyalty to other women, bitchy.

-Lesbian Woman-  Dressing in a masculine fashion, doing masculine roles, hating men, looking masculine.

Class Notes; Understanding Audience proflle

Understanding Audience Profile

 

- Refers to a detailed appraisal of ones customers, characteristics, attitudes & behaviours.

 

-Enables the supplier to target the communication to best effect (semiotic/language/feature)

 

-Demographic Profiles; quantifiable statistics of a given population, age, gender, location, marital status, educational level, income & nationality.

 

-Psychographic Profiles; reflect common activities, interests & opinions as well as attitudes & values of those people.

 

-National Readership;

 

A- Upper middle class.

 

B- Middle Class.

 

C1- Lower middle class.

 

C2- Skilled working class.

 

D- Working class.

 

E- Those at lowest level of subsistence 

Class Notes; Types of Sound

Type of Sound in Media

 

Types of Sound;

- Music, Sound effects & dialogue.

- Emotion.

-Gives an understanding.

-Sound doesn't support the image.

-Associates with the themes.

-Helps to add emotion & drama.

-Directed Attention.

-Formal expectations.

-Altered interpretations of visual image.

-The value of silence, its rare and shocking.

-Diegisis- Film world.

-Non-Diegetic Sound- sound not recognised as part of the film world.

-Diegetic Sound- sound that is part of the film world.

-Parallel- sound which compliments the visual image.

-Contraptual Sound- sound which does not fit with the image but helps create new meanings.

-Sound Bridges- aid continuously as sound from 1 sequence on into the next.

-3 Levels- Dialogue, sound effects & music.

-Dialogue authenticates the speaker, texture of voice can add character on its own.

-Synchronous Sound- sounds which are synchronized or matched with what is viewed.

-Asynchronous Sound- not matched with a visible source of the sound on screen.

Class Notes; Camera Angles & Lighting

Camera Angles & Lighting

Camera Positions;

-         Eye Level,

-         Low Angle,

-         High Angle,

-         Extreme high angle & crane,

-         Canted Angle,

-         Point of view (POV)

Camera Movement;

-         Tracking,

-         Reverse tracking,

-         Crane,

-         Pan,

-         Wide pan,

-         Tilt,

Mise en Scene;

-         What is put into a scene or frame?

-         Visual information in front of the camera.

-         Communicates essential information to the audience.

-         Settings & props.

Qualities of Lighting;

-         High Key,

-         Low Key,

-         High Contrast,

-         Hard Light,

-         Soft Light.

Magazine Front Cover Photo-shoot Planning

Front Cover 

For my front cover I will prepare to complete the following things;

Location;
My location for my photo shoot will be the back streets of Tunbridge Wells, I am looking for an area that is quite run down with a few tatty buildings, graffiti etc. I want to do this because my rock band has been brought up from that background. The location will have to look gloomy, dull and bland. I am choosing to take the photos on a council estate because that fits in with the theme; the band have grown up on the streets and the location needs to reflect that. I will take shots of the band with graffiti in the background, with one person sitting on a weathered run down wall, another leaning against the wall and finally the other people standing perhaps behind them.
The Cover Model;
What will they be wearing?
I want my band members to be wearing clothes that show their background. I will have two of the band dressed in jeans and hoodies with perhaps converse or vans footwear. I will do this because I want them to look like the stereotypical council estate teen who people find intimidating and are wary of.
Moreover the other members of the band will be dressed in long trench style coats with either dark chinos or jeans. I want to show that not all the band dress the same I want to add some variety to the shots. Again I want them to look as though they have actually grown up in a 'rough' area of Tunbridge Wells.
Finally the final member of the band will be dressed to in a barber style jacket with a hoodie underneath and jeans and converses to finish off the costume. I want this member of the band to look like he has had the toughest upbringing of them all. He is the main member of the band, the one who brought it all together.
Facial Expressions;
I want the cover models facial expressions to be bland and intimidating. I want them to look brooding and to intimidate people. This is a band from the streets and i want their facial expression to a reflection of that.
Body Language/Posture
The body language that I want to use has to reflect the intimidating. I will have some of the band members with their arms crossed whilst have some with their hands in their pockets. This makes them look like the stereotypical teenage men. Their shoulders will be hunched to make them look intimidating and in a position of power over people. Some will be leaning against walls adding to the effect of intimidation.
Weather;
The weather that i want to have when i do this photo shoot is cloudy and gloomy with a few rays of sunshine. I want these weather conditions because it adds to the atmosphere of the streets, it adds to the gloomy atmosphere and adds an intimidating aura.
Miscellaneous;
I am going to be taking the photos with a digital camera as i want high detailed shots for my magazine.

Magazine Front Cover Mock-up

Reasons for deciding the layout;

I chose this particular lay out because as my target audience is upper/middle class they are not going to be interested in a lot of pictures being shoved in their faces promoting different things. This is why I decided to use a lot more text. The target audience are looking for a more cultured, upper class feel to the magazine so that it is set apart from picture based magazines such as "Heat" Additionally the people buying this magazine are going to have a lot more time on their hands and are more likely to read the articles rather than be attracted by the pictures alone, they will want good quality articles that are interesting and last longer than a quarter of a page.

I have also used inspiration from magazines such as "Q" and "Blues and Souls" I have used Q's layout of the cover lines as I thought they were well laid out and got what they were trying to say across clearly and effectively. I used the way Blues and Souls present their central images/cover models, they managed to make them stand out whilst still interesting the reader with their articles/cover lines.

Moreover i will use the font calibri, i will use this font because it is not too formal but also has a nice appearance and adds to the idea of quality that comes with the magazines. The font is key as that is the way most of the information is displayed and if it is not effective then my target audience is not going to be interested.

 

Imaginary Entity;

Harvey is aged 21  and is passionate about the rock music genre, he has been to concert's and is a genuine fan of this music genre. He has plenty of time to sit down and read detailed articles about his favourite rock artists, he is always interested in learning more about the rock music scene and has a passion to find out more about their favourite artists. Harvey lives and breaths rock music, when he is not going out to gigs and concerts he is constantly listening to music and spends his time telling his friends about the best rock music had to offer.

 

The imaginary entity influenced my choices because to attract my ideal reader i need to know what layout they prefer and how they are attracted. I chose to attract them via interesting articles and an image of a popular rock band of the time. I will have to present it in a way that looks luxurious but also is interesting at the same time, i decided that more cover lines were needed as these 'hard-core' rockers are going to want a wide range of interesting things to read. I also chose to use only one image because the magazines that i have analysed (Time, Q, B&S) all focus around 1 individual to sell the magazine, this has proven effective, so i took inspiration from that.

 

Consideration of Double page spread & Contents page;

I have considered going along the lines of what other magazines such as B&S where they use a range of different images to support the key articles, I am choosing to do this because with my target audience they are going to want to see who exactly the articles are about, whether they like that artist and if they want to go ahead and read that article. The contents page will need to be laid out clearly because as this is an upper end magazine it cannot be botched together but instead needs to look good. Furthermore the double page spread needs to catch the eye and immediately interest the reader, inform them what is going on and it has to look good. To do this i have looked at examples in a variety of magazines some from different genres just to get a rough idea. I will include a range of pictures. I will have two larger images to get the attention and to inform who the article is about. The font for these will stay in calibri but it will be in different sizes to indicate the importance of some sentences, headlines etc.

Photo Selection Process

Photo shoot; Selection Process;
The photos that i will be selecting for my school magazine front cover and contents page will include the pictures of the male dressed in a suit. I chose these photos because; as i am promoting the schools new head boy i need him to appear smart, powerful and appear ready to knuckle down with his new role. I have selected the photos that i feel present the school in a positive light. I also wanted to show that the school and its students know what they are doing, they dress smartly and know exactly what they need to do and when. Here are the photos that i have selected and why i feel they are right, and there are also the photos that i will not use and why.


I chose this particular photo as I needed to make my head boy appear; serious, hard working and ready to knuckle down. I also liked the camera angle as, by looking up at the cover model it made him appear in a position of power and authority; he's looking down on us. This reflects his new status as head boy and presents him appropriately. I also chose this because this mid shot suited my needs, the others were good but this presented me with the perfect criteria.

I chose not to use these photos as some of them were too similar too each other. Additionally some of the photos were not mid shots and I needed a mid shot for the cover of the magazine. Moreover some did show the model as the serious head boy that I needed.
Some of the photos show unflattering angles which would not help the image I wanted to portray. Although he is dressed correctly some of the photos just do not fit the bill. Some of the lighting also interfered with the shots, in one shot the sunlight made the shots too dark or too bright.



 



 

School magazine Contents page mock-up

School Magazine Front Cover