Sunday 28 November 2010

Images for Front Cover and Contents Page

For the previous two lessons, I took any additional pictures that I needed for my magazine front cover and contents page.

I went through all my pictures and selected the ones I wanted to use on my front cover, contents page and double page spread. I then added these to http://www.pacasion.com/ and created a slideshow.

make gif

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Article Research

For the article I am going to write, I need to conduct research. This is the research I found to help me conduct the article of Maroon 5: Now & Then.


Band Members:
James Valentine - Guitar
Jesse Carmichael - Keyboards
Mickey Madden - Bass
Matt Flynn - Drums
Adam Levine - Guitarist/Lead Vocalist

The four original members of Maroon 5 have known each other since attending Brentwood School together in Los Angeles. While attending Brentwood Scholo, Adam Levine and Jesse Carmichael joined up with Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick to form Kara's Flowers, a garage/grunge candee. The name was taken from a girl that the band had a "collective crush" on. The band played its first gig at Whisky a Go Go on September 16, 1995. While they were playing a beach party in Malibu, indie producer Tommy Allen heard them playing and offered to manage them and record a complete record with his partner, songwriter John DeNicola (Dirty Dancing ). While shopping for a deal for the band, Bob Cavallo's management team heard the record Allen and DeNicola produced, which eventually led to their deal with Reprise Records and producer Rob Cavallo.  Very early on, their sound was what Carmichael called "Fugazi [the sound] meets Sesame Street [the lyrics]". However, by the release of The Fourth World in 1996, they had morphed into band reminiscent of 1960s Brit pop. Despite high expectations from the band and record company, the album failed to catch on and their lead single, "Soap Disco", was a failure.  According to Levine, the failure of the album was "a huge disappointment" that nearly led them to break up in 1998. The album sold around 5,000 copies and they were dropped after only six months.

Levine and Carmichael went to college at Five Towns College in Long Island, New York, while Madden and Dusick stayed home in L.A., and attended a semester of college at UCLA. At Five Towns College, Levine and Carmichael were exposed for the first time to the gospel, hip-hop and R&B of their largely African-American schoolmates .Levine credits the period with informing the band's new style stating:


When the two returned in 2000, they brought those influences with them. Sam Farrar (bassist of the band Phantom Planet, which is currently on hiatus, and former roommate of Levine and Valentine) says that the Aaliyah song "Are You That Somebody?" affected the band and influenced the song "Not Coming Home." Producer Tim Sommer signed them to a demo deal with MCA records and produced three tracks with them in Los Angeles in the middle of 2000 with Mark Dearnly engineering. Against Sommer's advice, MCA declined to pick up the band, and these tracks were never released. Jordan Felstein, a friend of Levine's family and a junior agent at ICM, stopped by one of the band's rehearsals and was so surprised by what he heard that he quit his job in order to manage the band full time. The band put together a demo that was rejected by several labels, before falling into the hands of Octone Records executives James Diener, Ben Berkman and David Boxenbaum. While looking for talent for the new Octone label, Berkman was given a bunch of demos by the brother of a former colleague at Columbia Records and the song that caught his attention was "a genius song called 'Sunday Morning'". Berkman was surprised the song was credited to Kara's Flowers because they sounded completely different to the band he had heard while at Warner Brothers.
Berkman encouraged Diener and Boxenbaum to fly out to L.A. to watch a showcase gig at the Viper Room for the four-piece Kara's Flowers. After watching Levine onstage, they were convinced. Berkman told HitQuarters he believed what the band needed was a "fifth member to play the guitar and free up the singer, so he could be the star I perceived him to be." Within a month of hearing the demo Kara's Flowers became the new label's first act.

Octone immediately insisted that the band change its name to break with its pop-rock past. Also, the label began looking for a full-time guitarist to enable Levine to focus on performing as the frontman. James Valentine (from the L.A. band Square) was recruited for the job. Even still, the only songs of their repertoire that showcased the band's new direction were "Sunday Morning" and the soon-to-be-written "She Will Be Loved"—neither of which the label approved of as a first single. The band toured for a full year before entering the studio with producer Matt Wallace. Levine's frustration with Berkman's demands for a lead single inspired him to write just that—a song called "Harder to Breathe".

While they were in high school,
 vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, bass guitarist Mickey Madden, and drummer Ryan Dusick formed a garage band called Kara's Flowers in 1995 and released one album in 1997. They reformed, with guitarist James Valentine, in 2001 and pursued a new direction as Maroon 5.
‘..started playing music together in junior high, under the sway of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and their ilk.’


             Los Angeles, California, was home to high school students Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Ryan Dusick, and Mickey Madden. In the late 1990s, the friends started an alternative rock band called Kara's Flowers. They signed a deal with Reprise Records and released the 1997 record The Fourth World, but the album failed to chart and the band parted ways with Reprise. The young band wasn't quite prepared for stardom yet, and it wouldn't hit until nearly seven years later.
             "I think that we weren't ready musically or emotionally to be successful," Madden told Chart magazine's online news site about Kara's Flowers. "Not that success is any measure of quality, but there was definitely something missing." The guys put Kara's Flowers on an indefinite hiatus while Levine and Carmichael enrolled in classes at the State University of New York, and Dusick and Madden went to the University of California Los Angeles. Levine and Carmichael began to discover a whole new world of music while they were at school on the East Coast. "The halls would be blasting gospel music, and people would be listening to stuff that we'd never actually listened to, like Biggie Smalls, Missy Elliot, and Jay-Z," Levine stated in the band's official biography. "When I think of songwriting, I think of the Beatles, Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, the stuff that I grew up on, but then I was like, 'I want to do this. Stevie Wonder came into my life at that point, and I just found a knack for doing it," he continued.
             Discovering this new music renewed Levine's interest, and in 1999, the musicians decided to re-start Kara's Flowers. But with their new sound—one that blended the classic pop styles of their teenage days with a fresh new funky R&B tint—the band needed a new name. Once they began recording demos in 2000, they were now known as Maroon 5—a moniker the band members have yet to explain. One year after recording their new demos with their new upbeat sound, Maroon 5 signed a deal with a new division of J Records/RCA. "I think when we started writing songs for Kara's Flowers, we didn't hit on any musical ideas lyrically," Madden told Chart. "But then once we came up with these songs for Maroon 5, we started playing in a way we never had before."
             With a pop face and funk undertones, Maroon 5's first album, Songs About Jane, was released in 2002. The band spent most of the year on the road opening up shows for Vanessa Carlton and their old friend John Mayer, whom Valentine had met at a high school summer camp. Octone Records released "Harder to Breathe" as the first single, but the record got little press or radio play. But slowly, after time, radio began to play the song, MTV screened the video, and Songs About Jane began to get positive reviews. All of this happened nearly a year after the record was released. Finally, in 2003, "Harder to Breathe," hit the top 10 and when the second single,
"This Love," was released, it too hit the top 10.             In a review of Songs About Jane, E! Online wrote, "Sensitive guy Adam Levine and his friends mix a bit of vintage Motown, some swooning sweater rock, and even a smidge of 'N SYNC." It took months before other critics really noticed the album. The band's song-writing had improved and matured greatly since Kara's Flowers—and a lot of it had to do with singer Levine's love life. The band's mix of mainstream pop formula and funky blue-eyed soul was based around Levine's emotional lyrics, which were mostly, as fans could guess, about a girl named Jane. "Jane is my ex-girlfriend," Levine told People. "We dated for about six months. It was a really beautiful experience." Levine didn't stay heartbroken for too long; he soon began dating Kelly McGee, who appeared with Levine in the steamy music video for the band's breakthrough hit, "This Love."
             At this point, the songs the band was now performing on late-night talk shows and concerts had been written for a few years before most people heard them. Luckily, their sentiments still resonated with millions of buyers. In an interview with Soundspike.com, Levine told writer Christina Fuoco about his lyrics. "It's the most emotion, the most soul I've ever poured into anything in my whole life. I'm so happy [and] comfortable with what we had to say, musically and lyrically. We've been through so much over the last ten years—turbulent relationships and stuff was rocky with the band, a lot of different things. I feel like this record is definitely a culmination of all those things."
             Two years after Songs About Jane was released, the album had raked in sales of over eight million copies. The band began to tour larger venues and spent much of 2004 performing on TV. In the summer of 2004, hip-hop producer/rapper Kanye West got together with the band to put a fresh hip-hop spin on "This Love." While the band continued to release singles from their now two-year old album, fans wanted something new so the group released the acoustic EP 1.22.03. Acoustic in June. Unplugged versions of their now hit singles were included with a cover of the Beatles' "If I Fell," recorded at new York's Hit Factory studio, and a live version AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" from a show in Hamburg, Germany.
             In February of 2005, Maroon 5 performed in an opening number for the annual Grammy Awards alongside Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, the Black Eyed Peas, and more. They were nominated for two awards that evening and walked home with one for Best New Artist.
InfluencesBee Gees
Hall & Oates
Michael Jackson
The Police
Stevie Wonder
Justin Timberlake
Al Green
Jane's Addiction
Counting Crows
Wyclef Jean
Lauryn Hill
Prince
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Bill Withers
Spin Doctors
Jamiroqua
Semisonic
Matchbox Twenty
Dave Matthews Band
Tonic
2004-Billboard Music Award — Digital Artist of the Year[38]
-MTV Europe Music Award — Best New Act
-
MTV Video Music Awards Latin America — Best Rock Artist, International
-
MTV Video Music Awards Latin America — Best New Artist, International
-
MTV Video Music Awards — Best New Artist
-
New Music Weekly Award — AC40 Group/Duo of the Year
-Teen Choice Award — Choice Breakout Artist
-
World Music Award — World's Best New Group[39]

2005

-
Grammy Award  Best New Artist
-
Grammy Award  Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for "This Love" (Live - Friday the 13th version)-Groovevolt Music and Fashion Award — Best Collaboration, Duo or Group for "She Will Be Loved"-NRJ Radio Awards — International Breakout Act & Best International Song for "This Love"2007
-
Billboard Music Award — Top Digital Album for "It Won't Be Soon Before Long"
-
Grammy Award — Best Pop Performance by A Duo or Group With Vocals "Makes Me Wonder"

2009

-
Grammy Award — Best Pop Performance by A Duo or Group With Vocals "Won't Go Home Without You" (Nominated)
-
Grammy Award — Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals"If I Never See Your Face Again" (with Rihanna) (Nominated)

Saturday 20 November 2010

Rough Sketch of Design of my Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread

After completing both my publication plan and my planning production, I was asked to make rough sketches of my front cover, contents page, and also my double page spread.





Wednesday 17 November 2010

Planning Production

In today's lesson, I was asked to do my planning production, this consisted of looking through my initial plans and my publication plan, and developing them so that they are detailed and easy guidelines to follow.

Front Cover
The title for my front cover is going to be ‘Pop Rocks’ , this will be in a rounded font called ‘Arista’, and will be places across the top of the page. Just underneath this will be the positioning statement ‘Rock to the Pop’.

Cover Lines
Jake Hignett: "I'm going to break America"
POSTER SPECIAL: P!NK PARAMORE JOHN MAYER AVRIL LAVIGNE
Paramore:  Why they split
Birth of Mcfly: Their unordinary claim to fame
Step by Step: Your guide to playing guitar
Images
The images on my front cover will be:
-Solo Artist, Jake Hignett
-Bar code

Contents Page
The title for the contents page will simply be ‘Contents’. It will be in the top corner of the right side, coloured red and have a drop shadow in order for it to stand out.

Regular Content

4- NEWS JUST IN!
10- Gig Reviews
19- Album Reviews
22- Upcoming Events
35- This month’s top 10 singles
47- Competition Time
56- Your questions to Duffy
70- Subscribe today!

Feature Content
6- Up, Close & Personal
Interview with Dynamic Entry
8- Jake Takes on America
New solo artist aims high
10-How to be a Pop-rocker
The Do’s and Dont’s
28- Maroon 5: Now & Then
How did they evolve?
32- Birth of Mcfly
From beginning to end..
40- Posters Special
Ten page exclusive
50Step by Step
Your guide to guitar playing
52- The Kooks Scandal
The truth about their fall out
68- Paramore split
Investigation into the real reason
72- Isle of Wight
Pictures &interviews from Isle of Wight 2010!
76- The Killers Return
Special on their upcoming albumn
80- Weatherhead
The NEW School of Rock
94- Bon Jovi:
Why he joined the music industr

Editors Letter
To reader!
           Welcome to this months Pop Rocks! Hope you all had a pop-rocking summer! I saw lots of readers at Readings this year, it was fantastic! Don’t forget to read my coverage (pages 72&73). This issue is jam packed with all the latest pop-rock news it’s all been happening recently and we’ve got all the details. We have also piled some amazing posters in and found out all the upcoming events!  I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank you all for supporting us on this rocky road! We’ll make it worth while!
Enjoy! X

Images
Image of guitar, linking to step by step guide
Image of Jake Hignett
Image of local gig, linking to gig reviews
Image of front cover, linking to dubscription details

Double Page Spread
The information on my double page spread will come from the interview that I have with the band. However, it will not be written like an interview. From the information I have gathered from them I am going to write about each band member, how they started, what they have been up to and their feelings towards music and gigs etc. The type of shot, for my image, I plan to use is a shot of the band in action, as this gives a visual representation of the band's genre, attitude and skills.

Monday 15 November 2010

Publication Plan

In today's lesson I was asked to create a publication plan. For this I had to make all my final decisions using the research I had collected from my questionnaires :
Title:





Positioning statement:
Rock to the pop

Frequency of publication: Monthly

Price: £2.99

Distribution: Newsagents, supermarkets, music shops

Rationale: This magazine is aimed at 15 to 23 year old pop rock lovers. The magazine in production will offer facts and opinions but will also allow readers to give their opinions. It will contain upcoming events, competitions, interviews and reviews.

Style: The style of my music magazine will be friendly, inviting and informal. It will also be informative, as it will give lists of upcoming gigs and events. The magazine is aimed at fans of pop rock music, therefore must use lexis of the semantic fields of pop rock.

Regular Content
Examples of regular contents which will feature in my music magazine:
-Editors Letter
-Competitions
-Interviews with well-known pop rock artists
-Gig Guide: Upcoming Events
-Gig Reviews
-Album Reviews
-News
-Subscription Details
-Your questions to Duffy
-This months top 10 singles

Feature Content
Examples of feature contents which will feature in my music magazine:
-Posters Special!
-Gig Guide: The Return of Nickelback
-Up, close and personal: Interview with Dynamic Entry!
-Investigation into the split of Paramore
-The birth of The Wanted
-How to be a pop-rocker
-Top 10 pop-rock bands, voted by YOU!
-Maroon 5: Now & Then
-The truth about The Kooks scandal
-Lily Allen: Her views on the return of Take That!
-Weatherhead: The NEW School of Rock
-Mcfly: All Secrets Revealed
-Win a trip to record with Rihanna!
-Bruno Mars visits our offices!
-Bon Jovi: Why he joined the music industry

House Style
Cover lines: Verdana
Headlines: Calibri, 11 pt, bold
Stand first: Calibri, 11 pt
Captions: Italics, Calibri, 9.5 pt
Features first paragraph: FIRST TWO words in bold capitals, Calibri, 11 pt
News first paragraph: Drop capital, Calibri, 11 pt
Body text: Arial, 11 pt
Colour scheme: Black, White and Red

Friday 5 November 2010

Audio Answers to Questionnaire

In this lesson, I used a voice recorder to ask three questions from my questionnaire. In then uploded these from the voice recorder to the cvomputer. I then converted these to a video file in order to upload them to my blog. 

 









Thursday 4 November 2010

Results of my Questionnaire

To show the results of my quessionnaire I was asked to ame graphs and conclude what they show. I was asked to do this in a slideshow and then upload the presentation to slideshare. This makes the information more interactive and fun.

Monday 1 November 2010

Questionnaire

The easiest way to conduct the audience research is by producing and distibuting a questionnaire. The results from this questionnaire will help my decision making concerning the production of my magazine:

Sunday 17 October 2010

Analysis of Music Magazine Double Page Spreads

  • Main image- Should take up lots of room. Usually on the left or bleeding to the other side
  • Main heading- Stands out against the background and rest of the text
  • Colour schemes- Colour scheme must be simple and should not clash, they must have around 3 or 4 colours. It must match the main image.
  • Headlines/Dylines- These should be bold, unique, short & snappy
  • Page numbers- In the bottom left corner, accompanied by website address. Page numbers must also be stated on the images, linking the image to the correct story
  • Website address- Accompanies page numbers
  • Font- Size 11 pt. Double page spreads must contain lots of text
  • Quotes- Main quote in bold and larger font to entice readers
  • Columns- Around 3/4 main columns to keep it professional and tidy
  •  Informal language- Informality of the text allows readers to connect to  
  • Stand first- Will be above or below the title and in a different font  
  • Drop quotes- Drop quotes will be in a larger font in order to stand out
  • Credits- Credits are usually at the bottom of the page and are for the author and/or photographer  
  • Drop capitals- Larger and bold capital at the beginning of the article  
  • Artists name- Should always be highlighted and large in order to stand out
  • Masthead



Saturday 16 October 2010

Analysis of Professional Music Magazine Contents Pages

For this task, I had to analyse a professional music magazine contents page. I used a site called 'Prezi' to show my analysis.


Analysis of Music Magazine Front Covers

For this task I had to take three different music magazine front covers, and analyse them:

1.

2.



3.

Wednesday 13 October 2010

Initial Plans for my Magazine

In this lesson, I was asked to come up with my initial plans for my music magazine. These plans consisted of: price, frequency of publication, average issue size, regular content, and feature articles.
  • Price- £2.99
  • Frequency- Monthly
  • Average issue size- 80/90
  • Regular content- Upcoming gigs, interviews, win, posters
  • Feature articles- Interviews with different artists

Monday 11 October 2010

Researching the Market Place

For task 2, I had to conduct research into existing music magazines that fit the target audience I have selected for my music magazine. I selected Kerrang, NME, Q and . I had to find and compare their: title, price, frequency, size of issue, positioning statement website and publishers website.


Title- NME
Price- £2.20
Frequency- Weekly
Size of issue-
Positioning statement- '
New Musical Experience'
Regular content-
Feature articles-
Magazine website- http://www.nme.com/
Magazines publishers website- http://www.ipcmedia.com/



Title- Q
Price- £3.90
Frequency- Monthly
Size of issue-
Positioning statement- '
Britain's Biggest Music Magazine'
Regular content- Subscriptions, 10 Commandments, Crossword,
Feature articles-
Magazine website- http://www.qthemusic.co.uk/
Magazines publishers website- http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/



Title- Kerrang!
Price- £2.20
Frequency- Monthly
Size of issue- Around 60
Positioning statement- 'Life is Loud'
Regular content- Feedback, News, Win!, Live Reviws, Albumn Reviews, Gig Guide
Feature articles- Cover story
Magazine website- http://www.kerrang.com/
Magazines publishers website- http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/



Title- MoJo
Price- £4.40
Frequency- Monthly
Size of issue-
Positioning statement-
'The Music Magazine'
Regular content- Hello Goodbye, Real Gone, Ask Fred, Theories Rants Etc, All Back To My Place
Feature articles-
Magazine website- http://www.mojo4music.com/
Magazines publishers website- http://www.baeurmedia.co.uk/

Sunday 10 October 2010

Initial Ideas

The initial ideas I have come up with for my main task of designing the front cover and contents page of a music magazine are:
Genre- Pop rock
Target audience- 14-23 year olds, mixed gender

Evaluation of School Magazine

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Throughout the planning and constructing of my magazine front cover and contents page: I strictly followed the codes and conventions I had previously found. This meant using a medium close up for my main image, different font for the title, a font size of 11 pt for any subheadings and throughout my contents page, leaving as little white space as possible, ensuring there was a bar code, price, website and date on show and so on.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction of your media product?
For the construction of my magazine front cover, I used Adobe Photoshop. This piece of software was new to me, but was easy to adjust to. This made it easy to design my cover quickly. This software allowed me to edit the images I was using so that they looked more professional and were the right size and I also created a title for my front cover. Due to some difficulties I faced with Photoshop and the editing of photos, I had to change my main image. This meant I also had to change my main story line from 'Cakes Save Lives' to 'Best GCSE's on Wirral'. Luckily this did not set me back in time.
         However, for the production of my contents page I used Quark. This was totally new to me as I had never heard of it; but like Photoshop it was easy to use. I created a document, with three columns

What are the strengths and weaknesses in the construction of your media product?
I feel that the front cover I have produced looks professional and follows the codes and conventions. I like the background and the way the text stands out against the background. Moreover, I feel that the image I have used looks more professional than the original image I edited. The way the image I used fits against the background ensures a professional look.
        One of the biggest problems I faced was the amount of space there was on my contents page. When I was planning my contents, I did not consider the size my font would be and also the layout. As I used Quark the contents page is set out in three columns. This meant that I had to move all my objects around to ensure that it all fit, but also use as much space as I could. This meant that I had to increase the size of the font. This do not follow the codes and conventions of a magazine contents page. Moreover, the main image on my finished design of my front cover does not match my plan. This was down to the way the image looked against the background. I felt that the image did not look professional enough. Although I changed the main image and main story line, I was still able to get all work done on time.

Saturday 9 October 2010

Production of School Magazine Contents Page

To create my school magazine contents page I used a piece of software called Quark. This is what my final product looks like. However, due to deadlines I was unable to complete all of the contents to match the plan.

Production of School Magazine Front Cover

To create my school magazine front cover, I used Photoshop. This is what my final product  looks like.

Friday 1 October 2010

Images for Front Cover and Contents

These are the images I took for my magazine front cover and my contents page, I then edited these using Adobe Photoshop.


This is my main image for the front cover. This image shows a GCSE student with his GCSE results, this covers the story of top GCSE grades on the Wirral.


This image is for my contents page, this is the Elephant Ears team and covers the story of their return.


This was originally going to be my main image, however it did not look professional ernough after being editted. Instead I used it on my contents page to cover the story of the money raised for Rainbow Trust.


This image was taken for my contents page. This image links to the story of the Beauty and the Beast cast being revealed.


Wednesday 29 September 2010

Rough Layout of Contents Page

Task 4 was to produce a rough sketch of my magazine contents page using the plan I'd created in task 3.

Planning Content

Task 3 involved deciding the contents of the school magazine. I had to come up with a list of regular content which will appear in the new school magazine, a list of ten feature articles which will also appear in the magazine and a list of the image which will be used on the contents page.

Regular Content:
-Extra Curriculum
-Horoscopes
-Date for the Diary
-Charity News
-Agony Aunt Janet

Feature Articles:

-Cakes Save Lives
-Top GCSE & A-Level Results
-Elephant Ears= Back!
-Competition Time.
-Beauty & The Beast: Revealed
-This Years Trips
-Media Arts Week
-Interview with Alice Sebold!
-Ashley Cole visits Weatherhead
-Trampolining Champion!


Images:

-Image of student holding advertisement poster
-Beauty & The Beast
-Student with top results
-Elephant ears group

Rough Layout of Front Cover

For task 2, I had to produce a rough sketch of my magazine front cover. This includes the title, issue date, price and the coverlines.
The main image shows a girl from just below her waist, however the actual photo will be from half way up the torso to fit the codes and conventions.

Plans for Front Cover

For the first task of my preliminary exercise I had to plan my front cover, this involved deciding a title for my new school magazine, details of the mise-en-scene of the front covers main image and coming up with coverlines for the cover.

Title: The Craic
I have chosen this as my title as it is Irish for what's going on. However, it could have subliminal connotatiosn of addictions, suggesting the magazine is addictive.
Mise-en-scene: Image of student holding cakes, background will be a book case. This will be faded so that the image of the student stands out and emphasises the story.


Main story line:
Cakes Saves Lives


Coverlines:

-Elephant Ears is Back!
-Outstanding Exam Success.
-This years trip list
-Beauty and the Beast: Cast Exclusive
-WinWinWin

Thursday 23 September 2010

Practice Photos

For this task, we were given a sheet with a list of shots. In our groups, we had to capture these specific shots, upload them to a computer and then put them on a word document with the shot description next to the image:

Shot Types and Camera Movement

In todays lesson we matched the shot to the shot type. We then described what each shot contained. These are the brief descriptions I came up with: 

Shot Types
  • Mid shot- Shot from the waist up 
  • Close up- Shot from half the chest and upwards
  • Medium close up- Shot of the head and shoulders
  • Big close up- Shot of just the whole face
  • Extreme close up- Close up of only the eyes and nose
  • Medium long shot
  • High angle- Shot taken above head height
  • Low angle- Shot taken below head height
  • Tilted frame- Shot taken from an angle
  • Over the shoulder shot- Shot taken from over the shoulder
  • Two shot- Two people in one shot
  • Long shot- Shot of a person and the background as a close up
  • Very long shot- Shot of a person and the background as a wide shot

Camera Movement
  • Pan- Movement of the camera from left to right, or vice versa
  • Tracking- Camera is on a dolly, following the action
  • Zoom- Allows the camera to view closer up and further away 

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Codes and Conventions of a Music Magazine Contents Page

After analysing eight different contents pages, I came to the conclusion that the codes and conventions of a magazine's contents page are:
      
      
  • Magazine name
  • Date
  • Issue number
  • Magazine website- This is included so the reader can access the website for more information about the magazine. The website is usually situated at the bottom of the page in small font as it is not the most important information on the page
  • Contact details- Website, email address, phone number, fax number etc
  • Feature articles
  • Columns- 2/3 columns maximum
  • Main image- One main image which relates to the main story of magazine. Must match the genre of the magazine
  • All picture must relate to featured articles
  • Colour scheme- Consistent and similar to that of the front cover
  • Page numbers in the corner of images, these number direct the reader to the appropriate page
  • Editors letter- Explain what's in the issue and must welcome any new readers
  • Captions
  • Page number- Different colour font to rest
  • Regulars and Feature Articles- Around 20, unless it's a small magazine
  • Buzzwords
  • Index- All same font
  • Logo- Magazine contents page must contain the logo of  the magazine
  • Genre- The genre of the magazine will be shown by the masthead
  • Title- Not always in the left, often across the top, and has 'contents' in a different font
  • Different sections- Columns will be separated by
  • Font- Must be a size of 11 pt, the font should be consistent and easy on the eye
  • Credits to photographers- Credit photographer of the cover photo
  • Subscription details
  • Masthead- Will be the same as the masthead on the front cover in order for the audience to familiarise themselves with the rest of the magazine. The masthead will also reinforce the brand
  • Headings
  • Central image links to the band featured- The main image must have links to the main story and band featured
  • Page number followed by list of content- The page numbers of all articles are stated in a list on the contents page, these are then followed by a few words explaining the article. These will be in bold or capitals to entice the reader and the average font size is 12/13 pt

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Codes and Conventions of a Magazine Front Cover

The analysis of several magazine front covers led me to the conclusion that the codes and conventions of a magazine front cover are:

beyonce april 2009 vogue magazine Beyonce Covers The April 2009 Issue Of VOGUE Magazine www.upscaleswagger.com      

  • Slogans- Positioning statement, allocated above or below title
  • Bar code- This will be positioned at the bottom right, or up the right side. Along with it will be the date/month of edition, price, website and issue number
  • Masthead- Across the top of the magazine, title uses bold font
  • Positioning statement- used to attract attention and gives the magazine an edge for it's target audience 
  • Main picture- Close up, medium close up
  • No blank space
  • Colour schemes- 3/4 simple colours which don't clash
  • Title- Uses a unique font which is larger than any other text throughout the magazine. Must be eye-catching
  • Cover lines- These must represent the stories inside. Must only be around 5/6 and are positioned down the sides so that the main image is not covered. These must all be in the same font
  • Text around main image- Text will be around the main image so that it does not cause distraction. Small parts of text may cover any part of the image, but must never go onto the face
  • Buzzwords- these are used to attract attention and are persuasive to the reader (e.g. plus, free, exclusive)
  • Picture text cohesion
  • Text anchoring image
  • Smaller pictures correspond to smaller stories
  • Main cover line- goes with main story and has a bigger point size
  • Aesthetically pleasing- Should be easy on the eye otherwise magazine will not sell
  • Genre- Shown by masthead
  • Plain background- Shows formality of the magazine
  • Only a few fonts are used- Either sariff (with hooks)