Photography room

This is the photography room I will take photo's of my models for my magazine. I learned some effects that the lights provide and how to use some objects to the best of my ability for example the reflectors. i have also learned how the camera is connected to the trinity flash kit to produse high quality photos.

TASK 5- Magazine stand

This image of a magazine stand is in WHSmith wood green as they display a wide range of popular magazines. This photo specifically focuses on rock music as that was the genre used for my task 2(case study analysis).
Some well established magazines have been clearly displayed such as   Popular music magazines of all types of genres are available such as R Kerrang!, Q, NME and more.

The magazines are arranged in correlation to genre/interest. The rock magazines such as NME and Rock Sound have more detail on the front covers, such as cover lines, images, teasers and skylines. The heavy metal magazines used dull colours such as black, white, silver, grey and small areas of red.

The magazines were slightly covering each other but with enough space to identify each masthead. In addition each row was close together but with enough space to see each masthead and most of the image if not all. The Rock magazines were quite high on the news stand at the middle where they could easily be noticed.

TASK 4- Evaluation of magazine cover and contents

Evaluation of magazine cover and contents page

Positives:

The background image is very effective as it is composed with the text on the page and matches the overall house style of the front cover. The page is laid out in a way where it is easy for the reader to read the information on the page and the text is also in a decent font and size. Moreover, the image links to the colour scheme used, which is an advantage.  For the contents page, the images are relevant to the article and the overall layout looks interesting for the reader.

Negatives:

However, there could be more information on the front cover to engage the reader’s attention and make the reader more interested in the magazine.

Improvement:

To develop the magazine further I could:
Have a consistent font style to make it look more professional. I could add a skyline above the masthead. In addition I could add more content on the front page. Also I could use three or more colours instead of two (blue and yellow). For the contents page I could add a background image to make it look better.

TASK 3- College magazine front cover

TASK 3- College magazine contents page

TASK 2- Case study 2

The magazine ‘NME’ (New Musical Express), expresses the genre of rock and alternative music. My Magazine front page features the artist John Lennon. Usually, NME magazines’ focus is to talk mainly about one artist, so they mostly use a close up (CU). This magazine proves this as the shot type used is a close up. In contrast the photo could be viewed as a headshot, due to the fact that we are able to see a segment of his shoulders. We can interpret that this issue of the magazine could be a tribute of John Lennon’s career/life, as the photo is black and white. The implications of black and white are mainly sad, vintage or tragedy. Fortunately NME is at an advantage as someone could walk past this magazine and recognize the image, the masthead and remember the artist on the magazine front cover. Unfortunately, using this shot type puts NME at a disadvantage because we are not able to see what the artist is wearing, however, focusing at his shoulder, it looks as though he is wearing a vest.

The structure of the front cover is extremely plain. NME has highlighted some words in yellow to identify the importance of the words. For example, the masthead ‘NME’ is effective and important. When the magazine is on display we can easily identify the masthead from the image and distinguish it from the cover lines. Doing this will attract the audience into buying the magazine. Furthermore, yellow enhances concentration, which is an important part for the purpose of a magazine. The main cover line, "60 years of NME" links to the photo of John Lennon and the fact that the photo is in black and white as NME can be classed as ‘vintage’, and that John Lennon was an important part of their magazine.

The contents page is not double sided. In contrast, with the layout of the ‘Kerrang’ magazine, NME uses pictures which link to the text. The magazine uses Red which can be inferred as bold, which will appeal to the rock audience. Unlike ‘Kerrang’ there is no editor’s message. This could suggest that the magazine is targeted at a mature audience, who are more tamed than the audience who are targeted by Kerrang.  Furthermore, NME advertise a subscription offer to their readers and highlight the essential words that will draw in the reader (‘NME’, ‘ONLY £1’).Effect of this is for NME to gain profit, gain more readers and insure that people will be reading their magazines. The drop cap of the letter ‘S’ is used to show the audience exactly where the article starts. The rest of the article is short as it continues on the next page. 

TASK 2- Case study 1

Kerrang analysis

The magazine ‘Kerrang!’ was largely intended to be sold to people who were interested in the musical genre of ‘rock’. The masthead is designed to look broken up. It could be suggested that onomatopoeia could be linked to the masthead as it connotes the clatter of something, just like the type of music. This magazine cover structures a performer named Gerard Ways and he is wearing a fitted blue suit with a white shirt with the top button undone and black tie, which also consist of his black belt. The type of photo shot of the front image is medium as we view the top of the artists head to the artists’ waist. Typically with rock magazines, the standard of the front cover would be a band with black make-up on the faces of artists and they show some emotion through their facial expression, which appears to be seriously hostile through their body language. The effect of this typical structure is in relation to the type of music that features in the magazine. In contrast, the artist of this magazine looks humble but we observe that he has dyed his hair red. The implication of the colour red normally represents anger that is displayed in stereotypical rock music. The skyline is used to give the readers more information about the “You me at six” interview. To catch the reader’s attention, the word “funniest” is used to impulse people to turn over to the interview to see what is really stimulating and hysterical about it.

                                                                                   

 The key colours used for the contents page is yellow, red, black and white. In addition, there is a message from the editor, which highlights the communication he has with his readers. In the contents page, the editors’ message has been printed. Also, the images link back to the text, which shows that you can receive enough information just by looking at the image or looking at the text. The images show the whole approach of the genre of magazine, being a rock magazine, it should include the stereotype of a rock artist usually having long hair, wearing make-up and having tattoos. This magazine does the reverse, due to the fact that the artist doesn’t have any visible tattoos, body language is very relaxed. The magazine is more ordered (layout, text, image and heading). Also, the headings can seem slightly vibrant, but the colour ‘red’ on the numbers attracts more, as it is bold and bright.

The double page spread uses a joke is used, “Go your own way”. It is primarily used for a connection back to the article, the image or the main cover line. Drop cap of the letter ‘E’ is used to show the audience exactly where the article starts. The colours yellow and blue are used as the connotations of these colours are typically tranquillity and harmony. Pull quotes are also used in the article, however is on the next page of the article. It says, "I think I make my best music when I'm mucking about, not thinking". The article is mainly about Gerard ways' life, his method of how he composes and his new album Hesitant Alien. The author uses a few comments, in order for amusement, but the article also contains an interview. Some parts included informing the audience about how serious Gerard had to be, as there were up and coming rock bands ready to make some music, for example My Chemical Romance. The nature is mainly informal, which includes humorous words and non-standard lexis like swear words. But those follow the genre of the magazine, as we are reminded how strange and powerful the music is, so the language would shadow. There are many drop caps but also a few pull quotes. The picture takes up most of the layout, which relates back to the text. Gerald is promoted throughout the magazine. A specimen of this is that his concert performances are placed on the magazine, which is operative as it is a type of celebrity authorisation. Readers may be mindful of the show, as he was the sole focus of the magazine.

TASK 3- Plan

TASK 1- Production schedule

This is my production schedule on time toast.