Welcome to my Blog

Welcome to Matthew Todhunter's blog. By following this blog, you will be able to follow and track the Progress of my AS Media coursework. I will be putting all of my research, designs and final products of bpoth my prelimery task and my final Music Magazine task. Keep Following. Remember to keep on clicking on older posts to be able to keep on reading about my media coursework

School Magazine Research

The images on the font cover are images generally of students partaking in activities but having a direct contact with the camera and the audience behind the camera. There is generally a School logo in the Top Right hand corner and the magazine title in the top left taking up the top third of the page.

The images on the contents page are generally in either the left or right half and the writing in the other half. It is also the same with the top and bottom half as well.

The language on the Front cover. There is a colour theme in the magazines mainly consisting of red and green the examples I looked at. The magazine title is at the bottom of the contents page. The language on the front cover is generally a snappy heading and then a sub heading of feature storeys with a short caption explaining them. On the contents page, it is again the title of the article and then a caption explaining it as well. The contents pages have bright colour schemes. The contents page from Fusion (shown below) is a white background, but every different particular was in a different colour font. This was very striking and made me interested in the articles.

The language on both the front cover and contents page were very informal, making the magazine aimed for pupils at the school and not being a parent’s newsletter. For instance, one feature story again, from Fusion (shown above) "snack attack, gourment grub and nice nosh".

The Front Cover and contents page of Bishopbriggs acadamey however, do not have a strong layout or as informitive compared to Fushion. The front cover only contains images, has no headlines and doesnot include anything that is in the magazine. If I was to pick this magazine up off a shelf, I would have no intreset in reading it because it doesn't tell you what is inside the magazine. Also the contents page couldn't be any more simpler. A plain white background, with no images couldn't be any more boring. Also the fact that there are the titles of the feature stoirys, but then no further explanation. A magazine that I will not like to make mine go down the lines of.

The other two magazines that I looked were very similar. The titles were in the topthird. Had an image in the right hand third and had feature articles on the left third. A layout that I will be following for my magazine because it was bothe effective and eyecatching drawing the reader to see it and then take it home.

My Initial Ideas for the School Magazine

Here are my inital sketches for my school magazine

Front Cover

Contents Page

My Final School Magazines

Here is my finished School Magazine

Preliminary Task Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My product has been influenced by the school magazine “Fusion.” The contents page was influenced by fusion as it has a main image take up the top half of the page and the writing in the bottom half. The writing is in 3 columns and the Titles of the articles are all different colours just like it is in Fusion.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process constructing this product?

All of my photographs were taken indoors, so they were taken under artificial light. I used manual settings on the camera to determine the Shutter Speed, Aperture and Focus for my photographs.In Photoshop I then used the Clone Stamp and Healing Brush to remove the white panels on the wall and to make the walls all green. I also used the Magic Wand Selection and Magnetic Lasso to Cut out the image that is at the bottom of the contents page.

Diary Entry 1

Monday 31^st January to Monday 7^th February

The Preliminary Task

At the start of the music magazine project I had to undertake a preliminary task which would test our skills and give us good practice at using the tools and techniques that would be required for the main project.

For the preliminary task we had to produce a school magazine. The magazine had to include a front cover and a contents page. However, the magazine had to have all original images and a mid shot photograph.

At the start of the week, I researched some existing school magazines and analysed the front cover and contents page for what codes and conventions they had in common. I then drew a rough sketch of what I wanted my magazine to look like and included aspects of existing magazines which would make mine appear more professional.

I then started to assemble my magazine in Adobe Photoshop. I found this fairly simple and I particularly enjoyed taking and manipulating the photographs. Then on Monday I exported my contents page and front cover as a JPEG and uploaded it onto my blog.

Survey

Here is the questionnaire that was distributed to my target audience:

Music Magazine Questionnaire

Please circle your answer.

1.     Do you read music magazines?

Yes                  No                  

2.     What is your favourite type of music to listen to?

Rock               Jazz & Blues             Musicals                    Synth Pop    

Dance                        R & B                          Classic Rock              Other

3.     What do you want to learn or see when reading a music magazine?

Interviews    Charts            Latest CDs                 Information about Bands

Gig Dates      Quizzes         Band Merchandise

4.     Do you prefer magazines that use lots of colours or a few select colours?

Lots                Very Few

5.     What is your favourite colour?

Red                 Orange          Yellow                        Green            Blue   

Purple            Black              White                         Other

6.     How often would you like to buy a magazine?

Weekly          Monthly        Quarterly      Every 6 Months      Annually

7.     How much would you spend on a magazine?

Free                1-99p             £1 - £1.99    £2 - £2.99    £3 - £3.99

£4 - £4.99    £5 or higher

8.     Do you prefer magazines that are image dominated or text dominated?

Image                        Text

And here are pie charts of my results that were returned to me:

Following my audience research survey results, I will make a magazine based on the rock or classic rock genre as these where the two most popular answers from my survey. My Double page spread will be an interview with a band or band member, or it will be a feature article about a band or band member. It will use a tri-colour scheme as my target audience prefer lots of colour in a magazine as opposed to very few, i.e. Black and White. The colours that my magazine will use are going to be: Red, Blue, Green and Black as these are the most popular colours that my target audience prefer. My magazine will be released either monthly or weekly and will cost between £2 and £3.99. My target audience prefer magazines to be image dominated so I will also apply this to my magazine.

Diary Entry 2

Tuesday 8^th February to Friday18^th February

Research of Music Magazines

For the past 3 weeks I have been working hard on finding out the codes and conventions of real music magazines by analysing 3 aspects 5 times in order to do this to make my magazine much more professional looking. 

Diary Entry 3

Monday 28^th February to Friday 4^th March

Research of Music Magazines

 This week I produced a questionnaire to survey my target audience to see what they want from a magazine that it is designed for them. Following my survey I then added up my research the codes and conventions of existing magazines and what I had learnt from my survey. This then allowed me to draft up some initial designs and photo plans for my magazine.

Existing Product Analysis

Classic Rock, October 2009, Issue 137

Front Cover

The first thing that immediately strikes the reader is the main image of a woman. This image then draws the reader into the smaller images of classic rock stars which make up the hair of the main female image. This image gives the feeling and impression that classic rock stars are still always going to be about. The font of the main title “Classic Rock” is large and dominates the top section of the magazine cover. The font is simple and therefore easy to read and is iconic to the genre of the magazine as it is in a classic font, which again reflects on the time period that the magazine is set in. The title of the main feature article “The Beatles From Hamburg to The End- in their own words!” This is unusual of a magazine to have the main headline above the title, but by making this magazine unique in this way, it gives the magazine an identity of its own. The feature article headlines are mainly the name of the band and that is it, with then a quotation from the article in italics below. An idea that I may use in my own magazine as a quotation, I find, is much more descriptive about an article than an overview summary that is only 10 words long.

Contents Page

The contents page is divided by a page turn; this will not affect my own magazine as I am only required to produce one side of A4. Both pages are of the image dominant style and these images are originals taken from the era of the artists. This obvious because of the Mise-en-scene of the image. The costumes that they are wearing are platform shoes and are using guitars that were typical of the time. The language again is similar to the front cover, however the quotations are much longer but are still more descriptive of the article than a summary would be. However on the second page, for the main feature article and the articles under the heading of “inside” the description of the articles are summaries as opposed to quotations.

Double Page Spread Page 30

This double page spread is one page of a single image and the other page is question and answer between the writer and the artist. As it is question and answer and through a written media, the language used is much less formal than if it was an interview for BBC News.  A style of article that I may use in my own magazine. The interview is about recording a new album and the last question is a bit out of place compared to the rest, “Tell us about your iPod” Having a question like this really does grab the readers attention again and I will use a similar “out of place” question if I decide to do an interview as my article.

The Source, August/ September 2010, Issue 240

Front Cover

The reader is immediately drawn to the main image of the front cover. This image is of a band member of the rock genre. We can tell that he is a rock musician because of the mise-en-scene of the photo. He is covered in tattoos that portrays him to be hard care as he could with stand the pain. The Bold Font in which is used for the title boldly portrays the title and being a red font makes it feel dangerous and only true rock fans are brave enough to proceed. Also the smaller images at the bottom of the page are much more effective than if it was just headings of the feature articles. An idea that I may consider for my own magazine.

Contents Page

The contents page is fairly simple in the fact that it is just one main image in the top half of the page and then all of the contents of the magazine in the bottom half. This simple layout makes the page extremely easy for the

reader to use and therefore I might consider for my own magazine. However this is totally contrasting to the other side of the page as it is image dominated and has the information running down the third of the left hand side, this is still fairly easy to read but I still prefer the layout where it is top half and bottom half.

Double Page Spread Page 58

This double page spread is one page text and one page image, an idea again, that I may use for my own. The image portrays the artist as being relaxed as he is wearing casual clothes such as jeans and a polo shirt. The article is a feature about the story of a new artist, however for my magazine I am thinking about doing an interview. The quotation at the top of the page ss in a broken font which makes it stand out more as it is edgy and more dangerous just like the genre of the magazine.

 MOJO, October 2010, Issue 203

Front Cover

The large photograph stands out instantly against the plain back background. We now that this photograph is the most important feature of the front cover as it covers over half of the title of the magazine. An idea that I will use for my own magazine. The image shows us that Paul McCartney is going to have a large part of this magazine as he is pictured with the rest of the Beatles, however he is much larger and more focused on than the rest of them. The tri colour scheme of red, white and grey really stands out on the black backgrou8nd and grabs the readers attention. The Bold font and use of capital letters also adds greatly to this effect. An effect that I want to have in my own magazine. We can tell that this magazine is about classic rock as the costume of the main image is a suit and artist would where suits back in the day when these artists where making hits as opposed to modern day artists who can where anything they want including meat.  

Contents Page

The contents page carries forward the same colour scheme from the front cover. An idea that I will use in my own to make the magazine flow and feel that it is all part of the same magazine. Even though this contents page is image dominated, the readers attention is not instantly drawn to it as it is black and white and therefore this makes the main emphasis of the page on the information about the main feature articles. Again an idea that I might use in my own.

Double Page Spread Page 70

The dark image, again an original from the time, reflects on the language used in the sub heading of the article “In the dark days after The Beatles” The simple colour scheme of a black background with white and green font also foreshadows the feelings and emotions in the article. The use of Drop capitals at the start of the paragraphs makes the reader more interested to read what the article is about.

NME, 2^nd October 2010

Front Cover

The Black and white image, with artificial colour added in post production really grabs the attention of the reader as it is more colourful than you would normally see. The uses of large fonts that match the font of the name of the magazine also make the feature an article stand out and instantly attracts the reader’s attention to these feature articles. These feature articles also tell the reader the genre of the magazine and that is general music related things. The use of artist names on the left hand side of the magazine will instantly make fans of those artists instantly want to read the magazine because they are told immediately and as simply as possible that their favourite artist is featured in this week’s magazine. A technique that I will use in my own.

Contents Page

The rule of thirds instantly strikes the reader by its blocky style. This makes it extremely easy for the reader to use and if it is easy for the reader to find out where to read the articles, they are more likely to buy the magazine because they can spend less time browsing different magazines and then are more likely to buy this one. The newspaper headline style font is extremely easy to read and understand that is page is the contents and by calling it “Inside this week” makes the magazine feel less formal and gives the magazine the impression of being more personal and making it easier to relate to the audience.

Double Page Spread Page 36

Again the use of a Newspaper Headline Font makes it extremely easy to read and understand what the article is about. Also with the title of the article taking up the full top half of the page, really does draw the reader’s attention to this. A Font Style that I will consider for my own article to make it easy to read for my audience. Again, like MOJO, The use of drop capitals draws the reader into reading the paragraphs. The main image portrays the artist as being relaxed, but still able to work on his music in his own home. Using a quotation as a caption is extremely effective and describes the personal emotion behind the picture.

   

The Word, February 2010, Issue 84

Front Cover

The Black and White image immediately strikes you that something dark has happened in his life. We can tell this through his facial expression as he is staring straight at the camera. The Subheading of the title of the story “The Supercharged Life” also makes us understand the emotions of the photo. The Red, White and mustard coloured font really stands out and brings some colour and life to raise the mood of the depressing photo.

Contents Page

The contents page of The Word is not a style that I will be following for my magazine as it’s only a third of a page and only has one image at the bottom of the column that relates to the competition. On the other hand, use of Bold Fonts for the article titles really clearly differentiates with the Italic font with article summary. An idea that I will use for my own. The Bold Fonts are sans serif fonts and these are much clearer and easy to recognise that they are the important items, whereas the summaries are in a serif font.

Double Page Spread Page 80

Instantly we are drawn to the black and white photo taking up four sixths of the double page. The fact that we are seeing the artist eating ice cream shows that he extremely relaxed and as the caption explains that he was “playing his cockney calling card.” A style of image that I will use in my magazine to show a relaxed musician. Again, the two font styles clearly differentiate between the main article and the Heading and the Sub Headings. The Bold print for the first 7 words tells us what the article is about and makes the reader interested and wanting to find out what the rest of the article is about. The torn effect between the articles is an extremely effective divide, again an idea that I will consider for my own magazine.

Analysis 6

Total Guitar, March 2010, Issue 199

Front Cover

The main image is of a current, main stream band so the reader knows that this magazine is looking at current music and not music from the past. The Neck of the Bass Guitar specifically dominates the photo as it is right at the front and the reader  is instantly told that this magazine is not just about the artists, but it’s also about the instruments. This totally contrasts with all of the other magazines that I have looked at as the main images are just of the artists and have no instruments. A feature that I would like to use in my own magazine. The simple use block capital letters for the names of very well known artists make them stand out to the reader much easier than if they were in lower case and if the reader knows from the front cover that they’re favourite artist is featured in the magazine then they are going to be much more inclined into buying it making more sales and generating much more money for the company. The clear bold font is very easy for the reader to read and understand as opposed to a fancy font and if they can’t read it clearly straight away, then they won’t want to buy the magazine. All factors that I will consider for my music magazine. The Tag line that is alongside the title is persuading the reader to buy the magazine as if it’s Europe’s best selling magazine, then it must be the best and therefore I should buy it. Something I will consider for my own magazine.

Contents Page

The Blocky layout makes it extremely easy for the reader to use ad be able to navigate about the magazine.  The extremely clear sub headings of “Monitor” “Features” and “Rocked & Rated” make it clear what the different sections of the magazine are about. I will use the idea of sub headings for my own magazine as it makes it very clear to the reader what is in the magazine and makes the contents page even easier to use. Also the three images with the captions and page numbers on make it easier for the reader to understand what some of the articles are about and if they can understand the article, then they are more likely to read the articles that they would normally not look at as they flick through to their favourite bits. Again, an idea that I will consider for my own magazine.

Double Page Spread Page 34

The full page image instantly dominates the DPS again with the bass guitar the closest object to the camera portraying that the instruments are the main feature of the article. Again, unlike all of the other magazines that I have looked at, none of them feature instruments in the photographs. Also the angle of the shot as the bass guitar is resting on the floor but is still taking up most of the height of the frame but it is still not as tall as the other band members meaning that it is not more important than the band itself. The way in which the title of the article takes up almost half of the page really makes the reader need to read it as they can’t say that they didn’t notice it. An idea that I will use for my own magazine. 

Initial Ideas

Here are my Initial Ideas for my magazine

Initial Designs

Here are my Hand drawn initial designs for my music magazine

Front Cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Diary Entry 4

Monday 14^th March to Monday 28^th March

Rough Cuts

 Using the research of codes and conventions and by using my style model of MOJO i produced the rough cuts of my music magazine

Rough Cuts

Here are my Rough Cuts of my magazine
Front Cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Feedback from Rough Cuts

After my rough cuts I got feedback both from my peers, who are also my target audience and from their feedback I decided that:

As a result of feedback from my target audience, I am going to keep my logo the way it is along with my colour scheme. Also I will keep the layout of the double page spread as it is. I am going to change and reconsider all of the photographs and include more, the text and font on the front cover and the text and layout of the contents page. To help with these changes I will look at more copies of my style models. 

However, I then got feed back from my teachers and they said that:

Following the feedback on my rough cuts from my teachers, I have decided to change the genre of my magazine from classic rock to a guitar magazine. I decided on a guitar magazine because of my current photos all featured instruments in them which is a common code and convention of images of this genre. Also as I am changing genre, I will have to change my style model from MOJO to Total Guitar. 

 

Photo Planning

Here is my table of planning for my photos for my new magazine

Development of Technoligy

Throughout this project, my skills of using photoshop have vastley improved my skills of editing and manipulating photographs. Below is one of the photographs that I had to edit. To edit the photo I used the eraser tool with the sharp edge to erase the majority of the image that I did not want to use. After that I then used the eraser tool with the soft edge and zoomed right in to the image so that i could take away the sharp edge of the other eraser and make sure that what I was doing was precise. I then used the smuge tool to make some of the grass stand up more.

Before

After

Diary Entry 5

Tuesday 29^th March to Thursday 14^th March

Final Cuts

On the Tuesday I recieved peer feedback on my rough cuts and then followed there advise to improve my final cuts. However on the friday when recieving my teacher feedback, I decided to change the whole genre and style model of the magazine. Then on Monday 4th April started my new magazine and spent the next week and a bit producing it and handing it in on Thursday the 14th of April.  

Final Cuts

Below are the Final Cuts of my Music Magazine