Content Construction

For my contents page I used the same colour pallet as I did on my cover page to follow common conventions of music magazines and give the magazine a theme. To start with I put the main image onto my contents page. the image covered the majority of the page with a column on the right hand side not covered to leave room for the stories and page numbers.

On the image I put the page number and what the story was about leading on from the cover page. However I used an image of a different member of 'Zombie Tour' so the reader doesn't get bored of looking at the same image. I overlaid the image with a blue/green paper effect once more to get the same darkening feeling that I got with the image on the front cover. Again this shows continuity throughout my magazine. The feature article was the only article that had an image. This draws the readers attention to the the big image as it fills 2/3 rds of the page. I then used the line tool to divide the space between the image an the space on the left hand side. This gives it a more professional feel as everything is not overlapping and messy.

In the vacant space on the left hand side I had a heading that said 'contents' to make sure the reader knew what page they were on. Using a dotted line I underlined the word 'contents' to break it away from the stories beneath it. I then began to fill the rest of the column with stories that related to bands and artists from the rock genre, things that would interest the target audience. Similarly to the cover page I wrote the name of the band/artist then a brief insight to what the story was about beneath it. Only this time I had the page number on the left hand side of the artists name.

To finish off my contents page I added two stickers around the page that had text in. The first one which was situated on the image side on the page advertised more stories that were included in the magazine and the other one which was on the text side of the page was another competition. I included these to break the page up a little and make it less formal for the reader to look at.

Cover Construction

After I had successfully taken images that were suitable to use  on my cover page I begun to construct it.
To start off with I put the image I was going to use onto a Photoshop document and began to remove any blemishes that I felt need to be removed. I then overlaid the image with a blue/green paper layer to give the picture a darker feel which connotes rock.

Secondly I placed my masthead 'TRS' into the top left hand of the page keeping it 2mm from the edge of the page as this is common conventions of mastheads across all magazines. I however did not make it 1/8th of the page, another common convention, as I did not feel my masthead would have a great effect if it was that big. The masthead was 3D with a light effect in the middle of the 'R' to make the text go from dark to light.  This appeals to the target audience as it was colour read and orange which are both colour that connote rock in different ways, red connoting passion, love and anger while orange connotes desire.

When it came to adding the text to my magazine I used the colours white, red and yellow. I used these colours as once again they have connotations that fit the rock genre and are going to grab the eye of the targe audience when they are looking for their genre of magazine. I began to fill the left hand side of the page with stories. I put the bands names in yellow with an introduction of why they were in the magazine beneath them in red. I did this because having the band names in yellow made in more eye-catching against the background so the target audience will be able to notice their favourite bands easily, meaning they will want to pick up the magazine and look inside then perhaps buy it. I used a regular font as if I had gone for something fancy it wouldn't have connoted rock and would have been too over the top for my target audience. I used lexis like 'gory' on the cover of my magazine as these are words which can be associated with the rock genre.

Next, I added more content to the page with a little sticker toward the top left of the page that promoted a competition. To do this I used the shape tool to create a circle, I then filled it yellow and put red text on it which made the text stand out on the yellow background. To make the circle stand out more I bordered it in black which gave it some definition meaning it catches the eye of the reader. At the bottom on the page I put a black strip using the rectangle tool which I put another story on with an image on. I filled the rest of the black band with names of bands in the rock genre that appeared in the magazine to entice the reader into opening the magazine and reading about their favourite bands and rock artists. I also added a bar code, issue number and date to the magazine as these are also common conventions seen on a magazine.

The final thing I did was to add the main story across the body of the image. I used 'urban fonts' to find a font that I liked to go as the name of the band in the story, eventually I found one that connoted rock it did this as it was rough around the edges with bits missing from it. I then put the text into Photoshop where I made the font white as opposed to black because I was following my text colour scheme and it had greater effect standing out on the background when it was white. Once I put it onto my cover I enlarged it so that it was the first thing you looked at when you looked at the cover so people were drawn to the main story. Underneath the band name I put a quote from the interview with them and and brief insight into what the story was about to tempt the reader into opening up and buying the magazine. This connotes rock as rock stars have a reputation for not being able to resist temptation and putting a story like this will really tempt the target audience to pick up the magazine and have a read. After I had completed this my cover was complete.

Original Images

I wanted to use this image as I liked the background and the group of 3, but I couldn't use it because the image was out of focus.

similarly to the image above this image was also out of focus.

Like a few of my other images I couldn't use this image due to it being out of focus.

I liked this image, but didn't use it because the image was too light.

I wanted to use an image of this style, but couldn't use this one as it was not only out of focus but the subject was not looking at the camera.

I liked this image because it was a medium long shot. Unfortunately I chose not to use this image as it was too light.

I liked this image and I decided to use it on my contents page as it was in focus and wasn't too bright.

I couldn't use this image as it was unfocused.

I wanted an image of this style to be on my front cover, but I couldn't use it as the image was very out of focus.

I decided to use this image on my front cover because it was in focus and it was the kind of shot that I wanted based on my style model.

Planning My Photoshoot

Before taking the images for my photo shoot, I planned the equipment that I would need to create successful images that will appeal to my target audience.


Props and costume:
-Guitar
-Dark/denim clothing

Location:
-Studio
-Walled area
-Forest

Equipment:

- 600d Cannon Camera
-Lighting kit
- 35mm Lens
-Backdrop
-Tripod
-64gb card
-Battery

Budget
Camera - (£1200 to purchase camera or £50 per day to hire)
Lighting Kit - (£120 to purchase)
Tripod - (£30 to purchase)
Photoshop - (£800 to purchase)
64GB Memory Card - (£70 to purchase)
50mm Lens - (£240 to purchase)
Green backdrop - (£5)
Backdrop frame - (£40)
Apple Mac - (£1000)
Clothes and accessories - (£100 - £350)
Hair and makeup - (£25 - £100)
Total: £4000 (approximately) 

I needed dark clothes for my shoot because the model needed to connote rock music and I would achieve this by dressing the model in dark clothing as it connotes rebellion and darkness, commonly associated with rock music. Images with a model wearing these types of clothes will be easily recognised by the target audience who are going to buy my magazine. For my contents page and double page spread I used a natural background as it gives it a rough feel and the natural light will give a good effect on my models without making them look to bright like in a pop photo shoot. I need the lighting kit for my cover page image as it is a medium close up image of one model which needs to be made to stand out as it draws attention to the image. This follow the common conventions of most rock magazines images. Finally, I will need a camera in order to take the images I require.


Choice of Models

Names: Tom Wagstaff and Jack Walker.
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Straight
Nationality: British
Ethnicity: White

I chose Jack and Tom to be my models as they fall into the primary target audience age range this will attract the target audience as they are seeing a magazine being targeted specifically at their age group. Both of these boys have a rough look about them. I chose them with this in mind and it connotes rock to be rough and untidy looking once more this will appeal to the target audience. They are also both White British as are the majority of the target audience meaning that this will contribute to the sales of my magazine as it specifically appeals to a certain target audience.

Masthead Experiments

I practiced with a few names for my masthead before selecting the one I wanted to use which were:

-Rock Sessions
-Total Rock
-Blare
- TRS (Total Rock Sessions)
- Constant Rock


Out of the names I came up with I decided to go with "TRS" as it is short and will sit nicely on my cover page. I needed to create a masthead, but before I created my masthead I experimented using just one letter to see what I could make.

First of all I put the letters 'TRS' on a white background using illustrator. I used the colour red for my letter and put it in a simple font. I chose these colours as they connote rock although I was mainly focusing on what I could do as opposed the colours used.

                                                             

 I then began to make the image 3D as I thought this effect would help bring the mast head off the page and attract the target audience.

                                                             

I then transferred the image from illustrator into Photoshop in order to be able to over lay and old film reel image, to give it an old orange effect.

                                                           

To finish off I put a light effect between the gap in the letter 'R' to brighten the right hand side of then image.
I used this as my final masthead as I felt it connoted my genre well matching the colour scheme. It was also effective as it was 3D so it came off the page at whoever was looking at the magazine which instantly draws you in.

I also experimented with some other mastheads before I finally decided to go with the one that is on my work. 

The first one I experimented with was this one, I decided not to use it because I feel the font didn't appeal to the target audience as well as it could have.

Another one I decided against using was this masthead because the font didn't connote rock as well as I wanted it too.

Finally I experimented with this masthead and chose not to use it because there is too  much going on and is not eye catching and simple to read for my specific genre.

Flat Plans

 This is the flat plan of my double page spread

  This is my contents page flat plan

This is the flat plan of my cover page

This is a double page spread flat plan that I drew during the planning stages.

This is another.

This is a flat plan of a contents page.

This is another.

This is a  flat plan of a cover page.

This is another

Researching Mise En Scene for Photographic Shoots

A successful photo shoot contains more than just clicking the button on the camera. Lots of preparation is required to pull off a successful photo shoot. Professional photographers will dedicate hours to to planning their shoots, such as, lighting, costumes, setting, hair, make up, positioning and poses. Professional photographers will often have staff, and people that will often prepare the stuff for them. As I am neither a professional or wealthy enough to afford to pay people to do it for me, I am going to have to research Mise En Scene for the rock music genre.

To create professional and successful photos Mise-en-scene needs to be thought about in detail, this includes costumes, makeup and hair. For the rock genre, rock starts are presented to look rough and ragged, this is achieve by using costumes, makeup, in some cases, and their hair. For my front cover, I am going to need to think about how I’m going to create a cover image that will appeal to the target audience, in order to sell my magazine.  

To begin with, I researched costumes. It seems that suitable costumes are the likes of denim wear, jackets and jeans, torn clothing, which again connotes the rough, bad image portrayed by the rock genre.  The costumes will be very retro and resemble clothes worn by rock stars from past decades, as that is what is associated with the rock genre.

This is an example of the kind of costumes that rock bands wore during performances.

The makeup that is usually used is either very colourful, extravagant makeup that consists of bright colours, perhaps seeming pretty outrageous and against the normal this again connotes rock music as it is often associated with the rock as it is portrayed and rebellious. On the other hand the makeup could be very subtle, just enough to make the subjects of the photograph look a little dirty and scruffy. In my shoot, I will use the different techniques to get a range of different pictures in my magazine, to how that it’s not just about one part of rock, but will cover a lot of it. Having these types of makeup will help me to get the right perception of the rock genre and will enable my target audience to recognise their magazine, by the images on it.

 This is an example of famous rock band kiss. They are well known for wearing extravagant make up.  

Finally, I looked at what types of hair you would expect to see on a rock artist/rock model. I found that, as with all the other aspects, making the person look scruffy is the main objective. To do this, making them hair big, knotty and dirty looking is key to getting the rock look perfect. Longer hair is better for achieving the right look because it is seem as rebellious that a boy would have long messy hair, as opposed to short, well kept hair. On the other hand, short, wacky hair is also something that can be associated with rock, as again is seen as rebellious. So on my magazine, I will try to make my models hair look scruffy and messy to achieve the best rock look I can in order to help sell my magazine.

This is a video of how to create a slick back old school hair style which was commonly seen amongst rock men with long hair.