Choosing a name

Gwari – I chose the name Gwari because I tried finding the word for football in Cornish, but I didn’t find one. However, I decided to use the word “Gwari” as it meant ‘play’ and ‘fun’ so it fitted with my magazine, and also helps me connect my magazine to the region as it is a regional magazine.

Researching shot types and lighting

The first thing I learnt when researching shot types was that one of the most important rules when taking photographs of people is to ensure that you don’t cut the star vehicle(s) at the knee, neck, elbow or other joints. To avoid this, you must cut your image off between the joints.

There are many types of shot; I will go into further detail on extreme close ups, close ups, head and shoulders, bust, medium and a sport specific shot of freezing motion. All of these are commonly used when creating media products similar to my own.

Extreme close up: This shot type is often used to reveal intricate details about the model of the picture to show some form of emotion that needs to be put across to the target audience.

  

Close up: This shot type is used to show detail in a more subtle way than the extreme close up shot. It is also less dramatic for the target audience.

Head and Shoulders: Where as the previous two shots were focused on giving detail this shot consists of having just enough detail to notice the model’s facial expression and lips, but doesn’t go into a great depth of this.

Bust Shot:  The bust shot shows your subject from a view that only shows the subject from the knee’s up and focuses the audience on a certain part of the model to attract their attention.

Medium shot: This shot is from just below the waist and spans to above the head. This type of shot is used to give a view of the whole model as opposed to focusing on one specific area. This is a shot often found on the cover of magazines.

Freezing action for sport photography: In sports photography freezing the action is often used to gain a detailed action image. There are essentially two techniques to achieving this. 1) Fast shutter speed. There is a direct link between aperture, shutter speed, ISO value and the light in the scene. Basically, to achieve this type of shot you will able to use speeds that will freeze motion, a fast lens, high ISO setting and good light. 2) Fast light source. The alternative of shooting with a fast shutter speed is exposing with a light source that has a very short duration, like a portable flash. Most on-camera flash systems output light for durations of between 1/800 and 1/30,000sec. It is this brief flash that freezes the motion, usually between 1/125 and 1/250 sec – the length of time that is used to expose your frame is based on the flash’s duration.

Prior to commencing my photo shoots I decided to conduct some research into how to light a shoot. One of my shoots was for a sports star/model in a studio.

 I found this YouTube video that instructed me how to move lights in order to create certain pictures, for example in order to create a dark shade on half of the models face positioning two lights, one away from the face and one close to the head. The video also showed me how

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTzg2EKlt8M

whilst on YouTube and continuing to research I came across another video on lighting. This type of lighting was important to me because it showed how to create sun light on an overcast day, in an outdoor shoot. This was important for me to learn as I had to take many shots outside, of football players.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGoCc6F2XJ0

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The next thing I learnt was the importance of light stands. I learnt that they were a crucial part of a photo shoot because they prevent the lights from shaking and moving around. This prevents the lighting being shaky and helps you to keep the light in one place.

Secondly, I learnt how to use a spotlight. This was good for me to learn because I need to take shots of a model in a studio, along with some other equipment for my products. I learnt how to make a model or subject of the shoot stand out from the back ground using a spotlight. The lights must be correctly positioned so that no shadows are created. Usually two spotlights would be used for this type of shoot, one either side of the model/piece of equipment.

Genre research

Prior to engaging in the production of my product I decided to conduct some further research into the conventions of sports/football magazines.  In the magazines that I looked at to find conventions I noticed that in terms of content there will be many articles that interview professional and popular players, reviews on matches, and sporting equipment used in football and other general news within the sport.  In terms of colours the products that I looked to gain conventions from, football magazines, they are generally very colourful and have usually a colour pallet of 5 colours that include the colours of football kits and that can be associated with football. So this means that lots of reds, blues, yellows, blacks and whites are used. As these are common colours. As well as this, you would typically see lots of greens because of the pitch used in football. The use of colour is also used because of the lower age range of the target audience. The layout of this genre is usually quite chaotic and there isn’t too much order to the layout. This is because football fans aren’t associated with being organised and tidy so this will represent them. In terms of mastheads they are often 1/8 of the page and are bold fonts, this is to attract the attention of the target audience so that they can recognise their magazines and pick them up.  The images include are mainly action shots of players doing the sport, but you also see shots of the players, pundits and other famous people associated with the sport in shots that are modeled and often accompany an article. The lexis that is commonly used is usually simplistic and easy to understand because this is what football fans want as they aren’t looking for an extensive read, but something that tells them the information about their sport as simply as possible. Now that I have researched and understand the common conventions of a football magazine I can now use these in my product and rival other magazines that are on the market.  I did this research because as Bentley said in 1997, “rearranging the old to create the new.” Is the best way to rival other companies and impress your target audience because they are already used to seeing their desired product in a certain way.

Synopsis and Treatment

After what I had found out from my research and through my own experiences as a consumer have opened my eyes to the fact that the majority of Cornish magazines target the same or similar people, an audience of people aged 30+ of the social class band C1-E. The majority of these magazines target tourists rather than the people that are local to the area. Although there are some parts that do attempt to target the local people and younger people, the majority don’t. Taking all of this into consideration, I feel there is a real gap in the market for my product, as of yet I haven’t come across a magazine that specifically targets younger audiences that are interested in football. This is why I feel that I could make a success of my product in Cornwall.

 Treatment and Synopsis

My product will carry the name Gwari and is going to be a hybrid genre magazine that brings together football, and the regional take on the sport in a new and fresh way for a younger target audience for Cornish males aged 16-25. In the social band C1-E. It’s a niche market because although football is the most popular sport in the world, it is only going to be on sale within Cornwall so it is aimed at a select target audience. My products will carry a secondary target audience of older males who are interested in football. Including both residents of the local area and tourists.

In terms of the style of the magazine I am aiming to create something that resembles a leading football magazine, FourFourTwo. The layout will be similar, which will effectively connote my target audience. It will also share similarities with Cornwall Today, as the images are of local Cornish places. The content of the magazine will include a range of stories and images that fall under the following headings; match reports, human-interest articles, interviews, Q and A and reviews.

Regarding the retail side of my product, as my target audience are young I want to make it affordable so I will initially market my magazine at £2.50 as this will make it more accessible to my younger audience who are mainly going to be students as most other Cornish magazines are all over £3. An independent publisher as opposed to shall publish Gwari entirely by myself, as the initial start up costs would minimise the profit that I would get to begin with. I shall use Out of Hand Ltd to publish my magazine as this will be cheaper and will reflect the interests of my magazine better than a massive conglomerate company.

There is definitely a gap in the market for my publication because research shows football magazines are one of the most profitable genres and when you combine that with local interest stories all at a reasonable price there is no reason why this shouldn’t sell and make lots of profit from as well as fulfilling the needs of the target audience and feeling a gap in the market. In terms of publication, Gwari will be available online and in print. The print issues will be sold in all local retailers such as; major super markets, newsagents and fashion shops across the County. The print issue will appeal especially to tourists who will want to pass time whilst travelling around the County.