Introduction to A2 task

For this prelemanary task we are going to be looking at the media representaions of youth and make a short video either showing a positive outlook or a negative outlook upon them.

the planning that will be done is essential to the success of the video we make as it will save vaulable time and confusion within the groups that we are in.

Two types of planning that we are going to do are the following.

• storyboarding
• scripting

Storyboarding will let us split the video into around 4-6 different scenes and deicde what kind of content, graphics, sound or actions are taking part within it, it makes it easier to follow how the story will flow when we finally start the filiming process.

Scripting is creating all the dilouge that is said between characters in each scene, it means that we can effectivly act without having to think on our toes of what to say. It may also list any actions that occur in that scene, for example someone falling over.

For this task I was grouped with Danny and Mahdi and our group immediantly started brainstorming for ideas to use. We decided early on that we was going to go for a fairly sterotypical views on different groups of youth and there confrontation with eachother. we therefore thought of two binary opposites of youth to follow Levi Strauss's theory and came to the conclusion of a ganster and a nerd.

We then created are ideas onto a storyboard which we will follow when filming, the basis of the story follow a nerd getting into a fight with a gangster and both of them getting in trouble with a teacher, we plan on showing how one group cares and is deeply effected by this (Nerd), while the other simply doesn't care and sees it as a laugh.

We also scripted what each character was going to say and decided on who could play what character for when we shot the video, this makes it quicker to film so that we can make the most of our time as some of us have different lessons to each other so organistaion is essiential.

Scans of out planning will follow in my next blog post.

All products

powerpoint presentation (Magazine evaluation)

http://www.slideshare.net/swagzy/rockstar-presentation-12099975
Here is a Link to my presentation which goes into detail of the process of my magazine.

The Mighty 8

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
With my magazine I plan to follow similar codes and conventions that can relate to existing magazines such as Kerrang and Rocksound that I have researched, this means I will include things such as Bold text, Busy front and bright eye catching colours, however I will challenge some forms and conventions by setting out my content page in a way I feel is organised fully yet attracts eye catching attention like Kerrang does I also used a different type of shot for my front cover as I use a mid-shot with an outer glow to highlight its importance, the image I also used is a chocolate box although I did not make it a full on smile as I thought this would not be suitable for my rock magazine.
 How does your media product represent particular social groups?
 I plan for my magazine to represent young males between 14-25 who are fans of rock, I also want to show that Rock fans are not all full metal heads and listen to other rock sub genres such as indie rock. My magazine will represent Rock as being as popular as things such as RNB and Rap. 
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Because of the research I have done for Kerrang I have looked into the institution that publishes them which is Bauer Media Group, because my magazine has similar conventions to that of Kerrang but gives something else to offer I figure that this institution would be interested in distributing my magazine, Bauer Media's Advertising Production Department aims to provide advertisers with a consistently exceptional level of service, so there whole institution is basically revolved around advertisement in magazines, I would think that my magazine could offer unique space in terms of Rock advertisements.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

 As my genre for this magazine is Indie Rock I will make the target audience for my rock magazine white middle class rebellious teens between the ages of 14-25 who are looking for some kind of output, the gender would be male by the use of colours as non are feminine at all. The type of music I will be representing is indie-rock as heavy metal is more screaming and destroying everything as given in most stereotypes, indie Rock will be identified more by the bands I will have on my magazine such as linkin park, foo fighters and three days grace, it can also be identified by the type of outfit that my model is wearing, with the shirt and tie, with the leather jacket to make it known that it is still rock. Another reason why I targeted teens are mainly targeted is because they are at the age where they are more disruptive and ignore higher authority such as parents, the crazy rock lifestyle that my magazine contains would be the kind that they would like to live which is seen through these magazines.

How did you attract/address your audience?

 I will attract my audience by using bright red colours like red that stand for the anger and passion in Rock and make the text stand out to grab the eyes of potential customers for it, I will make the genre recognisable from a distance so if would be in a shop people can tell straight away the genre that it is.

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

Considering I had no previous knowledge of InDesign and how I have learnt all these skills needed, I feel as if I have greatly improved sense my first magazine which barely had any codes and conventions in it and way to much whitespace, the content page also had a dramatic change as I learned more codes and conventions and different InDesign skills. Along with that I have also improved with managing the time I have so I can plan and make my product effectively instead of rushing everything at last a last minute.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From this I have learnt how to get rid of any background that my image contains on Photoshop and effectively put it in InDesign among a magazine background. I have learnt in InDesign you can lock different layers so they are not effected when editing your magazine, InDesign has helped me a lot because without it I would not of been able to create my magazine.

Submit your products and records

all Products and records will be published by this Friday.

Deconstructing my double page spread

Looking at some typical double page spread interviews I noticed that the picture is usually a mid-shot although there are some expectations, I also noted there is a section of the text made in bold and used as a headline for the story, there is usually a main section of this text that is made bigger to catch audience’s attention before anything else, I decided that for my text to I should make it the same style that was used for my front cover Masthead and content page to fit in with the style of the magazine.

With the main picture I positioned it to the left hand side of the page and made it a super-smiler type of photo with his head slightly back, I used this to challenge the reader and also because I felt this type of image was suited for the content page as he is giving a very weird look at the audience.

Deconstructing my content page

For my RockStar content page I put the masthead of the content page in the same text format as the front cover to make it known that this is from the same magazine, I kept to all the same colour scheme as well to also make It well aware that it’s from the same magazine. I have made the magazine style very user friendly as typical magazines usually have the column of the page on the right or left hand side of the page and also into different categories so it can be easier to find what you are looking for, I also noticed that through research that the pictures in the content page don’t have to be placed in order of page numbers and instead can be randomly listed, the reason they do this is because the main focus image (mine being the picture with the number 50 on it) is usually of a double page spread so it will not be in the first couple of pages in the magazine, neither the less they use this image mainly to sell the magazine so they will bring it out more than the others. This is why in my magazine I have brought out my main image of Zack Slasher by making it appear on top then all the others and placing it at the top making it seem like the biggest story in the magazine. Other things I used where stuff like the slogan which was used as a extinction of the heading, my original slogan was music with a punch but I felt that the voice of music would appeal to a wider audience as they will follow the hypodermic needle syringe theory as people will feel that they need to follow the best latest magazine. Other things I used included the 5 stars along the column of the content page, two reasons I did this where to fill in the white space and as a slight pun relating to the title of the magazine, I did the same thing above the masthead to fill in the whitespace, I then followed codes and conventions by adding a subscription option, editors section and magazine website.

deconstructing my front page

I decided to use the Masthead Rockstar for my magazine because it is simple yet effective to identify the genre (that being Rock).

My colour scheme involved red and black, as well as white for some texts and other things, I used these colours as red is a very high visibility colour which is why it can be found on thinks such as stop signs, so it means that if my magazine was in a shop its colours could easily garb attention especially on the subheading section “BEST SELLING ROCK MAG TO DATE, I used the slightly reddish orange to bring my main image into context.  The black I used mainly as a background as it makes all my other colours stand out more but it also makes the magazine fit the rock genre which I wanted it to do as black and red are typically rock colours. the black and white can also typically be found as normal text writing but I have also used it for my earpieces, the white text on black makes the text a lot more visible then putting it on the red background but it also makes it stand out from the other red sell lines as something else interesting.

As for my main image I used, I have my Rocks tar (as I would like to call him) standing in a mid-shot which is what Rock magazines usually tend to do along with close-ups, I have my Rockstar using a chocolate box image as his head is slightly turned and lips are slightly parted, however I challenged this convention as I did not want him grinning towards you as that would not suit the type of genre. I have chosen, another reason I also had a slight purple reddish glow around him to bring him into better focus against the background as well as to outline the importance of him on the magazine.  I then put my main headline along him reading “Zack Slasher The next best thing” I put it in bolder text and made it larger so it’s among one of the first things a potential buyer will see.

Other things I included where basic magazine codes and conventions like the barcodes and subhead lines, but I also included a sell line about Blink 182 and included their logo for celebrity endorsement as I felt it would effectively target fans of that band and encourage them to buy my magazine.

the changes from the feedback

 I applied all the changes that was said in the feedback from Facebook onto my magazine and this was the final result, my classmates feedback was all positive and they agreed that this was a lot better then before, I am then using this to present back to everyone and see what they have to say.

Feedback before my final piece

 As I thought I had completed my magazine and it was at it's final stages I wanted to make sure that I had got everything dead on and accurate and that general feedback from people who was not in my class would be well received .

I therefore posted my magazine cover and content page onto my Facebook to ask everyone on there to give me any kind of feedback, I got various feedback about both of them for the front cover. Feedback I got said the colour scheme did not work effectively Move  the masthead for the hand sign to be more displayed


My content page got a lot more comments and attention then my front cover and most people thought it was the selling point of my whole magazine. the feedback said that change the colour scheme as the blue does not work and there are some basic spelling mistakes at bottom of page.

I will take all this feedback into account and change the overall magazine starting with the colour scheme as it is the biggest issue displayed.

Feedback for front cover and content page

today I showed my class my front cover and magazine and asked them for there opinions on all aspects of it.
the feedback I got from my fellow peers and teacher was that the main sell line "Zack Slasher the next best thing" was to big and rotated at a wrong angle.
for my content page it was said that the main image looks stretched and there is some white space above my masthead RockStar.

Feedback from class

Although I thought my magazine was at the point of completion there are some points which I need to add to ensure a professional look and make sure I get the best marks available

1. Add a price tag to front cover
2. Add page number to content page
3. Add an editor’s section which can be found in almost every type of magazine into my content page
4. Add columns to the double page spread as I cannot have the text positioned how it has been before
5. Add a subscription section to the content page
6. Add some more original ideas that make your magazine stand out from the others

Double page spread final piece

To make my double page spread more interesting I added 2 images of Zack Slasher to the magazine, the Super-smiler still remains as my main image and it has not changed positions, but I have also added an outward gaze mid shot to the lower left-hand section of the page, although this meant that I had to rearrange the text but that was easily done to fit the location of the image. Finally I added the name of the Rock star above the main image to fill in the remaining white space and also to clearly identify the artist.

Next stages for double page spread

The next steps I took towards making my double page spread was making the background and putting the text in.

The text was put to the left of the screen away from the main image in my double page, I changed the background image to something of the same colour scheme I'm using but instead I used a slightly different pattern to make it more interesting than having the same repeated background. I still feel that I need to make the double page a little more interesting as it seems just a little to basic right now.

start of double page

The basic design of any magazine interview is like follows with this image. there is usually a caption from part of the interview displayed, with the main part of the caption in bold to draw the audience's attention, the interview questions are then displayed to the space in which the image is not placed, in this case the image takes up the whole left hand side of the screen, questions and answers are then displayed in different colours.




I took this into account when I started my double page spread and put in a quote of part of the interview I already made, I highlighted the main part of the quote "Rock is my life" and put it in the type of text that was used for my masthead on my front cover, my picture I used is then of my Rockstar Zack Slasher giving an super-smiler to give a confused rock look and challenge the reader.

steps to the final pieces



  

The first problem I had with my magazine was the background, I felt it was to plain and not very appealing to any type of customer who would look at the magazine to buy, I felt I needed to stick to my colour scheme yet introduce something just to give the magazine the extra edge it needed., an idea of a simple pattern in the background fitted this idea perfectly as it made the magazine look a little more interesting and professional.

The second problem I had with my magazine was a on-going problem that I have had during my whole time making the magazine and that was the quality of the image, the whole image would give my magazine a rough amateur look which was a big problem for me, I then upgraded the image to a 10.1 MP quality image with the shot still being a mid-shot with it being more of a chocolate box image as the head is slightly turned, although I challenged this type of convention for my rock magazine as my band member is not doing an all-important smile but just simply a gaze as I did not think a typical cheesy smile was appropriate for my magazine.

when I put both these things into my magazine this was the result I got, I also felt the need to make the earpieces a bit larger with the text inside it larger as well, I did this to fill in the white space that I had between the masthead and banner on top and the subheadings bellow, I then made the purple outline more clear on the mid-shot to emphasise his importance on the front cover as well as to make him stand out on the background.

Also for my content page I have added the background in to give it the same effect as my front cover, I have then moved my stars I had along the top and bottom of the content pages banners and information. the last step I took was changing the main content page image to something that related to The front cover, I simply put Zack Slasher against a slightly different pattered background with the same colour scheme and image to relate to my main headline.

The transformation of the content page

This is my content page in its final stages, I have added more picture frames to fill in the white space that was still present in one of the corners, I have added stars in the lower left hand corner of the page to symbolise the title of my magazine, the information of the context is displayed clearly on the left hand side of the screen with the date even included.

I have also decided to change the subheading music with a punch to someone with more of an bigger impact, I thought of The Voice Of Music as it means this magazine can be globally known and therefore sell better.

rockstar magazine

This is where my magazine is so far I have Completely turned around the front cover to make it look like a more official magazine, I have added ear pieces and sell lines to help with the look, I used celebrity endorsement to push my magazine as well with blink 182 being in the sell lines as well as there logo being displayed so it is eye catching to people.

with the content page I started I wanted to make it clear to the audience of what would be in the magazine, so I added the images in the frames to the page and I am going to add all the information in the red left hand box.

So far with the magazine...

This is the stage at where my magazine is in the making, there are still several issues which I need to tackle.

•  The quality of the Photo
• The bar code and the price don't look correct
•  need to fill in whitespace
• need to add more photos such as the one next to the word plus

4 examples

Here are a few examples of my magazine masthead which I decided to call RockStar as it is sort effective and is easy to identify as a Rock magazine, I decided the best colour to use was red, although with the 2nd title I could not get the colour in red which is a shame as It was my favourite out of the 4 I experimented with, if there is a way I can turn the colour red it would be most likely that I would use this as the masthead.

so far so good

For my media magazine I took several photo's of my friend wearing a rockish style of clothing, this was the best picture out of all of them although I am not completely satisfied as the quality of the image is not that good and I feel as if I can get a better pose out of the picture.

resources I will need

To successfully complete the task set I will need the following resources

•  high quality camera
• the programmes Indesign photoshop and PowerPoint
• several magazines for different examples
• access to the Internet for research and examples
• access to rock props, e.g guitars and drums
• rock clothing
• someone to model

Magazine timeline

Kerrag magazine research

2)Kerrang being a rock magazine appeals to its audience by putting a well-known rock band who have a wide fan base "Avenged Sevenfold" on the front page, this will also appeal to fans of the band even though they may not regularly buy the magazine.

3)Kerrang uses a real rock and roll with violence look with its smashed title sign, red writing and band members holding chains and weapons, the image is of the band looking very dangerous but inviting as they are looking straight into the camera lens so it doesn't put off the audience but keeps to its theme, they then use the yellow to stand out among the contents on the page and it draws the audience to read it first when they see it. The other offers that they show bellow such as free poster special will also grab the attention of the reader, especially because the text "free is made bold and eye-catching and make the reader see what else there is to read about it.

The double page spread also used the same Subheading as the front cover and sticks to the theme as you can see them with poles and dark clothing, the background colour is kept simple however so that the writing is easier to read for the reader.