Music Magazine Double Page Spread

Music Magazine Contents Page

Music Magazine Front Cover

Ideology

Ideology can be defined as "a set of conscious and unconscious ideas that constitute one's goals, expectations and actions." Ideology is used very effectively in many different magazines, such as to establish the target audience.

 

For example, from the front cover of this issue of We <3 Pop, you can distinguish that the magazine is targeted towards a young female audience by the use of colours usually linked to females such as pink and yellow, focusing on fashion and pop music and the fact that the female celebrities shown in the magazine are portrayed in a very positive and important light, while the males featured are posed and dressed formally, appealing to the young female audience.

 

By contrast, the front cover of this issue of NME can be shown to be identified at a male audience as it features colours such as black and green compared to the fluorescent colours of We <3 Pop, includes more male musicians in a dark light as opposed to the "girl power" vibe given off by We <3 Pop, and uses a different variety of fonts on the cover, again differing with the single font used on We <3 Pop.

Scripting of Double Page Spread

TRAPPED IN THE MAZE… AND THERE’S NO WAY OUT

Its 12:30pm when Liam Maher, better known by his stage name – “The Maze”, struts into the fluorescent, empty, warm studio. As he calmly sits on the chair laid out for him, a massive grin creeps on to his face before asking me “Y’alright?”

2013 has been an incredible year for Maher. His debut single “Lost in The Maze” reached #1 in the Charts in 42 different countries within one week of being released. Also, his self-titled album reached #1 in the Charts globally, gaining Platinum-status 5 times and breaking records as the biggest debut for an independent artist ever.

“I don’t think that I could ever have predicted the amount of success that I’ve had this year…” Maher chuckles, wide-eyed. “It still feels incredibly unreal that I’m here… I still feel like I should be working at my old job in Subway, making Meatball Marinaras for posh w*nkers who can’t be bothered to do it themselves.” He smirks, shaking his head, jokingly.

As well as his blatant musical and lyrical genius, Maher has also received several fans for his comedic and topical tweets, with his Twitter profile “@MazeyMaher” currently at 11 million followers and counting. Responding to a question of him being labelled “the Robert Downey, Jr. of independent music”, Maher laughs. “Well, for a start, I’m not f*cking Iron Man! I think he has me beat there.” Putting on a serious smile though, Maher continues: “Seriously though, I’m quite good friends with Rob… he’s one of the funniest and most genuine people I’ve ever met.” It seems that these feelings are mutual, with Downey, Jr. referring to Maher as one of the best musicians of the past 50 years.

However, it’s not all joking about with Maher. He has shown a serious side when speaking about and donating half of his royalties to organisations trying to stamp out poverty in third-world countries. “It’s an issue I feel incredibly strongly about… I visited Africa in my GAP year and was f*cking horrified at what I saw. People shouldn’t have to live like that. That’s why it needs to change.”
Maher has also become well-respected in the gay community since a video went viral of him intervening and stopping a homophobic attack on a young boy by fellow “musicians” MC Willy C and Dominic Breeze. “You should be allowed to be who you are without being attacked, regardless of sexuality. I will not tolerate bullying of any kind, man, you know?” He looks up, smirking. “If you want to attempt to be f*cking big men and attack people, try that s*it with me.”

All in all, you’d think that after the huge success that Maher has gained, he’d want to take things more slowly. However, this is not the case. “I’m going to keep going, bigger and better than before!” He vows. “The reason I’m called ‘The Maze’ is because once you hear my music, you’re addicted and I’ve got you trapped in my theoretical maze.” He laughs loudly. “I owe it to my fans. You go hard or go home.”

Music Magazine Contents Page DRAFT

Music Magazine Double Page Spread DRAFT

Music Magazine Front Cover DRAFT

Fonts

In order to choose the perfect title font for my Media Music Magazine, I have narrowed down my selection to 5 fonts from www.dafont.com. Here are the selections:

The first font is called HACKED:
The reason that I chose this font as one of my selections is that it has a distorted yet professional and neat look that would fit in well with my magazine, as well as linking in well with the independent underground vibe that I am  going for.

The second font is called BROKEN GLASS:

 The reason that I chose this font as one of my selections is again that it fits in well with the tone and look that I want my magazine to have as well as the eye-catching effect that it may have on my target audience.


The third font is called WRESTLEMANIA:

The reason that I chose this font is that it bears similarities to other music magazines of my genre that I have looked at in my research, making my magazine look and feel professional while relating quite strongly to other magazines of the same genre. Out of all the fonts, I feel that this one is my favourite.

The fourth font is called KG DEFYING GRAVITY:

This font was the first font that I looked in to on the website, however I don't think that it suits the genre of my magazine, making it look cartoonish and blocky, contrasting with how I want my magazine to be presented.

The fifth and final font is called PLANE CRASH:

The reason that I chose this font is because it looks very gritty and eye-catching, fitting in with the tone of my magazine.

Magazine Terminology

1. MASTHEAD - the title/logo of a newspaper/magazine at the head of the first or editorial page.
2. THE LEAD - the introduction to a text, often in a bold font or capital letters to attract audiences.
3. BODY COPY - the main article of text.
4. SERIF FONT - a font that has small bars at the end of each letter.
5. SANS SERIF FONT - a font that does not have any serifs.
6. DROP CAPITALS - an incredibly larger letter at the start of a text.
7. CROSS HEAD - a small sub-heading that divides two bodies of text.
8. WHITE SPACE - white space on the magazine other than the pictures/texts.
9. MODE OF ADDRESS - how the magazine addresses it's audience.
10. SELL LINES - a motto for the magazine.
11. BANNER - text that stands out on the magazine.
12. HOUSE STYLE - trademark layout of the magazine.
13. BOARDERS - gaps at end of each page.
14. GUTTERS - two pages meeting the middle with no text.
15. LEADING - the gaps between the lines of text in the magazine.
16. KERNING - the space between the letters in the magazine.
17. STRAPLINES - a secondary header below the main headline.
10. BYLINES - credits to everyone involved in the making of that issue of the magazine.
19. ANCHORAGE - when text and images are relevant to each other.

PhotoShop

PhotoShop is a graphics editing program developed and published by American multinational computer software company Adobe. PhotoShop allows the user to alter images, often used to correct flawed photos that contain problems, such as red eye or spots, by removing these problems in effective ways with the photos maintaining their natural look in the process.
An example of a tool that you are able to use on PhotoShop would be the Spot Removal tool that can edit things such as spots of people's faces or graffiti in the background of a photo. An example of Spot Removal that I have done in the past would be:

                                                                         BEFORE

 

AFTER

InDesign

InDesign is a desktop publishing software application, created by the American multinational computer software company Adobe. It can be used to create and publish several pieces of work such as posters, newspapers, books and magazines (the topic for our coursework). The features of the software allow us to create a professional-looking magazine, these features including gutters, orphans and widows, wide varieties and text formats among us.

Mock-ups of Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread

Organisation of Costumes and Props

After studying how many indie musicians dress to use conventions for my magazine, I noted that many musicians that are focused in indie/alternative music and their fans have similar dress codes such as leather jackets, jumpers and skinny jeans, as these particular outfits look stylish, cool and represents the music genre itself very well. As a result, I got my cover model to dress in these items of clothing to appear representative, relatable and appealing to my target audience. As well as this, I got some of my other models featured in the magazine to dress formally, so as to give my magazine a more sophisticated look.
I used musical instruments relevant to my genre such as keyboards and drums in my magazine to make my magazine seem professional as well as relate it to conventions used in many magazines of the same genre.

Organisation of Locations

In making my magazine, I wanted my locations to be diverse and varied, so I used locations both out in the open and closed off inside. For my shots taken for my cover model, I used outside locations to differentiate my model from the other models featured in my magazine, as well as to signify that my model doesn't care what anyone else thinks and that he feels free in his career and life. For my other models featured in the magazine, I used closed off locations such as music studios to establish that my models are rooted in music, as well as to establish that they enjoy what they do and are happiest when playing music.

Organisation of Actors

On the front cover of my final media product, my cover model is shown to be sitting on the top of a climbing frame, looking up. This may be seen as quite puzzling and confusing to my audience of why this is included on my front cover. However, there is actually a deep meaning of the picture I will explain. The picture is quite symbolic towards the name of my magazine, "Uprising", in that it shows my cover model rising to the top of this climbing frame, looking determined as he looks upwards, hinting to the audience that he has high aspirations and is motivated to achieve them. As well as this, the character that my cover model is portrayed as is described throughout my final product as an "upcoming, increasingly popular, indie musician". This coupled with the character's stage name "The Maze", with him being said to trap people with his music, may hint to the audience that the picture is also symbolic of the character's status and reputation becoming more well-known, with the him climbing the frame representing this.

Another thing that I wanted to show throughout my magazine was the positivity of my music genre, which is why on my Contents Page, I feature two of my actors playing musical instruments and looking like they are gaining enjoyment from this. By doing this, this makes it appear that my actors gain joy from what they do, as well as the indie music genre. Because of this, it makes the audience respect the musicians more and shows the positive side of the indie genre, something not seen in many magazines similar today.

Contents Page Development

Additional Photos for my Contents Page

My Photoshoot

Semiotics

Semiotics is the belief that everything used in a certain product has a reason for being that way, i.e. a a heavy metal music magazine using dark colours to fit in with the genre of the magazine or a feminine magazine using girly colours such as pink or yellow. This technique is used in magazines to attract potential buyers and make them purchase the magazine.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

The Uses and Gratifications theory suggests that people actively choose their media products based on their needs.
Blumler and Katz discussed that audiences consume the media for different needs and in different ways. The media industry is not the only one to blame, people need the media to fulfill their needs and wants.
Media consumers choose texts that fulfill one or more of these needs:
-To be informed and educated about the world in which they live.
-To identify personally with characters and situations in order to learn more about themselves.
-To be entertained by a range and variety of well-constructed texts.
-To use the media as a talking point for social interaction or discussion.
-To escape from their "daily grind" into other worlds and situations.

Stereotypes

Stereotypes can be defined as "a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing." Examples of common stereotypes that can be found today would include: all Irish people are drunks, all blonde people are stupid or all young people are hooligans/vandals.

Stereotypes are often repeatedly used within the media, with different media outlets that include stereotypes being the internet, television, radio and magazines to name a few. The reason for this is to encourage large audiences to have beliefs that all people in a particular group are the same. This can be considered harmful as the stereotypes often hint at negative characteristics for that particular group and, as a result, influence prejudice and discrimination towards that particular social group.

Title for my Music Magazine.

After both researching into music magazines of the indie music genre, and brainstorming and preparing several different names, I have finally come up with the title of my music magazine - "UPRISING". The reason for this would be that the title links well with my chosen genre, in that it highlights and represents the upcoming/rising talent within the music industry and gives hints of mystery and rebellion in the title - a big theme throughout the independent music genre. By naming my magazine "UPRISING", it will give a strong impression on the genre of my magazine, as well as stand out to both my target audience and the general population.

Target Audience

After doing research into music magazines based around my genre and the target audience that read them, I have come up with the target audience for my music magazine: 16 to 22 year-olds. The reason for this is that I am in that age group and so I would know how to keep that age group interested in the magazine and its contents, as well as appealing to their interests such as music and the media.
As well as this, I am trying to attract people interested in Indie music, as they can find bands they like in my magazine, as well as upcoming indie bands. Examples included in the magazine will be M83, Of Monsters and Men, Gabrielle Aplin, The Wombats, Two Door Cinema Club and Glen Hansard. 

Media Mind Map with Genre of my Music Magazine

In yesterday's Media lesson, I did a quick draft of my mind map with conventions of the music genre my magazine is going to be for - Indie music.
I plan on updating the mind map and adding more stuff, but here's what it looks like for now:

Moral Panic

According to Cohen, 1972, Moral Panic is "A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges as a threat to societal values and interests: it's nature is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media: the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to."
Alternatively, moral panics involve the construction of "folk devils" that need controlling, which leads to increased social control.
Examples of moral panic in the past include child abductors after the kidnapping and murder of James Bulger in 1993 and Islamophobia after the 9/11 attacks on America in 2001. However, most recently, a lot of Moral Panic has been blamed on video games due to accusations of them causing acts of crime and violence in real life. An example of this would be the video game Mortal Kombat, after the murder of 13 year-old Noah Wilson at the hands of his friend Yancy, who used a finishing move from the game to murder Wilson. Another example would be the video game Doom after the Columbine High School Massacre, after it become known that the perpetrators, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were obsessed with the video game.

Some terminology used for moral panic would be:
-Concern - behaviour of a particular group represented as having threat
-Volatility - panics erupt dramatically but are difficult to sustain. Negative consequences for the rest of us
-Hostility - "folk devils" constructed to create a clear division between "them" and "us"
-Consensus - widespread acceptance of the threat posed by this group. Not necessarily reflecting optional concern but the campaigner will be very vocal whilst the opposition will be weak and disorganised.
-Disproportionality - wild exaggeration of evidence

Moodboard

For research into my music magazine, I was asked to create a moodboard relating to the genre of music that I had chosen to base my music magazine around - indie. The moodboard shows several indie artists, such as well-known artists as Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons, Two Door Cinema Club and The Wombats, as well as up-and-coming artists as Gabrielle Aplin, Of Monsters and Men and M83, and established artists such as Glen Hansard. The moodboard also features instruments used in that genre of music such as banjos and synths.

Feminism

The media's views of women have changed dramatically over time. Back 50 years ago, Laura Mulvey, a theorist, came up with the theory of the "male gaze", where she thought that men only used women to objectify them to gain male attention. However, in the present day, female musicians are treated equally and as much respect as their male counterparts - with women such as Adele being commended for their vocal and lyrical ability. However, you could argue that some of these views still exist today, with musical artists such as Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke being criticised for objectifying women in their lyrics and music videos.

Analysis of Front Cover #2 - Q

Analysis of Front Cover #1 - NME

School Magazine Front Cover work

In my media lesson today, I finished my media assignment, which was to make a School Magazine front cover using Photoshop and InDesign. The picture used on my front cover was of my friend Jack Warland, where I used the spot healing tool to remove the very small amount of spots Jack had, any rubbish on the floor and any rust on the bench he is sitting on. This is the final product:

Analysis and Deconstruction of Old School Newsletter

In my media lesson today, I analysed and deconstructed the previous newsletter used for the school I attend, Deyes High School. The analysis and deconstruction contains both positive and negative points, showing what to improve on with the newsletter and what to keep the same. I will include a screenshot of the analysis and deconstruction in this post for you to read and see if you agree or disagree with any of my points.

My Media Magazine Questionnaire

Examples of types of Media that I like

An example of a music video that I like would be the music video for the well-known singer/song-writer Ed Sheeran's song "Lego House":

The reason that I like this music video is that it stars a well-known actor, Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter films), who bears a resemblance to Sheeran, providing humour to fans of both Sheeran's music and the Harry Potter films. I also like this music video as there is a big twist at the end in that Grint's character turns out to be an obssessive fan of Sheeran's, instead of Sheeran himself who the audience thought Grint was portraying throughout the video.

An example of a film trailer that I like is the film trailer for the recent Superman reboot "Man of Steel":

The reason that I like this film trailer is that the music in the trailer builds throughout, starting off slow and quiet to accompany the emotions and turmoil the characters are going through, before gaining momentum and becoming loud and fast to accompany the action and destruction happening on the screen. Another reason that I like this film trailer is that the cinematography and camera angles used in the trailer are incredibly varied but work together extremely well.

An example of a video game that I like is the recent action-adventure, survival horror "The Last of Us":

The reason that I like this video game is that the game uses motion capture to create the characters animations and voices, meaning that the game as a whole feels authentic as the actors are contributing more towards the characters than if they were just recording lines in a booth. Another reason that I like this video game is that the game merges several genres together to create a finished product that puts you through several tones and emotions.

An example of a website that I like is:
http://whatculture.com/
The reason that I like this website is that, being massively into films, television and video games, this website posts reviews of all three and analyzes several different types of media for a big audience.

Introduction

Hi, I'm Jack and this is my blog for my A-Level Media Studies project - to make a music magazine. On this blog, I will keep you up to date with how my music magazine is doing and the finished product itself.
I have chosen to study Media at A-Level as I took it for GCSE and both received a high grade in the subject and enjoyed the lessons a lot, meaning I wanted to continue with the subject at a higher level. I've also been interested in the media since a young age and so wanted to put my interest to use.
I'd like to use the subject in the future as I'd like to gain a career in the media when I've finished my studies both in A-Level in University. I have a big passion and interest for acting, writing and directing, and have had experience in all three.
So this is the introduction to my blog. I hope you enjoy and take interest in the following posts.
Thanks for reading,

Jack.