FINAL PRODUCTS

Here are all of my final products for my AS Media Music Magazine Production:

- My music magazine is a Hip-Hop/R&B genre focus and was influenced by other existing material within this genre such as 'Vibe', 'Billboard' and 'XXL'

- Its title is 'RENEGADE' and the TA (or target audience) focuses on ages 16-22 male and female urban followers of HIP-HOP.

  

This is my first draft of my music magazine front cover

This is my second draft of my music magazine front cover 

This is my music magazine contents page

Double Page Spread - Draft one 

Double Page Spread - Draft 1

Double Page Spread - draft 2

Double Page Spread - Draft 3

Evaluation - Point 7

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

Looking back now, I am very pleased with my progress throughout the year, from my creation of my school magazine 'The CCC's' front cover & contents page to the final creation of products for my music magazine 'Renegade'. I hope that my progress is clear through the production of my final product in comparison to the first task that I was assigned to. I have realised that there is a lot of editing involved in making a magazine, not just in terms of the editing process but also the significance of mise en scene and lighting as well as the Recce of photos.

- My first task was to create a school magazine front cover and contents page. To carry out this task I used my school camera and three talents; two school students and a teacher. I used close ups and mid-shots for my camera angles and cropped the photos. I then added the images to 'Microsoft Word' where I placed the Masthead and the taglines. Although I used relevant symbols, a main cover line and a 'puff plug', at the time I felt that the cover was professional. However now that I am looking back and evaluating, I think that the cover itself is rather simplistic and I should have perhaps used two colour schemes as opposed to multiple use of colours. Having said this, I am pleased with the fact that I considered mise en scene for both of the images that I used. For instance, I took the main image in the library, ensuring that the books & tables were visible in the background and therefore ensuring that the location and relevance of it were clear to the consumer. - I got this idea from the research that I carried out into other existing school|educational magazines such as 'FFH' and 'Back To School'.

Here is a comparison of my preliminary task (left) and final music magazine front cover (right):

Here are some clips that I have recorded to explain the comparison of my two front covers:

Evaluation - Point 6

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

1.) Learnt how to use my camera 

Before I had taken part in a media project involving the use of my own individual creativity I had never really understood much about the importance of technology. While creating my magazine I learnt that using a good camera is essential for taking photos - especially photos for a magazine. When I had created my first magazine front cover for my magazine 'Renegade' I had used an iPhone to take my images for my front cover. At the time I thought that the quality of my photos were great, but after I had conducted further research into camera angles, editing techniques and shooting material of other relevant and existing magazines, I found that the photo quality was no longer up to standard or something that I was satisfied with. Therefore I came to a decision to reform my magazine. Here are images of the before and after of my learning process:

Before

After

As you can see there are some dramatic changes in the process of the creation of my magazine front cover: the font of the text, the talent on the cover, the information and tag lines as well as the image itself. Most importantly, overall, the quality has improved.

For my second and improved front cover on the right I used this Canon Power-shot camera which I am very grateful for.

2.) I learnt how to edit my photos using editing applications and software:

To edit my photos I used three key applications which I now use as my go-to's whenever I am editing a photo!

- So to begin with I used an editing software known as 'Afterlight' which if you read my previous posts you will know plenty about. I used this application to carry out my initial photo editing process and found it to be very useful to me. It provided a wide variety of elements to consider changing, including saturation and sharpness of my images - both of which I had previously not known anything about. Before using the programme I thought of photo editing as adding filters and adding a splash of colour to my photos. This application alone changed my entire view of photo editing as it made me aware of the first stages of editing, before the filters and the text, and most importantly taught me how to manipulate an image and make it suitable for the context of its use - which in this case was my Hip-hop music magazine.

- Next, I used a programme known as 'Pixlr'. I found this to be useful to me because it taught me how to effectively add text to my photos. Not only this, but I learnt how to edit the text itself too. For instance, I used a font called 'American Typewriter'. I learnt how to change the colour of the fonts - to use both black and white colours on the cover as well as change the intensity of each and every font and colour that I chose to use. This was great because it enabled me to clearly portray the tag lines which I felt would attract audience attention in a manner that would make them stand out amongst the surrounding text.
- Lastly I used 'Piclay'. I used this mainly for techniques such as mirroring and layering my photos. I found this particularly useful as I was able to mirror some of my photos multiple times to create the 'quadruple' effect on my double page spread - that has received lots of audience attention!

3.) Learnt how to use a blog:

- Despite the fact that I technically already own a photo blog account known as 'Instagram' I would not refer to myself as a 'blogger', Using Blogger has shown me a new method of blogging, not just through images, but through videos and voice clips, and presentations, and editing text on the blog, the layout of the material on the blog as well as the style of the blog itself. I could go on and create an entire list of things that I have learnt but that would take too long! Instead I will say that I have found the blog so useful to the extent that I now believe I could start my own blog for free, using Blogger, not just for media purposes but for lifestyle. In addition to this I learnt that a blog can be used in many ways including embedding information from other websites such as 'YouTube', this is how I was able to share my audience feedback videos which I am thankful for - while doing this I learnt how to embed links from other sources onto a blog which I did not know was possible before I started using Blogger. I am now confident in the purpose of, and how to use a blog and this has changed my entire perspective of using a blog in a positive way.

4.) Learnt how to upload presentations

- Slideshare and Prezi: While using a blog I learnt how to present my ideas using a combination of words and photos in a fun way... I have learnt that creating presentations as a means of sharing information can be time efficient, easy to produce and a lot easier for the consumer to want to read through!

Evaluation - Point 5

How did you attract/address your audience? 

AS Media - Evaluation - Point 5 from Avigill123

Evaluation - Point 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Deciding on a 'type' of audience is difficult when you live in a diverse society full of a wide range of people with lots of interests. In the modern day, stereotyping people into a particular category, especially in terms of music can be challenging to say the least. However after a lot of deep thought and consideration I have decided that my magazine aims to please both genders from ages 16-25. Despite the fact that I have previously said that I was going to aim to please and meet the specific requirements of female members of the public, I feel that hip-hop music, generally speaking has a high number of male audiences too. In fact, possibly outnumbering females. As my magazine is representative of the modern society it is safe to say that I have created the magazine in manner which is inclusive to both genders, whether through male gaze or being relate-able for females. Another key factor which plays a role in this slight alteration in terms of audience, is the feedback that I received. I found that females were not the only people that were pleased with my magazine, as I also received positive feedback from male members of the public too.
For my magazine I used a female talent as this can be effective in attracting both males and females - males for male gaze and females as a way of relating. I retrieved this information through researching the audiences for 'Vibe' and 'Billboard' music magazines - as my chosen musical genre is the same as these magazines, I made an assumption that my expected audience will be the same or very similar to that of these magazines.

Evaluation - Point 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

After analysing a wide range of media institutions that could be an option when considering which establishment would be likely to distribute my media product, I found that the 'Bauer' company is an ideal match. This is because hip-hop music as a genre is highly popular and will have a large audience, and so a large market requires a large company.
I think that 'Bauer' company will be successful in promoting and distributing my magazine efficiently as well as catching the attention of the correct TA.

If 'Bauer' were to publish 'Renegade' music magazine they would be fully involved the business management sector of the creativity and development of the promotion of the magazine, as well as the entertainment for audiences in terms of concerts, interviews and any other popular forms of encouragement for both the music genre and the magazines success.

Evaluation - Point 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation - Point 1

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

My music magazine both challenges and develops conventions of real media products. Despite the lack of availability of professional printers and equipment I still produced my magazine similar to the way that many other music magazine companies would. Having said this I have challenged some aspects of existing magazine products in relation to how I have illustrated them.


Here are the things that I think that I challenged and developed:

- Firstly, I did not use a typical backdrop/background for any of my front covers for RENEGADE. This is challenging conventions because I was creating a 'professional' look without using a white backdrop, instead I used a bright green, green-screen and created my magazine products keeping this colour throughout. I used this because it gives my magazine 'an edgy feel' and is likely to attract people to pick up and buy due to its unique identity, making it stand out from other music magazines within the hip-hop|R&B genre of music.

- Also for my front cover I used a mid shot of my talent looking directly into the camera. I did not ask my talent to provide direct eye contact in every front cover that I produced, however after my audience feedback on this particular topic I found that eye contact was significant - hence I have chosen DRAFT 1 of my front cover production to be my final cut. Direct eye contact makes the reader or passer by feel inclusive, almost as though the magazine is only designed to appeal to the individual observing the front cover. This is something that I learnt when I conducted my research of other existing music magazines.

- For further development of conventions of real media products, I also used a music related title for my magazine. I chose to use the title 'Renegade' as it is unique and easy to remember due to its tuneful nature. The word renegade itself actually has rebellious connotations such as traitor or disloyal. I feel that this is fitting for my magazine because of the reckless associations with the hip-hop music genre and the fact that I have not conformed to the traditional features of magazine style.

Creation of my double page spread - First Draft part 2

In this post I am going to be uploading the next steps of my progress to making a double page spread for my RENEGADE music magazine.

So to start with I tested out various opacity effects on the auto-desk editor. I selected the colour blend 'pink dusk' and changed the level of intensity to my preference.
















I also used After-light to dull the colour of the backdrop and increase the sharpness of my talent so that she stands out the most in the photo.

When I added my text I used a plain white sheet and used a hot pink colour for the font in the text 'OVERLOCK'. I used conventions of VIBE magazine articles as many of them used a massively larger capital letter at the start of each paragraph or text. 

 Next, I added the rest of the language for my talents double page spread feature. I remained using the same pink colour throughout to go with my house-style. 

Here is my first draft of my double page spread article:

Then using Piclay I created a collage combining all of my photos together. For my final draft of my double page spread I will be using all black and white font colour. I was inspired by VIBE magazine to add a splash of colour into my photos and text, however I now feel as though this may have been a mistake because it is difficult to match the same pink throughout. I will also use a different collage application because this one that I used makes it difficult to read my text and therefore the article itself is not easy to understand. Having said this I have learnt a lot from making this and what I learn will only aid me in creating my final more 'successful' double page spread music magazine article for RENEGADE.

Double Page Spread - Draft 3

Here is my third draft of my double page spread for my music magazine called RENEGADE

To create this DPS I used different types of software. The first one I used was 'Pixlr autodesk' to do the basic editing and to invert the images. This was the most basic step within the editing process as I used my iPhone for the majority of the time. Once this step was over, I inserted the images to PICLAY another application on my phone, which I used to add all of the surrounding text and the title on the top left corner of my talent standing alone. This was fun, but slightly challenging because since my phone is touch screen, placing the words in the exact correct place was extremely difficult and time consuming. Nonetheless I managed to over come the minor obstacle and was able edit the images further. After I added the black and white filter using the 'Afterlight' editing programme, I inserted the bottom photo of my talent into Piclay to create a mirror effect. As you can probably tell I did this twice with the same image as I wanted the impact of the 'double' illusion to be significant - also, I noticed that many other Hip-Hop/R&B music magazine double page spreads only used basic effects like this - for example the mirror effect would only have been carried out once. Therefore I decided to edit my photos differently and have challenged this convention of existing music magazines. After this step I collated all of the photos together using a collage programme that I bought on my PICLAY application for £4,50. Lastly, I added the hot pink boarder around the photo using 'Piclay' again. I feel that this really added depth to my photo and was designed to catch the attention of my TA specifically.

Double Page Spread - Draft 2

Here is my second draft for my double page spread for my music magazine called RENEGADE.

I created this DPS by using pixlr, piclay and my filter applications. To start with I used 'afterlight' - on here I edited the saturation of the top left image and added a black and white filter called 'ashes' over the top. As I have used previously, I also used the vignette effect on the image to make my talent stand out. After I had completed this first section, I inserted the edited photo into the PICLAY application where I added the text to the photo (in the bottom right corner of the image).

My next step was to create the top right page, which is where the majority of the text for my DPS lies. This step was relatively simple as I used the PIXLR editing programme.. I took a photo of a plain white slate and used this for my template. I then typed up the content of the DPS and saved it to my iPhone camera roll.

After this I edited another image that I had taken of my talent holding a camera while having her photo taken. I used the mirror app to create the quadruple illusion and edited the same photo remaining with my theme of black and white. I then used the PICLAY software again by creating a collage for my photos and text. Individually, I inserted each photo into frame provided while ensuring that each single photo fitted the frame correctly. I then saved the entire collage to my camera roll and added the surrounding text using PIXLR. After I matched the font and changed the colour to complete black, I saved the image, inserted it to Piclay and added a splash of colour for contrast with the floral frame I have chosen. 

Creation of my Double Page Spread

The process: 

While in the middle of creating my double page spread as part of my music magazine production task I thought that I would keep you posted on my progress so far... 

This blog post is just a brief indication of what I am currently up to in my process so I will include a few photos and explain the products that I have been using and how useful I am finding them at the moment:

Step one

So firstly to create this image I used one of the pictures that I had taken in preparation for this. Using the AFTERLIGHT editing application software I lowered the temperature, increased the contrast, and added the VIGNETTE effect to the image. Once this was completed I uploaded that very photo to my new favourite editing tool called PICLAY... I used this editing software to create the quadruple mirror effect to the photo as you can see above. I then uploaded the photo to an application called PIXLR where I was able to add text to the photo to get the double page spread to a start. I did not end up using the grey RENEGADE in the top corner after all and you can see in the next image that I placed the title in the bottom right corner instead which I think was more appropriate as it allowed the main focus to remain on my talent which is what I wanted as this point.

Step two

After making the title smaller and changing the font to 'ASAP' in a hot pink colour, I also added a quote in the same font and colour in the corner diagonally opposite. I chose not to place any text directly over my talent because I want to keep that separate and refrain from making the DPS look messy or lack organisation - this could prevent TA from reading the page itself!

Step three

Creation of my contents page -

To create my contents page I used 'Afterlight' editing application on my iPhone. I first cropped the image and changed the brightness, contrast and saturation of the image. I then added the words CONTENTS for the title and added the logo for the magazine in the bottom right corner.

After this step was completed, I simply added the rest of the text either in the colours black or white using PIXLR now... 

To complete this step I chose the option 'type' on the PIXLR editing software.

To create my logo, I used the font 'American Typewriter' and faded the colour so that it was almost transparent. 

Contents Page - First Draft: Initial thoughts

-  Okay so firstly I am quite pleased with this first draft because I have kept in line with the magazine theme and house-style and I do like some of the features that I used and developed of existing contents pages within my chosen genre which I will get into more detail of in a short while...
I did use VIBE magazine's famous relocation and sectioning of the word CONTENTS and placed it in the top left corner of my page. Since I had already gone against other typical magazine conventions such as a plain white backdrop in my front cover, I figured there would be no harm whatsoever in continuing to break the unwritten rules of magazine contents page law. All jokes aside after doing my research I was fully determined to make sure that I did not place any text or information on top of my talent in the photo - in my previous post I outlined all the things that I disliked about a particular VIBE magazine contents page and the text overlapping the image was one of those things.
In the bottom right corner I created a logo for the title of my magazine RENEGADE so that I would not have to actually write the title and risk making my contents page look like a front cover!

I wanted to make the text stand out - as this is the most important element of a magazine... however in my next contents creations I will ensure that I do not place my text in a format like the one above because I feel as though it may be confused for a front cover rather than a contents page.

Contents Page planning

My last post on this blog was a slide-share presentation about my analysis of VIBE magazine. If you take a look at the presentation itself you will find that it includes a detailed analysis of the magazines TA and an issue of the front cover. However I did not include an analysis of the contents because I felt that showing some existing contents pages from VIBE will be more beneficial as this way I can explain what I like about them and why, rather than analysing aspects of it in a presentation. ANYWAY .... A contents page of a magazine is equally as important as the front cover and double page spread article featuring a particular artist...

Therefore I have done some research prior to the process of making my magazine contents page and here is what I have found: 

To the basics - I think that this contents page is productive, but I am personally not the biggest fan of the choice of photo on the cover. As being part of the TA of VIBE magazine myself, I feel as though I would not be as attracted to or find this contents page as appealing as other existing VIBE contents pages. I do like the way that the title stands out and is portrayed in a unique way (I actually adopted this technique myself) however I also think that the text could stand out and be slightly more appealing and clearer, My attention seems to be focusing heavily on the artist and the word 'CONTENTS' as opposed to the text in small print, where my attention should be - a contents page is different to a magazine front cover, because it is designed to bring TA attention to the t

ext as opposed to the typical person and title.

Taking my magazine photos | equipment that I used

 When it came to taking my photos for my music magazine production, these pieces of technology were a godsend. Both the Canon camera and the iPad 2 by Apple were brilliant for taking photos and editing. Firstly I used the camera to take my photos. There were many advantages of using the camera, some of these included: I could place the camera on a still tripod, this way there was no hand held shaking to impact the images or make them blurry - for magazine photos it is best to take pictures with the camera as still as possible to create an accomplished effect. I could also zoom in and out with the flick of a finger and had great control over the intensity of the zooming and out. I noticed that the camera was much more efficient in keeping the quality of the images up to standard regardless of the depth of the zoom. Another positive point is that the camera was relatively small making it easily portable. In addition to this I was able to using various camera angles such as close ups, canted and eye level shots. The only issues I had with the camera was the importing of images. I would be lying if I claimed to not find it slightly challenging when it came to actually importing the images to my pc for editing. With the camera, the only option I had was to use a cable which occasionally failed to do the one job it is destined to do. I found on numerous occasions that the images would disappear from the camera photo album once the cable was connected. - This may of course have been a technical issue with my camera but, luckily I managed to overcome this small but mighty issue and the images were eventually uploaded to my laptop ready for editing successfully.

Next, I also used the iPad. Of course, this was not as brilliant in terms of photo quality, but it was excellent when it came to editing. When my iPhone ran out of storage space I was at peace knowing that I could quickly transfer all of my photos to the iPad which has the exact same editing software as my mobile phone. This including applications such as AFTERLIGHT, PIXLR & VISCOCAM which all enabled me to get my photos to a standard that I was happy with before the next stage of creating the magazine production.

Experimenting with Editing

Once I had chosen my favourite photos that I was actually going to use for my magazine, I decided to test out some editing. I did this using one key element - the ultimate photo editing software AFTERLIGHT. Here are some examples of the redrafting that I experimented with ...

For this image I simply altered the saturation and contrast of the photo making it black and white. I then changed the brightness to the highest level and the sharpness to the same. I also used the VIGNETTE effect which created a classical affect on the image which I liked because it was different. I also added a splash of colour to the photo for the sake of experimenting using the LIGHT-LEAK option. I had fun editing this photo because it was a good way of understanding the depth of the editing tool & I specifically liked the fact that the overall impact of the image can change dramatically with just a few steps e.g. no colour gives the illusion that the image is dated.

  My main goal with this next image (the same photo just edited differently) was to see how 'unreal' I could make the photo seem. I wanted to see if I could take the nature and tranquillity out of the photo making it seem as bizzare as possible. As you can see the attention and focus of this photo has been shared equally across all parts of the photo. If I were to use this for my magazine front cover it may not work as the bright clashing colours create a sense of busyness which is not ideal for my magazine. For the editing I increased the saturation and brightness of the photo to the maximum level, this instantly enhanced the bright green back drop I had used. I also used bright blue highlight tone colours which amplified the colours making it look rather wild. Nonetheless I learnt a lot about editing photos and the correct way to do it which was beneficial to me.

 The editing that I carried out for this image was very quick and uncomplicated. Using the same application as in my previous edits, I did three things. I started off by changing the saturation to the lowest possible level to remove colour immediately. I then added the VIGNETTE tone again which enhanced my talent on the cover making her the central focus. Last but not least I added the filter tone in the shade RAVEN to created a polished look. I think that this edit was my favourite because it is simplistic and therefore could be used as a potential base for any part of my music magazine production.

Photo Galore - Where did I get my photo inspiration from? - VIBE MAGAZINE

So for my initial 'photo taking' process I needed to come up with an idea of:

- WHAT was my magazine genre going to be & what was my magazine going to be called
- WHO was going to be in my photos and part of my entire magazine production and its process
- WHEN was I going to take my photos and HOW
- WHERE was the best place to take my phots

After a lot of brainstorming I decided that before I took any action I would first look at magazines in my chosen genre of HIP HOP and observe other existing material to aid me in my long process of making a music magazine.

I got my inspiration from 3 key VIBE magazine covers:

1.) After looking at this photo of JANET JACKSON I wanted to experiment different shots and angles. Therefore I asked my talent to pose in the same way to see if this could work. - Although this photo didn't quite make the front cover cut, it was definitely interesting to see various ways of taking photos and get a glimpse of the struggle of photographers when trying to get 'the one' for the magazine front cover.

2.) I used these  magazines to help me create my own in terms of the colour scheme, I used the bluey green backdrop as a stepping stone to get out of the typical white backgrounds that are commonly used on any magazine front cover (not just music magazines). After looking at this cover I was assured that it was okay to test out conventions of magazines, and go against them sometimes! I also used the style of dress in the second images of KELLY ROWLAND and asked my talent to wear a dress that was simple and elegant like the one above to create a sophisticated look on my cover.

Audience Feedback

Editing Process - Making of a magazine

Front Cover - Draft 2

My Music Magazine - Front Cover