Monday, 29 November 2010

PHONE INTERVIEW WITH THE CORAL!

Before deciding exactly what my double page spread will about, to show my media skills I scheduled a phone interview with the well known Merseyside band 'The Coral'


1. Were did you all meet and when did you decide to make a band?
Well we made friends in High school and I played gutiar and as it so happens, my mate was learning to play drums. The just people in my form decided it would be good if we all got together and played some tunes.


2. At the beginning, who were your main influences?
Well the obvious really- Beatles! We just wanted to be like them as they were the biggest boyband going. Oasis has been alot of influence as they were in the music indrusty when we were young.


3. What has been your favourite album?
Tough question! I loved every sinlge one but im wuite excited for our new acoustic album.


4. Has your music influenced bands?
Oh yeah! Arctic Monkeys told us we influenced the- crazy i know! Also The Libertines, mostly brit pop bands.


5. Your recent album was a hit, what was it like recording in Noel Gallaghers studio?
What a fream come true it was and Noel is such a genuine guy. Highlight for the band so far!




6.. Are there any bands that you think your similar to?
Well no because I think The Coral are individual. We have our own unique style really.


8. The Coral doesnt seem to be in the lime light much, does this bother you?
Not at all, we are really happy because we are more interested in our music more than the being in the public eye. Celebrites these days are invited to the red carpet were as were not. You see the X Factor contestants and they love it! The Coral are just not like that at all.


9.So, have you ever had bad press?
Well I think every band does or artist. The press dismiss us because we come from Liverpool. They also say our music is "Quirky"- which I Think isnt a bad thing at all!


10. Do you prefer to play in big venues or smaller?
Well we've just finished playing the Royal Albert Hall which was just amazing! I felt so small standing on such a big stage! We're not really into the full productions like having elephants on stage with us like Take That. Its all about the music with The Coral and we prefer smaller venues because we seem to get more of a buzz!


11. What do you all like doing in your free time?
Well we all like relaxing and going on long walks. i'm a big film fan... I do what normal people do to be honest!


12.Individually, who are your favourite artists?
Well I dont really like current artists as I dont understand what there all about. I love a band called the Cherry Ghosts if you've heard of them? Again, I love The Rolling Stones and Neil Young's new album- that rocks!


13.Lastly, are there any rummors of a new album?
Well James is always coming in the studio with new songs, so hopfully in the future there will be more to come!

Thursday, 25 November 2010

IMAGES FOR CONTENTS PAGE!

These are all the images I took for my contents page, some are edited and some are the original photographs.

Thursday, 18 November 2010

IMAGES FOR MY FRONT COVER!

For my music magazine, I took different pictures so I had a varity of angles and positions to choose from.
Some pictures have been edited and others are the orginal pictures.



 

 


  






Wednesday, 10 November 2010

ARTICLE RESEARCH!

Double Page Spread:

For my double page spread I will write an article on the rock singer Meat Loaf. Clearly this is reflecting my genre of music and my target audience. The aim of my article is to highlight Meatloaf's on going career in the music industry and the hardships that has caused him throughout the years. It will also give an insight of what is new for the artist.
My stand first will be engaging and direct, and my article will be informal to interest my target audience and relax them whilst reading. 



Headline- "BLIND BEFORE HE STOPS" will bleed across the page the colour red to represent the artist and my genre. The language clearly will show my take on the artist and my aim.


Picture- an image of someone blind folded to connote my headline. This could show my creativity.


As a meat loaf fan myself, I have researched some songs of his and found the song "Blind Before I Stop" to be a perfect choice to connote in my double page spread. I use the idea of Meatloaf not stopping being in the limelight, and the song lyrics will help my portray this. Here is a link to the music video and the song lyrics:

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Blind-Before-I-Stop-lyrics-Meat-Loaf/76ADBCC058A6778048256BDD002F583D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmijIEDYaS0&feature=related





To get my article to a high standard I have conducted some research:

http://www.meatloaf.net/: this a link to Meat's official website, here I have found updates on news, shows, videos etc. 
http://www.ratw.com/issues/18/meatloaf.htm  A link to where I found inspiration for my article.


Sunday, 7 November 2010

PLANNING PRODUCTION!

Front Cover Image:  


This is my inspiration for my front cover of my music magazine.


















Coverlines:
    • THE COMEBACK- My chemical romance return!”
    • Exclusive interview!- The Coral
    • Donington Park Highlights!
    •  Inside The Stereophonic’s road trip!
    • The Atctic Monkeys- behind the scenes!
    • Paraomore- UK tour review!
    • ROD- on the road at 65!
    • Bon Jovi- his upcoming tour!
     
Anchorage Text:   Joey Morton Unsigned- The Face Of A New Ira

  
  • Images For Contents Page:
  • For my feature "Wanted Insrtuments" I will have an image of an electric guitar or other inst
  • .For my feature "WIN SIGNED CONVERSE" I will use an image of pink converse. 
  • For my feature "Rod back On Tour At 65" I will have a picture of his tour top with alll the dates showing or a picture of rod on tour.
  • For my regular "WIN Tickets!" I'm going to use images of a collection of tickets..


This is my inspiration for my contents page, again this is also from the music magazine 'MOJO'.














Wednesday, 3 November 2010

PUBLICATION PLAN!

TITLE:  

    


FREQUENCY OF PUBLICATION:  Monthly


POSITIONING STATEMENT: "The magazine that sparks"


PRICE: £3.00

DISTRIBUTION:  Newsagents, gig locations, supermarkets, music stores and arenas.


RATIONALE:
The magazines approach is to appeal to the target audience by having information about upcoming gigs. The magazine will offer the readers exclusive interviews with bands of the magazines genres and articles about new upcoming bands/solo artists. 
STYLE:
The style will be informal and simple so that my target audience will understand the language and for the magazine to appeal to them. My magazine will have strong opinions on music which will reflect the genre. 

REGULAR CONTENT:
  • Editors letter- this will be used because its the first issue off my magazine and it will intoduce what is instore for the readers from my magazine "electric".
  • Rock Out (forum- letters from fans)- I've chosen this because the readers like to see what the fans have to say about the magazine. Although this wont feauture in my first issue, it will be regular in other publishings.
  • Upcoming Gigs- When I reseached the market place and my target audience I found that people like to read about information about upcoming gigs. It also fits in with the genre of my magazine.
  • Electric Quizz- This is for the auidences enjoyment. It allows the reader to chill and have fun with the entertaiment my magazine has to offer.
  • Rock Out With Your Sock Out (latest punk fashion)- In magazines I have reserached, not many magazines include fashion of the products genre. This regular will excite and inteest the reader into buying my magazine.
  • Top Ten (top ten albumns or songs of the month)- My target audience listed that Top Ten Albums is what they like to see in music magazines. It also interests the reader on what albums are they hottest of the month.
  • This Months Gig Guide- Although this is similar to my upcoming gigs, it allows the reader to have an overview on the hottest upcomming gigs on this present month.
  • Q+A-
  • Where Are They Now?- As my music magazine is "classic rock/indie" I've decided to inclue an article every week on an legendary artsit and what they are doing now. Hopefully, this would interest my readers.
  • Win Tickets!- This is an imporatnt regluar in my magazine as it will grab my reader in buying the magazine and wanting to win the ticket(s).
  • Your Say!- I decided to inlcude this regualr as it allows the audiecne to give me feedback on what I could improve on. This will boost my magazine sales.  


FEATURE CONTENT:
  • "BLIND BEFORE HE STOPS?" (double page spread)I chose this for my double page spread because the artist Meatloaf connotes my magzine genre. Also as Meatloafs tour is recent, the audience who never went would find the article interesting. Also, he is a classic rock icon which would appeal to my audience.
  • Interview With The Coral I have chosen this band to feature in my article as this band  doesnt seem to be in the limelight much with the press. Therefore, because The Coral is an upcoming band, my target audience would find the interview interesting. The Coral would be a unique choice for my interview and my music magazine would stand out from the existing music magazines.
  • The Comeback- My Chemical Romance Interview- As My Chemical Roamance have caused an uproar in the music indrusty with there comeback and new album I thought it would be important to include this as my target audience will like to read
  • Review On Electrics Favourite Albums Between 1980-2010- By putting the magazines favourite albums for 1980-2010 makes the feature exciting and it fits in with the genre of my magazine.
  • Behind the Scenes (look inside worlds greatest band-Artic Monkey's)- This feature article gives the audience and insight of the band behind the music. It focuses the bands outside life from music. This would be intruguing as a reader because the article focuses on the band rather than opinionated stories of thier music.
  • Wanted Instruments- I decided to put this arcticle in my magzine as the readers of my product may have a huge interest in playing music etc. The musicians of my audience would find it appealing because the feature advertises instruments people are willing to sll or new popular instruments in the music indrusty.
  • Gutiar Heroes- Top Twenty Of Worlds Greatest Players- The article is for my target audience to have an overview Guitar Heros of our time. The top twenty list also gives a small detailed paragraph with interesting information with each gutiar hero.
  • Blast From The Past- (Bio on Bon Jovi and Elton John and their upcoming tours)- This feature article is to present the readers an short insight of the two artists biography and their new upcoming tours. It appeals to my audience as they would appreciate the information and facts about the artists.
  • Guns 'N' Roses Fail To Ignite- An article which which refletcs the artists poor performance in reading. It gives my target audience information about his perofrmance if they never attended reading or leeds festival. Alos, the artist in the article connoted the genre of my magazine.
  • Celebrating 30 Years Of Rock (highlights from Donington Park festival)- The feature gives my target auidence highlights from the festival which appeals to my target audince that have an interest in festivals and "Rock".
  • Robert's Influences (what influnced the cure)- An article which gives the target audience of my magazine an insght of the lead singer in The Cure. It could also interest many musicans that are influenced by other artists etc.  
  • Inside The Stereophonics- The purpose of this feature, like similar to the Arctic Monkeys feature, is to give the read an insight of what The Stereophonic's life is like without commenting on their music. This attracts my target audience as they would like to know what the band is like.
  • Paramore! (review on UK tour)- Similar to the Meatloaf arcticle, Paramore is a new band that appeals massivly to my target audiencc. The feature would definatley attract my target auidence as they would like to see information and a review on band which features in the media alot.
  • Piercing? Tatoo?- A feature that gives information on weather or not piercings and tatoos are appropiate or not. It also gives the reader ideas for both piercing and tatoos. This feature will appeal to my target audience as piercings and tatoos are very popular with the genre of my mnagazine and my readers.
  • Messy Times At Gigs (what no to do at gigs)- After conducting research I found that most of my target audience attend gigs. This feature will give the readers the do's and dont's of behaviour at gigs. The readers will  find this appealing as it will help them alot.
  • Unsigned Bands!- Unsigned bands is the anchorage text on my front cover. This imeadiatley grabs the readers attention and makes them buy my product. This is a unique feature as it has information of bands that have not yet signed a record deal.
  • Free CD- (selction of Meatloafs greatest hits)- A free CD is a popular feature in many magazines. Its a great promotional offer for my magazine as people will be purchase my magazine because it offers free CD's etc. The artist of the CD connotes my music genre which is an important convention for music magazines. A free CD would definatley boost the sales of my music magazines.
  • Rod Back On Tour At 65!- A coverline on my music magazine which fits in with my magazine genre. An appealing article which intrests the reader with information on Rod Stewarts recent tour.


HOUSE STYLE:

Coverlines: Century Gothic in bold and Century

Headlines: Rockwell Extra Bold

Standfirst: Arial 16pt

Captions: Arial  18pt

Features First Paragraph: drop captial Century Gothic bold, 5 lines deep, and first word in capital and first letter is bigger than the rest.

News first paragraph: first two words in bold capitals

Body Text: Times New Roman 11pt

Colour Scheme: Red, Black and white

Monday, 1 November 2010

AUDIENCE RESEARCH RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS!

This is a question that i asked my target audience:
If you were to make a music magazine, what would you call it?








A video response from my target audience for my music magazine.




AUDIENCE RESEARCH- RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS!

My questionaire clearly shows that the majority of my target audience were females although I had a good amount of males that answered the questionaire. Evidently, I create the magazine based on what appeals to females. I will also consider male readers too.
























QUESTIONAIRE!

In able to make my media product to be successful, I designed a questionaire to help me decide what goes into my magazine.

1. What gender are you? (circle your answer)

Male
Female

2. When buying magazines, what colour would you like to see? (circle your answer)

Red
Blue
Green
Black
White
Orange
Grey

3. How often to you buy music magazines? (circle your answer)

Weekly
Monthly
Other

4. What is your favourite rock/indie band?

..............................................................................

5. What price would you consider in paying for a music magazine? (circle your answer)

£1.50
£2.00
£2.50
£3.00
£3.50
£4.00

6. What are your likes/dislikes for a music magazine?

........................................................................................................................................

7. If you were to make a music magazine, what would you call it?

............................................................................................................................................

8. Do you like attending gigs? (cirlce your answer)

Yes
No

9. What features would you like to see in music magazines?

.....................................................................................................................................

10. What image do you like you like to see on front covers of music magazines?

...................................................................................................................................

ANALYSIS OF PROFFESIONAL MAGAZINE COVERS AND CONTENTS PAGES!

ANALYSIS OF DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD ARTICLES!

Thursday, 14 October 2010

INITIAL PLANS FOR MY MAGAZINE!

Using the results of my resarch, I have made decisions about my magazine:

Price
£2.00

Frequency of publication
Weekly

Average issue size
80-90 pages

Regular content
Gig reviews,upcoming gigs, compettions, new artists section, charts, free gift.

Feature articles
Exclusive interviews, latest updates on artists, major news on the music genre of my magazine.


After conducting my research on the market place, I decided that "classicrock"/"rock" would be the genre of my magazine. The reasons for this is that it reflects a genre of music that I am passionite for and that there are many other rock style magazines that I could compete with and base my new product on. I have chosen the target audience 18+ year olds of both gender.

The price of my magazine will be £2.00 because after collecting research on other rock magazines, the average price was £2.20. I lowered my price in order to increase sales as my price beats the average rock magazine price.

The release of my publication will be monthly as I found that the average rock magazine such as MOJO and UNCUT are both released monthly.


Furthermore, the avergae issue size's of most rock magazines are roughly 80 pages. Therefore, I decided that my magazine will be roughly 80-90 pages so that my magazine would be able to sell as well as other magazines.

Like other rock magazines, my regular content will include gig reviews, upcoming gigs, charts and a new artists section and my feature contnets will have exclusive interviews and information and news on the latest artists in my genre of music. To show compettion in my magazine, i will include a free gift or download each time the magazine is published.

Wednesday, 13 October 2010

RESEARCHING THE MARKET PLACE!

NME!
Price- £2.20.
Frequency of publication- Weekly.
Issue Size- Roughly 80-85 pages.
Regular content- Reviews and upcoming gigs and tours.
Feature articles- Exclusive interviews with bands etc.
http://www.nme.com/magazine
http://www.ipcmedia.com/













MOJO!

Price- £4.50
Frequency of publication- Monthly
Issue size- roughly 160 pages
Regular content-  The mojo letter, Ask fred, upcoming gigs and reviews.
Feature articles- interviews, compettions, reviews.
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/
http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/











CLASSIC ROCK!

Price- £4.50.
Frequency of publication- Monthly.
Issue Size- Roughly 80 pages.
Regular Content- Gig updates, upcoming tours.
Feature Articles- Interviews.
http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/
http://www.futureplc.com/












KERRANG!

Price- £2.20
Frequency of publication- Weekly
Issue Size- Roughly 80 pages
Regular Content- "Letter of the week", Gig calender, Polls, band reviews.
Feature Articles- Interviews etc.
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/
http://www.kerrang.com/

Monday, 11 October 2010

EVALUATION OF SCHOOL MAGAZINE!

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.
           My final media proctuct contains many codes and conventions and aspects of real media products. For example, my front cover design includes a title-"School Chat" which is situated across the width of the page at the top of my cover. My cover includes coverlines so that the they advertise whats inside of my magazine. I put a bar code at the bottem of my cover so that the audience can see that my magazine is a real product. It was important that i included an issue number so that the audience would be able to see where my magazine was up too and a price because the price will reflect the content of my magazine and its production value. The main convention that I used in my product which reflects real aspects of a real media product was the main image on my front cover. I used simple colours and made sure my title looked professional. In my contents page I divided my product into collumns and broke the sections- Regulars and Features so that the reader was able to identify what they were looking for. I also included an Editors letter and made sure my articles were in chronological order.
          An example of the way my media product challenges the codes and conventions of a real media product is that my mast-head font is not unique which makes my magazine not individual and eyecatching. I did not include enough buzz words or sublines and this would, in a way, effect the number of magazines sold in the school. I also thought my my main image on my front cover was not edited correctly and I think I should of not cut out my image. Also, I think I should of my made my mast-head on my contents page smaller than the cover as this is an important convention in real media products.


How did you use new media technologies in the construction of your media product?
     For my media product, i used Photoshop and QuarkXPress which are new media technologies that have been designed to help build a front cover and contents page of a magazine. After using a camera and capturing the pictures that i wanted, i uploaded the pictures onto Photoshop and QuarkXPress. On the new programes, you can edit, manipulate and create designs which will be used in your media product.


What are the stregnths and weaknesses of both the product and your use of new media technologies?
      
       A weaknesses which I thought effected my media product was the fact that it was my first time using the two new technologies Photoshop and QuarkXPress. Although it was very new to me, I found it got easier as I went on. On my cover, the editing on my main image gave my media product a weakness as the cutting wasnt precise and I realised i shouldnt have cut the image. I think maybe I should have included more effects on my cover to make the magazine eyecatching and unique. Also I think I should have used a variety of pictures such as I needed more pictures of objects. On my contents page I could have been more diverse in the layout of my contents and the font I used for my headlines etc. Finally, my last weakness which I thought made my media product less professional was my knowledge of the camera. Althoght my angles were my stegnths, i found adjusting to the camera very difficult.
        My media product shown many stegnths which made my product look professional and upcomming. I made sure I used simple colours so that my product didnt look overdone or unprofessional. I thought my coverlines were very appropiate and that they seemed very intriguing to the audience. I made sure my contents page included numbers in chonological order and an editors letter to introduce my first issue. If i was to improve my magazine, i would  make sure my main image was improved and that maybe my contents page layout and masthead font was more unique.

PRODUCTION OF CONTENTS PAGE!

PRODUCTION OF SCHOOL MAGAZINE FRONT COVER!


Sunday, 10 October 2010

FINAL IMAGES FOR SCHOOL MAGAZINE!

To create my contents page I used QuarkExpress.
Here are my screen grabs of my development in creating my contents.



  Here, i opened up QuarkExpress and added my headline- "Contents" and numbers of where my main images will be situated.






Then, I added two sublines "Features" and "Regulars".












 Here, I added my main images next to the numbers I inserted.
After adding my images I then included all my articles in the "Features" and "Regulars".
Finally, I then added my editors letter which made my contents page complete.



To create my front cover of my school magazine, I used a programe called Photoshop to help design my media product.

After importing my picture into Photoshop, I used the Polygonal Lasso Tool to cut around my main image.
I then added my masthead- "SchoolChat" using the text tool and chosing my colour and font. I also added my main cover line- "WelcomeBack! Outstanding Results" across my main image. After, I imported a picture of a bar code and situated it at the bottem corner of my cover. 
I then added two buzz words using the rectangle tool to create two coloured rectangles. Then I added a text to the rectangles- "Only 50p" and "Plus Your Horoscopes".





Finally, I added my coverlines using the text tool and different colours. I then posisioned my coverlines on the sides of my front cover.