Production Log: Friday 28th September 2012

In today’s lesson I began to research on more front covers and contents pages, this is so that I would gain inspiration which I would then use for my analysis. However when researching this products I had to insure that they were similar to my genre of music. Therefore I continued to research ‘Top Of The Pops’ and ‘Billboard’ magazine. When researching these magazines I noticed that they all follow a bright colour scheme. ‘Top Of The Pops’ uses lots of pinks and purples, this highlights that the magazine is aimed at young teenagers. 

Here is a magazine that I like -  I like the idea of having a mid shot as the main image on the front cover. I like the magazine below, as it isn't too busy and it stands out. 

Music Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis

Similar Product Research - Double Page Spreads 

By analyzing these 3 different double page spreads, I have noticed that most magazines consist of a long interview with a variety of different questions with a famous artist/band. The page layout is also very important, as I have noticed that by having a long interview makes the page more interesting with a big main image and some other images around it. Finally, by having a pull quote makes the double page spread more interesting.

Music Magazine - Contents Page Analysis

Contents Page Analysis By analyzing these contents pages, I have noticed the types of headings that I will need to use as this tells the reader whats in the magazine in an organized layout. Also by having lots of different small images makes the page more colorful and interesting.

Production Log: Monday 24th September 2012

In today's lesson I signed up for Scribd, this is so that I am able to upload a PowerPoint document or word document onto my blogger.

I have also carried on thinking about my music magazine; I have started thinking about the types of clothes I want my model to wear etc. I want my model to look simple so maybe wear a nice plain dress with heels etc, nothing over exaggerated. This is because Pop magazines follow a simple layout. Also as my target audience will be aimed at teenagers my models will have to wear clothes that will be aimed at also teenagers, therefore trends such as Converses. 

Production Log: Monday 17th September 2012

In today's lesson we began researching magazine front covers so that we could analyse. I began looking up the magazine company 'Billboard' as they are quite successful, I saw many magazine front covers that I liked, I like the way they have the masthead and taglines laid out on the page. Another magazine front cover that I analysed was 'Top of the Pops', I didn't really like the layout on this magazine as there was lots of different things going on, on the page, I prefer seeing a magazine that has just one main image and lots of different taglines around it. This is why I like the 'Billboard' magazine. 

We also got given the tasks for the magazines coursework, this is useful as we have an idea of what the tasks that we need to do are, all these tasks have to be completed by October half term. We also talked about when we should be booking our photoshoot day. I began to think of the types of camera shots I was going to take and where I would be taking them. 

Music Magazine Front Cover Analysis

Similar Product Research - Front Covers 

I have analysed three different front covers and I have noticed that by having a mid shot as the main image looks better as it fills the page more so it looks more eye catching. I have also noticed that it is important to have the date and issue number clear on the page for the reader to easily spot. By analysing these front cover images I have learnt the conventions needed to have a successful magazine front cover. 

Preliminary Task Video

Production Log: Friday 14th September 2012

In today’s lesson we finished our School Magazine. I feel that this task will help me when creating my music magazine as it gives me an idea of what I need to ensure I have in a magazine. Also it has helped me remember how to use Adobe Photoshop as I have already got experience with this software as I took Media Studies for GCSE. I uploaded my front cover and contents page onto blogger, where I then wrote a little analysis about it. I also created a video showing how created my preliminary task using a programme called CamStudio. This allowed me to show step by step how I created my School Magazine. 

I've been doing some research on music magazines and I found some layouts that I liked. The main images that have been used is what I was thinking in having (mid shots & close ups). I like these shots as it's really focused and draws the reader in. The magazines that I looked at where 'Top Of The Pops' and 'Billboard' these are two successful pop magazines. I have been researching into these magazines as I will be doing a pop magazine. I feel that ‘Top Of The Pops’ is a perfect example for a pop magazine as in every pop magazine you will find out gossip about artists and lots of different photos about them, this is a way teenagers use up their free time. 

Here are two pop magazines that I found that I liked:  

Preliminary Task



This is my Front Cover of my magazine

This is my Contents Page for my magazine

For our preliminary task we had to create a magazine for our school, this was so that we could get used to using Photoshop and get to know what tools we needed to us.

I decided to keep my front cover simple and not too busy, this is so the reader can focus more on the main image that I have used, in this case it was new sixth former's getting to know each other in the new sixth form common area. On my front page I have included a main image, headline and plugs. If I could improve my front cover I would add a bar code, issue number, price and date as I have forgotten to do this. By adding these extra things would make the front cover busier. 

My contents page consists of the main news that’s happening in the school, I have also added many images onto the contents page with page numbers so that the reader can go straight to the page if they wanted to read about it. If I could improve my contents page, I would put an image in the background with the opacity lower so that the page wasn't as empty. I would also add more stories, news and games. 

Production Log: Monday 10th September

Today I continued with my preliminary task, at the beginning of the lesson I aimed to finish my front cover. I had about 50 minutes to do this. In the previous lesson I had taken some images and helped my friend who was struggling to use Photoshop, this meant I only had managed to import my image onto the canvas and plan out a simple layout for the magazine. I used many drop shadows on my text, this is because I believed that by adding a drop shadow to the text will make it stand out more and catch the target audience attention. I based my colour scheme with blue and yellow as these are the school colour. Below is a print screen of the effects that I added to the masthead in order to make it stand out. I have used a drop shadow and I have bevelled and embossed it. 

As I managed to complete my front cover I began to create my contents page, I already had a rough idea of how I was going to lay it out. I made sure that my contents page consisted of images and writing. However I felt that as it was just a preliminary task I didn't have enough information to add to the page; this meant that I had a very plain contents page. 

Production Log: Friday 7th September 2012

In today's lesson we started to create a School magazine, this was so that we could get familiar with using Photoshop as we will be creating a music magazine. We went round the school in groups and we took photos for our front cover and contents page. My magazine was to show the new changes that have been made to school, for example the new sixth form area and new sixth former's making friends. On the front cover I had a long shot of two people sitting in the sixth form area talking. I already have experience with using Photoshop. Sitting next to me was a girl who had never used Photoshop before; I explained to her the basics of using Photoshop by showing her how you remove the white background etc. 

We have been required to think about what type of music magazine we are going to be doing. I have a rough idea of the type of pictures that I want, I would like some close ups and mid shots of the my model. I’ve been looking at some magazines to get a rough idea in how I might have mine set out, but I’m not 100% sure, so I’m going to carry on looking around for more image ideas.