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

Throughout my project i have referred to and researched to real media products such as NITELIFE and NME magazines. Out of the two, i think the most influential and the one i concentrated most upon was NITELIFE. Like NITELIFE, i used their idea of it being a local music magazine (Bristol) when thinking of my ideas for WOBBLE. I developed on their idea of the magazine being an month events diary, and so as well WOBBLE being this, it also includes two 'upcoming artists' each month. WOBBLE however challenges the conventions of both NITELIFE, NME and a lot of other magazines because it is only specifically based on electronically produced music rather than a range of genres. This could be seen as a risk but electronically produced music, for example dubstep and house, but is becoming increasingly popular over the past few years and more and more people are becoming involved with it.

Final Magazine

Advice From a Professional

I was lucky enough be be given advice and feedback from a professional magazine editor/creator called Phil from UWE. He said he really liked the idea of my magazine and that it was unique. He said the colour scheme works really well (red white and black) and the neon green writing for all the online references makes them stand out and that my photography was excellent.

Things he told me i could edit/improve on:

• i need to check my spelling on my DPS and underline a bit i've forgot to underline.
• i should credit the photographs on the 'Thekla' page.
• to separate the bit about photographers at events at the bottom of the "Thekla' page, because it looks like part of the paragraph above.
• try to add more words to the end of the description of Thekla because the last line only has one word.
• try to make the list of pages on the contents into two neat columns, not one and a half. 

Contents Page: 1st Draft

The idea of a contents page is to provide a ‘taster’, giving potential buyers of the magazine an insight into the content on the magazine. 
i have used the same fonts on the contents page as the DPS and the front cover so they look like theyre from the same magazine. the "WOBBLE" logo is at printed at the top of the page, like on the front cover. i have included the facebook and twitter links for "WOBBLE" on this page - they are in neon green writing to match the website address on the front cover, so that all of the online references to "WOBBLE" are in the same colour.
the text on this page respects the character, and he is pointing at the camera which makes it looks like he is involving the audience, and perhaps inviting them to read the magazine.

Pricing My Magazine

Pricing your magazine correctly can depend on whether it is successful or not. if priced wrongly, hardly any copies may be sold, whereas if priced correctly, lots of copies may be sold. consumers want to feel that they are getting their "moneys worth" so under or over-pricing can have a disastrous impact on your magazine sales. 
Knowing your customer:
readers of "WOBBLE" will generally be of interest to people aged between 18-30 because it is at this age that people go out to clubs and venues the most. students who are on tight budgets and may not be able to afford expensive magazines will probably be interested in reading "WOBBLE". I think £1.60 is a respectable price for this magazine. If i could, i would make this magazine a free copy for people to pick up in shops (like "NITELIFE") but unfortunately that would mean i would loose money by printing the magazine. 

Contents Page Research: NME

 

this is a contents page from a normal 'NME' magazine (not special edition).
the contents page each week has the same format - "NME THIS WEEK" printed in bold at the top with text down either side and the bottom of the page and a photo in the middle. the date of the magazine is printed underneath the title. the text at the bottom is always a main story about a popular band - the top story of the magazine.
The use of sub-headings puts each piece of content into easier and clearer categories, making the magazine make sense and clearer. 
The colours red, black and white feature all over the page, with a bit of bright yellow which stands out at the bottom. the use of use of ‘subscribe today’ is a sly way of easily persuading readers how they can get the magazine on a regular occasion and save money (which would be ideal for regular readers in today's economic climate).
The layout is also very consistent which gives the magazine a clear structure and easy for readers to know whereabouts things in the magazine are. The band index gives the reader and precise showing of what bands will be in the magazine. This may give the readers more purpose to buy the magazine as maybe there could be a feature on their favourite band. 

Contents Page Research: NITELIFE

this is the contents page for January's 'NITELIFE' magazine. This contents page is unusual because it doesn't have page numbers. the pages are arranged in alphabetical order of the name of the venue. this page is all black and white - there is no colour at all. at the bottom are a list of photographers who's images feature in the magazine and contact information. the magazine's logo is printed at the top of (like on the front cover) and a photograph takes up 1/2 of the page. 

Double Page Spread: Second Draft

i have edited the block of text about "FLUX" because it was to much like a block paragraph and not easy to read. people reading magazines want something which isnt too hefty to read. i have changed it into an 'artist profile' type thing because they seem to be quite popular in music magazines, including NME. 

on photoshop i added the swirly effect to the arrow pointing to "FLUX". this matches the effect of the swirly lights in most of my photographs.  

Double Page Spread: First Draft

i have split my DPS into a page about the upcoming artist, "FLUX", and a page dedicated to "THEKLA, a music venue in Bristol. The pages link because FLUX will be playing at THEKLA during February. to make my DPS i used photoshop. the pages follow the theme of black white and red.

to create the effect on the background of the left hand side page, i used layers and an eraser tool on photoshop to feed some light through the black and white. i then reduced the opacity of the image so that it isn't too bold and images/text could be placed on top of it. The text i have written about flux is very block and boring to look at. after getting feedback from peers and when creating a second draft i will look to change that. 

i have done the right hand page in the style of "NITELIFE"'s venue pages. my photographs are laid out in a way that they are easy to look at and the white background makes the text easy to read. the font i have used for "THEKLA" also features my front page.

Double Page Spread Ideas

this is a flat plan that i've drawn as an idea for my DPS. because my magazine is about the different venues in Bristol and upcoming & local electronic music artists, on the left hand side is would be information about an upcoming artist, then on the right hand side a page about a venue in Bristol. DPS's are usually linked so I would link these two pages together by writing that the artist on the left would be playing at the venue on the right sometime during the month. 

Double Page Spreads: 'NITELIFE'

these are two examples of the double page spreads in 'NITELIFE' magazine.
each venue has its own double page spread. the pictures on each spread are extremely colourful and show people having a good time - this persuades people to go to that venue. it has listings of all the events which are happening at that venue during the month, with posters on the right hand side. each venue name has it's own individual logo/font, but the font of event information is mutual for all the venues.

Double Page Spread: 'NME'

Double page spread:

the photo of Lily Allen fils up most of the right hand page. the colour scheme is just black white and red. these colours compliment each other and also connote to Lily's outfit in the picture and her style of music. Her outfit connotes to the British indie scene. Her clothes support her quote about not being an attention seeker because she is wearing no revealing or 'attention seeking' clothes. NME have used reversed print for a quote of Lily's which takes up most of the left hand page. the contrast of white print on a black background is extremely eye-catching. the massive letters are look exiting and punk-like looking like a cut-out letters from a news paper. letters are of diffrent sizes and overlap the image a little which adds to the sense of chaos - perhaps representing Lily's personality. in contrast, the text at the bottom of the right hand page is very neat and much smaller. the fold in the centre doesn't interfere with the images or text.

Front Page: Second Draft

this is a second draft for my front page - i have changed the colour of the text on the right to white because i think it stands out better. the date of the issue, "February 2012" wasn't very clear so i have made that bigger and put it at the space at the left top corner under the title. i added a website address to the bottom of the page - on this website, readers can view photographs which are featured in the magazine from current and previous months, extra photos from electronic based music venues in Bristol, and information & details about upcoming events. Flat plans of "WOBBLE" will be released the month after the issue comes out, so readers will have to pick up a copy of the magazine to see the full current issue. the font i have used for the text on the page are fonts that i'm going to use throughout my magazine - so they will link.

Front Page: First Draft

using photoshop, i created my first draft for the front cover of 'WOBBLE'. i decided to use this photo for my front cover because it has an interesting composition, is really colourful, and represents the genre of electronic music well. because i used a slow shutter speed on my camera, you can see the movement of the lights which has a cool effect. i think the image would appeal to young adults who are likely to read "WOBBLE". from google i copied a picture of a bar code onto my front page. i havent actually decided that my magazine will cost £1.60 yet - i just put that in so i know what it will look like when i add a price there. to the title, i added circle shapes with an effect inside where the holes in the letters should be. i think they fit well because they look like the inside of a big bass speaker - which compliments the electronic music genre. the text compliments the characters in the photo. 

Square Pages

i have decided i am going to make my magazine have square pages rather than the usual rectangular pages. 'NITELIFe' magazine has square pages and i think they work really well. this is a print screen on me cropping my front page image into a square.

Title Font Experimentations

(from left to right)

1. 'ABLATTIVE'

2. 'AERO DYNAMIC'

3. 'FLIGHT STERWADESS'

4. 'HOSTIL GRADIENT'

5. 'THE 2K12'

i asked four people in sixth form (ages 16/17/18) (two girls and two boys) which font they preferred and why. Tom said he preferred 'FLIGHT STERWADESS' because it suits the genre of music 'WOBBLE' represents and it is abstract, modern, unique. 

Kaide said he preferred 'HOSTIL GRADIENT' but said it should be bolder because it too thin. especially when on a magazine shelf and from a distance, it would be hard to read.

Sim said she liked 'FLIGHT STERWADESS' because the letters are creative shapes, it is bold and stands out. Like Kaide, she said she would love 'HOSTIL GRADIENT' if it was bolder.

Emily said she preferred 'FLIGHT STERWADESS' because it is different, clear, bold and easy to read.

the most popular fonts were number 3 and 4. my favourite is font 3 because of the letter's creative shapes. i will use the other four fonts as subtitles/text in different parts of my magazine. i think font 1 will be good for subtitles.

this effect is suitable because it sort of matches the genre music that 'wobble' is about, in a sense that it is urban and generally more popular with younger generations.

Magazine Fonts

after glancing at some fonts of magazine titles in shops, i have noticed that the simpler the font, the easier it is to read. bigger and more bold fonts stand out better, but bubble writing and too many colours in the title is too hard to read so your eyes just ignore it.

I am going to product my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread (DPS) on photoshop (rather than pages like i did with my preliminary task) because it is a lot more advanced. http://www.dafont.com/ is a website with thousands of downloadable fonts. i have downloaded about 15 fonts which i can use to experiment with my magazine prints. when downloading the fonts i thought about my title and subtitles. on photo shop i will experiment with the different fonts i've downloaded with my front cover, contents page and DPS.

Front Cover Ideas

this is a quick sketch of an idea for a front cover for my music magazine. i used a scanner to upload this image onto my computer. the name of my magazine reflects the genre of music which the magazine is about. 


the colours red and black contrast and go really well together. this is a possible colour scheme for my magazine, depending on how my photographs turn out. 


the title 'wobble' in bubble writing isn't that clear to read, so when i come to creating my front cover on pages i will make it more easy to read. 


text would go on the left hand side of this cover because thats where the space is. 

Women In Media

Whilst researching, i listened to this podcast which discusses why women are still so under-represented in the media industry. some of the statistics shocked me (in the average month):

• 78% of news articles are written by men
• 72% of question time contributors are men
• 84% of radio reporters and guests on radio 4's 'today show' are men
• less then 10% of sport journalist are women
• less then 5% of sport coverage are done by women

These statistics show that there are very little (and decreasing) women in the media nowadays. The hours which people are required to work in the media are very un-family-friendly and are one of the reasons why women are leaving their jobs. When they have children (aprox age 30), and once their children are more grown up, they themselves are 'too old' or 'past it' to re-join the industry. 


I think if more females were involved in media it would give younger girls inspiration to get involved themselves. Annie Mac is a DJ and radio presenter who hosts a number of shows on Radio 1. Her main show, Annie Mac's Mash Up, airs 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Friday nights. She has featured on 'the culture show', 'never mind the buzzcocks', co-presented 'top of the pops' in june 2006 and more. I think Annie is real inspiration for aspiring females who are interested in the music media.


The front page of my my magazine features both a male and female. I have purposely done this so that potential buyers can feel like WOBBLE is suitable for either gender.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/audio/2011/dec/09/media-talk-podcast-women-in-the-media

The Impact Of Technology On Magazines

By 2020, media commentators predict that only 10% of magazine reading will be from hard copies on paper. Magazine markets are still quite traditional. They are old fashioned media sectors - e.g. very gender specific as the success of Zoo and Nuts of Glamour and Cosmopolitan confirms. Many magazines offer a free online download of their magazine. an example of this is Bristol's NITELIFE magazine, which i have researched before. http://www.nitelifeonline.com/12nitelife_jan.pdf this is the link to the January 2012 issue.

My Shoot

1)

the posters in the background of this photo advertise some of the venue where i took this. if i decide to use this image for my magazine then i need to decide on whether to keep them there or hide them.


2)

this would be a good photo for the background of my double page spread of my magazine because the the whole composition is filled. i edited it into black and white because the composition is busy so the colour doesn't need to be bright.
3)

i could crop out the right hand side of this photo because it is someones hand holding a drink - which is irrelevant and confusing. it draws eyes to that rather than the actual purpose of the picture (the two people).

4)

this is not that interesting so wouldn't be good for a front cover. the pixals arn't clear. it would be good for a small print in the corner of my double page spread/contents page.

5)

because this photo is landscape, it would be good for a front cover or contents page. the colours are really interesting and bright. it represents the electronic genre of music well because the tuning decks are clearly in view. i would easily be able to inset text onto this picture - there is a large space at the top for a title, the right hand side is free for text and so is the left bottom corner.

6)

this photo shows movement of the DJs. the effect is really interesting and unusual.

7)

because this photo is landscape it would be good for my front cover/contents page. the

8)

this photo shows people having a good time. even though the two boys take up little space, i wouldn't crop this because the light effect on the left and along the top is unusual.

9)

the lighting wasn't that good in this photo so i made it black and white. i could crop out the right hand side because it is just blank space.

10)

this photo shows the DJ clearly with some interesting light effects. if i was to use this photo as a main print, then i would crop out/draw over the phone in the bottom right corner, and i would also draw over the "pioneer" on the DJ's decks.

11)

the black in the top left corner contrasts well with the bright red lights streaming across the top of the image. this photo is similar to the one before.

12)

this photo shows the light moving really well. i don't think it could be cropped because there are faint images in the background which show movement of the character.


i took these pictures at Thekla - a music venue and club in Bristol. i used a slow shutter speed on my Fujifilm, Finepix S2000HD camera so that i could capture movement of the lights in my images to give them a special effect.  the colours in the images are bright and eye-catching - great for my front cover. i am really pleased with my photographs. 

editing


on iphoto i edited all of my images to enhance the colours and add effects. on most of them i adjusted the contrast to higher, increased dark tones and definition. on some of them i added the black & white effect. 

Planning My Shoot

i have decided i am going to photograph a dj/djs for the pictures for my magazine. i am going to make sure that the images (after editing) are very colourful and eye-catching. i am going to use an SLR camera with a slow shutter speed so that i can capture lights moving in the club/gig venue. i need to take a picture to go as the front cover of my music magazine, and pictures to go on the contents page and double page spread. i wont just take pictures of the dj's themselves - i will take pictures of the crowd/people enjoying themselves at the venue. 

Magazine Genres Titles and Ideas

this is a mind map of ideas/words which i thought of which helped me name my music magazine. After researching 'NME' and 'NITELIFE' magazines, i have decided that unlike 'NME', i want my magazine to be more concentrated on specific genres. i have chosen to base my magazine on electrically produced/modern day music genres, which include; techno, dance, dubstep and drum & bass. this type of music is becoming more and more popular with teenagers and younger generations.

In electronically produced music, rhythms are usually syncopated, and often shuffled and repeated. a characteristic of the dubstep genre is the 'wobble bass', where an extended bass note is manipulated rhythmically. the word 'wobble' is really catchy so i have decided to call my magazine this. 

like 'NITELIFE', 'WOBBLE' will be a local monthly issue which is based in Bristol. this idea contrasts completely with 'NME' magazine because 'NME' is worldwide and is a weekly issue. however like 'NME', 'WOBBLE' will include interviews of upcoming and current artists, but on a much much more local scale (Bristolian artists). 'WOBBLE' will be a combination of event details for the upcoming month  and information about some clubs in Bristol (like 'NITELIFE'), but only especially for electronic music based events and interviews about upcoming and current artists in the Bristol area. 

Magazines In Shops

when magazines are displayed in shops, unless they are lucky enough to make the front row, only the top 5cm (aprox) of the front cover is visible. when creating my magazine front cover i will make sure the top 5cm of the page is eye-catching, colourful and bold. the more eye-catching it is, the more people will want to buy it.

Inspiration

using www.photovisi.com i have made a collage of images to do that are associated with music/live performances from google images. after collecting pictures of live events, i have noticed that most of the better and more popular images are of male artists. this may be a coincidence or it might be that the media is actually concentrating on male artists rather than female artists. this collage has given me inspiration and more ideas of the kind of photo i want on my music magazine cover and contents pages.

Similarities and Contrasts between NME & NITELIFE

• 'NME' is a weekly issue whereas 'NITELIFE' is a monthly issue. 
• 'NITELIFE' is locally based (in Bristol) whereas 'NME' is read worldwide.
• 'NME' is £2.20 whereas 'NITELIFE' is free.
• 'NME' is available worldwide in shops whereas Bristol can only be found in some shops in Bristol.

Magazine Research Two: NITELIFE

 2. NITELIFE - "Bristol's essential listings guide".

NITELIFE magazine is Bristol's "essential listings guide" which features all the local venues that "you need to know about". It is a very simple free magazine which consists of mainly pictures. It advertises local bars and clubs and gives a monthly lowdown of what gig and events Bristol has to offer. You can find Nitelife Magazines in certain clothes/shoe shops in bristol, e.g. 'Cooshti' or 'Size'.






Front Cover:

This episode is January 2012's. The title is very bold and easy to read. The photograph takes up the most of the page. The colours used in the photo are bright fun and contrasting - which makes the photo interesting to look at. The red circle with 'Free' written inside stands out from the white background. When customers see the word 'free' they are more likely to look at it and perhaps take a copy because they know they don't have to pay - and no one likes paying!

http://www.nitelifeonline.com/

Magazine Research One: NME

For my project, i have to create a music magazine cover, double page spread and contents page of a music magazine. i am going to research and explore existing music magazines to help me get an idea of what they look like/are about.

1. NME - "new musical express".

NME started as a music newspaper (in 1952) and then gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, in the 14 November 1952 edition. In the 1970s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. An online version of NME, NME.COM, was launched in 1996. Today NME.COM has 5 million users per month. The NME magazine describes itself as "the world's most recognised and iconic music magazine", published to give a "truthful, honest, informed account of what's going down in music". NME includes news/information about lots of different genres of music but focuses mainly on guitar and rock music; Oasis Arctic Moneys, The Rolling Stones and many more.

• 80% of NME readers feel that music is an important part of their lives

• 79% of NME readers like to listen to new bands

• 63% specially choose to listen to indie/guitar bands

• 49% specially choose to listen to live bands in studio

• 52% are interested in taking a musical course/qualification

• 36% are thinking of buying a musical instrument in the next year

more statistics on http://www.nme.com/mediapack/pdf/nme_media_information_full.pdf

Front covers of NME all share the same "NME" logo at the top left corner of the page - usually in red but special edition covers are in different colours. the title is very easy to read as it is bold and stands out. The two front covers i have chosen are 2 of the 10 "special edition covers"and happen to be of much more modern music artists - Magnetic Man and Rihanna. the other artists for the special edition front covers are Jack White, Florence And The Machine, LCD Soundsystem, Kasabian, Laura Marling, Foals, MIA, and Biffy Clyro. Magnetic Man are an electronic music project consisting of dubstep producers and DJ's, and Rihanna, a female r&b role model. the colour schemes for both of them are simple - they only use two colours.

NME magazine are up-to-date and use new media to promote. They have a facebook, twitter and tumblr page which people can 'like' and 'follow' to find out very current news and information about music artists.
http://www.facebook.com/nmemagazine
https://twitter.com/NMEmagazine
http://nmemagazine.tumblr.com/

http://www.nme.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME

Preliminary Task: Draft 2

i did a second draft for my school magazine front cover. most school magazines have their school logo on the page, so i added the marlwood logo onto the top left hand corner of the page. i still think the page looks quite boring and the speech bubble is quite tacky. i will include more text when it comes to making my music magazine. 

Preliminary Task: Draft 1

Using Pages, i have created a school magazine cover for my school as my preliminary task. Having never used Pages before, this was something new to me - it was very simple. I quickly learned how to insert text and shape bubbles onto the page and set the whole page's background to one of my photographs. I chose to use this photograph (cropped on iPhoto) because it has bright colours and gives a warm feeling about the school. It has a good composition that shows drama masks on the left, books in the background and a sixth form student enjoying working on a computer. I covered up the electrical plugs in the centre by putting a speech bubble over them because they look un-neat. When i come to create my final piece for a music magazine, i will include a more text, shapes and detail in general onto the front cover. it would also be a good idea to include the marlwood school logo on the page.


To get more of an idea of how successful this magazine cover is, i asked my friend annie (a sixth form student at marlwood school) what she thought of it. she said it needed more text around the picture, a few more contrasting colours because the colours i have used blend in together to well and dont stand out. she said i should write the date of the issue somewhere on the page. she also said i should include the marlwood school logo.

Photo Shoot For Preliminary Task

Using an SLR Camera, i went around my school to take photos of everyday school activities so that i could get a photograph to use for the front cover of my school magazine (preliminary task). i concentrated on Sixth Form pupils in particular.

My Photography - Rule Of Thirds

These are just two of the photos I took which contributed to my GCSE Photography coursework which particularly show effective usage of the rule of thirds.

Rule Of Thirds

Composition is very important when it comes to photography. The "rule of thirds" is a compositional technique with is a unique grid of lines arranged to divide your image into thirds (9 squares). Along one of these lines, or especially at an intersecting point of these lines, you want to position your most important (focal point) subjects in your photo. The rule gives an interesting effect which draws the viewers eye directly to the focal point.