Camera shots:

Magazine front cover ideas: For a front cover there are typically 3 types of shots used these are; close ups, mid shots and long shots.

I can use a close up, this obviously expresses emotion, in this particular shot you can express a genre by make up, such as dark eyeliner, for a rock look or a lot of bronzer and mascara for a RnB look.

A shot i could use is a long shot, this focuses more on the body language and outfit than the expression. The person(s) on the cover in this type of shot, are often always up to date with the latest fashion (within that genre) as it's a strong influence on the audience.

This idea for my cover consists of a mid shot of my model. This will enable my audience to see the emotion on there face, but also see enough of them to observe there outfit, as image is also important in any magazine but less so in rock and roll magazines which is the type of genre I'm aiming for.

Questionnaire

After researching i decided to see how my target audience felt about my decisions such as the ideas for my magazine, so it appeals to a large audience. This was carried out by printing copies off and handing them out to a variety of girls and boys in similar age range.

Questionnaire.

1. Are you male/ female?

2. How old are you? ………..

3. Occupation…….

4. Do you read magazines often?

Yes/ No/ Sometimes.

5. How often do you buy magazines?

Once a week/ twice a week/once every two weeks/once a month/ other, please state……..

6. What draws your attention to a new magazine? (you can circle more than one)

Familiarity of the magazine/ reputation of magazine/ Masthead/ Celebrities/ freebies.

7. How much are you willing to pay for a magazine?

Less than £1/ £1- £2/ £2- £3/ more

8. What music do you prefer to listen to? (you can circle more than one)

rock/ metal/ punk/ indie/ pop/ RnB/ Dance/ Garage/oldies/ other please state……

9. Would you prefer a music magazine based on..

One type of genre/ mixture of 1 or 2 genres/ complete mixture

10. What puts you off buying a magazine? ………

11. What features do you prefer in a magazine?

Artist’s inside/Reviews/ Posters/ Quizzes/ News/ other please state……

12. Which layout do you prefer? (please circle)

13. Which shot would you prefer to see on a front cover?

Close up/ extreme close up/ mid shot/ long shot/ mid-long shot

14. Which colour scheme do you prefer?

Black and white/ Purple and black/ Purple and green/ Black and green/ other please state…..

15. Which masthead (title) do you prefer?

Alternate/ Launch/ME (music evolution)/other please state…..

I didn't include my own ideas in this first questionnaire simply because I wanted to see what they thought about existing magazines before I publish any initial ideas for my own. I have collected back the data and from the results I will hand out a second questionnaire with my ideas on.

Ideal Target Audience.

This is Tom Whitehall, he is 17 years old, and lives in the town of Slough, just outside London. He lives with his parents and two brothers n a four-bedroom house. He attends his schools sixth form, where he studies Psychology, Music, Media and History.

He dresses fairly straight forwardly - usually jeans sometimes skinny jeans, pair of Vans a printed top and large hoody.

He enjoys skateboarding, playing guitar and playing the Xbox 360.

He usually shops at Topman, in Camden Market. He also shops a lot online on websites such as Rockabillia.com and loudclothing.com.

He enjoys listening to a variety of music. Such as Bullet For My Valentine, Disturbed, Godsmack, Linkin Park, Avenged Sevenfold. He’s also into Dance and Trance music. He downloads these but also often buys them on CD. He also likes to attend festivals such as Reading festival, Leeds Festival, Glastonbury. Favourite radio stations are Kerrang, Xfm and Scuzz.

He also enjoys watching TV programes like Family Guy, South Park, Miami Ink, LA ink, Futurama Scrubs, Two and a half men. Plus music channels, Kerrang, MTV. Along with watching films, he likes horrors, thrillers action and comedies.

I think my magazine would appeal to Tom because it will consist of the same music genre, including Linkin Park and Bullet For My Valentine. It will display up coming events, gigs and festivals. Also include pages on tattoos, and game reviews.

My magazine will target the both genders male and female, there will be aspects for both sexes, such as gaming insights for the guys and tips on how to get the rock chick look for the girls. As well as features such as reviews, interviews, news and upcoming bands and festivals for both to enjoy.

The magazine genre would be classed as alternative Rock, this consists of many sub-genres such as punk, rock and indie.

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs.

Looking at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs you can clearly see the things in life that are needed for basic survival these are referred to as physiological to self-actualization such as acceptation of fact. This along with the Uses and Gratification model and Demographics show who to target media products such as magazines at.

Each of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic needs are inborn, having evolved over tens of thousands of years. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs helps to explain how these needs motivate us all.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself.

Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development.

Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs.In turn this means that media is higher on the hierarchy as it is not a basic need, thought some may feel it is.

Media starts to fit into the model in the higher regions such as Esteem and Self-Actualization. This is when they start to advertise those products once basic needs are fulfilled. They target self-esteem and confidence by their products such as magazines, with the advertising and content reinforcing them. For example a ‘Punk’ kid, who is different and may get picked on in society who reads a punk magazine opens it up, reads through and it reinstates he’s confidence of belonging.

Media reaches further into Self- Actualization when creating and advertising products further. They create the illusion that we need their products, when they are not as necessary. These products consist of news, television, games Internet sites etc.

Uses and Gratification look at ‘Why’ people use media rather than content. The mass media compete with other sources of gratification, but gratifications can be obtained from a medium's content (e.g. watching a specific programme), from familiarity with a genre within the medium (e.g. watching soap operas), from general exposure to the medium (e.g. watching TV), and from the social context in which it is used (e.g. watching TV with the family).

NRS grades.

A

Upper middle class

Higher managerial, administrative or professional.

B

Middle class

Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional

C1

Lower middle class

Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional

C2

Skilled working class

Skilled manual workers

D

Working class

Semi and unskilled manual workers

E

Those at the lowest levels of subsistence

Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and others who depend on the welfare state for their income

The NRS Social Grades, (National Readership Survey) class every occupation under one of these 6 categories.

Aswell as the occupation wages are taken into consideration. Therefore this model is key to analyse your potential target audience.

For most music magazines such as Kerrang, NME and Top Of The Pops target the teen generation. This age range classes as group E as they are students with either no or very little income. In which case media such as magazines market carefully and provide products in which can be afforded. The average price for a magazine is £2 - £4 depending on your acquired music taste. The cheapest magazine is Kerrang at the price of £2.20 and is very popular with teenagers ageing between, 13-17.

Other factors than age taken into account when researching into an ideal audience is gender, age, culture and race. Each magazine targets different audiences.

My ideas.

My target audience will be aimed at social grade E, students. This is because this age range tends to be more up to date with new releases of music. This is a key element for my magazine, as it will be consisting of new and upcoming music.

An idea of a genre of my particular magazine will be a mix between rock and metal, with some alternative bands inside. In which case I will have to be up to date with new releases. Popular and unknown bands to boost knowledge and understanding in the music industry, in turn boosting careers. My magazine will be one new band’s come to help publicise them

This would mean that the price would have to be low budget roughly priced at around £2; this is similar to Kerrang and NME pricing. A questionnaire I will create later is to find out which of the 3 main competing magazines they buy. These will be Kerrang NME and Q (which is slightly more diverse than the others.) This will show me how much money they have to spend weekly on magazines.

NME Contents Analysis

NME Contents Analysis.

This NME contents simply consists of one large image covering a high percentage of the page, leaving little space at the side where the contents is listed. The image shows a band, this band is Blur. They’re at a premier reunited. This interests fans to what premier and why they were there. Aswell as the excitement of their reunion.

The colour scheme is continued from the front cover; this colour scheme consists of red, black and white. The paper of the magazine is made of a similar material to a newspaper, this is because when NME started it was much bigger, similar size to a newspaper, however as time progressed the size was compact but to keep some of the authenticity the material was kept the same.

The ‘Snapshot’ title, says the same as a ‘contents’ does it gives you an insight to what’s inside. The capitalised letters grab your attention more than lower case would do. The text ‘What’s inside contrasts with the ‘snapshot’ as this is white text on black background, this and the size distinguish a difference between the two phrases, this also applies with the ‘News’ in the top right hand corner. This just displays what section of the magazine you are at. This runs throughout the entire magazine.

The costume of the band show their casual attitude to the reunion they’re not out making a big deal about themselves. There is not a dress code between them just casual jeans, top and jacket. This shows their individuality. Their expressions indicate a happy return along with the body language such as arms around each other show unison and comfort amongst each other. The text related to this article has a bold heading the use of movie in brackets make the reader intrigued as to why this has been used. The article then goes on to explain that the band has made a film. The red ‘I’ draws attention to read the article. The red carpet represents importance. In the top left hand corner the date of when the image was taken, this connotes to the reader how relevant and up to date the story is.

The main contents are listed on the left hand side. The text is in red to add some colour, in this issue it coincides nicely with the red carpet and ‘I’’. Untypical of magazines is that the content is listed not in categories but in alphabetical order. The majority of the contents listed are artists. This is a typical convention of NME magazines.

The banner along the bottom of the page promotes a deal to their dedicated readers. The offer invites them to subscribe and get 85p off every issue. This will be inviting to readers because a weekly cost of £2.20 can add up for someone who only has little money to spend. There are no alternating colours to distract you from the information given. The image of the magazine in the bottom right hand corner simply shows the reader an example of what they can get.

Kerrang Contents Page Analysis.

Kerrang Contents - Analysis.

Contents pages are a simply way to express what’s inside. Nearly all magazines have a contents page which is more often than not on the page opposite the front page, so when you open the cover it’s the first thing you see.

In this example you have the title Contents is in yellow this is because it stands out against the black background. What’s unusual in Kerrang magazines is the use of issue number and date. This allows the audience to keep up to date with the issues.

Featured double spreads are across the top half of the page with an large image of Soundgarden, this could possibly be because the editor feels like it’s a bigger story or they are less well known that either Hollywood Undead or Enter Shikari.

As usual in Kerrang magazines the editor writes a little note. In this particular contents page it’s on the left hand side. The picture that’s posted above the snippet of information is of the editor herself, she’s an attractive woman and the audience can see whose work they are reading. It gives the magazine a personal touch.

Once again you know you’re reading Kerrang as they paste in a border across the middle of the page. It’s a good place to position it as it’s just before the headings of what’s inside, again with the colours they contrast standing out. “This Week” represents the news as being current and up to date, what the readers want to know.

The main contents page is sectioned off under different headings: Feedback, News, Poster Special, The Rev, Live Reviews, Features, Album Reviews, Gig Guide and K! Quiz. Each heading has a different number of stories. To make the headings stand out yellow writing on a black background was used to keep the contents colour scheme continuing. This contents follows the typical style of contents and listing stories with matching numerical page numbers. Each story that has been mentioned on the cover has a black star in a red circle; these highlight the main stories that drew the readers’ attention to the magazine in the firs place.

In the bottom right hand corner there is the option to subscribe so you never miss a copy of the magazine. Again the colour scheme is kept in sync with the use of yellow, white, black and red. The red banner with the white writing contrasts well. The use of the magazines overlapping this text simply shows what their money buys.

The few pictures on the bottom half of the page, little pictures are used. This is to make more room for the contents to be pasted in a neat order

Q Contents Page Analysis.

The contents page in this magazine is spread over tow pages. You also find it a few pages in from the front, which is not like other magazines when they are located the first page after the front cover. Q has it 4 pages into the magazine with adverts previous to this. This is not a conventional place to have a contents page.

The Q at the top of the left hand page is in the style of an award, representing that it sees itself with award winning information and style. The red banner is always along the top of the double page spread keeping with the style of the front colour. Red is there house style colour, it’s present in every issue of the magazine. Inside the banner the Contents is in black contrasting with the red but also not fitting in with the white so each word is related to something different. Its in the left hand corner simply because we read from left to right, it makes sense to place it there and continue onto the next page. The issue number allows dedicated readers to keep up to date with issues to make sure they don’t miss an issue.

Through out the rest of the contents the colour scheme continues with red, white and black, this keeps the reader informed that the information has not changed.

What’s also not conventional like other magazines are that Q does not order its contents in numerical order, but instead the contents are listed under headings. Such as ‘Features’, ‘Regulars’ and ‘The Q Review’.

This is neither more confusing nor simpler for the reader. For many readers they start reading from the front page to the last. Each heading is underlined in red indicates what’s the title and then a little piece of information underneath it, to engross the reader.

The cluster of images in the centre make the contents more eye catching and draws attention to it, the images used are of the main stories inside the magazine and gives the reader a taster of what’s to come. Each image has either the number in black or white, depending on the colour of the background to contrast.

Each image is not a different story they are still mentioned under one of the headings. The main image is of Oasis is the largest on the pages representing that this particular story is the biggest story in this magazine. The images printed are either the most popular wanted stories or they are unknown and trying to promote them.

The image of Q magazine at the top right hand corner is of the front cover of this particular magazine.

The layout of this overall contents page is neat and nicely spaced layout representing that this magazine is aimed at a older audience than a magazine like Kerrang.

We Are The Ocean- Double Page Spread Analysis.

We Are The Ocean - Double Page Spread Analysis.

Unlike typical magazine articles this article on We Are The Ocean, is laid out differently. There is a main image, however this takes up the entire spread and there is no main bulk of text. Instead there are mini profiles on each member of the band. This attracts fans of the band as the profiles reveal information on individual members.

The image is set on a plain white background this is so no attention is drawn away from the band. However a red coloured ripple effect has been added, to correspond with the pun “making waves”. This refers to the bands name We Are The Ocean, it’s cleverly added as it blends in with the theme and making waves can be suggested as making noise or havoc in the music industry.

The boxed text of We Are The Ocean reiterates who the article is about if you aren’t familiar with the band, this ties in nicely with the pun next to it. The black box and red

The image is evenly spread across the double page, each band member having an equal size space representing that each member is valued as equal, neither one is more important they function together. This is a positive image on young fans, teaching them to work together.

The image is in faded colours, in this article because they give the article depth. It also fits with the rest of the colour scheme and neither the text or image stand out more than each other. This gives equal attention to the clever pun. The colours used are different from what you would expect We Are The Ocean would use because you would associate ocean with different shades of blue. The outfit’s the band are wearing don’t stand out they blend in with the theme; they’re casually dressed meaning they don’t have to try hard, to get noticed.

Each member has a cheeky expression this symbolizes the bands personality and approach towards the music industry. It also displays a bright insight to rock music; they have a smile which many rock musicians refuse to wear.

The little profiles are in fact mini interviews. They are easy to read and they easily illustrate who said what, which is sometimes difficult to decipher within interviews.

If you are new to this band as they are relatively new to the music industry, this is an easy and quick way to learn the members and a lot about them with the use of personal questions. The use of the red and the black writing identifies which is the question and answer but also the red and black ties the overall image of the article together. The thought bubbles around the text simply emphasize that, that information came from that particular member.

The clip of text in the top right hand corner gives some information as to why they are featured in the article this is a good way to promote their forthcoming album. There are a few puns in the text that reflects the bands aura and name for example “make a splash.” Also to promote themselves along the bottom right hand corner in a banner they have the release date of their new album. This is great positioning as this is where people go to turn the page so it catches their eye.