Photo analysis

 Some of the images I want to use for my music magazine were taken on the grounds of Acland Burley school. I used instruments in the photos to show the live music being played by the people featured in the magazine. Using photoshop, I used the 'conte crayon' effect. This made the images black and white, but also look as if they are drawn in using technology. I think this is a good combination as it relates to images of old reggae artist, but also has a modern touch to it. This use of effect throughout will also create consistency for my magazine.

Magazine photo shoot

-       My photo shoot will be based on rough drawings I did in media lessons. This included nine photos for my magazine.

-       I want to shoot my photos over the next few days

-       I aim to take my photos in a variety of different locations to reflect the mood of the picture.

-       The photos will be of people I know who

-                Photo	-                Where/ what/how	-                angle
-                1	Outside. Onstage. Person playing guitar.	-                mid shot
-                2	Inside. Bright lighting. Person looks Serious.	-                Close up
-                3	Person playing drums.	-                Medium shot
-                4	Person closing eyes singing into microphone. Sunshine in background.	-                Medium close up
-                5	Two people playing guitars. Onstage. Looking musical.	-                long shot
-                6	person singing into microphone.	-                Medium shot
-                7	Band onstage looking happy	-                long shot
-                8	Group with their arms round each other	-                medium shot

Research into the music press

Over the past few weeks I have been studying how the music press advertise to their audiences, and how different magazines appeal to different audiences. For example, NME appeals to an indie rock audience by publisising their music and using fonts and writing techniques that attract these people.  The name NME New musical express, is a simple but original name which isnt cheesy. NME also uses a colour theme of red, black and white which is evident throughout. These colours are used because they stand out and are bold on the page.
This is different to Top of the Pops magazine, which uses glossy fonts and bight, sparkly colours to attract a young, teenage girl audience. Another devise used by Top of the Pops is the people on all the front pages are smiling, which welcomes young audiences into the magazine as the magazine is freindly and not intimidating.

The publishers of NME also attract their target audience by using language throughout which the readers can relate to. This means they are critical of some music scenes and genres and keep a reputation by advertising unknown artists who may be famous just because of NME. The magazine also aims to report new music, meaning it doesent wish to appeal to its audience by advertising artists who are already famous, but wants to introduce new ones into the scene.
Top of the Pops magazine also uses language which attracts their target audience of young girls. An example of this is words like 'oops' and 'gosh', which are words the target audience may say and so will be able to empathise with. However, the magazine contrasts with NME as it does not inform readers of stars in the making, but it reports on people who are already famous. This shows the magazine does not aim to create celebrities, only to inform followers of what is happening in the current celebrities lives.

My magazine mastheads

These are some mastheads I picked out from 'Dafont.com' They are supposed to reflect the music my magazine publicises. eg. the palm tree silhouttes in the first font reflect the setting of the music in my magazine.
The colours of red, yellow and green also represent reggae music, as they are the theme colours of the genre.
this means the target audience can immediately relate to the magazine genre as the colours are closely linked to the music.

Comparitive analysis and evaluation of music press front page

Front covers of magazines are one of the main features of a magazine that attracts their target audience. The colours, images, fonts, layout and styles can combine to create a specific tone and theme of a magazines front cover. 

Kerrang

The colours included on Kerrang magazine of black, white, red and grey all combine to create a gothic tone, which is clearly unfreindly and dark. These colours also create a bleak effect and reflect the colour of clothes worn by many rock artists featured in Kerrang and its followers. The combination of the colours and the images often used in Kerrang can also create an aggressive feel. For example, the image of a man in a mask with the red splats on the front page connote violence, as the mask aims to look intimidating and weird, and the red splats could be seen as blood.

The fonts used on Kerrang, like the smashed masthead, suggest action and thrills that come with the magazine and its music scene. The front covers fonts mainly consist of unclean, stenciled or hand written. This suggests the magazine and its culture are rough and implys rebbellion against the mainstream of society. 

The layout of Kerrang places the features of the issue on the bottom leaving the top half image with lots of space to attract attention. This means the face on the front stands out more and seem more important, meaning the reader is drawn to the image and wants to know what it means.

The Kerrang magazines front page uses a dark style by a lack of colour, and serious facial expressions. The  words on the front page also create an aggressive feel eg. 'somebodys gonna get killed...' this suggests violence and straight away shows us that the target audience are against the mainstream of society.

Top of the pops

However, the colours included on the cover of Top of the Pops magazine are purple, pink, yellow and white. These are all bright, happy colours which immediately suggest to the reader it is a young girls magazine. The colours also have a sparkly, glossy effect showing the magazine will be celebrity based gossip and not serious.

The images on the front of Top of the Pops show smiley, happy young people involved in popular culture. This means the target audience are likely to know who they are and are followers. Their facial expressions are welcoming, meaning the audience feel comfortable and would wish to read on.

         The fonts used on the front page of Top of the Pops are clean and modern. This works better
         than a rough font for the magazine because the readers, young teenage girls, would be aspiring
         for a fairytale lifestyle where everything is perfectly done.

         The layout of Top of the Pops involves many small images over one main image. This attracts the
         target audience as they are pulled into the images shown with the smaller stories as well as the big
         ones on the front page. The people featured on the front overlap the masthead, highlighting their
         importance.
                                                                                                                                                                           Similarities                                                    Diffences
       Both magazine have the masthead                   The colours used on Kerrang are much darker than
       at the top of the page.                                     those on Top of the Pops.

       Both magazines have central images                The images and facial expressions highly contrast.
       aimed to attract their target audience.              Top of the Pops shows people smiling and looking
                                                                             happy wheras Kerrang will show more intimidating
                                                                             facial expressions.
      

Arts magazine analysis

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