Completed Contract

I haven't blogged in a long time because i have been doing allot of paper based work like storyboards, treatments and such like in preparation for filming for my music video. As i have now completed the before mentioned i shall be blogging more regularly.

This is the completed version of my contract which gives me permission to use there music and pictures.

The Zetas - Off Peace (Live)

This is the song i shall be using for my music video, i will be given the recorded mixed version soon but for now i have the live version to work with.

The modern technologies used by my band

http://http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Zetas/318268408735

http://http://www.myspace.com/thezetas

http://http://thezetas.weebly.com/news.html

http://http://twitter.com/thezetas

Kids In Glass Houses Saturday (influencial aspects)

This video is the example of waking up in a new era. This is signified by the change in clothing, instruments, hairstyles and even down to the detail of the alarm clock. I like the attention to detail with this video. I shall be adding other videos to be influenced by as my initial 3 videos where to explore the different genres and get a solid understanding of the inner working of music videos.

Lyrics + more

These are the lyrics for the song i shall be using for my music video. The band have told me that the song is approximately 2minutes and 30 seconds long. i have also talked with the band about ideas for video which include switching the connotations of both teenagers and adults by reversing them so the teenagers in the video would have all the power. Another possible idea would be taking the band through different eras and i shall add an example of what i mean in the next post. i want the band to take a adult role or older role as they would be seen as knowledgeable and mature instead of a young immature indie band.

The Kooks - Sway (Full Analysis)

The video is recorded in black and white i feel this is to emphasise the feel and mood of the music. The video is quite old fashion with the additions of the pier and old props like the telephone enforce this fact within a few seconds of the video. i find the telephone very interesting to use it as a microphone so i may include this in my video. The diegetic sound at the start of the video is heightened so it because more apparent in this world at the start of the video where everything is watched and listened to. Within scene it contain one of the band members walking along the pier in slow motion in a medium shot which grabs the attention of the view and gives connotations of a strong and powerful song.

It is also apparent that after the first 1 minute and 30 second of the song all band members apart form the lead singer are not featured. I feel this may be because of the strong close ups of the lead singer singing directly into the camera are very strong and emotional shot that they be distributed by editing. though i feel that all band members should be equally viewed. These close up shots of the Lead singer create a direct relationship between him and the audience through the explicit eye contact. He also makes it obvious that the camera is there whereas normally int he video they are not interacting with the camera but in this video the lead singer is singing into it and moving towards it but ensuring he doesn't break the 180 degree line.

The lighting through out the video is fluorescent tubular lighting although there would of been other studio lighting but it isn't that obvious that ti is being used. There are also lens flares in the video which give a different perspective and artist view to the video which i quite like.

This then brings me onto the more powerful part of the video where the vocals heighten. i believe that this song is about being in a relationship or situation and one small action can cause a extreme reaction. At the start of the song this person will stand by this person and be there for them but as the song goes on you can see the desperate sound of the lyric of also begging this person to stay with them which is way i think the repetitive lyric 'I'll give it my all' very powerful. I believe that there are quite a few messages int he video to go along with my theory of the video. firstly, the house of cards is significant as one small move or action can cause a house to fall down possibly referring to building up a relationship to see it fall down within a small space of time.

Another fairly cliched moment was the broken bottle of milk which could be referring to the saying 'There's no use in crying over spilt milk' which break at the heightened part of the video where everything starts breaking and being destroyed. Another point which caught my attention was his attire, chain mail vest, possibly to protect his chest or more importantly his heart.

You do not see any instruments being played by the other band members but they feature heavily at the begging of the video but as things start falling apart they are not featured again. A possible explanation could be that the lead singer had isolated himself from his friends becuase of a relationship problem with a loved one or ex-loved one.

Another change of band.. hopefully the final one

Hang Fire Empire didn't get back to me on the offer of the music video so unfortunately once again i had to change my band. This time i hope that this will be the band i stick with. They are a indie trio called 'the Zetas' and are a Bodmin College based band which is my college which will make meetings much easier. i have already had a meeting with the band which involved choosing the name of the song i would be using which will be 'Off Peace' which is their newest song which i should be receiving the lyrics and live version of the song within the next week. i am glad that i am able to be proactive on the project because i have been unable to do any work for a few weeks without a band or song which was very frustrating. i am working with the band closely to produce something that we will both like. The way that this band links with the youth identity is because each of the members are aged 16-17 years old which also means their target audience will be roughly the same age. they are looking for a music video which is a bit different and which will make them stand out from the crowd. i shall have to adjust my research slightly to accommodate my new bands genre. i am looking forward to working with this band as i feel all the members have something to get to the video although they want me to have the main creative control. I have been thinking about playing on the conventions of them being young and using some adults in the video and changing them into teenagers and the band members being adults. this would push the stereotypes of both adults and teenagers to make this video a bit different.

New band : Hang Fire Empire

As i am now changing my inital focus to a differant band i am going to have to tweek the contract to more suit the new band.

Final contract

I have left space for all of the band members and myself to sign the contract. i am very happy with the way it is worded and how it is presented. This is not the final version of my contract as this one is not completed by the band and doesnt have the correct date on it.

Draft copy of my contract

I don't want to be legally liable for the misuse of the images or audio files that i use so i have outlined a contract to ensure the safety of myself, the band and the college. This contract allows me to take pictures, moving images and use one audio file from the band with outlined permissions to where i can use and display these items.

album magazine advertisments

I have deliberately chosen 3 different magazine adverts with to fully analyse and choose a layout best suited for my magazine advertisement for my album cover to feature on.

Advertisement no.1: Enter Shikari - Common Dreads

This is a Full page advertisement selling a new album. This information is minimal as it is simply there to remind people to buy the album when it is released. The minimal information on the advertisement relates to the minimal information known about the album before it was released. One of the few songs leaked by the band themselves was a song called 'havoc A' which contained the continuous chanting of the lyric 'the lions are at the door' which then became the slogan to the album. Enter Shikari are quite a politically driven band. I found the page quite difficult to analyse as it requires historical knowledge and a little bit of surmising to understand. i believe that the royalist lion links back to the royal family with links to the houses of Parliament and linked with the background of a map which could symbolise the British commonwealth because the album is named 'Common Dreads'. The three main colours are green, red and black which are all ossicated with royal colours. This shows youth identify through the rebellion against the government and to silence their opinion. The intelligent links to certain parts of governmental power makes this advertisements very clever as it is offensive without being outward with it. It also has it's record label in the bottom right hand corner.

Advertisement no.2: This advertisement is to promote All Time Low's album Nothing Personal. It has a cut out cartoon type feel to it with the crudely cut outlining and doodles. This shows immaturity, which also reflects the age of the band and thus the audience they attract. This advertisement attracts a collective identity of youth because of the doodles and such which would remind them of school or college. Unlike a majority of other media I have analysed this is unoffensive and carries no moral message. This would reflect the bands pop-rock unoffensive style of music. The advertisement in itself is simple and quite bland which wouldn't normally be associated with a teenaged market but I think this might have been done to remind teenagers of their yellow exercise books and the album would connote a break from the boring stereotype of college. There is also an HMV plug at the bottom of the page which means they have sort financial gain from HMV advertising on All Time Low's page, although this would also help the consumer find the product the purchase it. Just like the Enter Shikari advertisement it has its record company at the bottom of the page. on my own advert i will have to create my own or research record companies and select the one most suited for the band, genre and image I'm creating for my project.

Advertisement No.3: This is a very dark and bland in colour because of the aptly named album 'Grey Britain' From the politically driven punk band the 'Gallows'. It is apparent that it is politically rounded through the use of political iconography. For Example: the United Kingdom flag, the Tudor rose and a coat of arms. The word 'Grey Britain Gallows' are written in an graffiti type style which concretes the youth culture identity it is portraying. Although this advertisement is promoting their new album it is also promoting their new tour. This would help the band sell albums and sell tickets to their live events which is a good marketing ploy. The advertisement is also endorsed by Relentless energy drinks which would provide income from the advertisement for both the band and Relentless drinks company. The colours of the age are black, white and grey. They connote mystery and darkness which would give the consumer an initial idea about the album.

Finding A Band For My Music Video

I initially posted a blog on my photography Myspace profile asking for any band who would be interested in a free music video shoot. I only had replies from bands outside of Cornwall which would be inconvenient due to lack of funds. I then messaged a local band called Kaideka, who i have previously done 2 photography shoots for. They seem very interested at this point because i have expressed that the music video shoot will be completely free of charge and i am friends with the band.

Hadouken - Get smashed, Gate Crash (Full analysis)

LYRICS: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858707330/

the video starts with horizontal flicking lines across the screen which I would compare to a television which has lost its reception. The whole of this video is very jumpy and non-sesiqual. The video was recorded on hand held camcorders possessed by each of the members of the band on a stereotypical teenager 'binge' evening out. The editing is very jumpy, dark and doesn't really follow continuity editing. A lot of the shots are different to fathom out as to what they are and what is going on. the main themes of the video are sex, drugs and drink. The video is largely non-sesiquical as its so jumpy, dark and blurry that it is difficult to understand what is being filmed. i do not want to film my video in the hand held documentary type fashion. i think that the fact they have broken the 180 degree line ruins the feel of enjoying and understanding the video and also makes the viewer feel voyeuristic in the content and aspect of the video. it almost feels like a university students video documentary on an evening out with their friends which cements the nosey voyeuristic side of the video. i want to create a video with simple yet effective ideas which are easily understandable with a defined storyline, so i do not think i shall be taking any inspiration from this video as it isn't the context in which i want my video to be.

Professor Green feat. Lily Allen - Just Be Good To Green (full Analysis)

LYRICS:http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/p/professor_green/just_be_good_to_green.html

The stereotypical 'RnB' persona is used and exploited through out this music video. The story of the lyrics explains that the male (professor green) is promiscuous or was promiscuous before he met (Lily Allen) though because of his racey past she doesn't know whether she can trust him. Professor green plays a jack the lad type personality where his reputation is more important than anything else. whereas Lily Allen plays a headstrong woman who believes she will change him.

I think this video is from the point of view from Professor Greens mind which would explain the plain prop-less scenery. It also contains 3 points which are professor green himself, Lily Allen and the other women.

The way professor green slouches back in his chair shows his blase attitude towards sleeping with women. It also shows that the women have to come to him which means he thinks he is higher than them. Further on in the video the women crowd around him meaning he has the choice of who ever he likes. Its all about his feelings and choices and disregards those of the women around him. The leather studded chair he is sitting in also connotes gentleman's clubs which women would be seen once again as mere objects.

The start of the video shows Lily Allen standing on the rotating platform which instantly makes her look like an object not like a woman. Although, she is fully covered up and is modestly dressed through-out the video and away from the male gaze yet the platform looks like a prize podium and Lily Allen is the prize. The main colours of the video are black and white which I think represents the white purity of the woman and the black, dark promiscuous side of the male.

When Lily Allen or Professor Green are in a two shot its normality one or the other which is in focus showing that Lily Allen is in the background of his thoughts or vice versa. This is one of the few insights to Professor Green thinking about anything other than the other women. I suppose this video also views men in a very stereotypical fashion in the way that all they think about is sex, women and promiscuity.

The close ups and extreme close ups of the scantily clad women are all sexualised and have a very apparent male gaze which is a theory pulled from Laura Mulvey. You can see the three stages of the male gaze. One would come from professor green himself as this shows that this is how he views them, secondly from the camera because of angel and level of these shots specifies exactly what the audience should be viewing which leads me to the third gaze of the audience and how they perceive these women in a un-humanised way.

The shot of professor green directly addressing the camera through the legs of the women on the conveyor belt connotes sexual activity because his head is between their legs. It could also be perceived that professor green has had sexual activity with these women which is why he is comfortable with this shot or sexual activity is something he wants to do. The fact that all the women in this video (including Lily Allen) have featured on a platform or conveyor belt enforces quite defiantly that these women are objectified. The connotations of a conveyor belt would normally been seen at shops or supermarkets, which makes me feel that these women are objects or even cruder, just meat.

the section near the end of the video of the female dancers in the light boxes makes them look like podium dancers because of their risque dancing and the focus is trying to be taken away from Lily and onto them. Their costume consists of a males white shirt and underwear which also suggests 'the morning after' look meaning that these women have slept with professor green and are wearing his shirt from the night before. This gives the impression that these women are 'easy' and have a disposable nature because of the sheer amount of women in the video.

I do like some of the hand made feel special effects to the video where the women look like they are cut outs from a magazine and them come to life. I would like to do some clever effect with my video as it keeps the audience interested and makes the video different from others. Another effect i like if the folding women at the end of the video. This is the point where Lily Allen has taken control of the video to a certain extend and is removing these women from professor greens view. the pushing them to make them old like paper which makes me think that she is removing these thoughts from professor greens mind only leaving herself.

They way this links back to youth culture is more about the ideas pertruding from the video. Just like the 50 Cent album cover it golorifies something which shouldn't be golourified, in this intance its promiscuity. This shows that is it ok for people to behave in such a way.

annalysis of 4 album covers

I have chosen to analyse 4 album covers as 3 of the album covers are around the same genre of music and one of them is from a completely opposite genre to really get a spectrum of research.

I shall firstly start with the album cover from 50 Cent who preforms in the genre of rap. The album is entitled the massacre which connotes death which is almost glorified by the image of the rapper on the front cover. This is made apparent through his sculpted body and is enhanced by the illustrated lines added to the image to make his muscles look threatening towards men yet attractive toward women. The gloves he is wearing also makes him look violent or that he has just been violent to someone because of his over bearing stature. This is involved in youth culture because of teenage gangs and the title of the album puts it into this category. the rap culture is also about excess e.g. expensive jewelry, muscular body and excessive power over others. I believe the stance of 50 cent is quite domineering as it is shot from below so hes looking down on the viewer. The font and writing on the front cover also replicate rap and the connotations of rap. the words 'the massacre' are written in a graffiti type style which would connote defacing a building or wall which would be illegal. the words '50 cent' are written in a yellow font which would connote his name written in gold and to be admired. This album cover stereotypes the rap genre instantly and glamorizes gang culture whereas i would like to do a more gritty representation of youth culture in a different genre than rap.

The second album i will be analysing is from a band called parkway drive who are a post-hardcore/metal band. the album is entitled killing with a smile which corresponds with the image on the front cover. This relates to youth culture because knife crime is highlighted between youths. This gives youth culture a much grittier and real sense because of the shocking image of a teenager slumped on a pavement who has been stabbed. You can tell it is a teenager as they are wearing stereotypical teenage fashion which are jeans and converse shoes. The namesake of the album would also suggest the that person who stabbed the victim would have taken pleasure in doing so or' killing with a smile' as such. The bands name 'parkway drive' has a distressed/smashed look to it which also ties in the un-glamorized front cover along with the 'killing with a smile' lettering which looks scratched. The colours on the front cover are quite drab and bland which makes the album cover more realistic to the scene. I would like to create a front cover like this as it captures the readers attention because of sheer reality and bring something so violent onto a front cover of a album.

The third album is from a band called green day who fall into the genre of punk/rock. The album is titled 21st century breakdown which would connote failure in the modern society which could explain the fire in the background of the stenciled image though the fire behind them could also represent the metaphorical passion between the embraced couple. This album cover is surrounded by youth culture because of the use of graffiti and the passionate embrace between the male and female. The parental advisory sticker also adds to the youth culture specification as it contains explicit language. the font used on the 'Green Day' text is also graffiti which is noticeable because of the drip marks from the paint. i believe that the iconography of the album cover also relates to the street artist Banksy because of the stenciled graffiti this is relevant because Banksy was a controversial artist would someone people viewed his work as either art or criminal damage. this may link to the misrepresentation of the majority of teenagers because of the way that the youth are viewed by the modern society. The colours on the cover are eye catching and adds to the black and white on the main focus of the couple. the red could be represented as passion, anger and rebellion.

The fourth and final album cover i shall analyse is from a welsh band called Funeral for a Friend who fit into the genre of rock. I like this front cover because it is very simple yet conveys a message simply and is a iconic and memorable album cover for me. It plays on many conventions that school would be a safe place for student to be yet she is wearing a stab vest which highlights knife crime and violence in teenage society. The face that the model is a female is also surprising as females are stereotypically seen to be involved in knife crime. It also plays on the innocence of the female because of her light complexion, school uniform and blonde hair which are linked which purity, its a juxtaposition to the stab vest she is wearing which is dark in colour and stands of protection against violence. The graffitti on the lockers behind her gives the impresent that shes in a school where the other students lack respect and disapline for their place of education and becuase of the stab vest also eachother. Blue is a signiure colour on the cover which could show calm and tranquility which would be a juxpoistion to the violence. Although, blue can also connote coldness which would show her isolation from the school.

START OF A2 LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES

Brief Chosen:
1. a promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

a website homepage for the band;

a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)

a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)

i am choosing to create the music video, the magazine advertisement and the CD cover of the release album.
i am interested to do this brief as i know quite a few people in bands. these bands are also unsigned which would bypass the rights to the music with permission of the band themselves. I also have a photography business where i work with local bands and take pictures of them at live concerts this has also helped me gain contacts in the local music scene.
the brief also has to cover the theme of Media and collective identity which is youths and youth culture which i am going to try and incorporate into my video, Cd cover and advertisement.

Facebook Feedback

i have an empty slide on my PowerPoint for space for the face book feedback. i am going to put this on separately because i still haven't collected all of my feedback.

Jaime Howard : Double Spread: It's good photography and the write up is very cool.
: Front page: Oh, i love it and so does my mother. she says it look professional. i like the barcode etc.
: contents page :i love it :D ♥

Conrad Preston:Contents page: Very good no critisim
:front page: very good
: for a metal mag it looks kinda indie?

Ros Perkin : contents page:It like draws you in.

Charlie Rusell: Contents page: Shape and layout the pictures a bit more :D they look good, you've got the right amount, bit shape them a bit better.

Evaluation for music Magazine

This is the overal evaluation of the project of magazine production.

Evaluation for music Magazine

View more presentations from lisap93.

update on evaluationn

i am still working on my evaluation and have collected peer feedback from my work. i have also put my work upon facebook to receive a wide range of comments. some of the negative feedback i have replied to and made my comments about it. i am going to have to finish my evaluation fully and thoroughly tomorrow as i do not have PowerPoint on my computer at home so I'm going to have to work hard tomorrow.

my final double page spread

finishing touches to my double page spread

screen shot 1: i took away any photoshop brushes front he title area because i think they were unneeded i just changed the colour of the names of the photography and author into yellow to tie the tabs into the article better. i moved up the sections of writing to make a space at the bottom the make the page numebrs more noticable and to overall balance out the space better.

scfreenshot 2: this is the screen shot that i put into my contents page int he section next to the gig reviews. i wanted to put a page preview in ym work to make the auidence want to read it and i have also seen this in music magazine contents pages and thought it looked good and effective.

experimentation wih double page spread

screen shot 1: this the image i was using as the background in the past post. you can see all of the detail in tight in the left corner so it wouldn't be a good background image.

screenshot 2: i wanted to add a other colour into the background so i changed the writing to yellow, which was one difficult to read and two just didn't look correct it just looked out of place. i also added the live tabs at the tab which i did by writing the text rubbing it out with a metal photoshop brush butting it onto a grey box and rubbing it out at the edges. i then added the two portrait images to the side of the main image. i wanted to show more of the gig. one of the images goes over the main image so i delicately erased the portrait image around his head. i did want to add an extra image but i though i would get too cluttered. i added small details like the page number at the bottom of the page. these numbers also correlate with the contents page. i used a photoshop brush over the title and information but i don't think the text is very visible on top of this.

screenshot 3: i changed the text to red as i though it was more noticeable and looked the same as the rest of the magazine. although, i did keep the yellow on the tab bits at the top just to introduce another colour. i also added a 'heard it here first' graphic which will make my article more exclusive and it is a buzz phrase because people are enticed to read. i removed the previous photoshop brush of the metal and added a ink/smokey brush instead but i still didn't think it looked correct.

screen shot4: this is another example of my multi-document working technique. i made the brush i wanted and then dragged it onto my document.

starting to make my double page spread

screenshot 1: i still wasn't sure on my layout because i wasn't following my double spread flat plan because i didn't think it looked very professional. i tried using the landscape image i wasn't going to use because i though i needed more colour in my magazine because until up to this point it had been red, white, and black.

screenshot 2: i then changed the picture again to a landscape picture of the bassist but i then realised there was too much detail on the left hand side of the picture and i didn't want to interrupt it with text. i also realised that my article was too big so i had to take out a large chunk to make it more like a gig review you would find in a magazine. i have noticed that gig reviews are usually very brief so i tried to make my article the same.

start of selection for my double paged spread

shot 1: this is a landscape mid-shot image in colour. its a picture of a lead singer /guitarist. i like the ambient lighting. I'm not sure if ill use this image yet because i want two portrait images to sit next to each other in line and one large image to fill the entire page which will have to be a landscape shot. I'm not going to use this landscape shot because of the colours. it will be difficult to find a good colour to put onto it which will look good and legible.

shot 2: this is a portrait mid-shot image in colour. i like this picture because of the close-up on the bass. you can see the amount of strings which makes it look quite impressive. i would like to use this image on my double page spread.

shot 3: this is a landscape mid-shot in black and white. i like the detail in black and white and it'll be a easy colour to write on top of. there is also alot of black space around him so it'll be good for putting the article onto.

shot 4: this is a picture of the lead singer for the support act. i wanted to up this in because its stereotypical to music magazines to have a picture of the support band as well as the headline act. i like this image because the light and the guitar go together well. i like the expression on his face aswell. it really looks like hes enjoying himself. i may use this with the other portrait image on my article.

final contents page

end of making my contents page

screenshot 1: as you can see i have a separate document open to transfer the merged layer over. i changed the colour scheme compared to the sub-titles to make them section it up more than merge into the writing. i also wanted to make the page numbers a different colour. i have added a this week title which i, once again, i rubbed out with a photoshop brush.

screen shot 2: i then added the same poster from the front cover into my contents page. to show the freebies you can get with the magazine.

screen shot 3: i then added a page preview of my double paged spread in the space where i adjusted the text that went along with my gig review space next to 'Blue Knives'. i did have a large quote from the article itself, but i then shortened it to make room for a page preview which i saw in kerrang and like the idea of it.

central part of making my contents page

screenshot 1: i added the title which i erased with a cracked photoshop brush and a eraser tool. i then added a black rectangle tool around it and added the issue number and date. i also added the editor section with a small passage about the magazine. i also added a small doodle/signature at the bottom just for a little bit of authenticity. i finally added a subscription box to plug the subscription to the magazine and entice more readers. i purposefully set the price at £6 a month becuase it is cheaper than kerrang. If i was making this magazine for real i would run this as a limited time promotion becuase the magazine itself is more expensive than kerrang and 'The smoke' would then make a loss.

screenshot 2: i added two images at the side becuase they both relate to the stories on the contents page.

Screenshot 3: i then started adding text. i opened another photoshop document as i find it easier working seperatly and dragging things on. i wrote down the text i wanted, selected the font and colour. then i made a rectangle box and dragged my layer below it. i then clicked the eye next to my layer to remove it from being visable. i then ctrl-clicked to merge visable and dragged it on. this is how i have created all of my text on my contents page.

start of making my contents page

Screen shot 1 : i started by using a photoshop brush for the background. i used the same collection of corrugated steel brushes that i used on the front cover. i did this because i wanted the two to flow together and not look like they were from two separate magazines. i changed the brush diameter to 2500 and filled 3/4 of the page so i lined up the same brush in a separate layer to attach the two together.

Screenshot 2: this is the image i used for my editorial picture. i simply used photo booth and dragged the photo into photoshop. i cropped in down to look more like a portrait image as it was a landscape image. the background also looks like an office environment so it would fit with the context of the image.

screenshot 3: this was the photo i chose to go onto my contents page. i chose it because it was in black and white and i wanted it to balance out with the other colour pictures on the page. i like the lighting of the picture and it picks up onto detail which would be as defined in colour. i will cover up my watermark on the product as this wouldn't look very professional.

screen shot 4: this is the full scale image of the editorial picture i took of myself.

screenshot 5: this is from the shoot i did on my model. i liked this shot because of the shadows across his face. i like the way it shows his aggression. i wanted to use a guitar in a different way from just using a guitar strap.

Front page to music magazine (the smoke)

all of the writing on my magazine front cover is in capital letters which i did for a reason. i have noticed that alot of rock music magazine do this. i think it makes the writing more aggressive and almost personifies the text. you could also argue that writing in capital letters makes the text looks like its shouting wish would also connote the stereotypical angry streak of rock music.

i used freebies (free Cd, free posters) to entice readers because they believe it is good value for money.

my three main colours are red, white and black.

i added the eye catching free cd graphic. graphics are averagely seen on woman lifestyle magazines and can lower the tone of magazine but i think it works well as it attracts the eye to the magazine front cover.

all of the photographs i used are all my own. i went through i selection of looking at them on iphoto and selecting the best. i chose the pictures by seeing if they were landscape or portrait and which would look better on my front cover. composition was high on my selection list as i wanted the pictures to look well constructed with good lighting or dutch lines used through them. i also chose pictures according to their staturation need that be black and white, or unstaturated colour pictures.

last screenshots for front cover ( not in cronological order)

Screenshot 1: added a picture & teaser on the left of the page. the picture was originally facing left but i free transformed it to flip because it fit better on the page. my three main colours are red, black and white so i wanted my font to follow suite so i decided that red would be a good contrasting colour to use.

screenshot 2: i also added a live reviews teaser to the right side of the page with the final image on my page. i used a puff on the headline but not on the other stories as i wanted the information to be more direct at a glance. i have also resized the main image to fill more space and to make his hands more visible. i also moved my headline down away from the red section of my models t-shirt.

screenshot 3: (selection for the story on the front cover)i didn't think that the photo contained enough of the mixing desk and model which is why i used screen shot 4.

screen shot 4: this photo is more condensed and shows more emotion and i like the composition.

construction of the free posters section (not in cronological order)

i had quite alot of photographs to choose from to be my posters as i do live photoshoot for local bands in Cornwall. i choose a black and white image, colour image and another colour image.

screenshot 1: i added two of the three posters onto the front cover. you can also see that i have changed the slogan to something catchier and longer. i have also added lightning photoshop brushes to the strapline for added detail. i then used to text tool to add the headline and applied more photoshop brushes behind the headline to bring it out more. it was a misty type brush so its fairly unnoticeable but gives the effect i wanted. it's not in the center of the page because i didn't want the red in the font to interact with the red on his t-shirt i also could choose any other colour because it would have faded into the main image too much. i also added a pull quote from the 'so-called' article to make people want to read it.

screenshot 2: added an extra poster image. i made the poster images look like they were photos thrown onto the page for a more hand made feel to it.

start of construction of the music magazine. (not in cronological order)

screen shot 1: this is a full photograph chose as my image
for my front cover. i like the shadow in the background as it makes my model look more powerful. i used a studio for my photoshoot. i used upward lighting create demontic type shadows on his face. the out stretched hand are a stereotype pose for a metal magazine they connote power and strenght. i also used another light soft box on his right side to give it more detail and light.

screenshot 2: i added my masthead and i added cracks which i later removed because they were distracting and made the masthead too large. so with the space i lost from the cracks i added a strapline. the box open on the screenshot is to adjust the brightness/contrast. i also applied Curves and Levels onto my image as well to make sure all of my colours were balanced and crisp.

screenshot 3/4: on here you can see i have added a barcode, which is the same barcode in this post. i have also added text next to the barcode which is the date, issue number, price and website address. i have also added a photoshop brush to the front cover which has a corrugated metal look to it. i though it added texture and definition to the free posters section. i also made a graphic which i made using 2 ellipsis tools, one to keep the shape and the other to rub out the center. i also added text which i then curved to stay inside the graphic. i then embossed the writing.

screenshot 5: this is how i made my FREE CD graphic. i opened another photoshop document (this is a technique of mine as it is easier to work separately). and i used the ellipsis tool to create the CD shape and added the text onto it.

start of making my front page (masthead and strapline)

Screenshot 1: this was the start of the production of the magazine. i opened a photoshop document of an A4 size. i added the pre-made masthead and moved it down to create room for a strapline which was going to be the magazine slogan. i then wrote down any ideas (not matter how obscure) and picked from the ones on the list.
Screenshot 2: this is further on in the production but its part of the masthead and strapline construction. i shall explain the steps i took to get to this point during my other screenshots. i firstly added the slogan in the screen shot but i thought it was too short. i later realised it didn't make sense so i decided to change it