Tuesday, 8 March 2011

Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use forms and conventions of real media products?

I have chose to answer this question with audio and video. I used demo software called 'Replay Video Capture' to record the screen whilst I was speaking.



Also, not heard in the videos is how some of my results from the survey also partly answered this question. Below are the responces from 2 of the questions that show how I have produced what the audience expects. For example 100% agreed my double page spread looked like something from a professional magazine.


Monday, 7 March 2011

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have chose to answer this question with a powerpoint uploaded with slideshare.net

Sunday, 6 March 2011

Evaluation Question 3

What kind of media instutution might distribute your media product and why?

For this question I have used prezi to present my answer.





These are the links to the publishers websites, where I did my research:
http://www.ipcmedia.com
http://www.bauer.co.uk/

Friday, 4 March 2011

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product.

For this question, I used Windows Messenger video call to talk to a member of my target audience. Using 'Replay Video Capture' to record this conversation.


My target audience is rock fans aged around 15/16 to around 21. Nick sits in the middle of this range, and likes music contained in my media product. My target audience are socialable, and provides a friendly atmosphere for my music magazine, for example he likes going out and generally being with friends. He goes to college, doing AS levels; college being a good place for socialising.

You Me At Six: The Consequence, an example of what Nick listens to:
 

Nick also answered my survey  
(Facebook links only refer to people answering the question, so are unnecessary to show the actually images in this part of my answer)
Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

In which he said that he liked the music magazine, and would buy it "for its creative use of colour and image, and the bands are exactly what I'd like"

Thursday, 3 March 2011

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

For this question I used scrapblog.com to present my answer.

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Evaluation Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

For this answer I have once again created a powerpoint to be uploaded with slideshare.net


Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I have decided to create a prezi for this question.

Audience Feedback

After finishing my media product, I needed to send my production to members of my target audience, for feedback as after all, it is aimed at them.

Firstly I used www.facebook.com as my first source of audience feedback. A few people commented on the images as I posted them onto my profile. These are screenshots of the comments:














Secondly, I produced a survey for my target audience to complete. However instead of printing out a questionnaire and manually collecting the results. I used a site called Survey Monkey. This allowed me to produce a professional looking survey which people could complete online easily, all they needing is access to my facebook. The results were instant and analysing the results proved much easier. This is an embedded version of the survey that I sent to people. (This embedding my ask for completion, please ignore)

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

These are now the screenshots of the results.

GIF animations generator gifup.com
GIF animations generator gifup.com

make gif

Overall, my audience liked my magazine. As seen from the survey the most popular item on the front cover was the main image, and the majority of people would buy this magazine. They thought that it was creative, interesting and easy to follow. But also, the main comment for improvement in this magazine was about the contents page having a bit too much writing. Whilst still being easy to follow and understand, some people said that there was a little bit too much, for example with the editors letter. Also, people would have preferred to have seen justified columns. However overall, my target audience really liked my magazine, thought that it suited them greatly, and would be happy to buy such a magazine.


Monday, 14 February 2011

Production - Second Drafts of Magazine Media

These are the 3 2nd Drafts of my Media production. Listed underneath are the changes that have been made to the Original media.


Front Cover

  • Changed the title font to 'Impact'. I found that the original font of 'Mesquite Std' was very elaborate, which unfortunately connoted an older audience. Impact is much more modern and creates a much more stronger statement, much more like a young rocker audience.
  • The image size was increased and the models head was placed slightly over the title. This was to add sophistication to the look of the overall cover.
  • Positioning statement made smaller to accommodate the larger image.
  • White strip at the bottom was decreased to 3 lines and the barcode was fitted inside this strip along with the date and price of issue. This makes it a lot tidier and looks sleeker and more professional.
  • Another coverline added to fill up some of the black space which was making the cover look slightly empty. 
  • Puff was deleted; did not fit in with the overall image of the cover
  • Main coverline changed completely. Font was also elaborate and 'old' so was changed to a font similar to the rest of the coverlines. Changed to 'Sink or Swim?', byline changed to fit in with the main cover article, and the name of the band/singer was changed.

Contents Page

  • Background changed to white from black. This is a magazine practicality issue as it is much cheaper to have a white background, as less ink is being used.
  • The main thing that has changed is the whole layout. The content remained relatively similar, however the layout was changed dramatically. Keeping with the four columns and the smaller images framing the main image, the word 'Contents' was moved to the left, and the editor's letter moved to the bottom right. This is so 'Contents was the main line of the page.
  • Finished front cover was added so to imply continuity.





Double Page Spread

  • The whole image was flipped back to its original state, so it is now on the right hand side. This allows there to be four columns instead of three, and the whole article now bleeds into the second page.
  • The text is now justified left, and the stand first does not bleed past the first column of the second page. This allows the headline to almost fill the two pages, and it was now able to start on the very left, and finishing just in line with the singers head.
  • The page number and 'Sonitus' made smaller as they were far too big.

Monday, 7 February 2011

Production - Double Page Spread First Draft

This is my first draft of my double page spread article. Included are also the screenshots of how I created the double page article in QuarkXpress.



GIF animations generator gifup.com

Wednesday, 19 January 2011

Production - Contents Page First Draft

This is my first draft of my contents page that has been completed along with the other production media. Below are the screenshots I took during the process of using QuarkXpress.


These are the screenshots of the process of creating this first draft of my contents page.

gif animators
Gif animators

Wednesday, 5 January 2011

Production - Front Cover First Draft

I have finished the first draft of the front cover for my music magazine 'Sonitus'. Included in this post are screenshots from photoshop showing how I created this piece.



These are the screenshots in the process of making the front cover.




Production Material: Final Draft of Double Page Article

This is my second draft of the article, I have tried to build up on points to extend the article, developing points so that the article is more band related, and more interesting.

From the depths of sixth form to supporting You Me At Six in the top academies in the UK, this is Canterbury’s journey with friends, family and fans.  Touring with another band from their homeland, Canterbury learns the tricks of the trade from these other Surrey Stars. “Fucking good at helping you. They are the kind of band who will help out smaller bands” said Mike, 21. “You Me At Six were guaranteed fun, party hard and drink harder” said Luke Prebble who plays bass and does backing vocals for the band. Making Surrey proud they took to the stage playing in O2 Academies across the UK.
And Canterbury knows how to have fun. Whether they are supporting or headlining a gig, they know they, and the crowd, will always have a good time. Even a small crowd like the one I went to in Liverpool, you could tell everyone was having fun. “With supporting you’re probably gonna be packed up by like 9, sound check at half 7, half an hour set from 8 to half 8” explained Luke. He couldn’t decide which he preferred; they both have their merits and downfalls. He explained “With headlining you won’t get back til about 2. I mean we’d get on about 10, which is usually like a wind down time for me, but that’s when we’re just starting. We get to the end and I’m like ‘Its like 11pm and I’m fucking buzzin’!” From this you could tell whatever the place, time, people, the band will always make the crowd roar with excitement.
Sitting there in the backrooms of the O2 Academy Liverpool before the gig, Luke Prebble and Mike Sparks, who play bass and guitar respectively, and both do vocals, sat there confidently on the less than perfect sofa. Relaxing with a drink in hand, they described their exciting Journey from school kids who liked a bit of music, to professional musicians, giving music to sell out crowds across the UK – from London to Liverpool, and from Glasgow to Plymouth. 
Growing up with the sound of Patrick Stump gracing Luke Prebble’s ears, Mike loves to tell the story of how Luke developed his singing ability. “Singing along to his brother’s driving lessons with their dad, he’d  sit in the back of the car and sing along to FOB” joked Mike and according to Luke: “It’s why he can sing better than the others”.  Asking them about their influences an array of rock artists came up. From Patrick Stump to Blink – 182, Canterbury’s members know the best bands that have fun.
                Before Canterbury was Luke’s band ‘Lucky For Some’. Splitting up they changed the name to Canterbury and recruited Mike, who was a school friend. The move to Canterbury was, in fact, lucky for a lot of people! Pushing themselves and trying and trying, working through school they recorded a lot of tracks, and by a lot, about 40 tracks were made throughout sixth form, creating ear  tingling riffs combined with a brilliant bass beat.
Even though they are an unsigned band, they know that they will always try their hardest for the band. “If you don’t beleive in yourself, you won’t ever get there” was the words from Mike as he was preparing for the gig. And when you have sell out gigs, like Canterbury’s Southhampton show which sold out weeks before the gig, it’s time for a reality check. “Just like, wow.”
And growing as a band, they’ve set their targets on a much bigger audience then a few hundred strong crowd... When asked about plans for 2011, world domination came to mind. “Taking over the world is definitely on the list for the new year” joked Mike, no nerves showing about an hour before the gig.  “We also don’t think that Gloria got the release it deserved, like Calm Down, inspired by our lack of calming down, which got a release it definitely deserved.
With their plans set hopefully starting to set in motion, they all still have their dreams. I think every musician has looked at themselves and imagined what it would be like playing alongside their favourite bands of all time. And in Luke’s case, Jimmy Eat World: supported by Canterbury would be a dream come true. “They’re a fucking amazing band writing fucking good music.”
These quartet of rock stars aren’t going to give up any time soon. Luke sat there saying “never say no. I mean 500 people in London was great, but now 1000? We’re content with smaller venues at this stage, but if we are still here in a year then I won’t be happy.” Their friendship becomes apparent wherever they go. If your still friends with the same people you were during school without hating each other’s guts, then you know your friendship is strong and that they will stick with each other throughout the thick and thin, the high and lows.

Tuesday, 4 January 2011

Production Material: Draft of Double Page Article

FRIENDS? WE’RE MORE LIKE A GANG

Drop Quotes:
  •  “And I was just like, Fuck I wanna do this”
  • “Having 500 hundred people singing the words back to you is just- manic”

 ‘Rising stars Canterbury, hidden away from the music records in their home in Surrey, gives an account of their Journey from their High School Hall to O2 Academies across the UK.’
 
From the depths of sixth form to supporting You Me At Six in the top academies in the UK, this is Canterbury’s journey with friends, family and fans.  Touring with another band from their homeland, Canterbury learns the tricks of the trade from these other Surrey Stars. “Fucking good at helping you. They are the kind of band who will help out smaller bands” said Mike, 21. “You Me At Six were guaranteed fun, party hard and drink harder” said Luke Prebble who plays bass and does backing vocals for the band. Making Surrey proud they took to the stage playing in O2 Academies across the UK.
And Canterbury knows how to have fun. Whether they are supporting or headlining a gig, they know they, and the crowd, will always have a good time. Even a small crowd like the one I went to in Liverpool, you could tell everyone was having fun. “With supporting you’re probably gonna be packed up by like 9, sound check at half 7, half an hour set from 8 to half 8” explained Luke. He couldn’t decide which he preferred; they both have their merits and downfalls. He explained “With headlining you won’t get back til about 2. I mean we’d get on about 10, which is usually like a wind down time for me, but that’s when we’re just starting. We get to the end and I’m like ‘Its like 11pm and I’m fucking buzzin’!” From this you could tell whatever the place, time, people, the band will always make the crowd roar with excitement.
Sitting there in the backrooms of the O2 Academy Liverpool before the gig, Luke Prebble and Mike Sparks, who play bass and guitar respectively, and both do vocals, sat there confidently on the less than perfect sofa. Relaxing with a drink in hand, they described their exciting Journey from school kids who liked a bit of music, to professional musicians, giving music to sell out crowds across the UK – from London to Liverpool, and from Glasgow to Plymouth.  
Growing up with the sound of Patrick Stump gracing Luke Prebble’s ears, Mike loves to tell the story of how he developed his singing ability. “Singing along to his brother’s driving lessons with their dad, he’d  sit in the back of the car and sing along to FOB” joked Mike and according to Luke: “It’s why he can sing better than the others”.  Asking them about their influences an array of rock artists came up. From Patrick Stump to Blink – 182, Canterbury’s members know the best bands that have fun.
Before Canterbury was Luke’s band ‘Lucky For Some’. Splitting up they changed the name to Canterbury and recruited Mike, who was a school friend. The move to Canterbury was, in fact, lucky for a lot of people! Pushing themselves and trying and trying, working through school they recorded a lot of tracks, and by a lot, about 40 tracks were made throughout sixth form, creating ear  tingling riffs combined with a drum beat you have to jump to.

Thursday, 18 November 2010

Production Material: Photographs

In this post I will show the images that I will use for the front cover, contents page and double page spread. All these photos will be the originals, and I will edit them when I come to producing the media product. Below are the final images that I have selected for my front cover, contents page and double page spread. Also are the results from the different photoshoots and live gigs that I have taken photos at.

This is the photo shoot for the main cover, created in Picasion.com

gif animation maker

These are the images from the Canterbury gig, made in windows movie maker as a slideshow. The music track is 'Gloria' by Canterbury themselves.



These images are from various other gigs that I want to use for the rest of the contents page. I have made these using the gif animator from 'gifup.com'

This is the selection of images that I have chosen to be used for my production. These are all the uneditted versions of the images, and they will now be editted to fit the requirements I have chosen for my magazine.
Front Cover



















Contents Page

Main Image
















Other Images

 










































Double Page Spread



























Tuesday, 16 November 2010

Production Material: Band Interview Notes

I conducted an interview with the band Canterbury, these are the interview notes:

Luke Prebble (Bass and vocals) and Mike Sparks (Vocals and Guitar)
So what were your inspirations for making Canterbury?
All grew up together in Surrey, went to live gigs and saw musicians, all friends and saw how much passion other bands have, Luke: “And I was just like, Fuck I wanna do this” Luke was in a band called Lucky For Some, changed its name to Canterbury, Mike was in a band which disbanded. Both bands played together. Mike Joined Canterbury. Mike: “I guess what we thought was don’t get your hopes up”
What helped Canterbury this far, making an album and a headline tour?
All friends throughout school, everyone helped each other. Couldn’t play many gigs so focussed on writing songs.  Main thing for them was music. Wrote thank you 2 years before it was released, recorded it after college. “We’re still proud of ‘Thank You’” worked hard, it wasn’t just snapped up a record deal like that and had their fame handed to them, they worked up towards bigger and bigger gigs
Who were your idols as the band was growing, influences?
Luke: Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy, great voice, and one of the first good singers I sung along to. Brother’s driving lessons with their dad, would sit in the back of the car and sing along to FOB, Dad claims that is why Luke can sing so well.....Blink-182 and New Found Glory, Sugar cult (says Mike)
What was the best gig you’ve done and what makes the night enjoyable?
Luke: “It’s amazing to be able to say our most recent gig must be out best, having 500 hundred people singing the words back to you is just, manic” being an unsigned band, it’s like a reality check, and quite humbly. Southampton was a sell out gig, even weeks before the night the tickets had gone.
Plans For 2011?
Mike: “World Domination”Have around 40 songs, will release a new album. Possibly re launch Gloria and give it some justice, kind of unhappy with the reception compared to Calm Down, radio release with Fern Cotton. Luke: “it’s going to be a tough road, but we’ll try” possible record deal? Playing at Leeds and Reading, dream to be up there playing in front of so many people. Arenas,    Luke: “Never say no. I mean 500 people in London was great, but now 1000? We’re content with smaller venues at this stage, but if we are still here in a year then I won’t be happy.” If you don’t believe in yourself, you won’t ever get there”
What was it like playing with ‘youmeatsix’?
Mike: “Fucking good at helping you. They are the kind of band who will help out smaller bands”.                                  Luke: “Guaranteed fun, awesome guys. We’re all from Surrey and we got on really well, sometimes if we’re with a band from like Scotland we can sometimes clash or get on really well, but with these guys it was great”.
What would be your ideal tour?
Luke: “Jimmy Eat World with a tour in America. Like a 50 date tour in every state. They’re a fucking amazing band writing fucking good music.” Blink would be amazing, if a little daunting.
Support or Headlining?
Totally different. Headlining it’s like your show, people have come to see you while supporting  you’re like warming up the crowd. Luke: “with like supporting you’re probably gonna be packed up by like 9, sound check at half 7, half an hour set from 8 to half 8, but with headlining you won’t get back til about 2. We’d get on about 10, which is usually like a wind down time, but it’s when we’re just starting. We get to the end and I’m like ‘Its like 11pm and I’m fucking buzzin’!”
Mike: “yeah it’s really tiring sometimes. You can’t even sleep in, you need to be out of travel lodges by midday.”

Article Research

In this lesson I have conducted all of the article research that I need for the band Canterbury. All of my research is present on this post:

http://www.canterburythankyou.com/
www.myspace.com/canterbury
www.last.fm/music/Canterbury

Interview Questions:
  • So what were your inspirations for making Canterbury?
  • What helped Canterbury this far, making an album and a headline tour?
  • Who were your idols as the band was growing, influences?
  • What was the best gig you’ve done and what makes the night enjoyable?
  • What are your plans for 2011?
  • What was it like playing with ‘You Me At Six’?
  • What would be your ideal tour?
  • What do you prefer; Support or Headlining?
Research into the band Canterbury:
  • Unsigned 4 piece band from the Surrey/Hampshire area
  • Met at school sharing a love for music
  • James Pipe (Guitar), Luke Prebble (Bass/Vocals), Mike Sparks (Guitar/vocals), Scott Peters (Drums)
  • Formed in 2005 in school and started to write the tracks for 'Thank You'
  • 'Thank You' availiable for free download from their site, along with their new single 'Gloria'
  • 'Calm Down' has just been released, and is availiable for sale on iTunes etc.
  • About to start touring with 'You Me At Six' supporting them in many areas.

Monday, 15 November 2010

Planning Production

This week I further planned the production of my front cover and contents page. This involves images and text that will appear in my music magazine.

Front Cover
Images Needed:
High contrast close up of the main singer from Sydney Chasing Safety. Low angle with the model slightly looking down directly at the camera. Colour image, possibly desaturated. White background so the title and positioning statement (mainly black in colour) stands out.

Coverlines:
  • (Main) SINK OR SWIM? Sydney Chasing Safety's New Album ) (Unique font)
  • YOU ME AT SIX - on their new headlining tour
  • CANTERBURY Access All Areas, exclusive interview
  • NOT ADVISED The Up and Coming Band
  • UNSIGNED BANDS The future of music or classic copies?
  • FREE ALBUM - The latest singles from unsiged bands like 'Gloria' by Canterbury
  • Plus: Biffy Clyro - Young Guns - Elliot Minor - Mission District - My Chemical Romance - 30 Seconds to Mars - Paramore - Patrick Stump - Review of Leeds/Reading 2010

Contents Page
Images Needed:
  • Long shot of multiple band members from Canterbury (main image)
  • Smaller image of 'Not Advised' from O2 Academy
  • Image of Band members of Sydney Chasing Safety
  • Live photo of Elliot Minor
  • Live photo of Mission District

Text:

Editor Letter:
At ‘Sonitus’ we have only one aim; to bring the newest and best music to everyone. We specialise in providing you with music to rock your ears and to give you some great racks to listen to. Not just from the big names, but from the bands that we feel are going to make it big – very big. This month we’re providing you from some of the best unsigned bands we’ve found, such as Canterbury and Not Advised (but you’re definitely advised to see them!) Not only that you get a free album packed with their newest releases absolutely free! Tracks like ‘Gloria’ by Canterbury are promised to blow your mind, well at least your ears!
FEATURES:

04 Biffy Clyro - special interview
06 Paramore - out of the spotlight
09 A look into the O2 Academies
16 Elliot Minor - what are they doing next? 
12 Going Solo - Patrick Stump's plans
15 Leeds and Reading - Main stage reviews
20 You Me At Six - new headlining tour!
24 Canterbury - Access All Areas
34 Na Na...Na? - MCR’s new album
37 Gustav Wood - The new ‘Young Gun’?
45 A day in the life of - Josh Franceschi
60 Mission District - More than support?
64Sink and Swim – The New EP From Sydney Chasing Safety (contents page)
68 Unsigned Bands - Poor music or hidden treasures?
76 Backstage - what goes on

REGULARS:

07 Up and Coming - (featuring ‘Not Advised’)
10 RSVP – Have your say
17 Win tickets to...
31 Festival Photos
40 Next month

42 The best live photos of the month
50 Posters, posters, posters!
54 The best gig in the last month voted by you

57 New Music Column with Simon Neil
63 What’s on the free CD
74 Of Fame: featuring AC/DC
80 A look at the fans...

82 Gig Guide
88 A guide to the...
92 The tour map of...

Double Page Spread
An article featuring the up and coming band 'Canterbury' featuring an interview with the band.

Images Needed:
  • Long shot (full body) of main singer for the main image with guitar.
  • Photo/s of other band members and/or full band shot playing at the O2 Academy Liverpool
  •  
     These are rough sketches of the contents page and front cover:

    Monday, 8 November 2010

    Publication Plan

    Over the past week I have created this publication plan to determine all the aspects of my magazine. Below is the completed version.
    – Latin for noise/loud; two of the most popular words that people associate with a rock magazine that my target audience found.
    Positioning Statement: Keep the music loud.
    Frequency: From the audience research I have decided to make my magazine a monthly production. I found that some people do not buy a magazine every week, and just sometimes just when they want to read so I think a monthly publication is the best idea.
    Price:  I have decided to price my magazine at £2.99. I have chosen this because in my research found that more people will pay over £3 for a magazine than people who wouldn’t. I think that this will be a good price because I am going to include a free CD with the magazine.
    Size: The average number of pages in my magazine is going to be around about 100 pages, to fit all of the regular and feature content in.
    Distribution: Newsagents, supermarkets (such as ‘ASDA’ and ‘Tesco’), music shops (HMV)
    Rationale: The music in the magazine is directed, for music fans of the genre. Not many adverts in the magazine as I found that that was the biggest thing that put people of music magazines. It will keep up to date with new music and provides a lot of reviews of new albums and bands. Band interviews being one of the main types of articles. There will be articles by the fans, and the opportunity to provide opinions for the magazines.
    Style: Informal and friendly and trying no­­­­t to use complicated language. Dark humour used to coincide with the slightly Gothic house style. ­­­Use of slang and colloquial terms to suggest the informal tone.
    House Style:
    ·         Cover lines: algerian
    ·         Headlines: Rockwell
    ·         Standfirst: Rockwell
    ·         Captions: Rockwell
    ·         Drop Capital: Old English Text, 5 lines deep
    ·         Start of paragraphs: First couple of words in bold
    ·         Body Text:  Times New Roman 11pt
    ·         Colour Scheme: Silver, Blue (maybe), Black
    Feature Content (based on band and article research)
    • Biffy Clyro - special interview
    • Paramore - out of the spotlight
    • A look into the O2 Academies
    • Elliot Minor - what are they doing next? 
    • Going Solo - Patrick Stump's plans
    • Leeds and Reading - Main stage reviews
    • You Me At Six - new headlining tour!
    • Canterbury - Access All Areas
    • Na Na...Na? - MCR’s new album
    • Gustav Wood - The new ‘Young Gun’?
    • A day in the life of - Josh Franceschi
    • Mission District - More than support?
    • Sink and Swim – The New EP From Sydney Chasing Safety (contents page)
    • Unsigned Bands - Poor music or hidden treasures?
    • Backstage - what goes on

    Regular Content
    ·         The best live photos of the month
    ·         Up and Coming: (featuring ‘Not Advised’)
    ·         RSVP – Have your say
    ·         Win tickets to...
    ·         New Music Column with Jared Leto
    ·         Gig Guide
    ·         Festival Photos
    ·          Next month
    ·         Posters, posters, posters!
    ·         The best gig in the last month voted by you
    ·          What’s on the free CD
    ·          Hall Of Fame: featuring AC/DC
    ·          A look at the fans...
    ·          A guide to the...
    ·          The tour map of...