Method of Evaluation Presentation

Today i have enlisted on a few sites of web 2.0 for which i will evaluate my studies, as i am keen to display my knowledge of alternative ways to display my information rather than generic word documents. I wish to make myself distinct from other candidates...

I have signed up for accounts of websites such as Prezi, Flickr, Slideshare, Voki, Padlet and YouTube, as well as downloading software for my PC (Screencast-o-matic) to further my ability to evaluate my study.

Final Magazine *

Final Contents Page

I am yet to decide which design looks best...

v3, Front Cover and Contents Pages

Magazine Padlet Feedback

Complete Magazine Draft

Magazine Body Copy

OUT OF THE SHADE

Lead singer and guitarist Callum Birchall sheds some light into The Shades and tells RUSH about Fame, Fortune and why he doesn't like Fried Chicken…

q/ So, apart from the famous “Cocktail Incident” what is THE most outrageous thing you have ever done personally?

a/ “Jesus, I remember this one time, I was out with Sam and Kyle and some bloke took us to this place off Bold Street and well, I hadn't tried Cocaine before…”

q/ A rumor has arisen that The Shades have a new Drummer and are releasing a new album later this month! Any truth?

a/ “I hate to be painfully Cliched but, maybe there is, maybe there isn't - you know I can’t say, I mean it’s safe to say we’re not down and out, not yet.”

q/ People often talk about chemistry and I know it’s a bit soon but how good was your chemistry with Sam Shaw?

a/ My relationship with Sam was as strong as it could get man, I mean, I grew up with the guy you know? We played Football, had laughs, made music together and he was just a great guy you know, a real good, honest guy.

q/ I know you've been struggling recently with your own problems with heroin but your rehab is showing positive results right?

a/ Right, I mean drugs are the best feeling in the world, but I mean, if you don’t learn how to deal with your limits then you risk getting f**ked, and that’s what happened to me: you do the drugs, don’t let them do you – if you think you’ll fall prey to addiction then just stick to Drinking and Eating or Sh*t.

q/ Do you still speak to Kyle and Shaun?

a/ Yeah I still speak to both of ‘em! We still go to our manager Nate’s every Tuesday to play Xbox and stuff, we have a strong friendship and of course I’m in a band with the guys you know, I don’t just, y’know, go and live on my secret Himalayan Mountain Range Villa for Ten years!

q/ How much have you changed in the last Ten Years?

a/ Not much at all, I suppose I monitor my sleeping more, I need more sleep to maintain a productive work rate, either that or getting ruined on Gin and Tonic…

q/ What angers you most about today generation of music and all that it entails?

a/ You know what really angers me? This perverted adaptation of the American dream of music where only “Solo Artists” are getting recognition from shows like “The X Factor”, you know, what happened to saving up for a sh*tty guitar and all your friends getting other sh*tty instruments and all getting together and being sh*tty in someone’s garage or something? Because that’s how all the great bands were formed, what you though The Beatles got famous of Pop Idol? No way!

q/ Did you ever think you would get this big?

a/ No way man, no way, never!

q/ Would you change anything about your musical career?

a/ I would definitely have done a lot more band stuff because you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone, and losing a band member in a car crash is a pretty terrible way to go I mean, it left us scarred for sure and there were many things I wish I’d said and done when he was still around.

q/ On a brighter note to finish, are you excited for the latest Justin Bier album?
a/ Oh f**king Jesus no (Laughter), what a compilation of nightmares, trauma and “Songs” dedicated to mentally deficient 15 year old girls, I’ll pass on that one (Laughter). 

Front Cover Feedback v1

after analysis I concluded that the "End Of An Era" tagline was not bold enough to stand out amongst the background and I will therefore have to Bolden it, along with the other text on the main image. Also the image of the crowd i have used is not a picture i have taken so i will need to replace it.

Front Cover v1

Be sure to zoom out to get the full view, the full description will be available once the final design additions have been confirmed, finalised and applied.

Photoshopping my Actors

Although I took great care in ensuring my actors were relatively photogenic for my shoot, some factors such as blemishes were out of my control, so therefor I had to utilize photo editing software (in my case Photoshop) in order to correct any minor issues which may have jeopardised the validity or quality of my magazine.

Fore example, above is my original, unedited photograph, as you can see, the actor closest to the camera has come small isolated acne...

I was able to use the "Spot Heal" tool on Photoshop to get rid of these blemishes for an overall more professional looking product... I did this whilst trying to maintain a decent standard of realism within the photo as I did not want the photo to look fake.

As you can see, The actors overall appearance has improved tenfold, this in itself will enhance my magazine to the same extent

Shot List

As you can see from my photograph below, I have used a Close Up Shot on my three actors, I have specifically used this type of shot in order to imply that the magazine is "Up Close" and "Personal" with my musicians.

By using this shot I feel I have achieved my desired effect by also instructing my actors to maintain constant eye contact with the camera, which results in the actors appearing to look straight at the reader, not only does this explore a more up close and personal angle of the band, it also in some ways contributes to my magazines "Rock" theme by being up the readers face and the image speaks volumes in this way.

I specifically have partial amounts of each actors face covered (Excluding The Front Actor) by either another actors face or shrouded in shadow in order to make a subliminal statement that not all of the character is as plain as the eyes see, beyond the section visible to us, is another side of the musician. This once more conforms to the typical Rock image of being "Shady" and encapsulates that Rock stars often live very different lives away from public view and the shadows which shroud them in anonymity and mystery. this is al however without obscuring to much of the face which I felt looked poor in quality after analysing the Second Shot. as you can see, the middle actor almost looks contorted if the front actor is too far central to the frame, to eliminate this I spread the actors out farther and achieved my final piece.

Magazine Inspiration

Today i saw a feature in an NME issue featuring Nirvana, the text layout at the bottom right of the front cover, where the text is in alternating coloured boxes of Yellow and White is particularly attractive, i will strongly consider using this feature in my magazine as i feel it will give my magazine a certain degree of realism and feel.

My Photo Shoot Location

I chose to have my picture taken down a back alley in Liverpool, just near Moorfields station, whilst at first this may seem an odd and relatively unrelated, I feel as my magazine is a rock magazine, the back street image really epitomises the stereotype and accompanies my theme perfectly, as my illustrated musician are the new face of rock music, a genre which is often construed as being rough around the edges and not clean cut, much like a dingy back alley would appear to most people, the two aspects go hand in hand.

My Photo Shoot Method

I took more than one photo to ensure my photos were suitable, if I had only taken one it could have been prone to flaws (Blur, Angle, Positioning, etc.) as a result I got my desired photo (The Last Photo) along with a few unintentionally flawed photos to justify my method, the first being an issue with the actors facial expression (Middle Actor)  the second being a positioning issue, the last being my final product as I desired.

Photo Shoot Proof Document

Today myself and my 3 Models "Above" went to Liverpool City Center to have the photo shoot for my magazine.

Magazine Cover Art Inspiration

This photo of the Flying Pickets is an inspiration for my front cover art, as this type of photo has the semiotic of, "You can see me, but not all of me" which is a very Rock-like image as it implies this Rock star lifestyle behind closed doors.

As result this image achieves maximum effectiveness in portraying my overall feel of the magazine, and shows a clear dedication to detail.

Preliminary Task

Codes and Conventions Overview

Codes and Convensions from Sambalino123

Uses and Gratification theory

The theory suggests that people use certain media forms to satisfy their needs, Blumler and Katz believed that the audiences consume the media for different needs and different ways, and the audience rely on the media to provide this information. People use the media for these reasons;

. To ESCAPE
. To be INFORMED and EDUCATED
. To IDENTIFY with the characters
. To be ENTERTAINED
. To INTERACT

Draft Cover v2

This is my basic plan for my magazine.

Draft Cover

As you can see my Layout closely follows a specific issue of "Rocksound" magazine whereby there is a dominating left drop-down bar containing other information which overlaps the main image, as well as having my Masthead central to my magazine in order to balance the focus of attention the magazine gives out.

Also included is a second, much thinner bar at the bottom of the page with other bands listed at the bottom as this seems to be a common trait in many modern day magazines.

The specific gaze of the band at the camera will give the audience of the magazine a direct address making them feel included in the magazine and compelled to buy it.

In addition to my rock theme i have included two fonts which seem slightly weathered and worse for wear in order to provide a semiotic value of the rock lifestyle which is messy and imperfect.

In order to increase the overall professionalism and personality of the magazine i will include several advertisements and exclusive content banners as well as a pull quote by the Masthead in order to provide a memorable premise to the magazine.

I feel this overall layout includes as many magazine features as possible without jeapordising the overall professionalism of the magazines appearance in the process, simple, yet effective.

Magazine Analysis

Preliminary Task

Magazine Terminology

1/Masthead: The name and logo of the magazine

2/The Lead: The introduction to a text, usually bold or in capitals to catch the eye

3/Body Copy: the main article of text (usually grammatically correct) (Usually in Columns)

4/Serif Font: Font which has small bars (serifs) at the end of each letter (Like This Text)

5/Sans Serif Font: Font which does not have serifs present (Like This Text)

6/Drop Capitals: A significantly larger letter at the start of a text  (Like This)

7/Cross Head: small sub-heading to divide two bodies of text (Usually a quote from the text)

8/White Space: Any blank parts of the page

9/Mode Of Address: How the magazine talks to the audience

10/Sell Lines: Like a motto for the magazine (Kerrang- Life Is Loud)

11/Banners: Text made to stand out due to the contrasting background colour (Like This)

12/House Style: the overall, trademark like layout of the magazine, almost like the identity of the mag

13/Boarders: The gaps at the ends of pages

14;Gutters: Where the two pages meet in the middle and there is no text

15/Leading: The gaps between the lines of text in the mag

16/Kerning: The space between letters in the mag

17/Strapline: A secondary headline just below the main headline

18/Bylines: Credits to the people who produced each article including photo credits and data sources

19/Anchorage: When text and images go hand in hand and are relevant to eachother, supporting eachother

Ideology

The use of ideology is almost semiotic-like in the sense that photos are taken in a specific way to subliminally promote certain themes about a place.


For example the photo above was taken by a school clearly trying to promote the technological side of education and showing that their computer facilitates are of a high standard and superior to other schools, you can see this from the photo, it does not have to say it what so ever, you can quite simply see the ideological influence of the image.

On the contrary, the image above was taken to promote a more traditional approach to education which would appeal to parents wanting to chose a successful school for their child(ren). But once again, you need not read this, you get it all from the image.

Font Choices

My choices of font are "Vqb khonda" for my Masthead font and "Paramore Album Font" for the other features. both of these fonts appear to have edge which epitomises my Rock theme as the rock lifestyle is rough and edgy, the star in the "Rush" masthead is also implicit of the "Rock Star" lifestyle

"MASTHEAD"

 

"FEATURES"

 

Name Choice For Magazine

I chose 3 potential names for my magazine they are as follows;

"Garland"
"Rush"
"Typo"

Below is a table of why i chose each name, why each name was good, why each name was bad, and which i chose;

NAME:	Why did I chose this name?	What was good about that name?	What was bad about that name?	Did I chose this name?
Garland	Many Rock performers wear odd clothes like headbands if they have long hair, for this reason many Rock performers wear Garlands, this name obviously bared some resemblance to the topic of the magazine.	The name was synonymous with Rock N Roll and is unusual, so therefore stands out from the rest and makes for a memorable and effective title for a magazine	In order to really understand the name of the magazine, some explanation may be needed in order to shed light on the significance of the title to the magazine, for this reason the title to those who are unfamiliar or have a different level of associability skill to myself would not understand the name of the magazine and therefore not get the benefit of the name	No.
Typo	Has a primitive suggestion about the topic being “Edgy” and “Not neat and tidy” like Rock music is, this made for a clever title association	The name is slang-like so makes for a great demographic effect, as younger 16-30 year olds are likely to recognise the abbreviation and feel instantly attracted to the similarity of the title to modern day society	The title itself mildly applies the magazine may be illiterate, which may discourage potential buyers from purchase as the magazine may come across as “Incorrect” or “Effortless” if the theme of error is the first thing the customer sees.	No.
Rush	Has a naturally stimulating sound and meaning which is attractive the mind	The word is synonymous with the lifestyle of Rockers playing fast-paced music and living fast-paced lives with drugs and sex being intensifiers of life, the name also implies movement, as if the magazine would always be moving along with the latest news and will give the reader the feeling of a “Rush”	I couldn't find many negatives about this name other than the name comes across as a more superior verb which may not fit the rough image of the magazine	Yes.

Target Audience

My target audience will be for mainly the male sex as, in most circumstances, it was mostly boys and men that performed Rock music back in the 1950's and i will obviously want to aim my magazine to the correct demographic in order to achieve the best response from the mag and what better way to do this than to derive my information from the source of the music, the age span is fairly lenient, however for specificity i would put a 16-30 age bracket on the demographic age range, this is because the magazine will encounter all forms of the Rock N Roll lifestyle including expletive content which would be inappropriate to under 16's and most likely be uninteresting for anyone over the age of 30.

The magazine will have it's main focus on rock bands, not only music-wise, but lifestyle-wise also, so bands such as The Rolling Stones will fit the cast perfectly as characters such as Keith Richards and Mick Jagger have walked the many roads of the rock and road lifestyle (Sex, Drugs, Rock N Roll so to speak).

I intend to make the magazine aesthetically superior to other magazines in order to catch the eye of the potential buyers, this will be through interesting photos using the rule of thirds to capture the professional essence of published magazines as well as a consistent colour scheme and interesting style.

To sum up my Target Audience as specifically as possible, the magazine will be aimed at an 18 year old male who is into classic rock more so than modern music, who doesn't usually buy music magazines and only requires a basic music knowledge to understand and feel appropriately addressed by the magazine.

Moral Panic

Moral Panic is an instance of public anxiety or alarm in response to a problem regarded as threatening the moral standards of society. for example after the events of September 11th, a fear of middle-eastern people developed known informally as "Islamaphobia". this resulted in may middle-eastern people being discriminated against due to their ethnicity and religious preference, on the basis that is was a middle-eastern organisation (Al-Qaeda) who orchestrated, governed, and conducted the attacks. This resulted in the moral constituency being damaged severely, some may say the damage done will never heal. Another example of Moral Panic is the supposed affiliation between homosexuals and HIV/AIDS where there is a terrible stigmatism that all gay people have the disease and it was "A curse sent from god for being gay" and the "Gay Plague" which of course is completely incorrect and an outrageous allegation, including asylum seekers the list of stigmatisms towards certain groups of people which causes a public distress grows by the day. This process can also be referred to as "Folk Devil".

Stanley Cohen (Sociologist) actually observed that the media's impact upon events through their "Folk Devil" approach to events only ever intensified them and often the media would lie in attempts to sell more papers, however they would indirectly influence the events to follow, often negatively. For example in  1972 found that minor fights between Mods and Rockers in beach-side resorts were very much sensationalised by the media. One headline was “Wild ones invade seaside town – 97 arrests”.  In fact there were only 24 arrests. Cohen found that the media reporting led to increased policing which actually intensified the problem. More recently moral panics and consequent amplification have occurred about raves, football hooligans, girl gangs and terrorist threats.

Mood Board

This is a mood board portraying all of the conventional themes and stereotypical ideologies about the life of a Rock artist, deriving from the origins of Rock N Roll in the 1950's and 1960's all the way through to present day musicians showing how Rock music has evolved throughout the decades and has kept some of the same traits, whilst gaining a few along the way.

The board gives the viewer a brief insight into the basics of primitive rock and its motivations, as well as the key equipment needed for most conventional rock groups.

Photoshop Task

Today I was require to use image editing software (Photoshop) to remove some blemishes from a models' face. I fell I have performed the process well whilst maintaining the realism of the image.

 

Before

 

After

Then I was asked to Photoshop some bottles from a wall leaving only one on the wall, whilst maintaining the background in the image. My result is as follows;

 

Before

 

                                                                              After