Coursework Stage 2 Planning

Proposal Form

Describe your idea for the brief:   I am making a 'pop' magazine that focuses on whatever music is popular at the time- I'll be making a front page, contents and double page spread. I'll mainly aim for 14-21 year olds, but at both genders. I will follow the conventions usually found within a magazine.

Genre/ sub genre: list similar texts which have inspired your thoughts   The genre of the magazine will be a mixtre of pop, rock, alternative, country, etc, depending on what would currently be popular- I'm using Q and Kerrang!'s contents layout as inspiration, while also using Q as inspiration for my doublepage spread.

Target audience: gender/ age/ characteristics/ behaviour   The target audience for my magazine is teenagers to young adults (they are more likely to buy magazines, especially about music), but isn't extremely specific due to the 'pop' genre being so wide and varied. Due to this, the colouring will be both bright and dark purely depending on the article and the genre it covers.

Major conventions:   On my front cover, I plan to use a Masthead, a single main image, essential information (website, issue number, month, price) and a barcode. I will use these as they are on nearly every front cover and is a coming convention to follow. My double page spread will have one image on one side, following the example of the Q magazine to seem very modern, and it will stand out against the page beside it to grab attention. Pull-quotes will be used to get the attention of the reader and a strap-line to give more information.

Conventions: I came to the conclusion to follow most of the conventions to make it reader-friendly as they will be use to it. However, I will try and keep it simple as it will appear modern.

Original images: My models for my images will be friends and acquantaences as they will be easy to have access to. I will use studio lighting to catch the lighting I want and get the overall feel/vibe for my image.

Potential difficulties/ Plan B: Problems that may occour during the construction of my magazine may include those with computers, such as photoshop not working correctly or files going missing. A way to overcome this is saving after every major edit and backing it up on both  amemory stick and memory card. Problems may also occour when taking photos- the studo may be booked and it may be hard to arrange a time with friends to take photos- a way to overcome this is making sure I have other places to take photos and having other models in case one cancels.

Photo-Shoot Planning

What emotional impact do you want your photography to have upon the reader and how will you achieve this?
Depending on the article, it might be quite dark and moody- I’ll be able to do this by focusing the light on only one side of the subject’s face and therefore casting the other half in shadow.

What personnel do you need? Who are you going to photograph?
I will be using a professional camera, a black back-drop and multiple light resources with light reflectors

What props will you need?
None are required; however I may end up including a microphone

How are you going to emphasise colour?
I will have the subjects dress in the colours that reflect the magazine and make sure that they are clear in the light

Have you briefed your personnel/models?
I have asked each model/briefed them in advance

What lighting will you need? Any other equipment?
Artificial that includes a soft box and a light reflector, also using a tripod

Where will you shoot? Will you need a backdrop?
I will shot in the photography studio within Gateshead College where I will use a black backdrop

Mise-en-scene - Make-up? Costumes? Props?
Their costumes will reflect the music they make, with each model wearing different clothes as the magazine is focused on different music genres (whatever is popular at the time). The females will wear make-up that also reflects them- the dance/pop genre will have heavy make-up while some will be more natural. The males won’t wear make-up, however if needed they will be touched up on Photoshop

Double Page Spread Analaysis

Clicking the below images will send you to Flickr where I have made notes on different aspects of Double Page Spreads

SurveyMonkey Results

These are the results to my survey where I asked people what they look for in a magazine, whether that be price range, gifts, what articles are in, etc.
Due to my results, I have decided to follow the general conventions of a magazine as that is what my audience seem to be most use to (articles on gossip, news, posters, a reasonably low price range and a set colour scheme).