Magazine Layouts
Posted by Martyn Hollinshead | Labels: Planning | Posted On Friday, 3 February 2012 at 05:23
Showing posts with label Planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Planning. Show all posts
Test Shots
Posted by Martyn Hollinshead | Labels: Planning | Posted On Thursday, 2 February 2012 at 13:44
My test shots comprised of a multitude of various camera angles, poses and locations so that I could get an idea as to what sort of photos I wanted to include in my magazine. This photo (above) represents the kind of shot that I would like to use for my front cover. The placement of the person is directly in the centre of the photo. They are facing forwards and are staring directly at the camera. This makes for a striking image, and one that will hopefully draw the attention of passers-by. Another advantage is that there is an even amount of space on either side of the person to add text, meaning that plenty of cover lines can be used whilst maintaining a sense of symmetry.
Whilst this image may be cluttered with background people and objects, the point of this photo was to see how a side-on shot of the person sitting down would look. I am thinking of using a photo similar to this on my contents page, where I will (hopefully) place them on top of the 'Contents' heading as if they were literally sitting on it. This would give the page a look of realism and may help to make the photo stand out on the page. The side-on shot not only makes it easier to place the person atop the heading, but also conveys hidden meanings and ideas about the person. Because you can only see one side of them, it suggests that they may have a darker side that they don't want people to see, and that would portray the personality of my fake artist suitably.
This rather blurry shot of a person leaping into the air was taken to see how an action shot would look. The shot was taken as the person was in mid-air and tries to express a 'freestyle' look in the way that they are jumping. As I said earlier, the image came out blurry; this was down to the camera on my phone not having a fast shutter speed, meaning the image wasn't sharp. I think that if I were to use a better camera in my real shots, I may be able to get a much better result.
In this photo we can see a person leaning against a wall from a side-on view. This photo has an informal feel to it, as the pose is casual; the right leg is pressing against the wall, which is commonly seen in these kind of photos where the person featured is either younger or of a lower class. When combined with the solemn expression, this photo has the look of 'grunge', and expresses connotations of non-conformity and sorrow, suiting the genre and making for a good possible contents photo. The reason why i believe it would be suitable for a contents page is that the person doesn't take up much width, however they do take the majority of the photo's height, so the text would fit nicely down the right hand side of the person.
Taken from a high angle, this test shot allowed me to see how I could make a group photo look more interesting than simply taking a front-on mid shot. In this photo the people are looking up at the camera, and are distanced slightly from one another, with the centre person placed towards the rear of the group. Both the centre and left members of the group have their arms crossed, however the person on the right (who is also positioned at the front of the group) has his hands in his pocket. The placement and pose of him make it seem as if he is the frontman of the group, as stereotypically the frontman of a band usually looks and acts differently to his peers. Although my artist isn't part of a group, I may use a group photo to add realism and content to the magazine, and, should it be used, it would be placed in the contents page.
To take this photo I had to lie on the floor so that I would have a suitable position at which to take a low angle shot. I decided to take a low angle shot because it is a good way to show someone as having power; they are looking down on the camera, or more literally the reader. This makes them look as if they have a higher position than others, and also shows connotations of aggression and anger when an appropriate facial expression is used.
Artist Profile
Posted by Martyn Hollinshead | Labels: Planning | Posted On Tuesday, 31 January 2012 at 07:08
The artist that I will be featuring in my magazine is the upcoming guitar genius Eli Hughes, or by his artist name, Pyro. Eli discovered his music talents from an early age; his father James always played an acoustic guitar to him whenever he was upset. When he reached 6 Hughes was given his own guitar as a birthday present, with which he honed his skills and wrote music with his father. However, just four years later, James Hughes tragically passed away after suffering a stroke. Eli and James had a strong, loving relationship, so when this was broken Eli began to develop behavioural problems. He became shy and sometimes broke down into tears unprovoked. The only activity that cheered him up however was playing the guitar. His dedication to the instrument was extraordinary; Eli would usually come home from school and spend the remainder of the evening practising, and occasionally forgot to eat.
When Eli became 13 he joined his college band as lead guitarist and helped them to win many inter-school competitions. But after a dispute broke out between Hughes and the lead singer, he was kicked out of the band. Furious with this (as the band was his way of coping with depression), Eli set his band's music room on fire, burning their equipment. He was arrested and taken to court, where the judge branded him as 'a troubled, miserable pyromaniac'. It is from here that Eli claims his stage name derives. Pyro was sentenced to five years in a young offenders' institute. Desperate to reform, Eli regularly visited the rehabilitation unit where he was allowed to further his progress with the guitar. His behaviour improved, and within three years Hughes was released.
With the passion of guitar still firmly in his heart, Hughes managed to sign a record label and is now set to release his first album in June 2012. Pyro's music style includes progressive, alternative and heavy metal rock. Some of his songs, such as 'Dancing with death', are purely instrumental, and take inspiration from artists such as John5 and Dragonforce, who also feature long guitar solos.
When Eli became 13 he joined his college band as lead guitarist and helped them to win many inter-school competitions. But after a dispute broke out between Hughes and the lead singer, he was kicked out of the band. Furious with this (as the band was his way of coping with depression), Eli set his band's music room on fire, burning their equipment. He was arrested and taken to court, where the judge branded him as 'a troubled, miserable pyromaniac'. It is from here that Eli claims his stage name derives. Pyro was sentenced to five years in a young offenders' institute. Desperate to reform, Eli regularly visited the rehabilitation unit where he was allowed to further his progress with the guitar. His behaviour improved, and within three years Hughes was released.
With the passion of guitar still firmly in his heart, Hughes managed to sign a record label and is now set to release his first album in June 2012. Pyro's music style includes progressive, alternative and heavy metal rock. Some of his songs, such as 'Dancing with death', are purely instrumental, and take inspiration from artists such as John5 and Dragonforce, who also feature long guitar solos.
Typical reader profile
Posted by Martyn Hollinshead | Labels: Planning | Posted On Friday, 27 January 2012 at 07:07
John is 19. From a young age he had an interest in rock music that he had gained from his father. This interest grew as he became older, and, when he turned 15, begun going to concerts every few months. Inspired by the effort that he saw artists putting into their music, John saved his money for a year and bought an electric guitar. He now dedicates at least two hours every day to practising his skills and learning new techniques, and is aspiring to become an established artist in the future. Rock music completely changed the way in which he expressed himself; he wears dark clothes, and has dyed his hair black. He is currently working at a music shop in leicester, and has quickly learned how to repair and tune guitars to perfection. John is an avid reader of many music magazines, ranging from Kerrang to Classic Rock, Revolver to Mojo. He likes to keep up to date with concert dates, new album releases, and general rock news.
Colour palette
Posted by Martyn Hollinshead | Labels: Planning | Posted On at 06:44
This is the colour palette that I will be using throughout my magazine. Orange is going to be used to create realistic flame patterns that will link in with the cover artist Pyro. Black and white will be used for the text, background and the clothing which the artist will wear. The black will especially help when conveying the darker side of the rock genre. Finally red will be used infrequently, as I feel that although it works well with the other colours, it is a rather predictable colour that is used in this genre, so I will probably use it to highlight certain words or pictures only.
Pitch Evaluation
Posted by Martyn Hollinshead | Labels: Planning | Posted On Thursday, 26 January 2012 at 03:04
To present my pitch I used my Animoto moodboard to help illustrate my inspirations and to display the 25 words that describe what my magazine is about. After the animoto finished I quickly summed up the magazines' aim, target audience and genre. I then opened the floor to questions. These varied from queries about my chosen colour palette, how I would lay out my cover, the typograhpy I would use etc.
Overall I believe that my pitch was a success, as I was able to effectively answer questions as well as convey my magazine's outlook. However, there were times during the Q & A where I wavered a little and was hesitant in my answers. This was due to the lack of dedicated rehearsal of my answers, and so, were I to have the chance to pitch my magazine again, I would ensure that I spent a good amount of time reahearsing the information I would put across. This would minimise the amount of thinking time required to come up with an answer, meaning that the pitch would flow more evenly and also seem more professional.
Overall I believe that my pitch was a success, as I was able to effectively answer questions as well as convey my magazine's outlook. However, there were times during the Q & A where I wavered a little and was hesitant in my answers. This was due to the lack of dedicated rehearsal of my answers, and so, were I to have the chance to pitch my magazine again, I would ensure that I spent a good amount of time reahearsing the information I would put across. This would minimise the amount of thinking time required to come up with an answer, meaning that the pitch would flow more evenly and also seem more professional.
Possible Fonts...
Posted by Martyn Hollinshead | Labels: Planning | Posted On Tuesday, 24 January 2012 at 04:18
These are some fonts that I have looked at and think would be appropriate for my style of magazine. I particularly like the 'Skrillex' and the 'Megadeth' fonts as they have an aggressive look and feel to them, which would again help to convey my chosen genre.
So it's about 12:30 in the morning on the 24th of January 2012. I've been sitting here for around half an hour now, and am extremely tired after coming back from a birthday party, so please excuse me if I happen to mis-spell some words. Let's crack on...
Now then, I have finally decided on the name of my magazine *drumroll*...
And the winner is InstruMENTAL!
I have decided to use this name as it fits in with the particular style of music that is heard in the alternativve rock genre. There are many songs that include large instrumental pieces such as Fury Of The Storm by Dragonforce and Black Widow Of La Porte by John5, and so I think the name seems appropriate. I also chose it because I feel that it is less predictable than some of my other suggestions like Overdrive and Fret Fury; my magazine will hopefully be able to gain some uniqueness from this. The style of the name will be laid out as I have typed it, with the 'mental' part of the word in upper case letters and finished with an exclamation mark to give the word a more alternative feel; if the word was simply displayed as 'Instrumental' it would give the wrong message and unintentionally denote other genres such as classical.
Now then, I have finally decided on the name of my magazine *drumroll*...
And the winner is InstruMENTAL!
I have decided to use this name as it fits in with the particular style of music that is heard in the alternativve rock genre. There are many songs that include large instrumental pieces such as Fury Of The Storm by Dragonforce and Black Widow Of La Porte by John5, and so I think the name seems appropriate. I also chose it because I feel that it is less predictable than some of my other suggestions like Overdrive and Fret Fury; my magazine will hopefully be able to gain some uniqueness from this. The style of the name will be laid out as I have typed it, with the 'mental' part of the word in upper case letters and finished with an exclamation mark to give the word a more alternative feel; if the word was simply displayed as 'Instrumental' it would give the wrong message and unintentionally denote other genres such as classical.
Time to plan!
Posted by Martyn Hollinshead | Labels: Planning | Posted On Thursday, 19 January 2012 at 06:49
Genre: Alternative Rock
Possible Names:
TREMOLO
FRET FURY
OVERDRIVE
HE11 (Hell combined with a reference to the common rock phrase 'turn it up to 11')
STRAT
InstruMENTAL!
This is all I can think of so far, however I may add to this list in the near future.
Possible Names:
TREMOLO
FRET FURY
OVERDRIVE
HE11 (Hell combined with a reference to the common rock phrase 'turn it up to 11')
STRAT
InstruMENTAL!
This is all I can think of so far, however I may add to this list in the near future.
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