Just a few photos that didn't make either magazine!

Could have been used as a live shot although due to the excess of live photos there were better options.

The photo is too dark and the object of the Windmill behind can't obstructs part of the image and cover star.

The photo could work although is a bit too dark even with the potential use of Photoshop to edit the photo.

The live shot is great for looking at in am album, although to be part of a music magazine, the picture doesnt really show alot apart from seating, the live photo would be enhanced if it were to include the band itself, equipment and members as a close up etc.

The photo below doesn't carry the mise-en-scene of a music magazine and the photo is too far away from the cover star to have any real impact on a cover, contents and certainly not as a main feature on my double page spread.

Preliminary

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

My preliminary magazine was done on a completely different format in that it was created via Microsoft Publisher which was good and efficient for a preliminary task,although the features of editing via Photoshop and other programmes such as InDesign which I used to create my 3 pages, cover, contents and double page spread. The use of Photoshop for my full product has made the magazine look more professional and it looks like a real life magazine rather than something that does look a bit mediocre. I believe my magazine now looks like something that could be picked up on the shelves due to the photos and technology used, the cover and layout has improved rapidly, and the research I have done clearly is reflected in my final work that has connotations and evidence from varying music magazines.

- better use

-editing of photos - increased/advanced

- more research
-brand awareness

<< First Draft

My first draft of my cover really does now look like a first draft, taking away the context and aim of the preliminary task, the cover looks amateur and far from professional. Why? The masthead looks out of place, as what I thought would be a unique masthead at the time, following research, the masthead needs to be controlled yet dominating. The 'Class' logo here is a bit too much for the page.

Obviously taking into account that it was the first draft, and differences I will discuss with the final draft although some things such as the layout of images are something that still remain even in my final draft. Showing signs of links between my preliminary and final draft to look at the importance of layout and general importance of having good pictures, of which for the coursework piece itself I used original photos rather than internet photos.


The Final draft of my preliminary compared to my final thegreenroom draft are hugely different. What is evident is the extensive research I did into what makes a professional magazine work. Some of the writing on the page (left) is unclear and the clarity isn't there. Even the cover lines appear lacklustre as they don't really indicate what they ought to as a front cover. My greenroom cover certainly dictates what it is exactly inside and you instantly get the jist and dominance of this fresh and real - life music magazine. The preliminary tasks could be viewed as a bit fake and tacky, everything the greenroom isn't. Rather than finding differences, the things I have learnt exactly from this magazine (left) compared with my final edition of thegreenroom is the importance of cover lines, the dominance of the main cover line which in comparison is arguably reflected here. The cover I was so happy with initially for preliminary now stands out negatively as poor framing of the shot for example the backgrounds main and distinctive parts of the photo are overshadowed by vague cover lines. Although thegreenroom notices the importance of the cover and the more restrained yet still eye-catching masthead appeals to the reader and audience. They can instead focus on the glossy image that appears so funky and everything they desire whereas the preliminary magazine appears juvenile and a bit naive in appearance. Certain errors such as the cover lines and the overriding images that were also eliminated via technology and InDesign are evident.

Other things that I improved on solely on my front cover, old and new if you like are the ways in which features lie on the page. My features are the reason people and my audience are going to pick up the magazine therefore they need to be clear and certainly of interest. On my preliminary task there isn't any real structure wheras thegreenroom almost has an order, to avoid ambiguity whilst still appealing to the audience because of its relaxed and 'messy' contents as well as linguistically being wordy and creative. Even simple things such as the house style choices are clear and well represented in thegreenroom another thing that through research of magazines in depth such as NME I realised the sheer importance and need for a blossoming and simplistic house style. The house style bar the fonts in 'Class' isn't obvious and the magazine you could argue loses its way and appears a bit out of shape. Whereas the youthful and fresh greenroom manages to display a house style that isn't in your face and completely dominating, just evident which it needs to be to form brand identity to go on and perhaps build through publishing companies like BAUER to build technological convergence.

  Contents

Admittedly even now I still admire the contents of 'Class' as its so dynamic and different, everything that even on a different publication I wanted thegreenroom to be so I admire that. The things that I learnt from my prelim contents to my AS coursework contents were that the detail needed to be there, the front cover needed to briefly display what was happening and the contents needed to add marginally more, even if just a sentence to describe what the reader can expect on page 23. This is done successfully in thegreenroom, and minimally, only just if you like as I wanted the double page spread to be wordy and be heavy in text as well as images, with the focus on visual things for my audience. I also have continued to use the idea of numbers, big and bold although they needed to be refrained in order to fit everything I needed in my final magazine to be in place. I couldn't afford to just have six pictures and not use any of the space effectively, my contents of thegreenroom prioritises, I suppose to add a structure and order, firstly to help the reader and secondly to be able to maximise what I can 'show off' and include on my contents page.

Evaluation

 What have you learnt about technologies

 from the process of constructing this product?  

I have learnt how to use professional programming such as InDesign and Photoshop which the skills I have developed are certainly ongoing even now although the basics of just editing and cropping images I have used to make a professional publication. The finder tool on MAC by Apple technology also enables quick switches between USB stick from images from my camera directly to the MAC managing a way of quickly creating a professional publication. Other things that I came across was the way in which MAC systems can act quicker and than a Windows system, the MAC manages to let me have as many photos as I want, with as many tabs and other documents on the same page, due to the advanced technology, simply making it alot easier. I learnt how to use the varying tools that I had never previously encountered as having used Microsoft technology for all previous Media work, the challenge of using the iMAC was a good one! 
The application of FINDER simply enabled me to find all of my different documents in a quick fashion only making the publication of thegreenroom easier. 

-inDesign

-photoshop

-editing

-finder

-adapting to MACS, proper photos, professional publication

The two images here show my cover star which I nearly used, the top image is edited and was the image I actually used for my cover and the one below was original but due to the abundance of technology and edits I could do, the painted image looked different and unique and also subtly linked to thegreenroom, being green as a brand. 

The Camera above is the camera I used to take nearly all of the photos in my magazine, and only a couple were took via Blackberry phones to take live images from music concerts.
My Camera itself I was already very familiar with having took thousands of photos on since I bought it, on holiday, at football matches etc although using it for this- to create a media product with professional an appearance meant that I needed to know the ins and outs of each feature and where I could improve photos and angles, I needed to. Basic features such as a permanent flash as well as red-eye tool all came into use as well as the varying and alternating zoom which I was able to use. 
The camera has an optical zoom which I implemented to gain stunning photos for my double page spread as well as taking the normal zoom to take the close up photo of my cover star. The images I took all needed to look professional of which I believe alot of them don't look out of place although naturally the live shots, due to the technology I used aren't as sharp as a more still shot although recognising this only enhances the knowledge of my audience and the demand for live, original photos. That's what I have combined in my magazine with edited images which I believe works well.

The USB is the technology I used to transfer images from camera to the school MACS in order to create my magazines 3 pages, with my images that I wanted. Alot of images I didnt use and took still remain on the USB stick meaning that the technology I used means I can go back and reflect about the images I have used and whether I could use a better one already on the USB. This provides a permanent copy of all images I purposely took for this topic and exercise.

The company BAUER is a company which produce magazines and I used them to look at statistics and what brands and magazines they own or manufacture.Bauer Media could be a potential distributor of my music magazine as they already distribute both MOJO and Q magazine which are both already in the music industry which could suggest they have an interest in the music field within professional publications.They would be a successful distributor of my music magazine as they are already a large corporation in the magazine industry that would help to ensure that my magazine is published professionally as possible

 
Apple iMAC Software

The iMAC is the system I used to create my publication was efficient in that it could do everything I needed putting it simply to make my magazine. I could use the internet to research, attach my technology and then using the programming use and edit photos. The design of the MACS enabled me to look at various screens and applications to multitask aswell as plugging in USBs and printers to create my final product. 
- quicker
- loads up 
-ease of seeing different screens/applications at a time

Blogger is the application your'e viewing this blog on to show an ongoing commentary of my moves and improvements or changes on my magazine. This technology means I can update my blog whenever 

Photoshop is the application I used on the Apple MAC to edit and crop photos, which I used for nearly every photo on my magazine one way or another, either cropping using various tools such as the Lasso and Magic Wand tool to crop around images.  The photoshop element of making my magazine initially was probably the major obstacle in making sure my images looked like they could be on the front of NME or another professional publication. I knew I could get them to that standard as the PhotoShop programme is one used by alot of top publications in order to edit and change various photos. I used the blur tool to edit the cover image of Darwin Deez as I wanted it to appear intriguing, even tools such as the spot-removal tool meant that one image in my contents could look pristine rather than showing up, although compared with many completly crystal clear publications, thegreenroom is live and very much real-life therefore I tried to limit the use of tools like these without affecting the general aesthetics of each page. The sponge and burn tools meant that I could brighten or darken any photo, to give different moods and even emotions just in the picture, something that I knew was so important and something that is so important to the reader, they want to see who my cover star is and what he's like. They can do this by simply looking at the cover image as well as inside to see perhaps a different personality, all visually. 

- change photos

-blur

-sharpen

-paint/brush

InDesign is the application I used to actually create my magazine instead of using Publisher like I did for my preliminary task.The InDesign programme is alot more advanced in terms of what it can do professionally to form my magazine. The tools in the programme itself were easy enough to adjust to although the general layout of the programme and the basics of manoeuvring around were perhaps the initial stumbling blocks. After a while the varying tools such as the easy to use text-box tool came in handy several times even when importing a font from online. The layers aspect of the programme also was another thing I had to get used to, and did which allowed me to find where exactly I wanted my images and text to lay on the page. This meant that via using layers that I could, view or discard certain aspects of  my pages, something I could do for each of my pages, again resulting in long-term results of getting used to new software.

- advanced

- varying tools 

- ability to use layers

Evaluation

Evaluation

I think my magazine has developed into an original yet retrospective magazine that manages to show colours, clear colour images of all shot varieties as well as clear knowledge of importance of mise-en-scene. The masthead and fonts reflect a clear house style throughout, on each page, the cover image even shows an understanding of technology and programmes such as photoshop confidently as well as slowly becoming knowledgable and handy with InDesign perhaps the only initial problem in terms of finding out what to do and how to do what I wanted.

The final publication links to the initial plans I had although they have been changed somewhat or things have been edited throughout to better them or make for example cover lines more obvious by adding extra text, I realised along with research of follow magazines that the text and cover lines needed to be clear,readable and detailed to a certain degree.

In the evaluation the following questions must be answered:

 In what ways does media your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?  

My media magazine incorporates many themes from various media products, not just solely music magazines although a real influence has been gained from magazines such as NME and MOJO. The Mojo logo and slogan is memorable and the house style they use is replicated throughout. The NME style is also very repetitive and due to that in depth research over NME despite the varying target audiences the simplistic style was something that I aimed to replicate in an original style. The contents is very relaxed and is reflected in the style of writing and target audience, the structure is evident however its not enforced by thegreenroom brand.

 How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

My media product is youthful in appearance although the social groups is difficult as its aimed to revolve around everybody and music interests therefore varying groups but if anything the magazine is aimed at the knowledgeable audience and perhaps graduate and certainly over 16 although the magazine appears bright and colourful its not aimed at necessarily a youthful audience. The audience are thought of as sophisticated and the music in the magazine has a distinct Indie feel despite legends and a focus on live performances replicating the gig goer, and regular, updated musician or listener. The social aspect of it represents a wealthy and classy person although there are bound to be exceptions. The magazine isnt pricey and the appearance and content isn't screaming out to be read or endured by one particular age group or group. However the cover star I used is aimed to if you wanted to pinpoint the audience to find it via the cover stars and attitude or emotions being shown on the cover. This then flows through into the classy double page spread and relaxed/chilled contents, indicating the audience would have a busy schedule therefore can just pick up and read their magazine when they want, almost so that the magazine and brand of thegreenroom knows individually their reader.

The image below represents the sort of audience I imagine to have an interest in my magazine as the target audience, being subjective the appearance of the boys is smart casual and with a distinct influence on the sort of people associated with my magazine ala Pete Doherty etc. The dress sense of the men below look as if they have been kitted out my top designers and popular high street brands which could link to the type of advertising that would occur within the magazine, such links to TOPMAN and then the Topman CTRL tour which then could stem off the brand. These are the examples of links that thegreenroom could have with shops/advertisers such as TOPMAN which also shows a distinct target audience. 

The image above shows the sort female characters thegreenroom is targeting, although the magazine has a predominant focus on male bands and characters the interest and target audience arguably could be more female than male. Both genders would have an interest in the magazine and both look very professional whilst appearing quirky and different, again alike all the bands and artists set to feature in my magazine. The influences clear and evident but the audience still individually offer alot. The social group associated with thegreenroom would be mainly as seen above although obviously anyone can read the green room and the linguistics and musicians shown in the magazine could be to anyones particular style. 

Someone like John Lennon above, an icon in the music industry would still be hugely relevant and just because thegreenroom has a stronghold on live music and newer favourites, a legend such as John Lennon and the Beatles are certainly people that thegreenroom audience would have a large interest in and would be featured in just like the people on my edition of the magazine, hence the Bob Dylan mention, amongst upcoming superstar and my cover star, Jaan.

Adele above is an example of the kind of female artist that could be awarded by thegreenroom by being a cover star or having a large spread on herself due to her sublime voice and natural talent. This over the edited modern pop music, again linking the artist with the reader and the demand for certain aspects from the target audience, ie live music and true,soulful lyrics, everything Adele and thegreenroom offers.

 What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

My product would be suitable for places such as shops and national chains that could perhaps have a connection regularly or more common places such as a newsagents would distribute the magazine monthly. Another place where my magazine would be available is shops such as HMV and other music chain shops as they would be associated. Shops such as 'head' and what was Virgin megastores could have a regular connection or link between which would then include further advertising between brands. Other distributors could be local and independent record shops that would have an interest in retrospective style as well as music legends.  My magazine, with its exclusive yet inclusive audience, in other words, with top stars, top access and a close knit and knowledgable audience the magazine wouldn't be out of place on stalls in the street just flogging the local paper alongside my magazine due to its 'feel' of that the readers are all 'local' compared to the reader of the local paper,only having an interest and bond, locally. My magazine manages to focus on that niche market whilst realising that every reader wants that individuality that stems throughout the magazine, starting with the covers' live photos and quirky yet indulgent Jaan cover star.

- shops chains

-newsagents

-airport lounges

- national chains, regular ties with companies?

 Who would be the audience for your media product?  

This question links back with the same social groups that I have already talked about. My audience are targeted as being professional as well as having an interest in music. Naturally although the aim of the magazine is to target music fans the magazine is created with the aim of targeting fans with perhaps only an interest in just music,therefore they know whats going on, they want to see in depth about where they are going, ie the venue reviews aswell as 'classic and iconic' posters signalling the knowhow of brand awareness of their/my audience. The age group would be about 16+ but no real age limit as anyone can have an interest, as having music as a hobby. The idea I have captured is that the Glastonbury Festival goers are my audience, when the big festival is going, thegreenroom would have full coverage of past and present events.

-links back with other social groups

-16+ , the audience are integral the brand, they have a relationship

- music listeners

-glastonbury, big fans

-common viewers

Glastonbury festival goers, amongst other famous and popular festivals that thegreenroom readers are common with and recognise the musicians, young, old, legends and upcoming that play and occur at these events; everything thegreenroom attempts to incorporate.

 How did you attract/address your audience?  

I have used an array of techniques in order to attract my audience. Firstly I designed an engaging house style that could replicate my audience as well as the type of music and characters involved within my magazine. All the quirky and oddball characters alike my cover star. 'Jaan Sergeant'. The images and posters that I have found and opted to take for my cover and even my double page spread are all aimed to be of prime interest. Whether its a live shot or the quaint images of my cover star, with a lick of paint via photoshop. All to add an engaging colourful page. Thegreenroom's house style is designed to be iconic and memorable and I think that has been created. The masthead is bold and creative if slightly more controlled than the rest of the magazine, the contents is intentionally laid back and arguably messy with hints of structure as well as the sharp labelled cover lines. The masthead brings it all together to create a real brand of thegreenroom rather than just a magazine. The magazine is sophisticated enough to  have this flow and appearance mainly due to intelligent audience that it is aimed at. The linguistic writing and features within the double page spread show off the very literate audience likely to be creative. Examples of wording such as 'your' and the use of the definite article along with several other techniques on the cover.

-colours

-images reader will buy into- admire

-cover star

-controlled masthead

-sophisticated appearance

-linguistic style - close to interviewees - link between brand - back to reader

People thegreenroom brand love? 

Carl Barat
The former Babyshambles singer offers everything that thegreenroom incorporates especially on the double page spread and the quirkiness and the confrontational personality of Barat and Sergeant. This is definitely something that when filming the shots of my stars that I needed to look at similar real life icons and then took that to form my in demand cover star.

Doherty
Pete Doherty is very unique for normally the wrong reasons although the music industry including thegreenroom admire Doherty's musical talent which despite the negatives he manages to defy his audience time and time again with new songs and revelations which my target audience have an interest in therefore Pete Doherty, former Babyshambles member along with Carl Barat (above).  

Ashcroft
Former Verve frontman known for his inspirational lyrics is another figure likely to be spearheading thegreenroom as a classic and iconic star the audience know and love. Ashcrofts memorable songs such as 'Bittersweet Symphony' attract all audiences young and old and still remains a classic which shows the varying audience that thegreenroom can appeal too, not just the targeted 18+ and festival goer. Reflecting the broad appeal of my magazine which is only a positive. 

Iconic Kooks?

The Kooks one of the first bands that every Indie lover can be associated with, a band that really set a new trend, a new brand of Indie Rock for the newer generation, the lads continue to release album after album year on year which appeals to the same regular social groups. The band would be almost a regular but due to the Keane and Example shots I already had , original images, as i hadn't seen Kooks live I couldnt use an image of them. Example and Keane are great substitutions for the band in terms of images used.

Florence

Florence and the Machine is another female artist which has won many BRITS for her quirky and what was a new sound before many other new females inspired by Florence copied alot of her elegant and unique sound. Florence would be in my magazine as it reflects the cover star I chose in Jaan as almost a copy as a female. This 'carbon copy' of personality and style only enhances the unique and obvious target audience and artists included within thegreenroom.

FOALS

Foals, a unique sound in their music yet I have selected them as a greenroom favourite as they are bound to be headlining magazines such as NME here as an example and thegreenroom would acknowledge the talent and live music they offer, having been to a gig myself, I know that the foals are certainly a greenroom favourite.

The Q cover was an inspiration the way the logo dominates the page was originally something I wanted to do although alike the magazine too, the dominating cover image is what I opted for instead with further emphasis on the cover stories and the main thing on my cover is the cover star and story. The + was something that I admired from this magazine although I obviously didn't use it although the cover lines and photos off other magazines was something I did use. The way NME represent their brand as the front cover and MOJO (below).

The regular features such as location of it aswell as pricing are things that I researched and took from magazines currently out there as a professional publication. Obviously as already stated I did change the name of price into words to make it unique and to suit the target audience.

Q MAGAZINE

The Beady Eye cover represents your bog standard music magazine cover which I have researched therefore my greenroom cover needed to replicate certain aspects of the cover. The large cover line dominates the page, something that my page does although the main image is a head shot, XCU and not the whole body shot like I have used 'Jaan' for although I think his image represents the attitude and calibre of singer that the audience want to read about. The other cover lines on the NME cover is something that I looked at for my own cover. The cover lines are dotted around the page although with the addition of pictures which I felt were needed to add the emphasis of linking back to the context of my audience and the purpose of my magazine to appeal to people who love live music. 

The Drums

The Drums, an upcoming  band, NME gave them a whole cover to show off the american indie band, the same sort of band that could easily find their way into thegreenroom due the alternative sound. The cover itself has a heavy emphasis on editing and the background represents this, my cover also uses connotations of editing done via Photoshop to cover the original Jaan to a green Jaan. The cover also incorporates a band/stripe to aid the clarity of the text and main cover line, just like the clear Masthead. The font is completely different to mine although the placement of text and the kind of quick brief detailing helps  give the reader what they can expect, something my cover manages to do, informs the reader on the cover what to expect, then the contents delves slightly deeper into whats inside before getting to something like the in-depth feature double page spread. 

The NME COVER

The NME cover here appears fairly juvenile with the ripped pages effect as well as the facial expressions appearing fun and exuberant. A contrast compared to Jaan posing with sheer attitude, although the top line, and 'PREVIEW SPECIAL' offers the chance to look at something, it appears a one off, something outstanding  and certainly of interest to the readers of thegreenroom. Thegreenroom is so enthusiastic about live music and things like 'PREVIEW' would be certain inclusions in the build up to a major festival or something similar. 

MOJO MJ

The MOJO COVER here represents a slightly different magazine with a different audience to mine and a publication like NME as we know although certain aspects of it, for example the text with a filled box show connotations and similarities to my own magazine, for not on the cover, but the contents. The masthead here also is predominant and the slogan overrides the masthead, something I didn't use but it was this iconic slogan of 'the music magazine' with the use of the definite article which persuaded me to add an iconic slogan myself.. 'YOUR BACKSTAGE PASS' linking to the definition of thegreenroom.

OASIS cover

The OASIS cover here was one that made Oasis the band they are today, admired all over the world, due to the ever-popular music magazine loving this band, the readership loving this band. This sort of history and landmark is something I tried to incorporate by choosing Jaan, my cover star as an upcoming legend and therefore a similar bond between brand and artists in thegreenroom as is shown here in MOJO.

The images of Olly Murs and the top of the pops magazine are here to show the kinds of audience and things I wanted to move away from. The pop artist, famous for appearing on a reality TV show and labelled as cheesy is not something that thegreenroom would be associated with. Similarly the top of the pops magazine appears tacky and bright, the format and style of thegreenroom is bright yet the masthead and the cover photo doesnt appear similar to the magazine left. Thegreenroom has managed to show live images to the right with emphasis on other cover stars whilst a main exaggeration on cover star 'Jaan Sergeant' someone everyone is talking about.