Shot types

Shot 1 - a close up: I plan for one of my shot types to be a close up of my model in a natural pose, I want the angle of gaze to be directly at the consumer to draw them into the magazine

Shot 2- medium shot : I plan for one of my shot types to be a medium shot of my model with their right arm across their body and their left arm resting on their face, with their head slightly lifted toward the direction of the masthead to draw the readers eyes to the masthead first.

Shot 3 - extreme long shot : I plan for one of my shot types to be an extreme long shot of my model crouching down with one arm draped over their leg and the resting on their face with quite a neutral/ strong face. As I plan for my pre lim task to be feminist issue this shot type will be an anchoring image to the theme of the magazine issue.

Shot 4: medium long shot: I plan for one of my shot types to be a medium long shot of my model touching their face with both their hands.

Shot 5: big close up:  I plan for one of my shot types to be a big close up of my model to enhance their features and make reader's eyes draw to the magazine; based on the feedback from my essay my target audience liked the idea of a big close up as it would stand out from other magazine covers.

Shot 6: extreme long shot: I plan for one of my shot types to be an extreme long shot of my model crouched on the floor, the directions of my models legs will be towards the right however the model direction of the head and the angle of gaze will be directly at the consumer to catch their attention

Focus group

For my focus group research I compiled a series of questions about the different aspects of magazine covers and contents pages and magazines in general to establish some key features that I want to include in my magazine cover and contents page.

The general feedback from my focus research group was that my target audience wanted an affordable magazine that focuses on alternative r&b/r&b however incorporates elements of fashion  and culture. The focus group research brought up concerns on the perception of the women in the  media and that images of women on magazine covers are highly sexualised and often presented as artificial. Another key point highlighted by the research is the lack of representation of ethnic minorities on magazine covers; and the eurocentric notion of how ethnic minorities are presented on publications
The questions answered by the focus group also highlighted that my target audience wanted a minimalist magazine cover and contents page layout with little text but was still big and bold and caught the attention of the reader.

examples of some of the questions asked in the focus group:

1. how do you feel women are presented on magazine covers and media in general?

2. how do you feel ethnic minorities are represented on magazine covers and media in general?

3.would you prefer to see a full length photo or a close up?

4.would you prefer lots of text on a magazine cover or not that much?

Survey feedback

Based on the feedback/results from my focus group research, I conducted a survey with 8 questions in more detail  for my prelim task to help me make key decisions when approaching design for my magazine. Based on the results from the survey, my magazine name will be named revival. This was the most popular name chosen in my survey and surprisingly the name I liked the most for my magazine.

For most of the questions in my survey I used real life media texts to implicitly ask my target audience key questions about the layout, structure and overall look for my magazine cover. The second question was about shot types and all of the people who took my survey agreed they liked the magazine cover with the close up shot best as it caught their attention and would cause the cover to stand out therefore I will be using this technique when approaching the design if the magazine and plan to use a close up shot of my model.

Based on the results of the survey I will be using a big, bold font in a handwritten style ; I feel this contributes to a youthful, modern feel on the magazine however still looks professional and will catch the readers attention.

In terms of the layout of the contents page and the setting of my magazine cover image the survey results were very split. Many of my target audience liked a more minimalist approach to the contents page having mostly pictures with enlarged page numbers and very little text. However the other half of people who answered the survey preferred a more traditional layout of the contents page in terms of having an image with key features and information. I plan for my music magazine 'revival' to be somewhere inbetween that incorporates what my target audience wants and what fits well with the magazine.

In terms of setting of the magazine cover, the feedback from the survey was also very divided; most people preferred a plain colour studio background whilst a significant part of my target audience preferred the setting with and around nature. Personally I prefer a setting outside as you can explore a variety of different backgrounds and colours and if I have a good shooting location it could fit perfectly with the demographic of my magazine, however a studio background would make my magazine cover look more professional, clean and overall very polished so I will make this decsicon in which route to go when designing my magazine cover.

Below is my reader profile and what my ideal/target audience is:

Deconstruction of real media texts

Below I have attached some examples of real media texts in my chosen genre/style for the pre-lim task and an indepth deconstruction of some media texts.
In all the magazine covers I have chosen, the minimal layout of the magazine covers make the subject in the image and the masthead the sole focus on the cover which is effective in contributing to a clean overall look. I plan to use this technique when approaching the design of my magazine cover however I want to use more cover lines, plugs and anchoring text to make my magazine have the main conventions associated with magazine covers.

The use of big, bold fonts on the mastheads catch the readers attention and draw your eyes to the magazine cover immediately. In the examples shown below the  use of white and pastel colours contribute in creating an overall clean and well polished look and helps create an aesthetically pleasing front cover. When creating my magazine cover I plan on using pastel and white colours as it is a common convention in the style/ genre of magazine I have chosen.

Initial brief ideas

0For the pre-lim task I have been tasked to create a front cover and contents page of a music magazine in the style and genre of my choice.
My initial thoughts about this brief are that I am really excited to have a chance to be creative and have a full plan of how my magazine cover and contents page is going to come out. I feel like I am going to enjoy designing my flat plan most and I like being creative. I feel like I am going to enjoy doing my focus group least as I am quite shy and don't really like talking to lots of people.
The genre I want my music magazine to be  is alternative  r&b as this is the music I listen to and  am most interested in and have the most knowledge in. I also feel that there is a gap in the market for this type of magazine. I plan for my magazine to have a underground/ urban feel and have heavy emphasis on females and female empowerment in the industry.

Magazine deconstruction

Below is my magazine deconstruction of 'Elle' magazine using the key  media terminology that I have learnt so far.

Camera shots

I have used my examples from the BBC TV drama 'Doctor Foster':

'Close up shot'

- this shot is effective as the angle of gaze is directly at the audience. The close up shot allows the main focus to be on her face and allows the audience to interpret her emotions.

'Over the shoulder shot'

- this shot is effective as it gives a broader sense to the surrounding and allows the audience to see the setting/ surrounding in a different perspective. In this context it is used in a conversation between 2 characters and helps the audience establish the setting and the characters in that setting. 

 'Very long shot'

- this shot is effective as it establishes setting and places the character in relation to its settings and applies context to the scene. It allows the audience to interpret and understand the context and surroundings the character is in.

'Medium close up shot'

-this shot is effective as it allows the audience to see the characters emotions in relation to their body language and is the perspective of the normal human eye. This shot is also effective as it a conversation between the 3 different characters and allows the audience to interpret the characters emotions whilst having an insight to the setting and interaction with other characters

'extreme close up shot'

- In the TV show I have picked I found there were a lack of extreme close ups and this image was the closest thing I could find. I found the lack of extreme close up shots interesting. extreme close up shots can sometimes lose focus and take away meaning from the context and setting.

'two shot'

- this shot is effective as it establishes setting and context in the shot. The two shot allows the audience to interpret the setting and the emotional reactions of two characters at the same time

'medium long shot'

- this shot is effective as it places emphasis on the setting but the character aswell, this shot shows the relation of the character and the surroundings. This shot shows the character in more detail but shows enough so the audience feels like they're seeing a long shot.

'big close up shot'

- similar to the extreme close up I found it very difficult to find a big close up shot and even in the one I have chosen the character in the image is not even looking at the audience. due to the lack of close up shots , I feel the director has done this so the perception from the audience is seeing the "bigger picture" and isn't focused on one character the whole time.

'Medium shot'

- this shot is effective as it allows the audience to interpret the characters emotions and pick up their movements and gestures. The audience can see the character's convey emotion through their body language and also establish setting.

'Long shot'

 - this shot is effective as it establishes setting and places the character in relation to its settings and applies context to the scene.