Production diary #18

Today I have come into school extra early to make sure everything was finished and to make slight changes to my magazine so it could be the best it could be. 

I have received final feedback from friends to gain their opinion on the final product. Even though the majority believed no further changes needed to be made to my magazine, I have recieved a few improvements with my front cover and content page to show even more variety and make my magazine appear more interesting to my readers. Such improvements included showing variation in fonts in my front cover, making the captions featured on my contents page more interesting to my readers and increasing the size of some pictures featured in my music magazine. 

After making several of these changes, I then exported my magazine by creating an PDF file. Once the PDF file was created, using Issu I was able to upload my magazine and present it as a realistic online magazine. 

Overall, I am very pleased with my final product as it demonstrates my genre clearly by including many stereotypical famous R&B artists and using props and costumes that identity with this genre. Additionally, I believe my music magazine will attract my target audience  successfully as all features included will get the readers involved in the magazine such as using social networking throughout my magazine. 

I am now very confident with all the skills and knowledge I have now gained by creating my music magazine and the research I have carried out by doing so. 

Production diary #17

This week I have been focusing on improving my seven evaluation questions as I want to clearly demonstrate my progress into my magazines, the knowledge and skills I have now gained and the clear success of my music magazine OnPoint. After making a simple draft of my evaluations into word documents I decided to present my evaluations in more interesting way. This include using Prezi,Movie maker,Slideshare, PowToon and YouTube. PowToon was very new to me as was found by simply searching video creators into Google, it is a very easy programme to use and allow me to add animations,vary the time per slide and add music to the background. In both of my videos I decided to include R&B music in the background as this would link back to the genre of my music magazine and link back to artists used in my magazine such as Eminem and Rihanna.

Using movie maker I created a video displaying the type of audience who will be attracted to my magazine. Likewise to PowToon this was very easy in figuring out how to work all the tools needed. Instead of adding background music, I decided to do a voice over of me reading the slides to give my presentation a more personal touch. 

Today I will be recording a video of me answering question three. I decided to record a video as I believe I need more videos of myself especially ones of myself. I will be using movie maker to edit my video by inserting text and logos of the companies I am talking about. This will make my video more interesting and show my skills of editing videos.

Production Diary #16

Production Diary #15

This week I have created a audience feedback survey using Survey Monkey. This will allow me to get feedback from my target audience on the strengths and weaknesses of my magazine. I decided to create 10 questions of different styles as will produce both quantitative and qualitative data. So far I have recieved 16 responses, however as I believe feedback is key in knowing the improvements and strengths, my minimum target for my feedback is 18-20 responses. I will achieve this by sending out my survey onto social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter as this will reach my target audience of 15-25 years olds and also will reach a vast amount of people quickly.

While waiting for the responses, I have been checking through all of my posts to make sure everything is up to a high standard and up to date. Additionally, I have been made sure my grammar and spelling is of a high standard, especially in my music magazine. Therefore simply using Microsoft word, I have copy and pasted all the text used throughout my magazine to double check on any spelling erros. This will hopefully result in my magazine looking far more professional and therefore OnPoint magazine will have a greater chance of success.

production diary #14

Production diary #13

After realising all my text for my magazine was completed, I thought the next best step would be to make sure all my images for my magazine were taken and chosen. Therefore, on Saturday I completed a yet another photoshoot of my model Georgia. I decided to use an outside location as this would show variation in my magazine and the urban settings would attract more of my target audience. After travelling around my town  and looking at spaces in central London, I realised that spaces that were filled with vibrant graffiti and somewhere with good natural lighting . Shoreditch in East London was the ideal place to do this photoshoot as it is known for its famous street art.Thinking more into the photoshoot, I decided to choose outfits for my model the night before that would highlight the urban and R&B feel . The outfits included both timberlands and nike air maxes as these are currently in fashion and are what my target audience. A tartan bodycon dress was chosen as it is very popular is this seasons fashion as both females and males wear tartan clothing. Also a run dmc top was worn as it fits within the old school R&B feel and also cheetah leggings were chosen as they are popular with my target audience. The pictures chosen were a range of close up and mid shots to clearly highlight both the fashion and model and also highlight the urban settings.

Overal the photoshoot was a success, as it produced a wide range of shots to chose from that would all clearly make a statement in my music magazine.

Production diary #12

Production Diary #11

Production diary #10

This week i have created the basic draft of my music magazine,OnPoint. I use Adobe InDesign to create this by placing placeholders for everything that is going to be featured in my magazine.By using a draft for my magazine it will allow me to simply replace it with the right information.
Later on in the week I began to place my chosen images into the magazine. I began with the front cover image as this is key in attracting the audience and making my magazine a success.I believe the image I chose makes a statement and is vibrant in colour. Using the tools in Adobe Design I cropped the image to fit the page. I then began to place my other chosen images of my model into the magazine, this included a full bleed image featured into the artists article and also a image featured on the contents page.
After the images were placed, I wrote a draft of my contents page text in Microsoft Word as I would be able to plan all the sections and headings that would be included. After the draft was finished and spell checked, I simply copied and pasted my text into my magazine.I then began to rearrange and adjust the text to fit around the images.

Production Diary #9

This Thursday I completed my photoshoot with my model Georgia. I was very curious on how my photos were going to turn out and if it would all go to plan. I had all the professional equipment such as a back drop, lighting and professional camera. This resulted in all my photos being of a high standard and quality.

I began with my casual outfit of just a jumper and leggings as I could get the hang of using the camera and lighting for the first time. I realise that long shots did not work as well and close up or high angle shots gave the best images.
 The second outfit of an american football styled top and chain worked best as they were vibrant in colour and would go well with the colour scheme of my magazine. I made my model try a variety of poses and position so i would have a lot of varied images to choose from. After looking back at the photos taken i realised the best position was a mid shot of Georgia bitting the gold chain. This worked best as it would clearly stand out and grab the readers attention therefore make a successsful front cover.
After the photoshoot, i went home and began looking through all the pictures taken.  I picked out the best images that i believe i could use throughout my magazine as these would attract my target audience as they make a statement and also involve very trendy fashion.

Production Diary #8

This week I have been catching up with my work by completing my promotional methods, new media, props and costumes and my model release. This shows clearly on how I am going to make my magazine a success. This is mainly done by using new media as it relates to my target audience and will be easy to access by anyone. I am now thinking more into how I will involved all these concepts into my magazine. I have thought of ideas such as displaying readers tweets at the bottom of each page also including readers pictures in the magazine as this will make them feel more involved. 

I still have a lot of pieces I would have liked to complete. However I would have to wait after I have done my photoshoot on Thursday to complete the behind the scenes and contact sheet. I am excited to do my photoshoot as I will be able to experiment with many angles and shoots and also costumes. It is important that my photoshoot is a success as the full bleed image on the front cover is what attracts the audience to the magazine and will clearly state the genre of the magazine. Due to OnPoint being clearly about trendy and urban music it has been made clear that all clothing and accessories used in the photoshoot must be trendy too. I have now figured out outfits that I would like my model to wear which include;

A American football style top styled with a gold chain and Nike air forces.

A Boy London jumper with leggings underneath styled with a gold chain and timberlands.

Both outfits will have props such as a microphone featured. The makeup will be very simple as by studying other existing R&B magazines, the makeup is very natural with just a bold lip or fake eyelashes used.

I will also be doing another photoshoot in a urban setting outside however I will be using a different model from my front cover to show variety. I will have to pick a date and time that will be suitable for my model as school takes up a lot of their time. Also making sure the weather is suitable on the day so it doesn't ruin the photoshoot by having a dull background.

Production diary #7

This week I have been clearly identifying everything I need to do in the half term so I can have good time management by giving myself enough time to do everything to the best standard. I have now moved on from researching ideas and now I am finally on to planning my music magazine. Already coming up with my name and ideas of masthead, I am now looking more in detail for my magazine. 

By creating my image ideas I have thought more into my photoshoot for my music magazine. I was really inspired by the images as they gave exactly the urban feel I want to my magazine. In the half term I am planning to fine a place in London that will link with my magazine. I plan to use somewhere in the streets of London that is very unique and will stand out in my magazine. Preferably somewhere with graffiti as this will have a lot of vibrant and bold colours which I want to appear throughout my music magazine. I would mainly do a photoshoot in the daylight so it is clear on the settings and will be clear to the reader the trendy fashion my model is wearing. However, I will experiment with night time shoots with good lighting as this will clearly identify more edgy and powerful pictures. 

Also for my photoshoots I believe props and costumes are a key concepts as they will make obvious to the reader what the magazine is a about. Using props such as microphones and very trendy clothing will be key for my music magazine as everything needs to be 'OnPoint'. 

Production Diary #6

This week i have been thinking more in detail about my magazine, the name,mastheads,layout, colour scheme etc. I first decided it is the most important part of the magazine to have a name. The name of the magazine is key to whether your magazines becomes memoriable or not. After doing my existing names and mastheads, i had a idea of what names work well in certain times of magazines. I realised that both connations or acryonms worked best as they already give a feel to the magazine and indicate the type of target audience.
First i decided to brainstorm words that came to me when thinking about stereotypical R&B/ urban words/slang that my target audience were likely to use themselves.I came out with a variety of names to give me a lot of range to chose from to give me the best name. Even though coming up with names wasn't fairly too hard, i found it diffcult to actually pick one. I decided to show my brainstorm to my siblings and friends to get there feedback on what names stood out to them. It showed that OnPoint,Off The Chain,Standout,Prestige were the favourites.
Finally after a lot of thinking about what best would fit my R&B magazine, i thought OnPoint would be the best name because it is a very urban word used by many young people to describe something that is the best of the best and is on trend.
After coming up with my music magazine name i thought it would best to move on to my masthead. I already had clearly in mind that i wanted it to be big and bold font seen in many magazines such as Vibe and XXL. Using Dafonts i downloaded a variety of fonts that could be possibly be used as my masthead. I then printed my name out several times and change the font/size/width with all of them to figure out what looked good and what didn't.

Production Diary #5

Throughout this week's media lessons i have been going over my coursework making sure i am up to date with everything and improving pieces to get them to the highest quality.For example i improved my proposal feedback by not just listing my feedback from people but also analyzing it.As this would show clearly what i have learnt from the feedback and the ideas and improvements i have gained to make my magazine the best it could be.

Also this week i have done my mood board to show all my ideas for my magazine. Even though i have explained a lot of my ideas, this was done by simply just writing it down. By using Adobe Premiere Pro i was able to show visually exactly where i want my magazine to go. I decide to include a range of ideas starting from R&B and urban music magazines that have inspired me through their layout,colour schemes and content.Then I decide to include key artists who would be featured as they are trendy and popular so will grab the reader's attention.By also including.their albums out in 2013 gave me ideas of being able to feature them in my magazine by giving reviews by the public through social networking sites. A lot of my mood board included fashion as i believe it is one of the key parts of my magazine to portray a very trendy and urban feel. The clothing seen was both very typical urban clothing such as snapbacks,trainers,chains etc but also very trendy clothing that all young people would wear. 

All these ideas have made me think a lot about the clothing that is going to be used throughout my magazine and especially my front cover. As the front cover is the first thing that the readers will see, it is key that it clearly identify's what my music magazine is about. I plan to use a lot of my own clothing as i already like to wear a lot of trendy and urban clothes however i will style them key jewelry such as gold chains,hoops and shoes such as timberlands and air forces to exaggerate the stereotypical looks seen in R&B/Hip hop magazines.

Production Diary #4

On Thursday 3rd October i decided i would go to my local shopping center,Westway to visit WHSmith as it one of the most popular shops for books and magazines.
I wanted to visit this shop as i was guaranteed a variety of music magazine to choose from. I decided to only search through urban/R&B magazine to keep within the theme of my music magazine. I was hoping to get inspiration for ideas of how the magazine should be layout,colours,prices etc. Also wanting to see what artists were being featured within the magazines so i could also include these artists to be most up to date with what is on trend.

Even though there was a lot of music magazines available ranging from rock to classical music, there was only a small variety of R&B/urban magazine.
The magazines available showed a clear colour scheme and highlight that black&white plus hints of bold colours such as red,blue or yellow were very popular.Also a  close up mid shot of a current artist was key in all the magazines,as it would grabs the readers attention.
Flicking through a variety of magazines that seemed to be very urban and trendy which would go with the theme of my magazine. They were very photo based with little writing which was similar to the concept suggested for my magazine. I really admired the fashion in the magazine as it was very trendy with girls wearing boyish fashions such as oversize baseball shirts,chains and trainers but also showing very sexual images such as just a body suit or mesh clothing.Also portraying boys in very simple but stylish clothing such as a simple tee,designer jeans, snapback with the newest high tops.
Overall, even though there wasn't much variety of R&B/urban magazines to gain ideas from, this suggests that there is room in the market for my magazine to be a success and stand out from the rest.

Production Diary #3

This week i decided to do some research to find out more about the people's opinions on music magazine and what exactly they would like in it.This would help me for my own music magazine as by knowing what people like, i can include this in my own magazine to make it as successful as possible. 

I decided to use survey monkey to create a survey. I included 10 questions that would get the best summary on what exactly needs to be included in a music magazine. Wanting to get as many people as possible to fill out my survey, i decided as social networking is so popular nowadays that it would be the best opportunity to use it to get my survey out there. I chose to use Twitter and Facebook to give a link to my friends and family 

As 24 people took part it will give me a wide range of views and made very clear on what people liked and didn't. The results helped me decide what i needed to involve in my magazine and gave me confidence that a lot of concepts mention in my proposal would be a success with my target audience

Production Diary #2

After this week, i finished my preliminary task for my school magazine. I mainly used my draft design as it had exactly everything i wanted and was easily created. It has help me gain a lot of knowledge on how to use Indesign and basic tools never used before. I made sure i included the basic concepts such as headline,colour schemes and main image that would all be used in a professional magazine. It was a great starter for creating a magazine as i am more confident and sure on what exactly i would want in my final product. I was clear on that i would want to improve the quality of the images and the layout. 
Also by doing tasks such as analyzing both cover pages and content pages i am clearly on what genre magazine i would like to go into. I firstly thought i would do a rock magazine due to having pictures already from going Reading Festival in the summer.The pictures include;

However even though these pictures are close up and do include very famous artist, i  think so far i would prefer to do a more urban,hip hop themed magazine as would be more in my interest to do a more vibrant magazine then just a very edgy and dark rock magazine. 

Macklemore&Ryan Lewis Concert

On Monday 9th September i went to the Macklemore &Ryan Lewis concert in Brixton academy. Before the concert i thought it would be a good idea to bring my digital camera as i knew i would be very close to the front of the stage therefore i could get some good close up pictures. I made it my aim to take pictures that could possibly be used for my music magazine for Media. I planned to take pictures of both Macklemore and the crowd itself so that i would have a variety of pictures to choose from. After taking a lot of pictures during the concert,here are some of the best pictures captured which could possibly be used throughout the magazine. I learnt that the pictures that worked the best were the close up clear shots of Macklemore as the others weren't as good quality due to the movement of the crowd and Macklemore himself.