College magazine analysis

Masthead-

The name of the magazine is displayed clearly and boldly on the front cover. The style of text is basic and easy to read although it is displayed behind the image of the man. The colour of the text is bright yellow which grabs the audiences attention. Yellow represents happiness and joy, which reflects the main image of the guy smiling. Green is the main colour scheme on this magazine. 

Main image-

The image used is a medium close-up. In the image the man is wearing casual clothing, this shows that he is relaxed and ready for college. The model is holding some textbooks, this shows he is a college student, which shows this magazine is targeted for a specific audience. He is black ethnic which widens the audience. The image is one of the main focuses on this magazine cover. The model is making eye-contact which should appeal to the audience. 

Main cover line-

The main cover line is larger than all the text, apart from the masthead. The colour of the text is the same as the masthead. The main cover line comes in two layers, both with a different colour, green and white. The text is positioned near the models face so it connects the two together. 'Jeffrey Assassin Campbell' is the models name, this is part of the main cover line, it gives credit to the model.  

Selling line-

The selling line on this magazine cover is placed at the top. It has been placed there because it doesn't distract the audience from the image and the text. 'Your exclusive guide to everything hip, hot & happening' This sentence is targeted to appeal to college students, the word 'exclusive' is very appealing and it makes the audience feel privileged.  

Other-

On this magazine cover, a splat has been added to show the event which is local. The colour of the splat is bright pink which is eye-catching, it's target audience, I.E. College students would be appealed by this advert.  

Make-up, Hair and props planning work

These are rough notes and sketches which I created during my planning of the photoshoot.

College Magazine planning work

Planning work for Musical Theatre Magazine

Performing Arts Survey Results

College Magazine Contents Page

Construction Schedule

Event	Description	Date
Labels on blog	I added labels to my blog for future use of my posts	29th September 2014
Research period	-Researching magazines (cover, content and double-page spreads) -College magazine creation and research	30th September 2014 – November 2014
Performing arts survey	A survey created on Survey Monkey which was answered anonymously helped me decide on decisions towards my magazine.	17th October 2014
Case Study	Case study of Empire Film Magazine	10th November 2014
Textual Analysis 1 - 7		14th – 19th November 2014
Photo shoot & Interview	The photoshoot and interview which took place with Kristina and Jack	22nd November 2014
Photoshop editing	Editing of my chosen images	24th November - 12th December
Editing and write up of interview	Write up of the magazine double-page article	Over Christmas break
Format + structure of magazine	Creation of my magazine (Front cover)	6th January  2015
Format + structure of magazine	Creation of my magazine (Contents page)	19th January 2015
Format + structure of magazine	Creation of my magazine (double-page spread)	2nd February 2015
Magazine completed and finalized	Using feedback given by classmates I improved and developed my magazine	23rd February 2015
Magazine submitted on blog	I submitted my magazine to my blog	24th February 2015

Original Ideas Statement

I want to create a classy and elegant magazine, targeted for 11+, male and female. I think content which interests and pleases all readers, particularly performers, directors, choreographers, producers, backstage crew and the audience. The content I think that will interest and satisfy the needs of my target audience are, reviews, articles, advertising, interviews, backstage information, obituaries, international and local news.

The classy and elegant look I want to achieve for my magazine, I will create, edit and use images which are eye-catching and appealing for my target audience, as well as using talented writing which are suitable to all ages and easy to read.

Target Audience Examples

Skills Development Prezi

College Magazine Cover page

College Magazine and Musical Theatre Magazine covers

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My demographic target audience is for ages 11+ for female’s and males. My magazine is aimed for Musical Theatre admirers, students and professionals, who want to learn more or even get tips. My magazine has a classy and professional feel to it, which I think then narrows down the class of who reads the magazine, i.e. middle class to upper class.

The content of my magazine is aimed for backstage crew, actors, directors, choreographers, producers, musical directors, instrumentalists, musical theatre students and many more other people who are inspired by Musical Theatre.  

I think that my target audience would purchase my magazine due to its wide variety of content available and its thorough research and professionalism.

I liked how The Stage newspaper advertises for jobs locally and nationally, from backstage crew to actors. So I have adopted this idea for my magazine to interest and influence my target audience. 

Prezi Analysis

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In Photoshop the wide variety of tools is endless, the tools and functions I used most were:

-Clone Stamp tool: (I used this tool very frequently during the editing of my images, both models had unwanted redness and blemishes which I wanted to disappear, so using this tool it helped create flawless skin. On some of the models costumes and props, they didn't always have a fluid colour or position to them, so I helped emphasis and perfect these flaws).

-Text tool: (During the creation of my magazine, I used the text tool very frequently, adding text to my magazine. I found this tool very simple and straightforward.)

-The top function bar / Image: (Within this function bar you can adjust the modes to the images, including various different colour options and effects. Also available is the quality to the images, you can purify them or make them blurry) 

The technologies that I have used

              Research Stage

            Production Stage

             Evaluation Stage

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my magazine I have represented my models as strong confident characters, which is an important factor to acting. I wanted to show a clear contrast of my theme, good/bad, which have shown through my images (front cover = good, contents page and double page spread = bad).

In Kristina Goodwin’s interview I have presented her as a confident and happy person who is living her dream, I done this intentionally to try and inspire young actors who want to go into the acting industry. I wanted to make the interview as real as possible, so I included some of the sacrifices and struggles that an actor has to go through, I feel that this helps young actors identify the difficulties of the acting industry.

My target audience is aimed for 11+, so I have used colours which appeal to all ages (i.e. purple, black, white and blue).

Through research I have discovered what content interests and inspires Musical Theatre lovers, which I have then used for my magazine. The content of my magazine includes technical, backstage, what’s on, reviews, obituaries, international and advertisement, as well as the main cover stories, all associated with Musical Theatre. 

In my images I have used stereotypes to show a clear contrast of my theme (good/bad) using colours, i.e. white representing innocence and good & black representing evil and fierceness.

On the front cover Kristina is looking away from the camera and staring into the distance, using effects, which I have added on Photoshop, I have made her look beautiful and dreamy as if she is away in a fantasy world. I have taken the image slightly above Kristina to capture her beautiful costume, to create a dreamy feel to the image and to show where she is looking (the sky). I have used an artificial light to create a white glow on Kristina’s face, showing her expression, making her look innocent and young.

On the contents page, Kristina is looking directly to the camera, making her look slightly crazy, powerful and fierce. I have used an artificial light to create a shadow on Kristina’s contours, defining her arm and neck.

On the double page spread, Kristina and Jack are embraced together showing their romance, I took this image from a lower angle giving it an empowering feel to it. I used an artificial light to create a deep shadow of Kristina and Jack together and create a glow on their skin. 

Prezi Analysis

Location, Props and Costume report

Location -

The location of the photo shoot I held was at Kristina Goodwin's house, I really liked her feature wall wallpaper, it was very classy and appealing which I thought would reflect through in my images. Also at the photoshoot was Jack Eastoe, my male model. I used artificial lights and natural light to show every contour of Kristina and Jack, which I think worked very well. 

Props -    

I asked my models to use very little props, I felt that using multiple props would only distract the audience when my main focus was my models. I requested to Kristina to wear the vintage blue mask, the black mask which I bought from Accessorize. I then requested Jack to wear the white mask which I found in Hoby Craft.

Costume - 

The costumes that the model's wore were their own items, Kristina wore 2 dresses, the first one a silver beaded corset dress with a flowing mesh skirt from Miss Selfridge, the second dress a black nylon dress with lace panels on the side from Primark. Both dresses complimented Kristina's body and reflected very well with the theme of Good/Evil & Yin/Yang. 

Jack only had one costume, he wore a plain black shirt with black jeans, both from Burton. 

Moodboards - Colours

Using my performing arts survey results, I have chosen these 8 colours which I think will make my magazine look classy and professional.

Moodboards - Target Audience

My target audience is from the ages of 11+, this magazine covers everything from front stage to backstage, costumes to lighting; pretty much anything to do with Musical Theatre.

Moodboards - Experimenting with fonts

Overview of The Magazine Industry

Livingly Media Online (Magazine Publishers)

Draft of Double Page Spread

This was my first draft of the double page spread I created, unfortunately I disliked the image and I felt that it didn't fit with my ideas, so I decided to start again. Also I disliked the mocha brown colour which I think then made the image look really wishy-washy and flat.  

Draft of Cover page

This is a draft of the cover page, this is the exact same picture as I have used for my final piece, but I have moved the model over more to the right to stop the cover lines hiding her and to show off this beautiful image. This image also lacks volume in the models hair and plumpness to her lips, which I have added to my final piece.

This was a first draft of my musical theater magazine, the bar code being far too over-sized, taking up space which it didn't need, the cover-lines looking slightly out of place and odd; finally some of the font looks too washed out and hidden within the bright and colorful magazine cover. The cover-lines are not equally spaced out, showing the lack of rulers within my work, as well as, the thin and easily lost text which is used.
The masthead is very bold and eye-catching, but I feel that it is too stretched and edited, becoming noticeable to the eye.

Draft of Contents page

This is a draft of my contents page, I tried multiple background colours, images and fonts to create my contents page, but with every draft it lacked creativity and that wow-factor. This yellowy colour in this draft made the magazine look cheap and it made the image look weak, which wasn't what I wanted because I really liked this image. The title on this page is the same as the masthead on the front page, which I think kept that Broadway look to the magazine.

Conde Nast (Magazine Publishers)

Time Inc. UK - IPC Media (Magazine Publishers)

Future PLC (Magazine Publishers)

Immediate Media Co. (Magazine publishers)

Bauer Media Group (Magazine Publishers)

Finished double page spread of Overture (Musical Theatre Magazine)

Finished contents page of Overture (Musical Theatre Magazine)