Editing my photos

These are the stages of editing my photos on http://pixlr.com, i like this website because it makes the photos look more professional, i am able to airbrush the photos which reduces any wrinkles, spots, blackheads. http://pixlr.com makes the appearance of the photo look better and better to use for a front cover of a magazine.
The website also allows me to crop my model out of the photo and change the background of the photo into a different colour or different background.

Favourite Photos

These are some of the photos i have edited using http://pixlr.com and using an app on my laptop called photo director. These photos are just drafts of photos i will be using in my magazine.
Editing these photos i have earned different skills such as, airbrushing a photo, making small details stand out,  different photo effects that will be appropriate for a front cover etc.

Fickr link

This is a link to my flickr account which has some of the photos i have been taking for the past week, the photos are not my final draft but are example of the work i have been doing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/111770369@N03/

Photo Shoot Planning

                         

Moodboard

A moodboard is a type of collage that may consist of text, images and samples of object in a composition of choice of moodboard creator. Moodbaord develops design concepts and to communicate to other members of the design team. Everything in my my moodboard above are things that will interest my readers and target audince

The rule of thrids

The rule of thirds is a concept in video and film production in which the frame is divided into into nine imaginary sections, as illustrated on top. This creates reference points which act as guides for framing the image.

Points (or lines) of interest should occur at 1/3 or 2/3 of the way up (or across) the frame, rather than in the centre. Like many rules of framing, this is not always necessary (or desirable) but it is one of those rules you should understand well before you break it.

Background on Indie/alternative music

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include indie pop, jangle pop, C86, and lo-fi, among others. Originally used to describe record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock. As grunge and punk revival bands in the US, and then Britpop bands in the UK, broke into the mainstream in the 1990s, it came to be used to identify those acts that retained an outsider and underground perspective. In the 2000s, as a result of changes in the music industry and the growing importance of the Internet, a number of indie rock acts began to enjoy commercial success, leading to questions about its meaningfulness as a term. The term indie rock, derived from "independent," describes the small and relatively low-budget labels on which it is released and the do-it-yourself attitude of the bands and artists involved.

In the mid-1980s, the term "indie" began to be used to describe the music produced on post-punk labels rather than the labels themselves. The indie rock scene in the US was prefigured by the college rock that dominated college radio playlists, which included key bands like R.E.M. from the US and The Smiths from the UK.

The 1990s brought major changes to the alternative rock scene. Grunge bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sound garden, Hole, and Alice in Chains broke into the mainstream, achieving commercial chart success and widespread exposure. Punk revival bands like Green Day and The Offspring also became popular and were grouped under the "alternative" umbrella. Similarly, in the United Kingdom Britpop saw bands like Blur and Oasis emerge into the mainstream, abandoning the regional, small-scale and political elements of the 1980s indie scene.

By the end of the 2000s the proliferation of indie bands was being referred to as "indie landfill", a description coined by Andrew Harrison of The Word magazine, and the dominance of pop and other forms of music over guitar-based indie was leading to predictions of the end of indie rock. However, there continued to be commercial successes like Kasabian's West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum (2009), which reached number one in the UK. In 2010, Canadian band Arcade Fire's album The Suburbs reached number one on the Billboard charts in the United States and the official chart in the United Kingdom, winning a Grammy for Album of The Year.

Consideration for my magazine front cover image

These are a list of things i need to consider in order to have a good photo and attract audience into buying my magazine, all of the following are important in order to make my magazine stand out and look better than my competitors. These are all a key factor in having a successful front-page things such as:
Make-up
Hair
Background/backdrop
Pose
Direction the model is facing towards camera
Body language
Facial expression (is the model smiling, sad, angry?)
Lighting
Props(guitar, piano, glasses)
Camera angles
Colour scheme
Subject ( who is my model going to be, are they going to be female or male)
Editing&Effects
Type of shot (long shot, mid-shot, close-up)

Brand identity and brand values

Brand Identity: this is how all elements contribute to the visual appearance and how they work together to distinguish that brand in the mind of the audience/consumer.
Brand Values: things that are deemed important by the brand, the things the magazine stands for and what it represents

Content page conventions

These are things you expect to see in a magazine to make it attractive and make the audience want to buy it. A magazine contents page should include:

House style- whole of magazine

Images

Columns 

Subscription pug

Structured layout (grids and guidelines)

Page number (not necessarily in order)

Information (captions)

Date & issue number

Contents heading

Editors letter

Colour Scheme

Target audience for my music magazine

What genre of music magazine are you going to be constructing?

My magazine is specifically going to focus on indie rock or alternative rock music. I will choose other genre similar to this because from my survey people choose other genres of music such as pop and indie pop. However my magazine is based around indie rock music, this is because i know who target audience is and i know who is likely to  who will purchase my magazine

Will it be for a mainstream or niche audience?

My music magazine is going to be aimed at a small group of young people. My magazine is aimed at a niche audience, not a lot of people are interested in alternative rock music therefore only specific audience will purchase my magazine, i target audience can relate to the music therefore are more likely to purchase it. Although my magazine is not targeted at a mainstream audience i believe my magazine can generate  a lot of sales because there isn't as much magazines out there aimed at a niche audience, this means they are likely to buy mine

Is it similar to any existing products or is it going to be different?                           

My music magazine is going to be similar to magazines such as Nme, Q and Mojo in the type of artist they feature and the genre of music, but my magazine is going unique, different and original and i am going to feature some artist from other genres of music that are similar to indie rock music  because i think this can attract a range of audiences. My magazine is going to include music news, tips on how to make it in the music industry, gigs from upcoming artist, festivals and exclusive interviews from upcoming new talent and old bands

Who will the core reader of your magazine be? What artists do they like? How do they dress? Where do they shop? What products do they own or aspire to own? How do they spend their time? 

My magazine 'core' readers are going to be young people around 16-25 year olds who love indie/alternative rock music, but i dont want my magazine to only attact that specific audience, my magazine hopefully will ttract 25+ or people who dont neccesarily listen to he genre i will be covering, i am hoping to cover other genre to attract otehr audiece. i wan tmy audince to be as diverse as possible. My magazine will feature artist such as Arctic Monkeys, The Smiths, Florence and the machine, Arcade Fire, Kasabian, Tom Odell, Miles Kane which are all Indie/Alternative rock artist but my magazine will also feature artist such as Beyonce who is known to all genre 

The artist that will be featured in my magazine will wear the latest fashions. The artist clothes will be bought from high street shops such as new look, Topshop, american apparel, urban outfitters, Zara an river Island, this is so that my target audience can relate to the fashion and will be able to go to the stores and buy a similar outfit that is affordable for them. The artist will be wearing shoes such as Dr martens, Nike gazzeles, vans old skool, converse, nike air max (for the men) or Jeffrey Campbell cut out boots, river island chunky boots, Windsor smith chunky sandals, Dr martens or Vans(for the women) if a women is featured in my magazine she wont be wearing heels because this does not go with the genre of my magazine.

Who will be your primary and secondary audience?

My primary audience are going to be students and young working class adults. My target audience are going to be working class or students meaning they won't have high income and the students may not have jobs. This means my magazine price has to be reasonable in order to attract audience and in order to make profit.

The secondary audience of my magazine will be older people who love music such as teachers, parents, cleaners, friends, colleague; anybody who is up to the age of around 30 years old will read this magazine.

What will the age range be?

The age range will be vary from 16-25 year olds, but teenagers from 14-15 may be interested in the magazine  and may like to purchase it. Adults age 26+ who enjoy music might also purchase this magazine

What will be the gender mix?

My magazine will be both male and females, I believe my magazine will appeal to both genders as both male and females listen to indie/alternative rock music. The colour scheme for my magazine will be white and red which is the colour based around my genre anyway therefore isn't aimed at any gender, my magazine will feature artists and bands that attract male and female audience.

photo shoot planning