Research & Planning: Location Recce.

edit: the date at the top should be 2014.

Research & Planning: Music Magazine, Top of the pops Double Page Spread.

When continuing to create my music magazine, I will be looking back at my audience feedback, but also, I will be taking a close look at other pop magazines for inspiration and guidance. Top of the pops I have chosen will be what I look too most when continuing to construct my own music magazine.

Research & Planning: Music Magazine Progress 4.

I have changed the artist names on the left which will pair with my images that will be placed there soon and I have began to start making my contents page for my music magazine.

Research & Planning: Extra Double Page Spread Questions For Story

Extra Questions

• Are you dating anyone?

Bella: "As of right now, I’m not. I have been on a few dates in the past few months, but nothing came from that. I’ve decided to just focus on my music career, friends and family at this time of my life. I have so much time ahead of me for all that, finding love and doing the whole family, kids and white picket fences thing. And besides, I have very little spare time as it is, it’s better if I am single right now and when the time is right i’m sure i’ll find someone to have a special connection with."

• What are your plans for the summer?

Bella: "I have a lot planned already actually! I’ll be spending the first 

half of my summer finishing wrapping up my new album which is 

set to debut at the end of August if all goes as planned. The rest 

of the summer then me and the girls are off to spend a week 

away in the Bahamas, which will be so much fun i’m sure 

and of course relaxing too, I can’t wait! Then when I return 

the rest of my time will most definitely by spilt between 

seeing my family and sitting with my feet up on the 

couch and binge watching some tv shows I’ve been 

dying to get started on for so long now, followed by

lots of chocolates and take aways, haha. Time for

myself is just as important as the other aspects of

my life, so I try to find the time for this whenever 

I can and it always destresses and refreshes me.”

• How do you stay fit and healthy?

Bella: "It’s very simple for anyone to acheive the body and 

health they want. With your food, you got to first balance your 

diet with the right proteins, carbohydrates, fats and so on, then 

you have to make sure to keep things in moderation - it’s key really.

Always, always have breakfast, skipping this meal of the day is the 

worst thing for you to do as it awakens your body and makes you feel

less sleepy in the mornings, gives you more energy for the rest of your 

day which will boost your happiness a hell of a lot. As for exercise, I go for 

a run most mornings as it again refreshes me and wakes me up. I swim a few times a week to keep fit and it’s something i’ve always loved to do as a child which helps. Lastly, I do workout videos in my own home, as i’m not a fan of going to classes and excersising with others, unless it’s a couple of my friends, haha. I do about 30 mintues workout every other day. Oh, and I also love to dance, so sometimes I go to a dance studio and just let loose, no matter if it’s a well planned out routine or I look like an absolute idiot. ”

• Fashion Advice

“I’m in love with dresses, they are my weakness and if I see one I like I

      have to get it! No one can stop me! It’s pretty bad actually. Despite

           my lack of self control when it comes to those special dresses, I 

                  do have a strick budget for shopping for clothes which is

                         barely overpasses if I can help it. Don’t just buy the 

                                 clothes or shoes because they are pretty, buy

                                     the items because you want them and you         

                                            know you will put them to good use!                                                                              

                                                   It will save you time and money 

                                                          which are two important  

                                                                   factors in life."

Research & Planning: Double Page Spread Story.

Double Page Spread Story

Questions + Answers:

• Do you enjoy your job?

- Bella: "Absolutely. I mean yes, there will be time when work is hard and kicking your ass basically, but you know thats part of life, not everything is going to be plain sailing and despite the hard times, at the end of the day I still am completely content and grateful to be able to create music, it's something I've   wanted to do since I was a child and to be able to be hear right now and do what I love is amazing. I enjoy it very very much."

• Have you always been passionate about music?

- Bella: "Yes. Absolutely. Ever since I was a little kid, I would always, always be listening to music...and danced around in my bedroom. I think in a way, everyone is passionate about music, we all have that one - or a few songs - that really stay close to our hearts and we melt every time it comes on. Thats passion, it doesn't matter whether they are a star, standing on stage and singing in front of thousands of people. Those people are in the audience because they enjoy and our passionate about your music. So yeah, I have definitely always been very into music and I am so grateful to everyone who helped me get to where I am now."

• Do you feel you have no privacy in your life?

- Bella: "Sometimes, it's very hard to keep somethings in my life private, you know. It can be a stressful time for some, especially if the media are printing stories that you know have inevitably twisted the truth and more often than not are a complete and utter lie. But being in this industry, you going to expect these things to happen. It's going to, there's no way you could ever keep everything private from the media. So sometimes you just have to pick and choose."

• How do you find inspiration to create music?

- Bella: "In everyday life. Everything can inspire you to think about something, which ends up branching onto all other things to think about which sometimes eventually with some hard work creates a song - or the basis of a song. It's fascinating really, you know you could pick up a flower which somehow triggers a memory or just a general thought which ends up being the one object that inspires you to write a song. So, yeah. Anything and everything around you influences your life and thoughts."

• What do you think of your fans?

- Bella: "I love them, I mean...if I didn't have such amazing support from them, I most likely wouldn't be where I am right now. I'll browse on social media sites every now and again, and the amount of tweets, videos, fanart and a lot of other things is mind-blowing, the fans take time out of their daily life to dedicate and create something around me and my work and I think thats incredible. Everyone always says how the most amazing moment in their career is when they first step up on stage and see the amount of people in the audience - and while I agree it is overwhelming and wonderful, to me the most memorable and appreciated experience of my music career will forever be the fans and the never ending support they have showed me during this journey."

• Your celebrity crush?

- Bella: "Haha, I was waiting for this question, everyone seems to love to hear about this and I get why, It's a really interesting thing to know about someone. I find it hard to believe that someone out there didn't have a celebrity crush at some point in their life, as to me it was a part of my childhood. I was about 14 I think and I sat down and watched this show and this particular actor really intrigued me, very talented and after I watched the episode - and since there were no more episodes until next week, I went upstairs, grabbed my laptop and searched for the actors name and what else they starred it and picked some other films or whatever they were in to watch until the next episode aired, haha. I prefer to keep their name to myself for now."

• What do you do in your spare time? 

- Bella: "Well, it really depends on my mood to be honest. Sometimes I love to just sit and curl up with a good book and a coffee, in front of the fireplace, you know get lost in someone else's world for a while. It really helps me relax and not have to worry about anything for even a good couple hours. I also like to go swimming, that helps me relax too and enjoy the freeness of having spare time to myself. I also make time to go out with a few of my friends for dinner or something, you know a casual catch up of whats been happening in our lives and have a good old chat, that's always fun as more often than not it's been a while since we have seen each other."

Research & Planning: Music Magazine Progress 3.

I have recently made the minor adjustments of adding a purple box on the left side, which holds text larger than the one's on the right informing readers of the main article within the magazine, the star Bella Grey. I also added 3 boxes at the bottom which will soon be filled with a few images and text "omg!", "wow" and "aww" next to the artists names on the right ready to be paired with images as well.

Research & Planning: Music Magazine, Top of the pops contents page.

 

When continuing to create my music magazine, I will be looking back at my audience feedback, but also, I will be taking a close look at other pop magazines for inspiration and guidance. Top of the pops I have chosen will be what I look too most when continuing to construct my own music magazine.

Research & Planning: Coverline Ideas.

How many coverlines shall I feature?

• 3 - 6 coverlines featured.

Ideas for coverlines:

1. 
   

Research & Planning: Music Magazine, Top of the pops front cover.

When continuing to create my music magazine, I will be looking back at my audience feedback, but also, I will be taking a close look at other pop magazines for inspiration and guidance. Top of the pops I have chosen will be what I look too most when continuing to construct my own music magazine.

Research & Planning: Music Magazine Progress 2

I installed the font: Amperzand to use for the text "plus all of these stars". I have added 3 small boxes coloured purple at the side, with text of artists within them. I also added text within the small circular yellow box at the bottom of my front cover which showcases that Taylor Swift tickets are available to win.

Research & Planning: Music Magazine Progress 1

Today I added to my magazine a barcode, Issue number, price with dates as to when the issue can be bought. A background colour, a yellow round shape and 1 white box, which will later be filled with a few images and text.

Research & Planning: Next Steps 6.

To complete this upcoming week:

1. Upload model head shots.
2. Continue working on front cover of my music magazine.
3. Write the contents to my double page spread story.
4. Gain social networking feedback.
5. Regular posts on the progress of my music magazine.

Research & Planning: Scheduling when to take my model head shots.

Over the weekend and the beginning of next week, I plan to take photos of my main model to add her to my front cover of my music magazine.
I will be taking my photos on a field which is located near my home and hopefully if the weather is looking nice, rain will not fall.
I am taking my photos outside in order to gain natural light within my photos, which will add to linking in nicely with my genre pop, which requires a happier atmosphere and expressions.

Research & Planning: Start of music magazine.

The blue lines represent my bleed lines, aguideline for me to keep my text (everything excluding graphics) within the lines, so when printed/published, the text does not go over the edge.

Research & Planning: Target Audience Prezi/Slideshare. {needs uploading!}

Research & Planning: Weather Post.

Weather Forecast: 17th November - 24th November.

Looking at the upcoming weather forecast, the best and most appropriate days to gather my models and take a range of photographs would be either, Tuesday (18th), Wednesday (19th) or Thursday (20th). These are the best days because the weather forecast shows there will be no rainfall during them, which is convenient for taking my photographs to use in my Pop music magazine.

Research & Planning: Pop Magazine Redrawn Drafts: Front Cover, Contents Page & Double Page Spread.

Based on the feedback I received from the audience, I have redrawn my drafts of my pop magazine to cater to the audience preferences.

Research & Planning: Location Chosen.

For taking my photographs I have chosen an open field near my home which will be great for taking my photos of my chosen models.

To choose an appropriate date to take my photographs, I will have to take a look at the weather forecast to determine the best weather for taking my photos.

Research & Planning: Double Page Spread Story Ideas.

For my double page spread, I will be interviewing my chosen artist.
The double page spread story should include a range of pictures, which I will be taking in the upcoming week/s.

Some of the questions which I will ask the artist will be:

1. Do you enjoy your job?
2. Have you always been passionate about music?
3. How do you deal with the press? Do you feel you have no privacy in your life when the press are present?
4. What is your process of creating music tracks?
5. What do you think of your fans?
6. What do you do in your spare time? 

On my double page spread I would like 3 different images, which are different shots of the chosen artist. Also, from looking at other pop magazines, possible a few smaller images with perhaps a purse on and include a special prize to be won among the page.

Research & Planning: Double page spread language analysis.

Pop Magazine Double Page Spread:

Alternative Rock Double Page Spread:

Right at the beginning of the main text among this double page spread, the language starts with the words "diva, brat", which we could argue are words that you may associate with the genre pop as well. However, from what I have seen in pop magazines and judging by the one I have chosen to analyse the language of above, words such as these are not mentioned within a pop magazine, they use more soft, sweet words such as "star", "friends" is used a lot, possible to create a fun, comfortable and light atmosphere for the reader.

Now both double page spread covers above feature the colour pink, the pop mixes it with light/bright colours, whereas alternative rock mixes it with black, grey, very darker colours. To me the choice of colours often reflects not just the genre, but the language of the text within the magazine. The darker colours mixed with the pink give off a vibe which tells us in the text some more harsher words may be used, but the brighter colours for the pop magazine again connote the text features very soft and light vocabulary, to cater to there younger audience.

When writing and creating my double page spread story for my pop magazine, I need to take into account these factors so I can apply them appropriately to my story and create a piece which very much suits my genre and the audience that genre is aiming to attract.

Research & Planning: Next Steps 5.

To complete this week: 

• Double page spread ideas
• double page spread language analysis
• double page spread comparisons
• add images to costume and props list
• upload target audience prezi
• upload redrawn magazine drafts based on audience feedback
• location post

Research & Planning: Sans Serif & Serif Font, Double Page Spread.

For the contents of my double page spread story, I have to use a serif font. However, for the rest of my magazine I can use any other fonts.

Research & Planning: DSLR test shots.

Here are my test shots. Some of the following have been taken outside and inside, some have been taken with the flash on and without the flash plus a couple other settings which were available with the DSLR camera I used to take these photos.

Flash was used for the above, I think this gave us the advantage of having the lighter flowers/leaves contrasting with the darker ones, plus the outside light presented the best affect for the picture, as there were no shadows to interfere like they may have done inside.

No flash, only the light from the outside was able to light this photo up so well and reflects nicely in the background with the sky, then the nice green grass and Step's smile in the photo is very bright.

No flash, inside there was no natural light to help out with the photo and not using the flash meant that I was unable to capture Megan in the photo as clearly as I wanted too.

Flash, I like this one which was taken inside, the photo has a slight shadow at the bottom but I think it fits. It creates a nice light on the rest of the photo.

I think natural light is by far has the best affect on taking photos, however when inside and natural light is not available I think the flash helps with having more light on the photos to capture what I want in a better quality.

Research & Planning: Next Steps 4.

What needs completing:

1. Produce a plan for the week.
2. Begin completing production documents.
3. Produce a model head-shots post.
4. Take a series of test shots and evaluate them. 
5. Update publication plan.

Research & Planning: Model looks and costume.

What look do my models need to have? + What costumes/outfits do my models need to be wearing?

I envision them always looking happy and having a big cheesy smile on there face to appeal to the pop genre. To go with the layout, the models must be wearing at least one or two items of clothing that are very bright colours, such as pink and purple. They will be a female as all of my results came back with a  female model being preferred to be featured in the magazine, especially on the front cover. The clothing they should wear I believe should either be a bright coloured dress, or a set of shorts or skirt paired with either a bright coloured flowing top with the shorts or a simple vest top with a small jacket when paired with a skirt.

The models makeup shouldn't be too bright, but I think they should where pale pink colours, the lips however could be in a red tone, the rest such as eye-shadow though I would like to be of a paler colour, therefore the clothing and there lips stand out the most. Also, depending on the models hair colour and possibly eye colour will depend on what shades of makeup and clothes they should wear, as I aim to make there eye colour and hair be as vibrant as it can be, using the eyes mainly as a focus point.

Research & Planning: Associated Artists.

What artists would I associate with the genre pop?

1. Taylor Swift
2. Katy Perry
3. Justin Timberlake
4. Demi Lovato
5. Pharrell Williams
6. Ariana Grande

Research & Planning: Next Steps 3.

What needs completing:

1. Upload target audience powerpoint.
2. Social networking feedback.
3. Redraw drafts influenced by audience feedback.
4. Addition research post/s.

Research & Planning: Publication Plan.

Name: Starlight.
Price: £2.50
Positioning Statement: bringing your stars to life.
Distribution: Newsagents & Supermarkets.
Frequency of publication: Every fortnight - 2 weeks.
Rationale:
- Aim to please readers by choosing the appropriate colours to suit the audience.
- Select the right type of music to match my genre.
- Feature interviews from celebrities and include music release.
Style/layout/colour:
- vibrant colours, pink, purple, red, blue.
- Messy/Busy layout, jam packed full of images, a few cover lines, masthead big and vibrant.
Regular content:
- Music charts - Top 10.
- New releases.
- Music reviews.
Featured content:
- Celebrity Interview.
- Competition for artist concert tickets.

Research & Planning: Magazine Price Research.

Magazine Prices

We love pop: £3.99
Published monthly.





Top of the pops: £2.99
Published monthly










My magazine price will be £3.49 from looking at this research.

Researching & Planning: Next Steps 2.

What needs completing:

• Gain social networking feedback.
• Start target audience powerpoint/prezi.
• Start to think about test shots and where I will shoot my models in the next upcoming weeks.
• Also, think about who I would like to be my models, must have at least 2 different models.

Research & Planning: Production Schedule.

Here is my production schedule.
 

Research & Planning: Costumes and Props List + Research.

Costumes and Props List:

1. Front Cover Shot {Mid-Shot}: Pink lipstick, Light make-up, pink dress, Hair Curled Loosely.
2. Contents Page Shot 1 {Extreme Close Up}: a skirt
3. Contents Page Shot 2: pair of shoes
4. Double Page Spread Shot 2 {Medium Close Up}: lips puckered and blowing kisses, same dress.
5. Double Page Spread Shot 3 {Full Body}: pink dress, hair loosely curled.

Research & Planning: Equipment and Software List.

Equipment and Software List;

• Photoshop
• InDesign
• A Mac
• A Camera

Research & Planning: Interview Videos & Analysis.

My Interview Videos & Analysis.

                                          

                                          

Analysis of Interviews:

• What type of artists would you like to see in my pop magazine?

Answers:

1. Taylor Swift, One Direction
2. Taylor Swift.
3. The Script.

From collecting my results of the answers from my interviews, the most popular artist people would like to see in a pop magazine is Taylor Swift and also, bands are a favourite to feature as well.

• Name three colours you associate with the genre pop?

Answers:

1. Pink, Yellow, Black.
2. Pink, Blue, Purple.
3. Pink, Red, Blue.

The most popular colour people are associating with the genre pop is pink, followed by other bright colours such as yellow and purple. However, the answers blue, red and black could contradict this, I think it just depends on a persons preference in what colours they like. But pink is a big choice to consider when creating my pop magazine.

• What cover-lines/stories would you like to see in a pop magazine?

Answers:

1. About the artists themselves, how they got into the music industry.
2. About artist, new releases.
3. New music.

Most people seem to want to read more about an artist and how they got into the music industry, an interview of an artist appeals to them. Also, new music releases are a popular answer as people tend to be interested in the latest music.

• What gender do you prefer on the front cover of a pop magazine?

Answers:

1. Female.
2. Female.
3. Female.

A female artist is the most popular choice that people would like to be seen featured on the front of a pop magazine and this possibly could be a popular choice when with who I should feature within the double page spread section of my magazine. 

• What stands out to you most within a pop magazine? And what do you think is the most important thing to include in a pop magazine?

Answers:

1. The main image & images.
2. Title, what artists wears & tour dates.
3. The colours & big image.

It seems the type of images which will appear in a pop magazine are what people focus on the most and also they feel images are one of the most important things to include within a pop magazine.

I will be taking all the results from these interviews into account when I begin to create my pop magazine as feedback is important because it tells us what an audience is looking for, therefore helping me to construct my magazine to fit my target audience as best as I can.

Research & Planning: Questionnaire Results and Analysis.

Questionnaire Results:

• 10 Questionnaires were filled out.

Question 1 - 6 Results {In Order}

Q1: After collecting the results of my questionnaire, The colour Red was the most popular option that people said appeals to them on a magazine. This is closely followed by the colours: Pink, Purple & Blue.

Q2: All people who took part in the questionnaire said they preferred a female to be on the cover of a pop magazine. No one voted for a male model to appear on a pop magazine.

Q3: The most popular option chosen for the price of a pop magazine to be was between £1-£2, which collected 5 votes out of 10.

Q4: Publishing a pop magazine every week came out as the most popular option with 8 votes. Every month received 2 votes and no one voted for every year.

Q5: All the people that answered the questionnaire said that the masthead "Starlight" was a good masthead for a pop magazine and they liked it.
The option no received 0 votes.

Q6: Unlike the previous 5 questions, the last question on what should be included in a pop magazine received votes for all options. However, the highest option people chose was An Interview, although both Celebrity Gossip and Music Charts came extremely close behind an interview.

Taking into consideration these results from an outside audience, I will build up my magazine using this feedback and improve my pop magazine design and content based on these results. However, I do not have to follow all the highest scoring options from these results if it does not fit my magazine style and content, but I will use these results as a guide in making my pop music magazine.