Double Page Spread Photography - During Production

Model: Lauren Hall

Below is two images that I will use for my double page spread. The first, show two versions of the image I intend to use for my main A4 spread, on the left hand side of the double page. I have chosen to use a medium close up of my main female singer, to introduce the readers to ideologies about her dominance and status within the band. Along with this, it challenges gender stereotypes  . The image renders her as sexual icon to a young male audience, which is perceived through her positioning, pose, costume and make up. Her low cut top, long flowing hair and large amount of make up reinforces her sexual prerogative and reinforces gender stereotypes. From my research, I found similar images which conform to these stereotypes, such as Hayley Williams from Paramore and Cassade Pope from Hey Monday.

Examples of this: 

  Hayley Williams Cassadee Pope

The image below is an edited version of my main raw image, in which I have inserted a black banner diagonally across the image. I have altered the opacity of the banner, so the reader is still able to recognize the image underneath. I have also used a quote from my article, which is in white font, with red paint splashes which adds colour and vibrance to the image. 

The image below is a further edited image, which I constructed after my pitch feedback - which was to brighten the full image, add more brushes and a title at the top of the page. Whilst doing this, I found this introduced the band featured much more clearer, as it was now at the top of the page. It also stands out more, and hides some of the original dull location background. 

Models: Calvin Ford, Lauren Hall, Sabih Khan

The other is a medium close up all 3 band members, which allows the audience to recognize the other members of the band, along with the main female lead singer. Also, on the other photograph, we can recognise that her eyeline shows direct address with the reader. This engages the reader to feel the photograph was taken for them, therefor involving them in the magazine. With the other two members, stereotypical representations of band members of this genre are also present. On the left, the models eye line is not direct address, which challenges the readers perseption, which suggests he is daring, fun and exciting and possibly childlike. On the right, the model represents the dominant male role, direct address and sleek and smart hair suggests he is a flirt, a ladies man which immediatly appeals to an female audience for my magazine. 

Contents Page Photography - During Production

The following images are two of the images I have used on my contents page of my magazine. The top image is a landscape medium close up of a 3 membered band, which are a feature of my magazine. The image challenges many stereotypes which are produced by my chosen genre of music, which tend to be : male orientated, dominant and threatening. My image features a new and up coming female orientated band, which through the use of costumes and make up - marginally reinforces the main image produced of the genre, but yet still challenges gender stereotypes.

Models: Jenny Lee, Emily O'Hara, Emily Boyd

  

The image below is the image of the band I am using on my double page spread. Unlike the previous image, the photograph more intentionality conforms to reinforcing typical stereotypes of female and male dominance within a band. Although it challenges male dominance, it also conforms to females being less dominant as the lead females eye line is lower than the higher rule of thirds and below her fellow band members. This renders her less dominant, which could suggest she is perceived as a sexual icon to a younger male audience, aswel as her fellow band members. This is reinforced through the use of her costume, as it represents her sexual prerogative, as she is wearing a low cut top with long flowing hair and a large, vibrant amount of make up.

Models : Calvin Ford, Lauren Hall, Sabih Khan

Live Model : Travis Clark

The photo below was taken at an We The Kings concert in February, on my SLR camera. The image is a medium close up of the lead singer, mid shot on stage. I decided to use this image as it shows a live, real band performing on stage, which from my research, would be found in an professional working magazine, such as Kerrang and Rocksound.

 Live Model : Sean Smith

This image was taken at an The Blackout concert in December 2010, on my own SLR camera. Like the image above, it is also a medium close up shot, but from a right angel. I also decided to use this image is it shows a real life, live performance shot from a concert, which would be likely to be used in an working professional music magazine.

Front Cover Photography - During Production

Some photography shots I have taken myself, of featuring bands or artists of my magazine. All 3 shots are live shots from concerts I have been to, which have been taken on an SLR camera. The top two are medium close ups of lead singers, from All Time Low, The Blackout and Elliot Minor. I decided to use these photographs as they represent the live and reality of a band within the rock/Independent genre of music, which I aim to recreate within my magazine. Also, from my research, this is a popular method and feature that is used in magazines such as Q, NME, Rocksound and Kerrang!

Live Model: Sean Smith

Live Model: Alex Gaskarth

Live Model : Alex Davies and Ed Hetherton

Main photography analysis:

The image below is the image I decided to use for the main image of my front cover. I decided to use this image as it follows the conventions of photography that popular magazines of my genre use. It is a medium close up of my three models, which are a featured band of my magazine. It also conforms to stereotypes with using a lead female singer, by positioning her center, with direct address to the reader. This engages the reader to feel the photograph was taken for them. The two male models behind are positioned in a triadic structure, which exhibits them as less dominant as the female. 
Model: Josh Wallace, Jenny Lee, George Sweeton

The image below is a landscape medium close of up the same models. I decided I couldn't use this image for my front cover as it is the wrong orientation and would not fit comfortably onto my cover of my magazine. Also, on this image, my two male models are further spaced out, which contradicts stereotypes for bands being 'close and dependant' on one another, of this genre. 

The image below is a single medium close up shot of the lead female singer from my featuring band. Although this image conforms to stereotypes of dominant femininity within bands that fall into this genre, I decided not to use this image for my front cover, as I felt it dis-regards and ignores the other members. Also, from my research, I was un-succesful in finding a front cover example from either Kerrang! or Rocksound that featured just the lead female singer on the front cover, if done so, it would be a male lead singer instead. 

Model : Jenny Lee



During production on Front Cover on Photoshop

For my front cover, I have used a medium close up shot of a featuring band, 'We Came To Party' - which I created myself, for my main image. The image features a lead female singer and two male members. With the positioning, I have placed her in front of the two males, which reinforced dominant ideologies about lead singers being overpowering, most popular and in the limelight. Her long flowing red hair also stands out and looks alarming, which jumps of the page at the readers. This also connotates a passion for music, along with danger and angst, which is a popular and stereotypical for the rock/independent genre of music. Her costume also contrasts with this, following a very/rock independent costume of checkered shirts and black printed shirts underneath. For the two males, they are placed in a pyramid structure behind her, promoting her status over them. Their facial expressions exhibit an professional and serious tone to the photography, which sets the tone of the band. 

Action Plan

Week commencing 7th February.

This week I am starting my production on my magazine. I have a rough cut deadline for Wednesday 2nd March to work towards. Therefor, I must organise my time as follows:

Article Drafts - Monday 14th February 

I have set myself this deadline as I feel I will be able to research, plan and create a rough draft of my article for my DBS by this time. 

Photography - Wednesday 16th February

I have set myself this deadline as I feel it is a reasonable length of time to get my photography done from now - considering I am doing location and studio shoots. (I have also already done my double page spread photo's)  Alongside this, I think I will also be able to start construction my DBS and Contents page. 

Double Page Spread and Contents Construction - Friday 18th February
I have set myself the deadline of this date, as I feel this deadline is something I can be working on after I have my article draft, and then my photography following. I will also be able to create a structure and layout for these before hand, and then insert my photography and article once finished. 

Front Cover Construction - Wednesday 23rd February

I have set myself this deadline as I can continue constructing my front page over the holidays at home, with photoshop at home. I also feel this is long enough time between constructing my DPS and Contents in order to meet these deadlines.

Final Construction - Tuesday 1st March

I have set myself this deadline for final construction to be met, as it allows any time for quick last minute editing before the overall deadline on the 2nd. 

Article Drafts

Volume magazine caught up with the newest, freshest band on the block, We Came To Party, giving you the lowdown of what to expect in 2011.

It's 8.34am, Sunday morning, a studio apartment down a London backstreet, just off Covent Garden’s. The glistening Christmas sky lights of the city markets and fancy boutiques down below stream through the badly put up ASDA living curtains and nock off double glazed windows, gradually awakening Volume Magazine's new editions to the music scene. An odd body part on show here and there underneath duvets and one another’s belongings, as our passed out newbies are experiencing what any British would call a ‘the morning after hangover’. A bombsight of pizza boxes, deflated balloons, empty cans and party streamers certainly indicates it was a good night last night. 'We are just student's, trying to make our dreams more of a reality.' – Lauren, lead vocals, 21- a certain aspiration many of this age whom aspire to make it big, all start off with a dream. Although does this dream seem possible enough to one day walk in the footsteps of American sensations such as  Blink 182 or Paramore? You’d think not, until you’ve managed to dis-regard the chaotic, jumbled and disorganised mess of a progressing rock band’s city apartment and delve right into the heart and soul of what this bands about. ‘It’s always been about progressing the music we’ve composed. Although composed seems so classical, but we’ve managed to make it entirely ourselves’ and it’s true. Just down the hallway, behind some IKEA flat packed book shelves and decrepit doorways, a incredibly untypical mimic of a major record company recording studio. With the high spirits but ramshackle student starts to WCTP’s inspirations (All Time Low), their own recording studio within the same living amenities seems nothing more than a luxury. If only they had the newbies archetypal advantage; ‘parents garage for band practise only’, they would undoubtedly be living up to the expectations of any emerging rock band. ‘That’s so American, in the UK, we aim for the best. And that’s exactly what we’re aiming for’.

Following the success of their fully sold out acoustic bar shows, the band are surely something of becoming a hit within some of the UK’s more intimate venues. ‘We really want to start getting into bigger venues, like O2 Academy’s at least’ drummer Dan told Volume, after finally emerging from his un-easy night sleep. Considering the band’s exclusive and diverse style, they are surely heading for success, with the abilities to record and produce their own music, it’s only a matter of time before these guy are recognised by a popular independent label.

We managed to hurry the guys into taking us out to see some of the more local sites around London, in which they enjoy socialising together, which they call ‘making music in our heads’.

‘We often come here, with a mission.  To think up those songs’. It’s a derelict castle keep, like one of those you’d seen in an olden day movie, just along the alley from their apartment. You could begin to understand why this place seems so special, the hushed and reserved location for the newest  quiet and secretive band on the block. ‘That’s just it. We are a bit like a secret to the music scene, as nobody in the real world, out there, knows who we are  what we are doing yet. Except those ones we know. We’ve just got real big plans, and such bad thoughts’.

The article above is just a draft of how my article will be structured, but is a basic example which I plan to change when putting my article into my product. I am aware that my article would be too long for a double page spread and stretches more to be of a full length feature instead. I will therefor edit and cut out the important information, quotes and details which will be important for my article. 

Article Research + Planning

From my research, I have found that both Kerrang! and RockSound magazine feature mainly two different types of articles that are published within the magazine. 
One is in a style of an interview - a series of question and answers between the interviewer and interviewee (the band/artists ect..). Sometimes it can features just the lead singer/artists of a band, occasionally some are structured to have replies from all the members instead. 
The questions are usually planned to be a mixture of planned questions, other with spontaneous and improvising to the interviewee's repsonse. The interviewer's parts are written in third person, with the use of 'you' to direct the questions towards the the interviewee's. The band/artists's responses will be in third person, as they are direct responses from them. 
An example of this is below:
                                             Kerrang! Interview - Young Guns

Young Guns popped into the Kerrang! office this week to have a little chat about next week's Kerrang! Tour.

The lads took some time out with this week's work experience Liv Swann for a natter about the upcoming dates.

Check out the interview below!

Kerrang!: Any “rock-star-diva” requests for your rider?

GUS (vocals): “No, because they probably won’t be granted even if we asked for them!”
BEN (drums): “Just any beer and any water.”
GUS: “If I could have my own little safe to keep my own allowance of beers in, ‘coz I don’t drink till after we’ve played, and these guys just drink all the time. It’s slowly becoming my pet hate on tour. I need my own little separate diva allowance, that would be nice.”
SI (bass): “Like a little lunch box.”
GUS: “Yeah, just like a Fisher Price one.”

For a double page spread, articles can range between 6-12 questions, depending on the length of the response. Usually, they are long and explicatory, which keeps the reader interests and hooked. The word count differs between article to article. For and interesting and griping article, the count tends to be a lot longer than 1000 words, where as some quick snappy, 'get to know you' type interviews contain less than 500 words.

The other tends to be a 'personality sketch' followed by with reviewing the artists/bands recent achievement's, a live gig or an album release. Usually these include certain direct quotes from the interviewee in appropriate places, to grab the readers attention and to support the information that the magazine are providing. Similarly, an interview is took place before hand, in order for the journalist to create a review, but the structure and questions are not included. Like an interview, it will be mainly written in third person, referring to the band/artist as 'they' or 'them'.  
An example of an interview from RockSound  and Kerrang! magazine is below: 

World exclusive 30 Seconds To Mars interview!

Tomorrow's Kerrang! magazine features a world exclusive interview with 30 Seconds To Mars. We join the band in the studio as they put the finishing touches to the follow-up to their 2005 breakthrough album, A Beautiful Lie.
30 Seconds To Mars have been working with producer Flood (Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins) at The International Centre For The Advancement Of The Arts And Sciences Of Sound in the Hollywood Hills and, according to frontman Jared Leto, the band have penned a staggering 120 songs for the new release.

"I'd get up and sometimes a song would just come," Leto told K!. "It would just happen. Generally if I sat down at the piano or picked up a guitar, a song would arrive. But every song is different and that's what makes it exciting and that's what makes it interesting. Every song has its own rules - some come quick; you have to beat the living shit out of others. The important thing to know is that the record is nearly finished."
Though a release date has yet to be set for the new album, Leto reveals that he and brother / drummer Shannon and guitarist Tomo Milicevic have distilled the 120 tracks down to just 20.

Leto also went on to reveal what the new album will be called:
"Want to know the working title of the album?" he asked Kerrang!. "Well, I'm going to give it to you. I did this before and I got in trouble and I probably shouldn't tell you this, but the title as it stands is... This Is War!"
For the full interview, be sure to pick up a copy of tomorrow's Kerrang! magazine

Photoshoot Set Up Flat Plans

Photoshoot Set Ups

The image above is a photoshoot flat plan for my photoshoot in the studio. It was set up with a three point lighting set up, with the model positioned in the centre. This would allow the light to reflect and avoid causing a shadow when taking the photo. The camera is then placed directly infront of the model, and will be altered higher or lower between shots. This will add either a high or low angled shot, which will alter the dominance and image I am trying to portrey in the photograph.

Location Recce

Location Recce

 For two of my images, I will be using the studio with a lighting set up. The following images are of the studio, showing it's size, location and possible hazards that it may include. From the images, is it clear that the photography studio is a safe, hazord free working environment in which I can use to take my photos for my magazine. Also by using this location, it allows me to shoot with a white drop background - which I intend to use for the photography on the front cover of my magazine. Moreover, it is possible to use this location.

Hazard Evaluation and Risk Assessment.

The two forms below are my Hazard Evaluation forms my photography location Recce. The first is for the Castle Keep (Newcastle), where I shoot my photoshoot for my double page spread photography. From my evaluation, I found there were only 3 possible hazards which may restrict the profeciency and saftey of my models during this photoshoot. They were; manual handling, costume and make up, weather. From shooting on location, the weather is always a factor that will effect how my photography will end up. Fortunatly, the weather was suitable for how I wanted to represent my genre in my magazine. The costume and make up were also able to be done, at a nearby indoor location, not too far from my shooting location. After shooting, manual handling was no longer an current hazard, as the location was left derlict and there were no props or different equiptment needed.

Model Call Sheets

Model Call Sheets

The below call sheets are for my models I am using for my magazine photography. They include an identity photograph of each model, along with shooting date, shooting information and their role within the photo shoot. It also ensures that they have their model release forms signed so that their permission is granted for me to use them for my photography, which will be published online and printed. 

Model Release Forms

The following forms are my model release forms for the models I am going to photograph for my contents and front cover page. The form contains their consent for me to use their images in production of my magazine and to be published online or in this blog. 

At the top of my model release forms, it provides the magazine name and 'logo' which identifies which magazine and production company the models are signing too.

Font Research

The font below, 'A Bite'  is from http://www.dafont.com/ which I seleted from the 'Eroded' section. I like this font as it looks mysterious, dangerous and represents thet exts in a artistic/graffiteed way, which from my research, fits my genre quite well.

• 'You Are Loved' This font is from www.dafont.com which I selected from the 'Eroded' section. Initially, I like this font as it creates a rocky, distruptive image which I intend to represent in my magazine. 
• 'Hard Rock' is also from dafont, as chosen from the 'Headliner' section. I intend to use this as the mast head of my magazine, as from m y research, buble and block writing is used often - to make an statement and stand out to readers. ]
• 'Dead Kansas' is a font I intend to use for mainly my sell lines or text in my double page spread, as it is bold and clear. Also,it contrasts well with:
• Viper Nora' which I intend to use vise versa to this font. These two fonts are very similar, yet work well together into creating a stereotypical rock genre to my magazine.  

The texts I have chosen are not definate fonts I will use, as during production I aim to experiment further with fonts that work well together, overall conforming to constructing a magazine that fits my rock/pop genre.

Model Costume, Make Up and Props

Costume and Make Up Research

The images above are of three different artists/bands that fall into the same genre of music my magazine is, usually being featured in similar magazines such as the one I am creating. From their costume, it is apparent that brightly coloured print t shirts are appealing and an necessity in photography, which attract the attention of the audience and make the image looking exciting and fresh. Along with this, if there is a female lead singer of the band, she is usually dressed in binary opposition colours, such as black and white or red which contrast with the other members brightly coloured clothing. As I intend to feature a front female lead on my magazine front cover, I will use this technique to reinforce ideologies of a traditional front lead rolls of an independent rock band. 

For my model's make up, I have researched types of make up female lead singers would wear during a photoshoot. From my findings, bright contrasting eye shadow is popular, which reflects a vibrant and young appearance of the model. The image below is an example of this, which shows a green, blue and black colour pallet of eye shadow, which stand out and look alarming to the eye.  For the hair, brightly tones like : red, yellow/blonde, ginger and pink are a popular hair colour choice, which once again reflect a young vibrant image of the featured band and models. Fortunately, I have been able to find 2 female models who fit this pattern, one with red hair and another with yellow/blonde hair. Therefor, I can apply this technique into creating a stereotypical image of my models as an 'rock/independent' band. 

Above is an image showing myself applying make up to my model. I decided to conform to traditional and stereotypical examples of my chosen genre of music, and applied bright and alarming eye make up, which stands out to the audience. Also, another image shows me straitening my models hair, which after my research, showed to be a popular hairstyle for females in this genre.

To the side are some images of my main female model in her costume, which I will use for my double page spread. The outfit conforms to a dark, sullen tone which is a stereotype of this genre of music, along with a purple and black striped top which adds a slight hint of vibrance and colour to the outfit. The short skirt also suggests the models female sexual perogity, which will appeal to a young male audience.

The image above shows the costume I used on my male model, George. From my research, I found that brightly colored printed T Shirts, Chequred shirts, blacks, whites, reds, blues and most block colours were popular, along with black/grey/dark blue skinny jeans, for males. From this, I decided to dress George in a bright colored chequered shirt, with a black top - which acts as an binary opposition with the white in the shirt. Also, these colours fit my colour scheme for my magazine. 

Flat Plans

The following images are the flat plans for my rock/independent music magazine. It is important to create this, as they are the basis of what I intend to produce my finished magazine like. I have created a front page, contents page and a double page spread, which are based upon my own ideas.

• For the mast head, I have decided to use a block bold uppercase font, so it stands out and looks alarming. I am not sure as to what colour it should be, although I do want it to be a part of the black, white and red colour pallet that I am using for my magazine 
•  My sky line will be a black banner with white and red bold writing over the top, using a binary opposition to attract tension to the sky line. From my research, I found that this is a good technique to use into producing recognizable continuity through-out a popular magazine of this music genre, therefor I will aim to imitate this style. 
•  For my main image, I intend to shoot a medium close up shot preferably of either 3 models or 5 models, as from my research I found that many front cover photographs, the positioning bands/models/artists repeatedly follow a pyramid structure, to represent status and dominance within the group.  For my photograph, I intend to use a lead female model, who will be positioned center and further forward than the rest of my models. By doing this, it will challenge gender stereotypes of femininity dominance in rock/pop band, which reinforces the ideologies of this genre. 
• For my banner across my page, I will either use a red or black block banner which will contain information, images and brushes will inform the reader what is in the magazine. I will once again conform to my colour scheme and use either white or red block text on this background, to make it stand out and alarming to readers.
• In order for my magazine to look professional, I will also include a : barcode, price of the magazine, issue number, publishing information and the date of when the magazine is published and valid till. From my research, I found that these are the common features of a front cover page, which I intend to include in my own magazine.

For my contents page, I have seperated the layout into 4 different sections. One is for a featuring landscape image, which I will take myself of my models.This may be altered during my production, as I am unsure of how my photography will turn out or which shots will look best for my contents page. Although, I do intend to defiantly include a main featuring photograph, which will be proportionality bigger than the other images used on my contents page. This will indicate to the readers that this is headlining feature of the magazine.
 Another section is 'readers collums', which includes photographs of regular readers having their input into the magazine. For this, I will use photographs of my models or photographs I have already taken. When designing my magazine, I may choose to alter or remove this column, as from my research, I only found this idea popular in 1 or 2 magazine that fell into this genre. In some magazines like RockSound, this features was later on in the magazine, but was still an important aspect of the magazine, as it allows the reader to feel a part of the magazine.
Below this is a section which includes a montage of images of featuring bands/artists, with appropiate page numbers on the top. This also makes the contents page become more visual, attractive and interesting to the readers eye, and allows new readers to firstly see what images of the type of bands that fall into this genre of music. 

The above is my flat plans for my double page spread. I have decided to split the spread into two sections, over the two pages. On the left, I will use a full page image of the band I am featuring. This allows the readers to 'connect' with the band and to new readers, visually show them a little about the band - who they are, what they look like and a general introduction to them.
On the right, will be my article of the band, which will be structured into 3 columns and have a text quote insertion. I am unsure as to what type of article will be, although I intend to fully interview my artists, which will allow me to either write a question - answer interview, or an structured interview based on the questions asked. 
To make my magazine conform to a professional structure , I will include page numbers, the name of the photographer and model names, the name of the magazine, which are features included in most magazines on a double page spread.