Articles of metal magazines.

In order to fulfil assessment objective AO4, I have demonstrated the ability to undertake and apply appropriate research.



This is an article from the magazine Terrorizer. It is only a single page one however. The one I will be doing will be a double page spread.

Mine is below:



As you can see, mine is very poor compared so the overall article has to be detailed enough as the one above (Terrorizer) which I will be using as a style model I think.

Production schedule.

Fonts.

Mal de Ojo - dafont.com
Golden 0 Pony
this is the font for my contents page titles.

Drafts of two different music mags.

In order to fulfil assessment objective AO3, I have demonstrated the ability to plan and construct media products using the technical and creative skills.



This is a draft cover of a hip-hop/r'n'b magazine. Below is "The Source" magazine.



After looking at several different magazines, this cover seemed easy to do. I used "The Source" as a house style to replicate one I designed.

I thought that this magazine wasn't interesting as the metal magazine, and as you can see I put a lot more effort into it than the hip hop one.



I read metal magazines myself so I knew that the generic elements had to be spot on and I think it's an alright job to say it's only a rough draft.



This is Metal Hammer which I read myself, and although mine isn't perfect compared, it shares the same demographic principle.

Front covers of metal magazines.

In order to fulfil assessment objective AO4, I have demonstrated the ability to undertake and apply appropriate research.



This is the front cover of a metal magazine called Terrorizer.



This is the front cover of a metal magazine called Metal Hammer.

As you can see, they both have the same demographic principle. The house style is the same as the fonts are similar and the pugs too. The sell lines are similar in that they are hard hitting and scream out "Pick us up!".

Poor attempt of front cover.

In order to fulfil assessment objective AO3 I have demonstrated the ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills.



This was done in word very quickly to demonstrate what my front cover will BASICALLY look like.

Feedback from other students.

In order to fulfil assessment objective AO4, I will demonstrate the ability to undertake and apply appropriate research.

I didn't get many posts about the magazine but people have decided to pick a metal magazine as the best decision. The odd thing was that the two people who commented are both into metal. I guess it was a stereotypical decision that they picked the metal magazine because essentially they are subjected to metal music as a choice. If I'd asked other students, for instance who were into rap or indie music, then their decision would more than likely be either rap or indie music. Therefore, I'm sticking with the metal magazine as an idea. :)

Appendix 5 - ideas for a magazine?

In order to fulfil assessment objective AO3, which is the ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills.

I have three ideas for a music magazine, the first idea is a metal magazine. It will be called "Nailstorm" because it's quite harsh and sounds gritty. The target audience will be a mainstream audience, but specifically a demographic audience of someone who likes heavy music. If this magazine was my choice, it would be a conglomerate one as there would be a website, along with a radio station. The age of the target audience will be around 16-24, I may raise the age slightly to 16-34 because I will be using really sophisticated language throughout the magazine. The gender will be specifically male but female readers are welcome. The sub genre of the magazine will be death metal, or maybe more than one such as thrash and heavy metal. The main idea for my front cover is to take an individual shot with Jonny (band member I will be taking an image of if I go through with this idea) stood infront of a black background. I have figured out how to arrange the lighting to make it really effective. The subject will be positioned in the middle and I will be using three point lighting including key light, back light and fill light. The main article will be an individual interview with the frontman Jonny (I am going to look at some interviews online and compare them then produce my own) and the contents page will be generic in the sense that they will have an alphabetical list of the bands that are in the magazine and any reviews. It will also have a subscription on it to make it look as stereotypical as possible.

The second idea for a music magazine is a drum and bass magazine. I will call it "Ghetto" as there are connotations of a black audience when we think of the word "Ghetto". The target audience will be aged 16-24. It will be a niche magazine and gender specifically male. There will be a radio station, but because it will be underground it won't have many listeners. The sub-genre will be dub-step. Dub-step is a very odd drum and bass mixed with elements of ambience etc. The idea for the main cover will be someone who likes the music, who dresses in the way to represent their taste such as a parka, Timberlands, heavy jewellery, NY caps and etc. The article for the double page spread would be an article about the whole scene of dub-step and how it's risen with an image of someone who's high up in the ranks of 'dub-step'. Contents page will be generic as well in the sense there will be page numbers of different articles and etc.

The third idea for a magazine will be Strummer, which will be an indie magazine. Strummer has connotations of a guitar, and most indie bands have guitarists, if not every band! The target audience will be 25-34 and it will be a mainstream magazine with a website and radio station. The gender will apply to both sexes. The main cover would be someone dressed in a suit looking smart holding a guitar. This would represent the fresh style and sophistication. The article would be the best 100 bands of this year (with images). Contents page would replicate Q quite a lot, it would be laid out very concise and simple.

Please vote and choose one because I think the metal magazine will be better to do for me because it'll be easier and I'll know more on the subject.

Thanks.

IPC and Bauer research.

In order to fulfil Assessment Objectives 3, I carried out research on IPC and Bauer to extend my knowledge on media companies and their average net circulations.




Looking at Bauer as a dominating company, it is redeemable to say that they have control over the UK's main advertising market. It is a German multinational cross media company and it is also independent. It has a different range of magazines, including home style and music magazines which will be my main focus. There are several different types of magazines they produce in the music category and these are: Empire, Kerrang, Mojo and Q. These are all very well known music magazines and with the help from Bauer advertising, magazines are able to meet their demographic audience in the form of an "imaginary entity" as Ien Ang suggests. The typical audience for these magazines are between ages of 16-24 and possibly 25-34 (such as Q magazine which is sophisticated with regards to age compared to Kerrang). The demographic audience for these magazines are specifically younger audiences, and with the help of the mass of the readership, including the consumers, Bauer and other companies can charge more for advertising because it is impeccable that they will be present due to the fact that all magazines are funded mainly from the advertising and in essence, an album review and artist review is essentially an advertisement because they are promoting them in order to attract the customers to buy and for them to pass the magazine on to other friends and people who are likely to read it - this is known as readership.

“Bauer Verlagsgruppe is managed by four generations of the Bauer family. The Bauer Publishing Group has grown into a worldwide publishing company. The Bauer Publishing Group comprises 238 magazines worldwide in 15 countries, as well as TV and radio stations.”
Resource taken from Wikipedia.org – Bauer Media Company

The main music magazine that is published in the UK by Bauer is Q, Q was first published in 1986. I will now briefly discuss the history of Q, and its success. Accordingly, the magazine Q was to be named “cue” as in after the act of cueing a record to play but the name was changed so that it wouldn’t be mistaken for a snooker magazine. Q also is an usual letter and is the most intriguing of the alphabet so as consumers we may tend to be attracted to Q, through the letter itself and the graphological elements of the logo.

As you can see from the image, the colours red and white have connotations of anger, purity and this contrast is used to draw the demographic and readership through the stereotypical use of colours and the font. It also uses a backdrop shadow on the letter Q, so that it stands out on the red on the logo itself. Q is mainly an indie rock magazine but with new talent such as Lady GaGa, they are reaping even more new members of their demographic audience because more and more people are becoming to like different styles of music. Q’s target audience is around 16-34 and is a mainstream audience. Their audience would more than likely be male however there are female readers who will buy Q.

Q is the biggest selling monthly magazine that belongs to Bauer. It features massively famous stars, including bands which would appeal to an older aged group. Q uses synergy to sell through areas such as the music channel, radio station and website. It even has its own awards! They make a great deal of money through advertising through companies such as amazon.co.uk and play.com.

The magazine costs £3.90 which is quite pricey but because Q is mainstream, audiences will buy the media product. They may even lose out on circulation costs because I have even myself bought it and given it away free for other people to read. This may ultimately mean however that there are potential Q customers. The total average net circulation per issue in the UK alone is around 80,000. This proves that Q is a very successful music magazine that England likes to purchase.

Kerrang:

Kerrang is mainly a rock magazine, writing about bands such as Iron Maiden and Metallica. The name Kerrang! Is a connotation of a cymbal on a drum kit. This is referred to as onomatopoeia. This is used because it makes the magazine sound more interesting and appealing. It was first published June 6, 1981. Kerrang started with a niche audience, but are now more prominent with a wider ranging audience of ages 16-24. This is because not many people were interested in the music, but it now features different styles including rock-rap. It only costs £2.20 to buy and Kerrang also works through synergy. There is a radio, website and music channel. Kerrang have a very clever system that is called “fly text” this is where Kerrang sends text messages to the subscribers/fans telling them when and where their favourite bands are playing. The total average net circulation per issue in the UK is around 50,000. These figures display that Kerrang is a successful magazine despite its audience being one demographic entity.

IPC Media

IPC Media is a UK based magazine publisher company. They are very popular, with around 26 million adults reading an IPC produced magazine. It produces magazine genres such as Hair, Music, Gossip, sport and many more. IPC also hold digital properties, such as internet websites matching the magazines, so people can read about their magazines online. This process is named synergy, as it advertises both its magazines and its websites. IPC Media is part of a conglomerate, as it is owned by Time Inc, part of Time Warner Inc. the IPC business is split into five different sections: IPC connect, IPC inspire, IPC ignite, IPC Southbank and IPC TX. IPC employs around 2,200 people using their qualities to help expand the business.

NME

NME is one of the biggest, most popular selling music magazines today. It is a music magazine which is mainstream but has elements of indie music compared to other genres. It is only £2.20 to buy and its demographic audience is aged 16-24, possibly younger. This is because usually, younger adults or teens are more into contemporary music compared to older audiences so younger people are more inclined to buy the media product. Because it’s rather cheap too, there really is no competition for a similar based media product. The magazine has a weekly circulation figure of 74,000 people which is evidence of their success. The weekly readership for NME is around 400,000 which again is evidence of their success. They also use the synergy process such as their website which advertise both the magazine and website.

Bibliography:
Wikipedia.org - Bauer Media Company

Photoshop tutorial - CamStudio.

In order to fulfil to assessment AO3, I had to demonstrate the ability to plan and construct media products using my technical and creative skills.

Video recording of college magazine.

In order to fulfil assessment objective AO2 and AO4, I applied knowledge and understanding to show how meanings are created when analysing media products and evaluating their practical work; and I demonstrated the ability to undertake and apply appropriate research.

Glossary terms for a magazine.

In order to fulfil assessment objective AO2, AO3 and AO4 I have met all of the objectives as I will demonstrating the ability to construct my media product through the knowledge of these key words. I will also be applying knowledge and understanding to show how meanings are created, (e.g. through the masthead which will have connotations of the magazine itself) and demonstrating the ability to undertake and apply the appropriate research.

Masthead – The name and logo of the magazine.
The Lead – the introductory paragraph of an article. Usually written in bold or capitals.
Body copy refers to the text of your written articles, which should be produced as a printed presentation to accepted industry standards, e.g. correct use of language, font size, word limits etc. Usually written in columns.
Serif font – fonts like Times New Roman, or Baskerville Old Face, which have little bars (serifs) on the end of the letters.
Sans serif font – fonts like Impact, or Agency FB, which do not have little bars (serifs) on the end of the letters.
Drop Capitals – Really big letter, which start off an article.
Cross Head – Small sub-heading used to split up a large block of text.
White Space – white parts of a page other than text or pictures.
Mode Of Address – How the magazine talks to the audience.
Sell Lines – Text on the cover that helps to sell the magazine to the audience. Kerrang!’s sell line is “life is loud”.
Banners – text, which stands out because its on a coloured background.
House Style – a magazines distinctive design that distinguishes it from its competitors.
Borders – the gaps at the edges of the page.
Gutters – the gaps between the columns of text.
Leading - the space between lines of text.
Kerning - the space between letters.
Strap Lines – a smaller headline, printed above the main headline.
By-lines - name of the person who wrote the article. Picture Credits - where did the photos come from, or who took them.
Anchorage – The way in which text helps to pin down the meaning of a picture and visa versa.

Medium close up shot.

In order to fulfil assessment objective AO4, I have displayed the ability to undertake and apply appropriate research.

Below is a typical medium close up shot. I didn't use this within my contents page or front cover but it was taken to demonstrate my knowledge of a medium close up shot.