Preliminary Task Analysis

We have currently been focusing on a premlim task, of creating a magazine cover for Acland Burghley. Firstly, we created a sketch of what we wanted our front cover and contents pages to look like, and tried to bring this to life on photoshop. We tried out different fonts and special effects, learning how to use all the different tools on the programme, and experimenting with what looked better. 

For my front cover, I decided to use:

•  A mid-shot of a pupil revising, sitting on the sofa in the il@b, with there eyes focused directly on the book, which suggests they are a hard working student. I chose to do a mid-shot as you are able to see their surrounding and the prop. This relates to students as they will have to revise throughout their time in education, meaning it may lure them in to reading it.

Secondly, we created the contents page. I used three different pictures which showed different aspects of the school.

• An image of two pupils laughing whilst socialising in the common room
• A pupil working hard revising
• A pupil standing by the art in the school entrance, highlighting they are a specialist Arts school.

I created the contents page on a programme called 'Pages' rather than 'Photoshop', which focuses more on the layout of a page rather than the editing of images and text. 

In my Preliminary task I overcome many difficulties, and although I believe it was a successful student magazine, there are many features which could have been improved. 

My school magazine overall with the front cover and contents page contained 4 images all relating to student life and all the different aspects of it. In my plan, I decided I wanted the front cover to be a mid - shot of  pupils socialising in the common room and a mid - shot of a student revising in the library. However, I then realised it would be difficult to make the magazine look presentable with two pictures, and it would be more effective to have one picture giving across a message; the revising picture seeming to be most important. However, I decided to use the picture of the two pupils socialising in the common room on the contents page along with my other two chosen images as stated above. 

The name of my Masthead 'Burghley Newz' I chose as it appeals to my target audience. Firstly, it is clear that it is aimed at students attending Acland Burghley, and I chose to use slang to attract my readers. 'Newz' which should be spelt 'News' depicts that it is aimed at teenagers who are commonly linked with slang terms. The font I chose was a curly font; which looked elegant; attracting more the female audience.I used the colour red so it was a colour not specifically related to one gender. However, to make this magazine not limited to girls, I made some decisions with colours and other fonts.

I chose the slogan 'BE IN THE KNOW!' as it implies that if you buy this magazine, you will never be left in the dark, as it tells you everything you need to know. Also, as my Masthead was in an elegant, curly font, I decided to make the magazine more appealing to boys to do this slogan in bold, strong writing. This made it stand out on the page, and as I used the colour blue against a white background, it highlighted this piece of text even more. 

The Prelim Task Finished

This is the Front cover of my school magazine (Preliminary Task) finished.

This is the Contents page of my school magazine (Preliminary Task) finished.

Content Analysis and Target Audience

During my Media Lessons, we have been analysing a range of different magazines, including: NME and Top of the Pops. These two magazines have a massive fan base, and are extremely popular. They both target a different audience and genre. Doing this involved us doing a deep analysis of the front covers, looking at why certain codes/conventions have been used.

                                                             NME Magazine

NME (The New Music Press) is a weekly magazine associated with the genres Indie rock/alternative. The magazine is full of advertisements which depict the target audience; V Festival review, guide to the worlds greatest rock festivals and interview with a member of the Rock band; The Killers, festival tickets and various others. Also, the lure on the front cover: 'i'm having a personality crisis right now' for the interview is followed with three pictures which appear to be torn between each other, reinforcing the idea that he feels as if his personality has been split. 

Top of the Pops Magazine

Top of the Pops is a monthly magazine which focuses on the genre of Mainstream Pop. This magazine differs from NME in various ways. Firstly, the amount of advertisements throughout the magazine were less, and included different things such as: Tampax, Always, Make-up, fashion accessories and phone ringtones. These limit the target audience, stating they are aiming to appeal more to girls. 

Image Analysis

Looking at the magazine cover of NME, we was asked to analysis the main image in detail.

The image shows a band called: 'The XXX'. They are wearing all black and take up most of the cover. As they are wearing such a dark colour, it draws the readers attention directly to them.

I believe the purpose of the image is to attract the reader to the magazine; also advertising the band. This is effective as it is bold on the page, and with the colours used it makes all eyes fall on to the band, rather than around the page.

Size - A4
Type of shot (LS etc.) - Medium shot
Angle - Eye line 
Setting - Grey background (possibly a studio?)
Framing - All in the centre of the image
Colour - Black
Lighting - Back light
Pose - Straight faces, arms by sides 
Composition - Medium shot, three people, grey background
Subject matter, including people - The XXX

Research in Music Magazine Covers.

            Rolling Stones magazine ‘Taylor Swift’ cover

           

• The purpose is to attract readers that enjoy Taylor Swift’s music.
• Her lightly applied makeup and natural wavy hair support the subtitle under her name: ‘Secrets of a good girl’, as it protests her innocence. 
• As she is holding a guitar and her hair looks slightly as if its blowing in the wind, it emphasis’ the style of music Taylor Swift sings, which is country. 
• The camera is at eye line level, and with her giving direct eye contact to the camera, it makes you look directly at her face. 
• The colours used are brown and grey shades, which again supports the style of music she sings, as they are very outdoor colours. 
• Even though she is shown as innocent, she is also showing a very lustful gaze. 
• Lighting - seems to be as if there is a spotlight shown, focusing on the centre of her face, as you can see slight shadows around her cheeks. 
• As it states ‘secrets of a good girl’ this lures the audience in to reading the rest of the magazine, wanting to know more. 
• Little flesh is shown, again keeping her ‘good girl’ image. 

Research on Magazines

For my Music Magazine, I chosen to use the genre of Pop. I have researched various Pop magazines, looking at the different features, colours, lures etc.

These are two examples of the front covers of Top of the Pops magazine, which is extremely popular with young teenage girls and published monthly. It uses cover lines such as: 'In bed with JLS find out why they want a cuddle from you', which instantly shows who the magazine is aimed at as they are a teenage girls heartthrob, with the majority of their fans being of this gender. This will make them want to buy the magazine, as it appeals to them personally. It also uses lures; 'Justin Exclusive! BAD BOY! "No parents, no rules!"', which also targets girls, as likewise to JLS he is a teenage heartthrob, who teenage girls want to know everything about, therefore this will persuade them to read on.

Also, using cover lines such as: 'Justin's Body Hang- Ups!', makes the readers appeal to the magazine more, as you wouldn't think the teenage 'God' Justin Bieber would have any body worries, making them relate back to themselves as most teenage girls have this exact problem.

Top of the Pops contains pages on: Celebrity gossip, chart information, beauty and fashion tips. These are also reinforce who the magazine is aimed at; teenage girls. No pages are directly focused on grabbing the attention of boys. Furthermore, the layout of the magazine is the same every month meaning it is made easy for the readers to find everything as they become familiar with it.

I also looked at another magazine similar to Top of the Pops; Mizz. Mizz is at magazine yet again aimed at teenage girls; usually between the ages of 11 - 14. It comes out every fortnight usually with a freebie. It incorporates pages of fashion, gossip and encourages people to write in about real life events. Also, it talks about how to deal with real life issues such as: puberty and hygiene.

Likewise to Top of the Pops, Mizz uses celebrities on the front cover to capture the readers attention, persuading them to purchase the magazine. For instance; on the cover above Alesha is uses with the cover line: 'Alesha sorts out your problems!'. This makes the reader think maybe she could sort out their problems, making them read on.

Secondly, Mizz uses freebies: 'FREE FANTASTIC GIFT'. As it says FREE, this grabs peoples attention making them want to buy the magazine more in order to get the freebie. These freebies are also often beauty products; relating to the target audience of teenage girls.

However, in the magazine I am going to be creating, I want to create a different type of Pop magazine for more of a wider audience. I'm still going to include some of the articles and popular artists, but make it more classier and aimed at boys as well as girls. Also, I'm going to include listings of clubs and Pop events, which mean it will also be suitable for adults. 

Masthead Research