7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

For the preliminary task, I used Microsoft Word to produce my magazine, as Publisher wasn’t available to me at home. I found Publisher was much easier to use as the text boxes moved easily and photos were applied quickly and able to be changed edited to some extent, which Word didn’t allow., as well as changing 'order' of the pages and different publications. I was able to include more content on a page and the variety of tools and options meant it was much quicker than getting frustrate at Word for not placing a photo in the correct place.

I have further developed my digital photography and the images produced in this magazine are to a much higher quality to those in the prelim mag. I made sure to include a variety of shots and distances and varying the costumes and setting to make it appropriate and interesting. For this task I realised I need to take more photos and to do multiple photoshoots allowing for a greater variety in photos and their content and style, giving me more choice when putting the magazine together. I had two different models, allowing each shoot to showcase their personality and the location and costumes also had an effect on this. For the preliminary task, I took one big shoot and then smaller, random photos to add in. With the current task, I took almost all the photographs in one space of time.

For the prelim task, I used PhotoShop to edit my photos but wasn’t very adventurous as I wasn’t very experienced with that programme. For this task, however, I used Paint.NET which I have been using for a while and this meant I could do more as I was more confident on it. My skills in this area have developed quite a bit as I discovered how to blur the background and make the figure stand out more. I used the lasoo tool to cut around the figures and then copy and pasted these cut outs onto a new layer (above the first). I then returned to the background layer and used gassian blur to make the background out of focus. I am more experienced with altering the levels now, as well, and used this feature more than I had in the preliminary task.

In this task, I have used Dafont.com a lot for new and interesting fonts as I felt the ones that came with publisher weren’t as artistic or interesting to be the masthead for a music magazine. I used much more fonts in this task than the last, though maybe too many at some points, but this has made the magazine look unique and less WordArt-like.

As I was creating a school magazine in the preliminary task, there were few magazines I could look at for convnetions and styles but wiht the music magazines, there are loads to choose from and compare. This means that I had to do more research into the different genres and used the websites much more to find information about the music magazines. This also meant that there is a wider audience for our magazines to appeal to, and therefore I was able to norrow down my target audience to be more specific than 'School kids ages 13-18'.

Overall, I feel my music magazine has a proffessional finish, compared to my school magazine and that overall it is a lot more niche and effective in targeting the audience.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In the process of creating this magazine, I have constantly been using different and new technologies, such as publisher, paint.NET, the internet and digital cameras.

Internet:
When researching I found a few new magazines that I wasn’t familiar with and it was interesting to look at their websites and compare them to their magazines. I also looked for a lot of covers online to find conventions and dafont was very useful for collecting different fonts. I found that you could get barcodes as well as other symbols and interesting fonts on dafont and really took advantage of this site to make my magazine unique.

Photography and Editing:
When taking the photos for my magazine with my digital camera, I tried out the different settings, using the portrait feature to focus on the face as well as suppressing the flash so a natural look could be created. I used the grid for the rule of thirds so it was easier to compose the shot and frame my shots better.





When editing my photos, I learnt that you could blur out the background if you cut around the figure and paste a copy into a new layer and then apply a blur to the original layer. To smooth the lines I used the rubber to get close to the figure and make it less messy. There were also different ways of saving the photos. By saving them in BMP (the better quality) you couldn't upload them onto the blog or other areas of the internet. However, by saving them as a JPEG or GIF, you are able to upload on the internet, but the quality is reduced.

Publisher:
I hadn't used publisher much before this task so wasn't very familiar with it. I found it quite easy placing the images on the page and learnt how to make wordart look less like wordart but more like a font on a magazine. I learnt how to use the tool that makes your images transparent, and as I was overlapping my images over the side, this was useful in seeing where the outline was. It was useful to creating more pages to track the process of creating the magazine.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

The front cover uses soft colours that are calm and contrast with the low angle photo that shows superiority. These softer colours may attract a more female audience or the older portion of the audience and the sophisticated black and sleek look on the contents page would also attract this proportion of my audience. However, the proud stance, creating a powerful and superior character and general headlines of the magazine would attract a younger audience, as they are to do with younger music and independent artists starting out. It is also quite a cluttered and the flashes of bright colour suggest youth, as their personalities are full of life and business.

The contents page uses primarily blacks and blues creating a sophisticated look. The whitetext stands out, though this 'white text on black background' is harder to read, but creates an asthetically pleasing look that is streamlined and effective in presenting the contents of the magazine. The photo is stiking but the fonts are quite unqiue and 1920s(?), attracting an audience with a keen eye for detail.

The double page spread, however, attracts a younger audience due to the content and it being about a young artist.The colours are quite plain and the layout quite simple, making it easy for readers to read. It is written in an editorial style and as it takes place as almost a story over a few days and this style was used to grip the attention of the audience so they will finish the article. Pull quotes were used to grab the attention of readers if they were flicking through and hopefully they intrigue the reader about the music artist in the article.

The text uses a chatty and colloquial tone ''hiding away', 'surfacing for air', 'what's hot, what's not!' and 'fight to the top', using rhetorical questions and answers and metaphors, giving the magazine a more relaxed feel and as if it were speaking to the readers on their own terms. The magazine links to folk and lounge music through the coverlines 'folk blokes and lounge gals' and through the double page spread of the folk/indie artists, thus attracting listeners of this musical genre and includes the names of popular musicians to those who watch the charts and want to read about their favourite artists. The plug, 'Free Cd inside', is aimed at those who are always looking for that giveaway or free items, whatever it may be (as I know I do) but also students who look out for offers and deals, and this is at the top of the page, so easy to see after reading the masthead.

Though the magazines such as Q, NME or Kerrag attract a young audience, I didn't want to use the same genre, as a lot of this is seen in the industry at the moment and I wanted to create something for the other young magazine readers who don't want to read these. I really like Mojo, Classic Rock and Q, however, my magazine would be for a younger audience as this is an audience that is easier to write for, as I would be part of it. I produced a magazine that could be seen alongside Mojo, but for the readers who haven't yet moved on to it. It turned out more classic and neatural than I had expected, but I really like this effect and how it is different to other titles on the shelf today.

4.Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my magazine is for music listeners or musicians ages 14 to late 20s. It is targeted towards independent artists who are starting out in the industry or fans who are interested in experimental or new alternative/rock music. The genre of the magazine is folk/indie and is quite similar to the style of Mojo but would attract a younger audience than that magazine. As it would be sold online and in select stores for only £2.50 it would probably be bought by students and Myspace users. As the look isn't as sophisticated as music magazines such as Mojo or Classic Rock, it would attract a younger audience.

Although this is only one edition, the front cover would suggest that males would be more likely to buy this magazine, as it is shown with a rock genre, but the content of folk/indie music and female artists suggests that a female audience is more likely, though this issue with a strong male image, may attract the male audience. By including a variety of artists, some that have been around for a while (Sarah Slean), may attracting older readers, whilst including more recent music (Imogen Heap, recently in charts) with have a wider audience.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

There are two possible routes to marketing my magazine.

As my magazine attracts and features independent artists, an independent music/magazine company might distribute this magazine. It would be distributed from select newsagents and stores but mainly sold online where most of the audience would be (ie myspace). The magazine would have its own website where it would sell and publicise the magazine and as it deals with artists who come from an interent background (myspace, their own websites, browse the web a lot), it could include much more than just writing, videos and audio clips.

However, if a known pulisher were to house this magazine, as part of the magazine is stable, it may be Bauer Media. This title would compliment the existing titles (such as Mojo) and build market shafe. Edge readers would be younger and then may move onto Mojo. This magazine would attract a whole new group of people and would gain profits from online and in store.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Readers:

The magazine represents part of the readers, as they buy the magazine as an act of themselves. My product represents an audience who seem very independent and are trying to make their own future as well as those who enjoy knowing about the alternative artists who aren’t always on the charts. The photos used in my mag are quite powerful and the stand shows a very independent nature, reflecting the readers who are independent artists or who like that music. The readers may be musicians themselves or just enjoy that music but they are being represented in a way that shows they are inquisitive, artistic and enjoy music.

The musicians:
I have chosen to represent the softer side of music (Sarah Slean, Imogen Heap), rather than the taboo heavy metal or rock style that magazine such as NME, Kerrang or Metal Hammer have represented. Ideally, I would have represented a slightly older social group in the folk/indie music industry, however due to the age of the models, it changed from being 20s to teenage. The models have worn quite normal clothing that they are comfortable in, creatinga relaxed mood and allows them to be themselves. Jack's hoodie and the way he is standing in the front cover suggests strength yet youth and the contents page and Double Page Spread shows the model looking quite inoccent but confident in her expression.

In the article, I was almost telling a story about Elosie and her past and her present. I have written her character to be confident and relaxed and really down to earth. It represents some artists positively as other artists can become really big headed, and represents a group of people who aren't as popular but are equally talented. I have represented females by using the soft colours, the feminine fonts and descriptive writing in the article.

I feel I have successfully represented the calm and relaxing elements of music that these people produce, however as the name suggest, represent them with an 'edge' and shows that they aren't boring, but have what it takes to get you to listen to them.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For this piece of coursework, I chose to create a music magazine as this would allow me to develop my photography and able to show my English skills through the article. My magazine is of an alternative/rock genre that has been inspired by magazines such as Q, Classic Rock, Uncut and Mojo, which are successful magazines in the industry.

These magazines tended to have a house style that could be seen over every issue and creates reader familiarity. As I was only creating one issue of my magazine, this was harder to create so I tried to keep a similar look and style over the pages to make it seem as if it were from the same magazine.

Front Cover:

A typical from cover consists of a masthead, selling line, issue number/date, price, website, coverlines, main coverline, main image and extra plugs or puffs and well as structural features eg banners.

The masthead that I used it quite typical as it is a similar size as the mastheads on Mojo, Uncut and Classic Rock, however, theirs tends to be that of normal writing whilst mine has a background (grid). It is positioned in the top centre of the page, however an extra part has been added on, making it off centre (the extra 'The' vertically). This extra part of the name isn't very conventional as it is positioned in a different direction to the rest of the writing on the page, however, it fills the gap well and creates an extra piece at the top to make it more unique.

To start I didn't have boxes with the coverlines in, I just had the fonts against the background, however after looking at Mojo's cover, the boxes made it easier to read and tidier. I also started with a few too many fonts; not a convention of magazines who usually have around 4, so cut them down so it was less messy and cluttered and there wasn't too much going on.

I have included the typical issue number/date and price and website address and didn't challenge these conventions as readers assume this information will be in a similar place on most magazine and want it easy to find and read. The slogan that I have used it 'bringing you all the new music, with an edge' including the title in it, but this may be a bit lengthier than slogans in that of Mojo (The Music Magazine). I have conventionally used the plug 'Free CD Inside!' in the top right hand corner, as this is seen on many music magazine that are trying to get the audience to buy them.

The photo used on the cover is a mid-long low angle shot of Jack, who is playikng the part of 'The Pow', who are the main coverline in this issue. I chose his to play this part as he likes rock music and his image seemed to fit the part. He was able to pose as if he were a new musician and was really enthusiastic, his expression were also priceless and gave the feeling of confidence and superiority which I really liked. These long shots are less conventional (medium close ups are more likely) but I liked the power created here. The low angle makes Jack seem powerful, as if looking down on the camera and his stance takes up the whole frame, the guitar not making it fully into the shot. This long shot allowed so much more text could be added without it looking too busy and cluttered. The main cover line 'THE POW: HIS FIGHT TO THE TOP' is across the middle of the page, drawing attention to itself straight away as well as it being a different colour to the rest of the text. Magazines generally use a different colour to add a little more effect to the cover and make certain things stand out more with a pop of colour that contrasts with the rest of the page.

The coverlines use colloquial language 'gals', 'blokes', commonly featured on magazines for younger audiences. Rhyming is also feature 'chill picks' and small attempts at catchy headings is present, though perhaps don't work as well.

Contents page:

The contents page uses one strong photo of Abs. I chose her to photograph as she is really natural in personality and can pull off the serious, yet elegant exppression that I wanted to portray. When holding the guitar she seemed quite folk, so I have to change her genre slightly, but the effect was still great. This image sets the page which is quite conventional in magazines such as Mojo and Classic Rock, but unconventional compared other magazines such as Q or Uncut, where they use a selection of images on one page. I limited the fonts to 3 as it looked too busy otherwise and used the 'regulars' and 'features' element as a convention of magazine. My contents page does show a house style in comparison to the front cover, but the style of the images and the use of the 1920s font are continuous throughout the magazine.

Double page spread:

Double page spreads are typically interviews, reviews or editorial style articles (the latter which I chose to do). Mojo and Uncut tend to use one strong image to set the page, using a relevant font and complimentng colours to finish the page with text. Others use more of a collage of images that have been collected and present in a corner or across the page. Pull quote are usually present on the page as they break up the text and provide that little bit of reading for those who don't want to read the entire article. The title is usually on the first page and the image on the other.

My double page spread uses pull quotes to break up the text 'Music is all about the sound and community...' which I have presented in a different colour to add that pop that the page needed to prevent it from being too dull. They were originally placed in the corners of the pages, but this looked unnatural so I moved the further down.

I have used one strong image on the opposite page to the title to frame my text around. It is a long shot but have also used close-up shots as a selection in the corner of the first page as more than one image is usually viewn on one double page. I haven't included a caption with either of the images (the main one and the selection of smaller ones) as it should be clear that they are from the interview and general photoshoot, like most image in magazines, unless it is of a live gig, for example. I used conventional columns, however, the text could have been leveled off on each side to look tidier. The font type for the text is simple and easy to read, whilst the title font is cursive handwriting and more difficulat to read, but of an artistic style.

Most editorial and interview pages have an introduction that includes the name of the writer and the artist and what is going to happen in the interview or article. I didn't use my own name though, nor did I use the artists name, as it was in the title, but I made it clear that it was her who I was talking about. It wasn't neccessary for my nameto be included either as it was written from my view and felt quite personal, even without names.

My double page spread and article were inspired by Mojo's Corrine Bailey Rae article which I found was really effective and interesting to look and and read through. Compared to that article, mine follows to general conventions though may be slightly formal in structure.

Audience Feedback

As my magazine is aimed at an audience aged between teens to early adults, I asked around the sixth form for people's views and critisisms on my magazine. Some provided a good amount of detail about it and gave me some points to think about whilst others provided more general comments, though still useful.

1. Really good images and front page, looks really good! Maybe change the background for the final two pages, it’s a bit plain.

2. Really, really great magazine – good for all genres. The language of the interview is really good and natural sounding. Good artists close-ups.

3. Eye-catching title. Looks like a real magazine, nice and aesthetically pleasing layout. Font is hard to read in places.

4. “Free CD” hard to read, professional, too much writing on double page, could do with bigger pictures. I like the title.

5. Very good professional images, some writing hard to read, would expect writing to be ‘neater’ (structure) – The paragraphs to be straight at the sides, not varying in length.


6. Really nice writing, especially on the double page. DON’T like the ‘THE’ on the front page- makes it look off. Red pull quote (double page) is really interesting and stands out. Writing looks professional- maybe for main article you could change it to make it edgier/funkier. The pictures are really good/professional- lots of different angles and the photo montage on double page looks really effective as the pictures go well together and you’ve also places them together really well too (this could be bigger though, it looks a tad small). The coverlines are really good but you could make them snappier- use rhetorical questions etc. The writing on contents page is a bit boring but page numbers and contents title look good- 1920s – could have kept them theme throughout. Front page is great, very effective. Great colour scheme. Isn’t really a house style, but photos are a similar style and it looks ok without being very obvious.

7. Good, consistent style all the way through. The ‘Free CD Inside’ could stand out more, but overall great!

8. Genre: Folk? Alternative/rock? I like the logo ‘The Edge’ and the fonts that are used as well as the tagline at the top. I like the clear crisp image of Jack and there is a good amount of info on the cover. Some parts seem squished- maybe it isn’t long enough? Font colour looks good as it matches his jumper and logo. It is nice and spaced out.
Contents is clear and writing is easy to read (good font) Clear, distinct picture and it’s good that you have the logo inside as well. Maybe need a bit of text jargon at the bottom? Eg copyright and fine print.
DPS: Good font! Good that you have pulled out quotes. Nice background for easy to read text. Good pictures. Font easy to read. Different colours are good.

Audience Feedback- In progress

What do you like /what could be improved?

Title:

• Love the title and name- really interesting and makes you think of the sort of soul singer.

Colour scheme:

• Suits/matches clothing- could use more shades of blue- 3 colours.
• Good and mellow, I like it.
• Looks good, I like the wall backgrounds.
• Grey is a bit boring- more colour!

Language:

• Like the 'Eloise Smith' name- very hippy sounding and suits the music.
• Agree- nice name.

Fonts:

• Brill.
• Good, maybe some more but I like the ones you've got.

Images:

• Like the birds eye shot of Abs.
• Like the close up of hand on guitar.
• Like the shot of Abs with guitar looking up.
• Abs looks lovely- nice shots.
  

The Creation - Front Cover

I made a few different designs, using different images and fonts to play with the layout and themes. Some really didn't work and as I couldn't reuse images, I had to take more photos and used them as the front cover images.

Draft 1:

I felt this was a really interesting image as the angle was different, it was quite a personal close up and eye contact is included. However, when adding the text, it seemed like a musicians magazines, for articles of how to play instruments or generally just too classical. I left this idea behind and tried different images.

Draft 2:

I also found this image interesting as it was quite unique due to the instrument obscuring part of the face. I felt this could link to Eloise hinding away in her computer, however, I just didn't feel the image was strong enough and looked quite peculiar against the other pages in progress. I decided to move on to the newer photos that I had taken with a front cover image in mind.

Draft 3:

I really liked this photo as it really shows power, and a rock genre well. It is a low angle shot and quite uncommon for magazines on shelves today. I applied the font that we had decided on to the page and felt this classic rock style and mojo combination really worked with the image.

Draft 4:

This was another attempt at including the original photos. I really liked the positioning of this one, with the figure to the side and a large empty space for lots of text to be added. I felt that if this were to be a front cover, that font didn't work as well, and it would also be difficult to find a place for the main coverline to reside. Therefore, I returned to draft 3 but due to this image being used as the contents page, I wanted to change the font so it matched on both pages and didn't look weird.

Draft 4:

I used the grid font here as it was the font that fitted with the contents page well and therefore the front cover and contents would then be matching. I took the colours from the background out and used then to fill in the coverlines. I mixed this with white, rather than black as this created a softer and less overpowering look. There is quite a lot of teal here though and many people suggested that more colours need to be introduced, such as taking the red and yellow from the top and using them somehow.

Teacher comments:

• less outlines of fonts- looks like wordart
  
• include website
  
• Q&A- linkit to coverline above
  
• try to make the sub-genre clear

Draft 5:

For this draft, I took the red and yellow but also the brown to use a boxes and fonts. The boxes were pulled from a couple of issues of Mojo where they may the page seem much more organised (and I felt that mine need this). This page has too much colour and is too busy though.

Final Draft:

After taking on those comments, I produced this. I used the greys pulled from the jumper and the red and yellow as the main coverline. The banner at the top and bottom create a house style that can be used in more issues and creates customer familiarity. As there seemed to be a gap in the top left corner, I added 'The' vertically to fill the gap and balance the top section with the rest of the page. I feel the tone, images and fonts really create an effectic cover that catched readers' eyes and targets the teenage-early adult ages years.

I will collect extra feedback on the magazine to see where it could be improved and what the audience think of it.

The Creation - Contents Page

Whilst creating my DPS, I started to create my contents page, however had to edit photos as I changed the images that I would be using in my DPS.

Draft 1:

Originally, I wanted to use this image for my contents page, but due to it being used by my double page spread, I had to find another to take its place. This position of image, though, was very versitile and could be used on almost any page.

Draft 2:

This was a plan, taken from the 2nd DPS draft. I really like the soft colours and was trying to produce a page that brought across Eloise Smith's elegant side, however, it felt to female for my wide teenage audience.

Final draft:

I really liked Mojo's impressive, powerful contents pages, featuring an artist who is interviewed later on. They were usually single or group shots but they were very striking and I felt this way, or one with many smaller pictures to make a collage, was the way to go.

This is quite a big jump, as I forgot to copy and resave my work, so this is the final product I came up with. I edited this image to make it striking and allow room for the text to move around it. I really like this outcome as I find the image is really strong and really finished the whole page off. Mojo's contents pages heavly inspired this piece but I took my own take on it with the fonts and the colour choices. It is also busier than MOjo's usually are, suggesting the teenage audience.

I really liked Mojo's impressive, powerful contents pages, featuring an artist who is interviewed later on. They were usually single or group shots but they were very striking and I felt this way, or one with many smaller pictures to make a collage, was the way to go.

Teacher's comments:

• maybe too many fonts- cut them down

(have acted on this for my final piece and changed the 'contents' to the same font as 'features' and 'regulars')

The Creation - DPS

I decided to start with the double page spread as I had quite a few different ideas that I wanted to try out and I felt that if made this one first, it would give me some ideas, a colour scheme and general theme for the front cover and contents page.

After looking at the Mojo DPS (it was my main inspiration) I felt the photo needed to be the main feature. It needed to stand out and make a statement for that artist.

First draft:

Here I was experimenting with the composition of images and the colours that could be used. I used this font as I wasn't able to download my chosen one on the school computers and this fitted well. I really like this combination of images. These haven't been edited yet but I hope I can include them as they are quite serene and go really well with the personality of the musician in my article. I didn't complete this page as I had many ideas on the go and felt my next one was more effective.

Draft 2:

This is my second draft. I really liked this image and felt that by placing it to the side, it would provide that strong single image that works well in the other magazines. (However, I would have liked to use this image for the contents and maybe front cover as well, but we all know that isn't possible...) This page is a bit of a mess as I was still experimenting with ways of extending the wall to the other page to create a background. The first draft had a preset publisher background, but I wanted to create my own so I took a strip from the top of this image and pasted it more times on the first page.

Draft 3:

This draft includes the font that I wanted to use and was popular on my feedback. The text goes off the page here, but these are the columns that I want to have and have produced pull quotes to break up the text more. I have also started to add font capital letters to the start of certain paragraphs.

Teacher's comments:

• Eloise Smith- add a headline
  
• Maybe one more colour for capital letters (in font) and pull quotes.

Final draft:

I took the advice of my class and teacher and produced my final draft of the double page spread. I had to blur the background more than I already had as the text was a tad hard to read. I included red pull quotes in the same font as the title and added in an extra caption to engage the attention of the reader. As I mentioned earlier, I managed to include that selection of edited photos. This allowed me to include a variety of images and break up the text neatly and interestingly.

I will get more feedback on this final page and see how opinions have changed and see what else my target audience think could be improved.

The Creation - DPS article

Using the notes from my planning, I created this article in a similar style to the Corrine Bailey Rae article.

Eloise Smith:

She’s been hiding away in the comfort of the interweb for 5 years, only surfacing for air and a little community fun. Will this independent artist be able to spread her music by word of mouth alone?

This year, Bath has the privilege of Eloise Smith opening the summer festival. She has always preferred to sit back and enjoy this time of year, keeping her musical talents at home, but with the sun casting down a spotlight for her, she has decided to take up the challenge.

We met in a tiny, softly lit coffee shop, just down a path from the main shops in the centre of Bath. A smaller ice cream shop sits opposite, a little to the left, but no noise can be heard other than the muffled bustle from the cobbled paths. A strangely pure scent of coffee beans reaches my nose, different to the Costa scent; it’s more refreshing. Eloise declares this is one of the reasons she loves it here: ‘I’ve been coming here for years! All through secondary school, this would be the place I would come and write songs rather than doing homework. It’s such a natural and inspiring place.’

Eloise Smith, usually referred to as ‘Éloise’, has been a member and contributor of MySpace since she was 16 and recorded her first track in her bedroom on a Saturday afternoon with the sounds of a hoover and a cat meowing evident in the background. ‘Getting some peace and quiet when you have 2 little brothers is a tad difficult; us singers just have to make do!’ ‘Bonjour’ was released on Myspace, her #2 hangout (after this coffee shop) and was greatly received by other experimental artists and newcomers. This led to her other culturally inspired tracks to create her very first album ‘Footsteps’ which was sold for 5 quid on Amazon.

‘I loved creating that album. The songs sum up my childhood, travelling around Europe with my parents. Grandmère originally came from France and we visit her all the time, hence the French inspired lyrics.’ She smiles at the memory of her Grandmother and takes a sip from her hazelnut latte. Today, Eloise is sporting her very natural, quirky style with a flattering, patterned flowing dress and scuffed, tan, oxford flats (both of which look vintage). Her short brown hair waves at her shoulders and her face holds an expression of delight. ‘I’m so excited for today! These festivals are so fun; I will have two or three performances all around town!’

The Bath festival takes place over 3 days, all over the centre. A stage is set up outside the cathedral in the square, stalls line the streets and the parks are filled with more stages and picnic goers. There are different events on throughout the day and all of Bath’s talents come to surface. Music is a very large part of this and many new artists give it a go, whilst top artists are called to perform. As Eloise has been living in Bath for so long, she is asked every year if she would perform, but has always refused ‘I was always so used to sitting back and enjoying the music, I wanted to keep my music online. Though I knew people liked it there, it’s different performing in front of people you consider to be your family’.

As she continues to inform me about her childhood in Bath, a delightful sound reached my ears, accompanied with a soft, trippy beat. Eloise laughs and blushes slightly: ‘They must have seen me come in. They have personally asked for some of my more lounge style tracks to play in here. It’s really flattering, but also quite embarrassing when I’m in here.’ Eloise creates all her own music, playing her own instruments and using her beloved keyboard to play out her initial ideas and record, and her guitar to perform. As she sits opposite, she has her guitar propped up beside her: ‘I could never leave it in the hands of someone else. If it ever broke or was lost, I don’t know what I would do… we have been through so much!’

Glancing at her worn watch, she starts, realising that it is almost time for her to perform. ‘I get so nervous before performing! It takes me an hour or so to calm down’. She firmly places her guitar under her arm and gestures for me to follow her out of the coffee shop. She pauses at the door, saying her goodbyes to the owner and is informed that they will be there to support her later. ‘Everyone around here is so supportive and friendly. I’d never have been able to last this long’.

Her first performance is on the small stage set up by the cathedral. Picnic blankets are laid out, festival goers lounging around, waiting for the show to begin. Eloise makes her way up onto the stage, setting up her beloved instrument and chatting to a young man with a keyboard. She sees my confused expression and chuckles, explaining to me as I wait by the side of the stage. ‘This is Mark. He’s an amazing pianist and has been wanting to perform for ages and asked if he could help me out. Of course I agreed, I’ve been performing alone for so long, a collab with someone is great!’ She glances behind her again, and leans towards me, ‘Just wait till you here him sing!’ She laughs and continues setting up.

Approximately an hour later, just enough time for Eloise to calm down, she gathered the attention of the festival goers and welcomed them. Her nervous attire won the crowd’s laughter and she quickly moved on to introducing Mark and her forthcoming performance. Soon, the crowd’s mumbling grew quite and a clean cut sound of an acoustic guitar filled the air. Eloise’s voice sung gently over, accompanied by the keyboard, adding an electro edge to a pure and meaningful song. It was such a pleasure listening to such unique music. She has said to be compared to the likes of Portishead and Imogen Heap, but in reality, she is on another level.

I followed her around for the rest of the day. She flittered from person to person, chatting and laughing. We made are way to each of the stages, Mark following close behind, and Eloise sung her heart out each time. ‘It’s such a thrill performing in different places. The audiences are completely different, even though it’s the same place… if that makes sense!’ As we pass the tiny ice cream shop again, she runs inside, ordering 3 largely topped cones. Moving on, we pass all the little stalls and she stops at the music one, nestled in the corner behind a lamppost. She picks up a few vinyl, Pink Floyd and Ultravox were on the top. ‘I love these guys! 70s and 80s was a great period of music. Ultravox was where I got my beat.’ She hands over some money and walks away with her newly bought goods. ‘Can’t wait to crack out the old player and get these guys playing again.’

After the last performance of the day, and another two days to go once everyone had finally dispersed from the streets, we find ourselves back in that teeny coffee shop, a relaxing coffee in our hands. ‘Finishing the day here is almost as good as starting it.’ She sips for coffee and contemplates telling me something. ‘I’ve always wanted to open my own coffee shop, just like this. In a corner I would have a mini stage where local artists could play and we’d have special days of karaoke or other events.’ She laughs. ‘Music is all about the community and the sounds. If you have both, then everything will sound fantastic.’

Feedback:

• Nice tone, fits well with the story.
• Believable considering you had to make it up.
• Interesting- the photos match her personality.

(I forgot to save drafts here so this is the finished version. I reread it through many times and made changes to allow it to fit in with the layout of the page).

Editing Photos

After finishing the photos, I went to edit them and decided to use Paint.NET to do this, rather than Photoshop. I have been using paint.net for a while to edit photos and use for drawings so I was quite confident with the functions whereas I was less confident with photoshop and the tools there, even though I had use it quite a bit.

I wanted the images to be impressive and artistic looking as this was going to be a very artistic magazine and good pictures always support the good artists.

Mojo's photo style is slightly cooler looking, not highly saturated and contrasts, but a there is usually a subtle look to them. Q, however, uses high contrast images that are sharp and have a bigger impact and Uncut uses classic images with black and white features.

I liked the subtle style, so on the front cover I decreased the saturation. This gave it a softer look and made the red and yellow in the hoodie stand out even more. By increasing the contrast, the greys looked less the same and more variety was brought out. Before doing this however, I used the lasso tool to draw around the figure and pasted this into a new layer. I then blurred the background to make the figure stand out and emphasise the imposing angle of the shot.

For the image on the contents page, I increased the contrast and tweeked the levels to make the background darker and mke the figure stand out against the black. I decreased the saturation again so give the subtle effect and made the guitar less imposing on the page.To make the image stand out, I used the lasso tool again to draw around the figure and paste onto a new layer, then blurring the background so it wasn't so clear.

The double page spread photo was edited in a similar way to the other images. I decreased the stauration and increased he contrast. I wanted the blues to stand out against the grey wall so edited the levels to create this look. I liked the grey wal as a background for the entire double page, but it was too textured so I cut around the figure and pasted it onto a new layer, then blurred the background to give it a softer edge that would make the text readable if placed on top of it.

These images were evetually used on the DPS, however, I experimented a lot with them before editing to see where they would fit best; on the contents, front or double page. I increased the contrast but didn't decrease the saturation of these as I really like the brightness of the colours and their summery contrast against the darker images. Positioned together, these image work really well together. The same costume compliments and the close-ups feel quite intimate whilst the soft colours and tones make them quite innoccent.

Photoshoot

Photoshoot plan:

I had a few ideas for the photoshoot before setting off to take photos, but I prefer working with my surroundings and going with the flow, but I would always have a plan in my head. Above are some ideas that I had for images, however I didn't end up taking them, but chose a different style as this weren't possible in the time I had.

I asked a few friends to come and help me with my shoot, but by the time be got round to it, it was too dark and not enough lighting was present to create some good photos. Therefore, I had to reschedule and decided to use my other friend whose garden was quite large and her house very light and airy.

Abs:

For this shoot, I wanted to take the photos of Eloise Smith, who originally was an electro/folk artist, but due to the product of the photos, is now a folk/alternative singer.

Inside:

I asked her to dress in summer clothes (as I had set the article in summer) and wanted a really natural look to her. I didn't want her to pose too much as I felt candid shots would capture more intense and intriguing images.

These were the first shots taken. I love the colours that are present here; the blue, whites, beige and the natural tan of her skin. The light source is generally from one side, which creates a nice contrast and highlights on her skin and clothes and with editing, will show up nicely. In the mid shot, I wanted to positon her to the side of the frame, leaving space for her to look into and space for text, if need be. I used a high angle shot here to capture the movement of her playing the guitar without it being straight on. I like this angle as it seems as if she is concentrating and is really into the music. The other shots are a variety of close up shots. I really enjoyed taking these as it is difficult getting the focus right and the products are really flattering. I really like how I've incorporated the lines of the guitar into diagonals and the use of colours to frame a shot.

Some of these images would look nice as a selection as they all compliment each other well.

Outside:

These shots were taken just outside Abs's house, against her white stone wall. I had her change her clothes here to vary the colours and show that this is a different mood to the last.

These are my two favourite shots from outside. I love the space that surrounds her in her position slightly off centre. The both provide and show her character and carefree personality. The blues and greys are working well together and though there isn't much lighting here, it can be edited and lightened. The mid-long shots here would be good for any of the pages, really, as they could be adapted easily to fit them all.

These photos are close ups of her face. We were experimenting with using the guitar against her face and how these photos would turn out.

The first three seem quite musician-y whilst I really like the fourth. In the centre of the frame, it shows character and personality, and considering that her face is hidden, a lot is shown about her, even though not much of her, physically is shown. These shots would be good for smaller shots and the article.

Bench:
Here we moved up to the top of the garden to the bench, where I look some high angled shots of Abs, some candid, others not.

I think the contrast between her dark clothes and the guitar is important here as it emphasises the music, rather her being just a random person being written about. I especially like the second and fourth images as the engle in intriging, the lighting is flattering and the positioning against the pole frames the shot.

These were some extra ones that I liked.

I love the detail of the second image and how the eye looks past her body and to the point of the guitar. I like the comical effect of the first image but I am not sure where it would be use within the magazine.

Jack:

After looking through the images taken of Abs, I realised that I did't really have enough variety in my shots and I needed another person to include, otherwise is would be Eloise all the way through the issue.

I chose to use Jack as he has a lot of character and is quite confident and I felt this could be transferred into the images. When shooting these, I had a front cover shot in mind (as the first lot didn't produce one that I could use) so we shot a lot of long-mid shots of Jack and (again) a guitar (but no strings this time as it was from the art dept.)

I really like these low angle shots as they show him to be confident, powerful, superior a d his stance, with the feet apartm seems quite definate. These were taken inside the school, but I really like how the border of the building matches his trousers and a teal colour mixed with grey is seem through all the images. I especially like the

These shots were less effective as they didn't include the nice levels and structure like the others did. However, I do really like how his personality comes across in these and also the focus point on the last image. It is really eye-catching and is intriguing.



With all of these photos, I tried to vary the angles and shot distances as well as position them differently in the frame. Perhaps because Abs was shorter, that the high angle shots worked better for her and low angle shots worked better for tall Jack.

I will try and include a selection of the images here in the magazine and hopefully the photographic style of these shots is similar enough to create a house style through my magazine.