Note to Moderator

Dear Moderator,

I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of creating a magazine and the process behind the final product, including the in depth research analysis, whilst developing skills within the technology region. I hope that you enjoy looking at my work as much as I did producing it.

Kind Regards,

Elliot

Final Magazine

Preliminary Cover & Contents Page

Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

Evaluation Question 2: How does your media group represent particular social groups?

Evaluation 2 was produced on photoshop as a double page spread:

Evaluation Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Evaluation Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Question 6: What have you learn't about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Camera:

For my photography I used the Pentax K-r 18-55, which successfully captured all of my images used throughout my magazine. Its high quality imagery and focus was perfect for my magazine as it added a touch of professionalism and allowed me to capture more than I wanted, for example the photo on the contents of the two females in the duo band ‘formality spectrum’ are blowing bubbles, and I was able to enhance to colour inside them creating a purple luminosity which looked very indie and bright. This was one of many skills which I learn’t and developed through out the photography process. Selecting an appropriate shutter setting was another key feature I took advantage of, allowing me to take double speed photographs which gave me more range to select from during the process of creating the magazine, including captured natural shots of my models. I also learnt how to choose an appropriate setting for my camera in terms of angle and portrait/landscape, which highlighted natural complexion of my models and made the photo seem more eye catching and powerful to the audience.

   

     

For some of my photos I used artificial lighting, unlike the natural lighting I captured outside for others I took. This involved two lighting equipment stands which I learn’t worked together to capture the whole of the model’s body clearly without shadow or dark patches. I used a white backdrop for my artificial lighting giving me much easier editing ability when it came to cutting and cropping, allowing a smoother look on the edges of my images.

Photoshop:



I used this advanced editing programme at school and at home to create and produce my media product - a music magazine. I have learnt how to cut, enhance and crop elements of images with in-depth precise smooth corners to create a professional finish. For example the magic tool, which can cut out an image from it’s background, however busy it is. The magic eraser was another tool which you can adjust in size to fit your preference, allowing mistakes to make corrected easily and efficiently. The most useful tools would be the magic tool, as it gave me the power to create anything from combining individual layers on top of each other in a way that looked professional. The advanced letter options, like spacing and depth/shadow of the font reinforced the smart look and enabled me to find the perfect design which would appeal to my genre. have also developed my understanding of how to layout my magazine, understanding the individual layers on photoshop and where best to place them. I have also learnt the skill of spot removing on my models skin to leave a clean finish, making them looking even more professional in terms of make-up cover up before photos were taken. I also learnt how to create a starry night photo for my cover background from scratch using photoshop features like noise and contrast, which before I could never of accomplished.

Online Sites:  

During the research stage of my media product I used a variety of online sites which helped me to find similar magazines within my genre and access exclusive information hard to find a copy of. This included Google and Youtube which worked well when I wanted to find inspiration. UK Tribes was a very useful website which I used to identify my targeted social group and audience, as it provided a summary of their preferences etc. I also used online sites during the designing on my magazine, such as Scribd to convert my document into a preview which enabled me access its embedded code which I could use to present my work on a site called Blogger which my teachers and peer colleagues would check and comment on my work leaving improvements etc. Animo was another online site which allowed me to produce a short movie clip for my 25 word pitch video, using photos to explain and develop my ideas.

Evaluation Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full production?

Media Magazine Cover Page Development Process

Below is a collage of the individual stages during the process of producing my magazine cover page.

Media Magazine Photoshop Collection

Click on the photo link to view the full range of photos from my photoshoot directly on Flickr

Draft Evaluation Questions 1-7

Draft Article (2)

Draft Article (2)

Exclusive Interview with Endless –Lily Fox, James Smith, Amelia Goodwin

“Music is a world within itself; it’s a language we all understand”

At this year’s St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Singapore we spoke to Endless about their latest music success in the indie/alternative industry, and the opportunities which they have explored from day one. Hot on the topic ASY discuss their new album ‘X-R Moon’ and how they were influenced by their songwriter Julie Walters when producing it.

Interview from individuals -

So are you excited about tonight’s festival right here in the beautiful Singapore?

James:  We couldn’t be any more ecstatic with the turnout of people and the fantastic mood which they were all for tonight’s performance. Opportunities like this are rare for a band like us who are from a small part of Cornwall called St.Ives.

Here at ASY we heard you haven’t been in one place for too long, why don’t you tell us about your recent visits?

Amelia: Everyday has been something new; we’ve been living up the high life in Los Angeles at times, and have met many incredible people throughout our journey so far. Being a music artist is truly the most surreal experience, and every day we wake up I expect it to be a dream.

You mentioned you ‘have met many incredible people’, explain some of the highlights?

Lily:  Where to begin…first of there is my band mates who are all like my best friends; they always support me when we are in practicing and we have such a laugh together.

James: Then there is the unpredictable quirky Sam Richie our all-time favourite artist who has been our inspiration even since we are together in secondary school.

Lily: Only last week we met our new backing instrumental crew who were absolutely phenomenal, the way they combined their talents and experience together was break taking. I feel so lucky to be able to work with such an incredible group of individuals.

Enough about other people, we heard you recently signed a new record label with Universal Music Group (UMG)

Amelia: Wow, yes we were contacted by the company last Tuesday by Amy Sanders who mentioned that ‘Ross Smith’ the owner of UMG was delighted to offer us a signed record label deal with them, after a previous interview two weeks before. We have many new exciting things coming our way in the next few months, like festivals all over the USA and in the romantic city of Paris, France.

James: We were told that our previous music which we had created was really something special and that the way we collaborated as a group made Ross feel excited about getting in touch and making that opportunity become reality.

Your new album ‘X-R Moon’ is out on the 18^th of February, what’s it all about?

Lily:  Well we decided to focus on the individual emotions behind each song and create an album which conveyed music at its best.

James:  X-R Moon brings you the best of all worlds, combining upbeat inspiring songs, alongside a selection of songs which we stripped back to the roots, re-introducing the best of my original UK tour.

How has your songwriter Julie Walters been a part of this?

Lily:  Julie has been a huge part of our life for the past year, allowing us to produce some amazing very professional sounds which she co-ordinated and enhanced for us.

Amelia: Julie has always been there for me especially when I was struggling to find motivation in the studio and successfully cheered me up when we were faced with a tough crowd.

Will you catch up with us soon and discuss how your new album goes down?

James: Of course, I can’t wait to see if all that hard work has paid off and how our fans react to it. December is going to be blast when we hit the lights of New York and meet Bastille and The Foals.

Thank you for your time, and here from ASY we wish you the best of luck tonight and in the future of your music career.

Test Shots (2)

During my second shoot I focused on taking shots with showed a clear variation in distance, using a range of mise en scene which effectively worked in the images shot and were relevant to the indie/alternative genre. From the constructive feedback which I received from my peers I decided to use two more female models who would represent a duo band, this would then resemble the range of artists who display on my magazine. I decided to do some of the photos in the white room with ideal lighting equipment whilst I shot others outside in front of trees, brick walls and windows. I took inspiration on some of the images from previous band staged photos like the poses on the 1, 4 and 9th image.