S - hoot.

While making my magazine I had to use original images. I am going to talk you through some of the images I chose to use and how I shot them and then how I edited them to make them better.

This is the image I used for the front cover. I shot it against a blue background I know you should usually shoot against white but I wanted to make it a bit more interesting. "Lola Lemon" is wearing quite plain clothes as I did not want them to draw attention. She is also wearing a 'Mimi and Marge' necklace a brand that is popular with celebrities see link.

http://www.mimiandmarge.com/bigshots

I edited this picture in several ways. I had to crop it and re-size it so it would fit well onto the layout of my front cover. I also increased brightness and contrast to make the light more obvious. As I increased brightness I had to add the blue colouring back into the wall as it had turned white.

I have used this picture on my contents page it shows Lola Lemon in a spring setting - she is surrounded by daisys and holding a dandilion. As it is shot outside on a sunny day the lighting is great. It should represent the type of music Lola is producing this picture shows that it is calm, bright, romantic music. It's place on the contents page will also remind and encourage readers to read the article.

This picture I took of John Head is in mid shot; I chose mid-shots as I used an image of him playing the guitar - the shot allowed you to see the guitar and his hands as they played it. I shot the images in his flat with all of the background showing a consentric repeating pattern.

To make this photo look more proffesional I edited the contrast and brightness on them all. As making it brighter obviously made them lighter, it made the skin look washed out. To deal with this is darkened the skin tone slightly. I also had to resize and crop the photo so that they fitted correctly on the page.

This pictue of John's son was taken in the same setting. He is showing his personality through his clothes - the top hat. I positioned this picture on the page below the pictures of John this made him look as if he is looking up at his dad.

I also used 2 pictures of John with a candle behind his head. Though they are in the same setting they are very different.

One I shot without a flash and John looking straight on at the camera. This cause the candle in the background to blur a create a great light. The candle also added some depth to his face as it lit one half while the other is dark. I did, however, lighten the image so half of the face wasn't completly lost. All these elements make it an interesting picture - I decided to use it on the contents page to draw people to read the interview.

The second picture was shot with a flash; John shows his shy personality by looking away from the camera and looking down. I had to lighten this picture as it was quite dark I also had to crop and re-size it so it would fit correctly onto my page. The candle was again positioned in the back but this time more obviously a candle - this added an interesting element to the picture.

I also used this picture of John playing live in the Zanzi-bar. This picture is interesting as it is lit by proffesional lights that give the image a dream-like quality. This is also enhanced by the fact that although the image in in focus there is some visable movement. He and his guitar are the focus of the image it was a long shot but was cropped for use.

I took this picture as a high-angle long shot. Intended to be one of the members of band Lacuna. The picture resembles picture of actual female artists as it is taken from an odd angle and the facial expression and hand shows a certain attitude. The yellow line that runs across the floor and all the lights that reflect off it adds depth to the photo. Before inserting into the magazine I increased the contrast so all the colours stood out more. I also enhanced the yellow colour on the yellow line, so it was bolder.

As I am trying to produce a music magazine I decided I needed some pictures of some gigs. I used 2 shots taken at gigs the one of Paul Weller (above) and one of The Zutons (below). The picture of Paul Weller was taken off of a big screen at the gig (as could obviously not get that close) this meant that the picture had to be cropped before I could put it into my magazine. The picture of The Zutons was a long shot as I wanted to include the whole band. The great thing about taking pictures at live concerts is that the lighting is great meaning that less editing is needed, great effects can also be created.

This picture shows fictional artist Isla-Boo - it adds contrast to the other pictures featured on my contents as it is a close up and shows a profile. The picture itself is quite simple but I wanted to edit it so it was more striking. To do this I increased the contrast this lead to the hair blending into a black background. I then increased the brightness slightly so that the facial features stood out and there was a light refecting of the hair. I then added a blue tint to the photo this makes the hair look blue and a blue line highlights the profile of the face. As in the photo she is looking left if placed on the page like this it would appear she was looking off the page. To solve this I flipped the image so on the contents page she is looking inwards ... it draws the whole page together.

Change ....

Having done my double page spread I decided to change my contents page so it looked more 'full' and resembled a contents page of a music magazine more. I also changed some of the pictures so that it looked more proffesional. I, however, did not want it to look messy like some music magazines can. I did follow conventions such as using columns, using several photos of bands (some of them playing live and some clearly publicity shots), splitting the contents into sections (cover stories and features), the use of the staple colours of the magazine, I list the issue of the magazine (March 2009), a letter from the editor that encourages you to read articles, each artists name is highlighted in bold so that they stand out, each article has a mini description of what the article is about and each article is obviously labled with the page number it appears on.

The contents page -

The letter from the editor -

The list of contents -

Photos, photos, photos and a double page spread!

Having done my interview with John Head I took some pictures of him so I can use them on my double page spread. As, I was aiming at a feminine audience when creating my music magazine I challenged some of the conventions already established in most music magazines. I tried to created clean lines and simple layout that is more aetheically pleasing than most music magazines. I also included a picture of John Heads son as this is not only informing but woman are more likely to respond to pictures of children (this is of course a generalisation but you have to establish a certain stereotype in your mind so your aim doesn't get muddled).

I also used the main colours of pastel pink and blue throughout the pages, I also included the signature pink line down the left side of the page - this also appears on my contents.

I, however, did not ingnore all conventions of music magazines for example; put my main title in the left hand corner, I put the artists name in bold and in blue so that it stands out, I pulled quotes from the text and the interview was organised into columns.

Here is my double page spread.

(page 1)

(page 2)

The Interview !!

I used the research about John Head to help me interview him. It was challenging to write questions as I did not want them to be to personal and therefore offend him, but if they did not tackle the issues the interview would be boring.

I split the interview into to parts a section that asked him serious questions about his life and carreer. The second section was more informal and titled 'The Favourite Five' - this asked him questions about some of his favourite things and memories.

Overall I thought the interview went well, it also shows the type of music included in my magazine. As I am specialising in music that is genuinely good and respected within the music industry but not necessarily commercially successful. This interview will atract my audience as it will allow them to discover something that they might not have known about otherwise.

Here is the main interview ;

Here is 'The Favourite 5';

Heads up !!

Before I did the interview for my double page spread I wanted to do some research on the artist.
Here are some of the websites I looked at !!

http://www.shacktheband.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool08/video/10/beat_john_head.shtml

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/liverpool-arts/2007/10/05/shack-it-s-a-story-of-love-hate-and-inspiration-64375-19900885/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/1999/jun/14/artsfeatures

I then also went to see John Head record a session at BBC radio Merseyside !!
I have also inserted a video of him playing - see the video bar to the right !!

A picture of John Head and Mick Head in early shack days ... 1988? (I did not take this, just used for reference)