7 - LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?
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The idea was for my music magazine to look as professional
as possible, and i wanted it to look like i could imagine seeing it on a newsstand.
After looking at my finished preliminary task i decided that it was a good base
to build upon, as I could see many areas that I could improve on, so this gave
me ideas of things I could do differently in my final piece. This was the main
reason I found my preliminary task useful, because it sparked my imagination,
and gave me something to refer back to fro each aspect of my magazine, so I could
see how it didn’t look professional and do the opposite I did for the prelim so
that the final piece would look better.
There are many roles within the magazine industry, and in my
magazine I played all of them! Roles typically seen in magazines that I did are...
- · Art director, who would handle the designing of the magazine, and would give directions to the photographer and head of the shoot so that the model is portrayed in the way that they want, to fit with the style of magazine they have planned.
- · IT director, who would work closely with the art director to construct the magazine
- · Journalist, who would interview special guests and then write the article on them
- · Shoot director, who would direct the photographer, head of costume and makeup artist how the art director wants the finished photos to look, ensure that everything ran smoothly on the shoot, and made sure that everything was risk assessed.
- · Photographer, who would photograph the model
- · Head of costume, who would make sure that the model is dressed correctly for the shoot, and gives off the correct vibe. They are also in charge of sourcing the clothes and accessories.
- · Makeup artist, who would do the models makeup in a way specified by the art director to the shoot director.
They way I tackled each role for the production of my magazine
was...
·
Art
director – I decided roughly how I wanted my magazine to look by doing
surveys with my target audience and doing a mock up of the front cover.
·
IT
director – I played this role by constructing the magazine myself using
various technologies. As I also played the role of the art director, I found it
useful as I could really make my own visions rather than have someone else
morph them into something that wasn’t quite what I wanted.
·
Journalist
- I found this role really enjoyable because I love writing. It was
useful to do because I knew the ‘character’ that I had created for the magazine
best. This meant I could develop Martha Chapaza the way I wanted, and morph the
way she appeared to fit my target audience through the way in which I wrote
about her.
·
Shoot
director – The role of shoot director was quite easy. I had to find a
place to take the photos. I decided on a distressed wall and some bushes that
are in our school. I had a large level of control over the photographer, head
of costume or makeup artist, as I was the majority of them. In terms of risk
assessment, I decided that the area I wanted to use was safe, as not only was
it well known by me and the model and I, it is also on the school grounds, so
is risk assessed and is safe.
·
Photographer
– The role of photographer meant I took all the photos used in my magazine.
I was really pleased with the photos, as because as I had a clear vision in my
head of what I wanted them to look like because I was the art director. This
gave me great accuracy when it came to shooting the pictures.
·
Head of
costume – As head of costume I told the model what to wear. I chose
clothes I knew she had that I felt the target audience would like, and that
would represent my magazine in the light I wanted it to be.
·
Makeup
artist – I actually told the model how to do her makeup for the shoot,
saying that she should contour and have winged eyeliner, but not to an extreme.
I felt that this was a neutral yet modern and fashionable look, which would
appeal to my target audience.
What have I learnt?
Overall I found doing all the roles a positive experience.
It was overwhelming, but I felt it gave me a good grip on what I wanted, and allowed
me to make the magazine as close to the magazine I had pictured in my head.
Working with myself was useful for me because I could do everything in a way
that I knew would work when it was all put together. I learnt through this,
that for magazine production to work, (in a group the way it would be done in a
professional situation) the team need to be really close knit and work together
to strive to achieve something that is as close to the Art directors vision as
possible, as they are the ones who know best what the audience want, and how to
please them. Another important thing I learnt the value of was doing audience
surveys before production, as this gave a great insight into what the people
you are targeting your magazine at want to see. In a way, this makes it much
less risky, as before making it, you know how to make them like it! When
designing the magazine, I realised how important the mise en scene of the pages
are. Really little things like the cut of the clothing work, or the coverall
colour tone of the final image is the way you want it. If it’s not, it might
not apply to your target audience and could connote something that they don’t feel
represents them and isn’t part of their ideology. This could discourage your
target audience from purchasing the magazine, which would leave you with very
few people buying the magazine. In terms of technology, I learnt that it is important
to find an editing program that suits you and the way you work. Editing also
needs to be accurate, and an example of this is placement of the masthead. I
felt that my cover didn’t look put together properly, and just looked like
writing over a picture, until I moved the masthead up a tiny bit, and all of a
sudden the whole cover benefited from it. Also the power of cropping the photos
take was something else i learnt. Having the image at the perfect size is so important
because it can attract the audience to the magazine cover. Also cropping the
image from when photos are used within the magazine means that you can
customise how much space you have for the article. This allows for the desired
amount to be written about the artist without the page looking blank and empty,
as this would make it seem unprofessional. I learnt so much about the world of
magazine production from this, and realised how much technical and artistic
work, planning and thought is put into the glossy covers we see.
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