AS media Rhian

Additional Research- Country and western artists

Here is an additional piece of research that I decided to do in order to allow me to put some well knows artists into my magazine.

What artists do I associate with my genre Country?

Taylor swift is a well known artist and songwriter .She is an artist that I think would appeal to my target audience and has quite a glamorous country style.I will probably mention her name on my contents page.

Lee Brice is a famous country singer who has produced two number one singles. As well as Lee being well known ad associated with country music I want to include his name because I haven't used any male artists and would like to include some.

Katie Drake is a less well known country singer who is from Colorado however she has traveled to the UK in the past I would like to include her name.

Research and Planning-Publication plan

Here is my publication plan made on Prezi.com to show the structure of the magazine.

Publication Plan on Prezi

Publication Plan on Prezi

Research and Planning-Plan for the week

This in my plan for the week, in order to make sure that my Blogger is up to date I will go through my entire blog once again to make sure that I am happy I have added all the extra details to get the highest grade possible.
Here is what I have to get done this week;

Upload all of my audience interview questions- this will help me to understand what my audience thinks of my first draws draft of my music magazine cover , content page and double page spread

I need to upload my final drafts

I need to take some SLR test shots to allow me to get accustomed to using the cameras and different features on them

Publication plan

Additional research

Model head shots

SLR test shots with an analysis of what i think has worked etc.

Research and Planning-Equipment and software list

Anyone could design a magazine but as a media student our aim is to make a magazine that looks professional so that you could pick it up on a shelf at WHSmiths for example and not think it had been made students.In order to do this we need to use a number of different pieces of equipment and software.

In college we have iMac computers from Apple these are loaded with some great software that will bring all our work together.Adobe Photoshop is a professional photo editing software that we have in college that can be used to manipulate any given image or photograph, this can be as basic as cropping an image to airbrushing a model to get a better skin tone.Photoshop will be used to create my front cover as I can use the different layers to add text to photographs and take away backgrounds if I want to overlap images.I may also need to edit the photos for my double page spread and contents page.

The second software I will use to create my magazine will be Adobe Indesign. It is a program that can allow you to make professional articles , posters , flyers or brochures.It will be used to make both my double page spread and contents page because it can provide a number of different layouts .I will use the columns to create a professional looking double page spread that will incorporate photographs taken.

I will use SLR cameras that we have in college to take the photographs for my magazine.I have done plenty of practice shots before taking the pictures for the magazine and should have a good idea at that point which lighting I will need and different features on the cameras.A tripod may be needed during the photo shoot to get a steady camera position.

iPhoto is the software used that iMac computers use to import the photos from the cameras onto the iMac's.

A scanner may be needed to scan in anything that is hand drawn that i want to be
incorporated.

If i find that i need to use any other software or equipment i will add it onto this list to keep it up to date.

Research and Planning -Costume and props list

Costumes and props play a huge part in setting a scene for everything in media.I need to choose appropriate costumes for my modele to wear as well as consider what extra props I could include to make my photographs look professional. As I am creating a country and western magazine my costumes and props are more important than most as the style is very different to any other music genre and not traditionally seen in the UK.

Costumes
The costumes I am going to use have been chosen because I have done costume research using existing country music magazines.
My costume for my model for the front cover will be (top to toe)
Cowboy hat
Checked shirt i could incorporate a jacket I will see what the overall scene looks like
Possibly a belt
jeans
Wellies
Although I will use the same model for both my cover page and double page spread I will change the costumes slightly whilst still keeping to the traditional country look.
My costume for my model for the double page spread (top to toe)
Cowboy hat could be worn or wore round her neck(hung on her back).I could have this picture without the hat if I were trying to make it look more personal and less posed.
A check shirt will be used ,I could incorporate a jacket depending on the weather on the day of the photo shoot
Jeans or black leggings will be worn
I could use any footwear for these photos as I am trying to make the photo shoot look professional but less posed and more natural.

For both pictures i will use minimal jewelry but it will be lots of trial and error.

Make-up will be used on my model but will be used to look natural and hi-light eyelashes.

My model has short hair so it will just be straightened and tidy.

Props
I will use a number of different props to enhance my scene.Depending on the location of my photo-shoot will depend on what props I think will look effective.The props that I will have available are ;
Bale of straw
Western saddle
Lasso rope
Blanket
Acoustic guitar
A pony may be used in the forefront of the scene or may be used in the background

Research and Planning-SLR test shots

Here are my SLR test shots.I wandered around college taking photographs of different things that I found.

This is a bush that i found outside college.This first picture was taken with the flash on and auto focus on.

This is the second photograph I took of the same bush, This on was taken using natural lighting with auto focus on which I think has worked equally as well even though it was taken on a cloudy day.

This is a picture of the vending machine in the college , I took this picture using slight zoom and no flash.I thinks it turned out ok.

This is a stool in the college .I wanted to see how the surface would turn out because it was shiny.The flash was on and that's why the edges appear lighter.

Next I went to the football table and decided to use the zoom on the camera to focus on the men on the table.I focused the camera myself for both of the shots.This is with the flash on.

This is the same picture with the auto focus off and the flash off.I think this one looks better because the green colour hasn't been altered and you can still clearly see the image from the lighting in the room.

This is the corridor,I tried to focus the camera myself but it was difficult and so it is slightly blurred this image.The man at the end of the corridor is very blurred so auto focus probably would be better for a shot like this.

This is a photograph of text that was on a wall.I wanted to see how much detail the camera would pick up without using a zoom.The flash was off because the text had a shiny surface and so it would have been hard to read through the reflection. The auto focus was on for this photo.

Next I found this plug ,There was lots of light in the room so I didn't need the flash.I focused the camera myself and with a steady hand got a great result.

Here I was practicing focusing the camera with a slight zoom I think this picture looks crystal clear.

These next two pictures were seeing if the flash makes any difference to an area.I was thinking about my scene that I will be using and if the flash will change the quality of the picture.This was no flash.