Rule of Thirds

After having a lesson with Mrs Aldridge about the rule of thirds I have decided to change the layout of my article. This is only a draft so there will most definitely be changes but as I have before I will keep updating these changes.
Below is the changed block draft. I have made three columns instead of two, I have also chosen to change the layout of images and the location of the pull quotes.

Below is a similar draft but I have made a change to the image layout on the second page.

First Article Draft

The blue boxes represent images. The yellow represents text, and the green quotes.

Contents Is Finished!

Image Manipulation

As I explained in an earlier post half way through the shoot I decided the lighting wasn’t very good. I then decided to add extra light. Although I am pleased with how the images with extra light have turned out I felt some extra editing to add light and colour would be necessary. Below is a before and after of an image I chose to edit.

This image is before editing.

This image is after editing. Her hair colour is more vibrant and the photo doesn't look as grey scale as it did previously.

Various Camera Angles

I chose to try many different camera angles and lighting in my photos to show a variety and also to give me more choice to choose from. Below are some examples of the variety of camera angles I used.

The image below shows a high angle close up.

The image below shows a side mid shot.

The image below shows a close up.

Photoshoot Complete

I took the final photos I needed last night and I now have a good variety of images to select for my contents. The photos are all of Elle Walker who is posing as what was "Florence Welch" and is now "Thandie West". Below are two of the photos I took last night. The photos show a variation in the light, I felt that the first image didn’t have enough light and didn’t look very professional, this is when I decided to add some more light using a torch. The second picture is the image where I used a torch to create more light. I think this image looks much more professional and as I have a bunch of images that i used the torch on it gives me a lot of images to choose from. Overall I was pleased with the shoot last night and I definately have an image that will be perfect to finish my contents.

Playing With The Layout

I switched my contents over to the opposite side just to see if it looked better than the origional. I have now decided that the original looks far better.

Image Manipulation

After printing out the draft of my contents I realised that the image of the male band came out rather dark. I then chose to lighten the image to ensure it looked bright enough when printed out. Below is the image before editing.

Below is the image after editing.

Last Stages of Contents

This is image show the final stages of my contents page. The black squares represent where the images of "Florence Welch" and "100 Greatest Albums" will go. After these images are place my contents will be completed.

Preparing for the Photoshoot

I have now decided that the two pictures to fill the space in my contents page will be, one portait shot of "Florence Welch" and the other a landscape shot of "100 Greatest Albums".

I then had to think about shot composition. How the shot needs to look;
what types of angles would look good,
whether a long shot, close up or mid shot would be approriate,
what kind of shots am I missing on my contents,
what background would look good
do I know someone that will be good as posing as "Florence Welch"?
how should their hair be
what would the model need to wear
and what kind of make up do they wear?

I have taken all of these questions into consideration and have come up with an answer to all.
I decided as I already have a long shot image and a mid shot image on my contents and close up would be appropriate and show a range and variety between the images.
I personally think a white background would be appropriate for this shot, although as I am getting a close up I'm hoping the models head will fill the whole image so no background can be seen. A white background may also still be useful to reflect light and create the right light for my image.
I have the perfect person in mind to pose as Florence Welch, her name is Elle Walker and is very pretty and also has bright red hair, as does Florence Welch. She has a very similar "indie" fashion to Florence so I think Elle will be more than suitable to be my model. If for some reason Elle is unable to model for me I may use myself.
The models hair should be wavy/messy as this would convey a sort of rough rock chick look.
The model should wear a stylish, indie styled top, possiblywith some detail around the neck line as this may be seen in the close up.
Make up will play a huge part in the photo as it is a close up so every pimple will be seen. The models face has to be well covered so no blemishes can be seen, although if needs be I can edit these out at a later stage. Thick dark eyeliner would be appropriate and a bold lipstick, either red, brown or deep pink. The eyebrows may need some colouring to make them stand out more.
I am hoping for my image to be loosely based around the following images.

I have also decided what will look good for the image representing "100 Greatest Albums". I will lay out a number of memorable albums on either a white or black background, this depends on the main colours of the album cases. I will then take a landscape shot of the albums and possibly edit the colouring/brightness of the photo when uploaded. This is a similar image to what I am hoping to capture.

Audience Research

After struggling to decide what pictures to put in the spaces of my contents I decided to ask my target audience. My target audience would be both male and female but mostly male, from the age of 19 - 24. Although this will be my main target audience I feel as though my magazine may also appeal to people over the age of 24. For example when in the early stages of producing my magazine I found from my questionnaire results that males and a small amount of females would buy a music magazine.

I have distributed 10 of my contents drafts and asked my target audience to select articles/features that they feel need and image representing it. I found that all of the males aged 19-24 chose "100 Greatest Albums of All Time". Other articles/features that the males chose were; "Biffys Live Bust Up", "Florence Welch", "Festival Guide".

I found that the females chose similar articles/features to the males apart from the "Biffys Live Bust Up". The one article that all females chose was "Hair Like The Stars".
This helped me come to the conclusion that to appeal to both sex's of my target audience I would have to chose a variety of the options both sex's chose. I am going to include an image of the "100 Greatest Albums" and also an image of "Florence Welch". I will be collecting these images in the next few days, uploads of the pictures will be coming soon.

Mrs Aldridges blog update - Article

• First of all, your article has to be over two pages.  No more, no less.  Don't forget that the two pages need to work together as one. 
• You need to be aware that there are a range of different types of article.  The type of article you choose will then have an impact of style of language, layout and tone.
• You could write an interview, review (of album, single, music DVD or live gig), or a report - which is very much like investigative journalism.
• Research how the different type of article influences style, tone, language and layout.
• Plan the different possibilities available to you.
• Do NOT forget that you get marked on how you use language, tone and register to address, target and appeal to your audience.
• In your evaluation, you will have to comment on what representations of certain people you have created.  I imagine that to answer this, you will mainly be consulting your article.

Audience Research

As I am struggling to decide what pictures to put on my contents page I have printed out the list of contents and I will be asking my target audience what article, feature or cover story they think should have a picture displayed on the contents. This will help me to engage with the audience and show pictures they want to see. I will update when I have collected my results.

Ooops I Forgot!

As I was flicking through my images I realised that I hadn't uploaded the pictures showing the process of creating my white background. As it may be important to my photoshoot set up I thought I should upload them. The photos above show my white wall with a white bed sheet along the floor and skirting board. I placed pins into the skirting board to secure the sheet. This created a much easier blank background to wotk with and edit the pictures when it came to that stage.

 

Draft 3

This is another draft of my contents page. The pink squares represent where pictures will be placed.