This week I did some research for my article that would appear on my double page spread. I originally decided to produce an article about how discos are no longer as popular and how gigs have replaced them. However I decided that the content of the article didn’t match the genre of my magazine so I decided to write a biography on ‘The Script’ with quotes from fans about either their album or a review of one of their gigs.
I used The Script’s official website and their Myspace page to gather my research. On their Myspace page I requested for fans to give their opinions on the band in general, their gigs and a review of their album. Here is the response I received;
Club Academy Manchester. The perfect setting. The perfect venue. For a perfect band. THE SCRIPT :)
As 200 eager fans filtered through the doors into the club, excitement rang throughout the air. The anticipation was immense; you could feel the expectation as the clock ran down. But how could a three-piece from Dublin cause such a stir?
Take a trip back 6 months previous. The Hoosiers are playing at Manchester Academy 1. Their support, the unknown Irish trio, take to the stage, opening with We Cry, and immediately capturing the hearts of every girl in there that night.
We had The Script Bug!
Back to the Club. The night was young, the fans were buzzing with excitement, hoping that the boys played their favourite.
All of a sudden, the lights dimmed and three silhouetted figures slipped onto the stage. Deafening screams rang throughout the tiny venue, and immediately, Glen drummed his way through Before The Worst's intro, sending the hoard of fans into deliria. Danny steps out of the shadows, and his husky voice won us over yet again. Their debut single, We Cry followed, accompanied with the voices of the 200 fans there, leaving Danny in disbelief. Genuinely humble guys, they even had the time to chat with fans from the stage. After playing a few of the favourites, the boys launched into a song that was totally unexpected, but did nothing to disappoint by any means. A cover of Heroes by David Bowie- Danny's improvisation and its catchy revamp left the fans in absolute raptures.
Beautifully composed, yet clearly shocked by the support, Danny and co thanked the devoted fans as they left the stage, but not before leaving an imprint of an unforgettable gig in each of the fan's minds with an encore of We Cry and The Man Who Can't Be Moved.
An unbelievable, unforgettable night, and the best gig I have ever been to!
Noz, 17 Manchester.
I knew by the first track, that this band was like no other, very unique, yet a mixture between maroon five and Timberland. The up-beat tempo His lyrical frameworks explore many problems faced with today’s society and love, fitting them around the music frame was proven difficult but The script have proven the task was easy for them as they have sold millions of albums already. The Dublin trio have portrayed that mixing urban, lyrical and R n’ B can be very pleasing to an audience. I particularly liked the song ‘Rusty Halo’ as the song writer contrasts in tone and tempo, it starts of slow and suddenly becomes an upbeat chorus stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Danny, the main singer has an incredible voice as shown in the album, his vocal range is something unique and gives the band the extra amazement. There’s not song I’d skip, they’re all great and unique in different ways which makes them stand out. There first major hit album is a great success in my eyes.
Lauren, 16 Wallasey
I then used my research and the fan reviews to write my article.
http://www.thescriptmusic.com/
www.myspace.com/thescript
Monday 15th – Friday 19th December
I started producing sketches for my magazine cover, contents and double page spread. I also planned the photographs that I would need to take. This involved creating the Mise-en-scene, thinking about the location I would take my photograph, the props I would need, the different camera angles and how I would manipulate my photos on Photoshop to produce the final image that would appear in my magazine.
Monday 5th – Friday 9th January
Today I started to produce my magazine front cover. I created the layout for my cover and then imported my main image that I had taken during the holidays. Out of the several different shots I had taken, I chose this particular image because it was the most striking and it was of better quality. My model uses direct address and creates a cool and stylish attitude.
Here are the photos:
the last photo is my main image on the front cover of my magazine. I did not manipulate my main image I only resized it to fit the page. A lot of thought went into the location, costume, hair, makeup and stance of the model to create an impression of the magazine rather than manipulation.
I then made my title ‘Strum’ and placed it in the top left hand corner to follow the codes and conventions.
Monday 12th- 23rd January
I added the coverlines to my front cover to entice the reader, the barcode, the date and the positioning statement.
Then I produced my contents page on Quark Xpress. I created a 3 column layout and then started arranging my pictures into two of the columns. I created my images that I was going to use over the Christmas holidays.
I then made my title ‘Strum’ and placed it in the top left hand corner to follow the codes and conventions.
Monday 12th- 23rd January
I added the coverlines to my front cover to entice the reader, the barcode, the date and the positioning statement.
Then I produced my contents page on Quark Xpress. I created a 3 column layout and then started arranging my pictures into two of the columns. I created my images that I was going to use over the Christmas holidays.
I created this image to go on the front cover of my magazine. In order to do this I took an individual photo of each of the chimneys and rooftops, I then used the lasso tool to cut out my image so that it could be placed on the background. I created the background using the gradient tool; I used different shades of orange to represent a sunset like on the scripts single cover for ‘We Cry’. My intentions for creating this image was to recreate the iconic symbols for the script (rainbows and an industrial working class landscape) that appear on their CD covers and would therefore be recognisable by the fans, however after creating this image I decided that I would not use it because I needed one striking image to capture the attention of my target audience. On this image there was too much to look at and it doesn’t look as professional as my other images.
I therefore adapted my original idea of recreating the scripts album cover for my contents page; however I created a strong bold image. I manipulated the photograph of the hand by cutting it out using the lasso tool, I then experimented with ‘Filter’ and using different effects to see which one would make the hand look; worn, dirty and stereotypically working class. I finally decided to use Charcoal to create shadows and to contrast with the bright colours of the rainbow. I did a similar thing with the rose but I rotated it and used the rough pastel effect to make it look less blunt and more delicate and smooth. I then duplicated the hand layer and used the eraser tool to erase part of the hand and thereby make the rose appear like its resting on the hand. The rainbow was created using the line tool and paint bucket and then I used a number of effects to blend the colours into one another.
The other photos on my contents page were resized, cropped and arranged appropriately on the layout.
After I was happy with the layout I then added a blue border at the same to link to colour scheme of the front cover to the contents page. I added the heading ‘Contents’ to indicate to the reader what it is and then I listed my content under the headings; ‘On the cover’, ‘Regular features’ and ‘Highlights’. I went through my content and made all of the band/artist names in bold so that the reader could find their favourite artists efficiently. Then I added a page number, website address and added page numbers onto my images to link them with the articles.
Once I had completed my contents page I moved on to my double page spread. First I inserted the image onto the first page of the double page spread.
The image I used on my double page spread has not been edited, but it has been resized to fit on one page of the double page spread. I was not sure about whether this image would be suitable for my double page spread because the quality of the image is not as good as the photos I have taken using my DSLR camera. However the lighting looks very effective as it highlights the artist’s facial features and emphasises the emotion and stage presence.
Once I had completed my contents page I moved on to my double page spread. First I inserted the image onto the first page of the double page spread.
The image I used on my double page spread has not been edited, but it has been resized to fit on one page of the double page spread. I was not sure about whether this image would be suitable for my double page spread because the quality of the image is not as good as the photos I have taken using my DSLR camera. However the lighting looks very effective as it highlights the artist’s facial features and emphasises the emotion and stage presence.
Next I added the headline and colour coded it so that it matched the lighting on the photograph and I also made sure it stretched across both pages to link them. Then I wrote my introduction and placed it directly under the Header. After that I inserted my article, made a drop capital and adjusted the paragraphs so that they would fit perfectly on the page. I put quotes from the fans responses onto the image and in the article to break up the next. Finally I added the website address, page number and by-line.
After I had completed my work and got feedback from my teacher I continued to make adjustments to my magazine so that it followed the codes and conventions, appealed to my target audience and looked professional.
Monday 26th January
Today I produced an audience feedback questionnaire so that my intended target audience could review my magazine and I could see whether my finished product would be a success. This questionnaire will also help me to evaluate my work by recognising the strengths and weaknesses of my production.
Audience Feedback Questionnaire
If you saw this magazine would you want to buy it? (please circle)
Yes No
Why?
How does it appeal to you? e.g. the main image, the bands included, the colour scheme etc.
What improvements could be made?
Any other comments?
Thank you for your time.
Tuesday 27th January
I started my evaluation. We made a note of the questions we would need to cover in our evaluation and we discussed what things we would include for each answer. I then started my evaluation on Microsoft PowerPoint by annotating the choices I had made for my front cover with justifications.
Monday 26th January
Today I produced an audience feedback questionnaire so that my intended target audience could review my magazine and I could see whether my finished product would be a success. This questionnaire will also help me to evaluate my work by recognising the strengths and weaknesses of my production.
Audience Feedback Questionnaire
If you saw this magazine would you want to buy it? (please circle)
Yes No
Why?
How does it appeal to you? e.g. the main image, the bands included, the colour scheme etc.
What improvements could be made?
Any other comments?
Thank you for your time.
Tuesday 27th January
I started my evaluation. We made a note of the questions we would need to cover in our evaluation and we discussed what things we would include for each answer. I then started my evaluation on Microsoft PowerPoint by annotating the choices I had made for my front cover with justifications.
