Here is my PMA document for my 2nd shoot. A production meeting agenda, is basically a guide and all the information needed to carry out the shoot to make sure everyone knows what to do. For this shoot I will be retaking my main cover star in the same costume and makeup but in the white room as in photoshop the black room made it hard to cut my model out due to her dark hair. I will also be taking some photos of a new model for my contents page as it’s very conventional to have more then one model in contents page for my genre.

My idea for the props for my 2nd model is to go with a headline like “How to write the next best hit” with my model holding a notebook and pen. I have also found some youtube tutorials on cool photo hacks that I’m excited to try out as they may end up working well with my magazine.

 

This is my first draft of my contents page, I used indesign and photoshop to cut and design the layout of it. Overall, I’m happy how it has turned out and I think it looks conventional to the pop genre but I have asked a peer to assess my contents page to see what I should improve or change to get the higher marks.

From this feedback I my own opinion, I have made 5 targets for me to complete for when I do my second draft.

• Do the editors note
• Change the 2nd image to the person I used in my 2nd shoot
• Change the pink font to stand out more
• Make the headlines more music magazine
• Add higher page numbers

 

10 Catchy Headlines

• Izzy Spills All
• Win 2 Lizzo Concert tickets
• Reading and Leads lineup leaked!
• Shocking new scandal
• Confessions of an A list Star
• Are you Harry Styles dream girl?
• Find out the true story of the divorce that shocked the world
• How to become the next hot sensation
• 10 fabulous hair hacks for flawless hair
• Strictly Confidential!

Above is some of my research I conducted on what is a contents page. A contents page is like an index in a book but instead for a magazine, it helps the reader navigate what page to go to and also is a great opportunity to engage the reader to carry on reading.

I composed a slide of 10 different contents page and drew out the layout of design of contents pages of magazines I had paper copies of. From my research, I found conventional features like most at the top of the page would include the headline ‘Contents’ and also include the name of the magazine, most had more than one picture with different people, they include categorise that would help the reader navigate which topic they are interested in “Features” “Celebs”, all would have page numbers and all have catchy headlines and engaging cover lines.

Thinking Forward, remebering the uses and gratification theory by Blumer and Katz I know that there are 4 main uses for media and thats social interaction, social identity, information and entertainment. So when I do my contents page I need to make sure I remember I check all these boxes. So I wrote 10 catchy headlines that I could include for when I do my magazine. Some headlines are for the entertainment purpose and can also link into social interaction to give the readers something to talk about- “Confessions of an A list Star” or “Shocking New Scandal”, also one for information could be “Reading and Leads lineup leaked!”. To reinforce their identity I included healines like “Are you Harry Styles Dream girl” and “10 Fabulous Hair Hacks for Flawless Hair”.

 

 

Above is my 1st draft of my front cover. It isn’t quite finished yet as it’s missing the cover lines.

The masthead is conventionally placed, very big and the pop of colour that is colour matched to the two piece outfit of my main cover star in the two ‘1’ that make up the l in Eleven. It’s big enough to stand out and make an impression and also fits the pop genre which conventionally as a modern typeface.

The model is staring at the camera and is large enough to make a presence on the cover and is satisfactorily framed using the rule of thirds. Her expression looks approachable and a little flirty with the smile.

Desktop publishing, Indesign, has been used well to layout the text and images so that they integrate. The pug is different from how a conventional pug would be displayed but it’s well designed.  The layout is poor with the cover lines on the left and are randomly sized which looks messy.

A purple, blue, black, grey and white colour palette communicates a fun and girly visual that represents the pop genre in more of an older and a little more sophisticated way in compared to young teen pop magazines. But is done so without losing it’s fun and exciting feel that a pop magazine conventionally has – colour pallet used to good effect and impact.

The font is modern but is hard to read especially the cover lines when put in a different colour, the font is messy and the cover lines feels out of place and is something I will defiantly change.

The costume is very pop very sparkly and not very ordinary which creates a star image. The make up is again sparkly with little gems and the eyeshadow matches the outfit nicely also the body language and posture represents her as glamorous and fun which mirrors the genre brilliantly.

In terms of the language used in the cover lines, it’s okay. For the agony aunt section, I included a quote of a problem on the front, ‘My best-friend kissed my boyfriend’,  to attract and entice my target audience knowing this is something that will entertain them.  Also ‘Exclusive’ and ‘Secrets’ will attract the audience as it creates a feeling of superiority as it will make them feel included and have knowledge that no one else will know.

The magazine is recognisable as a magazine as it has all the conventional features like a masthead, issue, main cover star, barcode and cover lines along with a pug to entice the reader to read on but it is evidently not finished. 

Photoshop has been used to cut out the cover star to place on a graduated background so that she becomes the focus but the inserts are not particularly well framed and feel badly composed. The cut out around the hair is poor and overall looks averagely done. They also lack variety as include the main cover star.

The garde I would give myself if I were to send this off now would be a D Grade, it obviously not done and feels very empty and incomplete. Here are 6 things I will want to improve when I go onto to do my 2nd draft:

• Change the font and typeface of the cover lines 
• Make sure the issue date and plug match in size 
• Add more cover lines and enticing language- include superlatives and imperatives
• Try play around with photoshop with the image to fix the hair 
• Make the two piece outfit brighter and fix the skin discolouration 
• Add more icons like the heart around to have consistency and to  keep up with the fun girly vibe

 

Above is my dating profile I created and designed showcasing a typical target audience for my magazine genre pop. I have analyzed the targets audience gender, age, job (demographics)  and then from this I researched the types of attitudes and hobbies (psychographics) that they may have. It’s important for a media producer to know and bear in mind their audience to make sure the audience has a preferred reading.

Keeping in mind, the Blumer and Katz gratification theory people chose to engage in media for 4 reasons: entertainment, social interaction, information and to reinforce their personal identity. So, from this I understand that I must make sure I appeal to the audience by adapting certain features. For example, to reinforce my target audience personal identity, I will feature things like popular, trendy clothes and for entertainment I will include gossip of popular artists in the pop genre- tailoring my magazine to my audience.

Thinking forward, I now know my target audience and can now plan out how I can adjust some content and features of my magazine to suit them in order for my readers to get a preferred reading.  I also have to think about design features, like the colour pallet, to make sure it can be decoded into a fun, girly vibe which can be conventional for the pop genre and hopefully engage my target audience.

Here I used YouGov to help find my target audience. However it’s a little outdated for age demographics (doesn’t include Genz) however from my own knowledge and some research I deducted the main age group is between Millennials and Genz (15-28).

This was my 1st cover shoot were I directed, designed took the photos by myself. I really enjoyed myself as it was a fun shoot while also productive. Overall I took over 50 photos, which was the minium I aiming for, in order to make sure I managed to capture the “money shot”. Also, I considered I needed some photos for my content page so I tried out some fun, different poses using props like the phone case and the stool.

These 2 photos are some of my favourite which I’m sure to tryout or even use for my magazine. The 1st one is a mid-shot and my model looks fun, flirty and playful as you can see with the pose and acting of her playing with her hair. I find this photo really captured the genre and what the star image I was aiming to represent. The 2nd photo is one I directed her to pose with the phone prop as I visioned this on my contents page with the ‘star as the agony aunt’ section I planned to do to make my magazine different from the competition.

Finally, I believe the shoot went well however, a couple things I would change if I could go back is to use the white room as her hair is really dark and when it comes to editing her I predict it will be difficult to cut her out- especially the plait with the beads on it. Furthermore, I wish I could of gotten a telephone prop and painted it pink instead of using an iPhone case as I believe it would of looked cooler and stand out more.

Thinking forward, now that I have my cover photos and masthead done I can now start planning and designing my magazine- which I can’t wait! Moreover, for when I do my 2nd shoot for my double page spread I have the knowledge and now experience of how to set up the studio and direct the model succesfully.

 

Above I researched some magazines front covers that I really like and think the graphics, layout, colour pallets, cover lines, font and the photo manipulation is very interesting and will help inspire me when designing my cover.

The bright colour pallet and the cover model really make the front covers stand out. For the “Cool!” magazine I really like the heart graphics which make cover line underneath it stand out. And the cover lines on the “teenvogue” magazine are super catchy and very fun which I will aim to replicate. For the ‘Instyle’ magazine the layout drew my attention especially I love the way the name “Rosa” is laid out and the different colour pallets/shades of pink they designed which I will create something similar for when I make mine.

Focusing forward, I have knowledge of the different designs of magazines and what works/looks good from the colour pallet to the layout. I can now use my knowledge and take inspiration for when I begin designing and I now understand some feature that makes a magazine front cover stand out.

These are some of the designs that I would potentially use for my main masthead. A masthead is one of the most important features on a magazine as it distinguishes your brand and also can help attract a potential audience. When designing the masthead it’s important that it matches your genre so you wouldn’t have a sleek modern masthead for a heavy metal music magazine. This helps you audience have a preferred reading so you have to ensure the design is conventional to the genre.

This is my chosen masthead, I’ve picked this as it’s bold and modern which matches the pop genre as conventionally they use bold, contemporary fonts. But, I also made sure that it looks different as I designed the “l” in Eleven with two ones and made sure it stands out by putting them in a different colour. I will most likely change the colours of ’11’ to colour match something that my main cover star is wearing. I find this masthead looks fun while also modern which is the vibe I was aiming for.

Looking forward, I now have designed my masthead which is a very important feature and now can start thinking about other aspects

The is my production meeting agenda for my very 1st shoot where I’m trying to get my main cover star photos along with some photos for the content page. I made this so I remember what to bring and keep organized whilst also giving my model an idea of my vison. I’ve carefully thought out about the mise-en-scene I will use to create my star and represent her in my desired way. I’m excited to create a fun, glamorous star which I’m hoping will translate to the audience with the choices I make. I chose a costume with lots of sparkles and colorful makeup and accessories which is very conventional for my pop music genre.

In the future, I now know how to book slots in the studio and create a PMA which will be very useful for when I come to my second shoot for my magazine as well as future projects.

Above is my slideshow of a star that, if I had any budget, I would love to have for my magazine. I picked Ariana Grande who is a very famous pop star and I researched about how she is represented to her audience. Most celebrities have this star image which is constructed to make them appear a certain way. Richard Dyer is a media theorist (The Paradox of the Star) which he states a star must be presented as extraordinary (super talented) and ordinary (shopping, wear casual clothes), as well as present (tv, concerts, interviews) and absent (out of reach). I looked at the meta-narrative (the mix of media that shapes the star in the mind of the audience) that has made Ariana to be constructed the way she is.

Above is my college of the mise-en-scene I want to use to represent my star for my first photoshoot. I looked at the costume and makeup to create an image of a glamorous, fun star (extraordinary) and the poses and acting I want further conveying this as well as a little flirty and confident. I will try out both high-key as I see commonly used in pop magazines, as it creates a happy mood. I will try out a range of angles to see which I like better but I know a mid-shot and a close up is the most conventional angle that I want for when I create my magazine.

Overall, this research has helped me understand how I need to represent my star as super talented as well as like an everyday ordinary person to create a sense of relatability for the audience. I now know that I’ll incorporate media text that shows my star is like them highlighting problems that my star may had faced that are very ordinary (boy problems) as well as stories that captivate the audience due to it being so extraordinary (stories while on tour). Furthermore, I have a rough idea of the mise-en-scene I will use for my main cover star.