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Peer assessment:

CONTENTS PAGE PEER ASSESSMENT

What type of shots have been used to create a variety of shot distances and how has the camera been used to communicate meaning?  

Only one type of shot has been used in the contents page, so by adding extra images a greater meaning will be created for the target audience. A mid shot has been used to communicate the country genre, the stance of the model enhances the country atmosphere created by the hand positioning and crouch. 

What choice of Mise en scene is appropriate for the star image and genre? 

I think the costume successfully highlights the country theme, the hat and jacket further emphasises country. The background colour also connotes the country genre, however I believe that the lighting could be changed to improve star image, as the model seems slightly blurry.

  How far is the font used readable and reflects the genre?

The word ‘contents’ is written in a clear font but also conveys the genre very well and I think that the font colours also reflect country. The headline fonts also convey country, however I think that black strike could be added to the white writing to enhance the emphasis on the name and make the writing clearer. 

What technical conventions of a Contents page are present and used effectively?  

Page numbers, cover lines and images have all been used in the contents page to present the key features of the magazine. I think that more images could be added to improve the page. 

How has Indesign been used to layout the page to convey a brand?

 I think that the layout of the magazine is good, but some of the headlines could be shifted slightly to the right to shape the model more and make the writing clearer.  The title is not central, which makes the layout asymmetrical – not sure if it’s intentional ??

 How well have the text and visuals been integrated together?

The positioning of the writing allows the model to be shaped well. But I believe the title could have improved positioning to make the contents page flow better. 

Where has photoshop been used to manipulate the photos to enhance the star image or genre? 

Photoshop has been to cut out the image and create the country theme. I think that the lighting could be played with in photoshop to improve the country theme. 

 How is the language used appropriate for the genre and target audience?

The language is appropriate for the target audience as country names have been included to convey the genre. The headlines are short which makes them quick and easy to read for the audience.

Fails to convey, lacks, insufficient, minimal, satisfactory, functional, adequate, staid 

High C grade

5 Targets:

• Use a font that is easier to read with the names
• Add a black strike to the white writing to enhance the emphasis on the word Contents
• Use photoshop to edit the image to be less blurry and have better lighting.
• Make the contents title more centered at the top of the screen
• Move the number 29 article further away from the model as it is a bit obscured.

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Whilst making the first draft of my front cover I made sure that my magazine fit the conventions of the genre that my target audience had come to expect from country music magazines. This will help it appeal to the uses and gratifications theory of entertainment, information, social interaction and personal identity.  You also need to make sure that you think about the attention, interest, desire and action process to allow the audience to remain interested with the magazine. I think I did a good job at paying attention to these things in my first draft but some things I would like to improve include: including some form of interaction for the readers and giving them some kind of action to do.

In the future what I have learned will help me by helping me think about my work and make sure that I fit the specific requirements of my genre while also making it appeal to my audience and keep them engaged in the magazine.

My magazine is called Classic Country and now that I have decided on a name I need to design a masthead.  I also need to make sure the masthead has a good design and fits with the genre. I chose a specific font  to fit with the country brand and general conventions associated with the genre. While designing the masthead I made sure to keep my audience in mind and make sure the design appeals to their interests while also catching their attention and appeals to them to get them to want to take action and buy the magazine. Here is the design I created:

This is the design as its the one that catches my eye the most and its  also fits into the country music genre. By completing this task I have used by design skills to work with my genre and its helped me design a major feature of my music magazine front cover.

I have found ten different front covers of other magazines that I think look good:

The front cover of a magazine is easily one of the most important aspects of a magazine as it is the first part of the magazine that is presented to the target audience. I especially like the font shown in the magazines on the top left as well as I really like the choice of the colour pallette in the bottom right as I liek hwo it displays the cover model. I think the graphics of the cover in the middle bottom is well done as they used photo manipulation to bring colour to the graphic of Hank Williams who died in 1953 before the magazine was made. I also really like the coverline of the one second from the bottom right as I think it catches the audiences eye and makes people take notice with it’s boldness and simplicity.

By analysing these other front covers I have gained a higher understanding of how to layout my front cover and how to make my star appear in my own music magazine.

This is my production meeting agenda for my first shoot. Using an agenda will help me plan out the photo shoot and will be very useful to getting prepared before the shoot,

This will help me as I now know how to plan out a photo shoot and this will help me take the best image possible for my music magazine and any future media in which I will be taking photos.

I have created a star image of the country artist Johnny Cash to show what repertoire of elements all joined together to give him his generalised public image to make him seem extraordinary and have connotations of violence and western themes associated with country music. For example, Johnny Cash’s iconic performances at Folsom Prison and other prisons help reinforce the convention that he is an outlaw and generally the idea of an outlaw has connotations of being dangerous and rebellious which is displayed well in his music. Also by always appearing dressed in black the black has well known denotations of death and danger to make him seem more dangerous.

This has allowed me to understand all the different aspects of his public image which helped build his persona and brand as a country musician. I also created this collage of different elements that I would like to incorporate into my model to help them fit with the correct style of country music.

Doing this has allowed me to plan out what I want my model to be wearing and the different elements I want to use to overall add up to make my model appear genuine, mature and self-assured just like many classic country stars which will help make my music magazine as good as it can be while also making it seem like my model fits in with other real magazines.

When creating any piece of media it is important to know your audience, I have done this by creating a dating profile based of the average enjoyer of country music. I found that the general target audience and demographics of country music tended to be older, settled elders who tend to enjoy more classic country music from when it was really big in the 1960s and 70s. I found that a lot of country fans tended to associate country music with their personal identity and use country music as a basis to socially interact with other country fans.

I made James Walker as a 74 year old man from Liverpool who was a Christian as I found that country fans are predominantly religious and I made him a big fan of classic coutnry musicians like Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash. I used a picture of my Grandad for the image as I found that many country fans were around his age and I thought the picture looked suitable as he was wearing a cowboy hat in the image which is often associated with country music.

This task has allowed me to have a greater understanding of who my target audience are, I used different websites to determine what age group and gender people have who are fans of country music belong to as well as their common religious beliefs. This will help me going forward as I know understand my audience and can tailor media that I create towards them so that they find it as entertaining and enjoyable as possible.