Contact sheets for second shoot

I am not happy with this shoot and I plan to redo it with a closer focus. I still like the grills idea and getting close up to my model but I will look at finding another model and a better costume.

Production meeting agenda-ring

I devised I production meeting agenda for my double page spread phunky photo shoot. The reasoning behind a need for a production meeting agenda is to ensure that each member of the production team are kept accountable for the projects and tasks they have agreed to.

Making a production meeting agenda is a necessity for the planning stages of a shoot because you can always go back to it, using it as a form of checklist in a sense.

In the shoot I need to remember my article is about album reviewing. So I need profile shots of my hip hop star because I will be reviewing a made up album of theirs. I must capture the success and greatness of their album in my images through my model’s demeanor, facial expression and, gestures.

Review do’s and review don’ts

Knowing I would come to the double page spread soon I started thinking of ideas for a captivating article. I chose to do an album review and I really wanted to contain  anecdote’s from the rapper and an In depth analysis of the track-list- All assisting my first double page spread in a magazine to be highly personal.

My articles structure & plan:

Rough first DPS draft:

“THE REVIEW- H20 SliCKY’S Lif£ is Pre$hiou$”

Written by Henry Gray

Esteemed review of H2O SLiCKY’S 3rd studio album that is rocketing up the global charts. 

The album, diverse in it’s melodies, has great potential to go gold and maybe even platinum. The rapper- H20 SliCKY spent 7 months in the alps perfecting his 3rd studio album- Lif£ is Pre$hiou$. The album itself has its fair share of catchy money grabbing hits and its fair share of expertly produced songs that will be played 50+ years to come. Bringing in producers such as Pierre Bourne and Tay Keith, Slicky has set himself up to be on stage at this year’s The Grammys. When listening to the album it felt as if I was taken to an alternate dimension. My mind became lost in the melodious low tempo pace of voice but high temp pace of beat on my favourite track on the album- WAITING WANTIN. The flowy beat switches and bumpy rhythms bringing in instruments like the french horn I feel SLiCKY has put his own twist on the rap genre which is exactly what the genre was after. My reasoning for 4 mic ratings out of 5 is that although the album has it’s hits it has some (1 or 2) songs that he clearly just dropped in to fill the track list. But interestingly some that I personally feel should have been released as singles instead of being on an album tracklist because of their ripe and alternate  exuberant dexterity and pitch. For example the song WORTH it WITHOUT it feels to me like more of a breakup in his feelings song which shoulnt of gained a place on the album. 

In summary SLiCKY has got his unique flow on lockdown but is lacking in the narrative department as albums should convey a narrative and not just contain random songs such as WORTH it WITHOUT it. 

When reading up on SLiCKY, an artist of recent times, I found his backstory a story worth telling. H20 SLiCKY- originally Harvey Ogier or Combine was a troubled youth who battled addiction to drugs and gang violence actually being a member of park lane a london gang before he got his big break. SLiCKY served 20 months in prison back in 2014 for snorting a line of cocaine off his finger in front of a police officer stating coming out recently with his statement that- “it was being homeless or being in prison, I only saw positives of being in prison and negatives of being homeless. Free food, bed and a chance to make friends. I snorted that line of cocaine to get arrested on purpose. Those events kind of marked the end of an era for me and I started writing meaningful songs in prison detailing my dark past of addiction and homelessness.”

MP3  Amended first draft:

Self targets for audio:

• To be more rhetorical in my language to spark interest and interaction.
• Add who wrote the article (myself).
• Use enticing adjectives which make the album stand out further.
• More quotes.
• Go further in depth with the rappers struggled past.

Written amended draft article for DPS:

“THE REVIEW- H20 SliCKY’S Lif£ is Pre$hiou$”

Written by Henry Gray

Exclusive review of H2O SLiCKY’S 3rd studio album that is rocketing up the global charts. 

The album, diverse in its melodies, has great potential to go gold and maybe even platinum. The rapper – H20 SliCKY spent 7 months in the Alps perfecting his 3rd studio album – ‘Lif£ is Pre$hiou$’. The album itself has its fair share of catchy money grabbing hits and its fair share of expertly produced songs that will be played 50+ years to come. Bringing in producers such as Pierre Bourne and Tay Keith, Slicky has set himself up to be on stage at this year’s The Grammys. When listening to the album it felt as if I was taken to an alternate dimension. My mind became lost in the melodious low tempo pace of voice but high temp pace of beat on my favourite track on the album – WAITING WANTIN. The flowy beat switches and bumpy rhythms bringing in instruments like the French horn, I feel SLiCKY has put his own twist on the rap genre which is exactly what the genre was after. My reasoning for 4 mic ratings out of 5 is that although the album has its hits, it has some (1 or 2) songs that he clearly just dropped in to fill the track list. And interestingly, some that I personally feel should have been released as singles instead of being on an album tracklist because of their ripe and alternate  exuberant dexterity and pitch. For example, the song ‘WORTH it WITHOUT it’, feels to me like more of a breakup in his feelings song which shouldn’t have gained a place on the album. 

In summary, SLiCKY has got his unique flow on lockdown but is lacking in the narrative department as albums should convey a narrative and not just contain random songs such as ‘WORTH it WITHOUT it’. 

When reading up on SLiCKY, an artist of recent times, I found his backstory – and it’s a story worth telling. H20 SLiCKY – originally Harvey Ogier or Combine, was a troubled youth who battled addiction to drugs and gang violence and was actually a member of Park Lane,  a London gang before he got his big break. SLiCKY served 20 months in prison back in 2014 for snorting a line of cocaine off his finger in front of a police officer.  He recently revealed, “It was being homeless or being in prison, I only saw positives of being in prison and negatives of being homeless. Free food, bed and a chance to make friends. I snorted that line of cocaine to get arrested on purpose. Those events kind of marked the end of an era for me and I started writing meaningful songs in prison detailing my dark past of addiction and homelessness.”

‘Articools’ and Articles

I chose to analyze this article from the magazine “Record Report”. I chose this style of article because for my own double page I wanted to write an album review/s.

Structure, how does it look? what is it about? 

This article as an album review on both an album by Dr. Dre- The Chronic and an album by Heavy D & The Boyz- Blue Funk.  The album which gained the better review (Dr. Dre’s album) has a more detailed and context based review as it collected a 4.5/5 where Heavy D & The Boy’z album on scored a 3.5. Moreover, The image of Dr. Dre is far larger than the Image of a Heavy D & The Boyz member. This is all important, as it wouldn’t make sense for things to be the other way around.

The article is laid out in quite a basic, formal and informative manor which has its ups and downs. The real hook behind the two reviews is which did better than the other and why? As the artists no matter what time period see it as a competition even if they don’t show it.

The author of this article  creates intrigue through their use of a bold black and white image and catchy enticing key words at the bottom. People are reading this magazine to find another view on an album they like or to research the artist and of course just for entertainment. The formal layout of the article, although basic still has a huge more-factor because it is still encouraging social interaction in that their reviews could be perceived as controversial. 

This article is written in 3rd person. This structure is used because stories are being told about things that have already happened- these albums have already been released so it makes sense to write in the 3rd person tense.

The introduction is clear and stylish and for the first album review there is a clear conclusion that reads, “Overall….”.  This is a vital feature of any article as without it, it will appear unprofessional and just seem like an uncoordinated block of writing.

Are you aware of the presence of the journalist?

Yes, I feel like the journalist has indeed made his mark on the article. This is through his analogy based description to open the article comparing making an album to making a good movie like “Scarface” for example. As well as the fact that if the directors aren’t going stop making brilliant films that the music artists in the gangsta rap industry won’t stop making brilliant gangsta rap. What is notable about this analogy is that the journalist must have some interest in film if he uses a film oriented analogy to open his article.

Such style of journalistic writing has a widespread impact. This impact is that the journalist has a certain flare as a writer if he is bringing in other topics reflecting on his own personal identity in his journalism. Furthermore, it shows that this journalist is bold in comparing Dr. Dre’s – “The Chronic” to classic movies like Scarface and Goodfellas.  But this bold aptitude is exactly what a writer needs to obtain to be successful, controversial, entertaining and to create a hook to their writing.

What is your sense of the location / event / person that the journalist is writing about? How is this achieved?

Quite a satisfactory tone is used with the second review of Heavy D & The Boyz – Blue Funk. Whereas, a largely high spirited tone is used whilst the writer reviews Dr. Dre’s- The Chronic. Each being shown by the contrasting openings and terminology.  Dre’s review opens with a bold analogy and Heavy D’s review opens with a satisfactory tone.

In summary, the journalist clearly favours one of the rappers to the other shown in a number of ways; The image sizing, overall rating, word count for each review and tone in description. Dr. Dre is represented as one of the greats shown by the writer’s use of highly complementary description through nouns and adjectives such as, “Wizardry” “Innovative” and “Progressive”. and Heavy D is represented averagely by the writers use of an opening which reads “pretty much…”.

Contents paging and self assessing

This is my first go a contents page for my magazine inside cover. For my first dig at a contents page I tried to include as many of the conventional contents page features as possible- catchy cover lines, images, page numbers. However I absolutely could have included more genre appropriate language a date and other key unmissable features and these are all things I will take into my next draft.

please click on the image to see pdf

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? 

-High angle shot has been used on the model showing depth, model looking up towards the camera.

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

-Costume such as sunglasses and bold jewelry, stern facial expressions and body language shows that the cover star is bold and confident.

  How far is the font used readable and reflects the genre

-Title is large and gold, representing the genre, the rest is a serif font which is simple and easy to read to get the reader straight to the point.

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

-Easy to read and is clear, large title to get the point across, page numbers clearly matched to the information, good use of language in coverlines to pull the reader in by not giving away too much information, ways to make the reader feel included such as competitions.

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

-Sticks to a certain gold and yellow colour scheme, using certain borders and the layout creates the 90s rap atmosphere.

 How well have the text and visuals been integrated together?

-Text is easy to read, as well as overlapping with the model but is still clear, doesn’t make the page look too complicated or busy.

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

-uses cutout of model instead of simple image, not making the page look boring

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

-Informal language and slang to connect to readers uses words to get the reader’s attention quickly.

B grade- clear, strong, conventional

This peer assessment has helped me locate the areas for improvement I didn’t notice myself. I will take the advice I was given in this peer assessment and hold it close in future drafts.

5 TARGETS

• More genre reflecting language
• Use of additional images
• Different typefaces as I used the same ones too frequently
• More enticing colours
• No blank spaces

Contents pages and the nitty gritty bits

The contents page process involves sourcing work from other media producers. This is to ensure that the contents page you  make as a producer is as informative but also stylish as can be. Having looked through some work already done, I can pick and choose as I please therefore my own contents page highly professional and conventional.

This is my inspirational page of different contents pages

A key role of the contents page in a magazine other than to act as an index to it’s ingredients, is that it must incorporate catchy and alluring cover lines and headlines beside the page numbers within my contents page. These components work together to conjure a desire in the mind of the reader giving them an urge to buy and read the magazine.  Maybe  they like it so much they will even sign up to receive the monthly magazine mail out!

Five catchy headlines and cover lines

Hand drawn mockups

I need to involve all of the typical conventions of a contents page. Such as, promotions, page numbers, cover lines and pictures. This is all to spark interest and set the reader up for some insightful reading. Because after all the main goal is to gather interest with my cover lines sparking some attraction between the reader and the magazine.

Self Assessing my first attempt at a front cover

How well is the masthead proportioned and how unique is it?

My masthead is fairly well proportioned to the rest of the cover. it has an impactful presence because it is in a bold red box. In terms of being masthead being or not being unique, I feel it is moderately unique. The outline of the text is the only way it is visible. I like this effect because it gives it a modern- ‘I only need an outline to my text not an inside colour’ feel. I also feel I broke some conventions in that the actual font I used is more classical. This was resolved by adding some larger stroke to give the masthead a slightly more distinguished and modernistic appearance.

Describe how the cover models are framed well and are they large enough to take centre stage?

I feel like if there is anything I nailed in this draft it is the framing of my model within the front cover. He fits the frame perfectly and the only part that I am a little unhappy with is that his head doesn’t rise into the masthead. so I need to cut his head out better in my next draft. this will be tricky because of the texture and material of the hat my cover model is wearing. What I desperately needed is a boarder if I want to have the image out of the frame of the final cover. Without a boarder the effect is ruined and I think for my next draft I will just fill the whole frame with my image.

How has DTP been used to integrate text and images?

I composed my magazine using desktop publishing software such as Photoshop and In-Design. In photoshop, I was able to invert the colours of this image. I managed to additionally cut out the my model within the image but I wasn’t happy with how the hat had white specs in it because I couldn’t cut out such a material to perfection. I feel like the tones of inverted colours hold very modernistic ideas because inverted colours is a new form of editing people have started using to make their images stand out.

In what way does the colour palette reflect the genre?

The deep tones of my chosen colour pallete that exist within my front cover through the image being inverted reflects the genre in a number of ways. My image utilizes the fact that dark tones to transform to light and the light to dark to really make my cover model pop. I would class these deep ambiguous  cyan’s, dark blues and limes as conventional to my genre because these are very cold and each combine in a contrasting manor. 

(Not accounting for my use of red just accounting for the actual image)

How far does the font choice convey the genre?

My choices of typeface which are Gill sans ultra bold and Engravers MT are in turn highly representative of my genre. At least, in my  opinion. The high stroke on a classic typeface causes the masthead to look modern because of the mix between a flicky fancy classic font and a bulky modern smooth stroke. The additional factor that I left the masthead unfilled adds a modern look because we no longer have a need for fill colours in these advanced times of graphic design. Italicizing my wordage furthers the trendy hip hop  feel and replacing letters with symbols like the dollar sign is a very hip hop rap and edgy sort of design choice.

How far does the Mise-en-Scene communicate the star image and genre?

MES on my front cover helps to communicate both the star image and genre in that props such as the sunglasses, the phone, chain, vest and bucket hat I each considered items that are closely associated with the rap hip hop genre. The sunglasses and the phone pair together to give a sense of exclusivity and the phone is to convey that we are in modern times of the touchscreen iPhone. The vest and bucket hat are a must when recreating hip hop as I wanted to give me target audience a throwback to the times of 90s hip hop. Making a statement like this I feel would bolster social interaction. This is because people who both read the magazine and were around to witness the era will be able to reminisce, therefore creating an outlet for social interaction.

What language is used in the cover lines that is appropriate for the target audience?

The language I incorporated within my front cover is what I would call, genre appropriate I used modern phrases such as “on the scene” which is a way of saying- they have arrived in recent times. My conventional use of wording gives my magazine front cover an orthodox sense of youth audience targeting. Although I most definitely could have involved more genre appropriate language in my first draft, it is something I can take into my second draft.

What conventional technical elements associated with a magazine cover are present?

The conventional technical elements I incorporated within my front cover were the musts; a masthead, cover lines, singular cover model and barcode. Where the rest I wouldn’t consider unconventional more just less common or outdated. In my following drafts I will definitely look at drawing more of a scope on the conventional elements on magazine composing. Because looking at my front cover from an AIDA perspective it just doesn’t quite do it for me yet.

How has the use of photoshop helped communicate star image and genre?

My use of photoshop has very minutely helped me communicate star image and genre. This is only because I wanted to try something somewhat unconventional through inverting the image, but I feel It worked. You could say my use of photoshop helps communicate my own personal identity because I didn’t want my front cover looking like everyone else’s. I wanted to stand out from the beginning.

Contact sheeting and further completing

My first shoot.

These are the contact shoots from my first shoot which I am pleased with for a first attempt. In the shoot I was constantly reminding myself of my vision for my star image and I put this forward into how I directed my model.

I mindfully chose the costume for my model to wear. I wanted him to symbolize the genre and of course I needed him to be wearing some chains because that is the magazine’s title.

In terms of body language I feel as if I had him in the correct stances and facial expressions to communicate not only the genre but the fashion movements and styles of the era I went going for, which is  90s hip and rap.

I really like this image because it gives the perfect  message of ‘I’m a rapper I’m too cool for you’ ‘I’m too busy taking this phone call when I organised this shoot’. This portrait captures my model as ‘exclusive’ and ego boosted and It contains nice colours but not too much colour. It holds some great visual integrity in that my model is holding a menacing and vicious facial expression but the colours are overtly bright. I like the juxtaposition and that fact he’s on the phone whilst making such a facial expression gives a sense that this ‘celebrity’ is in a state of delusion and that he thinks he is above everyone else.

In terms of lighting, I went for a high key lighting set up. This is because I wanted every action and expression was captured on camera. To give as strong of a message as possible.

Masthead do’s and Masthead don’ts!

I hopped on In-design to create some masthead designs that I could possibly use for the front cover to my magazine. Here is what I came up with.

The masthead designs above are all options I could use for my final product. Seeing as I’m creating a brand, I want my masthead to have originality and magnetism, I want to go about this front cover as if it is the singular way I am gathering a target audience, that way I can make it as professional and eye catching as possible.

With this media production task. I need to not be afraid to break the conventions of the hip hop and rap magazine genre in order to be bold and give it a new feel. After all, hip hop and rap is always changing, so I should change with it. Although I still need to give out the correct connotations, when accounting for AIDA in these masthead concepts I thought what typefaces and colours I could associate with the genre and then work from there. My audience is purchasing a hip hop and rap magazine so that is what I need to show them through this front cover.

Thinking forward,  now having chosen to use the masthead below for my final product. I need to now pick tones and colours which complete my masthead. I need to create a mood for this front cover and If my colour pallete does not work then whatever mood I try and go for will fail.

The final looks, layouts and fonts. Inspiration is key

I put together a mood-board containing covers of magazines that appealed to me. They hold such appeal because of their stark contrasts and that they all seem to be in the 90s or shot to look like it. I want to take this across to my own cover maybe trying manipulate my photos so they appear older to fit with the 90s hip hop movements.

The fonts especially are what draws me to a cover of a magazine. What the best part about creating a magazine cover of you own, is that you can borrow aspects from covers you have previously seen. You can recreate colour palettes, reword cover lines, recycling and uplifting old work giving it a refreshed and reinvented feel, giving out a new meaning or idea. I believe a layout of a magazine cover is just as important. You don’t want crowded clumps of information thrown in your face, you want catchy, slick captions and cover lines to really snatch the audience’s attention.

More specifically, I quite like when the cover model’s head covers part of the masthead and the magazine is so known that it doesn’t even need to be completely shown. In turn, I like the basic colour palettes throughout the front page then having the masthead a bold combination of colours across a gradient. I feel this is an expressive and tactful way of giving a front cover that wow factor. I will most probably use the bright backgrounds like the cover of “BRICK” and “SOURCE” contrasted to a stern looking rapper with dark coloured clothing. This contrast is satisfactory because it makes their facial expressions, accessories and hairstyles stand out so much more compared to shooting on a black background.

Taking in to consideration key aspects like my cover model and the graphics within my magazine, I would like my model’s expressions and stances to match the tones of my colour palettes and to relate to my chosen graphics.

Moving outward and onward, the knowledge that you can borrow from absolutely anywhere in media creating I feel will help my work to come across more refined, more considered and definitely more genre appropriate because taking any inspiration requires thought in that you have to consider how it will slot into your vision.