Pictures on Matthews Street.

Double Page Spread Ideas.

Ideas-

• For the actual picture itself, my interview is taking place on Carvern Walks in the Lucy in Sky cafe. Around that area reflects the history of Liverpool Music. I can also use this area as a picture for my Contents Page as one of my coverlines is The history of Indie and Liverpool being where the Beatles are from would be a good setting. Also the fact Ian Prowse has been around for two decades of music, therfore would make him a legend.

Planning Production Plan.

Front Cover Image- 
Idea One;
A medium shot, teenage girl, dressed in a indie way. head alittle bit infront of the title.
Idea Two;
Full frontal image of a girl/boy fully indie dressed, picture takes up the whole page- background like full picture. Mersey and Liverpool behind.


Coverlines for front Cover-

• Ian Prowse, giving it one more chance.
• The history of indie
• Win tickets to an exclusive Artic Monkeys gig.
• Top Ten Indie Icons.
• Glastonberry line up Rumours.
• Masie Shore (image on front cover)

Coverlines for Contents Page

• Ian Prowse, giving it one more chance.
• The history of indie
• Win tickets to an exclusive Artic Monkeys gig.
• Top Ten Indie Icons.
• Glastonberry line up Rumours.
• Masie Shore (image on front cover)
• Tips on Upcoming gigs
• Alex Turner weekly column
• Editors Letter
• How do artists Handle it?
• Article focussing on a particular venue.
• Live the Indie Star lifestyle.
• Build up for the Comeback of The Fall.
• Backstage Access.
• Who to go see and who not to go see.

Pictures for front cover-

• Main image- 'Masey' on bars with Liverpool skyline in the back or alley way in background
• Small picture of a band made up. - For the Competition
• Picture of girl in Glastoberry field

Pictures for Contents-

• 'Masey' doing what looks like busking on the prom
• Field with made writing saying 'festival'
• Picture of the Liverpool skyline with a boy in a suit looking over.

Double Page Spread

• Picture of Ian Prowse- Carvern Walks- reflects Liverpool music scene. 

The article will be portrayed as biographical rather than an interview. It will have quotes from Ian Prowse and people whom actually like his bands, Pele and Amsterdam. 

Band Research

Amsterdam and Pele

  

Ian Prowse- whom the interview is with( member of both Pele and Amsterdam)

• Singer/Song writer.
• Member of both Pele and Amsterdam.
• Formed Amsterdam in 1999.
• Pele formed in 1990.
• John Peel was a massive support for Amsterdam
• In 1999 with Amsterdam won 'best new band' competition in NME.
• Love phenomenon released on tiny little indie label Weena which secures the band there first ever live performance on Janice Long’s BBC Radio 2 show. The band go down a storm, in 2001.
• Amsterdam have appeared with Elvis Costello on the BBC1′s Jonathon Ross television show in 2002.
• In 2003, Legendary BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel begins playing Does this train stop on Merseyside?.
• In 2004, Sign record deal with Beat Crazy/Pinnacle.
• In 2005, Band embark upon 14-date UK tour with labelmates Ricky. The journey single is released and hits the UK charts at number 32.
• June 2008, Amsterdam play Glastonberry.
• Pele were signed to brand new label M&G records in 1991.
• Raid The Palace was the first single. Everybody was stunned as BBC Radio 1 put the single on it's playlist for six weeks, especially as the songs lyrics suggested people should scratch the cars of the rich and then shoot them!
• In February 1992 second single Megalomania was released. Again BBC Radio 1 playlisted the single and the band nearly died of surprise when the song went to number one in South Africa (with Pele).

Line up

Ian Prowse vocals and guitar
Johnny Barlow guitar
Anna Jenkins violin
Deian Elfryn drums
Tony Kiley guru

All Pele's line ups

Ian Prowse - guitar and vocals

Andrew Roberts (Robbo) - hammond and piano
Andrea Nicholson (Nico) - violin
P Dallison (Dally) - drums
James McAllister - bass
Wayne Morgan - bass
Tony Kiley - drums

Questions for Interview

Interview Questions

Ian Prowse (singer/song writer, Amsterdam & Pele)

1.       When did Amsterdam form? And How long have you and your band mates known each other?

2.       What’s the best part of being in Amsterdam?

3.       What makes Amsterdam Amsterdam, what were you inspirations to form Amsterdam?

4.       You have formed two well known bands, both having top 40 singles, what’s been the best part of being in Amsterdam and Pele(until 1995)? 

5.       Over the past two decades you’ve achieved a lot with both Pele and now Amsterdam, what was your greatest influence to achieve all that?

6.       Your bands have backed some amazing bands and artists, like Elvis Costello, you’ve been on tour with bands such as The Pouges and Del Amitri with Pele. How does that make you feel, what was your favourite part of that?

7.       Did being around such famous artists ever leave you star struck?

8.       What artists influence your music and song writing? (if its someone they’ve been on tour with or backed, ask what it was like meeting them; touring with them)

9.       What are Amsterdam doing next?

10.    What’s been your greatest success so far with Amsterdam?

11.   Although Pele isn’t together anymore, what do you think was your greatest success with Pele?

12.   Do you think it was easier getting into the charts and being played on the Radio with Pele than it is now with shows such as X factor creating pop stars?

13.   Is it a good feeling that you’ve had top forty singles in the past decade even with these talent shows?

14.   How does it feel to be part of the Liverpool greats as Amsterdam appeared on the EMI album of Liverpool greats along side Paul McCartney and others?

15.   What would you like to happen in the future with Amsterdam and is there any chance of another Pele reunion show?

Pictures For Music Magazine

 The aim of these two pictures was too attempt to get the background of the Liverpool Skyline.

I think this one worked out the best.

I feel I need to retake some of these pictures. As they have turned out not very well. The Lighting didn't turn out correctly.

Ideas for Titles

Indie Music Magazine; Ideas for a Title.

Words that respondents associated with Indie Music

• Funky
• Popular
• Upbeat
• Volume
• Concerts
• Headphones
• Gigs
• Guitars
• Skinny Jeans
• Strum
• Indie

Publication Plan

Title:

Positioning Statement:  For true indie fans.

Frequency of Publication: Monthly

Price: £3.00

Distribution: Newsagents, supermarkets, music shops, gigs.

Rationale: Top experts and fans' views, so it's for the fans yet ans can learn from expert views.


Style: Informal but opinionated via the reviews. Will use vocabulary thats very 'relevant' to indie music.

Images will be the dominant feature of layout.

Regular Content

• Reviews of gigs, albums.
• Fans opinions( fans write letters in)
• An iconic indie star write a column every month.
• Competitons where you win prizes to gigs etc.
• Tips on Upcoming gigs
• Different artists answering a weekly question.
• Pictures of gigs and artists.
• Editor's letter.
•       This month in musical pictures, e.g best gigs, best artists, etc.
•        Lists of Best albumn, single, bands to watch out for. A different themed list every month

Feature Content

• Interview with Ian Prowse(interviews with artist, a regular feature)       
• The history of Indie.
• How do artists of today handle it?
• Article about a particular venue, (e.g the O2 etc)
• Who to go see and  who to not go see.
• Best Band Tshirts. Good Websites to find them.
• Festival Updates. Rumours of whos playing festivals.
• Backstage access to bands tours.
•  Article on How to get your band noticed?
• Build up for certain artists comebacks.
• How to live the lifestyle of an Indie star.

House Style

Coverlines:  Arial black and arial.

Headlines: Century

Stand first: Century

Captions: Century, 10pt

Features First paragraph: , drop capital, 5 lines deep. Whole first paragraph in font bold.

News First Paragraph: Whole first paragraph in font bold

Body Text: times new Roman


Colour Scheme: Red, White and black.

Results

Results of Questionaire

Questionaire

Questionnaire.

For My Media AS coursework I am designing a new indie music magazine. Please would you take the time to fill this questionnaire out.

1.       What gender are you? Circle Answer.

Male                      Female

 

2.       What is your favourite Colour?                                                           

3.       How old are you? Circle Answer.

16-18    18-20    20-22    22-24

4.       How often do you buy music magazines? Circle Answer.
Weekly                           Fortnightly                       Monthly

5.       How much would you pay for a music magazine?

6.    Did you attend gigs and festivals in the past year? Circle Answer.
Yes     No

7.       How do you buy music? Circle answer. 
Download       CDS      Both

8.       What do you like about music magazines?


 

9.       What don’t you like about music magazines?



 

10.   Who is your favourite indie artist/band?



 

11.   On a scale of 1-5 where 5 is the most important and 1 the least, how do you rate the following aspects of a music magazine? Please Circle.

Pictures-           1  2  3  4  5

Competitions-   1   2  3  4  5

Interviews-         1  2  3  4  5

Lists of Music-   1   2   3   4  5

Future gigs and Concert Info-   1   2   3   4   5

Free Gift-  1  2  3   4   5

New music releases-1   2   3   4   5

Reviews-1   2   3   4  5

12.       Name three colours you would associate with indie music?

 13.       Think of Three words you associate with indie music?

Analysis of Professional Magazine Covers

Analysis of Professional Magazine Covers. on Prezi

General Research

·         http://www.qthemusic.com

·         http://www.nme-magazine.com

·         http://www.mojo4music.com/

·         http://www.uncut.co.uk/magazine

RESEARCH

Q magazine

·         Prices of Magazine- £3.99

·         Frequency of publication- monthly

·         Regular Content- The magazine has an extensive review section, featuring: new releases, reissues, music compilations, film and live concert reviews, as well as radio and television reviews. It uses a star rating system from one to five stars; the rating an album receives in Q is often added to print and television advertising for the album in the UK and Ireland. It also compiles a list of approximately eight albums, which it classes as the best new releases of the last three months.

Lists such as:
"The 100 Greatest albums" to the "100 Greatest '100 Greatest' Lists".
A lot of the magazines devoted too famous music artists.

Feature articles- The November 2010 issue is a special collectors issue of Q – a celebration of John Lennon to mark what would have been his 70th birthday. As such it will feature 4 separate covers, each featuring a rare or unseen shot of Lennon from a different period of his life (one of which is a previously unpublished David Bailey shot from 1963).

Other Music Magazines.

NME Magazine  

·         Price: £2.20

·         Frequency of Publication: Weekly, every Wednesday

·         Regular Content: Feature article, interviews, competitions, Free CDs, CD lists etc...

Mojo Magazine

·         Price: £3.99

·         Published: Monthly

·         Regular Content: Feature article, interviews, Competitions, Free CDS, CD lists etc...

Uncut Magazine

·         Price: £4.99

·         Published: Monthly

·         Regular Content: Free CDs, feature article/interview, Behind the scenes, Top Music, Old concerts etc...

This research made me see that the majority of music magazines are monthly, this conincides with my results again. It gave me insight to see what is in a music magazine. I saw from my research the clear questions that would need to be asked on my questionaire. 

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form and conventions of media products? 
How did use media technologies in the construction of your media product?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of both the product and your use of new media technologies?


Through the planning of manufacturing my school magazine front cover and contents page, I attempted to follow the strict codes and conventions of a magazine. For example the use of a medium close up as the main image and different colour and font of the title, and the use of one font size for coverlines, attempting to leave as little spare space as possible. Also the use of a bar code, a price and a date on the cover, reflects the codes and conventions of any magazine. 
I used Adobe Photoshop to make my school magazine front cover. Although I had previously used this product for a Media GCSE,  I felt like I needed to be refreshed on how to use it. However, I quickly adapted to it and saw that it was easy to adjust too. The software allowed me to crop images from pictures, and edit pictures and writing to the follow the strict codes and conventions and the ways I wanted it to be. When creating the cover I had originally planned for my main article and image to reflect the story, "New School Dinners" yet the images I took did not fit the codes and conventions, so I changed my main story to, 'Adapting to Sixth Form'.  This did not set me back in time. 
      In producing my contents page, I was very unfamiliar with Quark. However alike with Photoshop it was easy to adapt too. I used three columns and featured two pictures and all the coverlines that would feature in the School Magazine.
      The front cover I've produced in my opinion looks professional and sticks firmly to the codes and conventions. I like the way the how the front cover reflects the images yet the coverlines still stick out due to the use of the colour red. The black and red, theme is shown throughout the cover. I feel the image fits the background. 
     The problems which I faced was deciding on the font size for the contents page, I did not contemplate how many coverlines and how much space would be needed on my draft, I have tried my best to follow as many codes and conventions of a contents page. Also I felt there was problems with my front cover, due it reflecting alot of white space this leads to the main image being the main focus, so it reflects on the slights problems with editing. I feel that I did well in completing to the work to a deadline due to starting the course later on in the year

Completed Front Cover.

















Completed Contents Page.

Codes and Conventions of a Magzine Contents Page

• A variety of images to match the main headlines.
• Page numbers on pictures which anchors to the written contents.
• Small writing.
• Small picture of the front of the magazine in the top left.
• The pictures have captions.
• Hardly any colour.
• Columns, usually 3 or 4.
• One main picture related to a feature article.
• Structured layout/created layout.
• The name of the magazine is at the top & the date, issue, contents.
• Subscription and contact information.
• Sometimes an editors letter.
• Contents is divided into catergories & headings used to identify each category.
• Simple colour scheme.

First line

• Contents are written in the same way: page number/ one or two words(artists names/ambiguious text to intrigue the reader) in bold type, often Capital letters (average of 12/13pt).
• Capital letters

Subline

• Give you more specific detail about what the articles about.
• Smaller font and Roman (No bigger than 11pt).
• Photography is credited for the front cover.
• They are not Boring photographs, they are interesting & varied.

"Features" and "Regulars" Main category heading

• At the bottom theres a page number, title & date often the web address.
• Usually one or two pages.

Codes and Conventions of Magazine Double Page Spread

• All have a main image which is relevant to the article.
• Main text bigger than all text.
• Columns.
• Heading Long- Stands out.
• Simple colour scheme- colours keep to a minimum.
• One large picture which takes up to a whole page and sometimes bleeds between pages. (link the two pages together).
• Sometimes the picture is a cross the whole DPS with all text on the picture.
• Quotes are used sometimes in the title/headline on the picture stand first or to break up the text.
• The stand first introduces the article and is positioned at the begginning of the headline.
• Often includes the journalists name.
• First letter of the article is bigger to show you where to start reading.
• Other techniques for the same thing include bold text, slightly bigger type space, capitals at the start of the article.
• Sometimes uses stylized fonts.
• Headlines used to draw the reader in but don't tell them what the articles about thats done by stand first.
• Byline-who wrote the article, photographers credit.
• Laid out in 2-4 collumns.
• Strap line at the top- what the article is about.
• The article is usually written infromally and the personality
• of the journalist come through.

With this double page spread the main image takes up the whole page, in doing thi.  

Mojo Magazine.