Production diary week 7

This was my first production for listen magazine. I realised I hardly followed any conventions of the magazines I chose to use as examples. i-D, POP, DAZED AND CONFUSED all had studio/professional images taken, and mine was taken of a screen at a concert. Also the two fonts I chose didn't look brilliant together - they stood out too much from one another it was like reading a completely different magazine on the same page.

I started to change my publication firstly, by using studio taken images which were then edited. I also rethought my choice of colour and chose something a bit more suitable and flattering to the main image so it doesn't stand out too much and it complements the front cover as a whole.

mise-en-scene - 'psycho'

One important feature of the mise-en-scene in the parlour scene is the taxidermied animals. These are used as brief focus points when Norman leads Marion into his somewhat 'enclosed' parlour. Taxidermy is quite a strange hobby and in order to be good at it you have to efficiently kill the animals, remove their intestines, stuff then sew them up and face the task of cleaning up after. Since Norman tells Marion this hobby takes up 'most of his time' we are left with the impression that he is experienced in killing, cleaning and stuffing. The animals being stuffed by Norman cultivate many thoughts in my mind as they're all birds (from what we are shown). The birds he has chosen are ones that have the capability of killing other creatures and eating their remains. He may have chosen these birds in order to prove that he has great strength and is capable of killing what has the capability to kill. This gives off the impression that he has a menacing personality and he gains happiness and fulfilment from wicked doings. Norman also refers to Marion as a bird. He thinks that she 'eats like a bird' - this is quite chilling as Norman very obviously enjoys killing birds as seen hanging in random spaces of his parlour. The dim lighting is also an important focus point as you can't see certain details in the parlour which may be much more obvious in bright lighting and people can't see clearly from the outside in. People usually dim the lights when trying to set the mood for something or trying to hide the obvious from someone. There may have been something not visible to Marion in the room that Norman wanted to keep that way with the minimal lighting.

'The Reign' | Harris Academy Purley

'Rap Realism' | Harris Academy Purley

flat plan for LISTEN magazine

On the cover of my music magazine will be Drake as he is a popular musician and at the peak of his career. I think he's also suitable to be on the cover because my target audience will be lovers of hip-hop, RnB, and urban music. Drake is a strong hip-hop artist and recognisable worldwide. The style of the front cover image will be very 'organic'. By this I mean the magazine won't be covered in superficial obnoxious edits and photos of celebrities at their worst. A shot of Drske by the pool on a deck chair enjoying the palm trees, sun, and whatever is in his cup will dominate the cover. The lighting tone will be an off white with an antique tinge - this gives the magazine a classic look and that's how I'd like it to be perceived. A high-end hip-hop magazine is quite hard to find, I believe this is what the niche in the market for this publication is. As this is the first issue, I'd like the masthead to stand out as much as possible. I want it to be eye catching enough to stop people and make them think about the fact that they haven't seen this magazine before. With Drake on the cover alone may be enough to stop certain people - as he is a big star and very recognisable. As my magazine is called "LISTEN" I'd like to have LISTEN printed on the binding side of the magazine - having the masthead of a magazine on the side is rather uncommon - this will also help me gain the attention my magazine is looking for. I'd have LISTEN printed in either neon green or gold. This will be eye catching and aesthetically pleasing to the rest of the magazine. The only image will be of Drake. Having too many

Feminist Perspectives on music magazines

On the cover of the highly successful BILLBOARD magazine we have one of the most influential and respected musicians of the century, Sade. She's photographed beautifully and modest-fully as she is no where near posing in a suggestive state or even wearing suggestive clothing. But then again, for an artist of her status - she really doesn't need to, and I could imagine she would be quite offended if that was Billboard's plan for her. There is no sense of subjugation, the image doesn't seem to suggest that Sade is being forced to do anything that makes her uncomfortable or come across as oppressive in any way. Sade is a musician of incredible talent and I believe this is all the image was trying to imply. As a woman her personal life is kept off the front cover of Billboard magazine. Is she married? Does she have children? The cover doesn't let us know - it's important for magazines like this to stay away from gender stereotypes as all that excess information isn't valuable to the content of the magazine itself. If Billboard had chosen to photograph Sade in a kitchen, apron tied and two children at her feet - it may be taken in an offensive light not to mention it would have absolutely no correlation with the theme of the magazine itself. Now, pictures of famous chefs in the kitchen shown on the front of lifestyle magazines isn't taken as offensive simple because that is the nature of the magazine's content. This front cover may come across as a breath of fresh air to some readers as with musicians like Rihanna, and Miley Cyrus who enjoy being photographed wearing next to nothing there's finally a female on the cover fully clothed and looking very subtle. It may be quite liberating to some people as well as Sade hasn't become a Madonna on us - your talent should ultimately make up who you are, not how much flesh you're showing or the shade of your lipstick.

Production diary week 5

For contents pages, I started looking at DAZED AND CONFUSED their contents pages have changed over the years as the first and second images show. They started with having 5/6 images placed in random places and having the text wrapped around all of them. I wasn't too fond of the set up as I thought there was too much going on and I wanted to keep my publication as minimal as possible. DAZED AND CONFUSED then went on to introduce a contents page with one image at the top of the page and with the content on the bottom half. i-D came along with a contents page which is a lot similar to their double page spread which I think introduces you to the magazine nicely and makes you want to read the contents page as most people don't pay it much attention. I decided to go with the theme of having my contents page look like a double page spread (shown in the image of M.I.A).

XXL MAGAZINE CONTENT PAGES ANALYSIS

XXL have done something with their contents pages that i'm quite fond of. They've named the pages 'the A-side' and 'the B-side' as done on old cassettes and records - this ties in beautifully on the theme of music and musical culture. The first pictured artist on 'the A-side' contents page is hip-hop veteran Dr.Dre. Many fans of new artists such as Kendrick Lamar or even hip-hop legends such as Eminem have this guy to thank for the recognition they've gained. Dr.Dre is photographed posing in quite a powerful stance. The black and white gives it a classy and clean look, the shadow shown very obviously and projected quite largely implies that the person in question has a lot of power in the industry they're associated in and they have a lot of power over those also associated in the same line of work.

Moving on to the actual content, all the literary skills and techniques come back into play, after we thought they'd been lost on the front cover. Although the use of street slang is still present, coherent and well structured sentences are used to give us minimal insight on the included articles. The idiolect written in is appropriate for the audience in which the magazine is mainly written for. The layout glows quite nicely as the words and photos are incorporated in a way which is aesthetically pleasing.

XXL MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

On the cover of hip hop giant magazine XXL, we have a rather unflattering image of A$AP Rocky showing of his 25 karat grillz. The sub heading "YOUNG, FLY & FLASHY" let's us as the reader know instantly what type of audience this magazine and its literary terms are aimed at. There is minimal (and if any) information on the front cover of what's going on inside. Although, we do have on the left a list of rapper's, probably found in the interior. The logo for XXL is partially hidden by the artist photographed - but even if you aren't familiar with the magazine and the little you can see of the masthead doesn't give you what you need, the little badge in the right hand corner might give you a clue as to what you are reading. XXL know what they're doing, as for the lack of substance on the front cover - it's all made up for in the tastefully (and creatively made) contents pages.

Cover of the Week

Rolling Stone is one of my favourite music magazines simply for front covers, not content particularly. The diversity in each and every cover keeps me interested and alert to see the next cover. I believe it may do the same for many other readers too (who are like me and care more about who's on the cover than what Rolling Stone writers have included inside the magazine).

Rolling Stone can also have very controversial covers. Seen above, a teenage boy accused of being a part of the Boston bombings earlier this year. Although he has absolutely nothing to do with music culture, Rolling Stone thought their readers may react well to this type of political information. This says much more about the reader than Rolling Stone magazine itself - it could imply that readers are well educated (or not) about world affairs. Americans are usually very patriotic and have a great deal of concern when it comes to important life changing events in their country.