The BFI Short Film Day

On Friday 16th of July, our Media class went to the BFI. First we watched a number of short films including Borderline by Alex Chandon (4 minutes),Milk by Andrea Arnold (10 minutes), Project One, Sundial by William Raban (1 minute) and Girls' Night Out by Joanna Quinn (6 minutes). All the films were very different in their own ways, however personally, some of them I didn't like as much as others. Project One was very technically flawless and very well made however there wasn't any real storyline- beginning, middle and end- to the film. It was a film which could have ended at any point. 
I really enjoyed Girls Night Out as it was very different to the rest of the films. It was a cartoon animation film yet this just made it more interesting and appealing. The good use of colour throughout the film encourages us to focus on different things which makes it easier for us to watch. Similarly, I really liked Borderline. It wasn't a conventional film as it didn't have a defined storyline however it was cleverly made and very addictive. 


We were also told about the Future Films organisation which is an opportunity for us to enter in our short films. It also gave us the chance to exhibit and screen the films to people with influence so our 'voices can be heard'. The best short film is picked and given a prize. Project One won the Future Film award in 2009.
We learnt that music must be copywrite free for us to include it in our films. So many of us are going to have to make our own music or use a limited range of songs. We were given this site PRSMUSIC which is a site which has many copywrite free songs for us to use. This was really handy to know as it will help in the progression of my film.

What is 'GENRE'?`

The word 'genre' comes from the French word meaning 'kind' or 'class'. To us, genre is the category a piece of media text comes from. Foe example the genre of a book, a film, a play can range from horror, thriller, action/adventure, rom-com, romance, comedy, sci-fi to drama. 

There are many ways to help us establish the genre of a film... 


We can look at the sounds in films. A rom-com film may include: diagetic sounds of kissing, laughing- soundtrack would stereotypically be upbeat, happy, may include the word 'love' etc.
We could also focus on the type of camera angles and edits the film uses. A horror film may use: low angled shots to make things appear bigger, more powerful and more menacing, over the shoulder shots to suggest the idea that someone is following them, quick edits to create a feeling of fear and suspense. (The Dutch tilt angle used in 'Virus' was typical of horror films)
Or we could look at the mise-en-scene. The mise-en-scene in an action/adventure film may include weapons and bombs, the weather is usually rainy and the more important fight scenes occur in the night to make it more frightening, army uniforms (Green Zone) sweaty, muscular, dirty men etc.


All these things help us to define the genre of the film. 
Genre is the expectation and template for creativity... 

Stalk- 2005


A dark fairy tale about Lonely Bunny who is intrigued by her unusual admirer's desperate attempts to get her attention.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p004r2bz (8.19mins)

The short film was interesting as the director has chosen to use animated animals as opposed to humans. However, some of the images and props used are real- for example, the car, the shops etc. The facial features of the bunny were real people's. 

The director established the genre of the film- thriller/horror- in the first few seconds of the film. The sad lonely bunny along side the rainy dark night set up a sense of fear and foreshadowed something sinister. The non diagetic music consisting of heavy beats from low to high notes resembled that a heart beat with are common to real horror movies. The diagetic sound of footsteps and rain all add to the sense of unease.
Although the film was cartoon, the director still used interesting camera angles and shots to make it feel more realistic. The frequent use of over the shoulder shots suggests that something of someone is following the bunny (hence the name Stalk) The high angle shot of the green alien looking creature which we learn is stalking the bunny is also a clever technique as we are forced to look into his huge eyes which makes him appear even more frightening.
The lighting throughout the film is dark and dull which again, matches the genre of the short film.
All in all the film was interesting and very unique. I enjoyed the animation and I thought it was very clever the way it was similar to real horror/thriller films although it was short and didn't involve human characters.

7/10

WASP- Short Film

Director: Andrea Arnold
2003

In some respects, Arnold is showing the negative side to single young mothers with a number of young children; however 'Wasp' also explores the desperation these mothers are forced to go through and the struggles and hardship they are expected to undertake. Many of the scenes show Zoe, the mother acting in an aggressive, hostile way towards her children, however this is juxtaposed beside her trying hard to comfort and sympathise with them.

Zoe, has three young girls and one baby boy and it is emphasized from the start of the film that she is unable to properly look after them. The woman she fights with at the start comments on how she should call the 'social services' to take her children away, and through close ups of Zoe taking moldy bread and empty packets of cereal out of the cupboard until ultimately resorting to giving her children sugar, Arnold highlights her inability to feed and support her own children. These shots all create an image of Zoe as incapable. Her lying to David by telling him the children are her friends, and her agreement to go on a date with him without finding suitable child care for her children, suggests she is putting herself first before her children, which all adds to form a picture of her as a stereotypical 'bad' mother.

Yet, Arnold includes shots which show Zoe playing with her kids as they run to the pub, she buys them food and drink instead of getting herself a drink and sings and dances with the girls to cheer them up. She slips out of the pub to check on her children near the end of her film, however shouts and complains that they are bothering her. These constant contrasting shots forces us to question her role as a mother.
Distinct from her children, Zoe is struggling within herself. When she walks into the pub, her facial expression shows her to be nervous and almost scared by all the glaring men around her. Her fear after David asks her to buy the drinks and her slow stumble to the bar all contribute in setting up this vulnerable, almost weak picture of a woman and mother. She is torn throughout the film between living her own life and being the mother she knows she has to be.
The image of the 'wasp' is a metaphorical symbol of her realisation of her role as a mother and the penultimate shot of her darting out of the car as the wasp enters Toby's mouth draws our attention to the choice she chose to make- to be a mother.

Thoughts for my Short Film

Possible Title of film: (mis)match.com

Brief outline: Mockumentary on online dating. Interviews with my aunt who is a member of match.com and e-harmony.com- shares experiences and explains the difficulty behind it. If possible, I want to also talk to two other women who are a member of match.com if they will agree to be interviewed.
Parallel to these interviews I will have short Peepshow/The Office style drama of a woman (my sister) who has agreed to sign up to the dating website for the purpose of my film so people can have a clearer understanding of online dating websites.

'Virus'- By Simon Hynd

This short film is a well made psychological thriller. Although short, it contains all the necessary ingredients which make a successful horror film.

http://independentshortfilms.org/169/independent-short-film-virus/ (6.09 mins)

Interestingly, there is no dialogue between any of the characters. No sound track or non diagetic music/ sounds are used. The long edits at the start help to set the scene and introduce a feeling of unease and tension. The gate closing down is an interesting technique as it acts as an almost swipe transition. The panning of the camera around various settings again help to establish the setting and create a sinister feeling- we know from the outset that something bad will happen. The interesting shots through the security camera implies that someone, or something is watching us. Finally, we are introduced to a character through the security camera. The fast edits allow us to learn that this is his office, and he is working, and that it is late at night as no one else it there. Again, the night time setting reminds us of the horror soon to approach.

As the file is downloading, shots of what's going on around the man are interspersed with shots of a close up view of the computer screen as we see the progression of the downloading file. This is a clever technique as we are constantly being forced to come back to the file...which we assume is the 'virus'.

As we see the man's girlfriend on the screen, unlike him, we know something bad is going to happen. The silhouette of the person coming out of the floor behind her confirms the genre of the film- horror. Clearly, this is not suitable for children.

The crane shot of the man looking at the computer while frantically calling Amber shows him to be weak and vulnerable and we know he will not be able to save her. This is confirmed by the extreme close up of the blood stains on Amber's keyboard.

The fact that both characters get nose bleeds underlines that both of them will most probably die as there is no way of escaping their fates.

The mirror shots of the character with a person standing uncannily behind them adds to the feeling of tension. The diagetic sound of the dial tone as the phone hangs down from its cord signals that all is over and both characters have been killed by this unknown 'virus'. The moving of the mouse which selects 'all' suggests that there is no end and makes us aware that the 'virus' in in fact in the computers.

The wide range of shots and angles used in this film all add to the ever increasing sense of foreshadowing. The USP is the genre and the impeccable transitions throughout.

9/10

'The Invisible Man' - made by Amancay-Tapia-Montes

The film is posted on Virgin Media Shorts and takes a look at colonialism from the point of view of a London illegal immigrant.

http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/films/entry/338326/the-invisible-man (2.20mins)

The film opens with a non diagetic soundtrack of upbeat Mexican music signifying a different ethnicity. The sound bridge of the man taking allows us to hear his foreign accent as he talks about his life and the difficulties he is faced with.

A range of camera angles and shots are used- over the shoulder shots, point of view shots, jump cuts etc, to make the film more interesting to watch. Again, this is obviously a very low budget film yet acts almost as a video diary to capture the struggles immigrant are faced with.

It follows the typical documentary style film as it has captions of different buildings and at the end through a few sentences, gives us an update on the immigrant focused on in the film. It's a non fiction text which adopts the conventions of a video diary to present the material. This is a very moving and powerful story and is a good way to draw attention around the issue.

The narrative voice is of the immigrant speaking to us, and the USP (appeal) is the story he retells to us and its controversial quality. I suppose the genre of the film is a drama as it dramatises a real life issue to make it more appealing and interesting. The representation is of ethnicity and the unfairness around different cultures. I would say the film is targeted to illegal immigrants, but also people who are interested in the subject.

It is not the best of short films as it is very basic and simple. The choices about the editing, pace and narrative structure and very deliberate and are crafted accordingly. There are a number of interesting edits- over the shoulder shots, pans, tracks and extreme close ups- which help to highlight the narrators feeling of segregation and abandonment. The pace is more or less the same the whole way through, there are no particular long of short edits which are noticable.

5/10

A2 COURSE: SHORT FILMS

'About a Girl'-Directed by Brian Percial.

In 2001 it won the BAFTA award for Best Short Film. It also won an award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. for Best British Short, the Turner Classic Movie's Short film Award prize at the London Film festival, and the JURY prize at the Raindance film festival.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL2z8Qzn1dc (9.52mins)

The opening shot of the film is of a silhouette of a young girl singing 'Stronger' by Brittany Spears against a skyline of clouds on a hill. Throughout the duration of the film, there is no soundtrack or non-diagetic music, only the dialogue between the characters, the young girl talking self consciously to us, and the diagetic sound of the world around her.

The interesting juxtaposition of shots of her talking to the camera in the present tense and flash backs into the near past is extremely effective as it paints a more in depth, detailed picture of who this girl is. It is difficult to pin point the exact genre of the film as the narrative consists only of this girl. As her monologue continues, we begin to feel almost uncomfortable as her upbeat way of talking does not match some of the terrible things she explains and suggests has happened to her- domestic violence, poverty and family troubles.

The film as a whole is very low budget, not fussy as only four of five locations are used, however the narrative is highly captivating. Perhaps the most impressive shot is at the end, of the low angle shot of the bloody bag opening with the baby falling out.

I would say the film is aimed at a more mature audience of about 16-20 years old- possibly girls due to the poignant ending. The representation is of regional ethnicity yet also perhaps age. The deliberate omission of the girls name forces us to not be so connected with her and reminds us at the end of how many girls there are that go through such horrific experiences such as this young girl's.

The USP (appeal) is the young girl, her dreams of fame and the picture she paints of her troubled life. It attracts us as it is very real and extremely honest. It also highlights how the lives of every day people can hold such mystery and horror.

9/10

Development of skills

How have my skills developed since the School Magazine?

Looking back at when I was doing my school magazine, I can now see how much my skills have developed. At the beginning of the year when I started doing Media Studies, I had no idea how to use Photoshop or any of the programmes we used within the media lessons.
>Having Photoshop on my home laptop, has allowed me to practise and improve my skills on the programme. I have used YouTube tutorials to help guide me through the vast, complex features of Photoshop. With these programmes I have learnt to use liquify- the slimming and bloating tool, I know how to change hair and eye colour and am now much more confident with layering, changing fonts, font colours and adding glows, strokes and embossing text. I can also use the Magic Wand tool to precisely outline images and crop them. All these techniques have been very useful in the making of my magazine.

>I am also much more confident with photography- having taken many pictures of Louise for my feature, I became more sure of all the features on the camera- for example, manual zooming with the lense, changing the picture to black and white and achieving good lighting for different types of photos.

>Making the questionnaire and getting back the results from it showed me how much easier it was to understand what exactly it was that my target audience wanted before going ahead and constructing the magazine. I feel now that I am more aware of the types of issues young teenage girls are interested in. I now know how important it was for me to organise to research and carry out an audience survey.
The talk with Art Director of Mojo, Mark Wagstaff really gave me an insight to how much work and planning goes into making a magazine. It was interesting learning about all the different jobs there are to do throughout the process and the large number of specialized people it takes to make a single issue.

Having deconstructed a large number of real music magazines, I could compare the techniques used by real magazines to the skills and techniques I used to make my own magazine. I stuck to only using three colours throughout the whole magazine and these colours were purposely chosen to appeal to my target audience, and my pictures were striking however not overwhelmed with colours and patterns. I linked the front cover information to the contents features and the main feature in the magazine so that, although this is a fictional magazine, it is still consistent and appears realistic. This lead to a more coherant, final product.

Finally, looking back at my finished magazine, I can tell that my skills in Photoshop have progressed dramatically and I am pleased with what I have been able to achieve. If I had the chance to re do the task at hand, I perhaps would have aimed to find out about a real upcoming artist as opposed to making a fictional feature. I would have also liked to have tried making a magazine which was not in my comfort zone; for example, a music magazine aimed at 20 year old men. This would have been a lot more challenging and perhaps could have tested my skills further. However, all in all, I am very pleased with what I have made as I have learnt a range of new skills which I can take with me into next year's media studies.

Audience Feedback

I showed my magazine to the Art Director at MOJO music magazine and he approved of my magazine saying it was 'brilliant'. He said that my feature was 'jazzy' and the writing was a 'good size' and even though the writing wasn't in perfect columns, this layout would appeal to my target audience of females aged between 12-17 years old; this was because a girl of such a such age wouldn't want to be swamped with text. The pictures and the fun style of the feature is more relaxed and much easier to digest.
I also showed my magazine to my 10 year old male cousin. He said the 'pictures were nice' and it is very 'colourful' however, being a boy, he said he wouldn't buy the magazine as it is 'too pretty and pink'. Although this piece of feedback was essentially negative towards my magazine, it made me feel more confident that I had correctly targetted my target audience.
My 12 year old cousin, Chiara also took a look at the magazine- I did this knowing that it was her age group at which the magazine was targetted. She said she 'liked all the artists involved' in the magazine and the pictures 'were pretty and nice'. She also commented on how she liked the extra features not associated with music including the make-up, fashion and quizzes. This was very positive feedback.
The ex-Media teacher in Camden School for Girls, Ms Camillo looked at my magazine and said it looked 'extremely realistic and very technical'. She liked the use of colour and the front cover picture as the 'eye line match makes it feel as if Lulu is looking directly at us.
I showed the rest of my class my magazine in a presentation and Billy Cape said 'the professional style has really been captured' and said that I have 'been able to combine a great literary feature with an intelligent, bright design'. Kendra said it was 'great!'.
With the wide range of feedback I have gathered, through my questionnaire and the people who have seen my magazine, I can safely say that I have successfuly created a magazine which appeals to my target audience of girls between the ages of 12 to 17. The choices I have made with reference to the design and the content of my magazine have been well chosen to meet my expectation.

FINAL FEATURE

When planning my feature I decided I wanted the page to be more plain than the contents page and so I used a plain white background. The colours I used within the feature were consistent to the colours used throughout the rest of the magazine. I once agin used the 'hot' logo however underneath it I changed the sub heading to 'The hottest music interviews' to differenctiate between what each page was showing.

I used the font StencilStd to make the words EXCLUSIVE- the font used gave the words the effect of a 'Top Secret' stamp creating a fun, play like feel.
The introduction to the interview is written much bigger than the actual interview itself . This made it more eye catching and so it was the first thing the readers would read. The font used was the common font, Segoe UI, which is present throughout the magazine. I added a stroke effect to the writing to make it stand out. The extreme close up of Lulu beside the introduction is very eye catching and feels as though Lulu is looking directly at us, the readers, subconsciously inviting us in to read her interview. The heading 'Lulu' is written in the font Vladimir Script and I added a shadow to this to make it appear more three dimensional. The sub heading 'how the spark turned to fire'has been edited in such a way that it looks as though the words are sparklers and are fuzzing. I added a drop shadow, inner shadow and an outer glow and I also embossed the words. This was a good technique as it was consistent with the title and the sub heading of the feature.
To make the magazine look more professional, I included an personal website for Lulu and designed her own logo. I essentially just used different fonts, different font sizes and colours and from the brush tool, I put a blue star in to connote stardom!
The large quotations from the interview was done solely by enlarging the font and adding a black stroke to make the letters stand out.
The pictures I used were all very playful, and appealing and attracted the target audience my magazine was aimed at. Lulu looked very stereotypically pretty and young girls are often drawn to this. Her clothes are funky and fresh and she fits in with the modern idea of a 'cool' female teenager.
On the right hand side of the feature, to add to the realism, I included a contact address and at the bottom of the page, I invented a 'hot' email address. This technique allow the readers to connect to the magazine and actually take part in the making of it.

FINAL CONTENTS PAGE

This is the final contents page. To make it appear more defined and sophisticated I added a colour gradient to create a fade from white to yellow. I also outlined all the writing to enhance it, making it easier to read. To the sub headings, I added curve and perspective to make it appear more fun and to make it appeal to my target audience.

I also outlined a few of the pictures to make it more defined I cropped the Spice Girls photo so we can see the pictures more. I moved the text around to make it overlap and be closer together so that I could have a larger font yet still be able to fit all the writing on the page.

The reason for using such a bold colour was to make the contents page stand out. This is the page which sets out the whole magazine; a boring contents page would suggest a boring magazine. The yellow also implies a rather young, female audience- and this is exactly who my magazine is aimed at.

The Contents Page- Step 1

Step 1

This was the initial idea for my contents page. I used bright yellow as my background to make it more eye catching. This is the only time in the magazine where I used yellow. I used the same title, 'hot' that i used on my front cover to keep it consistant, and then, in the same font, added 'CONTENTS'. I used the hand writing font, to write 'Note from the editor' and to sign my name at the end of the editor's letter. I read a number of editors letters from other magazines to give me an idea of what I should be writing in my letter. I used the picture of Lulu singing to correspond to the idea that this is a music magazine.

In the features and regulars section of the front cover, I scanned in a number of pictures; album covers, music DVD's, photos and an album picture of the Spice Girls. I kept the same colours I used on my front cover to keep it the same.

However, although I liked my initial idea, I felt is wasn't as evocative as it could have been. The yellow background was too harsh on the eyes and had no depth to it. The fonts I used were too flat and didn't stand out as much as it could have. I wanted to make the whole page more three dimensional and so I decided to add a stroke to the font and alter the background to make it more soothing and appealing for the audience.

FINAL FRONT COVER

In the final part of my front cover construction I added a number of sell lines and decided which three colours I would use throughout the magazine.
The final choice consisted of fuchsia, hot blue and bright orange. The reason for using these colours was because they were all bright and eye catching and so readers would be drawn to the magazine. These colours are mainly associated with younger people as they are vivid; older people are drawn to softer, more subtle colours. Knowing this, the colours I used are a good choice as I was sure the target audience I was aiming my magazine to would be able to relate to the magazine through the use of colours.
The sell lines on the front cover also were suited to the 12-17 age group. The reference to Underage Festival was a deliberate choice as teens under 18 would be the age group that would go to this event. The mode of address is rather informal, stark and simple to understand. The clarity makes it much easier for readers to relate to.
I chose an interview with Miley Cyrus because this is the type of artists the magazine will be focusing on. Similarly, by having the Spice Girls, the magazine automatically attracts a specific age group.

The final front cover, is very strong. The use of the plot of Lulu leaning forward, looking directly at the camera makes it feel as though she is looking at us and wants us to be included in what she is saying. The front cover gives off a range of key message- fun, sexy, girly and fresh! It is a very different magazine, offering a range of different ideas in one place.

Music Magazine- Front Cover (Step 3)

Step 3

The next step in making my front cover was to include the price. I decided that this would be the first issue of the magazine and so I planned on an introductory price of £1.50- cheaper than most music magazines; because of this, I put the price in an orange, circular shape so it was clearer for the readers to see. I enlarged the price so it stood out from the rest of the writing. The use of the colour orange meant that it was more eye catching and noticeable and so people would play attention making them more like to notice the buy the magazine.

I used the same font i used on the heading Segoe Script as it was clear and readable.

However, from the second issue onwards, I would raise the price to £2.50 so that it would be easier to afford the making of the magazine.

I then included on the front cover a reference to the main feature, It will be on the new upcoming star, Lulu. I changed the font here to Blackadder ITC- this is a much swirlier, girly font. The change in font allows the readers to differentiate the contents of the magazine from the main feature. The use of the words 'heat things up' is a pun on the magazine name and also connotes a funky, fun and saucy artist!

The last thing I did in the third step towards the making of the magazine was generating a barcode using the internet website, http://www.barcodesinc.com/. This is a key element in any magazine front cover.

Music Magazine- Front Cover (Step 1)

Step one

The First step in creating my music magazine was to find a photo that I would use to put on the front cover of the magazine. I took a number of samples with Louise wearing a range of diverse clothing, in a variety of poses. These are a few examples...

Having looked at the photos and having decided that I wanted my magazine to be aimed at girls aimed between 12-17, the photo below seemed perfect to have as my front cover. In this pose Louise looks playful and fun fitting in with the target audience. She is wearing a pretty, girly dress which would attract the younger girls in the target audience, however she maintains an air of sexiness which would appeal to the older girls.

Music Magazine- Questionnaire Analysis

When I was planning my magazine, I decided that I wanted to target girls aged 12-17. However to make sure my audience would be interested, I created a questionnaire so I could find out. This would also give me an indication as to what artists, features and music my target audience liked so I could include it in the magazine.

In the questionnaire, I asked general questions such as

1) - What is your favourite music genre? (E.g. Pop, Rock, Drum & Bass, Hip Hop etc)

________________________________________________________

2) - Who is your favourite band or artist?

________________________________________________________

3) - Where do you often listen to your music? (Please circle)

IPod

TV

Radio

Internet

Other

These types of questions allowed me to understand more about the music genre and the range of artists girls aged between 12-17 liked. I was also interested to know where they listened to their music so I could include features about websites to find good music or radio stations which have the best upcoming music etc.

I went on to ask more specific questions about the magazine I wanted to make, such as:

1) - If a magazine was titled ‘Hot’, what would this mean to you? (Please circle)

Gossip

Upcoming music

Film

Sex

Other

2) - If you were to buy a teen music magazine, what about the front cover would attract your attention? (Please circle)

The model on the cover being famous

The model on the cover being attractive

A famous musician

A free CD

Gig Listings

Other

3) - What fashion magazines do you read? (Please circle)

Glamour

Grazia

Vogue

I.D

4) - Do you think a music magazine combining fashion, gossip and celebs would be a good idea? (Please circle)

Yes

No

The answers I gained from these questions helped me along in the process of actually generating my magazine. I was able to come up with a good name for my magazine which attracts readers. I knew exactly what type of magazine I could make and what features etc I would include and what they could be about.

The questionnaire was a very major part in the making of my magazine as ultimately, my main aim was to make a magazine which would sell. The answers I gained from this research allowed me to make such a magazine. I was able to determine what information my readers would want to know about; I learned what music artists my target audience liked and I got a sense of how sophisticated I should make the writing within the media product.

If I were to do the questionnaire again, I would perhaps include a questionnaire bout what fashion and beauty magazines my target audience read so I could get some ideas from them as well.

Music Magazine- PLANNING

• The name of my magazine is 'HOT.' Hot suggests a new 'hot' act in the music scene. In this magazine a new 'hot' act will be featured every month It will explore modern, exciting sexy and up and coming artists.
• Colour of title writing: Hot pink- stand out from the page, eye catching
• Font: Arial (or another font which is block lettering)
• Black and white image of featured artist (Lulu) standing beside microphone
• Sell lines all in different shades of pink
• Aimed at girls aged 12-16
• Contents- colours: black, white, pink, purple
• Feature on Louise Adams- Singer and guitarist
• Feature page: photos of Lulu and an interview. Covering an imagined hot new act- Lulu.
• Target audience is girls 12-17 so the acts featured each month will appeal to that age group.
  
  
  

Learning how to use Photoshop

PHOTOSHOP

At the start of this project, I was very unsure about using Photoshop so I used tutorials from YouTube. This helped me gain a better understanding of how to use the program.

I learnt all about the LIQUIFY tool and tested it out! This tool slims larger people out so they look much smaller.

I found this picture of a large girl on the Internet and roughly tested out the liquify tool. It took me a while to work out how to make the lines on her body even and unfortunately I didn't do the face very well, however this is how the picture came out ....

I visited a number of tutorials about all sorts of things on Photoshop and they really helped me in the making of my magazine. I'm very glad I watched them as now I have a much better understanding of the program.

Music Magazine- FRONT COVER DECONSTRUCTION

SMASH HITS

Smash Hits magazine was established in 1978 and filled a huge gap in the music magazine market. The magazine, unlike Mojo, NME and the Clash was aimed at young teenage girls between the ages of 12-16. The magazine followed the world of popular music and each month printed their findings within the pages of the magazine.

The front cover image on the left is clearly very dated however we can still tell the age age group the magazine is aimed at.

The marthead 'SMASH HITS' is written in large white in front of a beg red, rectangular box. This allows the title to stand out from the rest of the front cover image. The colours used on the front cover are primary and basic. At the top of the front cover, the navy blue banner informs the readers that S Club will be featured in the issue, and alongside that, a small photograph of the band is printed on the top right hand side of the front cover.

The popular children's band, Steps and artist Britney Spears are the focus of this week's issue. All the stars are pulling childish and funny faces to appeal to the target audience. Each member of Steps is holding a different coloured microphone. (children and young teenage girls are attracted to bright colours)

The brightly coloured 'Aargh!' is very eye catching and once again, child-like. The use of the color yellow makes the words stand out.

At the bottom of the cover, again printed in a navy blue banner, we are given an insight to what will be featured in the magazine, 'Songwords cards....posters', all things which attract a young female audience.

Unfortunately, Smash Hits printed it's final issue in 2006 due to its declining sales leaving a large gap in the market for a more modern, grown up version of this classic girl's music magazine.

Music Magazine- FRONT COVER DECONSTRUCTION

MOJO

Mojo music magazine uses the same colours as NME however the final effect of the front cover is extremely different.

There are a lot more sell lines on this magazine, giving us more of an insight as to what the features inside will be about.

The medium shot black and white photo of Syd Barret from Pink Floyd will attract the people who enjoy this type of music. His eyes are directly facing the people who will pick up the magazine, drawing us in.

The main features are written in capitalised red, bold lettering which is very eye catching. Beneath these sell lines are a short summary of what the features consist of.

The free CD is a very good selling technique as people would be even more encouraged to buy the magazine. The cover of the CD uses colours which as in accordance to the rest of the magazine.

The alliteration of 'Dylan blasts back' is very evocative as it draws the readers attention more closely to what is being said. The word 'blasts' is onomatopoeic as the word sounds like what is being described. This technique adds excitement to the words.

Mojo's circulation is considerably more than Clash's, distributing 100,507 copier per issue.

Mojo has also been around much longer than the Clash, starting out in November 1993.

Music Magazine- FRONT COVER DECONSTRUCTION

CLASH

Clash music magazine is a lot simpler compared to NME. The title of the magazine is written in white causing it to stand out and catch the readers attention. The symmetry between the 'a' and the 's' is very clever. It's a very small change however is very effective in making the title unique.

Contrasting from the front cover picture of NME, Clash only has one coverline- an extreme close up of the artist Jay-Z. His eyes are directly focused on us again, drawing us in. Beneath his image in large gold lettering, his name, 'JAY-Z' is written. the sell lines refer to him as 'The world's biggest rap star'. This would automatically attract a particular target audience- people who enjoy rap music- and would therefore sell to these people.

The front cover is very plain however is of a very high standard. There are hardly any sell lines. Perhaps the picture of Jay-Z is relied on to sell the magazine as he is a very successful and well known music artist.

Clash magazine has a circulation of around 40,000.

The target audience for Clash are mainly boys aged between 16-25. It is a very modern magazine with its own website page giving dates and venues for up and coming gigs.

Clash's first issue hit the shelves in 2004.

Music Magazine- FRONT COVER DECONSTRUCTION

NME

This is the latest issue on the 'NME' music magazine. This issue focuses on the '10 years in music' in accordance with the new year.

The front cover is highly effective particularly due to the choice of colours. The colour red used to write NME was a good choice as it makes the heading stand out as it contrasts with the black and white used throughout the rest of the front cover. The large number '10' printed in the middle of the page refers to two thing: the number of years of music the magazine is focusing on and the year in which we are in now-2010.

The alternating colours used to list a few of the artists that will be mentioned in the magazine keeps our eyes drawn to the writing and encourages us to read further.

Most magazines have just one image on the cover of their magazine, however as this issue focuses on many artists and on a whole decade of music, they have created a collage effect. This is highly effective as it allows the readers to see what kind of bands and artists will be featured in the magazine. The black and white photos are very classy and sleek and makes the magazine look like more of a 'special' issue as opposed to an every day one.

Research shows that the target audience for NME is men aged between 17 and 30.

The alliteration of 'special souvenir issue' draws our attention to what is being said and is more memorable and so sticks in our minds.
The cropping of all the images is significant as only the faces of the artists are being shown. This is a good technique as it is much easier for the readers to see what artists are being featured in this issue.

NME's circulation is roughly the same as the Clash's with 40,948 copies of the magazine being distributed each month.

NME has been round the longest out of the three magazines as it started out on the 7th March 1952.