Thursday, 7 May 2015
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Image editing
In order to make my photos presentable for my magazine and to make them relevant as well as accurately portraying the Opera genre I will edit them using different forms of software such as Photoshop as I have already
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Double-Page spread
I feel I will keep the background with the white because I feel that it looks crisp against the earthy coloured background of the image. This gives a more professional feel and most of the magazines in the genre of Opera tend to use a white background on which to put the text. I feel that the key items in the page have been placed correctly as they eye will naturally scan a page in a 'Z' shape, so firstly the audience will see the quote, then the title of the article and finally down to the dress which is a key concept of the image.
Friday, 13 February 2015
Language and Register (add image)
The language
used in magazines needs to be appropriate for the target audience and after
analysing and looking critically at various magazines within the opera genre,
we can see that the language used may be very different from that used in a
different genre of magazine such as a pop magazine.
The
language used, such in that of the below double page spread taken:
The language style and typography used is quite
sophisticated with no colloquial language which accurately represents the
target audience of the opera genre. The words in the passage have not been contracted
to shortened words such as ‘do not’ to ‘don’t’.
The magazine has used formal synonyms for everyday words to keep the
formality of the magazine and portray a higher standard, such as instead of the
word ‘very’ the magazine has used the words ‘intensely’ where as a different
brand of magazine may have stuck to the word very which would make it easier
for their target audience to read. The sophisticated language would suggest
that the target audience are capable of reading more difficult words.
Language and Register (add image!)
Language and Register;
The language
used in magazines needs to be appropriate for the target audience and after
analysing and looking critically at various magazines within the opera genre,
we can see that the language used may be very different from that used in a
different genre of magazine such as a pop magazine.
The
language used, such in that of the below double page spread taken:
The language style and typography used is quite
sophisticated with no colloquial language which accurately represents the
target audience of the opera genre. The words in the passage have not been contracted
to shortened words such as ‘do not’ to ‘don’t’.
The magazine has used formal synonyms for everyday words to keep the
formality of the magazine and portray a higher standard, such as instead of the
word ‘very’ the magazine has used the words ‘intensely’ where as a different
brand of magazine may have stuck to the word very which would make it easier
for their target audience to read. The sophisticated language would suggest
that the target audience are capable of reading more difficult words.
Colour Palette (add pictures!)
Colour
schemes are a very important feature of magazines. Colour schemes suggest the
magazine is very professional, organised and well put together. They can also
indicate to the reader what gender the magazine may be tailored towards, or
what mood the magazine wants to portray or want their audience to feel whilst
reading the magazine. It can also suggest the time of year the magazine was
released, darker colours such as burgundy or plum are seen as quite autumnal. After viewing opera magazines it is quite
apparent that there is usually a clear colour scheme or even a subtle one but
there is still one apparent.
Clearly the colour scheme of this ‘OperaNow’ magazine is white and red, and I have also identified a
white and red theme with a more recent edition of this magazine brand. (The
November 2014 issue). Opera is renowned for being a very sexual and about love
and romance, and this can be further shown in the abundance of red shown on the
magazine cover.
‘OperaNow’ is a
very big brand of opera magazine and the colour scheme is orange and purple.
This is clearly to match with the orange on the models dress. The bold, bright
and clashing colours could demonstrate that vibrancy of the woman’s voice and
the intensity that opera can present. It also shows the modern twist that
recent opera can show.
The colour scheme of this magazine is a vibrant violet and
white colour. The texture of the model’s dress is a lightweight floaty
material, which has also been reflected in the background of the magazine. This
may show that the woman’s voice is very soft and gentle. Or it could be to show
the softer side of opera.
For my magazine I will trial a few different colour schemes
for the feelings I want to portray through it. Many opera magazines have a red
colour scheme because of the love/sexual connotation that colour presents, I
will try a red colour because I feel that it accurately shows what opera is
about and the way in which the songs are sung. I will also try a dark blue,
almost a midnight blue, because this is also romantic and I feel this romantic
feel completely surrounds opera and highlights what it’s all about. It also set
the mood for the rest of the magazine. Also the darkness of it can indicate
some sort of mystery about it and means the audience cannot simply expect
what’s to come from the magazine. Lastly I will perhaps again try almost a
neutral theme using very natural and earthy theme using natural and earthy
colours. To show the purity of the voice in opera, and it’s almost symbolic
like I am stripping opera down to get the rawness. To demonstrate these
different types of colour schemes I will use the same image and just change the
colour, and centre the cover of the magazine around the one specific colour so
we can then analyse which would be a suitable option.
Wednesday, 11 February 2015
Fonts and Masthead font analysis
I
am producing an opera magazine, so I will choose fonts that are appropriate for
my target audience and the genre of the magazine. I will be using a website
called dafont.com; this is a website that allows me to look at many different
types of font next to each other and to select ones that will be suitable for
my magazine. They have a vast variety of different fonts suitable for different
genres; I have chosen fonts that are suitable for my chosen genre of Opera.
Opera is a very traditional and stereotypically ‘posh’ form of music and I have
tried to reflect this in potential fonts for my magazine.
The first three fonts selected are of this stereo typical
‘posh’ almost script-like font. I have chosen this because I feel it accurately
represents the higher class of people that Opera magazines usually cater for. I
have chosen almost a handwriting style to make the magazine seem more raw and
real. However for the bottom one I thought I would choose a different style of
writing, this is not really something we see on opera magazines, however as my
opera magazine will be almost a modern twist on opera this could be appropriate
to distinguish this change.
However the font that I have chosen is ‘Lauren Script’. I
feel this font is quite aristocratic which helps me connect with the target
audience. I feel it is quite easy to read for anybody of any age, also it is in
a bold font which will help it to stand out against the background of my choice
once it has been enlarged to fit the magazine. I plan to use this font on the
masthead alone, I want to use this for just the masthead to draw attention to
the name of the magazine as this magazine’s sell line is going to be ‘Opera’s
Next Big Thing’ so I want to draw attention to the name so people can remember
it and if I put it in a bold and clashing font to the rest it will be easily
recognised. For the rest of the text I will use basically, a very standard font
that will not be in bold. I am doing this because it sets it apart from the
masthead, but also the font will be easily readable so on pages such as the
double-page spread article where there will be bulk chunks of text it would be
easier to have a font that is not difficult to read in order to not deter
people from reading them.
The font I am going
to use for the rest of my magazine is going to be Calibri (Body) which will be
put in bold for any parts of my magazine that need to stand out slightly more
than the rest of the text but stand out less than that of the title.
Names
Potential names for magazine;
The name of a magazine is extremely important in helping the
audience to decipher what type of the genre the magazine is in and also helps
to establish a target audience. Also it helps to show the genre of the magazine
if the magazine itself cannot be distinguished as an opera magazine.
Opus- it means
great work of writing or arts which relates directly to opera as it is known as
a great form of art, also the people my magazine will be aimed at will be, I
feel, educated so may understand this Latin word and realise that it relates
directly to opera or can be a representation of what opera is about.
Ambiance- this
word is a more generalised word which could possibly represent many different
genres of magazine; however ambiance means the general feel of a place or
feeling that it creates. I feel that the ambiance that opera creates is quite
significant so the target audience will relate to this name if they can
appreciate opera in this way.
Operetta- an
operetta is a story, such like the ones that are performed in opera, but they
have a much less serious message behind them. This means that because of
‘Operetta’ almost being a less serious version of opera, it can appeal to a
wider target audience and appeal to more people. Also the magazine can now
reflect the title and perhaps be less serious and structured such as that I
have viewed in my chosen genre.
Phantom- this
would of course scream opera as soon as it is used on a magazine because of the
infamous ‘phantom of the’ opera. Also for the image used on the cover I am
considering using a female model with a recreation of the ‘Lady in Pink’ from
Phantom of the Opera- which many fans of opera will immediately recognise and
relate too.
Target Audience analysis
Target Audience analysis into the target audience for the
Magazine:
I
had around 40 responses to this survey,
and there was a range of male and females. I asked this question to
understand if men were more interested in opera than women in general. Because
if women were more interested for example I would look at make the magazine
more feminine to cater for this side of the target audience. I also had at
least one person from each age category provided on the survey. I decided to
begin the age at 12 as I assumed that people below this age may not even be
aware of the genre of opera let alone understand it. Also from similar products
in the opera genre the writing style is quite formal and of a high standard, of
which I wouldn't expect a person under the age of 12 to be able to comprehend. I
feel for this survey the question regarding the target audiences place of birth
is irrelevant as everybody I asked was born in the UK, however if this was done
on a mass scale I feel it would be relevant as it would provide an insight into
whether people from a certain place in the world enjoyed opera more than others
and it would mean I could tailor it to people from that specific area as it
might sell better over there. I feel that opera is very similar to classical
music, so from the question regarding what is the target audiences least
favourite genre of music it was in the hope that classical music or opera music
wouldn’t be their answer. This means we can see if people even like opera in
this day and age, and the age ranges also aids this question as people from all
ages can voice their opinion on if they dislike opera or not. Following this I
asked if the person filling in the survey has any interest at all in opera, and
if they answered no to stop completing the survey. This is because if they
have no interest at all the next questions that directly link to opera then
there responses would not benefit the results of my survey because they
wouldn’t be answering them correctly because I feel if you do not have an
interest in opera then it wont matter what they answered in the survey as to
whether or not they would subscribe to an opera magazine because with no
interest the answer would of course be no. However people with an interest may
say yes they would have a subscription, or they wouldn’t but they wouldn’t
refuse a subscription on the basis that they do not like it.
By
asking the question involving the person’s current opera magazine subscription
and whether they have one or not, and if so what brand of magazine it is, is to
establish what magazines are popular amongst those who like opera. Once this
was recognised then i could take a closer look at this brand and see the way they
structure their magazines to understand why the target audience chooses this
magazine over any of the other magazine subscription they could have had. The
last question to do with what sex dominates opera more so, was to accurately
select a model for the photo shoot. However opera appears to be non-bias with
both men and women actively singing opera but many of the people who carried
the survey on to this point said that it was more female dominated so I thought
I would use a female model.
The
response to this survey was extremely varied, I had people of all ages complete
this survey so we can see if the older generation or younger generation prefer
opera and for me to then set the magazine accordingly. After analysing my
results to this survey it appears that people from the age of 31 upwards are
the majority of people who actually enjoy opera, with nobody below 19 saying
that they had an interest in the genre. It was also more females who said that
they had an interest in opera, despite the fact that I had an equal number of
men and women who answered the survey it was still women who seemed to prefer
opera. This means that I shall perhaps make the magazine more feminine if it is
women who are more likely to purchase an opera magazine, but still at the same
time making it asexual as some men did say they took an interest in opera.
Unfortunately some people who completed my survey said that opera or classical
music was there least favourite genre which indicates to me that we are
catering for a specific group of people, so the magazine needs to be quite a
specific style which is why I gave the people who had an interest in opera
magazine a second survey to fill in to see what it is they would like to see
from an opera magazine which will be shown below.
After giving people my first survey to establish exactly who
it is i should be targeting and for what reasons, I then asked people who were
interested in opera (as discovered in the previous survey) to complete a second
survey on what they would like to see from an opera magazine and what exactly
it is that would make them want to buy it. During the second survey, to make it
quick and simple I wrote down the ideas i had suggested and asked their
opinions and then gave them a chance to suggest their own ideas for what the
magazine should be like.
From
the feedback I got from my second survey on what should be included on the
magazine. From the feedback i can see that in-keeping with the overall classic
theme of opera people who are interested in this genre would like to see the
cover modern yet still classic. Also the target audience said that they would
be more fitting to have a female singer on the cover which is also what the
previous survey said about opera being perhaps more female dominated. The cover will
be brief yet inviting with a slight insight into what people can expect from
the magazine. The target audience also agreed that i should keep the same model
throughout the magazine but an idea was put forward to say that it is ‘the
model’s’ edition, so the magazine is almost dedicated to them. This would also
give the audience an incentive to buy it as they must be important to have a
whole magazine dedicated to them. Also the audience said it would be effective
to have the model standing over the title of the magazine because it would
demonstrate a successful magazine that doesn't need to strongly advertise their
name, and also it would make it more about the model and the genre of opera.
Also the double page spread should be about the genre of opera as well as an
upcoming singer they should be incorporated together.
Genre
The genre I have chosen to do for my Media Studies Magazine
task is the genre of opera. I feel like opera is an extremely interesting
genre; full of different connotations and symbolisms that I feel I could
accurately represent through a magazine and through magazine components. Opera
is also very close to classical music so also I feel like perhaps when making
my magazine I could combine the two to make a more modern version of opera. I
also this would be an easy choice for me greatly enjoy opera so the research
that is required and the making of the magazine a lot easier and would be more
enjoyable than picking a genre of music I generally have no interest with. Also
there are not many opera magazines around so hopefully in the process of making
this magazine there are more people who may want to listen to opera after
seeing my interest and seeing the effort I have put into the research and to
actually making a professional looking magazine. Also there is a lot of differentiation between Opera magazines which would allow me to be very creative when producing the main product.
Monday, 2 February 2015
Sunday, 25 January 2015
Contents Draft
This is a draft I made for my contents page for my preliminary task. I liked the font that I used but it did prove difficult to see on the background so in my next draft I will perhaps try a different font or the same font but on a different background to see the difference that that can make. Also the colour I used for 'Contents' is far too bright and can be difficult to read and doesn't look professional so this will need to be changed. I like the image I used but the model's shirt was untucked, something I failed to notice at the time, so this needs to be digitally altered or I need to select a different image.Tuesday, 13 January 2015
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