Evaluation - Question Seven

Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

In this final evaluation question I am looking back on my Preliminary Task and what I have learnt since I had undertaken this task. The School Magazine that I have created to serve as my Preliminary Task was my first step into the world of Adobe Photoshop, and for a first time I didn't think I did too badly.

Preliminary and Main Task

Evaluation - Question Six

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the process of construction of my Media Product, I have made use of a wide range of technologies that allowed me to put my creative ideas into practise. Using a combination of Hardware and Software, that will be detailed in this post, my music magazine was completed to the standard that it has been. Below you can see a WallWisher wall that has been created with the help of my classmates that lists all (and I mean all) of the technologies that all of us have used during this course. To save the length of this post, I have only detailed the technologies that I have personally used.

Adobe Photoshop CS4

The first piece of Software that I was taught during this course was Adobe Photoshop CS4 (right), an image manipulation program created by Adobe. This piece of Software comes equipped with a number of tools that proved to be useful during the construction phase, as it allowed me to change the opacity of images, apply layer effects such as Glows and Strokes to my image and text layers, apply visual filters such as Motion Blurs and an effect named "Poster Edges", and many more highly useful effects that are available only to Photoshop. If I was to use a different program for the manipulation of my images and the creation of both my Front Page and Contents Page, I wouldn't have been able to create such advanced visual effects in the way that Photoshop allows me too. For example, if I were to use a program like Microsoft Paint (left), I wouldn't have been able to apply even the simplest of effects such as an Outer Glow or a Drop Shadow. Even applying a Stroke would be very difficult in Microsoft Paint, and it would be impossible to apply a filter to the image such as a Blur or Sharpen. The lack of a transparent background in Microsoft Paint also means there will be little control over the background of my music magazine as well. So as you can see, Adobe Photoshop is the more sensible choice of image manipulation Software.

Adobe InDesign CS4

When we began working on our Double Page Spread articles, we were introduced to Adobe InDesign (right), a piece of publication Software that can be used to create magazine articles and other forms of print media. InDesign wasn't available to me when I was working on my Preliminary Task since we used it solely for our Double Page Spread, so we had to learn how to use this piece of Software for our Main Task. The main attraction to using InDesign for my Double Page Spread came from its Text Wrap tool, allowing me to easily designate an area that I wanted my text to wrap around, such as an image or a separate piece of text. This feature is somewhat absent in Microsoft Publisher, another piece of publication software that I could have used for my Double Page Spread. If I did choose to use Microsoft Publisher over Adobe InDesign I would have struggled to replicate an effective Text Wrap effect without taking a lot of time to do so. Another useful tool available in Adobe InDesign is the ability to define the number of columns in the article, and InDesign automatically sets up a document with these preferences. In Publisher this would have to be done using text boxes which would of course take up a lot of time.

A Nikon Coolpix S3100 Compact Camera

This was the camera that I used to take the pictures that I will later use for my Front Page, Contents Page and Double Page Spread, and this shirt pocket-sized camera has many useful features that I used to make sure my images where taken in the best possible quality. Arguably the most useful feature was the automatic scene-selector that has been built into the camera, allowing the camera to select which scene mode (out of 18 different settings) would best suit the mise-en-scene, shot composition and the mode of address present in my scene. Without this feature at my disposal my photoshoot would have taken a considerably longer time to get the required shots and I doubt my photos would have been in the same quality as they are now. This particular camera also has a 5x Optical Zoom, 4 means of reducing the blur of an image, an Electronic Vibration Reduction and even a Skin Softening feature to reduce the appearance of uneven skin tonnes. All of these features together helped to ensure that my pictures were as high quality as possible, and without these tools at my disposal my pictures would have appeared grainy, blurry and unsuitable for use in my Media Product.

Blogger

Finally, there is Blogger. This online tool is what gave me the ability to keep an archive of my work online in the form of a blog, without the need for a physical folder with print-outs of my work-in-progress. Blogger has many tools and features that I have utilised to make my blog easy to navigate, aesthetically pleasing and above all to a quality that matches my media product. The ability to assign Labels to a post allowed me to create a list of links that made my blog much easier to navigate, and the automatic sort feature that blogger uses (newest posts appear at the top) made it much easier to set out my work in a professional order and ensure my work effectively archived. Without these capabilites I would have had to print of all of my work and archive it by hand in a folder with the use of dividers. This would have taken up a lot of time that could be better spent working on the content itself, and I am grateful to be given the opportunity to save time using Blogger to having to archive my work by hand.

Evaluation - Question Five

How did you address/attract your audience?

I feel that my media product attracts my Target Audience in a number of ways, and by looking at my Front Page, Contents Page and Double Page Spread, I'm going to show you how I have used my research into my Target Audience to influence the construction of my Media Product.

My Creative Decisions

Throughout the entire process of construction of my media product, I have been making creative decisions to ensure my magazine appeals to my Target Audience as much as possible. For example, the choice of a Black Background on the Front Cover and Double Page Spread gave my magazine a more ominous atmosphere as it challenged the usual conventions of a music magazine. This is applied to my Target Audience since their nature of challenging the 'mainstream' ideas of music and fashion can be linked with the new and interesting ideas explored in the layout and page design of my Magazine. The use of the shards that frame the bottom of the magazine was a graphic element that I created again to challenge the normal conventions of music magazines to appeal to my anti-mainstream Target Audience.

The 'Micro' Details

As you can see in my Media Product, there are many small details that help make up the page layout, model pose and many other major aspects of the music magazine. These will be outlined here:

• Shot Composition: My photos are all shot with angry expressions and mainly from low angles to suggest a dominance over the reader. All of my pictures are also shot in the dark so that they will blend with the black background in a more realistic and believable way. Costume has been used to create a link with my Target Audience and link to the genre of music that makes up the content of my music magazine.
• Genre Conventions: The genre of music that makes up the content of my music magazine is Metal along with all its sub genres. The connotations associated with this genre of music include immense anger, dominance and power through confrontation, and with the pictures used throughout my media product I have tried to present these emotions using a combination of low angle shots and dark lighting. This type of shot can be linked to a picture used for the Double Page Spread of a Metal Hammer article (above). The low angle and dim lighting conveys the conventions of an article on Heavy Metal, and these conventions are what influenced a lot of the images that I took for use in my media product.
• My Unique Selling Point: The Unique Selling point of my media product is the way in which it challenges the usual conventions of a 'mainstream' music magazine. Although there are aspects of my music magazine that contain inspiration and influences from other magazines (namely Metal Hammer and Kerrang!), many of the design elements that I have created push the boundaries of modern music magazines. Since the magazine industry is currently a fragmented market with many popular titles becoming solely online-based as they fail to keep up with the changing environment. I feel that my music magazine "Project Mayhem" is what this industry needs to get it out of the state of flux it is currently in, with the new challenging conventions incorporated into its design.

Evaluation - Question Four

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I have conducted a lot of research into the intended Target Audience of my media product, and all of this can be found here. The video below also illustrates the research that I have done into my Target Audience, created using an online engine entitled GoAnimate! (Please excuse the TERRIBLE use of text-to-speech...)
GoAnimate.com: Question 4 by artclark06

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

There are many links with my magazine that have been created using the research that I undertook. Due to my Target Audience's passion for everything that is related to their favourite music, the entire magazine is based around the bands and festivals that they would dream of seeing and experiencing. The graphic elements have been created to reflect the dangerous and incommensurable nature of the genre of music that makes up such a bit part of the life of my Target Audience, and have also incorporated a section of the Contents Page to allow communication between a sister Radio Station to help reach the full audience in as many ways as possible.

Evaluation - Question Three

What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?

In the above animation, you can see the a short comic strip that I created to demonstrate the institutions that could produce my music magazine. The Magazine Industry is currently falling popularity, as the rise of the Internet replaces this outdated medium of publication. As the industry has become a Fragmented Market, with Circulation and Readership Figures falling year on year. Below you can see a table of the recent figures from Press Gazette:

 

Mojo ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 87,555 ; -7.5%

  Q ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 77,522 ; -12.1%

 Classic Rock ( Future Publishing Ltd ) : 62,354 ; -7.9%

Kerrang! ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 42,077 ; -2.1%

 Metal Hammer ( Future Publishing Ltd ) : 35,259 ; -15.7%

New Musical Express ( IPC Media Ltd ) : 27,650 ; -14.0%

As you can see, each magazine is experiencing a decline in Circulation to some degree as I have stated before. Also, by comparing Metal Hammer and Kerrang! it is clear to see that Metal Hammer is falling in popularity at a greater degree, and this opens up the demand for a popular Metal Magazine that sells as many copies as titles such as NME and Q. Out of the three that were highlighted by the "Magical Media Bird", I personally feel that Future Media or Future PLC would be the most appropriate to publish my magazine. And here's why:

Company Introduction

The first thing that catches my eye when I look at their website is the company introduction. The paragraph states how "At Future we base everything we do around clusters of like-minded individuals who are passionate about their interests". Project Mayhem has been created to appeal to quite a specialised audience, similar to that which is targeted by Kerrang! Magazine (for more research into Target Audience, click here). Since my Target Audience is in such a slim market, and since they already publish Metal Hammer, I feel that Future Media would be an appropriate institution to publish my Metal Magazine.

What have they published previously?

Future Media have published a number of popular music magazines, such as Classic Rock, Revolver and Total Guitar. However, they are most famously known for publishing the metal-based Music Magazine, Metal Hammer. Looking at the above Circulation Figures, Metal Hammer has decreased in Circulation by 15.7%in the past year, and this presents Future Media with a choice; do we keep publishing Metal Hammer or move on to another title? This is where Project Mayhem comes in. It's a new name with new ideas, a new style and a new look into the ever-changing industry of Heavy Metal. Alongside the genres and magazines that are published by Future Media at the moment, Project Mayhem does fit into the portfolio of Future Media as it uses similar techniques and layout styles combined with new and exciting Graphic Elements.

Evaluation - Question Two

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As described in a previous post that can be found here, my specified target audience is the UK Tribe appropriately named the "Metalheads". Since according to UK Tribes and the Kerrang! Mediapack that I have studied for my Magazine Analysis that can be found here, most of the disposable income that "Metalheads" have at their discretion is spent on albums, live music gigs and music-based clothes and other products. This influenced the price of my magazine at £3.99, since my target audience are obviously willing to spend the money on music-based products such as my magazine.

The Image of a "Metalhead"

Above you can see some typical images of modern "Metalhead's" in their Natural Habitat, and all these images are overlapping the image of my models from my DPS Article (explosion in all!). You can see the similarites in the costume of my models, such as the dark colours in the jumper and trousers and the wildly styled hair. My second model, dressed in slightly less dark and sinister clothing, is illustrated to represent the more Modern Metal bands such as "Five Finger Death Punch" and "Disturbed" that don't conform to the stereotypical dress codes of the typical known "Metalhead". In the dress of my second model I have challenged the stereotypical mise-en-scene of the known "Metalhead" dress code, trying to incorporate traits from Alternative and Punk to make my band stand out from the mainstream (if you can refer to any heavy metal band as mainstream...). On each side of my models you can see the images I have chosen that I feel most represent their character, and since metal has become such a diverse genre I have tried to incorporate just a select two of these sub genres in the costuming of my band. The Posture of my models is meant to represent anger and dominance, reflecting the sound of their music and the brutality of the lyrics. The clash between their fists directs the anger against each other, rather than at the viewer. This challenges the conventions of previous music magazines since the emotion in the expression is mainly directed towards the reader of the magazine. By directing the anger against each other I have tried to create a sense of turmoil and a conflicted atmosphere around my models, which will act as a pull to the reader since they will want to find out what has caused such a violent out burst in the image.

Evaluation - Question One

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

To answer this question I have decided to compare 9 aspects of my final Front Cover to the magazines that are selling in the media world today, such as Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and Rock Sound. Above you can see my finished product alongside magazines that already exist in the real media world.

Front Page: Masthead

My Masthead has been constructed with inspiration from Metal Hammer, Kerrang! and Rock Sound, but mainly constructed around the original idea of a large letter "M" with the remainder of the title acting as a frame for this single letter. A Gradient Overlay was applied to the title "Project Mayhem" to make the text slightly resemble fire, and therefore it would tie in with the effect used to frame the main image of the Front Cover, along with a white Outer Glow to make the title stand out from the background. Finally a soft Bevel and Emboss was applied to give my title more of a 3D effect. The title is written in the "Guttural" font, which according to the author has been "influenced by the logos of extreme metal bands". Therefore I felt that this font would be appropriate to use for my product. Throughout my research I found that magazines such as Metal Hammer and Kerrang! each make us of very simple Mastheads, with little in the means of editing to make them standout from their rivals on the shelf. I wanted to create a memorable Masthead for my magazine to ensure that my product could be branded by the letter "M" in the centre of the title.

Front Page: Main Image

The Main Image that I chose for my Front Page was set-up around the pose from a Kerrang! cover featuring the lead vocalist from Bring Me The Horizon, Ollie Sykes. Here you can see I have tried to emulate the strong gaze and the hand gesture from the image, along with the dark background from which Ollie Sykes seems to be materialising from. I have also made the image my own, by angling my models head slightly giving the impression of a low-angle shot to give the model dominance over the reader, taken as a Medium Close-Up to both comply with the examiner's criteria and to better illustrate the emotion in the gaze of y model. I have also made the gaze slightly more menacing and angry, to add to the tension in the shot and to represent the genre of music that my product has been constructed around. My models posture is more leaning towards the camera as if to intimidate the reader, whereas Ollie Sykes on the Rock Sound cover is standing tall and proud of who he is. I have used Costume slightly differently than it has been done so for the Rock Sound cover (right), and have dressed my model in pure black clothes with a red t-shirt and red headphones. The Red and and Black clothes have been used to across my product as the main colour scheme to help strengthen the representation of the music genre I have created my magazine around, Metal. By looking at the general layout of each image, I have allowed this Rock Sound cover to influence the layout of the shot and from this I could layout my Front Cover in a similar way in terms of coverlines and competitions.

Front Page: Competition

Using my research into existing products, I have found that many magazines use monthly competitions and prize draws to give the reader more chance to interact with what their reading, and also to act as a hook, turning a possible customer into a paying customer. The image to the right shows my competition as it is viewed from the Front Cover along with a similar competition from an issue of Kerrang! Magazine, and the differences are immediately apparent. Kerrang! have focused their competition more on the images and have laid it out in a more classy, grid-like fashion. Whereas I have tried to stick with my house-style with my competition, and by combining the same red, orange colours along with a spherical "button" style. By using the same diamond brush with the same colour palette I was able create this competition "button" based on my current House-style. The font used for my competition is named "Unreal Tournament" and can be downloaded from Dafont.com. I chose this font due to the sharp edges in the letters and the "Thorns" that decorated each capital letter, each of these details with connotations of danger and anger that reinforce the gaze and posture that the main image illustrates. The words "WIN" and "INSIDE" have been highlighted in Red to reinforce my colour scheme and fit in with my chosen House Style.

Contents: Layout

My research into Contents Pages was greatly influenced by this particular contents page from Metal Hammer. The full extent of my research into the layout of this particular contents page can be found here, so I'll only talk about the justifications in this paragraph. The main things I have taken from this contents page is the three column layout, the image-based bar at the bottom of the contents and the copy of the Front Page in the top corner of the contents page. With my Contents Page I have also challenged the conventions of existing products by including a Black Background, something that wasn't seen in my research. However to mask this use of background colour, I created the white boxes that take up the majority of the space and also defines the layout of my Contents Page. This both conforms to my chosen colour scheme established in my Front Page, and also allows me to clearly map my Product out in a clear and simple structure, something that came up frequently in my research.

Contents: Main Image

My chosen image for the Contents Page of my Product is shown to the left (above), and has been set up roughly around the image also on the left (below). I wanted to stick with the strong gaze and emotion in the eyes of my models that I illustrated in my Front Page, and I thought that by changing the costume, lighting and by getting rid of the props I would be able to set up an appropriate shot for use on my Contents Page. By applying a Light Effect on both of my models I was able to give the image the connotations of an interrogation, creating the atmosphere of mystery and giving the models the persona that they have something to hide. This also acts as a hook for the reader since the ominous atmosphere that surrounds my models gives way to the secrets that could be revealed in my Double Page Spread Article.

DPS: Pull Quote

The Pull Quote of an article is one of the most important aspects of the Article, and so I was keen to find a quote that would do the rest of my article the justice it deserves. My chosen quote is, as you can see on the right, "To Hell With It, We'll Have 'Em All!", a short and powerful quote that connotes the huge aspirations, dreams and goals that Hell Raiser have set their sights on for the future of the band. Just like the Pull Quote from Metal Hammer; "It's crazy how much support we've got from our fans and how much people realised that Jimmy's role was so huge", there are many differences in the connotations of the quote. The relations that this quote from M. Shadows are to remembrance and reflection, as the band looks back at where they have come from and the journey they undertook to get where they are now. So naturally, since my band is only beginning a similar journey I wanted a Pull Quote that would connote the beginning of that journey, and the thoughts and feelings that a new band on the metal scene would be experiencing.

DPS: Main Image

The Main Image, as it is the same with the Front Page and the Contents Page, is a huge aspect of a DPS article. I took a little inspiration from the Metal Hammer image from an Avenged Sevenfold Article, and as you can see I played with the idea massively when I was staging my photo. With their two fists pounded together and the red shock wave emanating from the impact, the connotations of the image match that of a huge conflict, between two evenly matched adversaries that leave nothing but destruction and chaos when they come together. Thats what I wanted to create for Hell Raiser, and I feel that I have created that atmosphere of carnage and conflict using this image for my Double Page Spread.

DPS: Layout

My Double Page Spread layout is centered around the Pull Quote in the middle of the article, framed with the explosion effect (that appears to originate from the models' fists colliding) created in Adobe Photoshop. with the help of the YouTube tutorials that can be found here, here and here. To the right you can see my final Double Page Spread article along with three other articles from Q, Kerrang! and NME respectively. As you can see there are a variety of styles and layouts and styles represented by these different articles, but there are a few similarities between the four of them. The main thing to take note of here is the fold in the magazine, and how it cuts through the centre of all four of these articles. In some it is more evident than others, but most notably the 

Double Page Spread Construction

So here you can see my completed Double Page Spread, the final component for my Music Magazine, and this post will show you the steps I went through to complete it! The software I used for this task was, as before, Adobe Photoshop. However this is only half the story, since I also used Adobe InDesign to create the layout and incorporate the text into the background image created using Photoshop. So, without further delay, here it is!

1)

The first thing I did was to select a background image to use for my Double Page Spread. This image related closely to my Flat Plan that I have drawn up previously to outline the ideas I wanted to display in this piece and ultimately to test these ideas on paper. The conventions of the chosen image (right) matched those of my previous pieces, and the desired effect was also easily implemented into the image. Unlike my Contents and Front Page, I didn't add any extra effects to the image itself at this stage of development, since most of the effects will be focused on the collision of the two fists of my models, and any others will be created in Adobe InDesign.

2)
The next thing to do was to create the explosion effect that will serve as the background for my Pull Quote and the main effect of my Double Page Spread. This was created with the help of a tutorial found on YouTube that was split into 3 parts (probably because it was so long and complicated), and these tutorials can be found here; Part One - Part Two - Part Three. There are so many aspects that go into this effect that it would take an age to list them all let alone describe them in detail, but once the main effect had been completed by following the tutorial, I edited the final product slightly to make it fit the criteria of my Double Page Spread. I did this by applying a Faded Red Brush to the centre of the explosion to add some more colour to the effect, and also ensured it was a perfect circle to show the energy was bursting from all directions.

3)

The third step in the process, still using Adobe Photoshop, was to create the space for the page numbers and the introductory paragraph to the article. The text itself will be added and formatted using Adobe InDesign, but the spaces created would allow the text to be read easier, since white text on a black background stands out much more than white or black text on an image. To create these spaces I brought back an element used for both my Front Page and Contents Page, the shard effect. I created the space I needed using the Rectagle Shape Tool, and then used the Pen Tool to stroke where I wanted the shards to line the shapes, creating the space for my text. I also added a quarter of a sphere in the top right hand corner of the image just to add a small detail, taken from the Album Cover sphere on my Front and Contents Pages.

4)
Here you can see I have included the Pull Quote into my Double Page Spread. This was also done using Adobe Photoshop, and the quote is written in the same font that has been used for the Mastheads of my Front Page and Contents Page. The Layer Style used for the Pull Quote also includes similar elements, such as the softened Bevel and Emboss and the Stroke. However I have also included a slightly transparent Gradient Overlay in a Radial style, to emphasise the energy shown by the explosion between the hands of my models. The Pull Quote itself was originally written in Capital Letters, however this was changed since many of my peers felt it was too difficult to read as the font used is both very artistic and highly complex.

5)

Finally the title of the article was added, an element taken from my Front Page and Contents Page, although here you can see it as being aligned to a single line of text, whereas on my Front Page the band name 'Hell Raiser' is seen on two lines with one word resting on top of the other. The Page Numbers have also been added to the bottom corners of the article, with the title of the magazine, 'Project Mayhem' framing the numbers, an element taken from my previous research into the Double Page Spreads of real music magazines, which can be found here.

6)

The final stage of my Double Page Spread was (obviously) to add the text for my article, format it to match the colour schemes and the overall House Style of my Front Page and Contents Page, and Text Wrap the text around my main image. This is where Adobe InDesign came into its own as this piece of Desktop Publishing Software allowed me to easily copy the text over from my Blog post, format the text in the way that I wanted to and then apply the Text Wrap. However, the issue with the Text Wrap was that since the main image was the background, and I only wanted part of this image to be the subject of the Text Wrap, so I had to find a solution. This solution came in the form of a YouTube tutorial that can be found here (there is no sound to the video, but it's still quite straight forward to follow). Basically, I used the Pencil Tool to draw a path around the portion of the image that I wanted the text to Wrap around, and applied the Text Wrap to the path.

Final Double Page Spread

DPS Article Drafts

Below you can see the drafts that I have done for my DPS article. Its still in the process of being developed, so its hopefully going to turn out a lot better than it is right now. The idea with this was to combine the Q and A style of article with a narrative as well.

Draft One

Its 6am here in sunny Dartford, and as per usual it’s fucking raining. Unfortunately, Road Runner Records couldn’t have picked a worse day to plan a photoshoot with their newest Marauders of Metal; Hell Raiser.  Fortunately, they have provided us with six umbrellas, two large waterproof coats and a small marquee to shelter the camera equipment. Unfortunately, the coats don’t fit the Terrible Twins since they’re both roughly 5ft 3 and the marquee has a hole in the left hand side. But on the bright side, they bought me a coffee!

Phil and Alex, the twin founders of the band, don’t seem to be phased at all by the weather, in fact they almost revel in how badly the event was organised by the famous record label. As the rain hammers down from the heavens, Hell Raiser responds with their first EP “The Nightmare You’ve Become”, and as the two come together the sight is not to be taken lightly. With Phil screaming the lyrics into the reinforced microphone, Alex blasting power chords from his signature electric Guitar and the Lightning dashing across the sky in time with the monstrous, metallic melody, the performance is fit for the stages of Wembley Stadium. An audience can do nothing but let their hair down and ask themselves a simple question; what will break first, the water-sodden amplifiers or the eardrums of the poor camera crew. My moneys on the camera crew.

As with all great things, it was over much too quickly. The band members were soon finished with their performance, and the appropriate photos were taken. And then it was my turn to stand in the firing line of two of the scariest-looking artists of the modern metal scene, with nothing but an A5 notepad from WHSmith and a strange concoction of coffee and rainwater.

Q: How are you doing today guys?
Alex: Can't complain thanks.
Phil: I'm wet...

Q: So tell me, where did it all start?
Alex: I guess the idea came from our R.E classes. We thought the whole idea of learning about something we didn't believe in was total bollucks, so we wrote songs in the back of the class to piss the teacher off! Once, he walked up to the back and took one of our sheets off us, ya know to read it out in front of the class. He read 2 lines, and didn't come near us for the rest of the term!

Q: I'm guessing you guy's weren't what you could call "Model Students"?
Alex: Haha, all our teachers hated us! We were kicked out after GCSE's, so we went to North West Kent to do a course in Music. I think we lasted about 2 months before they kicked us out as well, saying we were too disruptive. We don't think they understood what we're all about.

Q: What are you all about then guys?
Alex: Everyone around you is constantly saying how you need to get good grades to get a good job, then you can choose a career, a house, a car and raise a family of your own. But that's not what everyone wants. We didn't choose life, we chose Metal!

Q: I notice your reference to Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, are you guys... on drugs?
Phil: Do we look like a pair of fucking druggies to you?

Q: Fair point, where are you planning on going from here?
Alex: We're not gonna move to LA or Hollywood or any of that shit, if thats what you mean! But, we're dreaming of headlining Wembley. Thats the Big Dream. Play at Download too, those are two huge festivals that we have just dreamt of headlining. We'll have 'em all!

Q: Big dreams then guys, on a final note what do you say to the rumours of a third band member?
Phil: I'd like to see them fucking try!
Alex: Hell Raiser is just me and Phil, it's our dream and no-one is getting in on it!

Feedback

• The narrative at the beginning is irrelevant to the interview and should be either removed or re-written.
• Swearing should not be condoned by the journalist, and if appropriate it should be used as a quote from the artist or band members.
• The questions themselves don't flow as a proper interview should do, and need to be structured in such a way that the story of the band themselves is told.

Draft Two

Q: Afternoon guys, how are you both doing today?

Alex: Pretty good thanks, had a busy few weeks but hey.
Phil: Knackered really, we've been pretty busy.

Q: So guys,when did you first get into music?

Alex: It's kind of a stupid story really, since the first instrument I learned to play was the violin! My family still think it's 1953 and that all boys should learn the violin, cello or piano. But when I left home I got into stuff like Disturbed and Five Finger Death Punch so I taught myself the violin. Phil on the other hand never...
Phil: Hey woah, don't tell my story! Ahem, anyway, learn an instrument? Ha, don't make me laugh! I'm the guy that got my brother into all these bands, I've been true to my taste since the beginning. And instead of learning the violin or some other piece of Victorian crap, I taught myself how to scream and roar! My parents weren't impressed, but hey it's my life!

Q: Wow, quite an old fashioned upbringing. You didn't get sent off to Private School too, did you?

Phil: Yeah, parents sent us off to Spring Grove Independence School in Ashford, and I tell you now I hated every second of it!
Alex: Same, it was way too stuck up and academic for us. We knew our future was somewhere else.
Phil: So after GCSE's we made a move to North West Kent and did a course in music, thinking we could make our own sound that way. But, we were so wrong! We were kicked out of there as well after just a few months, several cases of disruptive and destructive behavior, they said. They never appreciated what we are all about if you ask me.

Q: So what are you guys all about?

Phil: Raising pure Hell wherever we go!
Alex: [laughs] That, and we're all for living your own life. I mean, our parents expected us to try hard in school, get decent grades and get a well paid job and leave home to be an accountant or a lawyer or something like that. But that's what our parents wanted, not what we wanted. We just wanna show the world that you gotta live your life the way you want to, or not at all!

Q: What did your parents think about you getting kicked out of North West Kent College only a few months into the course?

Phil: I don't think they know! Any money they'll see this magazine in the shop and either break down in tears or sheer anger. We're gonna be waiting for the phone call! [laughs]
Alex: [laughs]

Q: Where did you get the name "Hell Raiser" from then?

Alex: Our old R.E classes! We hated R.E, thought the idea of learning about something we didn't believe in to be total bollocks! We used to sit in the back of the class and write new lyrics to songs we had listened to, quietly so the teacher thought we were working, obviously.
Phil: He did come over to us at one point and saw our lyrics, and tried reading them out loud to the class. Ya know, to embarrass us. He read two lines, put the paper down and never walked by our table again!

Q: Where are you guys staying at the moment then?

Phil: As far away from Ashford as possible! [laughs]
Alex: [laughs] We have a flat in Dartford. It's alright, it's got what we need, a TV, PS3 and a wall dedicated to all our CD's!

Q: I'm guessing you have a lot of CD's then, what's your favourite?

Alex: Ah, now we could argue about this for months at a time! My favourite album is "American Capitalist" by Five Finger Death Punch. Whereas this idiot...
Phil: Hey hey woah, slow down there man! It's all about the second "Motograter" album when they got Ivan Moody in as the lead vocalist
Alex: Ok, I'm not having an arguement in our first interview! [laughs]
Phil: [laughs]

Q: Who's your true inspiration?

Alex and Phil: Ivan Moody!
Alex: At least we can agree on something!

Q: And who would you say is definitely not?

Alex and Phil: Justin Bieber!
Phil: Guess we agree on that too!

Q: Do you guys have any big dreams, any goals to look to in the future?

Alex: Well, we definitely want to headline at Download, Reading and Leeds. We would love to play at Wembley, and I've always wanted to headline Glastonbury.
Phil: [laughs] To hell with it, we'll have 'em all!

Q: So what's been keeping you both busy for the past few weeks then?

Phil: We can't tell you that! It's a lil' surprise for our fans!
Alex: All we will say is that it's going to be totally awesome, we have such a surprise lined up for you all and your gonna love every second of it!

Q: On a final note, we've heard some rumours of a third band member?

Alex: Not a chance!
Phil: I'd like to see 'em fucking try!

Feedback

• The set of questions need an introduction paragraph to add more of a background to the band.
• A Pull Quote needs to be selected from the questions.
• When it comes to answering the questions themselves, they do not necessarily need to be answered by both band members, have some flexibility with the answers.
• The word count only comes to 849, this needs to be increased.

Draft Three

Project Mayhem speaks exclusively to Hell Raiser, the new name in the face of Modern Metal, in an exclusive first interview. Following the release of their debut album "Into the Shadows", Hell Raiser have put their name on the map and given themselves the identity they have been dreaming of since school R.E classes. We talk to Phil and Alex, the twins themselves, about the future they look to, the past they would sooner forget and the icons they look to for inspiration. So, let's get started!

Q: Afternoon guys, how are you both doing today?

Alex: Pretty good thanks, had a busy few weeks but we're enjoyin' every second of it!

Q: So guys, when did you first get into music?

Alex: It's kind of a stupid story really, since the first instrument I learned to play was the violin! My family still think it's 1953 and that all boys should learn the violin, cello or piano. But when I left home I got really into stuff like Disturbed and Five Finger Death Punch so I taught myself the guitar. Phil on the other hand never...
Phil: Hey woah, don't tell my story! Ahem, anyway, learn an instrument? Ha, don't make me laugh! I'm the guy that got my brother into all these bands, I've been true to my taste since the beginning. And instead of learning the violin or some other piece of Victorian crap, I taught myself how to scream and roar! My parents weren't impressed, but hey it's my life!

Q: Wow, quite an old fashioned upbringing. You didn't get sent off to Private School too, did you?

Phil: Yeah, parents sent us off to Spring Grove Independence School in Ashford, and I tell you now I hated every second of it. We always knew our future was somewhere else. So after GCSE's we made a move to North West Kent and did a course in music, thinking we could make our own sound that way. But, we were so wrong! We were kicked out of there as well after just a few months, several cases of disruptive and destructive behavior, they said. They never appreciated what we are all about if you ask me.

Q: So what are you guys all about?

Phil: Causing Carnage, wherever we go!
Alex: [laughs] That, and we're all for living your own life. I mean, our parents expected us to try hard in school, get decent grades and get a well paid job and leave home to be an accountant or a lawyer or something like that. But that's what our parents wanted, not what we wanted. We just wanna show the world that you gotta live your life the way you want to, or not at all.

Q: What did your parents think about you getting kicked out of North West Kent College only a few months into the course?

Phil: I don't think they know! Any money they'll see this magazine in the shop and either break down in tears or sheer anger. We're gonna be waiting for the phone call! [laughs]

Q: Where did you get the name "Hell Raiser" from then?

Alex: Our old R.E classes! We hated R.E, thought the idea of learning about something we didn't believe in to be total bollocks! We used to sit in the back of the class and write new lyrics to songs we had listened to, quietly so the teacher thought we were working, obviously. We got into enough trouble, we didn't want grief for disturbing lessons on top of all that.
Phil: He did come over to us at one point and saw our lyrics, and tried reading them out loud to the class. Ya know, to embarrass us. He read two lines, put the paper down and never walked by our table again!

Q: Where are you guys staying at the moment then?

Phil: As far away from Ashford as possible! [laughs]
Alex: [laughs] We have a flat in Dartford. It's alright, it's got what we need, a TV, PS3 and a shelf thats been built solely for all our CD's.

Q: I'm guessing you have a lot of CD's then, what's your favourite?

Alex: Ah, now we could argue about this for months at a time! My favourite album is "American Capitalist" by Five Finger Death Punch. Whereas this idiot...
Phil: Hey hey woah, slow down there man! It's all about the second "Motograter" album when they got Ivan Moody in as the lead vocalist!
Alex: Ok, I'm not having an argument in our first interview! [laughs]
Phil: [laughs]

Q: Who's your true inspiration?

Alex and Phil: Ivan Moody!
Alex: At least we can agree on something!

Q: And who would you say is definitely not?

Alex and Phil: Justin Bieber!
Phil: Guess we agree on that too!

Q: Do you guys have any big dreams, any goals to look to in the future?

Alex: Well, we definitely want to headline at Download, Reading and Leeds. We would love to play at Wembley, and I've always wanted to headline Glastonbury.
Phil: [laughs] To hell with it, we'll have 'em all!

Q: So what's been keeping you both busy for the past few weeks then?

Phil: We can't tell you that! It's a lil' surprise for our fans!
Alex: All we will say is that it's going to be totally awesome, we have such a surprise lined up for you all and your gonna love every second of it!

Q: On a final note, we've heard some rumours of a third band member?

Alex: Not a chance!
Phil: I'd like to see 'em fucking try!

Possible Pull Quotes:

1.  "To hell with it, we'll have 'em all!"
2.  "He read two lines, put the paper down and never walked by our table again!"
3.  "We always knew our future was somewhere else..."

Final Contents Page

Double Page Spread Research

Now that I've (finally) finished my Front Page and Contents Page, I'm starting to move on to the Double Page Spread (DPS). This is arguably the hardest part of my Coursework, and is made even harder since I have only ever read 2 Double Page Spread articles in my life... Anyhow, I still plan on doing a good job. So I'm going to start researching into articles that have already been written, namely the article on Rise to Remain in issue of Kerrang! Magazine that I analysed for my Front Page, and also a Double Page Spread in Q that my college analysed for his Front Page research. So, here we go;

KERRANG!

The Kerrang! Article I'll be Analysing

The Basic Layout

This Double Page Spread is laid out in a very simple way, with the main image taking up one page and the article confined to the next page in the magazine. This particular layout does look professional and the article itself is split into three distinctive columns that have been text-wrapped around 4 other images and a thin banner explaining about Ben Tovey's conductor for a Father. Although this is a favorable layout for some DPS articles, it isn't one that I will use myself. Instead I will probably go for a  less grid-like layout and try to integrate the image and the article itself a bit more than has been done in this DPS article on Rise to Remain.

The Main Image

Austin Dickinson (Front man of Rise To Remain) is the main focus of the main image of this DPS. The first thing that springs to mind when I look at this image is how he isn't looking at the camera, in fact he doesn't even have his eyes open. His gaze is focused on his eyelids, and his mouth is wide open screaming into a microphone. The shot itself is classed as a Medium Shot, and his clothes are similar to those worn by him in the Front Page, and of course this creates similar connotations. The city backdrop also adds to the modern feel and matches the colour scheme of the clothes, and also can be linked into the Front Page image of the same Band.

The Style of Writing in the Article

The article itself is written in more of a narrative sense, documenting the events of the interview as well as a few questions that Rise To Remain were asked throughout the Photo Shoot. There are several things that catch my eye when I have a look at this article in particular, and one of them is that it doesn't document an interview as such, rather than a Photo Shoot that Rise To Remain are doing on top of a London Skyscraper. This is a new idea to me since I have never read a DPS article that wasn't documented in an interview situation, and I've always thought that this was the only way to format an article like this. Preconception No.1 Busted! This article is also written in quite a Formal Style, with the only colloquial language used in direct quotes from what the Band Members have replied to certain questions from the writer of the article. This has also come as a bit of a shock to me, as I would've thought that a magazine like Kerrang! magazine, with the reputation that is has and the way that the coverlines are written, would go for a more colloquial style of writing throughout the entire magazine. Of course, as things mainly are, I was wrong. This is definitely something I need to remember for when I'm writing my own DPS article, to make it fit in more with the real media world. Finally, there is a small banner in the middle of the article page, towards the top, that has a small paragraph of information about the lead guitarist Ben Tovey and his classical background. I'm not sure whether this is a good idea or not, but I might think about including something like this in my DPS article.

Little Bits and Bobs

Here, all I am going to do is have little look at a few of the little touches that have been done to make this article fit in with the magazine itself;

1. Page Numbers: The Kerrang! Masthead is included next to the page numbers on both pages. This little design element subtly groups the rest of the magazine pages together, improving the magazine's "identity", and also gives the page just a little extra something to set it apart from just having simple numbers in the corners of each page.
2. Paragraphs: The first letter of the first word of each new paragraph has been enlarged to at least 10x the size of the other text, bolded and re-coloured. This is known as a Drop Cap, and (obviously) makes it stand out more on the page and also shows when a new paragraph begins.
3. Quotes: There is a Pull Quote from the article enlarged and highlighted, and them embedded into the main image. This does many things such as emphasises that specific quote, adds a little bit of extra flare to the main image and acts as a hook to pull the reader in to the article.

 Q 

The Q Article I'll be Analysing

The Basic Layout

The main image of this DPS article is in the centre of the page and takes up most of the space for the article. The article itself is confined to a column on the outside of each page, and personally I don't think that works as a professional layout for a DPS article. The models themselves look incredibly dressed up using a variety of different costumes and props to make the picture look different and interesting, as if it is acting as another hook to read the article. Personally I think that the image takes up way too much space than it should, and that the text should be wrapped around the image in the centre of the page. This would eliminate the space that is left by having such a blocked layout and would also allow for more content to be included in the article.

The Style of Writing in the Article

The entire article is written in a Question and Answer style, whereas the Kerrang! Magazine article is written as a narrative so this gives me an idea of how both of the styles of writing look in the real media world. I prefer the way that a Q and A article is structured personally and will try to incorporate this style into my own DPS article. Since this article features in the "The Music That Changed My Life" feature of this issue of Q, it makes it harder to look at the questions themselves since they look solely at the music tastes of Billie Joe Armstrong and who has influenced his taste in music. So as a separate task I need to look into what questions are included in a first interview.

Little Bits and Bobs

Second verse, same as the first:

1. Page Numbers: The Q Logo is included with the page numbers, similar to the way Kerrang! uses their Masthead next to their page numbers. This reinforces the importance of the page numbers of a Double Page Spread, and this is an element that will definitely be integrated into my own Double Page Spread article.
2. Paragraphs: There is no use of Drop Caps as there were in Kerrang! magazine, however this could be down to the use of a Question and Answer structure to this article rather than the Narrative structure used in the Kerrang! magazine article. Each question and answer is separated by a new paragraph, and again this is an element to be incorporated into my Double Page Spread.
3. Quotes: Again, a Pull Quote is used on this article to draw the reader to the content of the article. The quote itself is situated in the middle of the page to the right, and the design element used to frame it is similar to those used throughout the magazine to improve the House Style. The Pull Quote is large enough to draw attention to itself appropriately, and takes up a lot of space in the article but again I feel that the space left behind is what dramatically decreases the strength of this article compared to the Kerrang! article on Rise to Remain.

Final Frontpage

Contents Page Construction

I've finally completed my Contents Page, and so now would be a good time to show you how I did it! In this post I'm going to look at the techniques I have used to complete this piece of my coursework and look at the elements that I have taken from my Front Cover and my research to complete this piece of work to the appropriate standard. And so we shall begin!

1)
Alright, the first thing I brought into my Contents Page from my Front Cover was the black background, despite my research into Contents Page's having no black backgrounds at all... However, to allow for this I made my Columns and Rows white, and since they take up the majority of the space on my Contents Page the background only looks like the frame, as you can see in the Screen Grab to the right. The boxes where created using the Rectangle Shape Tool, and are equipped with a Layer Style that included a Drop Shadow, Bevel and Emboss and a Texture Overlay to create the rough surface of these spaces for text.

2)

Secondly I moved onto the main image itself. On the Contents Page, the image takes up much less space to allow for the articles to fill the majority of the space. For this image I maintained the hard gaze of my models, but used an Eyeline Match to produce more of a level view of my models. The connotations of this image where of Old Western Wanted posters, so I applied a Light Effect to further illustrate the idea of an interrogation. I also moved over the "Hell Raiser" logo to reinforce the identity of my band.


3)
The next part of the Contents Page to complete was the Masthead. The text was written in the same font as the Masthead for my Front Page, the 'Unreal Tournament' font from Dafont.com. One of the main aspects I found from my research into Contents Pages was that a small copy of the Front Cover is shown on the Contents Page, which I incorporated into the top left hand corner of the Masthead. The Issue number and 'Issue' text are also a part of the Masthead, and these are done in a combination of the 'Gargoyle' and 'Guttural' fonts found on Dafont, with layer Styles including a Stroke and Bevel Emboss.

4)

Fourthly you can see the bottom panel of my Contents Page taking shape. The bottom panel is the space reserved for the Album Cover competition. I also included another image of my models, a Low Angle shot to reinforce the dominance my models have over my Target Audience. Many of the elements here were duplicate layers from previous work and elements brought over from my Front Page.

5)
Finally, here it is. With articles and everything, the whole Contents Page. The Coverlines themselves are split into three sections, and each aspect of the sections are constructed in different ways with different layer styles. The title of the section, such as "Interviews" is equipped with a layer style including a black Stroke and a soft Bevel and Emboss, as do the page numbers that are linked with the articles. The articles themselves have a layer style including a Bevel and Emboss and a Gradient Overlay. The article titles are also stretched and squashed to fit into an aligned row.