Friday 25 November 2011
Monday 21 November 2011
Main Task: Profiling Your Audience
The Soulitude Reader: Malika is 17 and she has obsessed with Neo Soul. When she was younger, her mother would always be playing vinyl records and Malika would find herself free flowing in her diapers with her mother. The neo soul genre has played an important part of her life and has always provided her with escapism from the "harsh outside World". Malika is so interested in neo soul that she has even written a few of her own songs. Soulitude magazine has given her a monthly buzz on neo soul music. This magazine has allowed her to enjoy the latest songs and become aware of the new artists who are up and coming in the genre as she finds that there is not enough magazines and websites which focus only of neo soul.
Neo soul artists influence her style and personality. She has a passion for oversized jewellery and egyptian sculptures.
Not only does she have a passion for neo soul but she is also patriotic for USA and she is interested in fashion...especially foot wear & printed fabrics.
Sunday 20 November 2011
Main Task: Audience Research
I done an audience reasearch through social networking. This was to gather views on what to add to my magazine. I will use this data for my final designs.
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| Question: I'm making a music magazine based on neo-soul. I've come up with four titles for my magazine - 1.Soulitude 2.Feels Soul Good 3.Soul Ties 4.Power & Soul Which one do you think is best? |
From this research I will call the title of my magazine "Soulitude" due to the amount of people who chose it out of the other three titles. My colour scheme will be a mixture or different pastel colours and warm colours as my respondents agreed that it links to Soul Music. I have an idea of what I should put in my magazine, all of my friends who I asked what I should include said the latest/chart songs, and therefore it's crucial that I include that feature. Monthly was the publication limit which they all told me would be good. I will make my magazine £3 as I had a mixture of the prices which I should sell the magazine for ranging form £0-£5 so picked £3 to make it reasonable. I got many positive comments for my mood board so I know that I can always look back to it for inspiration during the making process of my magazine.
Friday 18 November 2011
Thursday 17 November 2011
Friday 11 November 2011
Main Task: Double Page Spread Textual Analysis
Denotation:
This double page spread from BULLET magazine contains text and a photo. The photograph in this double page spread is on the right hand side. It takes up roughly a quarter of the double page spread. It is a black and white photo; it uses mid tones of grey. There is a black male sitting on the floor surrounded by drums, speakers and stands. His t-shirt is a really strong which contrasts with the different tones of greys and the black areas. His legs are spread out and one of his arms is resting on an instrument whilst the other arm is resting on him lap. His head is slightly tilted to the side. This is a long shot photo which shows his whole body and part of the surroundings. The composition of this photo is asymmetrical. The man's name is on the left hand side of the double page spread in capital letters.
Connotation:
What you can connote from the double page spread it that the man sitting on the floor is a music artist or a producer because of the music related objects which surround him. He also looks like an earthy person because he has grown it and it is not braided nor tied up. This fits the hippy and peace subculture trend.
Character:
The black male in the photograph is an underground soul singer called Jesse Boykins III. He is also a producer and a song writer.
Costume:
Jesse is wearing a t-shirt which is a v-neck with a lace. He is wearing fitted skinny leg trousers and wing tip brogues. His hair is left out in a Nubian afro. He has tribal bracelets on his left wrist and he has rings on his fingers on his right hand.
Non-Verbal Communication:
Jesse Boykins III is looking directly at the camera. He is sat on the floor with a really relaxed and laid back posture which connotes that he is a down to earth person.
Setting:
The photograph looks as if it has been set in a studio because of the props which are in the photo.
Props:
The props used in the photo are speakers, sound proofing foams, drums and stands.
The props used in the photo are speakers, sound proofing foams, drums and stands.
Headline:
The headline is the character’s name. It is visible because the black text contrasts against the white background, there is also a lot of space around it and nothing is obstructing the text. The text is in upper case letters and the font is a serif font. This connotes that he makes music with a meaning because the font is very formal.
Target Audience:
The target audience for this double page spread is most likely to be couples between the ages of 18 – 30 who have an interest in romantic music which they can make love to.
Friday 4 November 2011
Main Task: Front Cover Textual Analysis
Denotations:
The front cover of this issue of "URB" magazine has a photograph of a black female whom is looking at the camera. This is a mid-shot photograph. Her left arm is raised up with her index finger covering almost approximately half of her lips. Her right arm is placed on her hip. Her shoulders are not at an equal level; one of them is more raised than the other. Behind the black woman there is a white background (which looks almost grey. There is a shadow in the background which is coming from the sleeve on the woman's outfit. The woman's head slightly covers the letter "U" but her head is mostly covering a third of the letter "R" in the masthead whereas the letter "B" is not covered. The black woman's name is in grey capitals positioned on top of the subject.
Connotation:
What I can see from the front cover is Lauryn Hill with a really fierce look on her face. She looks like she is a lead woman because of her pose which looks rather dominant as her hand is on her hip. Her sharp haircut looks Egyptian and it adds edginess to her look. The colours she is wearing are strong colours which represent summer. Her finger on her lip looks as if she is about to let us into a secret or she is telling someone to be more quiet.
Costume:
She is wearing a canary yellow kaftan. The kaftan is covered with accordion pleats and ruffles. Her hair style is a bob with a V shaped fringe which is symmetrical. She is wearing black bracelets which match with her ring on her right has and her necklace which has a big round pendant. Her earthy coloured dangling earrings match the other ring which is on her left hand. She has emerald green eye shadow and her makeup is not heavy.
Character:
The woman on the front cover of the magazine is a neo soul singer and rapper called Lauryn Hill. Lauryn Hill has also acted in the film "Sister Act 2" and she has also written songs for Kanye West and John Legend.
Props:
There are no props in the photograph. This allows Lauryn Hill to dominate the front cover alone.
Non-Verbal Communication:
Cover-lines:
The cover lines almost follow the silhouette of Lauryn Hill. Each word starts with a capital letter. The font used is a serif font which makes the magazine look formal. The font size gets smaller as the cover lines go down the page. The word “rap” is an anchorage to Lauryn Hill as she also raps in her music sometimes.
Masthead:
The front cover of this issue of "URB" magazine has a photograph of a black female whom is looking at the camera. This is a mid-shot photograph. Her left arm is raised up with her index finger covering almost approximately half of her lips. Her right arm is placed on her hip. Her shoulders are not at an equal level; one of them is more raised than the other. Behind the black woman there is a white background (which looks almost grey. There is a shadow in the background which is coming from the sleeve on the woman's outfit. The woman's head slightly covers the letter "U" but her head is mostly covering a third of the letter "R" in the masthead whereas the letter "B" is not covered. The black woman's name is in grey capitals positioned on top of the subject.
Connotation:
What I can see from the front cover is Lauryn Hill with a really fierce look on her face. She looks like she is a lead woman because of her pose which looks rather dominant as her hand is on her hip. Her sharp haircut looks Egyptian and it adds edginess to her look. The colours she is wearing are strong colours which represent summer. Her finger on her lip looks as if she is about to let us into a secret or she is telling someone to be more quiet.
Costume:
She is wearing a canary yellow kaftan. The kaftan is covered with accordion pleats and ruffles. Her hair style is a bob with a V shaped fringe which is symmetrical. She is wearing black bracelets which match with her ring on her right has and her necklace which has a big round pendant. Her earthy coloured dangling earrings match the other ring which is on her left hand. She has emerald green eye shadow and her makeup is not heavy.
Character:
The woman on the front cover of the magazine is a neo soul singer and rapper called Lauryn Hill. Lauryn Hill has also acted in the film "Sister Act 2" and she has also written songs for Kanye West and John Legend.
Props:
There are no props in the photograph. This allows Lauryn Hill to dominate the front cover alone.
Non-Verbal Communication:
Lauryn Hill looks really fierce as she is not smiling. She looks mischievous as her eyes are directly facing the camera and she has her finger over her lip. Her silhouette makes her look like a prima donna with her shoulders at a diagonal angle and her hand on her hip.
Lighting:
It looks as if a flash gun or studio lights has been used because the lighting is really high key and there is also a visible shadow coming from her left arm and the sleeve of her kaftan.
Setting:
The cover image looks like it has been set in a photographic studio. This is because there is a plain white background. This could connote a cloudy sky and the yellow which Lauryn Hill is wearing could connote the sun breaking through the cloudy sky.
The cover lines almost follow the silhouette of Lauryn Hill. Each word starts with a capital letter. The font used is a serif font which makes the magazine look formal. The font size gets smaller as the cover lines go down the page. The word “rap” is an anchorage to Lauryn Hill as she also raps in her music sometimes.
Masthead:
The mast head sits behind Lauryn Hill. It is all in capital letters and the font is really bold. It is in sans serif as the text does not have tails on the corners of the letters. The colour of the masthead and the cover lines are identical. It is an earthy grey which connotes that the magazine is authentic and full of things which warm up your soul.
Main Cover line:
The main cover line is on top of Lauryn Hill. It is in capitals and the writing is fancy which links to females. The name “Lauryn Hill” links to the artist herself on the front cover. Underneath the big and bold font is smaller lower case text. The word “disappearance” is not really visible on top of the yellow kaftan, this word links to its meaning as it kind of disappears on the front cover. The word “dreamgirl” also links to how Lauryn was supposed to have the leading role in the film “Dream Girls”.
Target Audience:
The target audience of this magazine is likely to be a female between the ages of 19 – 30, who are interested in soul music as the magazine mentions names like “Georgia Anne Muldro” and “Lauryn Hill”, also considering that neo soul came about during the 80’s and there is anchorage in the cover which says “Be girl issue” & “Women’s music” so this shows that this magazine is meant for females.
Main Task: Introduction
My name is Jessica Effah. I am studying AS media at Christ The King Sixth Form College. For my main task of my media coursework I will be creating a music magazine. The genre I will choose for my magazine will be neo soul. I am deciding to pick neo soul as my genre because I feel that it is beautiful category of music that myself and many others can relate to. Neo soul is the fine line where hiphop meets jazz & then travels back to it's roots in Africa. I have good knowledge on neo soul and I appreciate the ambience, spirit & lyrics behind the music. Neo soul began with artists like Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill & D'angelo, however I feel that this genre is really underrated and it needs to get out into the mainstream music world because neo soul is what we should class as authentic music which speaks to our inner soul.
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