Page Drafts

Here I have drawn up the initial plans for my magazine pages. My shot plans convey artist representations generically conventional of Hip Hop magazines; further elaborated on in the annotations.

Cover:

Contents:

Double Page Spread:

AJA: Research Mark

Miles Orec

AO4: Undertake and apply appropriate research

Level 5	16–20	A	The ability to undertake and apply appropriate research is excellent, as evidenced in detail on the blog with relevant examples of film or magazine production elements. The finished product also demonstrates the effectiveness of this research. Research informs the creative critical reflection to a high degree.
Level 4	12–15	B	The ability to undertake and apply appropriate research is competent, as evidenced on the blog with relevant examples of film or magazine production elements. The finished product also demonstrates evidence of this research. Research informs the creative critical reflection to a good degree.
Level 3	8–11	C	The ability to undertake and apply appropriate research is apparent at a satisfactory level, as evidenced on the blog with some examples of film or magazine production elements. The finished product also demonstrates some evidence of this research. Research will inform the creative critical reflection to some degree.
Level 2	4–7	D	The ability to undertake and apply appropriate research is apparent at a limited level, as evidenced on the blog, with limited examples of film or magazine production elements. The finished product also demonstrates limited evidence of this research. Research informs the creative critical reflection to a limited degree.
Level 1	1-3	E	The ability to undertake and apply appropriate research is apparent at a minimal level, as evidenced on the blog with examples of film or magazine production elements barely apparent. The finished product also demonstrates minimal evidence of this research. Research informs the creative critical reflection to a minimal degree.
Level 0	0	U	There is no evidence of ability to undertake and apply appropriate research.

Targets

1. Complete following tasks: Audience profile, Drafting, shot plans, DPS article, Production schedule, Final photos for all pages
2. Audience profile – follow guidance on task list and do this properly!
3. Music photographer research – discuss which ideas you will use in your own photography and how
4. Gender representation – link to your own product – will you use conventional gender representation?
5. Colour scheme analysis – add colour swatches for all pages and then show colour swatches for your own product pages
6. Title block design – discuss ideas in more detail – font styles, colours and connotations
7. Focus group video – evaluate responses in detail – how will you use this information for your own product?
8. Magazine analysis – Complete this – 3 contents pages and 3 double page spreads
9. PROOF READ AND CORRECT ALL POSTS – spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitals etc

DEADLINE: January 15 2015

Audience Profile

The audience profile for the final product will be male 16-25 year olds (as illustrated by the mindmap above) By emphasising the artists image through representation generated by the topic of the article, the style of the included images and the layout and colour scheme of the article, my final product will be successful in addressing and appealing to the target audience. In order to broaden the the appeal to a slightly wider audience, stereotypical objectification of females will not be present within the product. This will allow the product to also be more effective in appealing to female listeners, which as shown by the graph below make up the majority of listeners to Hip Hop/Rap.

My product will be presented in a way which has the objective of targeting Hip Hop listeners, these listeners will fall into a specific demographic. By adhering to other interests commonly held by members of this demographic I can maximise the appeal to the focus demographic.


This graph reveals that despite stereotypical gender representations present within Hip Hop and related forms of media, females make up over 50% of listeners. In order to appeal to these listeners I will not follow the conventional representations of gender and wealth within my final product.

Within the adult demographic the two age ranges comprising the 18-34 group make the majority of hip hop listeners, comprising over 50% of listeners. In order to appeal to this demographic I will represent the artists within the magazine in a manner which takes influence from those of the late 90's and early 2000's, in order to create an image which this demographic will likely be able to identify with this style of representation as it adheres to conventions within an older variant of the genre which the focus audience will be more familiar with.


Below is a reader profile for XXL magazine. The reader profile does not directly correlate with the information on Hip Hop listeners given in the graphs above. This is most noticeably evident in the gender being 78% male within readers of XXL, compared to males making up less than 50% of Hip Hop listeners. This may be due to frequent objectification of female artists paired with stereotypical gender based representations within XXL.

Music Photographer Research: Jonathan Mannion

Jonathan Mannion photographs Hip Hop artists in environments which reflect the lifestyle of the artist when not performing or recording. By capturing the artists at moments which the audience may not be aware of, the image conveys information to the viewer about the artists life, perhaps giving their music more depth to the audience.

By capturing the subjects with a wide shot their environment in included within the frame, putting the artist into context and thus revealing more information about them to the viewer. In Mannion's work, the background is almost as important as the subject as it conveys to the audience the artists lifestyle and creates a much more personal tone aided by the indirect mode of
address. I will employ similar techniques in my
photography in order to represent my artists in
a manner which generates a similar effect.

Music Photographer Research: Cognito

 Cognito's photography is often monochromatic, placing emphasis on the artists posture, costume and paralanguage, as well as creating a darker mood. Cognito's work takes on an eerily atmospheric aesthetic which would likely appeal to a subversive audience when featured in a music magazine. Two of the artists which the photographer frequently associates with, and whom are featured in this post, are MF DOOM and Mos Def. These artists both produce music which diverges from the more commonly encountered mainstream Hip Hop, appealing to an audience which may focus their attention on

 underground production. I feel that Cognito's imagery effectively conveys a visual representation of this to his viewers, a technique I would like to include in my final piece to create a more subversive representation of my artist.

In order to achieve a similar effect to his work, I will include similar elements within my photography such as low key lighting and a shallow depth of field in order to remove the background and place emphasis on the artist. These two elements are key in creating the semi - silhouetted effect which is signature of his work and effective in creating the desired effect.  

Generic Gender Representation in Hip Hop Magazines

Genders are represented within Hip Hop magazines in a very stereotypical way. Objectification of women is extremely common on the covers of many mainstream examples of professional magazines. By adding a sexual element to the cover of a magazine the target audience of young males are likely to be more inclined to buy it, as their expectations of perceived social norms are being followed by both genders being represented as each having their own respective roles. By gratifying the focus audiences expectations the magazine is more likely to sell. This also includes representing men in a stereotypically dominant and masculine way.
These representations are often conveyed through camerawork, costume and the artists paralanguage. For example men are often shot with a medium close up or close up shot, generally emphasising facial expression or posture. Women on the other hand are conventionally shot using a medium or even a full body shot, in order to capture and emphasise her whole body as opposed to facial expression. Costumes are also distinctly masculine or feminine, men are often photographed in suits, or causal street wear that covers most of the artists body such as hoodies or jackets. Women are often shot wearing much more revealing costume in order to convey sex appeal to the audience.

By employing stereotypical representation of female artists magazines are sacrificing appeal to women for a much greater appeal to men, as shown by their reader profiles where men often make up the vast majority of readers. In order to appeal to a broader audience my product will unconventionally exclude stereotypical representations of female artists.

 

Title Block Analysis: Cover Page

The colour scheme used in this example is unconventional of the genre. The unorthodox decision by the editor not to use black font challenges set conventions, perhaps leading the reader to perceive the featured artists as underground through a subversive representation. The navy blue colour used in the background is also present in the artists costumes, adding cohesion to the text. The green colour featured in the title block and font links the artists to the magazine representing a link between them, further adding to the cohesion and perhaps leading viewers to purchase the product.