Tuesday 30th November

Today I have been researching the band I have been writing my biographical article on in more depth, and also carrying on with the writing of my article.

I have also made a Windows Movie Maker project containing all the pictures I have taken for the front cover of my magazine, for now it is only the pictures with an introductory title at the beginning of the video - I plan to add to this video explanations of why I'm not using most of the pictures, and why I am using the image which will become my front cover image.

I also conducted some interviews for my article with the fans of Disturbed.

Screen shot of my video in progress on Windows Movie Maker:

Thursday 25th November - Monday 29th November

On Thursday and Friday I started writing my double page spead article in Microsoft Word on the band Disturbed, I carried on with this on Monday. I also took my photos for my front cover image at the weekend.

Screenshot of my article being written:

Article Research

Websites used to help me research for my article: 

* Official band website: www.disturbed1.com

* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disturbed_(band)

Other resorces:

Metal Hammer Magazine - October 2010 issue - Article = The Story Behind Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Questions for the fans of Disturbed:


1. What is it about Disturbed's music which attracts you so much?
2. Tell me about the experience of a Disturbed gig, or if you have  never been to one, tell me what you expect it to be like?
3. What is your favorite Disturbed song and why?
4. How would you describe Disturbed?
5. What is your favorite Disturbed album and why?

Rough Layout of DPS

The title goes across the entire first page, following conventions of DPS articles, the picture bleeds through the page, which helps to connect the pages, so that the audience can see that it is the same article.

The image is interesting and relates to the band - suggesting their certain attitude and also relating to their trademark (the guy).

Planning Production

Front cover image:

IDEA 1 = ‘band’ Successful Failure (actually a made up band, I will be using a model for my front cover image, pretending to be a guitarist) idea 1 is very music based, set in a studio-looking environment, the girl will be dressed Gothic but with a twist of classic ‘rocker look’, she will be posing with her electric guitar and amp looking into the camera theatrically.

IDEA 2 = more’ image’ based.  This time the girl will be in a forest-like setting, posing in a clearing surrounded by trees. She will be dressed the same as in idea 1, however this time she will be pretending to be the lead singer and not the guitarist, so no guitar props will be used.  I thought it may be interesting to use a skull prop that she can hold, to make her look theatrical and Gothic, and add more interest to the photograph.

IDEA 3 = The girl will be in the church yard of St. Giles church in Wrexham, which is a Gothic church, therefore conforming with the Gothic theme, or St. Hilary's church, Wallasey - she will be standing in the church yard which is surrounded in trees and scattered with graves, holding the skull prop by her chest. However, I will be trying various other poses, such as holding the skull in one hand next to her head, and also various other locations in the church yard such as by the church. She will be dressed in the same way as in idea 1 and 2. Again the picture will be theatrical and more 'image' based.

IDEA 4= The girl will be in a room, sitting on the floor on aged looking floorboards, with candles all around her looking into the camera theatrically, I will also create a background behind her such as drawings and draped material. I will try various other poses however to see if they work better. She will be dressed in the same way as in idea 1, 2 & 3. Again the picture will be theatrical and more 'image' based.

I have decided I will try out idea 2 and 3.

Cover lines for the front cover:

(Main cover line) – ‘Successful Failure – Trouble, parties and success', ‘Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare 2010 Tour’, ‘Disturbed - Inside the Asylum', ‘Bullet for my Valentine – On tour and all in a Fever', 'Metallica - what we do nowadays', 'Sonata Arctica - power metal's best act'.

Text for contents page:

FEATURES

18 SUCCESSFUL FAILURE Trouble, parties and success
24 CRADLE OF FILTH "We know we're a bit strange - and we love it!"

28 AVENGED SEVENFOLD on the Nightmare 2010 Tour

30 ARCAYE Metal's hottest new band?
34 DISTURBED Inside the Asylum
38 ROCKSTAR TASTE OF CHAOS What to expect from this year's tour
42 21 BANDS to see before you die
46 BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE on the Fever 2010 Tour
48 THERION "Music is the most important thing in our lives"
52 ANTHRAX "We're having the time of our lives!"
56 SONATA ARCTICA Power metal's best act
60 WITHIN TEMPTATION The exclusive interview
64 STRUM the best guitars on the block
66 METALLICA what we do nowadays

REGULARS

4 YOUR SCREAM  Letters from you to us
7 THE TOP 10 the best songs this month
10 BLOODY BRILLIANT Our top band this month
14 FANTASTIC FINDS  5 new bands you need to listen to
20 GIGS MONTHLY Reviews of this months top gigs
72 THE GUIDELINES a full guide of next years UK metal fests
74 PLACE TO BE The best gig tickets to buy this month
78 ROCKIN' OR SHOCKING? A review of this months new album releases
82 CLASSIC 5 legendary songs you have to listen to
84 ON TOUR Top tour dates
88 MERCH Best places to buy
90 LIVING THE NIGHTLIFE a guide to metal clubs, this month in Manchester
92 MY STORY stories from our readers of meeting bands and much more
96 DOWNLOADING 76% 10 songs we think are worth the download

Images needed for contents page:

Picture of guitars to go with the 'STRUM' coverline, picture of a Metallica song playing on my iPhone, another picture of Successful Failure.

Article I am going to write:

Biographical article on Disturbed - Inside the Asylum
Pictures needed: Picture from their concert and/or a picture conveying one of their albums (The Sickness, Believe, Ten Thousand Fists, Indestructible & Asylum). Maybe a person in a Disturbed t-shirt and Halloween mask (suggesting craziness, but in a fun way).

Sketches:

 Front cover

 Contents page

Publication Plan

Title:

Positioning Statement: Music is life  

Frequency of Publication: Monthly

Price: £3.20

Distribution: Newsagents, Supermarkets, Gigs, music stores such as HMV, maybe alternative clothing stores.

Rationale: the approach of this magazine is from a metal/rock fans perspective.The magazine will offer interviews with bands when events that the audience and fans of the band may be interested in (such as tours) are taking place, and also when events have happened to the band which effect their music career, such as the release of a new album. Moreover, the magazine will offer reviews on things such as new albums and tours, in order to help the audience decide whether they want to buy these albums or attend these gigs, and also to advertise the music genre and the bands in question.  Furthermore the magazine will offer the audience posters and special offers sometimes such as free CDs or clothing items.

Style: Informal language, humorous and upbeat, slightly conversational, easy to read. May use slang relevant to music genre and general community life. This will appeal to a wide range of audience, as my target audience is not age specific and based on the music taste of an individual. Moreover, stereotypically, people who are fans of the type of music my magazine features find the traits I have mentioned above appealing.

Regular Content :

• Top 10 New Songs
• Bloody Brilliant – Our best band this month
• Gigs Monthly – Reviews of this month’s gigs
• Place to be – our list of the best gigs to be at (for gigs whose ticket sales open this month)
• Fantastic Finds – 5 new bands you need to listen to
• Rockin’ or Shockin’? – New albums  review
• Tour Dates
• Your Scream - Letters from our readers
• Merch - List of the best places to buy band merchandise
• Classic - 5 legendary songs you need to listen to

Feature Content:

 ‘Successful Failure – Gothic metals new gods’

 ‘Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare 2010 Tour’

 ‘Arcaye – Metal’s hottest new band’

 ‘Disturbed – Inside the Asylum’

 ‘Rockstar Taste of Chaos – what to expect from this year’s tour’

‘21 bands to see before you die’

 ‘Bullet for my Valentine – Fever 2010 Tour’

‘Papa Roach – “Music is our lives”’

‘Linkin’ Park – “We’re still having the time of our lives”’

‘Sonata Arctica – Power metal’s best act’

‘Lacuna Coil – “We live for the party life”’

‘Strum – The best guitars on the block’

‘Living the Nightlife: Manchester – the best rock/metal clubs in Manchester’

‘Metallica – What we do nowadays’

'Cradle of Filth - "We know we're a bit strange - and we love it!"'

House Style

 

Coverlines: Arial Black and Arial

Headlines:  Franklin Gothic Demi

Standfirst: Franklin Gothic Medium 14pt. Byline to be included in the standfirst.

Captions: Franklin Gothic Medium 8pt.

Features first paragraph: drop capital (at the beggining of the double page spread article) Franklin Gothic Medium, 5 lines deep, first word in capitals.

Body text (for the double page spread article): Calibri 11pt

Colour Scheme: black, white, deep purple. Maybe a very  small amount of blue.

Conclusions from my Findings

After carrying out my research on members of my target audience, I have found that there are three bands which are most popular to them. These bands are Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed and Paramore. Therefore, these bands will feature on the front cover of my magazine. Guns N’ Roses also was a prominent band, therefore they may also feature on the front cover.  There were many other bands mentioned, which will most likely be featured on my contents page.

I also found out which words reminded my target audience of the music genre I have chosen to use. The most popular three words were black, loud and guitar. These words may help me decide on a suitable title for my magazine, and could possibly also help with the design of the magazine.

Moreover, I asked what my target audience’s favourite color was, which will help me decide on the colors I should use in my magazine. The most popular colour was purple, therefore I think it is wise to use this color as the main colour for my magazine (along with black and white), maybe with hints of blue and red, as these too were prominent colors.

I discovered that my target audience were more willing to buy a music magazine monthly rather than weekly, therefore this will be the frequency of publication for my magazine.

Furthermore I found that interviews were the features that most attracted my target audience to rock/metal music magazines, therefore I will include quite a few interviews the contents of my magazine. I also found that posters and information on new bands were important to my audience, therefore these will defiantly be featured in my magazine.

I found that the thing people liked least about music magazines were the adverts, however this can not be helped as the adverts are the part of the magazine which pays for a lot of the costs of the magazine, therefore if these adverts were taken away, the magazine would receive less money. 


Additionally I found that audience feedback was neither particularly important, nor particularly unimportant, therefore I must use my own judgement to decide whether to add this feature to my magazine. 


I also found that the majority of people were more interested in the magazine if there was a special offer inside it, therefore I think it is relevant to advertise something such as a free CD etc in a puff on the front cover of my magazine. 


Moreover the majority of people found it interesting to read about new bands or singers, therefore it is important that I include this information in my magazine, most likely via interview.

In addition, all the people questioned found reviews of new albums important and therefore it is essential that include this information in my magazine.

Again, I found that all people questioned found it important to have varied and interesting pictures in music magazines, therefore I should make sure that all photographs used on my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread fit the requirements of the target audience.

Finally I found that the majority of those questioned would find it useful to have reviews of other media products, such as films, in their music magazines, therefore I should have some reviews of films, TV programmes featured in my music magazine. 

Results: Question's 8-12

Question 8 - Would you be more interested in the magazine if there are special offers inside it?:

Yes = 17
No = 3

Question 9 - Are you interested in reading about new bands/singers? :

Yes = 16
No = 4


Question 10 - Would it be useful for you to have reviews of new albums in the magazine?:

Yes = 20
No = 0

Question 11 - Are interesting and varied pictures important to you in a magazine?:

Yes = 20
No = 0

Question 12 - Would it be useful for you to have reviews of other media in the magazine? (Film, TV):

Yes = 11
No = 9

Question's 1-7 Results

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