Costume / Props Planning

What I will need for my photo magazine shoot:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Outifts - black top/ dress
• Union Jack / American flag
• Red lipstick
• 2 models
• Red Ballons
• Gold String
• White Background

My Reader Profile

Lily,19 from London lives and breathes fashion but also has a passion for music. Music relates to her choice of fashion and vice versa they go hand in hand for her. A lot of other magazines are too based on genres she does not like and too many of the other magazines because they are too male orientated. This is why she reads M Music Magazine. Lily is a modern girl who lives a fast lifestyle where her likes and interests are always changing, she is a girly girl but loves music as well. She is a trend setter within her friends and wants to be up to date on all the latest trends and artists at the same time in one magazine. She looks to many female artists to get inspiration for her style. M Music Magazine gives her the opportunity to catch up on the latest styles whilst also getting an indepth look into the music, life, style and inspirations of her favourite female artist.

Generic Conventions of Music Magazines (NME)

One of the key conventions of NME, and most music magazines, is that it’s masthead has the same font and usually the same colour. NME usually ahs red text but due to the image in the background on this occasion it has been made white for visual purposes. However it is true to say that in the usual red heading there is white encorporated within the logo. It is always situated in the top left hand corner and many readers fid themselves looking for that as a key way to spot the magazine on the shelves. This however can have exceptions to if the image dominates the page sometimes part of the masthead and NME sign will be covered up but this doesnt stop people from noticing the magazine because they will know what is behind the image because it is an iconic NME sign.

This issue shown here breaks a lot of standard ‘NME conventions.’ The typical use of darker colours is replaced by a bright turquoise title which takes up a lot of room horizonatally across the page.  It is also unconventional across music magazines as a whole to use someone overly feminine on their cover especially since their main traget audience is men who want to read about types of music that are not overly girly usually rock or indie based bands and artists. therefore shows that NME are willing to offer some variety to their magazine to be unpredictable and appeal to different type of audience sometimes. This cover is also striking because instead of the white background that is usually featured it is an american flag that has been put on the wall behind.


The contents page has quite simple styling but is still wokring and effective for a coverpage, however it doesn't feature the NME masthead this time. The page numbers which would usually be found on a contents page do not dominate the contents page instead they only take up a small part of the page. The page is dominated by pictures of some of the artists and other people featured in the magazine, the use of pictures in this contents page helps to make the page look more interesting and eye catching. It also has a quote from each artist about what they will continue to talk about within the magazine. As can be seen above on each photo there is a large number which refers to what page the artsist is featured on so that it is clear to see which page the artist will want to go to.



 This is a typical example of a double page spread from NME, the page on the left is completely taken up by the image. This is not unusual to see in NME because on the adjacent page it is mainly text with some additional photos of the band featured. Also, the names of bands are in bold and coloured pink, this allows the reader to be able to easily recognise theartsist because of the very few other colours that are used in the rest of the magazine which is another key convention. . At the top of each corners is the word "Live!" this is an attractive feature to the reader because they are drawn into reading it more because it has a feeling of being more exclusive and current. This is another key convention because it makes the reader feel like they shoudl buy this magazine because they will be getting something that no other magazine has. The otehr key conventions that you can see above is that it ahs a very large, bold and easy to read title and also it has quite a few exclusive pictures many of which have been slanted for effect.

Denotation
The magazine cover consists of a sepia style image of an wrist looking directly into the camera whilst being slightly angled away from the camera. It is a close up head shot of the artist who is posing as if she is biting her necklace. Her hand is also visible on the front cover and you can visibly see her long red nails to add to her image. The background you can slightly tell is a light coloured colour but the main image of her hair and face fills up the main space on the front cover.

The masthead is featured on top of the picture of the artist, whereas the artists name is on the bottom in a contrasting text to the masthead. This text may have been used to reflect the artist who on this magazine is Beyonce.The font in which the artists name is written is a classic font which is quite girly but also has bold characteristics. One of these would be that it is written in capital letters which make the artist seem like she is importnace and a big deal; it helps her to exert authority and command. It creates a sense of power within the industry and the old style of font combined with the picture behind gives a feel that the artist is both a modern artist but also a timeless one. This contrasts with the masthead, the masthead is in a very modern font and also has burts of colour within in helping to connect with a younger audience. In the USA Billboard own the record charts company so because they tell people who is the current number 1 they want to create a newer and fresher feel to the magazine by creating the masthead in such a way.

The Cover photograph is of Beyonce.  She is posed in a very suggestive kind of way by the way she is biting a necklace she is holding and her finger which has a bright red nail polish on. You cannot see her clothing so the image entirely focuses on her face and facial expressions. This appeals to both male and female readers who would want to buy the magazine, it does not show a sexualised image for men but a tasteful headshot of the artist that could appeal to both genders.  The type fo headshot that it used may be reflective of some of the artists album covers that she has recently have which have the same styling and effect as to what is here on the front cover. The backcombed hair and the necklace helped to add to the fierce image that the artist is trying to portray.

The main coverline that relates to her photograph says:

'Live at Roseland ; Elements of 4'

This refers to a concert in Roseland that she held as part of a series of live performandces that she did called '4 Intimate Nights with Beyonce' ; it is also the name of the DVD that she released after she did these performances in the Roseland Ballroom in New York City in 2011. This is explained in the other writing that is on the front cover it is all about Beyonce and her performances in Roseland and her DVD that accopmanies it. This shows that having Beyonce on the fornt is a huge deal because of how big of an artist she is in the industry and the power that she holds within it.