Research: Reflection on research and skills

Reflecting on my research and skills

Summary of textual research findings:

After researching: my genre, mise - en -scene, cinematography, Photoshop and my target audience I will use what I have learnt to create my magazine. 

Researching genre

By researching my genre I can now add specific elements of pop into my magazine. I have found my magazine needs to include: clear sell lines, a wide range of fonts, font sizes and colours and a messy and fun layout. Another example of an element in pop is the use of vibrant and bright colours so in my magazine to incorporate this element I need to use bright colours. Another element that pop uses on a magazine is a medium shot of a singer spanning the whole length of the page, this will need to be in my magazine to make it a pop magazine. Lastly, pop involves a clear mast head explicitly telling readers what the magazine is about. My magazine should also include an obvious mast head which instantly tells readers what my magazine will be about.

Mise - en - scene

Mise - en - scene has taught me to consider everything on the screen and on magazines. In my magazine I will need to consider: lighting, props, costume, background, hair and 
make-up and body language. 

• For my magazine it should use high key lighting because after analysing other pop magazines in my "Research: Mise - en scene (My chosen genre - pop)" I have found that all professional pop magazines use this type of lighting to create a innocent and young tone on the page. The image should also be taken against a white studio background because in a professional magazine there is no background only a white back drop.  
• Another element of mise - en - scene I need to consider for my magazine is props. I will not be using props on my magazine because it makes the page look less cluttered and the sell lines become more important plus other pop magazines don't use props only images of clothes and make-up that they're promoting.
• The models in my magazine should wear fun and youthful clothes on my magazine. I think this because after researching pop magazines I have found the model usually wears something bright with straight lines in it to make them look fresh and on trend. So by my models wearing these types of clothes my magazine will also have a contemporary tone and look professional. Plus, by my model looking young and fresh my target audience can relate to them. After my secondary audience research I have found the magazine's target audience is girls around 12 - 18. So by my model looking contemporary the audience can relate to them, a way to synthetically personalise my magazine. Also, on a professional pop magazine the model wears make - up to accentuate her natural beauty, with natural looking make-up. By using natural make-up I have found she becomes a better role model to the target audience because by looking natural she encourages being yourself and not wearing loads of make-up. Lastly, their hair is also made to look natural and not styled. This again appeals to the target audience because they're young so can't afford a hair stylist so by their favourite singers looking like them they can relate to them, another way the magazine is synthetically personalised.
• Finally, I have found that pop magazines make their models look friendly and inviting. This will therefore draw the target audience to read the magazine because they feel wanted and happy to read it. so in my magazine I need to create this impression so I will need to avoid my model crossing their arms, looking away and avoiding direct eye contact at the reader.

Cinematography

I conducted my cinematography research to understand how a professional image on a pop magazine is created. I found out that the: framing, lighting, type of shot, composition and depth of field is important in creating a pop magazine image.

• All the magazines I have researched use an open frame in a large image and a closed frame for some smaller ones. I have found out that using an open frame creates a sense of openness and freedom whereas a closed frame only focuses on the subject and the reader has no choice in what to look at in the image. I will need to use a range of both in my magazine to make it seem professional.
• In all of the images I have seen on my target genre they all use high key lighting to create a fresh and young tone to the model in the image. By making the model look  youthful she can relate to the audience as they're youthful to. To create this synthetic personalisation I also need to use high key lighting in all my images to make my models look more youthful and fresh.
• Most of the images used in a pop magazine is a medium shot but some close ups are also used. The use of a medium shot lets the reader understand the models body language to the story whereas a close up is used to draw attention to a particular point in the image. Both are used so in my magazine I will need to do the same to make it look professional.
• Another point to consider when composing my pages is the composition. The magazines I have analysed always put the most important image towards the left hand side of the page. I have found that this is the most dominant and therefore the most important side of the page as the reader reads from left to right so naturally they will look at the left hand side of the page first. So in my magazine I should put the main image on the left hand side of the page to make it more dominant than other images. 
• Lastly, after reviewing other images in a pop magazine I have found that all the images used have a standard focus. This is supposed to make the whole image important and not just a certain aspect. So to make my magazine look professional all my images should be in standard focus.

Using Photoshop

By me using Photoshop I was able to experiment with some of the tools available in the software. This was useful as I can know use all the tools effectively when constructing my own magazine. Another plus about using Photoshop is I can import different pictures onto the same document and edit each to improve the image. This is useful when constructing my magazine as there will be many images on the same page and I will need to edit each to improve them. Lastly, after using Photoshop I found a couple of tools I found difficult to use for example 'the magnetic lasso' but after using the software I have found it more easier to use this tool. This is good because I can then use this on my images to edit them and make them look how I wanted on my magazine.

Researching my target audience 

After researching my secondary and primary target audience I now know that my magazine is targeted at mostly young girls who like gossip and pop music. So to target them my primary research told me I need to include stories they will be interested in such as: make - up and gossip about the latest celebrities. Another advantage of researching my audience is I found out that they liked the bright colours, the messy layout and the mast head. So I will need to include these as the audience likes these features on the page.

Summary of audience expectations:

After doing my primary and secondary research I have found the audience expects a couple of things in a pop magazine. Firstly, they expect to see an on trend famous singer as the main image of the front page. It should spread across most of the page. To achieve this expectation I will need to get a model and dress them up to look like a famous artist with natural make-up. Another expectation of a pop magazine is the bright colours, the messy layout and different fonts and font colours. This expectation can be achieved if I stick with using the same bright colours used in a professional pop magazine. Use the same layout and use the same fonts seen on a professional magazine. Lastly, the audience expects the main sell lines to be about gossip about their favourite celebrities. So my sell lines should have a gossip vibe to this expectation.

My10 golden rules:

• Have a single image of a female artist spanning the whole length of the page.
• Use a unique mast head that the reader will see first. It should also include pop in the name to tell audiences what this magazine is about.
• The layout needs to look messy with puffs around the page to make it look interesting to look at.
• Use a wide range of bright colours in all the pages but especially pink.
• Use different fonts and font colours through out the magazine
• Include gossip, real life stories and clothes in the main sell line and sell lines.
• Advertise promotions in my magazine to encourage the audience to buy it.
• All my images should be taken using either a medium shot or a close up with high key lighting and a studio white back drop.
• There needs to be a bar-code to make my magazine sell-able and creditable
• The model needs to look young and fresh while her body language needs to be friendly and inviting with no props used.