Untouched Photographs

These are the untouched photographs that I am planning to use for my magazine. At the stage none of them have been digitally enhanced in any way.

I used two locations for my photographs:
-Location One, Crystal Palace Park [The Sphinx] : I chose this location because the sphinxes are a representation of power and authority. My original plan was to take the photographs in the day, so that the photographs were brighter and you could see the blue of the sky. However, I feel that the photographs are a better representation of the magazine as a whole when taken in the dark, as they reflect the dark, gritty, street attitude of my magazine.

-Location Two, My Bedroom : I chose to do the second set of photographs here because I needed a clean background. I hung a plain white sheet up against my wardrobe and used this as the setting. I also used a leather computer chair to add intrest to the photograph.

Ooops... Not Quite To Plan

I have taken the photographs for the cover, contents and feature article of my magazine. However, it didn't go qute the way I wanted it to go. I forgot that the days are shorter now that its winter so there are less hours of sunlight. Therefore, when it came time to take the photographs it was already very dark, and there were no lights in the park. Therefore, I had to rely completely on the flash of my camera fo light. Hopefully, they will turn out okay, but thankfully even if they don't, I can use PhotoShop to edit them.

The Props

A major factor of my photographs is the setting and props as these are just as important as the feature model. As I am doing a hipohop magazine, my props will have to reflect the values of the magazine and the feature artist.

Clothing: I have asked my model to wear quite dark colours as this will reflect the gritty attitude of my chosen genre and also will mirror the colour scheme of my magazine. I have also asked her to dress quite casually and not try to hard. I have also lent her some jewellery, as this is a common reflection of hiphop magazines to have their artist displaying wealth.

Objects: Hiphop magazines often attempt to make their feature artists appear as wealthy as possible to reflect their success. I have therefore planned to have my model pose with two of the latest mobile phones in one photograph and the latest ipod in another. On the other hand, magazines also want their readers to be able to relate to the feature artist, therefore in another photograph I want my model to be doing something normal like eating ice-cream.

Feature Article Draft

Over the weekend I completed the first draft of my feature article. To do this I look at other articles and interviews from hiphop magazines and recreate the language used.
I chose to do an interview style article, includiung lyrics from Shystie's songs to reflect her character. I need to redraft it as some of the artricle is a bit repetitive.

Photoshoot: The Letter

Although I have already spoken to my model I thought it best to make sure she knows the time and place of the photoshoot for definate, so I typed up a letter to ensure that everything run smoothly when the time came:

Miss Fumilayo Brown,
I am writting to confirm with you that the photoshoot in which I will be taking pictures for my AS Media task will take place on Wednesday 10th December at approximately 5pm.

Please can you have your clothing already prepared and I will be supplying all the props that you will be using.

Many thanks,
Stephanie Broom

The Photoshoot

The photoshoot is planned to take place on Wednesday where I will be taking the photographs for my front cover, feature article and contents page. I have already chosen my model who will be posing as Shystie. Although she doesn't look all that much like Shystie, she exudes the same hard-faced attitude that I need.

I will be taking the first set of photographs in Crystal Palace park, where my model will be stilling inbetween the paws of the Palace sphinx. I chose this locatiuon because the sphinx represent power and authority and that is the atmosphere I want my photograph to give out. I will be taking this as a low angle shot, looking up at my model. This is will give to idea for power, aswell as making my model look taller as she is quite short. This is a stright on photograph that I took of a friens to show the scale of the sphinx.

The second set of photographs will show the more socialable side of Shystie, in a sort of party environment. These photographs will be alot more relaxed and less planned.

The Feature Article

This lesson I must start researching and planning my geature article. Not only do I need the article to sound like the artist themselves, but also be in the syle of hiphop music magazines.
As my feature artist is Shystie, my research will include looking at her myspace blogs, youtube videos and any past magazine articles.

http://www.myspace.com/shystie

http://uk.youtube.com/user/ShystieSupport

Time Management Plan

I have only three weeks to fully complete my magazine so it is esssential that I plan my time correctly to ensure that I complete all the tasks that are needed for my final production.

this week
- write the feature article, featuring Shystie
- plan the photographs, ie. the poses, the models, the lighting, the props, etc.

next week
-take the photographs
- edit them using photoshop

final week
- layout all features of the magazine on InDesign
- spend a week arranging the magazine pages to perfection.

Scans of Sketches

These are scans of the plan sketches for my magazine. So far I have completed two sketches for the front cover and two sketches for the contents page. I have tried to make all my designs as different to each other as possible so that I can explore all possible avenues of design. It is possible that I will use elements from both designs in my final production plan.

the rest of y design sketches are in the hard copy folder that I will submit with this project.

Models...

I have asked one of my friends to do the modelling for my magazine feature article and front cover. I have various reasons for asking her:
- she lives near me so I wont have to waste time travelling to take photographs of her
- she looks a bit like Shystie, which will help in terms of artist recognision
- she is easy to work with
- her dress sense is quite urban, the same ambience I want my magazine to project