RESEARCH: Lexicon of Words for the Pop Genre

Pop - aka popular music, normally does well on the charts and appeals to a wide audience range.

Songwriter - A person who writes songs.

Singer Songwriter - A person who writes their own songs and sings them.

The Charts - A ranked list of songs according to which is currently most popular.

Band - Two or more artists creating music and songs together.

A Single - A song which is released on its own (not in an album) so it can therefore go onto the charts.

Chorus - A part of a song which is repeated several times.

Verse - A section of a song which comes before or after the chorus but isn't repeated.

Album - A collection of songs which are released all together (usually on a CD or put onto iTunes or others similar.)

Dance pop - A subgenre which combines dance music and pop music.

Lyrics - The words in a song.

Rhythm - A repeated pattern of sound.

Melody - A sequence of notes which are musically satisfying.

RESEARCH: My Chosen Genre of Music

Pop Music

Example of pop music: Shout out to my ex - Little Mix

Pop Songwriter Interview: Julia Michaels

Pop Music Website: Pop Justice

General Information:

*'Commercial popular music, in particular accessible, tuneful music of a kind popular since the 1950s and sometimes contrasted with rock, soul, or other forms of popular music.'

*The genre of 'popular music'.

*A softer alternative to rock and roll.

*Music which usually produces popular hits which are frequently seen in the charts.

*Pop music usually has a good rhythm, are easy to sing along to and have a catchy melody.

*Pop songs are usually created from the following structure:

     - A chorus which is repeated several times during the song.

     - Two (or sometimes more) verses.

*The majority of pop songs last between 2 and 5 minutes.

Pop Music Artists:

*Rhianna

*Justin Bieber

*Katy Perry

*One Direction

*Little Mix

*Madonna

Little Mix:

*A British girl band who were formed on the UK version of The X Factor.

*Mainly pop (dance pop) group with some R&B music created.

*Made up of 4 girls (Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall)

*Released a new pop song 'Shout out to my Ex' released October 2016.

Pop Music Videos:

*Often links between the lyrics and the visuals in the music video.

*Bright settings and lights are usually used.

*Young actors used a lot to appeal to a younger target audience which the music also generally appeals to.

*The majority of the music videos feature elements of love as a lot of the time that is the theme of the song but also younger audiences tend to be more obsessed with this concept.

*A lot of performance is used e.g. dancing.

*Close ups are used frequently.

  

PLANNING: My Music Magazine Flat Plan

RESEARCH: Billboard Magazine Media Pack

Link to Billboard Magazine: Media Pack

ANALYSIS: Music Magazine Textual Analysis 3

Textual analysis 3 from Francesca Harrington

RESEARCH: Q Magazine Media Pack

Link to Q Magazine: Media Pack

ANALYSIS: Music Magazine Textual Analysis 2

Textual Analysis 2

RESEARCH: Kerrang! Media Pack

Link to Kerrang!: Media Pack

ANALYSIS: Music Magazine Textual Analysis 1

RESEARCH: Youth Sub Culture and the Music Press

Youth Subcultures: What are they now?

NME and the Death of the Music Press

Points of Interest:

1. Fashion and music move so quickly now and are much cheaper to keep up with than before, so the youth don't need to commit to just one type of music or just one type of fashion.

2. Popular culture has been changed by the invasion of the internet where the youth now prefer to show more of their subcultures on line over social media rather than in real life.

3. The movement of a new subculture was proclaimed dead after celebrities and pop stars started to latch onto the movement.

4. 'Pop music no longer inspires devotion in young people today' and the decrease in magazine demonstrates the death of pop music in the UK.

5. Young people are now less likely to stick their necks out and make their own way in the world and will rather rely on their parents leaving the youth to cease to exist in a meaningful way.

RESEARCH: Media Studies: the basics - Chapter 3

Amazon: Media studies Basics Book

After reading the third chapter I have learned...

1. That media influences and has a lot of power over citizens.

2. Some citizens have been using media (especially social media) to challenge this power that the media has over citizens and turn it the other way round.

3. There are 6 key theoretical ideas for studying power; marxism, cultural imperialism, political economy, feminism, postmodernism and politics 2.0.

4. That in a democracy all citizens are entitled to free media but this is rarely found in practice.

5. Feminist media is changing all the time but with one common theme that 'the norm' of media analysis is the male point of view.

RESEARCH: Media Studies: the basics - Chapter 2

Amazon: Media Studies Basics Book

After reading the second chapter I have learned...

1. There are different 'micro' elements of media texts which connects the text to 'macro' theoretical areas.

2. It showed me the differences and similarities between textual analysis of a still image or moving picture 

3. It helped me to understand the meaning of semiotics and how they are used, as well as ways meaning is conveyed (through camera, editing, sound and mise en scene).

4. Key concepts are also used in media to analyse which include genre, representation and narrative.

5. The new rise of digital media is challenging the key concepts and therefore creating the need for new concepts.

RESEARCH: Media Studies: the basics - Chapter 1

Amazon: Media Studies Basics Book

After reading the first chapter I have learned...

1. The pace of development in the media is becoming quicker and quicker, going from 350 years to get from the printing press to photography to only 80 years to develop still photographs into moving images.

2. A lot of media analysis is focused on the effects and behaviors it causes in society, This was mainly analysed in the 1940's/50's but is till popular now due too subjects such as 'Internet addiction'.

3. Media Studies only became a popular academic subject in the 1980's and 1990's.

4. The internet has transformed the media environment so that now the users are able to become the producers.

5. There is only a small number of big multi-national corporations which actually dominate the media ownership.

ANALYSIS: Textual Analysis of My Sixth Form Magazine

PRODUCTION: My Final Contents Page

Here is my final contents page which was created in InDesign.

PRODUCTION: Using InDesign to Create my Contents Page

Here you can see my contents page in InDesign as I was editing it to create the final contents page.

I began by making the background the schools green colour.

I then took the schools logo and name and placed it at the bottom of the page as the strapline.

I then added in the masthead 'Contents' and the dateline '2016 Autumn Edition'.

I then took my edited photo and placed it in the bottom right corner.

Finally, I added in my articles and which pages they are on (from 1 to 30) and also the top stories of the magazine. 

PRODUCTION: My Final Front Cover

Here is my final front cover which was created in InDesign

PRODUCTION: Using InDesign to Create my Front Cover

Here you can see my front cover in InDesign as I was editing it to create the final page.

I took my edited picture and put it into InDesign to start off my front cover.

I then added my masthead 'Locus' and my strapline 'Southend High School for Girls Sixth Form Magazine'. I changed the font and the colour of the font to make my magazine look more sophisticated and also to make the text clearer to see and read.

I then added a dateline and price of the magazine in the bottom right corner.

Finally I added some summaries of articles of interest that are inside the magazine to attract readers.

PRODUCTION: Using Photoshop to Edit my Photo

Unedited Photo

Edited Photo

At the top you can see the photo that I took (which is unedited) and on the bottom you can see the photo which I have edited using Photoshop. I have enhanced the colour of the picture making the colours more vibrant so that they stand out. I have also cropped the photo to make it into a mid-shot.

RESEARCH: Adobe Package Review

Photoshop vs Illustrator vs InDesign Article

When creating my sixth form magazine I think using Photoshop will be the best to edit my photo and then I should use InDesign to create the actual magazine pages.This is because the features of Photoshop will allow me to enhance my picture in the easiest and best way, also it is the only Adobe app which is mainly focused on images. To then create the magazine pages I will use InDesign as this app has been created to layout things such as newspapers and magazines, the app is specifically design to aid with documents which use large amounts of text which my magazine would have. Therefore I should use InDesign to create my magazine pages.

PLANNING: My Sixth Form Magazine Flat Plan

ANALYSIS: Sixth Form Textual Analysis 3

ANALYSIS: Second Sixth Form Textual Analysis Feedback

For my third textual analysis I am going to improve on my last one. To improve I am going to ensure the key terminology is in bold and also I am going to make sure I talk about other areas such as demographics and psychographics.