My Interview with the band 'The Blackhand'

Say your name and the instrument you play.Ben:  I’m Ben, and I play the kazoo. [Laughs] No i play the guitar.
Nathan:  I’m Nathan and I play the bass.
Gilly:  Yeah I’m Gilly and what are those things called?
Nathan:  Glockenspiel?
Gilly:  No the aborigine things.
Ben:  Oh a Didgeridoo?
Gilly:  [Laughs] Yeah a Didgeridoo, No I play the drums. We have Benji but he is fencing.
Nathan:  He is our vocalist.

Who would you say has musically inspired your band?Gilly:  You. [Laughs]
Nathan:  It’s quite like a few different things like, because we’re all interested in different genres. I listen to like Grungy kind of rock metal.
Ben:  Belgian hardcore trance. Also Alice in chains is a big influence.
Gilly:  Yeah we’ve got a girl called Alice locked up in the garage she just sits there and plays the piano [Laughs].
Nathan:  Yeah she basically writes all of our songs.
Ben:  Nirvana are maybe a more well known similar genre, Gilly is inspired by the blackhand.
How did you all decide to get together and form a band?
Ben:  I was bullied into it.
Nathan:  Yeah peer pressure, well it started with me and Ben and we used to sit in a shed and write music, then we decided to get a drummer in and make it serious.
Ben:  Yeah this shed was so small when we used to go there like February- March times, We would all be covered in blankets and we could not move. We had to like tell each other were we was going to.
Gilly: It was quite an awesome shed.
Nathan:  Yeah, because they have knocked the old shed down.
Ben:  Yeah it has like a fridge and stuff in it now its more like a summer house [Laughs]
Nathan:   Yeah, it’s come along way since we where there.
Gilly:  So have we! [Laughs]
Nathan:  So yeah, we got Gilly in like a few months later because we wanted to get some sort off rock music done.

How did you all decide on the name the blackhand?Ben:  We just thought of it on a train one day, Because i was reading the paper and i seen something about the Black hand because it was a terrorist group in World War 1, It seemed like a cool name so that’s what we went with.
Gilly:  Yeah, We went though things like Hitler’s erection but we thought that, that wouldn’t go down that well at Barmitzfers.

What would be your dream gig?Gilly:  Download.
Ben:  Wembley stadium, Supporting Metallica.
Gilly:  No. Download.
Ben:  No, Wembley stadium headlining our own gig actually.
Nathan:  That would be the best gig ever.
Gilly:  As long as Metallica are not involved.
Ben:  I am being serious i would like to play in a coffee shop acoustic.
Nathan:  We got offered that at Matthew Street but it never came through.

What is the theme of your new music video?
Gilly:  The new one? Well were toying with ideas.
Nathan:  The one were doing soon?
Gilly:  Yeah
Ben:  All we know is that its going to be out in January, at the moment were toying with ideas.
Gilly:  And were taking a lot of backstage footage, or whatever to kind of throw in the middle.
We have so far got a video of Ben breaking a boxing machine in the middle of Sheffield.
Ben:  I broke it..

What was the theme of your last music video?
Gilly:  Just a house party.
Ben:  Just a good time house party, Yeah on Warren drive it was in the kitchen.
Gilly:  Yepp.

How old were you when you decided you wanted to be in a band?
Ben:  I was like 12; I was in a band in year 5. Yeah I was in and out of bands in year 5 so 12 for me, 11-12.
Nathan:  I started with bands when I was about 12-13 and, it was kind of one of those things were we all get together, and were like oh, were a band now... Evan though no one could play an instrument.
Ben:  You could play Bass
Nathan:  Yeah I played guitar for a bit, then I went to bass. I was a drummer for a bit, but i couldn’t really play the drums.
If you could choose any song at the moment to cover, what would you choose?
Ben:  ‘Rooster’ by Alice and chains, that’s what we want to cover.
Gilly:  I’d agree with that ‘Rooster’ by Alice and chains, I’ve never heard it but I’ll go with it.
Nathan:  We are debating to do ‘Only girl in the world’ by Rhianna.
Gilly:  That’s a really catchy song.
Nathan:  I would personally like to do Lady Gaga.
Ben:  What’s that other Rhianna song?
Nathan:  We tried ‘Disturbia’ by Rhianna
Ben:  Or ‘Bad romance’.
Gilly:  For the launch we should do a collection of shit covers.
Nathan:  I really like that KT Tunstall song as well the one i wanted to do myself was the one that goes ‘Woo hoo’
Gilly:  [Laughs]. All KT Tunstall songs do that!
Nathan:  I cant really explain it kind of just goes ‘ dun di dun di dun di dun, woo hoo’
Ben:  I don’t know all KT Tunstall songs.
Gilly:  All I know is KT Tunstall’s first song that was on T.V.
Ben:  Is it map of the world? ‘Oh her face is a map of the world is a map of the world’.
Nathan:  No I’m pretty sure its a older one.

Does your group suffer from any bad habits?Gilly:  Time [Laughs]
Nathan:  We cant keep up to schedules
Gilly:  Time keeping, We are all awful!
Ben:  Why did everyone look at me then on time? I’m always on time.
Gilly: Its normally one of you two. [Points at Ben and Nathan]
Ben:  Yeah it’s normally me.
Gilly:  I don’t have to travel far; I just have to go upstairs. But we very, very nearly missed out train to Sheffield on the weekend.
Ben:  Yeah we had to run through Lime Street with all the gear, Its was quite interesting.
Gilly:  We had the slowest taxi driver ever.
Nathan:  Oh yeah, Gilly can’t play patterns.
Gilly:  Yeah I usually mess up one bit, just one bit of a song literally all it is, is counting.

How would you see yourselves in 10 years?
Ben:  Making a good living from this.
Nathan:  Sat on this couch right here.
Ben:  On this couch.
Gilly:  Actually no. We are getting new couches from Christmas so probley not this couch but a couch.

Questions i am going to ask the band.

1. Say your name and the instrument that you play.
2. Who would you say has musically inspired your band?
3. How did you all decide to get together and form a band?
4.  How did you all decide on the name ‘The Blackhand’?
5.  What would be your dream gig?
6. What is the theme of your new music video?
7. What was the theme of your last music video?
8. How old were you when you decided you wanted to be in a band?
9. If you could choose any song at the moment to cover what would you choose?
10. Does your group suffer from any bad habits?
11. How would you see yourselves in 10 years?

Audio answer to question: How important 5 being highest 1 being lowest would you rate a interview in a music magazine?

Audio answer to question: How do you buy your music?

Graph results to various questions on the questionaire

A graph to show results of question:
How do you buy your music?

A graph to show results of question:
How often do you buy a music magazine?



A graph to show results of question:
Rate the following aspects of a magazine 5 being the highest



A graph to show results of question:
What 3 words would you associate with indie

A graph to show results of question:
What colours do you associate with inde?

A graph to show results of question:
What is your favorite music magazine?

Publication Plan

Title: Bang
Positioning statement: The only music magazine that comes with a bang.

Frequency of publication: monthly

Price: £2.75

Distabution: Newsagents, supermarkets, music shops.

Rationale: The magazine is for all people that love music, and it will also be written by people

who love music, the magazine has everything to do with music inside like interviews with artists,

posters and columns.

Style: The style of the magazine will be informal but also very wise with its use of vocabulary,

The magazine will have strong opions of certain things and dont be scared to put what they think

out there e.g. about bands, gigs. The magazine is written for people who love indie music so the

writing and presentation will come across smart and also have a hint of sarcasm in there aswell.

Regular content:

• Opinion Page (Letters about differnt articles)
• Band reports
• Interviews with various artists
• Posters on differnt artist
• articles on new upcoming bands/artists
• Music quiz
• Live lounge (shows artists, singing tracks by other artists)
• how to play that (Page shows you the chords on how to play differnt songs)
• Florence on music (weekly column from florence about this week in music)
• Fail page (Shows artist that have down with there music)
• Copy cat (Shows page on artist songs sounded rather similer)

Faeture content:

• Who did it better? (shows opiniona various artists covering the same song)
• Article with Mr. Hudson
• Insight into how powefull youtube is
• X factor is taking over the charts
• Music legend Paul Mcartney talks about his life in music
• Cd prices rise through the roof
• New competiton (Page on which artists could be threatend by new artists taking over)
• Mosh pits gone wrong
• Things to do and dont before you go to a gig
• The story of how the first band was created
• Top ten unforgettable songs
• Rock around the globe
• Festival competitions
• Win VIP tickets to a gig
• Top 10 bad bands
• Interview with the wombats

House style

Coverlines: Arial black and Arial

Headlines: Impact

Standfirst: Impact 14pt

Captions: Impact 8pt

Feature first paragraph: Drop down capital Impact 5 lines deep, and two first words in capitals.

News first paragraph: first two words in bold capitals

Body text: Times new roman 11pt

Colour scheme: Red, Black and white.

My questionnaire for music magazine

For my questionaire i chose questions that would be suitable for the type of magazine i wanted to make, i asked questions which would help me have a insight on what people like in a magazine, for example how much they would pay for it or what colour schemes are suitable for the genre of magazine i want to make.



For my AS coursework i would be very greatful of your time if you could fill out this questionaire.

1.     Are you male or female? Circle the answer

Male

female

2.     What 3 words would you associate with indie?

3.     What is your favorite music magazine?

4.     How often do you buy a music magazine? Circle the answer

    Weekly

          Fortnightly

              Monthly

      Never

5.     On a scale of 1 to 5 , 1 being very important and 5 being irrelevant how      would you rate the following aspects of a magazine.

Pictures               1    2    3     4     5
Adverts               1    2     3     4    5
Competitions     1    2     3     4    5

Interviews          1    2     3     4    5

6.     What colours would you associate with a indie magazine

7.     Do you buy your music? Circle the answer

Download

Cds

Both

8.     Who is you favorite singer or band?

9.     Do you go to music concerts/ Gigs? Circle the answer

Yes
No

            10.  What would you say was your favorite part of a music magazine?

            11. What entices you to buy a music magazine

Analysis of a double page spread

-One main image on one side of article.
-Main title.
-Smaller caption telling reader about article.
-Name of magazine next to page number.
-Quotes usually used to split up text which helps attract readers.
-Interviewer or reviewers name at beginning or end of Article.
-Small amount of colours – simple colour scheme.
-One large picture, which takes up a whole page, and sometimes bleeds between pages. (used to link       two pages together). Sometimes picture is across the whole double page spread, with all text on picture.
Quoter used sometimes in the headline, on the picture or in the stand first, or to break up the text.
Standfirst introduces the article and is positioned under headline, often include journalists name.
Drop capital used at start of the article, to show the reader where to start.
- Other techniques include: bold text , larger type face, capitals for first few words.
Headline sometimes uses stylised font. They arse used to draw the reader in but doesnt tell them what it's about, that is done by standfirst.
Byline who wrote article.
Often photogrpahs credited.
Laid out in 2 to 4 columns.
Strapline at top - subject matter.
Article is usually written informally and personality of journalist comes through.

My evaluation of my magazine

What ways does your media product use,develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My magazine is a good media product i think that it follows all of the codes and conventions of all the needs that a professional media magazine needs however it could be imporved by the amount of effort that has been put into it, another reason my media developes the codes and conventions of a magazine is that it has a large title at the top of the page which you see in most magazines it also has a issue number, price and date on the front cover this also is seen on every magazine that you can buy, furthermore, my magazines contents page is deveoped to follow codes and coventions of a magazine it has many differnt images and features articles across the contents page most of the writing is written in coloums like most magazines and also every contents page has the word 'Conetnts' wrtitten on that page preferabley at the top and my contents page does that.
How did you use new meida tecnologys in the construction of your media products?
In my media project we used two differnt sofweres for the contents page i used photoshop, photoshop is quite straight forward as i am aware of how to use the softwear as we have used it many times before you just design you front cover on photoshop the way you desire and then you simply add images and text.
However, on my contents page i was intorduced to a new softwear i had never used before called Quark express this is a softwear alot more better than photoshop but alot more complicated, it allows you to do more things on it has more suitable layout for a contents page and allows you to indicate thing you would like to do on your contents page alot easier.
What are the strenths and weaknesses of the products you use of media tecnolodys?
Quark express was quite good to use as it was suitable for a contents page as it allows you to have a more clear view of a contents page layout as you design it however photoshop it alot more simplified as it is easier to use and i am more familier with the software.
.

My inital idea for my magazine and research to the market place

Initial idea

The type of music magazine I want to produce is an indie magazine which will have a target audience of people aged between 14-25 years old. The target audience would appeal to both boys and girls as the magazine would include a mixture of music however the genre of the music will mostly be indie.

Researching the market place

As my magazine is a indie magazine i would have to research into other similer indie magazines to see if there was any compentition between the magazines, the magazines i found that would be competitors was NME,Kerrange and Q, these list, interviews,Posters,colunms and talk about indie music as my magazine would.

Firstly,  the price of NME is £2.20 in a normal store it also states that the magazine cost £2.20 on the front cover, moreover, the magazine price is also located directly underneathe the magazine title that is were you see alot of prices on magazines. Secondly, NME frequency of publication is that the magazine comes out every week so there is always a new magazine every week. Thirdly, the issue size of the magazine (number of pages) is that is it usually round about 220 pages long that is including all contents like magazine content and advatisments. Fourthly, the weekly content of the NME magazine is that it usually has many differnt interviews with differnt bands or artists, it also may have posters that the owber of the magazine can cut out, it also may have differnt columns throughout the magazine with people talking about differnt music. Feature articles in NME magazine are very simlier to what you would expect from a indie music magazine its all about differnt bands music and interviews with images to go with them.

My Magazine front cover and contents page

My magazine font cover

My magazine contents page

My rough sketches of my magazine front cover and contents page

My rough contents page

I used this image on my magazine front cover as a side article.

I used this image on my magazine front cover as a side article

I used this image on my magazine front cover as the main image

i used this image on my magazine contents page as a feature article



i used this image on my magazine contents page as a feature article




i used this image on my magazine front cover as a side article

i used this image on my magazine contents page as a feature article



i used this image on my magazine front cover  as a side article



Photographs of a variation differnt shots

Medium close-up from a low angle

This is a Big close-up of someone using a mobile phone

This is a close-up of someone in nature

This is a extreme close-up

This is a High angle shot

This is a medium close-up

This is a over the shoulder shot of someone writing

This is a close up shot connoting friendship

This is a close up shot connoting stress

This is a two medium shot

This is a very long shot conveying isolation

This is a very long shot

Codes and conventions

        The codes and conventions of a magazine contents page         

• Layed out in columns, usually three or four.
• One main picture relating to feature article.
• Other smaller pictures.
• They have page numbers on the pictures which anchors them to the written contents.
• Contains the name of the magazine, issue date and the word contents.
• Subscription and contact information.
• Sometimes there is an editors letter.
• Contents divided into categories and headings used to identify each category.
  - Features and regulars are main category headings.
• Image of the front cover of the magazine.
• Simple colour scheme.
• Contents are written in the same way-
  First Line- page number- one or two words which could be artist name or ambigous text to intrigue the reader in bold type, often capital letters (average 12-13pt).
  Sub Line- Gives you more specific detail about what the articles about in smaller font and roman (no bigger than 11pt).
• Front cover photography is credited.
• Interesting and varied photographs.
• Bottom has page number followed by title and issue date, really small font, often followed by a web address.
• Usually one or two pages, no more.
  
  
  
  The Codes and conventions of a magazine front cover
  
• One main image which takes up the whole cover (singer or band).
• Main image is usually main feature article.
• Studio photographs.
• Direct address- the image on front cover looks directly at you (conveys attitude).
• Title:  Unique font (trademark).
           Usually one word.
           Fills the width of the cover or is in the top left corner.
• Positioning statement- usually above or below title.
• Price and issue date by the title (11pt size), sometimes by the barcode.
• Puff- offering something extra to the magazine.
• Buzz words- most common "exclusive," usually used on main feature article.
• Coverlines (sell lines), main coverline is largest on the cover after the title, it anchors the meaning of the image, usually a subline in smaller text giving more information about the article.
  - Other coverlines are usually one or two words with smaller sublines explaining them, this is consistent across the design.
• First two lines/ words in colour/ larger font size/ different font to sublines.
• Barcode always on front cover as they cannot put it on the back page due to advertisement.
• Strip across top or bottom containing artists featured in magazine.
• Coverlines frame the image, or are down one side of the magazine
• Small number of colours used.