Jude White
AS Level Media Studies
Types of Shot
In order to ensure my photographs are appropriate for use in a music magazine, it is important to examine conventions for the types of shot used for the front page, contents page and double-page spreads of music magazines.
For front pages, a variety of types of shot are used, largely dependent on circumstances. For instance, if an entire band is featured on the cover, the frontman will usually be framed in a medium shot, or even a medium close-up, whereas the rest of the band will be in medium long shot or even long shot. Dependent on how much the frontman/frontwoman stand out on their own, the entire band could even be framed in long shots. However, if only a single artist is featured, the are most likely to be framed in close-up.
Front page shots are almost exclusively studio shots, heavily made-up, with clothing or costume deliberately chosen. The front page is designed to immediately grab attention, so the most distilled version of a rock persona will be the one presented on the front page, with stylised make-up, clothing and attitudes to match. Many front page photos of rock stars show artists in agressive or angry poses, to reflect the aggression which often comes with rock music. However, this is more common with male models than female ones.
Another notable point about front page shots is that they are directly anchored to the article they aim to promote. For example, in one of the covers opposite, Amy Lee from Evaescence is presented in casual clothing, still gothic to suit her persona, but far less dramatic than she would ordinarily wear. This, along with her genuine smile, relates directly to the article about her inside the magazine, a pull-quote from which tells us she is 'finally happy'. The casual clothing implies that she is at ease, and that the interview inside will be a personal one, and her smile links to her happiness and contextualises the pull quote. In another example, the headline of the article says 'the exorcism of Black Veil Brides,' and to anchor this story to the image, the frontman of Black Veil Brides holds a crucifix and screams almost demonically.
For the contents page of a music magazine, two distinct conventions exist; the main photograph is usually, but not always, either a posed, stylised studio/on-location shot, or an action shot of a live performance. Kerrang!, the magazine with a target audience closest to my own, tends to steer towards the latter, however, as we can see from the photograph of Ozzy Osbourne below, this is not true of every issue. Other photographs on the contents page, interestingly, can be generally any type of posed photograph, or an action shot. Whether they are on-location or studio shots depends on the nature of the article, as does whether an action shot fo a live performance is used; if the article is themed around live perfomances, a picture like this would usually be used. Photographs on the contents page of a music magazine, whether the main photograph or otherwise, almost always feature at least one music artist.
Photos on the contents page, even those of live performances, always feature the artist in question at an easily-visible scale. They can be anything from a long shot to a close-up, but are never further out than a long shot. Live performance shots are likely cropped to place the emphasis on the artist in question.
A photograph of the editor of the magazine is often featured in Kerrang!, amongst other magazines. Interestingly, this photograph is easily recognizable as the editor's photograph, because of a number of factors; the editor will not be wearing an expressive costume, instead favouring simple t-shirts. They will be photographed against a fairly dull studio background, and will always be photographed in close-up. The photo will be positioned above or beside a long block of text, very uncommon on a contents page except for an editor's note. Therefore, just by briefly seeing this arrangement; a casual close-up next to a large block of text, we know this is the editor.
For double-page spreads, with the exception of album reviews studio shots tend to take centre-stage. Generally, artists will be framed in medium close-up, unless a whole band is being shown, which calls for a long shot. The attitude and general demeanour displayed by the artist is usually directly related to the nature of the attached article. For example, in the double-page spread below about Amy Lee of Evanescence, she dreamily, thoughtfully looks off-page, genuine happiness evident in her facial expression. This relates to the deeply personal article the picture represents, about her finally finding happiness. Amy Lee is also photographed alone, despite a smaller image of her with the band being included also, as this demonstrates the transition shown by the pull-quote, about 'stepping away' from the band. Similarly, in NME's article below about Lily Allen, her facial expression is quite filled with attitude, which relates to the pull-quote beside it, which reads as fairly stubborn and blunt, connoted by her facial expression.
For my magazine, I will abide by convention where possible, as this is a tried and tested formula used in many successful magazines. For my front page, I will use a close-up shot of my artist's head and shoulders, giving her a clear sense of status on the page, and placing all the cover's emphasis on her. On the contents page, I will not feature a picture of my cover artist, but will feature photos of live performances as well as at least one posed shot of another artist. I may experience some difficulty acquiring clear and conventional live performance photos at the two gigs I will soon be attending, but regardless of the level of zoom, for a rock magazine convention dictates that a live performance be featured, so I will do my best to achieve good-quality long shots should all else fail. Finally, for my DPS I will feature posed shots of my artist, as dictated by convention.