Organisation on Location, Costumes, Props and Actors

Location
I planned to take the photoshoot in an urban area such as the school playground (however, it does not look like a playground - its more like a park - as I chose the background to look more suitable for my chosen theme), and at the very top level in the car park where it shows the buildings behind the model.  When I took the photographs at the playground, I made sure that it's day time so that the people will clearly see the model as well. For the next photoshoot, I planned the location to be at the very top of the car park as it shows the buildings on the background. I made sure that its night time so that the lights from the builidings will show on the picture to convey the urban environment.  The picture on the contents page was taken outside as it emphasises the urban atmosphere by the use of the builings surrounded by him. I took the pictures during day time so that the image is in good quality.

Costumes
The costumes for the models are naturalistic costumes as they would normally wear a Hip Hop type of clothing in everyday life. In this case, their upper and lower clothing would be baggy, big, and always instyle. The colour of their shoes would normally be the same with the colour of their shirt or jacket.

Props
I planned not to focus a lot on props as I believe that the costumes for the models already represents the theme. I only used naturalistic props to emphasise a realistic lifestyle of the models so that the reader can relate to them easily therefore; they would want to read more.
Actors
I decided to have male actors because their costumes are more related to Hip Hop music and most of my female friends does not wear a Hip Hop style clothing. Although they could wear normal clothing such as dress and heels however, readers may find it difficult to relate the model to a Hip Hop theme. I made sure that the models have daring attitudes so that it relates to a kind of Hip Hop theme. Also, adding a happy emotion to convey that the model is happy with their luxurious lifestyle.

Influences

I was influenced with the way the composition of the photo is taken as the background is blurred on the background which could suggest lights coming from the buildings. I have already seen this magazine before so I have been thinking about this compostion when I was taking some more pictures as shown at the bottom of this post. The photos that I took are quite similar to this.
When I design my new Front Cover page, I might also consider making the background blurry and monochrome. I could also apply the cover lines on where the body is just like this cover.

More Pictures

These photos were taken on January 2 2011.

I think that these two photographs are the most successful one so I can use either one of these for my Front Cover. I didnt like my first attempt on the draft Front Cover so i decided to change the picture.

The lights and the buildings on the background is very special as it relates to the urban Hip Hop culture which I am aiming at doing.  

The location is at a car park on the very top level. I really like the location because it obviously shows where the model is - Birmingham.

There is no special props used but the costume is well thought out as the model is wearing a suitable urban R&B/Hip Hop clothing.

What is Hip Hop?

Hip Hop is a musical genre which has been developed from a Hip Hop culture such as DJing, sampling, beatboxing and rapping. Hip Hop uses a style of singing called rapping. A singer chants or says a words with rhythm and rhymes. Usually, the lyrics would be about life of urban people in the big cities, gangs, illegal drugs or violence. Hip Hop music sometimes combines their style of music with reggae, disco or pop music.
As a culture, Hip Hop music involves a dress-code in clothing where they usually dress in "urban" clothes. Clothes such as baggy pants, oversize shirts and high top shoes (usually they prefer to wear clothes with brand names.) These are worn to show how "cool" or "rich" you are.
Dancing style called break-dancing or B-Boying is also a type of Hip Hop where they dance in Hip Hop music.

Hip Hop musicians usually use nicknames or stage names if somehow they do not like their own names to be used. Hip Hop musicians such as 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and Eminem always uses their stage names - not their real names.

On the left is a picture of a man B Boy-ing and on the right is a picture of a famous rapper called Jay Z.

Before and After - edited images

This is the photo that i used for my Front Cover page.

As you can see, you can tell that there is a huge change on the picture considering the colour, the effects used, and the size of the model.

The software that I used to edit is Paint and the website http://www.picnik.com/

First of all, I thought that the model's skin colour here is dull, so i used picnik and added an effect called '1960's' and added it to his skin so that it will look more realistic and lively. Then, I changed the backgroud colour to black and white by using the effect called 'Focal B&W'. I chose to leave his face coloured and also blurred the background so that the reader will focus more on the model. Because I am going to place the masthead on the top, I needed space on the top of the picture. To be able to do this, I used Paint and used the 'select' button on the toolbar and only select and copy the very top bit of the bus. Paste this on the top of the original photo and repeat again to have more space. As you can see, it looks really obvious on the picture but this wouldnt matter as the masthead covers it.

  This is the photo that used for my Contents page.

As you can see, the original one is lacking of colour so i edited the photo at the Picnik website. Again, i used the effect called '1960's' because it gives a vintage effect and the colour stands out more. I didnt make any more changes in this picture because the image is already satisfying. 

This is the image that I used for my Double Page Spread.

As you can see, there is a huge difference on the image as I considered adding effects to make it look more professional. The image does not have enough colour so I decided to used the Picnik website and used the effect called 'Boost' as I want the trees on the background to be more green-er. The image now looks more brighter than before and the colours are more sophisticated.

Urban Beat Double Page Spread

I think that my double page spread became successful as i think that the layout is very authentic. I think that the model here is very daring suitable for the R&B/Hip Hop theme. I added the masthead name on this page so that the reader can still remember what magazine they are reading. Also, i added 'Interview' so that the reader will know what this page is all about. The colours that I used are still the same: purple and black, so that the house style of this magazine is not different. I really like the way that the texts are laid out on the first page. however, i think that i should delete the 'Jason' bit because the model's name is already placed on the second page. On the second page, I might consider changing the title 'Jason'  to a more interesting text so that the layout does not look boring. I believe that I should add another picture on the second page so that the reader will not get bored of just one picture. I might change the colour of the introduction so that it stands out well on the page.

 I did this design on Picnik to edit the picture and the titles, and I also used Microsoft Word to add the texts.  

Urban Beat Contents Page

I think that my contents page became very successful as the use of colour went really well with the model, as the model is wearing a purple top and purple shoes. for the top image, i cropped some bits out of the picture as i only want the detailed bit of the picture. I overlayed the contents text to the picture by using the Picnik online editting website. I really like this page as it looks really professional. for the model, i used paint and sprayed a black colour on the left side of the picture as i think that it would be too simple if i left it straight. I did this, so that it will look like that the image is penetrating through the black. I added the masthead on the contents page so that the reader will always remember the magazine.

I might consider making the editors letter smaller so that i could add more features for the contents page. overall, im incredibly happy with the design.

This whole page was edited in the Picnik and i used Microsoft Word to add the texts.