Goodbye

Blog 70

Hello Everyone..... Actually its more goodbye everyone L

            Today is my final blog post. #SadTimes

I have finished my project I have achieved so much over the past few months, I can now successfully Photoshop to a high quality and take professional photos.  

Although I am EXTREMELY pleased with how  my magazine turned out, it took a lot to get there so I have put together a short video of the some of my favourite photos and some of the things that didn't go quite to plan. 

Deadline Day

Blog 69

Hello Everyone,

               Today is the final deadline for my media project!  It’s been a stressful but incredibly enjoyable couple of months! I want to thank my friends for being my models throughout my project as you can’t be a photographer without something to take photos of.  Thank you for following my along my journey, hope you’ve have as much fun reading about this project as I’ve had doing it.

Evaluation Video

Blog 68

Hello Everyone,

              Today, I have finally completed my evaluation video it was very stressful as I had lost my memory stick and was panicking that I wasn’t going to meet the deadline time- but don’t worry I did.

Once I’d edited my video I needed to put it on YouTube so that I could put it on my blog for the world to see (hopefully the whole world isn’t watching my babble on for 14 minutes) My evaluation is really fun and I’m really peppy and cheery throughout (maybe a little too much)

So without further or due, this is my AS Media Evaluation Video, hope you enjoy 14 minutes of my face with a couple of special guests!

Evaluation Update

Blog 67

Hello Everyone,

                  Over the weekend I was filming and editing my video, I used windows live movie maker to edit my video as I have used it before and knew exactly how to use it effectively, and used the same canon camera I used to take my images throughout the project. Also I went on “ www.productiontrax.com “ and downloaded some copyright free music to put in the background to make my video more interesting/enjoyable to watch.

Evaluation Question 7

Blog 66

Hello Everyone,

          Today, I answered my final question of my evaluation and am going to start filming my video tomorrow and over the weekend. Question 7 is “Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?” I didn’t realise how much I’d progressed during the project until I looked back at my preliminary task. The 3 main things I’ve learnt to do are;

•          How to make a page look professional and eye-catching
•          How to edit photos to a high standard
•          The importance of text and layout

I have learnt how to make a page look professional and eye-catching. Also I’ve learnt how to make us of white space. I’ve also learnt how to edit photos to a more professional level. I had to Photoshop the skin of my front cover model on my school magazine, and I haven’t done it very well compared to the editing I’ve done on the model I have for my music magazine. Also I learnt how important text is on the page, on my school magazine front cover my main title I have placed white text over the white of the logo on her jumper. Between my school magazine and my final piece I’ve changed my magazine so much it looks like different issues of “Vinyl”

Here is my school magazine front cover and my final front cover, you can clearly see a massive different between the quality of them. My photo-shopping skills have massively improved and I’ve learnt how to fill the space and have minimal white space. I’ve developed a lot between my school magazine and my final cut; my images are a lot more structured and edited correctly. Also the layout has massively improved and the page looks a lot more organised and professional.

Evaluation Question 6

Blog 65

Hello Everyone,

   Today, I answered question 6 of my evaluation “What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?”

In the process of making my music magazine I needed to take high quality professional images. Therefore I had to learn how to use high quality equipment. I used a Canon camera to produce photos of very high quality. I learnt that to get the best photos use the manual settings and manually change the shutter speed, aperture, focus and zoom. This way getting the photo in focus with a lot of light and looking professional. In terms of photography I learnt the importance of creating an image a good picture isn’t taken by chance they’re constructed. The rule of thirds is important as it draws the audience’s attention to certain places.

I also learnt how to use Photoshop which I was never very good at but I’ve learnt to do things like airbrush, clone stamp, use the dodge and burn tools to make my models look the best they can and get rid of any imperfections which is what professional magazines do. Also I used brightness, contrast, and curves to improve the colours in my images.

To make my actual magazine I needed to learn how to use Indesign. I learnt how to place frames to get the layout I wanted and then place images and text into the frames. Indesign was very useful as it helped make the pages look a lot more professional but also it made a lot easier to get things such as images and text where I wanted them.

Evaluation Question 5

Blog 64

Hello Everyone,

          Today, I answered question 5 of my evaluation “How did you do to attract/address your audience?” 

My front cover image is a close up of my model looking directly into the camera this automatically grabs the reader’s attention as it appears as if they’re looking directly at them. Also I used things such as colour my target audience said they wanted and free posters on the front cover which is also what they said they wanted.  13/20 members of my target audience said that their favourite artists on the front cover is what attracts them.

My titles are bold and eye-catching on all of my pages instantly grabbing the reader’s attention. The title of my double-page spread “Raw Talent” is a pun taken from her album “Sushi & Cigarettes” this instantly gets the reader’s attention as its quirky and doesn’t explain a lot so they want to read the article to find out about this “raw talent” 

Evaluation Question 4

Blog 63

Hello Everyone,

          Today, I answered question 4 of my evaluation “Who would be the audience for your media product?” this question has been answered repeatedly through the course of my project because my media product is aimed at my target audience. Therefore my magazine is targeted at teenagers and young adults between the ages of 14-25 who are interested in indie music and read magazines such as; Q, NME and MOJO. 

Evaluation Question 3

Blog 62

Hello Everyone,

           Today, I answered question 3 of my evaluation.  “What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?” This question involved a lot of research into what companies distributed my main style model NME.

IPC   

Publishing:

One of the leading media institutions in the UK, distribute NME - target audience would read.

V.well known publisher, 26 million adults in the UK read a magazine published by IPC Media – If used them I will defiantly get readers and know it’s a good company.

Big & Well Known = More advertising options.

Big chain supermarkets such as Tesco & Sainsbury’s are becoming the main sellers of magazines. I would also have visual copies of my magazine online and use the internet to distribute. Many other companies such as Q now have their magazine available online, so I would also do this to keep up with the competition

Evaluation Question 2

Blog 61

Hello Everyone,

         Today, I answered question 2 of my evaluation. Here are my answers to question 2 of my evaluation.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My main model who appears on my double page spread and front cover is a blonde white teenage girl; she links to the image of teenagers as she’s wearing trainers rather than heels this shows she’s a teen as Florence is shown in heels in her double page spread in Q and she’s an adult. Ellie’s clothes show she’s a fashion conscious teenage girl, this is apparent as I’ve presented her in 2 different outfits on my magazine. However, during the process of getting the photos I wanted I took images of her in up to 5 different outfits.

In my contents page I have a mixture of girls and boys. The girls are all just casual and posing for the pictures however, the boys are quite active as one boy is buttoning up his jacket and the other has his hands in his pockets this conforms to the stereotype that females faces are enough to make a statement and are comfortable getting their picture taken whereas males are more “camera shy” and have to be doing something as If their face isn’t enough to make a statement.

Evaluation Question 1

Blog 60

Hello Everyone,

              Today, I answered question 1 “In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?”

The main conventions my magazine uses are:

•          Florence & Last Shadow Puppets have close up/extreme close up (Front cover)
•          Very similar blocky layout like NME (Contents page)
•          Image on left hand side page split 50/50 (Double-page spread)

The main conventions my magazine develops are:

•          Taken idea of a large title and put a box around it (Front cover)
•          I took the title idea and changed the wording and the font (Contents page)
•          Drop capital pink rather than black (Double-page spread)

The main conventions my magazine challenges are:

•          Not normally photos on location (Front cover)
•          I used 3 boxes at the bottom of the page and that isn’t often seen (Contents page)
•          Smaller images bottom right

Evaluation Brief

Blog 59

Hello Everyone,

             For my evaluation I am going to answer 7 questions in the form of a video which I will edit myself. The video has to be a maximum of 20 minutes making sure it’s clear and specific.  

The 7 questions I am going to answer are:
          1.       In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product?
          2.       How does your media product represent particular social groups?
          3.       What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
          4.       Who would be the audience for your media product?
          5.       How did you attract/address your audience?
          6.       What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
          7.       Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the final product?

Final Cut

Blog 58

Hello Everyone,

             Yesterday was the final cut for my magazine, where I handed in the 3 pieces of work I’ve been working on for months now. Safe to say I'm proud of my work I did it to the best of my ability and tried super hard on it.

I am going to be doing a formal evaluation in a video, but here is my finished work.

My favourite page is my double-page spread. I absolutely love how it turned out the colours really worked as the pale pink and pale green really link my genre and my target audience said they wanted. I love how it looks on the page is defiantly my favourite. 

Front Cover

        

Contents Page

Double-page Spread

If I was to do this project again I would change 3 things; Front cover layout, vary my fonts more and change the “Lily Rose What’s New” title on front cover. I would change these 3 things because I feel they’re what let my magazine down the most. The layout of my front cover is very weak as there isn’t a lot of text and there’s lots of empty space that could have been filled by a plug or another list. Also, my title isn’t as eye-catching as it could have been. My front cover is my weakest area; I found it incredibly hard to get something I was completely happy with. I do like my front cover I feel like the image makes up for my lack of text. Finally, I could have used more varieties of fonts throughout the 3 pages to make it more exciting. 

Vinyl Explanation

Blog 57

Hello Everyone,

                You may have noticed the Vinyl in a lot of my first images. My idea behind this was I wanted all of my contents page models to be holding a vinyl as that's the name of my magazine. However, it got very repetitive and I only had the one vinyl so everything looked very similar so I decided to take it away and only have one artist holding it and that’s Hilly in the girl band which is in the centre of my contents page.

Update 10

Blog 56 

Hello Everyone,

            My FINAL CUT is tomorrow! I’m basically finished now I might do some last minute changes knowing me. I am very happy with my magazine at this point.

Over the next week or so I need to do my evaluation which is 7 questions either in a video or a PowerPoint presentation. I think I’m going to do a video because I’ve had some experience editing videos before as me and my friends used to make silly videos a few years ago. Also, I would panic too much if I was going a PowerPoint Presentation. 

Front Cover Update

Blog 55

Hello Everyone,

           Tomorrow is my final deadline, this is where I hand in my finished work so I was doing some last minute things e.g changing font colour and I decided I don’t like having Hilly on my front cover and I want my original model who is “Lily Rose” to be on the front cover. Luckily I had taken some close ups of her at the photo-shoot in case I wanted to use them.

     Front Cover 1                                                                                             Front Cover 2

 

                                                                       

Both front covers have positives and negatives. Front cover 1 with Hilly on has a good balanced layout with her being exactly in the centre and where the titles are positioned. However, the photograph itself isn’t conventional as not one of my style models has an image on the cover where you can see their feet. She feels very far away therefore isn’t connecting with the reader. However, Front cover 2 with Ellie as “Lily Rose” on is conventional as 3 out 5 of the front covers I analysed have either a close up or an extreme close up. This really connects with the audience as you can clearly see the model/artist looking into the lens and it feels like they’re looking at you.

Hillys front cover is conventional as I have placed the list of artists on the left which is what the ones I have analysed that have a list of other artists have it on the left and Ellie’s cover is challenging that as I have them on the left.

The image of Ellie on front cover 2 is A LOT brighter, it was a sunnier day and I’ve edited it better which automatically makes it look happier and more exciting and attracts the reader a lot more because if it was on shelves in a shop it would stand out 10x more than Hillys cover.

I like both images but I much prefer the layout of front cover 2 with my model Ellie as “Lily Rose” as it’s brighter and a lot more eye-catching and happy. Also front cover 2 is more conventional than front cover 1 as it has the close up a larger barcode with a white box around it making it readable and the text is better placed and easier to read. Therefore I am using front cover 2 for my final cut.

Update 9

Blog 54

Hello Everyone,

         This week I have been very busy with photo shoots and editing photos and 2 weeks ago I set myself some targets;

·                          Front cover photo-shoot

·                          New photos with Ellie

·                          Edit photos

·                          Complete magazine

And now 2 weeks later I have completed 3 out of 4 targets and I’m super close to finishing my magazine. My deadline for my final cut is in 2 days where I hand in my finished Front cover, Contents page and Double-page spread I have completed my double page spread and my contents page now. 

Photoshoot 10

Blog 53

Hello Everyone,

            A couple of days ago I did another photo-shoot with my model who is going to be Lily Rose. This was the 3^rd photo-shoot I have done with her however, I haven’t used any photos from the shoot I did in the studio because they were for my contents page and it would have made it unbalanced with studio and locational photos. 

For this photo-shoot I went to South Shields again and found a nice place with lots of Ivy. I like South Shield’s because it’s got lots of good places to take fun quirky photos.

I wanted her to wear something colourful but not too much. So I chose a red, white and blue top with black leggings and white converse. I chose these colours because I knew I wanted a photo with lots of greenery so I needed something that would defiantly stand out against the background so pale colours and greens wouldn't. I didn't want her to blend into the background. This is a metaphor for her music, the artist “Lily Rose” wouldn't have music that is exactly like everyone else. The indie genre is about being unique and individual. This is reflected by my model of “Lily Rose” standing out from the busy background.

 I really like these images. I am going to use an image from this photo-shoot for my double page spread because, I really like the location as its bright and quirky and not in her garden. Which is what my target audience told me to change. 

Here's a short video of more images taken on this shoot

Photoshop 4

Blog 52

Hello Everyone,

         Today, I decided which photo I wanted to use of my model Beth (previous blog) and I edited it using Photoshop. For this image I decided to use the daffodil to cover her eye like I have used the vinyl in my contents page to cover Hilly s face in the band in the centre of the page. It makes it slightly different than her just holding it. Also it’s quirky and unique which fits my genre. I made the background blurry and out of focus so only she and the daffodil are in focus making them catch the reader’s eye and look professional. 

Before

After

Photoshop 3

Blog 51

Hello Everyone,

       Today, I was editing photos of Hilly from the South Shields photoshoot incase I could use it on my contents page.

The photo I chose to do was a mid shot with her hands on her beanie and she’s smiling. I chose this image because I thought it was make a good poster advert.

There wasn't much I needed to do because it was such a nice photo to start with. So I made it brighter and used the clone stamp and the spot healing brush to cover some really noticeable imperfections but other than that I kept it as natural as I could and it looks really nice, hopefully I’ll find somewhere to put it. 

Before

After

Photoshoot 9

Blog 50

Hello Everyone,

            Last week, I did a photo-shoot for my contents page. I went out with my model Beth to the backtracks. I decided I want her to wear some colour so she’s wearing; Patterned jeans and a blue vest top making her look really casual. 

I chose this location and it reminds me of something you would find on Tumblr as it has the grit of the path which flows all the way down the image.

These images are for my contents page so I only needed a small one but I still wanted it on location. From looking at my contents page I needed a balance and range of shots so I took some different types of images.

I decided I wanted a prop as the only other prop I have in my whole magazine is the vinyl I have on my contents page. So I gave my model a daffodil and it fits the image because of the outdoor green dominated image. 

Front cover Update

Blog 49

Hello Everyone,

               Today I placed my photos of Hilly into my front cover. I like this image as it is quite quirky and the position of her arms looks very casual.  Also, she’s looking directly into the camera which draws the reader’s attention.

The image fills the entire page and my model stands out as she’s in the centre. I like the positioning because it’s equally spaced which covers a wide area.

The yellow of her top stands out the most as the background is quite gloomy. This works well as it draws attention to her. I matched this with the title by making her name yellow.

I like this image but because it’s a lot of colour and a full background it leaves little room for text and what text I can place it is hard to read.

I might change this image because even though I like it and it reflects my genre, if the text is illegible it doesn’t look as good and doesn’t fit the conventions.

Photoshoot 8

Blog 48

Hello Everyone,

             After my rough cut I wanted to change my photo on my front cover, so I decided to ask my friend Hilly to be a model for me. I wanted to have a different model on my double page spread and my front cover just to mix it up. Hilly is already on my contents page in a group so I would put her on my front and have the issue about the band, as I have a banner on the top advertising a free poster of Amy as she’s also in the band.

So myself and Hilly went to South Shields and took some photos for my front cover. She wore a bright yellow crop top and I made 2 outfits with this; one with just plain black leggings and one with her very light blue jeans. I then paired the jeans with a black and white jumper to make another outfit. I really like these outfits as they’re really casual and something she would normally wear. I added the beanie to give it a more hipster and indie feel and they're now associated with that genre so it fits the stereotypes and the genre.

I arranged the mise-en-scene to make it look like a very casual photo-shoot hence why she’s not doing any fancy poses. I did this to reflect her casual personality and how she’s more focused on the music rather than the fame. 

Here's a short video of a selection of photos from the shoot

Article Update

Blog 47

Hello Everyone,

              Today, I re-read my article and edited it changing small things like punctuation and specific words. The overall article is good and reads well however, I had a couple of miss-spelt words which I corrected.

I then asked one of my peers to proof read it, and she informed me on some spelling and grammatical errors and gave me some suggestions of different words I could use to make the article read even better.

Photoshop 2

Blog 46

Hello Everyone,

       Today, I was photo shopping images for my front cover image.  First thing I did was I used a curves adjustment layer to change the brightness of the image. This makes the photo stand out more and makes my model look prettier.

The next thing I did was I airbrushed her skin. I did this by using different layers one with a surface blur and another with a high pass filter grouping them together. Then I used an inverted mask and the brush tool to go over the skin editing any imperfections and making her skin look smoother.

The next tool I used was a burn tool to make her eyebrows and eyelashes giving it definition making it stand out. Then I used the dodge tool to lighten specific parts of her eyes and her hair to enhance them.

Photo shopping makes this image look a lot more professional as published magazines photo shop their models. 

Before

After

Update 8

Blog 45

Hello Everyone,

                This is just going to be a brief update, as it’s the Easter holidays and I have SO much to do in the next 2 weeks I probably won’t be working on my magazine everyday so I’m going to set myself some targets to have achieved over the holidays.

•          Front cover photo-shoot
•          New photos with Ellie
•          Edit photos
•          Complete magazine

Photoshop

Blog 44

Hello Everyone,

      Today, I have been working on my contents page photographs and have been photo shopping my images to make them brighter and enhance specific colours and features. I'm not sure I’ll use this photo of the 3 girls however it was good to practice using Photoshop.

Before

After

One of my photos of Amy turned out  really dark so I just over looked it and decided It was unusable but then I edit it and I made it brighter and I realised it was a really good photo. I've decided I want to use it on my front cover as a small image advertising a free poster inside.  

                                      Before

                                  After

Contents Page Update

Blog 43

Hello Everyone,

           Today, I changed my contents page around. I swapped a couple of photos around to make the page a lot more exciting and have more of a balance. I re-took photos of a couple of my models because I wasn't happy with them before.

Also I made the title a lot bigger but I've kept the same font because it looks nice and is bold and clear.

I also made the main center image of the 3 girls smaller as I felt it was taking up too much of the page. 

Finally, I slightly moved the text in the bottom 4 boxes to make them fit better and look less cramped.

I much prefer the newer version of my contents page because there’s a wider range of images with some long shots and extreme close ups. It just makes it looked more varied and more professional. 

Update 7

Blog 42

Hello Everyone,

                     Today is going to be a summary of what I need to do in the next couple of days.

•          Take new images
•          Edit photos
•          Edit article
•          Change orders of photos on contents page

These are only small little things I need to do but will make all the difference to the quality and appearance of my magazine. 

Double Page Spread Titles

Blog 41

Hello Everyone,

         

               So I've been thinking about the title of my double page spread and in my style models they have really catchy titles or puns, and mine was just “Sushi & Cigarettes New Album” in black font. The title “Sushi & Cigarettes New Album” clearly shows what the article is about and the font is the same font (Brain Flower) that I have used throughout my project when it involves “Lily Rose”. However, I don’t feel like its catchy enough to make the reader want to stop at that page and read it.

I came up with the title “Raw Talent” the raw coming from “Sushi” in her album name. I feel this is a lot more catchy and unique. Also, I didn't want to just be black so I made it pink because raw fish is often either white or pink so I linked it that way as well as with her album.