Print Skills Development: Magazine Front Cover Task

Magazine Mock up Blog

Photography Skills

I decided that if I framed my image in a large open space then it would allow for headlines etc. I then decided that I would cut around Adam so that he was just on a plain white background not being too busy and overcrowded. The tilt is slightly upwards suggesting power. It was easy to control the model because he listened to what was said however it was difficult for me as the person directing to explain exactly what I meant how and how to put it across in an understandable manner. I decided that the eye line needed to be in line with the person looking at the magazine however I didn’t want there to be any eye contact so I made him look away. Luckily, the weather was just right and I didn’t have to change any of the ISO settings, there was sunlight coming from one direction so I was able to use this and make the other side look dark. With this image, there was some minor problems, there could have been more light used on the left side of his face so that the right was even darker than it is. This would just emphasize his features and enhance them even further.

Photoshop skills

I used margin lines on the left hand side of the magazine cover so that the outside edges of the writing looked crisp and in line making it a little bit neater. I used a downloaded font by going on to the internet, on to www.dafont.com and then searching through till I found one that I liked enough. I then downloaded it and installed it, cutting it on to my desktop for easy access. Once I had installed it from my desktop, it then appeared in Photoshop and was ready to use. I used this style of font because I feel as though it represents the whole attitude of the magazine; it looks kind of rebellious and has its own unique style which you wouldn’t find on a magazine such as ‘OK’. I used a different font for the sell lines and the headlines because I felt as though the font that was used for the masthead wouldn’t look right with lots of writing. So then I downloaded another font and used this for all other texts, I used this one because it again, has a rebellious look to it and has attitude which represents the theme of this magazine. From the Photoshop tutorial, I learnt how to get the messy effect on text and how to do it. I learnt how to use the brush tool, the quick select and the duplicate tool. I controlled colour, and chose my colour by looking at a Kerrang magazine. I looked at my image and saw that he was wearing black so I based my theme around this, I figured that red, black, white and yellow was a good colour scheme to go with this, it has a good look to it without looking to over powering or overcrowded and messy. I cropped my image so that it was small enough to be on the cover without taking up all the space available. I needed the space to write around the image. I also took away the background so I used the lasso tool to cut around Adam so that he was on a plain white background instead of in the park. I did this so that you could write on the background and around him with it being seen and not looking too busy. I used the shape tool to create a strap line on the top and on the bottom of the page, in this I had rewards such as ‘free’ items or giveaways and a load of bands that relate to this type of magazine so that you had a brief insight into the magazine. I did this by using the rectangle tool and filling it with black, then changing the text colours to add effect. I imported a barcode from Google by saving the image and then opening it in Photoshop, I then cut round the image and cropped it to a suitable size before placing it on the cover.

Connotation creation

In my sell lines, I just used basic language. I used rewards, for example, ‘massive give away worth £1000’ this instantly would draw the reader in and make them want to buy the magazine so that they would have a chance with winning it. I also used words such as ‘PLUS’ and the symbol + so that, all the time, it looks like you’re getting more than you are actually paying for. I listed a load of bands in the sell lines so that people interested in this sort of music are instantly drawn into looking for their favourite bands. I used sell lines such as ‘album of the month revealed’ and ‘all new interviews’ so that it looks like this is the only place where you are going to find this information which makes it special. I also used ‘for one week only… £1’ this shows that you are getting a really good deal because of the fact that you are getting all of this and more, for just £1.

Targets for Unit 3 Project

In my unit 3 project, I would like to use studio lighting instead of natural lighting so that a different effect is created. I would also like to be able to control my models better, I would like to know exactly what I want so I can tell them, and not just use a spur of the moment decision to try and create a desired effect. I would like to be able to think of more ways to say things and create more effective language to make the whole project more effective. I would also like to develop my camera techniques so that there isn’t too much under/overexposure in the image and finally, I would like to be able to use Photoshop more efficiently so that I don’t take a long time to do one thing. I need to get used to it more and have lots more practise.

Skills Development: Side Lighting

With side lighting, you are going to end up with deep shadows. These shadows may well enhance the mood of some scenes and be quite welcoming and effective, but for most photography, especially that of people, it can have the opposite effect unless you are aiming for a certain mood or look in the image. The face is lit more intensely on one side than the other. Front lighting is often the most pleasing for everyday subjects for example, the light source behind the camera and is the easiest to expose correctly because you don't have to think about shadows etc. However, problems can occur such as bright sunlight making the person squint which wouldn't give the desired effect.

Side lighting can suggest passion and seductivness, it is well suited for young women that have smooth skin and regular facial features. However, it is also effective for men whose rugged character lines should be emphasized. Focusing on just one side of the face can accentuate the jaw line on a man making him look more masculine and shows of the prominence of it.

Front lighting can ehance and soften females features because it makes the face look more pure. When taking a picture from the front, it captures every single feature on a specific spot, in this case the face. It shows all the purities etc. and when the picture is taken, the flash would relect and highlight the main features on the face. These include, the cheekbones, the nose, the brow bone and the chin. When the photo is taken, it enhances these features which makes the person in the photo look a lot softer and more enhanced.

When i took the photos, i found it hard to get just enough lighting because it was either too dark, then you'd move and it would become too light, or it was the other way. Especially on the side lighting photos. To change this, i decreased the shutter speed and then it seemed to take a better photo. To make it even better, i could take the photos at a different time of day or in a different light altogether. Maybe this is something i should take into account later on. At first, the images were blurry so we had to change the focus. I also think that the framing could be a little better in that they shouldn'y be just cut off where they are, before the shoulders. This should be payed more attention to in future also. I think the targets in the future is to take my time when taking the photos, take great care with the lighting that they are being taken in and also review the photos as soon as they are taken to make sure that they are focused and framed right.

Skills Development 5th November

Skills i have learnt:
In the practical, i learnt what shutter speeds are and how to use them. A shutter speed controls the length of time that light can pass through the lens, take a picture and then reach the memory card. It is measured in Seconds or fractions of seconds. For example, 1/1000 is a fast shutter speed and then 1/30 is a slow shutter speed.
Using a Slow shutter speed is good for low lighting and is good at capturing movement.
Using a Fast shutter speed is good for capturing a freeze frame movement. For example, a photo finish... what use would a blurry photo be? so the fast shutter speed is used to get a crisp shot of the movement.

How effectively did i use the skills?
I feel as though i used the shutter speeds quite effectively because the end pictures were quite good. I found that for the slow shutter speed in the low light, the 193 setting wasnt as effective as the 186. The 186 was the setting used for the final pictures. And then for the pictures we took outside, i used the 169 setting because this was more effective and took better pictures than the 200 setting that we originaly had it on. I was impressed with how quickly i managed to understand how to change the settings and how to make it look more effective however i think that the end pictures maybe could have been a little better, especially the ones that were taken outdoors. The indoor pictures of the light were quite effective and i was pleased with the final picture however, the pictures taken outdoor didn't give the total desired effect, it didn't show a crisp and a sharp finish on the picture as i would have liked.

How will these skills beneift me when it comes to my Unit 3 Production?
These skills will benefit me when it comes to my Unit 3 Production because i now know how to use the shutter speed effectively so i can easily get the desired effect on my product. I can now change the settings on the camera so that, when i know what i want the pictures to look like, i am one step closer to being able to reach that desired end product.

What skills do i need to develop further?
I need to develop my abilty to take photos that are in movement. For example, it was easy enough when i just stood to take the pictures of the light, but when it came to the actual moving pictures, it proved quite difficult to take the shot when i actually needed to, i kept on getting it either too late or too early which effected the photos.

In this picture, you can see that the arms are blurred so the shutter speed was wrong. The camera didn't catch the right movement in order to capture a crisp and smooth end image.

In this picture, there isn't as much blur as in the picture before however, there isn't any definition on the body, most of the focus is on the background and therefore, here again, the shutter speed was wrong so there wasn't a crisp and smooth end picture.

Here, there is no blur and the focus is on the person. This was captured as she was falling, i managed to catch her as she hit the ground. This picture is crisp and smooth and gives the desired effect.

Even though this picture is in focus, it would have been better to have captured more of the movement. Because i have recognized this, i will make more of an effort next time to capture the movement and make it look more like an action shot.

INDEPENDENT LEARNING

What was the tutorial about and what have i learnt?
http://tutorials.watchandlearnphotoshop.com/tutorials/ps/707lightadj.html
The tutorial was about Photoshop and using the tools to change the lightness and the darkness of pictures. I leant that you can change the brightness of a picture by using the brush tool and then changing which way you want to use it. To brighten the picture up, you set the foreground colour to white and darker, to black. You then scroll over what you want to change to what and then you have an adapted picture.

How would this benefit me during my practical work?
This would benefit me during my practical work because i will be able to change what my pictures look like to create a more effective look on the final product.

Introduction Project

Evaluation

In my initial print skills audit, I only had one box ticked as yes which was the self timer facility. All of the other boxes I had ticked as no because I had never used these facilities before. However, now that my advert is completed I can now say that I have improved on my skills a lot. I now can use Photoshop to an extent, before this, I hadn’t even opened the programme.  On Photoshop, I have used layers, text control, shape creation, load selection features, magnetic lasso and the cropping tool. These are all skills in which I have improved upon and can now confidently use on this programme.

At first, when using these skills, I didn’t use them very effectively. It was a bit of a mess and was very confusing at first if I am honest but, the more I used them, the better I got and I became more comfortable whilst using the facilities.

The work I am going to blog shows my skills progression as I am actually handing in a piece of work produced on Photoshop  which is a major improvement on what I would have been able to hand in at the start of the course. It shows that to get the effect I have, I have used facilities such as layers, magnetic lasso etc.

There are a few weaknesses in my work such as the cutting out of certain objects isn’t totally perfect but at this point, it was as close as I could get it and some of the photos weren’t taken in the places I would have like them to be so I had to improvise.

If I was to do this project again I would be a lot more organised  and make sure that I got everything prepared before starting for example, we couldn’t find an empty classroom, and when we finally did, we had to write on the board, by this point, it was too late and the lesson had ended. So to be more prepared I would organise everything in advance.

To move towards the standard achieved in professional working practise, I would spend a lot more time on it, and I would, again, be a lot more organised. I would be a lot more precise in the placing of my items, the backgrounds in shoots and the actual cutting out with the lasso to make it look extremely precise.

Before we re- branded the product, the sardines would have been aimed at maybe an older age than teenagers, maybe about 30+, and really, could have any type of social grade, in any type of life cycle and of any sex. It just depends on whether you like them or not. The new audience is teenage boys who are in school/college and are still living at home.

I think that the boy holding the sardines in front of a white board with girls looking as though they are chasing him is a good way of engaging the audience’s attention. This is because it shows that eating the sardines is attracting girls’ attention, makes you brainy and basically ‘knows your stuff’.

The points of my project that don’t work are the white bard equations, they need to be bolder to make them really stand out and attract the attention. Also the text, the fonts, colours etc could maybe be a little bolder to attract more attention and to really attract the typical teenage boys attention they need to be a little more brighter.

I think my project in most ways is tailored to meet the demands of the target audience as it just shows a brainy, powerful boy that has girl’s attention, which is what most teenage boys want.  Things that don’t work s the colour scheme, this needed to be a little brighter to make it really stand out and grab the boy’s attention, it maybe didn’t need to be block colours, it could have done with a bit of contrasting.

You can see I know about segmentation systems because I have tailored the project to teenage boys. Typical teenage boys want to be clever in school but without being the school ‘nerd’ the want to have girls attentions and to have them chasing after them. This advert portrays that. I have segmented the audience and you can tell this as I don’t think the advert would attract elderly people. They may like sardines and buy them anyway, but I don’t think they would look at this advert and instantly go and buy them because it wouldn’t appeal to that age range.

In conclusion, I think that my project was quite successful for a first attempt, there were a few things that I would change if I had the chance to do it again and would be more organized.

STORYBOARD



PRINT

Initial Skills Audit

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