Magazine Cover

I framed my image so that it was in the bottom left hand side corner, I also made it quite big which made it stand out; I did this because we see things from left to right so the picture would be one of the first things customers got to see. This also allowed me to have my headlines nearer to the top which also stood out.

My model was very easy to work with and I generally let her get on with it but I positioned her to where I wanted her and told her what look I wanted to go for. My eye line was mainly the same as hers so that wasn’t really a problem.

 

The background lighting was quite dark and dull which made my picture look dim, so by using Photoshop I brightened it up and changed the background to something which would be more advertising to audiences.

I used margin guides so that it made sure that I got everything fitted in perfectly that I wanted, otherwise if I didn’t, when I printed my magazine cover out it would’ve been missing certain areas and wouldn’t have had maximum effect. I found my font and downloaded it from a website called dafont.com, I chose this font because it suited my magazine and didn’t look too shabby, it stood out to me as soon as I found it and really works well with the colour and design of my magazine. Some new skills in which I learnt are mainly touch up skills such as the toning skills; dodge, burn and sponge tool, these allowed me to  make my picture darker or lighter and change the colour saturation. I also learnt the focus tools which by using the blur, sharpen or smudge tool allowed me to sharpen the edges. There were stamp tools which used pixels to create the same type of pattern over something else and there were also healing and patching tools which allowed me to replace pixels why preserving the texture and shade.

I decided to use a colour code of three different colours which were orange, black and white, I think these colours work well together and make the orange really stand out which gives it the maximum effect. I cropped my image so that I only got my model because I didn’t like the background so I imported it onto a new background which involved black and orange which linked in with my colour theme as well as the picture.

Lighting

Side Lighting

Side lighting allows us to catch the subject from the side with the shadows being the main stand-out; this allows us to change the general mood of an image. It increases the contrast and is most effective when used with black and white pictures because it captures needle sharp edges. Whereas, front lighting allows us to capture 3D like image with the shadow, it’s the most basic lighting.

It can also have a massive effect on the photo. The brightness of the light usually comes from the left or right, making one dark darker than the other. This is a great technique for capturing an image with a mysterious feel to it. For a more natural feel I could use something that reflects the light onto my person’s body which would soften the effect.

Back Lighting

Back lighting is pretty basic. It literally is just the light that approaches from the back. This can have to effects; turn a photo into something of beauty or turn a beautiful photo into a disaster. The camera reads the brightness of the light behind something and sets itself to only expose certain lighting.

Skill Development

5.11.10 - Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed represents the amount of time that the shutter is open on a still camera, it is also measured in seconds and determines how much light gets through the lens and can have various effects on different images. The term ‘bulb’ is used when the shutters opens.

There are two different types of Shutter Speeds; slow and fast. A slow shutter speed is used when a producer wants to suggest a sense of movement in a still image; this is also used best in a low light scenario. When selecting a slow shutter speed it means that the camera lens will be open for longer, therefore allowing the camera to capture more movement, this allows a producer to show an element of blurriness which would be more realistic, for example if a train was speeding down the track then it would be blurry as you take a picture of it, so by using a slow shutter speed it allows more tie for the camera to gather up the movement and allowing it to be a more realistic picture.

Whereas, a fast shutter speed is used when a producer wants to make a image unrealistic, for example someone jumping up in the air; this speed would allow the camera to capture that person in the air with their feet not on the ground, almost as if it is freezing the image.

Slow -

This is a picture that I took whilst using a slow Shutter Speed (‘’30). I think this picture has worked quite well for my first attempt of using shutter speeds because the background is blurred so it makes the light stand out more, if I was to use this image in an advert then I could perhaps make it so it looked like someone had a sparkler and was twirling it around, this would’ve worked well at the time because it was bonfire night when I took this, however, to make it look more effective I could have tried to make the background darker to represent the lights more and make them stand out to a better quality.

Fast -

I took this picture by using a fast Shutter Speed (1/80). I also think that for a first attempt this picture is of an ok standard, this allowed me to capture Courtney whilst she was in the air, giving it an ‘unrealistic’ feelings, if I was to use this in an advert then I could maybes add some skipping ropes into her hands, this would look like she was skipping, however, near her hands are a bit blurry which means that I could have used a different speed to get a better result.

These skills will benefit me when it comes to my Unit 3 because it will give me a better wide range of skills to use in my final production. If I continue to learn more skills and keep practising them then it would make my final piece the best of my ability.

Initial Skills Order

AS Media Production

Technical Skills Audit Print Production

Name: Michael Dowling                        Tutor group: 115                 Date: 24/9/10

Photographic Skills

Which of the following photographic features/equipment have you used on a camera before:

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Manual Focus features		X
Shutter Speed		X
Aperture control		X
ISO Control		X
A tripod	X		Used one at school when taking photos for I.T to make it steady.
External flash		X
Self timer facility	X		To take family photos; of us all
Light meter		X
Composition grids		X

Photoshop Skills

Which of the following features of Photoshop have you used before:

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Have you aver used Photoshop ever before?	X		College and when I went to this place in Aycliffe with my art class
Text control	X		Used this to insert text on my pictures for art
Filters
Brushes	X		Used this in art
Layers	X		Used this so I could have more than one picture on my art designs.
Opacity control	X		Used in my art
Shape creation	X		To change the shape of a picture for I.T
Brightness and contrast control	X		In art
Gradients		X
Load selection features		X
Feathering		X
Colour curves adjustment		X
Resolution setting control		X
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool		X
Cropping tool	X		In art
Clone tool	X		In art
Retouch tool		X

Introduction Project

StoryBoard

 

Print Advertisement

Evaluation Write Up

Skills Development:

1.       I have used ‘text control’, ‘brushes’, ‘layers’, ‘cropping tool’ and the ‘retouch tool’.

2.       I think I have used these skills quite well considering it’s the first time I’ve done a proper advert, because in school we just used them to insert text or to change the shape of the picture.

3.       The work I am blogging shows what I am able to do now but also shows that I could improve quite a lot.

4.       Some weaknesses which are in my work is that I could improve the standard of my print poster, I could also improve on my storyboard and I could also have met my deadline in time. I could improve on these problems by progressing further in my skills and to also make sure that a piece of work is finished on time unless I will fall behind in my subjects.

5.       The things I would do differently are that I would make sure my group had more ideas in what we wanted to do; I would make sure we had more pictures but to also improve the picture quality, I also would manage my time better.

6.       I would have to develop my skills and learn to meet deadlines on time if I wanted to move towards the standard achieved within the professional industry.

Product:

1.       The target audience which my product was aimed at were maybes people who were in a rush or people who were looking for healthier alternatives.

2.       My new target audience was students, mainly aiming towards those at uni.

3.       The elements of my product that worked towards attracting my target audience is that we used bright colours, and bold letters which would attract a younger audience, we also based in on a bit of humour by sticking someone fist into some chips, we based all of this in the art centre which could represent a university. I think these elements work because bold writing and bright colours would start out to a younger person as older audience’s tend not to like such bright colours, the biggest element that would suggest my product is aimed at uni students is the basing it in the arts centre because this represent what a uni would be like.

4.       I think the elements which don’t work within my product is the target audience; I don’t really think ‘smash’ is of an interest to students.

5.       I would improve my product by having better quality photos, I would also have more time to come up with different various ideas for my product.

6.       I don’t really think my product is tailored to meet my target audience because not my students have an interest in mash or ‘smash’ as the product is called, although to improve the interest factor in this product, I could think about what students like such as drinking, partying etc... so maybe I could of had the smash inside some sort of bottle like drink, I think this would interest uni students more than the packaging it is in now.

7.       My work demonstrates that I understand the segmentation system, but I could improve on it, so within time my understanding could improve.