43221 Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College

43221 Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College

Friday 15 April 2011

Final Magazine.




I think that my magazine has come on well as a final product. This is because all the colours and fonts run into each other, therefore it makes it look a lot more professional.
I am proud of my final design look, from the start i didnt think i would have enough time to finish it all, or to create something that works this well, but in the end im glad ive done it as i think it works really well for my target audience.

Magazine Font.

This is the font i've downloaded and used from http://www.dafont.com/ for my magazine article. This is what i used for the top 10 tips in my article, quotes, kicker and the strap lines on the front of my magazine.

This is the font that i used for my title of my magazine 'Trash Talk', and the title of my article, 'Keep It Clean'.
This was also downloaded from http://www.dafont.com/

Photoshop Tutorials

My first tutorial is all about how to create shapes on Photoshop.
This basically shows you what tools to use, and what shapes you can create.
Its farily straight forward as you just follow this as you go along.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS0dd0mFd3s


The second tutorial i looked at was how you re-size photos on Photoshop.
This too was really simple, as it doesnt even take 2 minutes.
This is really helpful as you can follow it easy, even for people who havent used Photoshop before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu5adJfxuhw

My final clip i looked at was probably the most important one, as i used this the most in Photoshop.
This is a clip on how to use layers. It basically shows you step by step on how to add different layers and apply them over each other, so it doesnt ruin your image.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxgRneI6yfY

Thursday 14 April 2011

In Design Practice.




















The way i did this was, i used a number of tools to create this document.
To get all the text in line i simply used the guidlines that In Design has, this was quick and simple as it is easy to use and line up the text so that they are the same size and in line with each other. I also used the text wrap tool, this was soo my article wrapped around the image itself, so there wasnt any over lapping with the writting and the imagery.
For my title it was simple, you just made it a lot bigger than the writting for the article in size, then you just adjusted the colours with the colour tool, this was also quick and simple to do and i had no trouble doing so.

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Weekly Production Monitoring Blog 15.03.11

Progress.Last week i started on doing my mock up for my magazine. For this i decided on the layout and where i would place certain things, for example choosing where certain images would go, and where certain text would be placed. However ive been unable to finish these until i have the imagery done, and until i have finished my article.

Front cover magazine layout
not finished, mock up.




Inside magazine layout.
not finished, mock up.
These are what ive produced so far.




















Targets.
The front cover needs more work on it, however i have the basic outline set up. The title 'Trash Talk' is in the correct writting of how it will look in the end result. The headlines and sell lines need more work, but i know what i am going to put in to make it look a lot better. The photo will cover the whole background therefore the text will just over lap and fit round the image, depending on how its set out.
The inside of my magazine, the layout is just the same, its got the basic outline but it still needs imagery and the right font to fit in with, which until i have had my photoshoot i wont know what works best with them. The article that goes into the inside of my magazine will sit round the images and quotes will be picked out and made larger to grab the readers attention.

In the running of making this, i had a few problems with the font, thats why i have just used the basic font just to fit inplace until the actuall font is there. The problem was that the font didnt save the next day, so each day i had to keep downloading it and therefore it was just wasting time for me getting on with the other things. In the end ive just left it so when everythings finished i can then put them into photoshop save them, then edit them in. Also the fact i havent had my photoshoot yet, not til next week, this made me lag behind as i havent been able to get the magazine going quicker in making it. Other than that i have had no other problems.

Contingencies.Some of the problems i may come across would be that i wouldnt be able to find the same font as before hand to continue with my style that i am working on now. Also some of my models might not show up for my photoshoot, therefore i will have to get some backup models to make sure i have people for my shoot. I could possibly loose my work as i might forget to save it, so i will have to keep backing up my work every so often, if i add something new to it so i dont loose what i have done.

Weekly Procution Monitoring Blog 12.04.11




Progress.From last week i have updated my double page spread that needed to be finished. I have done this buy putting in the article and the top ten tips. This now looks a lot better and more complete, like an actual magazine that sells in the shops today.





Targets.
My targets would only be to just finish my documents that are needed for friday in as much detail as i can to boost my mark up. Also to do some more work to my blog and make sure everything, that needs to be in, is in ready for fridays deadline.
Contingencies.Problems i may have would be that i mite not get the work done to the best standard as i might not have enough time to complete them fully. For this i would have to make sure i leave myself enuogh time to do them, and get on straight away in lessons and not get caught up in conversation.

Friday 8 April 2011

Weekly Production Mointoring Blog 29.03.11

Progress.This week so far ive improved a lot of my magazine, in terms of images text just everything.
This is the front cover of my magazine, finished. I think its a very good improvement from what i had a week ago, as ive changed the texts so they fit in more with my target audiences etc. Im impressed with how well the image has worked with my magazine as well as the whole front cover.


This is the inside of my magazine minus the article. I am prettty impressed with this double page spread because it looks like ones in magazines, it has worked well in terms of background, text and images so i am very pleased with what i have done, considering what it looked like last week.


Targets.For my magazine:
My targets would be to just add the little bits of detail to make my magazine look  more finnished. This would be to add the article, and add my top 10 tips, also to add quotes from the article that would grab the readers attention to make them want to read more.

For my documents:
My targets would be to finish off the tables that are needed to be done for friday the final deadline. Also do some more work to my blog making sure that everything is on there that should be, so its up to date.

Contingencies.Problems i may come across is that i wont get the doctuments done in time for fridays deadline. I dont think this would happen as i have enough time to get them done, so i think i will be in the running for doing them right.
There might be a problem with uploading my magazine to the website that it gets graded on, so i will have to keep checking if everythings finished in the right time.

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Weekly Production Monitoring Blog 22.03.11

Progress.
From last week, Ive added the fonts that i will be using in the end result. 'RIOT' this is because last week they wouldn't save properly, therefore i had problems using it.

Printscreen with the new writting.




                                                                  











    


From this image you can see that from last week there isnt much progress that i have made. Although i have sorted the fonts out, therefore i will be able to sort everything out and get on my way with it.

Also this week i had to sort out all my models and prep them for what they would have to be doing in my photoshoot. I had 4 models alltogether 3 of them had to wear the same, and one of them had to be the main person, and wear somethign different. All went to plan as they all agreed on what they would be doing so everything was going to plan.

I had my photoshoot this morning, and everything went to plan, i got the photos i needed etc. Unfortunatly the images wernt able to come off the memory stick onto the computor, so i have to wait and see if they are able to come off onto another one. Therefore i cant get on with my images on my front cover, which is what i was hoping to do this week.



Targets.

The work i will have to complete this week would be to one, see if i can get them photos sorted, and if i will have to re-do them all again. For this i will have to see Chris and see if he has been able to get them off the memory stick. I will also have to make a start on my article and get ideas for it down etc. For this i will have to get together some ideas and look at different magazines and see how they start articles like this off etc. Also i will have to get my layout all finished for my magazine, like all the writting headings, sell lines etc, all in the writting that i will want for my final product. For this i will basically just have to change the writting in photoshop and place them into my layout.


Contingencies.Some problems i may have during this would be that i might not be able to get the images back, therefore i will have to re-book my photoshoot and get everyone to see if they could come back and do it again, this will then take up more time and might slow me down in the running with everything else. I will just have to be prepared for this and get the work done outside of lessons to catch up.

Friday 4 February 2011

Aperture.





Aperture its a effect that lets you refine your photos. It does this by focusing in one place, as you can see by my photos, and blurs out the rest of the image. I found this technique fun to use as you can play around with it and focus on different things. I would use this if i was going to take pictures of like a busy street, and focus on one thing, and have the rest blured out to create a nice effect.


This image is basically where the bottle is the only thing in focus, and the rest of the image is blurred. The image is darkened by how fast the shutter speed shuts.

This second image is the bottle is still in focus, however there is a slight adjustment to the background as you can tell by the computers. This image is also slightly lighter than the first.

This image you can tell by the background that the whole image is getting more focused if you look at the compters. This again is now slightly lighter than the other two images by the speed of the shutter.

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Magazine Mock up Blog.

The way i framed my image was that i positioned the model in the center of the image so i could easily crop it, or have enough room to create added effects like the headline etc. I used a direct shot, with a slight tint from above to create a more of a luring image as if to say something else is behind the image, like theres a background towards why this picture was taken. Controlling my model was easy i knew the type of effect i wanted to give off, so it was basically just positioning her in the right place and giving the right direction for her to follow, which in my opinion went very well, since i'm used to being on the other side of the camera, it was something new for me to encounter.
I didn't have to change the ISO levels because i had enough light to make the effect i needed, however if i did use the light it would have created a more scuttle effect and that wasn't the image i was going for. It was more of a dull and mysterious look, therefore i used shading in my image. I think a problem with my image would be the background, it doesn't quiet fit with the tone of the image, however there is still some mystery to why she is sitting on some old stares with no-one around? so it could work well in that area. If i was to choose a better location it would be somewhere like an alley way or even a skate park or something that gives off a feeling like them locations.


Front Lighting and Side Lighting.




 Side lighting is used to create more of an intensity on one side of the models face rather than the other. For example one side of their face would be shaded, the other in complete light. This type of lighting is suited for young women with smooth skin and regular face features. On the other hand its good for men who have rugged facial features to emphasis them more.

Shutter Speed.

Shutter speeds are one of several methods used to control the amount of light recorded by the camera's digital sensor or film. It is also used to manipulate the visual effects of the final image. For example, for it to sharpen certain objects or people, and make them stand out. Or capture some movement to the picture. 


There are two types of shutter speeds, fast and slow. You would use these both to create two different effects. Using a slow shutter speed will enable you to create a visual sense of movement. For example taking a picture of someone playing snooker, when the balls smack into each other and separate, you will be able to see the movement of the balls. On the other hand, using a fast shutter speed will enable you to have a moving subject to appear unnaturally frozen. For example, a running person may be caught with both feet in the air with all movement lost, in somewhat a freeze frame. 

Above.
This is an example of slow shutter speed. What was done was i had two people spinning the slights and had the camera set to a slow shutter speed, this enabled it to capture the lights in the air and what effect they created. If i did the same thing with the fast shutter speed, it wouldn't have this effects with the lights.

In my opinion for this image above, it wouldn't need much more doing to it, because i think the capturing of the image is well put together. However to me it looks a bit messy, but thats just the effect of the lights when spinning.



To the right.
This is my example of a fast shutter speed. I had heather jump into the air flinging leaves whilst she did. The camera captured her just before she jumped, but still when shes not touching the ground, and when the leaves are in mid air. Therefore it looks as though there is no movement coming from her or the leaves.

If i was to take this image again, i would be more careful when pressing the button to take the image. This is because if i took it a little bit more later, i would have had her in mid air and it would of gave off a better effect.
I would also take this image at a different time of the day, i would do this because this image would give off a better effect when its lighter, as at the moment its dull, and wouldn't catch your eye.


My targets for next time would be to be a bit more adventurous with the camera effects, and also the ISO settings more, to give off a brighter look. Also i would be more careful with the setting of the image, as in to use the right lighting and background etc, to make it to the highest quality i can to capture the best image and get people wanting to see it.




Saturday 13 November 2010

Skills Development 5th November 2010


One skill i have learnt during my practical lesson is using shutter speed. This controls the length of time that the light can pass through the lens. For example, a slow shutter speed is very good to use in low light, and to capture movement. Whereas fast shutter speeds are used to capture a frozen ( freeze frame ) movement. Examples shown below.





















I think i used the slow shutter speed more effectively as you can tell in the image above with the lights. I think this is a strong shot as you can tell the image has motion towards it even though its a still frame. A strength of this picture would be that its a very bold shot, it stands out and draws you towards it as it's a motion shot not just a still image. A weakness of this shot would be that it looks as though its just shot in the middle of the picture, maybe if there was a little bit more room round the edges or if it wasn't so center it would give the image a bit more edge towards it.
 The image to the right of the girl and the leaves, i think this is a little bit more of a weaker shot than the other image, just simply because it doesn't draw your eyes straight to the image itself. Although i still think i used this skill effectively by the way the leaves are in the air and she is slightly off the ground giving life towards this image. I think a strength would be the way the image is laid out. Basically i think the positioning of the image fits with what it is trying to show, although i would think it would work better if it was a bit closer in to give it more emphasis. 

These skills will benefit me when it comes to unit 3 production as it will help me to get better and more varied shots to choose from, to get the best out of the image. Using these skills will help me get a shot that will stand out towards an audience and draw them in and make them want to know the background towards the image.

Skills that i would need to develop to progress further in this unit and overall would be, the ways that i could position my shots that i take. I feel this will help me more as to get the best out of the image i need. For example, as said before, with the picture of the girl and the leaves i feel if i would have positioned it at either more of an angle e.g, from the side, that it would have gave off a more direct effect rather than having it straight on and from a distance.

Independent.
For this i looked at a tutorial on lighting on Photoshop. I chose to look at this one because it, to me, is an important one to look at for photos. This video basically showed me how to edit your lighting in images by being non destructive. This showed me how to adjust the lighting in dark and light areas of an image. On the example he used an image of some flowers on a bush, the original image was the bush was darkened and the flowers really stood out, but he wanted it to all be one but still stand out. So what he did was he, leveled the image out by using a tool to make the bush come out brighter and using another tool on the flowers to dull them down slightly. This gave off a really good effect in the end as it didn't damage the image, and it still stood out.
From watching this video i now know how to create my image to make it seem like it has not been edited. Basically i can now recreate my image to make it look natural and more professional rather than have a light that maybe hides a certain element of the photo that i would want showing, so i would dull that down but still have a bright cold effect.

Wednesday 29 September 2010

Initial Skills Order




Introduction Project


Photographic Storyboard.




Print Project





Project Evaluation


The skills I have developed during this production was one, using photo shop in a lot more depth. The skills I have developed in photo shop are how to make a certain part of a picture, colour and the rest black and white, as this comes along as a very good effect that I will certainly use in future projects. I have also learnt how to create a final advert from basic tools, like going out using the camera, taking my own photos for the advert etc.
      Some of the skill weaknesses I still have are, how to create a detailed storyboard as there could be a lot more detail put into what I have already wrote, or in more technical terms. Another skill weakness I still have is how to use certain tools on photo shop, for example the overlay tool, as I need a lot more practise on how to do that perfectly.
     I think the way I am progressing is rather well. I’ve picked up on things a lot better than I thought I would have like using the camera for photos etc. The skills I would say I have to develop further are remembering the technical terms such as different camera angles, medium long shot etc. Also like mentioned before, some of the tools in photo shop I could do with more practise with them to get better at certain things and make my adverts stand out a lot more.

The skills identified on my ,skills development initial assessment, that I have used in this project are, Manual focus features, Photoshop, text control, layers, brightness and contrast control, magnetic lasso, cropping, cloning and retouching tools. I think I’ve used these tools rather effectively as they show in my final advert, especially the Photoshop tools as my print advert as a range of them that you can identify when looking at it. However I could have used the layers a bit more effectively as you can only just tell that my print advert is slightly out of line when putting the two boys back together, as one is in colour and the other is in black and white.

The work that I’m blogging shows my skills progression in the way that my initial skills sheet shows what I have already used etc, and my storyboard and final print product reflect that, and also it shows some of the things I’ve said ‘no I haven’t used’ to be on my final product. This shows that I am progressing in order of skills because I’m trying new things I haven’t used before, especially on Photoshop.

The weaknesses in my work had to be only one thing, the final picture. I’d say this because our final picture was supposed to be a lot more powerful than it turned out to be, as it was supposed to be someone stood on another person holding the Bovril and making a smug face as if to say ‘drink this and you will be as powerful as me’ and stood in a very superhero way. But unfortunately our picture, although there was someone stood on another person holding the Bovril, the face expression could have been a lot stronger as you can tell their slightly laughing or not taking it seriously. Also the body language, it was not as ‘in your face’ as it was supposed to be, like the superhero idea. For improving this weakness I’d say we’d have to take a couple more shots, or enough just to get that shot right, instead of saying we’ll work with that shot, when we could have got better out of it in the time we had.

The things I’d do differently if I was to do this project again would be for one, think of a lot more ideas. At the start me and my group couldn’t’t come up with real ideas, instead we had much more unrealistic ideas, or things we couldn’t’t do in the time we had. I think if we did have a bigger range of ideas that we possibly come up with a better final idea that would have been stronger than the current one we ended up with. A second thing that I would do differently is, for the photos, get the right people. People who will take it seriously instead of giving pictures that we can not possibly work with, as we didn’t get strong enough images for our advert. Another thing I’d do differently is personally organise myself a lot better. I could have got a lot more done in the time I had if I had been well organised as at one point I had to do a lot of things in not enough time, so if I did have the right amount of time they, I think, would come out in a lot better quality.

The things I would have to do to move towards the standards achieved in a professional working practise is a lot more work in photo shop. This would include making sure everything is in line, and in place. Making sure that everything is neat and tidy, and up to the standards that real advertisers would produce and advertise.

The target audience for the product ‘Bovril’ before we re-branded it was between probably late teens to early 20’s. Usually male, social grade of about C living on their own or with a partner/ flat mate. But since we’ve re-branded the product its now, aged collage students or university students, we’ve kept it male and social grade of about a C. Lifestyle position of someone who just moved into a flat or house, either alone or with a partner, friend.

The elements of this project I think work well in engaging my target audiences attention was I think firstly the story of our advert. Basically this boy is being bullied by kids that think there ‘cooler’ and made their name for it. So this boy is sat eating his lunch and 2 boys come along and one steals his lunch and messes up his hair. So the only thing left on this boys table is the bottle of Bovril, so he drinks this and then gains a load of strength. The second boy comes over and tries to do something to the other boy, but seen although he’s drank the Bovril, he can’t do anything therefore the boy who’s drank the Bovril, becomes the bigger person. Basically meaning if you drink Bovril, it will give you strength to even fight of the bully’s. I think this works well in engaging the audience of this product as there is a lot of teens out there who go through this, so it might give them some sort of boost and want to buy the product. Secondly I think my final print product works well, as the boy who’s drank the Bovril is in colour, meaning he’s full of energy and better than the bully’s who are in black and white fading in with the background. This gives off a good effect as if to say, if you drink this product you won’t fade in the background, you’ll be noticed.

Personally I don’t think our product has a good enough chance of succeeding as we didn’t have a slogan to go with it, we could only think of ones that have either already been taken, or that we not short and snappy enough to stick in peoples minds. I think if we did it again we’d have to come up with a powerful enough slogan that will stick in peoples heads, so when they hear it they automatically think of the product ‘Bovril’.

I think the project is tailored to meet the demands of my target audience as like I’ve said previously, that its aimed at them because a lot of people go through the stage of being bullied so they think that its involving them as they are either going through it or been through it. Also the positioning of the advert. The boy who’s been bullied and therefore drank the Bovril is in the centre of the page, like he’s the important one, he’s the one people would want to be in the position of, not the bully’s. Its like saying you want to be like him, you don’t want to follow the crowd of not be noticed.
If I could change my project in some ways to make it more interesting for the audiences, would be to think of more interesting shots for the final print product, as we didn’t have many to choose from. If we did this I think we could of came up with a stronger advert that would of grabbed the audiences attention more and drawn them in to want to know what its about.

You can see by my advert I know how to attract 16-18 year olds by segmentation systems. Linking the target audience to a situation, that they have most likely been in, to the product to make them seem more involved as if were aiming it at the person watching, to create a strong advert that will sell.