Research And Planning: Shot Research

Research And Planning: Preliminary Task

This is the final design of my college magazine. Similarly to in my research; my cover contains a mid-shot, bar code, masthead, subheading, inclusive stories, website address which makes it easily recognised as a magazine.

To start my college magazine, I opened up a new A4 document in Photoshop by going to file>new and then changing the settings to an A4 page. Once I had done this, I started experimenting with different font styles for my masthead. I had to bear in mind that it had to be read easily and could do with looking like a font you'd see in college magazines so I came up with 'Princetown LET' in the end. To make it stand out more I went to layer>layer style and then added a drop shadow and a inner shadow on my text.

For my college magazine cover I stuck to a strict colour scheme, making it look more professional. Choosing the colour blue suggests to the teenage audience that it isn't aimed at just males/females; but at both genders. By doing this more people would be expected to read it as it will draw a wider variety of people in.

To create the background I had to use the 'box tool' which is situated on the left hand side toolbar.Once this had been selected I simply drew a box the same size as my document in my preferred colour. At this point i had a plain blue background so to jazz it up a bit, I used the gradient tool also situated on the left hand toolbar. I changed the settings and it gave me the above effect. All I did then was add a straight black line to separate the colours.

Once the top of my cover had been created I started to decide what text I was going to add and where. First I wrote the words 'First edition' under my masthead and I decided to use the font 'School Houseprint.' I liked the idea of using this font as it gave the idea of a notebook, which relates to college making it noticeable as a college mag. I also used a drop/inner shadow on this text.

It was then time to sort out what picture I was going to use as my mid shot image. First of all I opened this in photoshop. Then I zoomed into her face, created a duplicate layer and then went onto smart blur, by doing this is smoothed her face and body making the overall picture look more professional. Before I moved on, I had to remember to turn the opacity down to about 45% so that it didn't look too fake or airbrushed. Originally my image had a lot of red eye so I used the red eye tool to get rid of this but by doing this I lost the real life green colour that the student had. To improve this I went to layers and added a new one and changed the settings to overlay. By doing this I was able to select a green colour and use my paintbrush to paint over her eye which gave it a green tint and made them stand out a little more. To make her eyes stand out even more I increased the boldness of black around them by adding more eyeliner to her, to make sure that it didn't look fake I had to turn the opacity down again. I also used the paint brush to whiten her teeth slightly and to change her hair colour to a brighter brown/red colour. The main reason why I made slight changes to my image is because it will be one of the first things my audience will notice so I want her to stand out to draw people in.

After I had made my changes to my image I had to delete the background. Purposely I took the picture of my friend against a plain background so I could now use the magic wand tool which easily removed all of it. I could then go onto select>inverse and it automatically selected my mid shot. I then copied and pasted this image onto my photoshop front cover. Unfortunately by doing this it had left a green tint around the edges. To erase this I selected a smooth edged eraser and created a feathered effect around the edge of my image.

Then I got a bar code image off google and imported it onto my document. Next I had to make up some stories that were going to be included in my magazine, bearing in mind what the majority of teenagers would like to read. I used blue and white writing to portray the stories to stick with the original colour scheme and to emphasise specific information. I also added a drop shadow to the main titles in blue to make them stand out more compared to the subheadings.

At this point, I had included all of the information I needed to add but I had a lot of blank spaces on my page. To resolve this problem I went onto my blog and looked at the example college magazine that I annotated and I saw that they used a random shape on the right hand side. So I took the idea of that and added blue splodges onto my document and it gave it a fun jazzed up look.

* I like my design because of the strict colour scheme which makes it look professional and in addition to this the splodges jazz it up and make it look fun to read. Also I like the font styles I have used as they are very outstanding and noticeable and they link in with the theme of my magazine.

* On the other hand I don't like how the blue at the top fades out really quickly and it has a lot of white space at the top of the screen

* To improve my college cover I think I could have spent a bit more time on the mid shot image that I've used by skin smoothing the image a bit more and making her stand out a little more.

INTERVIEW WITH CAREY H

What do you like about my cover?

I like the colours you have used as they are bright and cheerful. I also like the font as it's very bubbly and it will appeal to first years.

What do you dislike about my cover?

Overall I like you magazine but the picture looks a bit lost since it's surrounded with text. Also there is a lot of space at the top.

What would you improve?

The only thing I would improve is the layout of your masthead and get rid of the unwanted space.

What stands out to you and why?

The splodges you have used because they are a darker blue and therefore stand out and grab the attention of the audience

Would you want to read my magazine and why?

Yes because its free, your my friend and it accommodates the readers needs so it would help them out a lot.

CONTENTS PAGE

Unlike my front cover for my college magazine I used Indesign for the contents page.

To create my contents page I first of all went onto the official Hyde Clarendon website to save the logo image onto my computer. One I had done this I went onto Indesign and created a new A4 document. Once I had that I selected the box tool on the left hand side toolbar and then drew a black box over the document.

To add the gradient effect at the bottom of the screen I went onto the gradient tool also situated on the left toolbar. One this was selected I dragged my mouse from the bottom right hand corner into the centre of my document. By doing this - it gave me the white gradient effect.

To insert the logo I went onto file, then onto place. I was then able to browse for my image that I'd previously saved and place it where I wanted on my contents page. Once I had moved it around and enlarged the image I had to fit it into the frame. To do this I went to object>fitting>fit to content frame.

I then created 2 columns for my contents page to make it look more official. I did this by going to layout> create guides and then I changed the settings to 2 columns.

The text I have used for 'contents' is still very funky and jazzed up which continues to attract my target audience. As for the page numbers and information I have used a basic font but have continued to use a shade of blue which makes it similar to the cover.

The last thing I did was insert my pictures and I did this fairly simpily. I just went to file>place and inserted the pictures of my preference. Once I had decided the size and position of my pictures I had to go to Layout>place>fitting and then fit content to frame.

* I like the idea of me using the Hyde Clarendon logo as its official and it immediately catches your eye and brightens the contents page up.

* I prefer my cover than the contents page. This is because I think there is too much free space on the contents page that could have been used better. And at the top where the text is for Contents and the logo, they appear quite squished together.

* If I were to do it again, I would include more colour and would think about the space awareness more as this personally would improve my contents page.

INTERVIEW WITH CAREY H AND TASHA O

What do you like about my contents page?

I like how you've used the logo as your contents masthead as it makes it look more professional and bright. I also like the pictures you've used illustraiting college life.

What don't you like about my contents page?

The only disadvantage I can find about your contents page is that your space awareness wasn't as good as it could be. For example the page numbers are very squished towards the pictures and they could be further right alligned.

What would you improve?

The only thing to improve would be to spread things out more and use the space better.

What stands out to you?

The masthead/college logo because it's bright and also everything on the black background. This is because, with you using black as your background, it contrasts with all the colours and makes them stand out more.

Research And Planning: Paper Based Design

Before creating our computer based work, we created a paper based design of the cover to draft out what sorts of information we will be including in the final piece. I will probably change a lot of my design when I start to create it on photoshop but having a draft will help me. 

Research And Planning: Masthead Experiment

In this task I experimented different font styles on my imaginary mastheads. I used a black deformed looking font for the first one as it can represent death and darkness. To do each of these mastheads I used my first instinct to create something similar to what I interpreted. For the pop world title, it suggests a girly feel to it but also has a funky ring to it. Therefore I messed around with the effects and put a lot of shadow effects around the text. As for popcorn, it gives me the idea of a bubbly happy effect. Therefore I used bright colours and a perky font with a bubble background to show this.

Research And Planning: Semiotic Research.

Semiotics are basically signs and symbols that signify us of what something is. This is usually used in media and/or film to let us interpret what something is. For example when doing our college magazine we will be using semiotics to suggest to the reader that its aimed at teenagers that go to college.

For example this magazine has many semiotics to show at a first glance that the genre is country. You can tell this straight away by the main picture. We all stereotype country singers to have a 'hillbilly' look with the long hair and casual checkered clothing and the designer of this magazine has used this to his/her advantage. Also by holding a guitar we automatically know that it's a music magazine and usually country music is very acoustic which is used similarly here. The masthead states the genre well and is very clear to read, as is the rest of the information given on the magazine. The colours are very basic and there isn't anything out of the ordinary or strange about the ones used. 

Research And Planning: Target Audience For College Magazine

Before I start to create my college magazine I have to consider some points to allow my final piece of coursework to be the best that I can make it. I will be exploring different areas of what I need to include but a important part that I need to have a clear idea on is who I want my audience to be:

Age
I will be aiming my college magazine for students around Hyde Clarendon College and for students starting to leave High School. Therefore the age group will be between 15 and 21, giving me the ability to range my information slightly.

Gender
The gender I will be aiming my magazine at will be both males and females. Doing this will give a bigger possibility of my magazine being read and having more of my audience being able to connect with whats inside.

Interests
The interests included in my college magazine will include some of the positives of going to college such as trips that the subjects you take give you the oppotunity to go on, the facilities around college and discounts that are provided. Other things included in my college magazine will be things that young teens can associate with and would enjoy reading.

Education
The people who will be reading my magazine could be either just leaving high school and therefore looking to do A-Levels or a Vocational course and want to see what we have to offer. Or they could be Hyde Clarendon students that attend and do either A Levels/ A Vocational course/ BTEC course.


Class
The people I will be aiming my magazine at will be middle class students; therefore I won't be really informal but after saying that I won't be really formal either.

Research And Planning: Examples Of A Medium Closeup.

When I'm going to be creating my college magazine I have to include a picture of a medium close up. This post shows that I understand what a medium close up is.

Research And Planning: Analysis Of College Magazine

This is an example of a college magazine which I found on Google. The aim of annotating this is to get a good understanding of what's usually included in a college magazine. 

This can be identified as a college/magazine because: 

* The main picture used is of a young man, showing to the audience immediately who it's aimed at. He is also holding college books suggesting that he is a student.

* The masthead at the top state's 'College' which stands out straight away to the reader.

* The colours used are very organised. This is because there is only 3 main colours used, making it look more professional. Using yellow for the main stories/ points makes it look more stylish and jazzy since yellow and black and generally used together. 

* There is a barcode and date on this which is also a usual convention of a magazine. 

* The clothes the young man is wearing are very stylish. Giving the impression to the reader that although you might be into science/law etc; you can still look cool and be accepted and that you're not any different to anyone else. 

* The stories used such as 'Thank God It's Friday' can automatically be catagorised as being something a teenager would read, just by reading the title.  

Research And Planning: Introduction To Indesign

In this lesson we did a activity to introduce us to In Design which is a piece of software we will be using during making our college magazines. By doing this task it let me explore the programme discovering that I could achieve the same kind of effects as Photoshop but I had to do them differently ; giving me more experience with designing software.

Collecting the information

To start of this task I had to choose a film of my preference to base it on and use google to find a film review on it and find an associating picture. I saved both of these into my personal folder ready to use later on in my new Indesign document.

Inserting the film title

This was the very first thing that we did. Just like photoshop I clicked on the T tool on the left hand sidebar which allowed me to type onto my A4 document. After doing this I could again change the font colour/size/type by using the dropdown menus at the top of the screen. We also got instructed to add some form of effect onto the text, for example a drop shadw but when I tried to do this, it wouldn't allow me to do so.

Creating 3 columns
To do this all I had to do was go onto create then create guidelines. Doing this allowed me to adjust how many columns I wanted on my page. Once I had done this I simply copied and pasted my review into my columns making sure that all the information was inserted.


Inserting the text

Once I had inserted the columns the text was easier to be exported. To do this I went onto 'File;export' and then I selected the word document with the film review information in. Doing this allowed me to drop the text into each of my three columns giving the page a more organised effect. I could then adjust each column in length to how I wanted them to look.

The picture
To insert the picture I went about it the same as I did the text; by going to export and selecting the file I was going to use. Once I'd selected it I dropped it into my document. Something I discovered though was if you tried to resize it by dragging the corners outwards it cropped the picture so I had to then go to object and to 'Fit.' To get the outline effect I have used on the picture I went to 'layer;layer style' and then I added several effects such as drop shadow.

Adding a page number

This was simple to achieve. All i had to do was add a text box and drag it to the bottom right hand corner with the number 12 in it.


Background
To create the background I created a rectangle box at the same size as my document with my chosen background colour selected. The problem I had at this stage was that the box was covering all the writing I had already inserted. Therefore I had to 'send it back' which allowed all my information to be brought forward giving the box a background effect. I then clicked on the gradient tool on the left sidebar and then drew a line in the middle of my document which gave it a gradient effect.

Research And Planning: Introduction To Photoshop (Skin Tutorial)

This is the third tutorial I did on Photoshop; giving me a more advanced idea of the tools we can use to manipulate and edit pictures. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this piece of work as I was very pleased with the outcome and I found learning about the techniques interesting. 

Spot Remover

This was a simple task to achieve. On the left side bar there is a 'plaster tool' which abled me to get rid of any unwanted spots or blemishes. To do this I enlarged the picture and clicked on the image where I wanted the spots to be removed. 

Face Smoother

The objective of this task was to make the skin look more airbrushed and smooth and how it would be found in a magazine or on a poster. The technique we used to do this though, also ends up making the overall image have a slight blurred effect. To do this I had to go to 'Layers' to create a duplicate layer. Once I had done this and the new layer was highlighted I went onto filter; blur then smart blur which gave me the effect I was hoping for. Although, before I got her skin how it is above, I had to change the opacity of the layer. This made the skin look more humane and realistic.

Eyes 

Another thing we had to do to our image is adjust the eyes in some way. I decided to make her eyeliner thicker and add a slate grey eye shadow on her upper lid. To do the eye liner, I zoomed in so I had a clear view of the eye and used the black paint brush to create a black effect under the eye. To make this look more realistic I lowered the opacity again. For the shadow, I created a new layer and changed the settings of it to 'overlay.' By doing this I was able to use the black paint brush again and it created the realistic faint slate grey colour over the top of the eyes. 

Haircolour

This is also a quite simple task although its just quite fiddly. To complete it all I had to do was change the womans hair colour. To do this I used the paint brush again with the colour I wanted and go over the original hair in the image, making sure that the opacity was fairly low. (35-50%) This gave it a different colour but still kept the basic hair outline which made it look more true to life.

Background adjusting

To adjust the background I had to make sure that the background layer was highlighted. Then I went to images; adjustments and colour balance which then allowed me to change the background colour.

Research And Planning: Introduction To Photoshop (creating a document)

The second task I got was a 'Photoshop Challenge' which basically was a simple way for me to explore Photoshop in a little more detail and start practicing and recapping the skills we learnt in the previous Media Studies lesson. There were 8 different sections in this task that we needed to complete.

Opening a A4 Document
To do this I treated Photoshop as though it was a word document; therefore it was fairly simple. I just went to "File; New; Preset and changed it to International Paper and then changed the size to A4.

Changing text
This was also simple. I just clicked on the T icon on the left sidebar which allowed me to start typing on my new document. Doing this allowed me to be able to change the font size/font style and colour by highlighting the text and selecting my chosen preference. I also had to centre allign my text; to do this I had to highlight again and just click on the 'centre allign' icon.


Changing the background colour
To do this I went across the tool bar at the top of Photoshop to 'Image; then to fill; then change colour,' and the colour I had to change it to was blue. This was a quite easy task to do as it was quick and simple.

Giving the text a drop shadow
To begin with I was unsure of how to do this task even though we had covered it in the previous lesson but in the end I managed to do it. I highlighted the text that I wanted the effect to appear on; went onto 'Layer; layer style; and then selected a drop shadow.'

Inserting a picture
This task was fairly simple; all I had to do was open the picture I wanted to use, use the select tool and then drag the image onto my blue background document.

Changing the hair colour
I didnt get time to do this section of the challenge but I learnt how to do it in the following lesson; this is where you will find my description of how to change the hair colour.

Creating a border
Photoshop has a easy way of doing this. On the left sidebar there is a square icon which creates a rectangle shape around the picture. I then changed the colour and dragged the rectangle layer underneath the picture layer on the right sidebar.

Research And Planning: Introduction To Photoshop (Creating a CD cover)

This is a CD cover I created on Photoshop in my first lesson of Media Studies. This was the first time I had ever used photoshop and by doing this, I learnt the basic tools and techniques, giving me a basic idea of the program.

I started off with 4 individual pictures, all of which you see above. The horn, CD, music sheet image, and music notes and during this tutorial I learnt how to merge them together into one image and mess around with the colour/size/distortion etc of the images.


Changing the colour of the CD
To start with I had to select the CD cover. To do this I used the "Elliptical Marquee Tool" and to create a perfect circle around it I kept hold of the SHIFT KEY. I then dragged that onto the music sheet background. To change the colour of the CD I made sure that the layer was selected then went to "image; adjustments; colour balance" and by doing this I was then able to adjust the colour to my preference. To make the image look more stylish I changed the opacity of the CD which created a slight see through effect.


Rotating the CD
To rotate the CD I made sure that it was highlighted in the layers menu first then I clicked onto "Edit; Transform; Rotate" which allowed me to manage how much I wanted the image to rotate.


Inserting the Horn
The horn was originally on a white background allowing me to use the "magic wand" tool. Once I'd clicked on it I clicked the white background. Then I went on "select; similar" which highlighted the rest of the white background but because I wanted the horn selected instead I had to go on "select; inverse"


Revealing The Music Notes
Originally when we were given the task, the music notes were hidden by a 'eye icon' which was situated on the right layer menu. To reveal the notes, I had to go to the layers and click so the eye is visable.


Changing The Background Effect And Notes Effect
To do this, I just highlighted the notes/music sheet background and went to "Filter and then messed around with the effects."

Welcome To My Media Blog!

Welcome to my Media Studies blog! Here you will find the work I have been creating in my lessons and information on how I did so. You will also see what techniques I have been exploring.

Enjoy!
Thanks For Looking!

Holly :)