In Design Spread

This is my first attempt at doing an in design magazine spread. While doing this I learned how to create guides by dragging the margins across into the page. When you have these margins I learned that you can draw a rectangle inside around the square and place pictures in it. I learned about the white and black arrows aswell.

Composition Photos

The tilt down technique is one that helps images portray when the consumer of the media text might think that they are either in status or morally above them. For instance it could be used to take a picture of a homeless person with the media texts audience being the working and middle class perhaps. It gives thee effect that the consumer is a higher being and is or should be looking down on whatever the media product may be about.

The tilt up shot is almost the exact opposite of the tilt down. For instance it could be an article about a celebrity that is generically known as a likeable celebrity. Johnny Depp for example. Most people look up (hence the tilt up shot) to him. It gives the effect that reader should aspire to be like the person or object in the image or at leas look up to them.

The eye line shot with the eye line in level with the top third is another effective shot. It makes the reader feel involved more as when they look at it it seems as though the picture is looking at them. With the eye-line shot you can use it in any article as the picture can portray anger, loneliness, any emotion that you can think of. This is why it is so effective. It involves the reader subconsciously.

The off centre shot. This type of shot is good as it can be used to portray a feeling of neglectedness as you're just not quite in the middle. This is used a lot in magazines aimed at teenagers as a lot of teenagers are very self conscious and feel as if they don't fit in anywhere. This creates didactic content for them which will make them want to carry on using/buying the media product as they feel that they can relate to it.

The frame shot is more for aspecific type of article rathe than one that a lot of people can relate to. I would say it is for narrow minded people where the only thing that matters is what is inside the frame, or inside their comfort zone. I think this type of shot would mainly be used in niche audiences magazines and articles. It makes you focus specifically on what inside the frame in the picture.

The line shot is similar to the frame shot in the way that it has one main priority focus. However the rest of the picture is more important in this type of shot as it creates the line leading towards what you need to be looking at. However it can be used as a good shot for taking pictures of landmarks or landscapes.

Evaluation of Front Cover

Evaluation of Front Cover

Photography

When taking the pictures I learned that even the slightest shake with the camera can cause a blurry image as you could slip while using the manual focus and focus on the wrong part of the image by accident. Using the manual focus wasn’t too hard as long as you kept a steady hand while focusing and taking the picture while also not moving forward and backwards slightly. Something I learned when doing it is that there are 2 discs which you need to move to get a proper focus which is the zoom disc as well as the focus one. I thought there was only a focus disc.

            For my first couple of pictures I took I did them in landscape. When looking at them I tried to envisage them as a magazine cover but couldn’t even see it in my head. I then took some portrait pictures and they looked much better for what I needed the pictures for. Doing portrait pictures was harder though as the camera button was less accessible but I got used to it after a few pictures.

            The first couple of pictures I took where poor and out of focus and the feature wasn’t looking at the camera. As I carried on taking pictures I took more control and started instructing the model more to get a better picture. I also used the focus discs more effectively. I tried to get him to stand so the light was coming from the top right, a side light, for a better visual effect on the picture. This proved to work well.

            The eye line of the model is pretty much directly on the top 3^rd. This is good as it makes it a more natural looking picture. However when taking the picture I didn’t know anything at all about the eyeline. It wasn’t until after the shoot that I learned about what it means when it is in a different place. Regardless it where it is works well for the picture.

            The picture overall, I think, is quite good for my first shoot ever with no previous experience with SLR cameras such as the one I was using and I am relatively pleased with it. However I do think I could have done much better. For example I could have chosen a much more appropriate background like a wall or a mesh fence, both of which were available. This would have created a much more “alternative” feel for the photo which would be more relevant for the type of picture I needed.

Photoshop

For my first time in photoshop I feel like I have done pretty well although it is still, in my opinion, a pretty shabby cover.

            Some tools I used where the move tool, the magic wand tool, the rubber tool and the text tool. I also used the stroke and bevel and emboss effects on some parts of the text.

            The magic wand tool was quite difficult to use as I kept forgetting to remove the selected area from the selection and it kept rubbing out at the same time as the other parts.

            I feel like when I used text that it looked to bland and boring even with the bevel and emboss and strokes added on. For some of the text I used I copied and pasted it from google images, for instance the part that says “Green Day”.

            For the effects and drop shadows I simply used bevel, emboss and stroke. These felt like pretty basic and unprofessional tools so in the future I will look for more professional looking effects or try and be able to use them much better.

            Something which I found very helpful with photoshop was merging layers as it made things easier to keep track of and meant I could easily edit whole chunks of the image instead of little bits at a time.

            If I were to improve my front cover I would use a different font for the title and also would try and use more professional looking tools. I would also take the actual photo in a studio for better lighting effects.

First Magazine Cover Edit

Skills Audit

AS Media Production: Technical Skills Audit Print Production

Name: Jack Vallance          Tutor group: 2.05      Date: 18/09/2013

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 Creative writing classes		x
Shutter Speed		x
Aperture control		x
A tripod		x
External flash		x
Self timer facility		x
Light meter		x
Composition grids	x		Have one on camera phone and used sometimes

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
Text control		X
Filters		X
Brushes		X
Layers		X
Opacity control		X
Shape creation		X
Brightness and contrast control		X
Dodge/Burn		X
Clone stamp tool		X
Colour curves adjustment		X
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool		X
Cropping tool		X
Retouch tool		X

In Design Skills

Which of the following features of In Design have you used before:

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Margin and column guide creation		X
Inserting text in ID		X
Inserting images in ID		X
Resizing images in ID		X
Text manipulation – resizing, rotation		X
Text manipulation – controlling kerning and leading		X
Text flow creation		X
Text effects – drop shadow		X
Drop cap insert		X
Using transparent imagery in ID		X
Shape creation In design		X
Text wrapping		X
Exporting to PDF from In-design		X