CONTENTS PAGE
DPS
Friday, 1 May 2015
Evaluation Question 7
Looking back at your preliminary task (school magazine) what do you feel you have learnt in the progression of it to the full product?
Looking back at your preliminary task
(school magazine) what do you feel you have learnt in the progression of it to
the full product?
Firstly, when creating my school magazine I was alien to
everything. We initially started with research, looking back at my preliminary
task it is evident that my research and planning was not very focussed, this
was because I was clueless, and all of my magazine analyses were not very
detailed. This made it hard when actually creating my school magazine as I had
nothing to base it on and it did not link well to my research. This is
something that I had to improve when making my music magazine as I wanted my
magazine to copy the look of a real music magazine and therefore to do this I
needed to make sure that my research was much more specific. However this was
an error that I made when creating my contents page as I did lots of in depth
research into a photo I wanted to copy yet when actually taking it I realised
that it was near impossible with the lack of photography technology this made
me realise that I needed to go into depth when doing my photo research. For
example with my preliminary task I found one or two photos that I was going to
copy however I did not consider the shot of the photo or take the lighting into
consideration, whereas when I was creating my music magazine I realised that
all of these things needed to be thought about in order to take a good focussed
photo shoot. Taking all of this into account it made constructing my music
magazine much quicker and simpler as I had templates and ideas that I could
follow.
When using the technologies such as Photoshop I realised
that I had a lot to learn, as although they have pretty basic tools, some were
very complex to use. This is why when editing my school magazine Photoshop I
only used the easy tools such as the clone stamp, this was to smooth out the
skin and get rid of any blemishes and I also used the magic wand tool to select
parts of my images and change their colour in the background so that they were
not as obvious. When editing my photos for my music magazine, I had learnt more
about how to use the tools on Photoshop from YouTube tutorials, this was
crucial as when I did my research into my music magazines I saw that every
image was drastically photo shopped and therefore if I wanted it to look as
real as possible it was vital that I copied their style. So when editing my
front cover I used tools such as liquefy, this was to enlarge her lips, I also
used levels to change the colour of my models eyes and I used the basic tools
such as clone stamp again. I feel that doing the preliminary task definitely
helped me to progress when making my music magazine as the first tools that I
learnt to use were the most commonly used ones therefore it was useful for me.
When actually constructing my magazine I used InDesign, this programme was
simple to use when making my preliminary task and my music magazine but I
initially learnt how to use the tools such as the crop tool and how to insert
text and change font colour however there was nothing really to improve on when
making my music magazine.
When looking at my final school magazine I noticed that layout
was very important, it was not something I had focused on heavily as I did not
realise that it would have a big impact on my final product, however I soon
realised that my layout followed no set structure and all of the text was
effortlessly placed around the page with not much thought into what it would
look like or why it is placed there. This meant that when making my music
magazine I carefully thought about the layout of my magazine and I designed
them very specifically to my research. I also did some research into what the
certain ‘rules’ are when creating a front cover, from this I learnt about the
rule of thirds and how one piece of writing on the page has an impact on
another piece. I feel that I have massively progressed from the start with layout
as comparing my two magazines together my music magazine final piece is much better
in my opinion.
When taking the pictures of my magazine I improved vastly,
firstly I used the schools camera to take pictures for my school magazine,
although they were adequate, I felt that I could have done better yet did not
have the skill to know how to. When creating my music magazine I used a much
better camera, I feel that this drastically changed my images as they were much
better quality. I also learnt a lot about the lighting from the start. In my
school magazine I simply lit them near a window as I thought this would be the
best source of light. However I soon learnt that different light positions
changed the expressions on the face. This was something I then took into
account when making my music magazine as I wanted to create a fierce dramatic
look and therefore I knew how to do it. If this was my task set at the start of
the year I would not have been able to do it as I was not able to.
I learnt not to be reliant on my models and that my friends
may not be ‘right’ for my images as they may not portray the look I want. In my
school magazine I was clueless and thought that I could portray any look on
anyone as long as I had the right props and makeup, however when taking my
photos I soon learned that this was near impossible. Not all of my models were
simply able to sit still for a picture and not all of them were as photogenic
as I had originally thought, therefore when it came to choosing my model for my
music magazine I knew that I had to be very specific. If I wanted to show a
certain look for a certain style of magazine I needed to know what I wanted my
model to be clothed in and who my target audience was. When I selected my model
which was my friend Lucia I soon learnt I had made the right choice as she has
a very defined jaw line and good facial features that showed up nicely on the
camera, however she was not as reliable as I thought, therefore when
photographing for my contents page I used photos from festivals as opposed to
more of my friend as I did not want them to let me down.
Finally I feel that I managed to improve on my time
management skills and organisation skills. From the school magazine task I was
very messy with my work and I did not keep it neatly organised on my blog, this
made it hard when I was trying to navigate around it. This was something that I
knew I had to take care of when creating my music magazine as it was time
consuming trying to sort all of them out into order and I wanted to make sure I
had an organised blog. I learnt as well that I needed to take into
consideration my time management as I was running over deadlines and I realised
that when it came to my music magazine I needed to be more punctual with
meeting the teacher’s deadlines in order to receive good feedback.
Evaluation Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Evaluation Question 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
What are my social groups?
What are my social groups?
Festival goers (young)
Students (party goers)
Party people
Holidays (Ibiza)
Front cover
- Shot/ Photo-I have used a mid shot, this is because it was something that I saw most commonly on mix mag.
- Lighting- I have used a bright light coming from one specific angle, this is similar to a spotlight that you would find in a club/ music environment. Having a bright lit picture creates an impact and makes the model have dominance over the page as she is lit up therefore important.
- Clothing- I have clothed her in a small crop top, stereo typical of all holiday goers, partyers or festival attenders. This piece of clothing is universal and would be recognised by a plethora of social groups as it is a possible piece of clothing. It is also commonly warn by famous DJ's.
- Expression- I have made my model have quite a stern expression, this is something again commonly seen on mix mag figures. It also contrasts well with the posters where she has a very fun and quirky expression
- Makeup- I have put my model in a bold colour lipstick, and heavy eye makeup, this is stereotypical of a partying student or festival goer I have also accessorized with eye gems this creates a fun and quirky look for my model
- Jewelry- I have only accessorized my model in small stud earrings, this is because when a DJ is in a clubbing holiday places they do not tend to wear heavy jewelry as it is irritating in the hot climates
- Hair- I have styled her hair in an up do, this is to keep it out of her face as if she was to DJ an event it would get in her way if it was down.
- Shot/ Photo-I have used the wide shot,this is to create a better image. I was able to include the iconography of a stereotypical DJ this way by getting the DJ decks and headphones in the picture with the graffiti background
- Lighting- I have lit my picture very brightly this is to draw attention to the picture and it creates a big impact.
- Clothing- I have clothed her in two different outfits, one stereotypical crop top with bright colours, this links in with the theme of summer and holidays. I also clothed her in a clack strappy top, this contrasts well with the grafti background
- Expression- I have made my model have quite a stern expression, this is something again commonly seen on mix mag figures. It also contrasts well with the posters where she has a very fun and quirky expression
- Makeup- I have put my model in a bold colour lipstick, and heavy eye makeup, this is stereotypical of a partying student or festival goer
- Jewelry- I have only accessorized my model in small stud earrings, this is because when a DJ is in a clubbing holiday places they do not tend to wear heavy jewelry as it is irritating in the hot climates
- Hair-.I have styled her hair down to contrast with the front cover where her hair is up
Holiday Attenders?
My magazine represents the holiday culture and the people that are fond of travelling by making the words ‘Ibiza’ in pink and bold- this represents them as it is within their interests to read up about the hottest holiday destinations. It represents them be showing that they have a place of belonging and they can relate to that magazine- by giving them the information that they want it shows that their needs have been thought about
Partying Students
I have articles on ‘how to have a cheap night’ and ‘UK’s best partying UNI’S’. Both of these represent the partying student social group, this is because students are on a tight budget especially those that like a night out listening to my genre of music, therefore telling them how they can have a cheap night is taking into consideration their needs. As well as this if you’re an aspiring student that is conscious about the party scene, having an article about the UK’s biggest partying universities this will represent all of the students in that social group as it is crucial information that they would want to know. Making the price just £1.99 shows that I have represented this social group again, not necessarily the party goers but students in general as they are on a tight budget they may not have a lot of money to spend on luxuries.
Young Festival Goers
Putting a big article on the front about Creamfields instantly represents the festival goers. It shows that this article is important, as it has made the front page. Therefore by showing the consumer that there is information inside about festivals it instantly represents them and what they’re for. By making the festival Creamfields as opposed to reading it is also clear what genre of music my magazine is based on, this is because reading is more of an indie rock festival and Creamfields is a house and dance festival. As well as this the festival is geared around the younger generation. As well as this my model is dressed in a typical festival crochet top.
View my 'Holiday Attenders' Voki here
View my 'Partying Students' Voki here
View my 'Yound Festival Goers' Voki here
View my 'Holiday Attenders' Voki here
View my 'Partying Students' Voki here
View my 'Yound Festival Goers' Voki here
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