Evaluation

My magazine evaluation

http://prezi.com/90t8bq8-irau/evaluation/

finished magazine analysis - double page spread

I felt this page was successful, though it could have been made better with more images and colours. I should have included more yellow as that is part of the colour scheme throughout, though seems to be forgotton here.
I feel the page looks boring, as there is too much text and not enough images.
In future, i should learn to take more pictures, as i found, throughout making my magazine, i was in need of more pictures. In future i must make sure i take a significant amount more pictures of a varity of different things, rather than just my three models.

finished magazine analysis - cotents page

I felt this page was more successful than the front page, and i liked the images i used.
This page was the most similar to my plan.
I also felt the colours used on the contents box made the page stand out.
I found this page most successful.

finished magazine analysis - front page

I feel the front page looked bare and unprofessional.
This could have been improved by adding more images.
It also could have advertisement, and more cover lines. As there are only two, it would not attract many readers.
By adding more cover lines, images and advertisment, my front page could have been made more successful.
I feel that it did not come out as well as it could have. I felt this page came out worst.

My finished magazine

small changes to my magazine

I changed the text on my double spread, as mentioned in my last blog.

It orginally looked like -

i changed it to -

I feel this helped to get rid of the needless space.

I also added page numbers, and my price and issue number on my front page.
I tried to get rid of any careless errors, such as spelling, and overall checked the quality of my work.

adding a barcode

After my magazine had all been put together, i then found a bar code on google images, and copied it into my work, in order to make it look like a genuine magazine.

edit to text

After realising, on my double page spread, the section by my main image looked very bare, i last minute decided to add some more text.

The text reads-

'At first we didn’t think we’d get far. We would
 practise in my garage. We didn’t
  expect fame!  I still get shocked
 and overwhelmed by pictures of
me on the internet! It is just such 
a big change, from being nobody!’
 LOUD asks Jack, if he wanted fame
and whether it has changed him as
a person. Jack replied, ‘I’ve always
been in it for the music! Fame was
extremely unexpected! I didn’t
want it , or the money. But Fame
changes everyone. I can’t deny
that. I mean, i used to buy tesco
value, but now i have the money,
only finest will do! haha!'

I now feel it does not look like there is needless blank space. The text added was needed and relevant.

Adding text

when all my images were editing and placed on to my magazine. and the masthead had been added i began to add the text.



The contents page without text-

For my font through my magazine i used was impact, as it was bold, like the word Loud implies. and made the writing stand out.

I then wrote a plan of the text i would put in my double page spread.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with front man Jack from the up and coming band UNDERDOG, talk of their new fame and the price fame comes at.

‘YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK TO HOW THINGS WERE.’

After their concert, playing in camden, LOUD caught up with UNDERDOG’s front man, Jack Berryman. He described the concert as a mix of emotions.

‘It’s hard to imagine how many people are listening to and watching you. I do get nervous before we play, but I love the music. It gives you a high you couldn’t possibly imagine.

When we were starting out, we played at small venues with small crowds, even then I felt an overwhelming buzz. Now we are signed at are slowly becoming more recognised, everything has changed.’

Now that UNDERDOG are becoming a house hold name, they describe fame as both a blessing and curse.

‘You know as soon as fame hits you, you can never go back to how things were. When I go out, the attention I get is incredible. They recognise me, maybe not by name, but they no who I am. When I’m out at parties, girls are all over me. It hard to tell whether they want you or your money. It does bother me. It’s hard to know who your real friends are. Obviously, I trust and rely on my band for that support, when you are under the pressure you need to be able to rely on someone. I’d be dead without my mum. When you starting out as a band, money is TIGHT. We would all share a pot noddle everynight, it was dark times! My mum would bring round dinner sometimes, and even put up with having the band stay over, she was a real help.’

Loud asks jack about his recent break up with singer, Anya from the band DRONE.

‘It was a tough break. I knew that fame would bring problems but I didn’t see this coming. I thought we were strong, but she couldn’t handle being under the microscope. She was part of a small indie band, and found our fame annoying really! She worried I would cheat from all the attention I got!’

LOUD asks Jack, if he had any regrets, and what he would change. Jack smiles and replies, ‘ I would change nothing. Fame is like a rollercoaster, at first it makes you feel sick, but by the end of the ride, you are glad you did it. I regret nothing!’

After i had written it, i planned which words i would make to stand out.

I then put this in my double page spread.

cutting out images

These images, taken from my contents page and double page were cut out from their orginal image in or order to placed on to a black background. I used the lasso tool.

An image showing the process of cutting the image out. Also pointing out the lasso tool.

I found the lasso tool easy to use on some photographs, though i found some difficult as there were little bits of background which would be hidden in bits of hair and between legs ect.. which could not be done with the magetic took, and there for had to be done using free hand. this was difficult as i have not got a particularly steady hand.

magazine mishap

whilst working on my work, my computer crashed deleting most of my work.
This set me back in my work, as i had to work faster to meet my dead line and start from the beginning.

In future, i will most definitley frequently save my work.

taking and editing of my images

I took my main image with a very blank background as i knew this would have a red background, and already planned to cut it out. Therefore i would have no need for an extragant back ground.

This is the picture before i editing it-

This is the picture after i edited it -

I made it brighter and then adjusted the contrast to higher. I then ajusted the colour balance to make it slightly blue, and appear colder.

I edited this image by making it brighter and adjusting the contrast so they would appear brighter.

I found the editing and photography enjoyable.
And felt the final result was successful.
Though, i still believe that it could have been made more successful given a more orginal background, and more pictures of people together.

choosing which photographs to use

These are some of the pictures i took -

I did not choose to use this picture, as although smoking suits the rock theme and rocker life style, as my target audience was 14 - 19 year olds, i did not want to make smoking look glamourus to younger children.

 This picture would have been too hard to edit due to small wires and objects around him. I also felt this picture was not as well taken as the others

I did not choose this picture for the same reason as the previous smoking picture.

In the end i choose not to use this picture, as it did not suit the rock theme.

I made sure to take a lot of pictures of each person, so when it came to choosing, i could simply choose which one came out best.

Photographs for my magazine

Taking the pictures for my magazine was far harder than i expected.

i planned for my main image to use three people. i found this very difficult.
I planned to use one girl, and two boys.
The girl i initally planned on using, was very busy and we rarely had frees together, so to get to a graveyard would prove very difficult. We found it hard to agree a date outside of school to meet, as we lived an hour apart.
The two boys i planned to use where not from this school and we found it hard to all meet at the same time.
Though, one of the boys i planned to use lived close, so i was able to photograph him.
I then had to change the main image on magazine, as it was too difficult to get three people together at the same time. I also had to change the backgroud of my image, as it was too far for us to travel, so i used a simplier approach of just a field, and coloured backgrounds.
Due to how hard it was trying to photograph three people, i then decided that i would use only one shots through my magazine, in order to make sure no more time was wasted on the hassle of gathering a group of people.
I still thought a group image would have looked more effective.

colour scheme

I choose to use red, white and black as the main colours on my magazine. The yellow would be used to draw attention to text.

 I orginally planned to use blue, white and black, but i felt the colours might make the magazine look too dull.

Planning my rock magazine

We then progessed to designing our magazine.
We were given a large page of A3, divided into four to design our magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread.
I used a Kerrang magazine to look at how i should construct my magazine, as i also planned to make a rock magazine, aimed at the same genre and target audience.
When planning, i had to decide on the colour, target audience, main image.

I planned to use red, black and white for my main colours. With yellow to make certain words stand out.

I planned to tagert the audience of 14 - 19 yearolds of both genders.

I planned my main image to be a medium shot of three people. One standing closer to the camera, and the other 2 standing two inchs behind them. The lighting will be dark, and the contrast will be high. I planned to edit the image with a blue tint, to make the image appear colder. I also planned the photograph to be taken in a grave yard, as this would fit the genre of the magazine.

Magazine analysis

For our first task we were made to analysis a magazine front cover, in order to know what and how our magazine should be constructed.



Colour -The main colour scheme is found on the front. Kerrang uses black, white and red. To make cover lines stand out, they use colours not part of the scheme, for instance green or yellow.

Language - the language is used consistantly throughout the magazine, This is to make certain that the whole front cover represents the magazine taget audience correctly, and that the informal laguage shown on the front will be a constance throughout the magazine. As to use informal language on the front and then formal language wirth in, would mislead the reader, as the writing on the front also helps to attract the audience. Specific words and phrases can be used to suit a theme or genre of music. For instance, rock/emo/goth may use alot of dark language, for example, 'death', 'black', 'gore'. As dark langauge would be associated with the certain genre, and the audience targetted.

Masthead -
The main title, should be distinguishable. For instace, Kerrang is reconisaby kerrang from the cracked writing font.

Main cover line - big and bright to attract attention. Main story.

Coverlines -  Smaller font than main coverline in order to not divert attention. Coverlines are made to standout through different colours and fonts.

Main image - The main image is the largest image, usually filling most of the page. (For instance, in the magazine Kerrang, above, it can be seen that the image takes up the majority of the page.) It is then usually is surrounded by a number of small images. This is used to draw the readers into the main image first, and then divert their attention to the images accomping it.

Left-third - Usually used for advertisment.The short coverlines in the left-third would help the advertisment as the they are what the reader would first take interest in, after the main image and masthead they would then read to see what is within the magazine.

Barcode and dateline -  The barcode is usually at the bottom corner, not to intfer with any text, and out of the way from anything important. the dateline contains the issues date and magazine cost.

Music magazine task

We were set a task to design and produce a music magazine, front page, contents page and double page spread.
we analysised magazine and learnt about them, so we would know how to contrust a magazine. and what key features it would need to look appealing and grab readers attention.

In our first lesson, i learnt about the importance of advertisment. For instance, you would not really advertise expensive elequent perfume in a rock magazine, as it would be too expensive for 14-25 year olds. It would be more apprioate to advertise rock albums or music related items, as it would more aimed at the reader, as as they are buying a rock magazine it can be assumed they enjoy rock music.

Introduction to Prezi

In our media lesson we were introduced and made a accout for 'Prezi'.
Prezi is used to compose presentations.
It is easy to use, and works like powerpoint.

My finished prospectus

This is the finished prospectus I produced.

I feel it was successful, though with more time and several improvements, it could have been made better.

I hope with the Photoshop skills I have gained, my next task, (to produce a music magazine) will be more successful.

I enjoyed working on my prospectus and overall found the finished piece a success.

Bring it all together

After editing my images I then proceeded to put it all together. After playing around with the arrangement of the images, I discovered my original layout was not as appealing as I had planned it to be, and did not look as affective as I had hoped, therefore I was in need of a new layout. 
After moving the images about, I found a more satisfactory layout, involving more pictures than I had originally planned. This, I felt, made it look more effective, as the former layout looked to bare and spaced out. By adding more images than planned, the prospectus looked more aesthetically pleasing, as there were no needless spaces. Any spaces were filled with colour.

I used the colour scheme of pale pink, as I felt it gave the prospectus a light, gentle and friendly feel, which would then give the school a welcoming feel.
 If I were to make it again, I may have used bright red as it is more eye catching.

Editing my images

After I had picked my images, i then proceeded to edit them using photoshop.

These are my chosen images -

I edited this by making it brighter and cropping the background. I did this to make the image appear clearer and brighter, as it makes the image look more effective. I cropped the background to get rid of eye sores, such as the pipe work that can be seen in the original image.

For this image I did little editing, I re-sized and cropped it, also made it brighter. Though, if I were to edit it again, I would have not made it so bright, as the original image is quite bright, and by making the contrast higher, the paper the students are holding seemingly disappears. In future I will make sure to avoid this.

I found this picture very effective as the natural lighting is already very appealing, therefore I did not feel much editing was needed. I only cropped this picture.

This image required the most work. I first made it brighter as the original image was quite dark and dull, due to bad weather. I then used the lasso tool to cut around the boys; this took both time and effort. I made mistakes, such as cutting of parts of hair and body, I found this aspect difficult. When they had successfully been cut out from the background, I copied the image into the prospectus.

On the other variation of this image, I took the St Marks logo, and edited it, to make the title on my prospectus. On my logo, I edited the colours to make it lighter, as I felt it would suit the colour scheme of the prospectus.

Little editing was done for this image, I made it slightly brighter as the weather made the sky appear less bright, and I wanted it to appear sunny.

Overall, I found editing enjoyable and easily done, though I did come across difficulties and avoidable mistakes, I will make sure to avoid such mistakes in the future.

School prospectus images

We were then sent out to take pictures for our prospectus.
Though I had a clear cut plan, I still took many photographs in case my original plan did not look as appealing as expected.
Overall I took about forty pictures. I made sure to get many variations of my original planned photograph (two students working together) as I felt this was the most important aspect of the prospectus, and I wanted to be able to pick the best one to be used on my front page.

Prospectus - photoshop tutorial

In order to make a successful prospectus front page, we needed to know and understand how to use Photoshop.
We had a lesson teaching us the different techniques needed to edit our photographs. For instance, the clone stamp, which could be used to hide blemishes and remove imperfections.
We were also taught to use the lasso tool, which could be used to remove a photographs original background, and then it can be placed on a background of your choice.
I found the tutorial lesson very helpful as it taught us basic techniques we would need for our prospectus. I found Photoshop quite easy to use.

Prospectus task planning

A task was set to produce our own school prospectus front page. We would need to take and edit our own photographs. To do this, we would need to use Photoshop.

We spent a lesson planning, sketching out a rough idea of how the photographs and texts would be laid out.
I named what each photograph would be, for instance long shot, two shot, close up.
In my planning, I planned to use a long shot of the school, then followed by the school name (st marks) in size approximately 72, times new roman, then with the school logo on the right of the text.
Underneath the title, I would have two large images, one medium close up of two students reading over a book together, to show enthusiasm. Underneath that, some students engaging in conversation, to show the school to have a friendly atmosphere.

I felt confident with my plan.