What have you learnt from completing this task?
From completing this task I have learnt more skills on Photoshop as I now know how to change a person’s eye colour or even how to change a person’s lip colour to do this I have to use a brush tool on Photoshop. Also from this task I have learnt more into depth about different camera framings and there effects and uses also if these camera framings are conventional to a magazine. I have learnt what the conventions are for a magazine and these are Masthead, skyline, plug, Main image, feature stories, price, date and barcode. I haven’t just learnt what conventions are included on the front of a magazine I have learnt where certain things go and why for example feature stories should be on the left hand side as this is where customers tend to read first also when the magazines are stacked up the left hand side is always showing so again this is what going to attract customers attention straight way. From this task I have learnt how to post my research and work onto a blog and to do this I have to save documents using a PNG format or a JPEG format doing this so makes the document turn into an image and then it is posted in an image format. From this task I believe that I have become more independent as I have tried to do things before asking for example I wanted to change the brightness of my main image photo so I experimented with different tools and I managed to do it so this proves that I should try before asking for help.
How have you use technology?
I have used technology in my research by looking at different college magazines on the internet by doing this I was able to look at the conventions for a magazine cover also using the internet I was able to learn about the effects of having certain conventions. Also in my research I found out the different effects for different camera framings this was also researched on the internet I also didn’t know what certain camera framings looked like so I looked at different camera framings. Another use of technology was cameras as I needed it for my research as I had to practise different camera framings so I take the photos on a camera also in my research I used the camera for my Mise-en-scene and location ideas. The camera was mainly used for the images used in my magazine the reason for this was because it was another convention as the quality of the image is better then what may be taken on a phone or IPod for example. In the process of making my magazine I used Photoshop which is another use of technology by using Photoshop I was able to create my actual magazine also I was able to edit photos by cropping out background that wasn't needed or change the brightness and contrast of the image In Photoshop I was also able to change a person’s lips colour or change their eye colour or even adjust their nail varnish if it wasn’t perfect. Using a blog was also another use of technology this was used by me uploading all of my research information. The research information I uploaded on my blog are Analysis of 3 existing magazine, Mood board, Digital drafts, ideas of names, colour scheme ideas, camera framings, Progress of Photoshop, Mise-en-scene and location ideas etc.
What Conventions have you used and why?
From my research I have learnt that there are many convention on a magazine front cover and these conventions are there for a reasons. The main convention for a front cover of a magazine is Masthead, so in on my front cover I included a masthead and this is at the top of the page and this goes across the full width of the page. The font of the mast head is bold and the colour used is bright so that it stands out to customers. I include one main image on my front cover as again this is another convention. The camera framing of this image was mid shot as this is a convention shot for a main image used on a front cover also the model on this image is looking straight into the camera therefore the model is having eye contact with the potential customers doing this so engages the customers. Feature stories have been added to the front of my magazine. This is done so that the customers know what the magazine entails. The important feature stories have been place to the left because this is the side the customers tend to read most because when the magazines are on the stand the left hand side is always shown never the right. A plug has been added to my magazine as this convention is used to grab the customers attention to do this I have used a bright colour splash mark and this has been placed on the left hand side of the magazine this is done because the left hand side is always shown when on the shelves so doing this the customers will see this straight away and hopefully grab the customers attention.
What would you change if you were to do this task again?
If I had the opportunity to do this task again I would change many things. Firstly I would make sure that I was more time keeping as I spent far too long on my research and I only had short amount of time to create my magazine so I feel like it’s not been done to the best of my ability. If I was to do this task again I would make sure that my blog was more organised meaning that everything was in order and not jumbled up as I feel that’s how it is at the moment nothings in order and there’s no flow. Also I wish that I had been more adventurous and used a more of a specific genre like a dance college magazine or even a sport college magazine. This way I would have challenge myself a bit more and I would have been able to expand my Mise-en-scene for example if I chose to do a sports college magazine I would able to include different props like a football, rugby ball, net ball or a basketball then my locations would have been different as I would have a choice from field, sports hall or a netball court. If I was to do this task again I would make sure that I had a n SD card in the camera so that I don’t have to spend a full lesson looking for a lead that will fit the camera as doing this wasted loads of useful time.
