What Have You Learnt About Technologies Form The Process

Of Constructing This Product?

Intro The purpose of using equipment, software and hardware was to

produce a front cover, content page and a double page spread of a magazine product of a music genre, that can be applied into the real marketing world of Music Magazines.

The product it self was a Hip Hop magazine, and hence due to the genre formed around it being about “street” activity I had to include and interior location shot and an exterior. The product was meant to appeal to sophisticated audiences who are digital natives, therefore I had to make sure that it looked as professional ads possible, as due to the web 2.0 and David Gauntlet Making and Doing Culture it has raised the visual standard of audiences. This is because the image that I use from my magazine would be user generated content, this would images that come from blogs, discussions that were created by users of online system. This will help promote my magazine, as it is mainstream and there is the incentive to feel good as an active member of the community via social media, growing the fan base and widening audience.

Selection Process To produce the magazine product, I had done a research

conducting of what tools where suitable and not. I also asked people who had pas experience, about what software to use.

The Equipment that I used was 1. White Screen 2. Reflector 3. Studio Lights 4. Soft Box 5. Canon EOS 1200D 6. Photoshop 7. InDesign

Most of these Equipment's were initially new to me, but before we started the production, I had learnt how to use them from tutorials from YouTube or from the Teacher’s (Miss Doig and Mr Lymen). They helped develop my skill to make sure I had to fundamental skills to function theses equipment's.

Skills (Camera) Initially I had already used a Canon Camera before. I

understood how to use the settings but I had to further develop them with the help of Mr Lymen. I learned effective ways online and in class on rule of thirds etc. and what camera shots and angles connote, to create a message. I learned how to set up the photo studio. Including the white screen and the lights. I even learned more about how to use the lights effectively and what each equipment could do with the help of Miss Doig. I am confident when setting up and positioning a studio safely around my model, to create a suitable image. As well as using different settings to modify the camera to suit the type of image I am taking.

Rule Of Thirds The rule of thirds is a basic principle and is to

imagine that an image has 9 parts. It identifies the importance parts of the image that you should consider for the points of interest in the composition.

As you can see from the example I used the framing and used the 4 intersections in the middle to focus on the face of the artist, as the emphasis was to catch the audiences attention and engage them using the direct address. This aligning of the subject (Kareem) creates more interest as the intersections are close to his eyes.

Lighting During the set up for the picture, I learnt the uses of how the lights were set up. I used

reflective umbrellas and that softened the light, I realized that these lights were more portable and I could’ve used these for the exterior shots if I shot during the night.

During this I also used a flash gun, which acted like a soft box, but I felt that the light was harsher and it didn’t look natural enough again this was portable and could’ve been used for the exterior shots.

In my opinion I felt the snoot was the most useless light modifier, as I felt it was irrelevant to the picture I was taking and I felt that it did not look as good as the others, as I was trying to create a image of a star I felt the light did not compliment what I was trying to connote.

During the lighting parts, I started to understand what these equipment's did and what effect they added. To be honest I experimented with most lights and reflectors, but I felt that the soft box was the best and if I were to make an improvements it would definitely try to add more elements of light into the picture.

For the whole shoot of the interior I just used a soft box at the center of the background, as I felt that was sufficient light as the class room I was shooting in had bright lights in the background anyway, the soft box was to even out the light.

For the exterior shot, I did not use any different lights, as I did not want to, I used the natural light and used a reflector to reflect the light into the models face.

Editing Skills I had used Photoshop before, in Yr 9. I was a little rusty

but after getting used to the software and learning on YouTube I became more confident with the software. As I furthered into the process of production with the help of YouTube I learnt specific skills for example how to edit a tattoo into someone. An area where I feel I should’ve done was matching the image of Glock on the front cover to the background as there was a contrast. I could’ve have done this better by changing contrast, brightness etc. This is something that I didn’t know was important.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izqDsZmxr3g (link to see me do it)

Example to edit Tattoo on Model You layer and image Ensure that it is not background Adjust the scale and transform it so it makes a mock fit Distorting helps the image look more realistic as it

adds more a 3D effect. Then change the image to MULTIPLY Then change the opacity to about 55-65% Then finish the transforming from e.g. Skewing.

THE PROCESS OF EQUIPMENTAn Evaluation Of What I learnt and Knew before I used each equipment.

White Screen This was a more of a manual Job. After being

showed how to set it up, it meant that I could easily use it. The benefit of using the white screen is that it helps to create the ideal version of a star, this is the postmodern simulacrum/mediatized version of the star. Having the white screen was essential to make my images look more professional. The White screen helped me especially in Photoshop to select the subject and to delete the surrounding white. It was most effective for editing and to create neutral background for light to bounce back of into the subject.

White Screen pt.2 Using the White screen was a “gift and curse”, the tool of it

was useful as I could create an ideal version of the star, but I became overly reliant on it. I actually became really confident with using the white screen. I forgot about the importance of practicing exterior shots, as I felt the ease of the white screen. That’s why I had to be forced to go outside to take pictures of the landscape and learn about outside shooting. I looked at the basics of outside shooting and took shots of the exterior as often as I remembered. I feel that I want to improve more on outside location shots, as I felt that the picture with Kareem (double page spread) looked the best, as I understand an environment in the background can help connote a story to the audience.

REFLECTOR This was again a manual job, that I used to reflect

natural light towards a subjects face. I used this for the outside shot of Kareem, as it was hard to use studio lights without a danger so I thought a Reflector was suitable. Thankfully I had help with the reflector and the light was well directed into the Artists face. It was although a bother at times because of the wind causing it hard to control the reflector. It was good to utilizes as it had a silver lining and a gold lining, each lining adding a different type of Light. For the shoot we used the gold lighting to add more color as it was a gloomy day.

Reflector pt.2 Well the Gold lining really created a warm image, it made the

artist look more lively compared to his background, this connoted how he has made it out of his “hood” and into bigger things. Thus the warmer face showing that he is alive represents the “Rags to Riches”. This gold face connotes the wealth of the rapper and it supports the convention of Rappers liking jewelry, representing him as quite materialistic as well.

The sliver lining however I did not use as there was low light and I needed strong light to really create a contrast. If the conditions where alright hypothetically the silver side adds more light to his face and I felt that really didn’t have a strong connotation. Other than the fact that it connotes that he wants attention which accepts the representation that all Rappers are arrogant and show offs.

Studio Lights & Soft Box Lighting was important for the inside shots of the

production. I used studio lights to eliminate shadows when shooting behind the white screen. To make the light more gentle I used the soft box. Throughout the shoot I used the soft box, as I wanted a gentle lighting to create a professional type of picture.

The gentle lighting reflected Glock as shy, and ashamed of his actions. This is because it agrees with the narrative of how he lost his fame, by doing drugs. This is because only one half of his body was lit up, this connotes how vulnerable and uncomfortable he is as he has a hard to revealing himself.

CANON EOS 1200D I had experience before with Camera’s but only on an Intermediate Level. I

used a Canon EOS 700D before I used this camera. Learning How to use this was simple as auto focus did make it easier for the process and the general set up of the camera as it had many different types of shots I could take. I learnt how to use White Balance, which was essential especially when I was taking pictures against the white screen. Having the white balance made the image look more professional, as it helps to create the ideal version of a star, this is the mediatized version of the star. Another tool was using the Shutter Speed, so the higher it was the more the iris in the camera was more sensitive to light. So It was affective to me as I could adjust how much light went into the camera. The shutter speed actually was hard to adjust to from the light from the soft box, as it was very bright, to combat this I had to lower down the shutter speed, to lighten the subject up and look more realistic.. Another use I learnt was when I used the Camera in the outside Location, aperture was a good tool. This is how much the camera focus on the background, If you can tell I used this to focus more on the artist. Hence I felt it was useful for me to use the manual settings.

Canon EOS 1200D cont.… Shallow of depth is a portrait image that isolates

the subject from a distracting background. This is by emphasizing the subject and selectively focusing on them. A perfect example was for Kareem’s double page spread shot. This was useful as it shows that the subject is the main star and that is what the audience should be focusing on. Due to the audience being fox thinkers it means they wont be overwhelmed and know who to put there attention on. This created a connotation that he wanted attention and how superior he is to come from the background he came from, accepting the representation that most Rappers come from poor places.

Photoshop Photoshop was used to edit all my pictures. All the pictures I shot

where edited in Photoshop one way or another. Photoshop was useful even for costume, for example I gave Tattoos to Kareem and Glock. This was useful as it helped my artist’s seem more thuggish. I used this software to also select an artist from the image and it allowed me to cut the artists from the background. Another tool that I used was for the Glock shot. The lighting was computerized. I discovered Photoshop had a feature for lighting and I used studio lighting to focus light at an angle towards the subject. Other tools I used where burner, this was to create a more realistic shadow from the computerized lighting. I used Photoshop to create my front cover, as I felt it was easier to edit the product here as typography is not as important. I also used patch up a tool, this was to patch any thing different for example Kareem had a bit of white on his arm so I used patch up to make it look more realistic.

Photoshop Their were some tools that I struggled to use on Photoshop. They were the dodge

tool, that acted as an airbrush, but to blend the image layer into the background layer I had to focus on the opacity. I found this a hard concept at first because I didn’t understand which opacity was the best to blend the images together.

I actually struggled to use the eye dropper I wasn’t very confident with it. The difficulty to me was to select a subject and know what it was then find the color to change it to, but towards the end it got easier.

I also struggled to use the lasso tool at first, especially with King O’s shot, that was a struggle. Not only was the background white, so was the jumper. Using the lasso tool really helped to cut him out from the picture, but I struggled as I sometimes would make mistakes with the outline of the body, but the more I did it, I became confident with it.

Another tool was the blending options. I didn’t really know how to use the blending options, as I felt there was so much you could do and I didn’t know what to do about it. This was evident in my first draft as it didn’t look that good and the text did not stand out. But after the first draft and the help from my teacher I understood how to use it to make a text stand out by outlining and glowing it etc. This is why it was good to do a first draft.

InDesign I used InDesign for my content page and my Double Page spread cover. Although it was my

first time using it. Photoshop was my initial software to produce the magazine, but I heard InDesign was used by professionals hence I was persuaded to use it. InDesign is a desktop publishing software whereas Photoshop is an image manipulation software, InDesign is better for laying out text. InDesign I felt was a simple software to use, a lot easier to use than Photoshop. I looked at a couple of tutorials to gain the fundamentals. The tools in InDesign were easy to use. I used different tools to alter the text for example for putting it into italics and at what angle to have it in, this was to make the text stand out and engage the audience to connote its importance. The tools for text spacing was also important as I read spacing in text was important to stand out, as from research it makes it easier to read as it looks more friendly and it makes the text stand out more. I also used different tools for example in the content page for adding a gradient in the box, this was to put my content in, I felt that it looked more aesthetically pleasing than just a colored box, the gradient connoted how diluted Hip Hop was going from aggressive into mainstream representing that a lot of the audience do not know the roots of the genre. For the double page spread, I used a tool to fit the image of Kareem proportional to the page without making it look outstretched. Using the tool box helped me organize the spacing of text as they had guidelines to help you know where it is going. It helped me structure the text for the double page spread as well as the content page. I used a tool to create a drop cap this was to follow the conventions of a magazine, not only to grab the readers attention but to connote the professionalism, this was added after the draft . I also spaced the text out better again after the draft. I felt the draft was poorly done and had no structure to it. I did although like the spacing the layout of the double page spread. I just needed to column the text better, to organize it better and make it look more sophisticated. The contents page, as well was more about the consistency of the text, and due to the software’s typography friendly design I was able to look at which font fit best.

Improvements that need work Pt.1 The improvements within in my skills that need improvement is generally

needed for each skill type. I believe for the White screen, that my skills to set it up and take it down

where of standard. I feel that although I did not include the light modifiers e.g. Snoot, Umbrella

and Shotgun Flash, I would want to work on them more as they add effects that soft boxes don’t, and If I can use them, it would be easier for me to take exterior shots as I felt that was where I lacked.

For the reflector, although I did not hold it for my shoot. I believe that I can affectively manipulate light into a person, but I haven’t tried it while using a studio light, so if I could improve there it would be getting more experience in different settings.

For the soft box and studio lighting, I believe that I could set it up and use it affectively. But I felt that I could use other type of different type of camera equipment.

(Main) Improvements that Need Work

My Camera skills, were okay. I felt that I need to check on auto focusing and manual Focusing. As sometimes when I took pictures they weren’t very focused, meaning the images came off as blurry. Another skill I think that needs more work is the technical sides of some of the settings. I felt that I have a od understanding of the aperture and the shutter speed. But I feel that if go to do print further on to A2 I would like to understand shutter speed more and experiment in different environments.

Photoshop, I feel that I have the fundamental basics of how the program works, and I feel that I have learnt very specific techniques. I think that to develop my technical skills, I think I need to know what the tool actually does as often I am just following methods, that I search on YouTube for what I want, this does not develop my knowledge of what some of the tools do, for example the Tattoo effect was learnt on YouTube and I am unclear of the effect of multiply to different objects. As there are so many tools on Photoshop I still feel I have a lot to learn. But I feel I am at the point where I can use the basic functions without struggling. It’s the basic tools that are displayed I can do but the tools that need options are something that needs work for example the blending options. I also feel I need a better understading of what the Dodge and Burn Tool can do and that is something I will look into further.

InDesign, I also feel that I have the basic knowledge of it. It would be more useful how to use images and blending modes. How to use layers in InDesign as well. In the future I would look at different tutorials to improve. I think that weakness was my usage of image, if I am able to edit images in InDesign I believe that it will make it easier for me to create a print publication.