DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

Whilst creating my double page spread, I learnt that photographs work best together in rule of three, so I have included three photos at the top of my double page spread, to attract the readers eye immediately, all of these photographs include the Polaroid effect and are framed with back shadowing to create a 3D effect on the page, this gave a retro feel to the photographs and made them interesting, to create a frame I had to create a square around the photograph using the Rectangle frame tool, fill it in white and send it to the back, this then created a frame around the photograph, I then had to group the photograph with the frame by using the short cut (ctrl+G), after grouping the photograph and frame I was then able to rotate and move them together, to rotate my photographs I used the shortcut (R). I over lapped my three photographs on the page, which then also created a 3D effect on the page and created layers within the spread, this makes the page feel more dynamic and jumps out at you. I decided to remain a rule of three colour theme throughout my double page spread, using only white, red and black which gives a hard hitting edge and makes it eye catching. When placing my photographs into my double page spread I rotated them, making them have diagonal points within the page this then drags the reader’s eyes into the text, and keeps them interesting and intrigued in the article. For my double page spread I used a black and white background, which were subtle and had a crumpled paper like texture to them which made the spread more exciting and lively, to place the backgrounds and photographs into the double page spread I had to create a box using the rectangle frame tool and then go on, file, place and place the image in, I then went onto fitting, and choose the option, fit image proportionally in frame, I then made the images larger and smaller by using the shift key and arrows around image to make sure it didn’t become pixelated. To import a title to my magazine double page spread I had to use Photoshop to create the titles itself, by using Photoshop I was then able to make the title with a graphic and bold element, making it eye catching and attractive. Once I had design the title I then made sure its background was selected as transparent and cropped it. I then saved it as a PNG to retain the transparent background and placed it into my Indesign.  To create my torn paper break out box, I selected a lined paper image and placed it in Photoshop, I then used the eraser tool to create the size of the break out box and used the burn tool to create a burnt and jiggered edge around the paper. I cropped around the image and saved it as PNG, once I had done that I was able to place it into my double page spread and create the text I wanted to place on top. I had to select, object, text frame options (CTRL+B) and then select ignore text wrap so that I was able to see the text placed on top of the paper without it being hidden behind the paper image. When moving images and text around on the page I had to use the black arrow tool. I used basic text wrap and advanced text wrap effects on my page. To create the basic text wrap I had to go on the window option, and make sure text wrap was selected. I then used the text wrap box tool, to select the “wrap around bounding box” tool, making the fit around my image. To create the advance text wrapping I had to use the pen tool (P) and draw around the image which I wished my text to fit around, once doing that I then placed the image behind and the pen line drawing on top and selected the “wrap around object shape” which then made the text fit around the object I had drawn.

Cross Processing

Original Photograph

Cross Processing Edit
To create this edit I had to add a new adjustment layer and select curves. I then selected red and created an s shape in the colour levels, I then selected green and created and up and out colour levels and then I selected blue and created an s shape in colour levels. One I had done this I then created another adjustment layer and selected solid colour, I choose a yellow colour and made its opacity 21%. This then creates a washed out effect on the background. By doing these edits it creates a retro feel from around the 70's and 80's.

Zombie Effect

Zombie Effect
To create a Zombie effect on my photograph, I used the burn tool to darken around her eyes, then I used the darken brush tool to paint out the eyes and make them red. I then uploaded a new layer and selected a textured image which I could paste over the face, once I had choosen my image I copied it and pased it over the face and used 'Ctrl T' to adjust its size, I then made the image darken so that it blended in with her face, creating a scary burn looking zombie.

Introductory Paragraphs For Alcohol Article

Introductory paragraph for alcohol article; 2^nd person, shock horror, fast pace.
Did you know that 14 year olds have been reported to drink 10 units of alcohol a week!? Outrage sweeps across Britain. The tradition of only drinking at celebrations, has now banished.  Alcohol is taking hold of Britain and controlling your young people.  The department Of Health has revealed the effects of alcohol costs the economy more than £21 billion a year, how do you feel about that? How can you stop this?


This introduction is effective as it hooks the reader from the beginning with its exciting fast pace the starting sentence uses a rhetorical question which involves the reader in the article. The shock horror intro intrigues and shocks the reader making it interestin`wg and factual. By using 2^nd person narration it makes the introduction very personal and direct.
Introductory paragraph for alcohol article; 3^rd person, summary intro, slow pace.
In Darlington one can see alcohol abuse is a problem. Recent studies have shown that hereditary factors plays a part in developing alcohol problems, additionally other studies have shown girls are more likely to binge drink than boys. In the last week, more than 700 young people have been charged for criminal damaged due to alcohol, these statistics have now made Darlington realise of the dangerous problem arising and have introduced Switch.  Switch is a team of drug and alcohol workers which help young people aged 10-18. They can provide alcohol misuse advice and information to help young people stop and reduce the amount of alcohol they consume.


This introduction is effective as it is very factual and objective.  It remains formal throughout and is appealing to a target audience of parents and careers. Using 3^rd person makes a distinct distance between the reader and writer. By using a summary intro it gives brief insight of what the magazine is to reveal and the slow pace gives a steady speed and rhythm for the target audience to follow.

Healing Tool

Original Photograph

AfterOn photoshop I used the 'healing brush tool'. I selected the healing brush tool, and held 'alt' around the area of the spot, I then let go and clicked over the spot with my mouse this then healed it. 

Vampire Photoshop

Original Photograph


Vampire Edit

Here I have created a vampire effect on photoshop. To create this effect I used the burn tool to darken around the eyes, the sponge tool to make her skin have a gray drained effect to it, and then used the magnetic lasso tool to create sterotypical vampire teeth. When using the magnetic lasso tool I had to click around the wall of the teeth, select edit, transform and warp, before I could change the shape. I then used the brush darken tool to colour her eyes in red.

CD COVER IDEA

Here I have created a CD front cover for the "Nature Hereos" band. Firstly I had to set the dimensions of my cover to 120 by 120mm this is so that I could get the correct sizing for my CD cover. I then had to set the resolution to 300inch and the colour mode to 16gbt. I decided to use a nature/flower theme for the background of my cover, I used the colours blue, green and brown as they relate to my nature theme and contrast, aswell as compliment each other well on the page, this then makes the cover the cover eye catching and gives it a retro 'old skool' feel. To create the background I had to download stamps, to do this I had to use a website to choose and download them, once I had done this I then had to load them into photo shop. I used two different stamps for my cover. To inset the stamps I used the shortcut (B) to select my basic brush tool, I then stamped them both onto the page and blended the title and barcode into the background so that the flowers lay on top, this then gives the cd cover a 3D and exciting feel. Once I had added the stamps I used the blending option on photoshop to make the stamps and writing come alive and look bold on the page this then makes the cover unique and intriguing. 

Photoshop Photographs

Original Photograph

Auto Colour Photograph
On this photograph I used the tool auto colour, to do this I used the short-cut ( Shift+Ctrl+B).By doing this the model is more pronounced against the background and it is much brighter than the original.

Desaturated And Contrast Photograph
On this photograph I used the desaturation tool and then added the auto contrast tool. To add the desaturation I used the short-cut (Shift+Ctrl+U), this then made my photograph black and white, to add the auto contrast I used the short-cut (Alt+Shift+Ctrl+L) then then made the model much darker against the background.

Vingetting And Unsharpen Photograph
On this photograph I used the vingetting tool and then unsharpen tool. By doing this it drags attention to the centre of the photograph (model) and makes the eyes much sharper, which is the first main feature people look at when picking up a magazine, so by making them sharper it attracts attention.

Brightness And Contrast Photograph
On this photograph I used the brightness and contrast tool. To do this I had to select Image-Adjustments-Brightness/Contrast. This then makes the photograph much brighter and sharper. I lightened the brightness of the photograph so that it was more eye catching.

Shutter Speed Photographs

For this photograph I used a slow shutter speed at 0.2 seconds, by setting this time the shutter is open for much longer and lets more light into the photograph, this then enables the torch and shape drawn to be captured in the photograph, I also used manual focus when taking this photograph so that I was able to focus my own photographs.

For this photograph I again used a slow shutter speed at 0.1 seconds, I had to use a slower time as the photograph is much darker and the camera needs a longer time to capture the light and shape from the torch in the photograph. I again used manual focus so that I could focus my own photograph.

For this photograph I had to use a very quick shutter speed at 650, this was so that the camera could capture the quick speed of the water falling and freeze frame it, this then lets  less light into the photograph.I again used manual focus for the photograph so I was able to focus it before taking.

For this photograph I had to use a fast shutter speed at 650, this then enabled the camera to freeze frame the motion without motion bluring it. With using a fast shutter speed I was also able to capture the models in the air. I used manual focus again so that I could focus the photograph.

Edited Magazine Front Cover

Here is my edited magazine front cover, I decided to change my original as I believed that it was too bright and cartoon like, so I decided to make my new one using more pale and neutral colours, by doing this I found that it looks more like an official magazine as the blues and purple compliment each other well, they also compliment the models eyes, by making my magazine limit to a few colours it gives it more impact. Also the blues relate better to my 'galaxy' theme. By keeping the bright purple title, it makes the magazine eye catching when stacked on a shelf.

MAGAZINE FRONT COVER

COMPOSITION EXPERIMENTS

Whilst continuing with my photography, I reinforced the skill of trying to keep the eye line to the top third of my photograph to make it a powerful photo. I have also reinforced the skill of the T stand, making it easy and able for me to use my new skill of 'tilt down' and 'tilt up'. I have also reinforced the skill of making my photographs in focus and not motion blur, whilst also thinking carefully about the positioning of the light to create shadows and lighting.

In this photograph I have gained the skill of being able to use 'line' in my photographs. The shadow in this photograph pulls your attention to the main eye line focus point but with it being a diagonal shadow, it gives the photograph an energetic, mysterious, unique feel. The path on the photograph then continues the line throughout and into the distance of the picture.

On this photograph I have gained knowledge of using the skill 'tilt down' and 'eye line manipulation . By doing this it makes the subject of the photo look powerless and vulnerable. Also by having the bush out of focus but the model in focus, it makes the model the main eye line focus point of the photograph.

On this photograph, I have continued to have my model positioned to the right instead of the middle, but this time I have kept the eye line to the top third. I have also give a little hint of 'tint down' in the photograph, which still makes the model look powerless but by having the eye line on the top third it doesn't create as big of a feel of vulnerability as the picture before.

On this photograph I have used the skill of 'framing'. By doing this it creates energy for the image and a little bit of mystery as to what the model is being framed by. By having the model at a medium long shot, it wouldn't be a very suitable photograph for a magazine, as the background is quite busy and the model isn't the main subject. 

On this photograph I have again used the skill of 'line' but this time without the shadowing to follow. Here the model is the main eye line focus point, but the pole just to the right of the model makes our eyes follow along into the photograph until it reaches the model. It drags our eyes in. 

On this photograph I have neither used 'tilt down' or 'tilt up', making the photograph look neither powerful or powerless. By having the model positioned just to the side with top third eye line it would be perfect for a magazine front cover, as the eyes are the main eye focus point. The lighting is positioned to the side, lighting up the whole photograph.

Photograph Samples

In this photograph I have positioned the model to her side, but unfortunately I hadn't completely focused the photograph, so the photograph is motion blurred. After taking this photograph I then    took much more care when focusing my other photographs so that they weren't motion blurred as well, in the photograph I kept to the third eye line rule, and the photograph is of just the head and shoulders, keeping the model the main subject when on my magazine cover.

This photograph is taken with the light positioned behind the model. Also the background in this photograph is quite busy, not making my model the main subject. In this photograph I also haven't kept to the just head and shoulders rule, and it isn't zoomed in, so the photograph isn't as effective and suited for a magazine cover.

On this photograph the light is positioned in front of the model. By positioning the light in front of the model it lightens up the whole photograph.

In this photograph the light is positioned to the side of the model. I have also kept to the third eye line rule and the head and shoulders rule. By doing this it has made my photograph very effective and this style of photograph would suit my magazine cover idea. By having the light to the side of the model, it doesn't brighten up too much of the photograph so it has a good ratio of dark and light.

Photography And Photoshop Evaluation

PHOTOGRAPHY EVALUATION

Whilst doing my photography I used manual focus, this was so that I was then able to focus my own photographs as I wish. It was also so that I could then begin to see the difference between a motion blur photograph and an in focus photograph. Whilst using the focus and zoom lenses on the camera, I learnt that by being slow, steady and accurate I was able to get a successful zoom and focus ratio. Before our photography lesson I didn’t know of the T-stand, but when getting the chance to take photographs I automatically felt the difference from standing normal, to standing in the T-stand, whilst standing in the T-stand I was able to lean forward and backwards without any difficulty, I could also reach higher and lower whilst remaining comfortable, when standing in the T-stand it also gave me the opportunity to feel free and loose whilst taking the photographs instead of all up tight and awkward. During the shoot I learnt that by taking a portrait photograph it was much easier to fill the picture with just the head and shoulders of my model, where as in a landscape photograph there was a lot of background space which I didn’t need or want. Throughout the shoot I remained to keep my photographs portrait as it suited the style of my magazine a lot better and looked most effective. Most of the photographs I took were in focus but there was a few which weren’t, I have shown these on my blog. To improve on my out of focus photographs, I would spend more time concentrating on positioning the focus lens in the correct place and carefully looking at how focused the photograph is through the lens before taking the photo. Whilst positioning my model, I learnt that if the lighting is behind the model it is much harder to see the strong facial features of the model, there is a lot of shadowing included when having the lighting positioned behind, which I didn’t feel was most effective. When having the lighting in front of the model, it was too bright and was very hard to see the facial features of the model at all, as the light was too bright and lit the face up too much. But when positioning the light to the side of the model, it gave a glow to the models face and wasn’t too strong for the camera, so that it was able to still capture the strong facial features, most my best photographs were taken with the light to the side as I decided I liked this lighting best whilst experimenting. Throughout my shoot I kept to the third eye line rule, and most of my photographs apply to that rule, I experimented with where the eye was looking whilst remaining on the third line but most of my photos had the eye looking straight at the camera or slightly to the side. During my shoot I didn’t pay much attention to the background, just tried to keep it mostly grass so that it was plain and not too busy with action in the background. By doing this it kept my model the main subject of the photograph, which was very effective when placed on my magazine cover. During the shoot me and my model were able to work together effectively and swiftly, enabling us to get a big range of different photographs, for us then to be able to choose between. We were able to position each other and direct our ideas across very well throughout the shoot and no problems arose during. 


PHOTOSHOP EVALUATION
Whilst using photoshop on my magazine front cover I found it difficult to expand the photograph without stretching it, but I was then taught that if I was to hold down the shift key whilst stretching it, it wouldn't look so stretched on the page, when doing this I found it worked and was able to have my photograph a lot larger but still look effective on my magazine cover. I found editing and playing around with the different tools the easiest part whilst on photoshop, as I was able to experiment as I wished and change the lighting on my photograph, I made my photograph very bright and lit up so that the background was plain and white, I did this so that my text would show up on the background. On my magazine cover my text was well controlled as I used the rulers to keep all my text lined up, this was effective and a very good tool to use as all of my text looks straight and neat, just as a real magazine would. I kept the text bold and big so that it would stand out on the page as there is a massive market for magazines, so I wanted my text and magazine to be eye catching upon all of the rest. For my magazine I downloaded a font that I could use for all of my text, I choose this fonts so that it would be different and unique to any other magazines font, I downloaded and uploaded my font by, downloading the font I wanted from www.dafonts.com, I then saved it to my file and extracted it, I then copied the extracted file and pasted it on the C drive of the computer, then when I went into photoshop, the font I wanted was in the drop down lists of fonts so I was able to click and use it. I used the colours purple and blue, as I want to keep my magazine to a 'galaxy' theme, the title 'Spectrum' is a big part of science, so I wanted to use space and galaxy's as my main theme, by wishing this, I planned to use dark blues and purples to suit this theme. If I was to improve my front cover, I would go for a different chose of colour as although the purples and blues suits my theme, they don't stand out as much as they could. The strengths of my magazine cover is that the photograph sticks to the third eye line rule and has just the head and shoulders in it, by doing this the main subject attracts all of the eye focus and makes my magazine , also my model is positioned to the side with side lighting giving an unique edge to my magazine, making it stand out. Whilst using photoshop I learned a whole new range of skills, I firstly learnt that when opening up a new document for my magazine cover I had to have it presented as international paper, with a resolution of 300, and RGB needed to be 16bt with 300DPI. I then learnt to ensure my rulers were working for my document, I could use the shortcut (ctrl+r) to do so, and to see my layers window I could click the shortcut (F7). I then learnt that when inserting my photograph I could use the shortcut (ctrl+A) and then (ctrl+C) and then paste, to inset my photograph onto the page and then to enlarge my photograph without stretching it I could use the shortcut (ctrl+T) then hold the shift key down and grab a corner to enlarge or make smaller.

Initial Skills Assessment

AS Media Production: Technical Skills Audit Print Production

Name: Nicole Arrowsmith                     Tutor group:1.27                 Date: 20^th September 2012

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		X
Shutter Speed		X
Aperture control		X
A tripod		X
External flash		X
Self timer facility		X
Light meter		X
Composition grids		X

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
Have you ever used Photoshop ever before?		X
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
Resolution setting control		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
Have you ever used In design ever before?		X
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