Finished Magazine

I enjoyed this task even though I had to work on my time management skills. I feel like I did a successful job and I'm very proud of this piece of work.

What I learnt about the camera angle, font and language of a magazine

Camera Shots

Long shot is taken landscape and gives the viewer more detail about the main focus. This shows shot shows  the entire body of the subject or model with their head near the top and their feet near the bottom of the frame. 

Mid shot is when the image is taken from the waist up clearly showing the character/models facial expression and the viewers can focus on the models face and body.

Close up shows very little background and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène. The background is blurred out to focus on the face which shows the importance of things.

Camera Angles

Birds eye view is an angle that looks directly down upon a scene. It makes the model look like an ant which makes the viewers feel like the have power upon the subject.

Eye-level angle puts the audience on an equal footing with the character/s. It makes the viewers feel equal to the model/subject.

Low angle is when the camera looks right up to the character. This makes the model seem more powerful. This can make the viewer/reader feel intimidated or vulnerable. 

Importance of color

Red - associated with danger, war, blood, strength, love and power.

The color red is mainly used to stimulate people to make fast decisions. This is why most the "Buy now" or "Sale" banners on shop windows and online are red. On the other hand, red is also used to evoke peoples feelings and emotions.

Yellow - is associated with energy, joy and happiness.

The color yellow stimulates mental activity which generates muscle energy. The bright yellow gets the attention of people, this is why taxi's in America are yellow so that they can be spotted straight away. However if the color is used too much it can cause an eye sore and may give people headaches. 

Blue - this color is associated with wealth, trust and loyalty.

The color blue tends to calm and ease the mind. Furthermore, the color blue is mainly used for adverts/pictures to do with cleanliness. In addition, the color blue as been linked with ICT and technology. Most software and websites logo are blue for example Skype, Intel, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

Language

Static Register is a way of communication that uncommonly changes. It's content is kept the same for a long period of time. 

Formal Register can be a speech, announcements or rhetorical statements. This means that the language used can be formal and impersonal.

Consultative Register is the regular form of communication. For example the way you communicate with your doctor. It's semi-formal.

Casual Register is the way you talk to your friends and classmates. There tend to be the use of slang, informal and colloquialism.

Intimate Register is communication in private. This is the way you talk to your girlfriend, wife, husband or sibling.

Fonts and Texts

Finished Contents page

Here I present you my finished contents page. I have chosen this color scheme from my previous trial/mock up. I used the same layout as the last contents mock up as I liked the way it looked and found it appropriate for the school theme. I also added an 'Editors message' which I feel added a personal touch over all. I chose the blue boarder because I feel like it'd be relevant for the boys in the Sixth Form and if they just saw all yellow and other pastel colours they'll think I'm being biased on them. Furthermore, I think that it added a more formal touch to the magazine.

I didn't put the color blue as the entire background color as I felt that it would be an eye sore to the readers and it would have made my text not stand out. On the other hand, I kept the school's badge on the same side and the same place to show continuation through the whole magazine. The font of the text 'Content' is also the same again, I've done this for the same reason as the school's badge.
I also added two photos on the top third of the page as I feel that without them, the contents page wouldn't be interesting for my target audience to look at. They images are also relevant to my magazines theme 'Halloween' this is because I have edited the photos to look scary, creepy and terrifying. In addition, I added them as I didn't use halloween themed colours for the text, photo frame or the boarder. This will show the readers that this is a halloween edition.

In my opinion, I kept my magazine formal and clean. I did this due to the fact that target audience are sixteen year olds and over. If they had seen a front cover with a little kid dressed in a pumpkin outfit they wouldn't be interested in that or know that this magazine was relevant or even be about the school.

Finished Magazine cover

 

This is my finished magazine cover. I am quite proud of how it turned out. I love the cover image as well as the colours I used. The layout is almost the same as my mock up. However I had to take the second cover line off as it would have blocked the girl at the back. The lesson I've learnt from this task was that I should take the photos vertically to fit the page, when editing I should watch out in case I re-size the image by accident which makes the cover photo very pixleated. I am hoping not to do the same mistake for my Music Magazine.

 

 

Why did I choose this image as the front cover?

I specifically chose this image as the front cover as  there was space behind Safa for the girl I edited on, I also like the way she's smiling and the way I added the grudge girl makes Safa look venerable. The background location is also very creepy even though it's been taken in the day light, the dark pillars makes the image more eerie. At first glace you notice my model smiling this is until you see what's behind her.

Why did I choose this color scheme?

The chose the appropriate color scheme of Navy, yellow/gold and light blue as they are the three main colors in the beaverwood badge. I also chose them because this is a school magazine and I wanted the colors to relate to the school.

What I don't like about my magazine cover?

The only thing I don't particularly like about my magazine is the fact that the cover image has been pixelated making it not as clear as it should be. I feel that if it wasn't pixelated, I would be more pleased with the outcome. However, I feel that it's a good time to make mistakes now than in my Music Magazine.

 

 

 

 

Contents Page

I chose these colors as they are the same colors in the school logo. Which is where I based my color scheme on. I think that the yellow makes the page very vibrant and lively. However that isn't the vibe I was going for. I think that it's too girly with the pastel colors and I want my readers to be both girls and boys. On the other hand I like the layout of this page as it looks very neat and organized. Nothing is out of place or looks odd. 

I feel that by keeping the badge and the text font the same shows continuation and it looks more structured.

  The thing I like most about this is the colors I've used.The pastel yellow stands out and grabs your attention against the dark navy blue. Again I have kept the text font and badge in there but just underneath the 'Contents' text for the same reason. I wanted to try something new and see what they'll look like. But against all odds, I dislike the layout of the image and the contents. I feel like it's very messy and isn't formally ordered.

This is probably one of my favorite out of the other two. I like the fact that it's very ordered, the colors are relevant and it unisex. The layout of the page is very spread out and looks very presentable. I also like the fact that I've added a 'Publishers page' this is where I will write a review of the magazine and I could add my own thoughts to this too. 

In conclusion, I feel like I will be choosing the last option as it's very elegant and clean looking. It won't be unorganized as there's a place for all the text and image. I will try and make it similar to the photo above.

Difficulties I've come across so far

The first thing I struggled with has to be when I had to choose the theme of my magazine. I was stuck whether to pick the Christmas, Halloween or Valentine theme. I had ideas for the Christmas edition such as the color scheme, how I would have my model dressed and the short of background I wanted. But I didn't choose the Christmas edition. For the Valentine’s Day issue I had in mind the color scheme of pink, red and white. Have a picture of cupid or get someone to dress as cupid for the main image and have hearts around my model or even a couple holding hands. However in the end I went with Halloween as I got interested in using the varieties of images/icons I can use to base my magazine on.

The second thing I wound difficult with making the magazine was using the software (Adobe CS4 InDesign) at first I didn't understand how to use it but as I played/explored it I familiarised myself and reminded me of Photoshop and Adobe Flash which I use for ICT.

The next thing I had difficulties with was editing the photos. I found it very difficult to choose the editing style of the photo. Finding the right balance of white and black, bloom and color burst etc. was what took most of my time. After looking at the edits I've done, I think that I did a good job.

The Photo shoot

In my opinion, I feel like my photo shoot went very well. The weather was perfect for the lighting I needed, I had all the outfits and accessories there from when I planned it which made everything go smoothly.

I first took photos in the library when it was empty which turned out well apart from the fact that when I took a few photos against the light my two models were very dark. However, when I used the flash on the camera it turned out better which solved my problem. But by putting on the flash, everything got washed out which means that I needed to edit the photos so they have that mystery effect.

Without Flash

With Flash

A mistake I have made and reflected upon is the fact that I took my cover photo landscape instead of portrait. This now means that I have to re-size the image and use it but a smaller version and I won't be using it to cover all of the pages. I intended to use the image I took of Emily and Safa in the library as a full spread background but I realised that it was hard to find the right shade of yellow and blue to make the font stand out against such photo.

Original

Edited

To edit this photo I used a website called picmonkey. I found this website really good on editing small details on the face especially on Emily's face. I deliberately asked her not to wear any makeup so that I could edit it on her. I turned her into a vampire by layering on dark undertones to her eyes, pail skin and dark red lips with blood dripping down them. I feel like I've done a good job even though it isn't the most professional edit. I gave it my best shot and I'm very pleased with the outcome. I also darkened the surroundings including Emily but not Safa to give it an effect that Safa is vulnerable and doesn't know that Emily (Vampire) is behind her. Hopefully the readers will take note of this and have an effect on them too.


Now for my cover image, I looked and debated which one was the best photo and location.

If I had chosen this one, I would improve it by cropping the top as it shows too much white and it isn't appealing.

I liked this photo very much as I loved her smile. It was a very inviting smile which would have made the readers feel welcome to read the magazine. However, she looked too cheerful and stiff so I decided not to use it. In addition, felt like the atmosphere of the photo was too bright for the mysterious and dark theme of Halloween.

I would have chosen this one but I didn't really find it
 interesting enough to edit.

This image would have been one of my idle front cover but when I started to edit, it occurred to me that it didn't have a very scary vibe and I was having trouble editing it to look dark. I think that if the background lighting was darker it would have added more of a scary and mystical effect.

Edit

The original image.

 This is the one I chose to edit because I thought of putting the gurdge girl from the movie "The Ring" behind Safa and make the girl transparent so it looks like she's barely there but in further exception you see her in the corner peeking though. The website I used for this edit was pizap. I regularly use this website to edit some of my photos that's why I found it very easy to use.  I find my edit quite good apart from the fact that it got quite pixelated. That was the only downside of my edit. But now that I know this I'll make sure not to do the same mistake on my Music Magazine.