Final Production

Final Print work

This is my front cover and spine of the digipak

This is my inside cover of my digipak

This is my back cover of the Digipak

This is my poster.

Final Video

Evaluation

· In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product?

In a group consisting of myself, Sarah and Shauni, we worked on producing a music video as part of a promotional package for an album. Shauni filmed our music video, Sarah directed and filmed, and I co-directed and I edited the music video, as well as performing as the main character. Because of my background in dance we found it more relevant that I play the part of the main character as I knew exactly how I wanted it to look. This was also convenient as I was the in the same age range of our target audience, which is female teens and young adults. Sarah and myself as produced a storyboard and an animatic, and Shauni found the locations we were going to shoot. Our music video doesn’t categorically fit into one genre. John Hartley notes that ‘the same text can belong to different genres in different countries at different times’.

My media product uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of a real media product in many different ways. The narrative for our music video is closely linked to the narrative of Billy Elliot; it illustrates a working class background and a young individual striving to succeed against the odds. It shows how she is rejected because of her social status and but fights to make something of herself. The narrative portrays the message of ‘you can do whatever you want despite what people think’. The girl aspires to become a success and works hard to get there. In our music video we see shots of the girl dancing in different iconic locations in the North East. This is similar to an extract in ‘Billy Elliot’ where Billy is dancing throughout the cobbled streets of the northeast. Our narrative also shares the aspect of the film ‘Step up’ which shows a young girl auditioning for a dance school but is rejected because of her social background. In terms of music videos we have used a similar narrative to Geri Hallowell’s - Fame. This music video shows a girl in a dance audition where the adjudicators are shocked, however becomes a success.

A convention we have followed in out music video is the black and white effect. This is shown in the music video ‘Breathe Slow’ by Alesha Dixon. In this video Alesha is dancing and practicing much like our music video. I feel that the black and white effect gives a level of professionalism to our product, as black and white effects have connotations of style and class.

A music video that inspired us was ‘Beyonce- Broken-Hearted Girl’. This music video has black and white effects however towards the end the colour is gradually brought back through when her mood changes. We have added this effect to our music video; throughout the audition process and the stages where the girl is dancing around the various locations we have added a black and white effect. However once she gets the final show and gets up anyway to dance we have gradually brought the colour back through. This shows the girl as she grows in confidence and achieves what she wanted to achieve. Dance brings her to life and she brings the dance to life.

To produce my print work I have researched current media products of a similar genre. As my print work is aimed to promote our music video I have used a young attractive girl. This is exploiting the uses and gratifications of the Naomi Wolf Theory which is showing someone an audience can aspire to be like. Images of attractive woman are used to sell products to woman because they have been conditioned to want to be like the glamorous woman they see by a patriarchal society.

In my print work I have used a photo with a specific mise-en-scene that represents a working class background, a subway tunnel which is full of graffiti. I have challenged the forms and conventions of a media product by having the background in colour and the girl in black and white. Having taken art design and a photography courses I have found that having the girl in black and white and the graffiti in colour shows a link but a separation of the two parts to the image. The audience can see that she is from a working class background but can and has moved on or been separated from that social status and has been accepted for who she is.

· How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I feel that my main product combined with my ancillary texts is very effective in successfully communicating the narrative and promoting my product. I also feel that our music video and strong photography work merged with my Photoshop skills is a great promotional product.
In the age of media 2.0 my work will be promoted virally on the internet and on mobile phones, particularly because our target audience is of an age range that favours this kind of technology. I would expect my fans to spread the video and interview links via a social networking website and blog sites. Therefore I am a prosumer as I have changed from a consumer to produce and my product has the potential to reach an audience of millions and that audience can provide feedback. The music video would be officially uploaded to You Tube which will allow the audience to watch the music video at anytime. Also the music video will be available on ‘music on demand’ which will allow and audience to view through the television.
Our music video would be promoted on television as an advert before the actually album is released as an incentive to buy the product. It will also be released to music video channels such as MTV, Four Music, Hits, and The Box.
There would also be a possibility of releasing a different mix of the song as well as a bonus track.

A website would be created by the record company or label specifically for this album which will show exclusive interviews with the main characters involved in the music video. There would also be exclusive director’s commentary along with interviews with the editor and producer. On the website there will be a ‘dance along’ which is an exclusive interview with the choreography which will show a step by step of the dance routine shown in the music video, and outtakes will also be uploaded this will attract the younger audience and inspire them.

Outtakes

My promotional product would only constitute to part of a larger campaign.
The poster will be reproduced and advertised in magazines therefore every reader will receive a free poster.

· What have you learnt from your audience feedback and how did you attract/address your audience?

Throughout the development stages of our music video it was clear that our target audience was young girls between the ages of 10-18 as this is would be the age range that are usually interested in the young pop and hip hop genre. Our feedback and initial research informed the construction of our product by producing the product with the audience in mind.
Our media product reaches out to this target audience and they will identify with the narrative and the lifestyle it promotes this is exploiting the theory of uses and gratifications. In our music video we have used a girl of similar age as the target audience this gives the audience a chance to dream and aspire to be like the girl featured in our music video. Again this is using Naomi Wolf’s theory of using images of an attractive woman to appeal to a female audience.

Girls Feedback

Once our music video was finished we screened it to three females as a sample of our target audience however we felt it would be useful to screen it to three males to see if they identified with the narrative and if it also reached out to an audience of males.
After screening out music video we ask the small group a number of questions.

The females found the music video very inspiring and easy to relate to. This is because out music video may reflect the lives and problems of the people they know or themselves. The females also found the narrative was very common in the area they live in and identified with the working class background they girl came from, and they related to the main character emotionally because as an audience we will the underdog to succeed. Sample 1 Said “I can relate the narrative and relate it to my dance ambitions.” They particularly liked the slow motion effects in the music video and comment on how it made the dancing shots much more effective and worthwhile as they showed a sense of determination and strength. Our females also liked that some of the shots seemed like scenery shots with he girls dancing in it, rather than the girl dancing and the scenery just happening to be there. They felt that this shows that this girl is a small girl trying to make it in a big world.

Boys Feedback

When questioned the males found the music video iconic. They found the scenery shots very effective and how we have used a lot of well know locations both locally and nationally. They feel that they can relate to the areas, and because they are in the North East it has connotations of working class background, but also of renewal, regeneration which is what happens to the main character in out music video. The males also commented on the professional look to our music video and enjoyed and the black and white conventions. They found that the overall look to our music was very well edited and extremely believable as a current media product.

Throughout our audience feedback I have realised that our audience is not conclusively one stable and identifiable group, in fact our music video has reached out to a male audience as well. This shows that although the narrative shows a girl in a working class background as a dancer, males can relate to the narrative of failure and aspiring to succeed. This was very interesting and this feedback was very important as we have learnt that a product we have designed to reach out to a specific audience has actually reached a much wider audience.

I feel the audience have reacted with much more enthusiasm and than I originally expected. I have received an overwhelming amount of praise regarding our music video and feel that we have created an identifiable music video which has a wider audience than intended.

Original judges
In the early stages of construction we recieved audience feedback and it was concluded that the original judges looked to young therefor we decided to reshoot with an older pannel.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Throughout all the stages of my product I have kept and online journal of my research planning, construction and evaluation stages in the form a blog. This allowed me to show the development of my product through a media product itself.

Research

To begin our project we began researching existing media products similar to the one we were hopefully going to produce. This consisted of analysis of the conventions of successful media products. We narrowed our search down and began to look into depth at music videos that used conventions such as black and white effects, slow motions and a similar narrative. To look at the videos we found that the Internet site, you tube was the best resource. This allowed us to search directly for a specific video. However this all had to be done at home as we are unable to access YouTube in school due to Gateshead council regulations and the stringent firewall.

We also carried out audience research in the form of a questionnaire which formed the construction of our music video. We questioned 20 females aged 10-18 which was are target audience and designed out music video specifically on the results.

Also in the research stage we found it useful to look at previous A level media products, we did this by looking a students blog’s this allowed us to look at the standard of previous work produced by students of a similar ages. We also looked at the ancillary texts that accompanied the main product.

We then began to research digipacks and promotional posters; this was easily done by using the search engine Google. We also looked at a range of Digipacks and Posters applying semiotic analysis to explore how meaning was established.


Planning

In the planning stages to get used to the cameras we decided to shoot a sequence from Get Carter. We studied its construction first then we took a camera out and acted out a sequence trying to match the correct camera angles and shots. This was vital as we had never used a video camera before. This enabled us to experiment with framing and shooting.

In the planning stages we found it was useful to go out and take pictures of the locations we were going to shoot at. This helped us plan where we were going to place the cameras on the day of the shoot.

In one of our big shoots we drew up a shooting plan this was very specific and was printed out for every member of they group this allowed no confusion and let us minimise the amount of time and fuss. We had to organise 200 students into a seating arrangement and shoot various sequences in only 15 minutes. We found that the planning preparations contributed significantly to the success of this shoot. This was also pasted on my blog to show our successful planning technique.

Sarah and I also produced an animatic which was a series of images in the form of a story board where we filmed and edited in the way our final product would look. We used transitions in the editing stages just as we would in our final product and this gave us an idea on how it would look and a guide to follow. We found that this was extremely useful in the success of our product. I have also posted it onto my blog.

My blog was also very useful in showing the process and progress I had made during the project and showed the development clearly.

Construction

In the construction stage of our project we decided to use a maximum of 3 cameras during our shooting this enabled us to have shoots from different angles which would give us more variety in our editing stage. We used two tripods that were still and one tripod on wheels which allowed us achieved panning shots, this shows in our final media product as we have a rang of different shooting techniques.

To edit our final product, my role being the editor I decided to use Imovie, this is very simple editing software which had all of necessary transitions and effects I wished to use. To begin with I worked from our storyboards and animatic to produce a rough cut. I sifted through 12 hours of footage and condensed it down to 6 minutes of our best clips. After that it was my job to closely look at the sequence order and move clips around in order to make our music video as smooth and realistic as possible, whilst at the same time establishing a dramatic narrative. When filming we used a minimum of two cameras at all times therefore I had to look at the different angles of the same shot and put them together seamlessly. I then condensed our music video again now down to three minutes which was the length of our chosen track.
I decided on adding a black and white effect to all of our clips and also added slow motions to specific dancing clips to add the effective that she is determined to succeed. All of the transitions I have used are simple fades this minimises the attention drawn to the transitions and we felt it was the best way as it made our music video run smoothly and because of the high quality of footage I did not need to lots of editing applications in Imovie. To finalise our video we converted it to Final Cut express where we added our soundtrack.

For my print work I have used Photoshop to edit the photos we have taken. After spending one weeks work experience in a professional photography studio and having studied Art and Design at A level I found I have acquired many skills that allowed me to produce a dynamic piece of print work. The area in which the photographs were taken had the right amount of artificial lighting which allowed us to use just the flash on the camera to achieve a correctly lit photograph this meant that I didn’t have to adjust the levels on Photoshop.

In my print work I have used a photo with a specific backdrop that represents a working class background through mise-en-scene. I have used a subway tunnel which is full of graffiti. I have challenged the forms and conventions of a media product by having the background in colour and the girl in black and white. This shows a link but a separation of the two parts to the image. The audience can read that she is from a working class background but can and has moved on or been separated from that social status and has been accepted for who she is.


Evaluation

In the evaluation stages I have used a digital video camera to record the views and comments made by the audience our music video was screened to, this allowed us to show first hand how they reacted directly after watching our music video, and we were able to capture initial reaction, which was very positive. This helped us look at our audience and showed us which parts of our music video were particularly good.

I have also made my blog public which will allow people to follow my blog which allowed anyone to look at our work and comment.
Throughout this process I have worked very closely with my team members and have very much enjoyed the project management aspects of this work. My organisational, problem solving skills and ability to produce high quality media products have been very much enhanced by this challenge.

Final Video

Final Printwork

This is my front cover and spine of the digipak

This is my inside cover of my digipak

This is my back cover of the Digipak

This is my poster.

Print work development

This image will be used as my main cover for the my digipak
changes to original image include:

• black and white


• brightness and contrast


• change to levels


• colour on the background has been brought back through and the hue has been adjusted to show a slightly differnt colour range.

I have decided to use a 4 panel digipak.

Poster

I have research posters that are relevant which has been promoted by HMV
This poster is promoting cherly cole and has the HMV logo on.

Still Images

We decided that we should go back to one of our previous locations to take still images for our print work, and because we only have a few shots of the subway location we felt that this would be the most effective. We also believe that the graffiti would add and edge whereas a plain background wouldn't.

We found that the images came out extremely well and that the graffiti for the background was and excellent representation of her working class background.

Editing-Transitions and Effects

To edit the music video I have used Imovie. This is a simple piece of editing software which allowed me to work from our Animatic and put our clips into a sequence which worked well with the music. I was then able to add the black and white effect onto each clip. Then i looked at each clip in detail and changed the speed of the clips.
I have worked with a total of 5 hours of filming and condensed it down to 3.08 minutes. After this process i exported the film into final cut to add the final soundtrack.

Black and White- My role is to edit the music video, after looking at the inspiration for our music video we had all agreed that our music video should be in black and white, once changing a clip to black and white we were reassured that this should be how our music video should look, after applying the black and white effect to all out clips we found it looked more professional
Transitions - I have applied a simple cross dissolve as the transitions as i didn't want the music to look as if there was to much going on. I feel that the simple transition allows the audience to concentrate more on the music video than fancy transitions.
Slow Motion - We also agreed that the shots should be slow motion, after slowing some shots down i found that some needed to be slowed more than others therefor i had to go through each individual clip and decided how slow to make the clips
Bringing the colour back through - After applying the black and white effect to all the clips i decided to play around with the effect of color coming back through which is shown in Beyonce- Broken-hearted girl music video. I decided that the colour should gradually come back through as she is becoming more confident and succeeding. I have added a little more saturation on each clip so that there isn't a very obvious change.
we wanted our music video to look continuous and for our audience to look at the dancing and the narrative rather than their eye catching a complicated transitions. I felt that a simple fade would be all that was necessary for our music video

Rough Cut

This is a rough cut of our music video, i have positioned all the clips similar to our animatic, this shows us roughly how or music video will look.

Shooting Plan

Our main video shoot required many people and we had to organise this correctly in order for everyone to know what they were doing. we printed a plan out for each group member therefor it minimises fuss and reduced the time it actually took to shoot the sequence.

Jade, Sarah and Shauni – filming The Plan

"We have brought you here today to help with the filming of one of the media studies groups. The story line is about a girl who goes to a dance audience but fails and this is the scene of the dance show she was not chosen for. She has come to the final show anyway and notices the audience are just watching and average performance and decides to jump up herself and steal the show. We will now stage a number of shots of you the audience, we will be grateful if you could participate, and follow our direction.

We will only be taking close up shots of those people who have already agreed, so no one should feel embarrassed because you are just a background crowd."

All audience
Shot of audience looking bored, clapping and looking around not very interested
Shot of Jade standing up and pushing through audience and coming down stairs audience looking confused and surprised
Standing ovation (screaming and clapping)
Shocked reaction shots (audience surprised looking around

Dismiss half the audience
Reaction shots of:
Mrs Wake
Mrs Parnell
Mrs Hopkinson
Mr Davidson
Stu and Mick

I found that with our shoot went exactly to plan and were pleased with the outcome. I believe this only worked because of the preparation that had gone into it before hand.

Locations

We have chosen many varied locations which are iconic to the North East. We have several different Mise en scene chosen specifcally to encahnce the quality of our music video.
-School Stage- We have used the school stage to shoot the audition shots and also the final showcase, the stage looks very professional and the final audience shot allows us to create the feeling that there is many people watching.
-Beach - We have chosen the beach becasue it is a vast area where the girl can be free, we have used this area to let the girl dance around and relise her dreams.
- Millenium bridge - We have chosen this location because it is very iconic to the North East, we feel that we should have shots of the Girl Dancing infront of the Sage Gateshead becuase it is a iconic music building.
-Subway - We have chosen this location to show the background the girl comes from, we believe that this grafetti subway shows why she is fighting and the area she is fighting to get out of.





-School Hall- This was used for our main shoot where we fimled out audience.

Final Song Choice

initially we had chosen to use the instrumental version of Sigur Ros - hoppipolla, as well as chicane's radio mix of this song - poppiholla. We were going to mix the two versions of this song together, the final song will start slow and gradually build tempo towards the end of our music video.
However after trying to mix the two songs together we realised the contrast between the two pieces of music's tempo was to big. We could not mix the two songs together without there being a very obvious mix.
We have chosen a music specifically with no words as this allows the audience to watch the music video in depth without listening to much to words. I believe that the music is very inspirational and will let the audience relate it to their own lives and ambitions.

Anamatic

We have produced an animatic by filming our storyboard and editing the clips together to give a rough image of how our music video will be put together.

Inspiration

For our music video our narrative is a girl from a working class background trying to succeed, she has been rejected because of her social class but comes back any way to show that no matter where you are from you can succeed. We have chosen to use a dancing audition to portray our narrative. We have looked at many different dancing videos and trailers for inspiration.

Billy Elliot - i love to boogie scene - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQS59C3sYAA

Step up 2 - trailer - http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1253179673/

Save the last dance - trailer - http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi813760793/

- inspiration from narrative, poor girl from a working class background.

Gerri haliwell- fame

Alisha Dixon- breathe slow

Popiholla
Inspiration for music video following black and white conventions, slow motion.

Beyonce - broken-hearted girl

This music video starts in black and white then gradually builds to colour towards the end as her mood and the narrative changes.

Video practice – Get Carter

In Preparation for filming our music we have decided to film a sequence from Get Carter, we recreated the scenes from Get Carter which allowed us to help us get used to filming with the new cameras, we practiced a range of shots from long shots to extreme close ups and also experiment with framing, we have recreated the scenes from Get Carter.

Research and Preparation

Storyline
- Poor/less off working class girl attends audition for dance production
- A number of other girls who are, neat, tidy & precise are an obvious threat to girls chances of succeeding
- The girl fails, & the other girls look down on her, snobby attitude
- Girl is really upset, feels really down, walks home alone, head down
- Goes home & cries on her bed
- Decides to stop feeling sorry for herself
- Goes out and practices dancing around her local area, in front of landmarks
- Plucks up the courage to go and attend the show she was meant to be in, with an idea in mind
- Sits in audience and realises people around her aren’t very impressed with show
- Jumps up from her seat and runs onto stage
- Intrudes on the other girls performance & puts audience at shock
- Other girl leaves stage & she starts to dance
- The room fills with a stand ovation
- The girl finish’s with a bow, to conclude her determination, happiness & success.
Moral of the story, don’t give up on your dreams, follow your heart & if you put your mind to it you can succeed despite your social status.





Stage 3

stage 2



Stage 1

After looking at our questionnaire results we have put together as storyline that reflects what our target audeince wants.



Questionnaire

We distributed our questionnaire out to 20 girls aged 10-18 as this was our target audience.

Roles






Idea 2

This is our second idea where we decided to use the song "poppiholla" by chicane. We thort that this song would be more inspirational and we would be able to fit an obvious narrative to it.

Idea 1

This was our original idea, we were particually interested in using the song "Funhouse" by pink. we thought this song would be a playful song to work with.

A level brief

In my A Level Project i am working in a group with Sarah and Shauni we are filming a music video and we each have individual responsibility's.Shauni will be directing the music video,Sarah will be filming our music video,I will be editing the music video.we have chose to produce a promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music video, together with the following- a cover for its release as part of a digipack- a magazine advertisement for the digipack

Reflective summary of year 12

In year 12 i produced a front cover, contents page and a two page article of a magazine. I gained photo shop, photography and editing knowledge. I learnt about the different photo angles along with framing. I didn't plan my project very well as i was left with lots of practical work at the end of my project, and in this year will plan it out a lot better.

I am going to develop on my photography and photo shop skills along with learn how to use digital movie cameras, filming and editing.

This year for my media project i will be producing a music video and working part of a team with Sarah Mcgill and Shauni Rogerson.

Evaluation

In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product?
My media product is similar to existing products in many ways, but also challenges the conventions of a real media product. Like other magazines such as Q, Pop and Rolling Stone, my product has a bar code, a price range similar to the music magazines I have analysed. My layout is simple and standard like some of the magazines I have looked at with a bar at the bottom with text in. Also the images I have used have been chosen to make the magazine sell. I have used a pose that my target audience will be attracted to as well as the use of bright colours to appeal to my target audience. I have also used colloquial language such as slang and regional accents that relates to my target audience, just like existing products. For my article I have followed conventions by using columns, as well as having pictures in the article. I have also produced a page with just a picture of the artist and a short paragraph on her which is to be just before the article. This is what similar to some magazines. However I have challenged forms and conventions of a real media product as I have put a picture of my artist behind the article. This is not seen often in a music magazine and I like how the picture behind the article draws the reader in to read the writing not just look at the other pictures. I have also used a black and white picture which has connotations of style which will draw the readers in.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My product represents teenage females as a social group as I have included interviews and story’s that females would aspire to have. My product represents teenage females positively and young people are represented by a vibrant fashionable, likeable way, shown in my product. I don’t feel my product would appeal to a male gender as there are gossip columns for females. I don’t feel my product appeals to a certain social group such as Goths as it appeals to people who are more interest pop music. It represents young middle class girls who like vibrant pop music and can afford to buy the music and clothing associated with it.


What kind of media institution might distribute product and why?
I believe there is gap in the market for my product however I don’t think any of the publishers would distribute my product as it is significantly different to all of the products on the market today. I think the use of technology in my product challenges the products already on the market, for example the background image used behind text on my article page, and unfortunately because this is a minority I don’t think it would be accepted. However if a big publishing company like Bauer, publisher of Mojo and Q were to publish my magazine it would widen their market because of my magazines unique style and content and the target audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
My media product appeals to a whole range of both genders but within that there us a specific audience. As my product is pop-orientated it is generally aimed at age 14-17 year old females. My magazine is £1.49 monthly which would be affordable for young people without a job to buy.

How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract my audience I firstly gave out a questionnaire to find out what my audience would like to see on a new music magazine.
I have used ‘Hooks’ for stories on the front cover to help attract people to read inside. I have used the title Beat which has connotations of music orientation people, also represents a strong and likable person.
I decided on a model I would use to be the main feature of my magazine which would also have an article based around. My audience will identify with the lifestyle it promotes which is becoming rich and famous and I have used a similar aged model to add to this appeal. I have used a female model that is sexually attractive to sell the magazine, as women have been conditioned into aspiring to that lifestyle and appearance. My audience will look to my product for a sense of personal identity and possible aspire to be like some of the people feature in the magazine, or their lives and problems me reflect the lives of the artists featured, so I am exploiting the theory of uses and gratifications. Which is why my article is about a down to earth artist from Newcastle and the interview is full of colloquial language, which will immediately attract a wide readership because she is not ‘out of reach’ so people can relate to her. Also I have chosen to tell the story about the poor girl who loves football who makes it big as a star. Many young girls will aspire to be like the artist and it also shows they may have a chance. I have also included articles and features that appear on my front cover and contents pages, in response to the questionnaire I conducted. My product I have used colloquial language to attract the audience as they can relate to it. Throughout my magazine I have used a colour scheme that represents the audience survey to attract my audience.

I Showed copies of my magazine to my target audiene and they were veyr enthusiastic about my product, my friend Sarah said " This product lookes very realistic and i would definatly buy it if it were a real magazine!"

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout my project I have learnt several various things about technologies. In my work I have represented many of these and they are clearly shown in my final pieces. By using Photoshop I have learnt about digital image manipulation. I have also learnt how to cut a picture out using the magic wand tool, which takes the background of a photo out. I use the rubber tool to go around the edge of my model and take away and of the rough edges. This can be done in many ways with a soft of hard rubber depending on what was suitable. I also used the sponge tool which smoothed the edges and blended them into the background.
With the images I have used I have played around with the levels, brightness and contrast and colour balance; all of which enhance my final product.
By using the levels it made the picture seem more bright or darker. I also used it to fade and image out. All of the images I have placed on my final piece have had the colour balance slightly adjusted, this makes my model seem more tanned which many models on the front of a magazine are. I have adjusted all my images I have used to give them a luminosity to make them eye-catching. I have learnt how to adjust the colours after desaturating the image. As with the CD cover which is present on my article. I have played with the tools to make a certain features in the image such as her eye makeup darker. In the black and white image I have made the models lips pink, and her iris’ blue. I achieve this by painting over the selected area in the colour I wanted and then adjusted it by making it slight transparent, which helped make the image more realistic.
On my front cover I used a tool to pick out colours of the main image and use it for some text on the cover. This is what magazine editors tend to do.
On my article I have changed the levels to slightly fade an image out, to enable it to be suitable to use as a background which allowed the text to be clearly read.
Also using Photoshop I used drop shadows on the text which are present on my products and also on some of the images.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From the progression of the preliminary task to the full project I have learnt vastly. This is due to close analyses of current conventions, forms and genre of existing products since my preliminary work. I have studied magazines to see what kind of images, text and presentation they use to appeal to their target audience, and I then researched my audience. I have also looked at theatrical concerns in terms of audience response. I have used a questionnaire to assist me whilst making my magazine cover and also researched contents pages and articles, taking particular notice to the detail put in the structure and layout of the piece, and worked out what worked well and what didn’t, and how I could use this inspiration in my piece. This helped me design a product that would challenge current magazines in an existing realistic marketplace.
By doing this research I have learnt how to manipulate images and how to make them stand out. I also made text stand out by using drop shadows and by using whole range of Photoshop tools I made judgments and decisions as to colour choice, text styles, and choice of language, structure and layout to suit my target audience.

Final Product

Flat Plans