Friday 27 April 2012

Final cut- original images

I used the image in my DPS as it was a long shot, which featured in my style model's DPS and I also liked the personality of the image. I posed the model to look as if she was screaming into the camera and to hold open her jacket so her t-shirt could be seen. Alot of thought was put into the costume as the t-shirt has 'bitch' scrawled across it, and this was purposely done to create controversy and to give the model or 'singer' a theme.

Final cut- original images

I used this picture as another 'road crew' image. This image was obviously alot more crafted than the other image featured as the small bio beside it on the contents page says that the model in the picture is a music blogger. This means that they would have posed for pictures before, and like my style model, the magazine uses these posed picture.

Final cut- original images

I used this image on my contents page in the feature 'road crew' as I thought it looked like the ones I had previously seen in other metal magazines. I didn't edit the image as it was supposed to give the magazine a more grounded feel to it and to make it more realistic. I took a close-up so it would look like the picture was taken of one of the 'road crew' fleetingly, as they don't have time to pose for pictures like the musicians featured.

Final cut- original images

I used this in my contents page as I felt that out of all of the images I took with these two models, this certain one had mor epersonality and movement then the rest. The male model, I felt, captured the essence of the 'devil-may-care' attitude seen in other heavy meta magazines and the female model posed defiantly at the camera. In the editing process I changed the colours of the two models hair and upped the saturation so it looked brighter.

Final cut original images

I chose this image to use on the front cover as it was the most striking of the ones I took. I posed the model to look directly at the camera like my style model and focused the camera to make the models hand become blurry and out of focus. This fitted with the conventions of Metal Hammer and other heavy metal magazines. In the editing process I turned the eyes and lips green to tie into the 'army' theme of the front cover and coloured the nails in black to fit more with the specific style of the audience.

Final Cut

Double Page Spread

My DPS is organised into clean columns and is easy to identify the genre of the piece. When I first started my DPS the colour scheme was very different and the font was muchy more gothic, however I thought it would be better to change the font and picture to something more appealing to either gender as the font, although being gothic, was also very feminine.

Final cut

Contents page

In my opinion, the contents page is my strongest point. I feel like the layout mirrors my style models and it looks clean and organised. I also like the 'road crew' feature I added at the bottom of the page. However, similar to my front cover I feel like my editing skills are lacking in the contents page. If I was to improve I would colour all of the models hair blue and not leave any gaps.

Final Cut- front cover

 Front cover

After finishing my final cut and looking at it objectively, overall I am happy with it. However, I wouldn't say that it's the best out of the three pages I produced. If I was to improve my front cover I would re-edit the lips of the model and get rid of the black line at the top of the page. On the other hand I do like how I incorporated a theme into the front cover like my Metal Hammer style model. I also like the fonts used as they all relate to the genre of heavy metal and the specific style tied to it.

Diary entry

Today after an in depth look at the Metal Hammer front covers I realised that all of them have themes they adhere to within the image and fonts. I utilised this by making an 'army, anti- establishment' theme which would tie my magazine to my style model more. After this I did the finishing touches to the whole thing, basically I tidied the layout up and spell checked the articles. I have also created a Facebook group which I will display my finished magazine on to get feedback from students in other media classes.

Thursday 29 March 2012

Diary entry

Yesterday I took more images. From the feedback I have got from the rest of the class and from teachers it has come to my attention that if nothing else, the contents page needs much more work. The images where too blurry and it wasn't organised properly. I took pictures today of models who fit with the genre much more and were more confident in front of the camera. I used the backlight and the flash to make the models look brighter.
 In the editing process I used the magic wand to select one of the models hair and changed the hue/saturation so it would change colour which, form looking through metal magazines occurs rarely either through editing or the models actual hair. It fits with the style of the genre also.

Feedback from roughcut

Liked about my project:
The cover and DPS fonts as they are relevant and fit with the genre 
Article is accurate for the genre as it includes taboo language and lots of slang 
Title of magazine
The layout of DPS
The ambition

What could be improved:
Changing layout of contents page
Changing colour scheme of contents page 
Need to include more detail in contents page
Change picture on contents page
Barcode is too big
Front cover image is too blurry
Need to use a different model for front cover 
Change models costume for front cover 
Page numbers too big
Need to link up the stories on all pages
Front cover too dark

What I have learnt:
My contents page needs ALOT of work and I need to study my style models more
Change the models I used for rough cut as they do not look as if they fit the genre 
Pay more attention to the editing process 
Change colour scheme of contents page 

Monday 26 March 2012

Initial images for magazine

The purpose of uploading these pictures is to show my progress from my rough cut to my final magazine images and how the standrads have changed. I used these images in y rough cut and from the feedback I got, I have learnt that the images are too dark and too blurry. Also I didn't consider the mise en scene f my images or the composition.
 My initial ideas for my metal magazine were to use alot of close ups as they are used heavily in magazines I have looked at so this image above was for that purpose. However the model is too bright and the costume doesn't look right.

This image was used in the contents page of my rough cut and even though it is a good image, it made the contents look too dark and the background didn't add anything to the image.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Diary entry: more images

   
    Today I looked at my images objectively and realised that the images I had taken previously were not up to the standard of the ones I am using for my front page. I decided to take more images so unlike my first attempt I thought about mise en scene and took my images for the double page spread against a white background so it would be much easier to cut out on Photoshop if needs be and was much easier to edit.  I also played around more with the lighting in the shoot and used a faster shitter speed and lower aperture for effect.  The costume I found quite easy as in most of the metal magazines I have looked at, the models are wearing mainly dark clothing so I dressed my model in a leather jacket which has universal connotations of defiance and a ‘don’t care’  attitude.  The positioning of the model was to look straight into the camera and to pose quite boldly, which followed the conventions of the magazines I have looked at previously. Looking back retrospectively I realise the mistakes I have made when first taking my images but I have learnt to always consider the background and mise en scene of an image before taking it.

Thursday 15 March 2012

Diary entry (taking images)

To take a sucessfull image that conformed with the rock metal conventions I had to dress my model in alternative clothing and very dark makeup. By doing this it relates to my target audience and the style that most of them adhere to. I picked my model because she has very long dark hair and was willing to ply around with poses and took direction easily. I took most of my images outside against a white wall, the effect being that it would contrast with the dark clothing and makeup of my model and make her stand out. Symbolically it meant that she was breaking out of the norm- i.e the white background- and subverting the stereotypes of a girly girl by dressing in darker and more alternative clothing. The images were shot handheld and with a flash to highlight the models face.  I also took some against a bright white wall to give the same effect. I used drums as a prop to give the images a musical feel as the model is supposed to be a musician and in the editing process I will contrast them against the background to stand out.

Diary entry (DPS article)

Today I wrote my double page spread article. I influenced it from Metal Hammer magazine's double page spreads and the style they write in. To stick to conventions I included alot of slang and swearing to get across the fact that the interviewee is a non-conformist. The article is in the style of a question and answer interview and alot of the answers reference drinking and having a 'party' lifestyle. The questions featured in the Metal Hammer interviews are all to the point and very blunt so I have tried to incorporate this. I have made the article to have an imformal register so it feels casual like in most heavy metal quiestin style articles.

Wednesday 7 March 2012