September Overview

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Monday 11th September

Aim(s):

Research the types of camera shots used on magazines, websites and billboards.
Research colour schemes used on magazines, websites and billboards.
Look at the types of facial expressions used in images.

This research has developed my understanding on the common camera shots used on these platforms as well as broadening my ideas on the types of shots I can use or feel will be appropriate. The types of shots I want to include will vary depending on the image for example, with photos of products such as makeup I will lean towards close up shots compared with images of a model where I would tend to use a mid to long shot. However, this research has given me the confidence to test out different camera shots and see which I feel are the most suitable for the images I want to produce.

Research into facial expressions has made me look into different 'types' of expressions created by Millum and Ferguson. I have looked into reasons why certain expressions are used and this has developed my knowledge moving forward to taking more images.

Whilst researching colour schemes I have found a variety of different schemes which I could incorporate into my magazine. I am thinking of using a neutral colour scheme with the occasional pop of colour. I also looked specifically at colour schemes used by established magazine and websites based on talent. The website in particular used a background colour of black whereas I was thinking of using white as it is fresh, bright colour. How I will test out different colours to see which look best.

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Tuesday 12th September

Aim:

Research codes and conventions of magazines, websites and billboards.

Types of Lighting

This tasks has ensured that I am aware of common codes and conventions of these different media platforms. I have also looked at codes/conventions that I may not use/follow such as a barcode. There were some conventions which I didn't even think of such as the significance of 'white space' so this task was a great way too look at features that are typically included.

I also looked at different types of lighting that I could use when take my images. I looked at high/low key lighting as well as looking at soft/hard lighting. From this research I think that low key lighting is more suited to the facepaint images to add to the illusion created by natural and soft lighting is more appropriate for beauty images to showcase a natural 'real' view of the person/makeup

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Friday 15th September

Aim(s):

Look back at colour schemes, font and images research to ensure websites and billboards have been included as well as magazines.

Begin to look into the types of magazines that could be competition and explain reasons why.

The main purpose of this lesson was to recap previous tasks ensuring they had been completed for both main and ancillary tasks as research for all elements is just as important. I have also begun to briefly look at similar products and conventions they have used that could be similar to my final product. This will be uploaded when it has been fully completed which I have timetable to be Monday 25th September however, if I can get ahead of task this will be uploaded before the scheduled date (which is my aim)

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Monday 18th September

Aim:

Research into national and regional magazines.

This task has been helpful as it has highlighted the differences between national and regional  magazines. I also understand the reasons for these differences which is predominantly down to the target audience and the scale.

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Tuesday 19th September

Aim:

Create a reader profile and audience profile.

My reader profile contains the basic information such as the price of the magazine as well as the region I am targeting/producing my magazine. This profile also contains other information such as the type of person that I am targeting based on their interests and the genre/contents of the magazine I want to create.

The audience profile contains a more specific idea of the 'look' of my audience.

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Friday 22nd September
Original Aim:
Plan second questionnaire questions.

For this lesson I had planned to create a new set of questions to ask my potential audience about ideas for my magazine. However, looking at tasks scheduled after such as looking at similar products, I feel that the information I would find completing these tasks could help with questions for the interview.

New Aim:

Continue to research into similar products.

This research has widened my knowledge of certain magazines that could be competition both specifically regional magazines as well as a talent based magazine. I have seen techniques and features which I like and dislike which therefore I could potentially use/disuse in my magazine.

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Monday 25th September

Original Aim(s):
Continue to research similar products
Research into the style of language used.





As I have already completed this task due to rearranging my original schedule and therefore I  simply began researching into different styles of language used in magazines and on billboards/websites. This research has helped my begin thinking into the style of language I would want to use in my media products.

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Wednesday 27th September

Original Aim:

Flat plans for media products.

My original plan was to begin to create flat plans for my final media products, however due to not fully forming a solid idea in mind I feel like completing this task now would not be useful. Therefore I will move this task to a later date.

New Aim:

Create a recreation of a billboard of your choice

I have created two billboard recreations due to the difference in skill and style. The first billboard was of Calvin Klein swimwear. This billboard like many of this brand are fairly simply with just an image and the logo. I wanted to recreate this just to the professional and stylish look of the billboard that fits their target audience. The second billboard I created involved showcasing and using different techniques.

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Friday 29th September

Original Aim:

Begin to create a billboard recreation

I had scheduled two/three lessons to complete all recreations scheduled over a period of time due to not knowing how long they would take to make. The billboard recreation took a lot less time than originally planned as I dedicated a solid section of time to complete them.

New Aim:

Create magazine front cover recreation

I completed in a two slot a magazine recreation. I found a similar image used on the original and then found similar fonts on dafont.com to help create a similar look. I created this recreation on Photoshop as I had to use different tools such as duplicate an image to then be able to place it in front of text. This task helped refresh my knowledge of Photoshop that will be important when creating my own magazine cover.

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Review of the month:

This month have completed a lot of tasks not necessarily in the original order but for reasons I have explained. Therefore my next task is to create an updated time schedule of what I actually did in those allocated times.

Tasks needing to be rescheduled is new questionnaire  and reviewing the responses and flat plans for my final products.