Preliminary Task 

My magazine would represent a specific audience who in this case would be young teenagers as it is a school magazine. A young boy would be presented on the front cover and then another two would be presented in the contents page, this would show that my audience would be teenagers as it would represent the younger  generation. My main text would attract my target audience as it is clearly legible for all of the school to see and read my magazine cover, this would allow/enable more people of any specific reading age to be able to read and understand the cover of my magazine. An area of improvement when representing a social group would be i could have added more color into my magazine this would be an improvement as more people would be attracted to my magazine this way with the bright eye catching colors being on display, i have only used very basic colors on my magazine but in order to represent more of my target audience i would need to add more colors into my work.

My magazine cover looks very professional and was designed using adobe in-design, this pro gramme would allow me to create a effective concept/prototype for my preliminary task. I have also used the pro gramme Photoshop to make adjustments to my front cover in terms f exposure and underexposure, i have chosen to use a gradient on my models face to create a contrast and to make it look more professional and to show that i am able to use other pro gramme's to edit and manipulate my photographs, I have made no other manipulations to this image however in my main task i will want to use Photoshop more to manipulate images and make my magazine unique and stand out.

The photography used on my magazine was taken by me, the first picture is a medium close shot of a peer/class mate we have used a professional background by being resourceful and using a backdrop and lighting to make the photo a better quality and easy to manipulate if chosen to do so. i have chosen a medium close up as it shows the face of my model clearly and also would be in the specification of the preliminary task. On my contents page I have used a medium close up 2, allowing two people in the shot to give a contrast in skin complexion and to alternate from my front page of the magazine. I have used a professional camera to gain the best results as it would look more professional and would.

Using these particular technology I have been able to expand my knowledge upon the manipulating of photo's using either Photoshop or adobe in design ,using these two programmes I will be to manipulate photos with very little knowledge upon the two applications.

EVALUATION -

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Research

Photography Research
In today's lesson my peers have taught my the basics upon photography, the students that taught me were/are photography students and have good knowledge upon the subject, from the slideshow I have learnt four ways that i can implement in my own work


Overexposed - An overexposed photo would be when the image has been exposed to too much light and would make the photo very bright and would not be aesthetically pleasing, this would mean that the photo would not be able to be attractive and would not be eye-catching for my target audience. A example photo would be; as you can see, the image is very bright and would not be very clear as the visual effects from the sun would be overpowering and would create a very sensitive photo.



Underexpose - An underexposed photo would be when the image is dark when tampering with the contrast and exposure of the photo, and underexposed photo would not allow a clear image and may not be visible clearly for the target audience to see, A hard magazine to view would not be beneficial to me as my magazine would not be attractive as it would be too dark. A example photo would be; as you can see from this picture, this photo is underexposed, the shadow and the overall image is darker than the overexposed image, and this again could be empowering and you overall not be a great image because it would not be effective.



Depth of field - A depth of field would be when the background would be blurred out, solely focusing on the main image, The empathises the image and would only focus on the main image. the blur would be an effect and would be very good for a magazine cover as the blur would be a good base for the text that would be located on the side of the front cover meanwhile still distinguishing the main image.
a example photo would be;

Medium close up - A medium close up would be a good way to show the face as well as some of the upper body, this specific shot will be good for a magazine cover as it would first of all show the whole face and would also show a close aspect of the face whereas any other shot may restrict the view and would no longer be suitable for a magazine cover.
a example photo would be;
From this photo you can clearly see that, this is a professional photo and all around a good looking photo, it shows facial expressions and also clothing on the top part of the body. This would be amazing for my personal photography as it would fit my magazine well and would also be a perfect medium close up.




Overall I can see that I can use a varied array of these particular photography techniques and methods to create a very professional and very clean edit on a photo, having this would mean that my photography would be tophe end and I can use all of what I have learnt today to create a very nice image. I may use some of these techniques in my own magazine on purpose to create an effect on my models face. I may also use a underexposed photograph to create a dark and loony image. This may be to fit a house style or to create a sense of mystery around my actor. I may use a underexposed image to crate a more visible image this would be able to be seen by all of the consumers.

Magazine Drafts

 To the left and right of the screen are two draft attempts I have created when thinking about my magazine front cover, the draft to the left consists of a dominating main image with sub headings that would be going down the left hand side of the page. This would be easily visible for the consumer and wold allow them to understand what is in the magazine when looking ing one place. the right side of the page would show a unusual design with the masthead running through the  idle of the main image.

 This is the main image that I have chosen as it would be once again main image dominated. This would proudly show off the model that I have chosen and would also be clearly visible for the consumers to see what the title of the magazine is called. The masthead would be quite large. My magazine would have used some codes and conventions as well. The use of subheadings and a barcode is a existing theme running through many existing school magazines. I believe that I will be using a medium close shot to show my models face and facial expressions effectively. The use of subheadings would make my magazine front cover more busy, this would also make my magazine look more professional and realistic. I believe that the title I have chosen "Educate" will fit well at the masthead spot that is clearly shown below.

 The two drawings here are attempts at a contents page that I have considered when creating my preliminary task. The option to the left would show a large dominating image with text on the left with the text. This would allow the reader to clearly distinguish what the contents are and who is going to be in the magazine (e.g. main image) The image to the right of the screen would show the contents being listed on the bottom of the screen this would be different and unconventional.

My chosen contents page has the title in the top right hand corner of the page, this would show the consumers that it is the title of the page. The image would be dominating once more and would be a medium close hip therefore the consumer would be able to look into the eyes of the model with my intended pose being one that my model would look into the camera creating an illusion that the model is looking at the consumer which would make it more personal.

In this lesson I will be drafting 3 alternative ideas upon my magazine’s tittle name, when selecting my tittle name I must find a balanced name that will be recognizable as well as informative upon what my magazine is about. I will be stating 3 different ideas as this will give me a good variety and a large selection when finally choosing my last magazine tittle template. Each of my three titles will be a different genre as this will again give me diversity and a unique selling point. 

This will gain me a larger audience as although my magazine is strictly a school magazine my title can give a hint/indication as too what is inside my magazine, after looking at existing magazines i have came up with the following five magazine names;

• AHS Intake

I have chosen this as a possible option as it would be a very direct title that would grab the readers attention. It would also indicate that through the magazine the consumer would intake information. I have also chosen the initials to be on the start of the title as it would make the magazine more representable of my target audience. 

• Acton NewsFlash

I have chosen Acton NewsFlash as it would show that my magazine would educate the consumers as to what is going on inside of the school. "News flash" would also infer that the news would be fast and the consumer would be able to be up to date quickly.

• AHS MIX

AHS would once again stand for the name of my school. "Mix" would show the wide variety of news topics that the magazine would cover during the magazine entireity. Topics such as Sports, grades and social life will Al be featured in the magazine and therefore "Mix" would be fitting.

• Pupil Forum

The pupil forum would traditional allow students to converse and reflect with each other, this may mean that my magazine would allow the consumers to be actively involved in the magazine and with each other. The "pupil" would be more direct and would attract the consumer.

• Educate

A short title that would be both catchy and recognisable. The word could mean two things, one being that the magazine would educate them in what is happening inside of school and could also mean in a schooling term as that it what the consumers would be in school to do. Overall I belive that this is the title I would choose as the length and meaning of the word would be both different and would be aesthetically pleasing when being looked at by my target audience. 

Having five names will give me a vast array of people to choose from, this would allow me to choose the suitable name from the selected few i have chosen. overall this would help me create the best name for my magazine.

In this lesson I have taken a couple of photos that would showcase my photography skills, I have a lack of knowledge when it comes to gating photos so this would be a new experience for me and would mean  my photos would not be those of a high standard, however the photos I have taken would help me develop my skills in the future and hopefully will make my magazine overall better. From these photos I have learnt that I would need a professional camera to make my photographs look much more professional, This would make my end product very worthwhile as all of the shots would be those of a high standard. Making my magazine look very clean and precise.

From this attempt at a medium close up shot it is clear to see that my photography skill are not at a peak. I have chosen to take the photograph with a black backdrop, this would be due to me trying to experiment with alternative backdrops that I believe would be effective while making my preliminary task. The equipment I have used would be a DSLR camera which allows me to take high quality pictures that I would be able to use in my making of the preliminary task. I found the organisation of models to be easy, this would be due to me using models that would be willing to participate. I found re creating different shots difficult as this would be my first time using a DSLR camera. I would develop my skills by practising taking photos at similar angles using a range of models and poses.

In this attempt I have chosen an alternative camera angle and pose, this would be to add a variety of images to test my abilities in taking photographs. The equipment I have chosen throughout the shoot would be the same DSLR camera. I n my opinion this image would look worse due to the fact that the background is not completed properly and therefore looks sloppy and un professional. In the next photograph I take I will remove the backdrop entirely to create variance once again. However, I think this is a more accurate attempt at a medium shot as it shows more of the upper body of my actor and allows a pose to be used effectively as the viewer can see more of the models body.









This is attempt number 3 which entails another medium close up which i believe is more successful when compared to previous attempts. However I believe that this is a weaker attempt as no backdrop is used and therefore would make the photograph look unprofessional and unworthy to be used in the making of a magazine. Depth of field has been used in this specific photograph and looks effective as the background around the model is not the main focus of the image and would look effective due to no backdrop being present. I believe that this photograph was the easiest to be taken as it would take less organisation and is more natural compared to the previous two images. I found difficult to get good lighting. In the future I must ensure that I use studio lighting to get the perfect image, as this image would be underexposed in my opinion.

NOV

5

From my print screens you can see that I have made and designed two surveys that will hopefully enable me to create a better understanding of what I need to do in order to create a successful magazine that my target audience will enjoy and hopefully find entertaining. Above is an online survey using the website Surveymonkey.co.uk whilst the second is exactly the same question wise but then printed out so that I can receive a hard copy of the data I will receive from the online surveys. I did this to eliminate any for of weakness one may have compared to the other. It was more time consuming, however, the results I believe will be more accurate due to this.

In addition to this I also interviewed an ex-student of the school in order to achieve a greater understanding on what the students of the school would have liked when they were here now that they do not have the opportunity to help us in creating the product of a magazine for the school. In the interview I asked the same questions that I asked the current students in order to get a set of results that were compatible with the rest. This in turn will aid in the collection of results when I use all of them to describe what form of target audience I have. 

In order to gain information on my target audience and actually gain a target audience I believe that the best course of action is to hand out a survey to individuals to understand what they want me to create in order to build a set of conventions I can use later on throughout the course whenever I need help with deciding what will be best for the magazine. Another step I could take is that I could interview someone from the target audiences age range, in order to delve deeper into the subject and find out even further what they want from a new product.

In order to create a survey I decided to use an online one as I believe in has a advantage over a hand written one in that it can be created and released to people at an instant that can then be given back at the same speed. In order to create an online survey I turned to the website www.surveymonkey.co.uk. This website will enable me to create a survey that I can use to gain information about my target audience upon what they would like to see in  my magazine. I will use ten questions to narrow down my specific audience and furthermore know what to include in my own magazine. This is because I do not believe people would be willing to answer more than ten in a short amount of time. I believe survey monkey will be easy to use because it allows the responses to be on my account and then I can see them without the use of any external forces. However, there is a con to online surveys in that people may click any response and not worry about the resulting actions taken due to them not writing the questions down. People may also misunderstand the questions put forward to them.

The question I have been thinking about asking are ones surrounding the target audience such as, an age range question; one that incorporates the gender of the individuals; the extracurricular activities of them and also that of their personal preference and interests. I believe that these will be suitable for my questionnaires as it will allow me to have a more specific idea of what my target audience wants me to create and how I can implement them.