I feel like I have honed my skills in
Photoshop massively throughout this task.
Mise-en-scene and camerawork: In retrospect from my preliminary I have
realized that my Photoshop skills were very limited starting this project. My preliminary was created to test my skills
and attempt to create a baseline regarding my proficiency. I feel my camerawork
and Mise-en-scene
used in my final product has improved massively and has been performed to a
much higher standard in comparison. I have learnt how to model and style my
models to fit my magazine genre. In my preliminary magazine the models looked
uncomfortable and out of place, no in my final product they give off an air of
confidence and look in place regarding the genre they derive from. My front
covers mise-en-scene
was very limited and almost non existent. I had gone into the studio on a whim
and decided I needed images. This resulted in my preliminary images to have
little to no relevance and not having much thought put into. I wanted to
advertise for pupils at the school for a school magazine, this meant I knew I
wanted to use students at the school for the front cover however as I had
limited knowledge on school magazines I had very little ideas for how to
position my models and what to do with them. This is in contrast to my final
product which has been constantly thought through and where mise-en-scene
is at the forefront of my mind. I made sure the person I used as a model look
natural in front of the camera and would remain in confidence instead of
looking shy or awkward. My model is also wearing a band hoodie as to relate and
draw in more readers interested in these genres of music. The model’s hair is
also important, it is styled in a way popular and prevalent in more mainstream
emo subcultures as an attempt to draw in a bigger crowd of following from
around the country. This change in stylization shows explicitly the
improvements made from my preliminary mock up in regards to the stylization of
my models. During my preliminary I also had lots of problems with artificial
light. I was only using one light to compose my images causing a dark grey
shadowy effect when creating my magazine that I decided to incorporate
throughout it. This in my opinion sets the wrong mise-en-scene for my preliminary product. It
shows a negative, dark and unwelcoming approach to what should be a happy and
welcoming school magazine. This was a big problem throughout my work, the use
of black and white mean that shadows made everything. Shadows could change the
tone of my images completely in no time at all. This was why I learnt the light
manipulation tools in Photoshop, they helped my edit the mise-en-scene
of my images to give them a calming and relaxed feel when complimented by the
soothing blue of my colour
scheme. This effect also allowed me to change the tone of other images, making
them darker and fit in more with the punk and emo theming of my final product.
My preliminary image was also a very basic pose with quite an off the cuff and
random appearance. This gave my preliminary an unprofessional and unappealing
look. My final product however was the divergence of this, it made use of
leveling with the camera being lower than the subject to give the model an
appearance of grandeur. This look of importance is a common trait in emo and punk album
covers meaning that readers would notice similarities and want to buy the
product as it is relatable and has traits common throughout the genre.
Text arrangement and editing: I learnt
through my preliminary work that the text arrangement of my magazine is key
towards its progress. In order for my product to be believable I needed the
text arrangement to be natural and not look disjointed in comparison to
standard magazines. I learnt this as my preliminary’s text was very limited
with little in the way of product. My preliminary product used a default font
from Photoshop. This font is quite recognizable and makes it so that my
preliminary magazine would not stand out of be easily distinguishable from
other forms of media. I altered this in my final product by using fonts
especially selected for my magazine through a website called DaFont.
This allowed my text arrangement to stand out and not blend in with other
magazines on the market. The masthead and title font I used is reminiscent of
the hand drawn fan-zine style prevalent through out the 80’s. This detail and
care is what separates my preliminary from my final product. My preliminary has
very little thought about marketing and audience profiling throughout whereas
my final product has had all the fonts and page layouts meticulously selected
to benefit my project and audience. I have also gone for a more minimal
appearance regarding my final product, this gives my magazine a less cluttered
approach and also allows the reader to fully digest information, getting a feel
for the stylization and format of my magazine. On the other hand my Preliminary
has a cluttered arrangement. This in my opinion gives my preliminary an
unprofessional and messy appearance, letting readers disregard the information
inside and not fully showing effort has been made and taken in order to create
the highest product available. I have also realized that my preliminary helped
me understand the correct layout of a magazine. My preliminary only includes 8
pages. This is obviously not enough for a genuine magazine free or paid. In my
final product I had realized that a free magazine: although not having an
extensive array of pages did in fact have to contain a baseline minimum of
pages. Through reading fan-zines I noticed the average magazine only contained
around 20 to 35 pages. This was my deciding factor when it came to my final
product. I wanted to make my magazine a feasible amount of pages long creating
a sense of realism and also showing I understood the conventions of the genre.
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