Question 6 and 7

Question 7 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this progress?

When starting the project, in terms of programmes, I had very minimal experience with Photoshop and none with InDesign. As well as this, I had never set up a formal photo shoot or come any where near close to conducting research this extended. Looking back at the preliminary task shows just how basic my knowledge started off as but now you can see a vast improvement in the quality of the production (the music magazine) and the overall appeal this would have on an audience.

Photography
To kick off the project I organised two photo shoots, both opportunity models who volunteered to star in the magazine. Firstly, I looked to my family, my two cousins to be exact who would become the main images on both my front cover and contents page as the infamous seaside band "Ebony Rose". The second photo shoot consisted of my lovely, hard working friends who eventually became, a seaside band once again, called "Road to Riverside" in the main article of my double page spread. The photo shoots both took place in the same weekend and over this duration I have developed the following skills:

• Camera Work: When setting up the shots I had to take into account composition, positioning of the models and the effectiveness of their overall setting. I had to effectively direct my very obliging models into various positions according to their setting, for example, my main article included the phrase "Make Love Not War" in graffiti in the background. This laid the foundation of the where the models could placed around it and become part of this urban setting. Using a long shot revealed their surroundings and makes the audience feel part of this. This also reflects the article I have written to compliment the band and is typical of artists within the  folk music genre to be staged. Different shots were appropriate for the varied pages in the music magazine, so this had to be taken into account before setting out on the shoot.
• Time Management: Before setting out on the photo shoot I had created a schedule to try and keep the group on track when we were on location so that all the photos needed could be collected as well as breaks so that the models did not become too drained. All of the photography was taken on foot and so need a rough estimate of how long we spend in each location and how many photos would be adequate for the post production process.
• Costume and Make Up: All of the models were dressed accordingly to the music genre and the urban setting where the photos would be taken. The costume was smart casual clothing all kept consistent by the red, white and black colour scheme. This also complimented the house style in the actual production of the magazine.
• The Camera Itself: I used a Lumix digital SLR camera, mainly because of it's high definition quality but also because of the manual control over the focusing and aperture setting. If needed, I could use selective focusing (e.g. when shooting single people or concentrating on a compacted group without the inclusion of the setting) or deep focusing (e.g. when including the surroundings or more than one person). I also had control over the aperture settings which helped with the varying lighting of the outdoors.

InDesign
Before a couple of months ago, I have not come across the programme InDesign so this has been completely new. When I originally created the college magazine in the preliminary task, I picked up basic tools. However, the most challenging sections of the programme were it's use of separate selection tools. The most commonly used tool for this project was the Type Tool. One of the most advanced ways that I tried to use the tool, was to create the mast head ligature.

Photoshop
I have had very little previous experience in Photoshop so have had to become familiar and learn new tools on the programme. This includes the basics such as using layers, but some of the major improvements have been made by learning the task bar and drop down menus provided. Colour changes are inserted as separate layers and can alter the contrasting dimensions of the photo which suits the folk/indie music genre. The side bar have the most basic but most essential tools. The most commonly used are:

• Text Tool - For the purposes of the music magazine this was not always necessary but for decorative text that requires more control over it's design, this can be very useful.
• Selection Tool - This was one of the most commonly used tools that I edited my images with, whether cutting areas of a photo away, or using this to create more layers on InDesign. The settings that go along with the tool allow accurate selection for the photo for example, offering the option of a varied size brush.
• Lasso and Magnetic Lasso - When working with simpler backgrounds, this can be a quick and easy selection tool.
• Crop Tool - If the images needed aligning, then using the crop tool can help make the image more central, for example, the main image had to be cropped so that the face scale was accurate for the front cover and the face was positioned in the middle.
• Filters - On all of the photos the filters help to create a consistent house style by selecting the most prominent colours and applying to the image. In most of the photos, this actually complements the original photos by adding depth to the tone of the overall image, emphasising the contrasting colours of costume and setting or the basic facial features on the close-up shots.
• Blur Tool - I have only used this in one instance for the main article. This allowed me to create a blurred halo around the photo, possibly an example of selective focusing except established in the post production stage.

From researching the target audience I have learnt a great deal about the different representations and how these are formed with the conventions of other mainstream music magazines. This can be dependent on the genre of music, the age of the audeience, gender or individual style of the audience.
My music magazine is targeted at both genders, but the age range is around 16 - 21 which has been represented in a number of ways. This includes:

• The content of the article, which is informal and describes the lives of artists that would most likely have a fan base in this age range.
• The music artists - the bands that I have included in my music magazine are part of a similar age range to the audience which makes it easy to relate to and invite the audience to the lives of others currently their age or to act as role models for them to asire to

Question 6 - Look back at the preliminary task (the college magazine), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
When I first started the music magazine project, I had not had any experience or even heard of the programme before so I used available online resources such as Youtube to find demonstrations and tutorials on the tools featured on Indesign. This is one of the most helpful in the process. Above in Question 7 I have outlined my own knowledge of the programme and the most commonly used tools.