Technologies

To develop my music magazine, I've used a variety of new technologies from Photoshop to photoshoots, most of which I have never used before.

To make a record of my progress, I've of course been blogging on http://www.blogger.com/! Although I had never used a blog before, it was very easy to pick up and most of the steps come with instructions and clear labels (how to start a new post, how to save and publish, how to change the layout and template, how to view your blog, and so on). I did not find using the blog challenging although it was new to me, because the tools were very easy to follow and the steps very easy to understand! I've picked up skills along the way regardless of this, for example uploading pictures and editing the colours of my template as as to create an attractive and easy to read blog.

To create my actual pages, I used Adobe InDesign. I had used this program before at GCSE level and therefore already knew the basics of it (how to insert text and images etc.) but to make my music magazine as proffessional looking and as good as I could make it, I needed to develop my skills further. To do this, I first created my Pre-Lim which helped me learn how to use InDesign when creating a magazine page (all the times I had used it, it had never been for this purpose!). This helped me learn where to position text and images and how to fit images proportionally. When creating my actual music magazine, I developed skills such as editing the actual images and text, which I had never done before. For example on my front page, I managed to rotate the text slightly (on my quote) and on the contents I learnt how to make the image a certain degree of transparency. I managed to pick up my skills simply by playing around with it as I went, by creating my Pre-Lim and by taking advice from my teacher (who also went through the basics with us).

To get my images, I had to conduct a photoshoot. The backdrop and lighting had been set up for me but I was able to play around with the lighting and camera in order to get the images I wanted. For my front cover image, I played with the lighting by making it travel up her body, shining off her face, creating a paparazzi effect (the conclusion was that the lighting looked like it was almost flashing up and around her - like a series of cameras). By using hand held camera I was also able to get different shots of her body and from different angles so that I gathered a wide selection of images to choose from - enabling me to end up with my perfect photo. I found this part of the development very enjoyable and it helped me develop many skills. For example, playing round with the positioning of the model helped me to learn how to communicate what it is I want to other people and work with others to get it. I also learnt how to correctly use a professional camera, how to zoom in and out and how to position myself to get the most effective angles.

When taking my contents page images, it was a lot more casual. I used a digital camera because I took the images in my free time. I simply made my model put her hood up and stand up against a wall with her hands in her pockets. This instantly created the urban and casual effect I required and again this helped me communicate effectively to others what it is I'm picturing.

My double page spread images were taken in a similar fashion to that of my contents. I wanted these to look informal, unlike my front page image, so again took them using a simple digital camera. Doing this helped to add to the 'photobooth' effect I was trying to achieve. By simply getting my model to laugh and taking a series of pictures of her, I was able to instantly and easily achieve the effect I wanted. Again, this helped my communication skills. This photoshoot was a lot more challenging than the others since I had to get my model to laugh! Luckily I had friends on set behind me to help get the natural and relaxed smiles from her. This also helped me gain skills using a camera, since it was not a professional shoot like the front page, I did not have a proper backdrop, nor did I have any proper lighting, I therefore had to improvise with a white wall and the camera flash. This helped me learn to work with what I've got and get the most out of it!

To develop my images I used Adobe Photoshop. I'd never used this program before and a lot of it was quite difficult when beginning. For example, using the new tools correctly and in an effective way was hard at first when I didn't know what tools it was I needed to use or what would give the best results. I managed to work my way around it firstly by creating my Pre-Lim, which gave me at least a vague idea of the basics of Photoshop, (it's clear from my print screens that the magic selection tool came in handy quite frequently!) by playing around with it as I went along (this is how I discovered tools such as the airbrush) and by taking advice from my teacher (who obviously knew a lot more than me). By discovering the basics, I was able to experiment more and gain the most from this program.

At first, I found Photoshop very difficult to use, again because it was completely new to me. All the tools and symbols were very daunting at first but because I'd had time to try and work my way around it before creating my actual product, simply by editing my Pre-Lim photo, it was a lot less scary when I went to create my final pages.