Print Skills Audit

Equipment Evaluation

This is an evaluation of the equipment I have used over the past year.

Downloaded Brushes

I used these brushes in my Unit 3 project, as my project was on carbon footprints. I used them in a black colour, and applied effects such as drop shadows and bevel/emboss to make them stand out more. The brush set is called 'Follow In My Footsteps', and I downloaded it from http://www.brusheezy.com/

Downloaded fonts

I chose to use this font in my Unit 3 project, as I thought it was easy to read, and would be liked by the target audience. It is also thick, and therefore may resemble carbon. It is called 'Beer', and I downloaded it from http://www.dafont.com/

Production Monitoring Blog- 4th April (Including finished project)

Last week, my main objective was to tidy up the magazine, and make sure everything looked professional. I think I acheived this by using more shadows, so that the front cover looked more striking. I also made the sell lines smaller so you could see more of the picture, and they weren't taking over the page. This allowed me space to create an additional sell line. I also changed other aspects such as the price which it would be. I set the price originally to £2.99, but changed it to free so that it would appeal more to the target audience. In addition, I made sure all of the front page elements were lined up, to give it a more professional look. I also slightly changed the design of the double page spread e.g. made a polaroid frame in photoshop, and inserted an image of a globe to give the spread more colour and meaning.

This week I plan to start my post production work e.g. my equipment evaluation and final print skills audit, as I met the April 1st deadline.

The final version of my product can be viewed below:

Photoshop Tutorials

This was a photograph I took while I was in London, in the Science Museum:

I have edited it on Photoshop, using 2 different tutorials. These were the results:

http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-tutorials/photo-effects/surprisingly-easy-rainbow-light-painting-effect.html

I felt this was an easy tutorial, but can make some photos look quite effective without having to do much.


http://www.adobetutorialz.com/articles/30970670/1/use-lighting-effects-to-make-beautiful-artwork-photoshop-cs5

This tutorial was slightly harder, but the results are quite good. Although the photo I have done doesn't look like the one in the tutorial, I believe I have applied the tutorial well.

Production Monitoring Blog- 28th March

In my lessons last week, I simply continued with my magazine front cover. I changed certain elements of it, such as the font from ‘Myriad Pro’ to ‘Beer’ from dafont.com. I also changed the layout of the magazine, and added more elements to the front cover such as the price, images for the sell lines, and a bulb, to signify an offer. I learnt how to layer the image over text, so part of the model’s head now covers the masthead. I also made some minor changes to the double page spread, such as changing the fonts, and moving the header from the bottom of the first page to the top. I seemed to have problems installing fonts in the library at college, but this was resolved by installing the in the media room, and implementing them into my magazine.



In this week, I plan to continue to tidy up both the front cover and the double page spread, so that they as professional as possible. I will experiment with different elements on the front cover, but apart from that I think I am nearly finished, and do not have much more to do.



There are various things that could potentially go wrong this week. The files might corrupt, so like I have been since the start of my project, I will continue to save different versions of each file. I might also run out of network space as the project is getting bigger and bigger as I work on it. To prevent this, I will monitor the remaining network space I have, and when it gets small, I will delete more items off the network. The computers may also crash, so again like I have been, I will save my work about every 10-15 minutes when working on it. The fonts may continue to not install on the C: Drive in the library, but this doesn’t matter, as I am nearly finished, and will probably not need to work on my project in the library.

Production Monitoring Blog- 21st March

Last week, I think I achieved quite a lot in terms of the progression of my product. In Monday’s lesson, I wrote my blog write up, as I am this week. In the remainder of Monday’s lesson, I changed the magazine layout (see picture below). I then had my photo shoot on Tuesday, but didn’t actually start editing my photo until Wednesday. In Wednesday’s lesson, I chose which photographs would be the best for my product, both for the front cover and double page spread, and then edited them. I used various tools while editing the photos, such as the spot healing brush, which removed all blemishes such as spots or eczema, on the model’s skin. I also experimented with brightness and contrast settings, to try and get the best colour I could. In addition, I changed the colour of the model’s eyes slightly, so that they looked more striking in the magazine. On Thursday’s lesson, I continued to edit the photos that I have chosen for my product, and then integrated two of them into the double page spread. As I was doing this, I created objects in Photoshop for the double page spread e.g. the header and the green box on the right. I encountered a problem while importing one of the pictures into the InDesign document; this was that the photograph looks slightly pixelated when I preview it. However, when I click overprint preview, the image sharpens up. On Friday, unfortunately I was absent, so I did not manage to get any work done. I did use a free lesson on Thursday to drag the front cover image into the layout I had already created for the front cover. I have now realised that I will probably have to change the layout of the front cover considerably.


In this week’s lessons I plan to continue with the production of my product. All of Monday’s lesson will be spent doing blog write ups, as I am writing my weekly production monitoring blog and the photo shoot blog. In Wednesday’s lesson, I plan to continue editing the front cover photograph, and also to also change certain aspects of the front cover layout so that the photograph and the text fit in together. On Thursday’s lesson, I would like to rewrite some of the article so that it comes across as more humorous, so that it appeals more to the audience. This may take the whole lesson, as it might need changing considerably. In Friday’s lesson, I plan try and tidy things up, and make sure everything fits in together; both on the double page spread, and on the front cover. I will also try to think of sell lines for the front cover.

There could be several things that could go wrong, one of these could be that I run out of network space again. To prevent this happening, I will keep monitoring how much disk space I have, and delete old work if necessary. Files may also become corrupt, but again to prevent this happening, I am saving different versions of each file. If fonts do not install on my disk space, I could reinstall them onto the C: Drive.

Photoshoot Blog

On Tuesday 15th March, I had my photo shoot. It was booked from 10.50- 11.50, but I only took half an hour, instead of the full hour. The lighting set up consisted of 3 lights. These were the fill light, the key light and the back light with a honeycomb filter. This together acted as a butterfly lighting set up. The key and fill light together make the subject look more angelic, and are also good for photographing women, hence why I used it. The back light with the honeycomb filter adds depth to the photo and creates lighting on the hair, again enhancing beauty. A white backdrop was also used.


Firstly, the model (Carlie), changed into the footprint t-shirt that I had prepared. We then went into the photo shoot room, and I began taking pictures for the front cover. In these pictures, I used a pair of black shoes, with the laces tied to each other so the model could hang them round her neck. I did encounter a problem at this stage, which was that I kept getting the top of the backdrop in the pictures. Chris Warriner suggested that I stand on a step ladder to avoid this happening. By standing on the step ladder, I also experimented with different angles. Another thing I did was asked the model to pull different facial expressions and poses to see which was best for my product.

I then used other props such as straighteners, a tv remote and a mobile phone with its charger. I experimented with all 3 of these to see which would be best for my product. I got the model to hold these objects in different ways to see which would look best. I also asked the model to look into the top left corner of the room. I found that this made her look more innocent, which was the effect I was going for.

When taking the photos, I had to make sure that the framing would be correct for the product, so I was advised to think where the text would go, with each photo I took. I managed to take approximately 80 photos, so I had a lot to choose from when considering the best ones for my product. To make sure the lighting was correct for my product, I turned the fill light down near the beginning of the shoot.

However, I encountered a problem when uploading my photos to the computer. I had run out of memory on my network space, so had to delete some old photos on my drive, and then upload them. I also have to be very careful now, in terms of how much data I can store on my network space.

Production Monitoring Blog- 14th March

Last week, I managed to get quite a lot done with regards to my magazine. On Monday, I continued with my pre-production work. I managed to get this finished on the afternoon in a free I had later that day. On Wednesday, I created the InDesign document, and started to create my double page spread. I also wrote some of the magazine article, and got about half of it done. On Thursday, I continued with the InDesign document, and changed the layout of the magazine so that it looked better. However, I am still not happy with the layout, and therefore plan to continue with it this week. On Friday, I went on Photoshop, and started to create layers for the front cover of my magazine. By doing this, when I take my pictures, I can just paste it into the Photoshop document, and see what needs changing . However, I’m not too sure if this will work, but I will be able to see if it does when my pictures have been taken. I have used various technical skills in both Photoshop and InDesign. In Photoshop, I used margin guides, so that my sell lines are lined up, and the magazine looks neat. I also used the stroke tool, so that the ‘G’ is emphasised on the masthead. In InDesign, I used the text effec ts tool, to make the header of the article looks effective. I also added boxes to the document, but changed the content settings to either graphical or text. Over the weekend, I prepared my props. I printed black footprints onto a white t-shirt, by painting the bottom of a welly black, and stamping them onto the t-shirt.



In this week, on Monday, I will spend half the lesson writing this blog. I plan spending the other half of the lesson looking at magazines such as Nuts or Heat, so that I can get ideas for a layout. I want to use these magazines as these are the sort of magazines that appeal to my target audience. On Tuesday, I have my photo shoot at 10.50, so I will use this time to take pictures of the model in various poses, with various props. In Wednesday’s lesson, I will download these pictures onto the computer, and choose the ones I want to use for the magazine. I will then start to edit them. I plan on spending all of Wednesday’s lesson doing this, as I want the photos to look as best they can. In Thursday’s lesson, I will again look at magazine articles, so I can get an idea of how to create humour in my article. I hope to actually finish the article in Friday’s lesson. If I don’t use all of Friday’s lesson on the article, I will come back to the front cover, and continue optimising it. I will learn new technical skills this week, especially when I am doing the photo shoot. These technical skills may involve lighting, or camera settings. I might also learn new technical skills in Photoshop or InDesign, which will make both the article, and the front cover look effective.


There are various things that could go wrong this week. Although I trust the model I am using, they might not turn up to the photo shoot. In case this happens, I have a back up model. The cameras may not also be available for the shoot. To avoid this, I could go and see Chris Marriner to make sure there is definitely a camera available for the shoot. The photos could also not be of the quality that I had wished for. I am going to take a lot of pictures in the shoot, to make sure that I have some that I am happy with. In case any of my important documents go missing or corrupt, I have saved different versions of them, so that if one document becomes corrupt, I can refer to an older version, and keep going.

This is a screen dump of what the magazine article looks like at the moment:

This is a screen dump of the layers I have created for the front cover:

Production Monitoring Blog- 7th March 2011

Last week I began my pre-production work, which consists of several documents. These documents are essential, so that I know my photo shoot and production work will go to plan, and look good. Pre-production work has also helped me to think of alternatives, and contingency plans in case anything goes wrong. I was absent on Monday last week, but began to work through these documents on Wednesday. The first thing I did was created by schedule, so I know exactly when I need to carry out tasks in order for the project to be in by the deadline. As the schedule didn’t take me that long, I also created my photo shoot plan in the same lesson. In Thursday’s lesson, I began work on the treatment for my project. I got through about half of this, but didn’t manage to complete it all. On Friday, in the lesson, I continued with my treatment, and as of now, it is nearly completed. I completed my mood board in my free lesson on Friday, and also managed to work through a fair bit of my story planning sheet, and finished off my Photoshop mock-ups. I also booked my photo shoot at break on Friday for Tuesday 15th March at 10.50-11.50. Before booking the photo shoot, I had a meeting with my model to inform her of what the photo shoot would entail. Over the weekend, I constructed my flat plans, however, these still need to have colour added to them. I didn’t use any specific technical or equipment skills last week, as it mainly consisted of working through pre-production documents. Below is an image of the mood board I created.

This week, I plan to get my props sorted, as it would be a good idea to use one of my free lessons to go into town and buy them. I also plan to change these props so that they fit in with my project. On Monday this week, we were shown how to create these production monitoring blogs, and we have started in the lesson writing them up. On Wednesday, as it is a 90 minute lesson, I plan to use this purely on researching about carbon footprints, so I can start to plan how my article will be written. In Thursday’s lesson, if I have enough information on carbon footprints, I will create my InDesign document, and start to plan the layout of my article, as well as thinking of a title for the article. However, if I haven’t conducted enough research in Wednesday’s lesson, I will continue with this on Thursday. In Friday’s lesson, I would like to tidy up my pre-production work, and get it finished so that it is in for the Monday 14th deadline. In this week, I plan to improve my InDesign skills, so that the article I create looks as good as possible.


To avoid any problems in this project, I will also create back-ups of my InDesign document, and any other important documents that I create in this next week. I will also find a back-up model for the photo shoot, in case the one I have already made arrangements with doesn’t turn up. If I need any certain fonts for the InDesign project, I will make sure these are backed up on the C: Drive, so that the document doesn’t corrupt, and the fonts aren’t lost. To make sure that I do not run out of network space on my college user account, I will check this, and if there is not a lot left, I will delete unnecessary documents from other subjects.

Below you can see the finished version of the double page spread. I have added various elements such as quote inserts, and pictures. I have also added text effects to the header, to give the page some depth.

Magazine Double Spread (First Attempt)

This is my first attempt at creating a double page magazine spread. It is about the way Channel 4 represent disability in both Misfits and Cast Offs. It has been created using Adobe InDesign CS4, which has specifically been created for projects like this, as it can handle large amounts of text, unlike Photoshop, which was created to handle images.


Firstly, I made a folder called ‘magazine’ in my documents. Within this folder, I created another three folders called ‘images’, ‘text’ and ‘fonts’. This is so that the text, images and fonts I used in my magazine were in a place I knew, and there wouldn’t be any broken links. Then, I set up my page.We had to measure a magazine with a ruler, and set our page widths & lengths to these sizes. The magazine we measured was 295x 210mm, so I set my page at the same size. We then had to set up the margins, this time I forget to change them, but to improve next time, I will measure up with a real magazine. The top and bottom margins are self explanitory, but the outside margins are the margins near the outer edge of the page, and the inner margins are the margins nearer the spine of the magazine. We also had to set up gutters, these are the gaps in between the columns. We used column guides so that we could create boxes to place text in, this was quite easy as the boxes snap to the column guides.

Next, I imported text from the disability essay I had already written. I placed the text in the first text box, then threaded it into the following text boxes, so that it flowed throughout the document. The font size I used was 9, as this is a rule of thumb for magazine producers. There are some gaps in the document, which I have left for pictures and quote inserts. I also used the drop cap tool, which makes the first letter of the article bigger, signalling the start of the story. I then created a masthead, which consists of white text against an orange background. I made the background orange because it fits in with the jumpsuits in the Misfits programme. I used text effects to make the masthead look more effective, these were drop shadow, outer glow and bevel & emboss.

To improve my magazine, I need to put the pictures in, as well as some quote inserts. I could also need to change the margins to fit in with that of a real magazine.

Magazine Front Cover

We created the front cover for a magazine, and the brief was to make it rebellious, and in a style similar to Kerrang or NME.

I framed the image so that the was space for sell lines down the left hand side, and also for the masthead across the top. I didn't use a tilt on my picture, but this could be a target for next time. It was easy to control the model, and I asked Chloe to pull various poses so that she looked rebellious. I controlled the eyeline so that it was in the top third of the image, which made Chloe look powerful, reinforcing the rebellious manner.

When the picture was taken, the weather was not too good, and there wasn't a great deal of natural light that could be used. I believe the picture I have used could have been made brighter with the ISO settings on the camera, but I didn't remember to use these at the time. Some problems with my image are that it is not bright enough, and the background isn't consistent as it was taken against a white door, but there is also brickwork in the picture.

I used margin guides in Photoshop so that the sell lines were in line, and made the front cover overall look much neater. I used the font Myriad Pro from Photoshop because it fits in with the style of the magazine, and is easy to read.I tried to download fonts, but they wouldn't load up onto the computer. I started a photoshop tutorial, but I didn't have the skills to complete it, but I got halfway, and I think the masthead still looks good. The tools I used weren't completely new to me,  as I have used Photoshop before, but I did learn to use the expand/contract tool to add depth to the text.

I also used a controlled colour pallette of red, black and white. I wanted to keep the colours simplistic, and these colours also match with the background. When i was creating the masthead, red seemed like a good colour to use, and therefore I also used this colour for the background of the sell lines. I didn't sample colour from the image as most of the colours in the picture were more neutral, and wouldn't have made the sell lines or masthead stand out. I used colour codes to keep the colour of the background of the sell lines consistent.

I cropped the image so that Chloe's eyeline was higher on the image, therefore making her look more powerful and rebellious.I controlled the text alignment to the left, but moved text boxes where relevant so that the text is placed in the right place. I used the shapes tool to create different size shapes, for the sell lines, as well as the main sell lines. A made the shapes different sizes, as I feel if I made them all the same size, the magazine would not look as rebellious, and would be moving further away from the style of NME or Kerrang. I made new layers for the text, and for the bar code. I copy and pasted the barcode from Google Images, and placed it in the bottom right corner.

The main sell line reads 'Chloe has a new hit single 'Sex on The Beach!', this relates to the image as she is holding a cocktail shaker, and Sex On The Beach is an infamous, well-known cocktail. The image also has connotations, as the words on her hand 'Mix It Up' are referring to music, as well as the cocktail shaker in her hand.

I have various targets for my unit 3 project. One of them is to use studio lighting rather than natural lighting, as it makes the images look much more effective, and when the image for this project was taken, the weather wasn't very good, and we had also ran out of reflectors, so we could not make the image brighter by using that either. A studio backdrop would also be a lot better than a found backdrop, as the backdrops round college do not look as professional, as others, in many other music magazines such as Kerrang or NME. We could also research and use better props, possibly buy some or bring some in from home, as wer could only use some from the box at college, and by the time we had got to the box, there was not many props left. Other photoshop techniques that I haven't used yet may also make the magazine look more effective, so I could use these. I think I could also develop my skills with a camera, and remember to use settings that effect the quality of the image, or the colours, such as shutter speeds or ISO speeds. I could also take more pictures so that I have a larger range to choose from when it comes to making the print text. Another good idea would be to work on my framing skills, to connotate different tones, and so that I don't have to crop my picture to make the magazine look effective.

Shutter Speeds & Front/Side Lighting- Lesson 2

We continued from last week, experimenting with different shutter speeds. This time we used a torch to draw shapes, on a slower shutter speed, so that we could see the shape that had been drawn. We also took pictures, where there was side or frontal lighting, to see what it looked like.



Shutter Speed: 1/40

This image captures Chloe doing a star jump. I set the shutter speed to 1/40. The quality of the image is not that good, as the motion blur does not look effective, and if anything, spoils the picture. I think the motion blur has been created, as I haven't kept the camera still. The photo also has a low contrast ratio, and there is poor framing as the subject is too far away. To solve these problems, I could set the shutter speed a bit faster to lessen the effects of the motion blur , but increase the ISO speed so that the image has a slightly higher contrast ratio. I could have also zoomed in, or got closer to Chloe, so that the image is more focussed on her.

Shutter Speed: 1"

This image captures Chloe drawing a heart with a torch. I set the shutter speed to 1" so that I could capture her drawing the whole shape. The quality of the image is quite good, but there is poor framing as parts of the shape have been cut off. I also think the picture would have looked better if it was taken portrait instead of landscape. To solve the framing problem I could have got slightly further away from the subject or zoomed out slightly.

This image captures Chloe outside, with light coming from the sun, which acts as frontal lighting. I took this on the auto setting as we were just focussing on the lighting coming in from the front. Frontal ligting is lighting that is above the subject or face on to the subject, and it can emphasise annd soften female features. I think this is quite a good quality image, but I could have got a bit more of Chloe's body in it.

This image captures Chloe outside, again with light coming from the sun, but this time it acts as side lighting. Side lighting is light that is shone on the side of the subject, and can often connotate a darker side to someone. However, it better accentuates the features of males rather than females, mainly being the jawline. Again, this was taken on the auto setting, but i think it could have had a higher ISO setting, in the hope that the contrast ratio becomes higher, as this photo doesn't look very colourful.

Targets for next lesson are:

• Review images as and when I take them, and take another if necessary
• Again to experiment with ISO speeds more.
• Experiment with manual focus also

Shutter Speeds- Lesson 1

Shutter speeds determine the amount of light let in by the shutter of a camera. Shutter speeds let different amounts of light in by setting different times for the shutters to open and close. There are both fast and slow shutter speeds, and these are used for different purposes. In a dark environment, you would use a slow shutter speed, so more light would be let in. In a lighter environment, you would use a faster shutter speed, otherwise the picture would be too light.
A slow shutter speed would also create an effective motion blur, whereas a fast shutter speed would work better to capture a freeze frame.



Shutter Speed: 1/25

This image captures Chloe jumping. I set the camera to a shutter speed of 1/25 so that I could capture chloe when she was in the air.  The quality of the image is not really that good, as there is motion blur which doesn't look very good, and the lighting conditions are also poor, so the photo is underexposed. To solve these problems I could set the camera to a slower shutter speed so that more light is let into the camera, and the motion blur would  look more effective.



Shutter Speed: 1/250

This image captures Chloe walking. The camera was set to a shutter speed of 1/250. I set the camera to this so that I could capture a freeze frame of her walking. Again, the image is underexposed, and the image is close-framed because of the water feature. To solve the underexposure problem, I could increase the ISO speed of the camera. Next time, I would also take the picture in a different place so that Chloe doesn't look so close framed.



My targets for next time are to:

• Review images as and when I take them, and take another if appropriate.
• Record shutter speed times more accurately
• Experiment with ISO speeds more
• Experiment with auto/manual focus
• Think about the weather, before I take pictures

Introduction Project

Evaluation

During this project, I have used a digital camera to take pictures for both my storyboard and my print advertisement. I also used Adobe Photoshop CS4 to edit my photo to make it stand out more to the target audience. In our group, we were given a rainhat, and had to rebrand it so that it would appeal to another segment of the target audience. Before we rebranded it, a rainhat would typically appeal to older women over 65, but we rebranded it so that it would appeal to teenagers in winter.
 Before we started the project, I had no skills on a camera, but I took some photos for the storyboard, and also took one for the print advertisement. I used the manual focus, to focus in on Alice, who was wearing the rainhat in the foreground. When we took the pictures for the storyboard, I also used different shot types, to make the advert more interesting, instead of just having one shot type. I have used some skills on Photoshop to edit the photo. The skills I have used in the print advertisement include text control, filters, brightness/ contrast control and the quick selection tool.

In my opinion, I think I used the manual focus quite well, to focus in on Alice in the foreground so that she is the focal point of the image, and to leave Emily less dominant in the background. I think I used the text control quite well, and used the bevel & emboss effect so that the text stands out against the image. I also used the ‘stroke’ effect to give the text an outline. I used the quick selection tool to select the area around Alice, then inverted the selection, and applied the black and white filter so that Alice was still in colour, but Emily and the background were in black and white. I then used the brightness controls to make the background darker and used contrast controls to make Alice look more vivid in the foreground.

The work I am blogging shows my progression in a variety of ways. At the start of the course, I didn’t have a clue how to make the text look as effective as I have made it look on the print advertisement. I have also progressed, in using the quick selection tool, and learnt how to invert the selection so that the area around what I had just selected was now the selected area, therefore allowing me to make it black and white. The print advertisement also shows the way I have used focus when I took the picture, although it is not obvious, but this is something I plan to work more on. I also progressed in using the brightness and contrast controls to the best effect I could instead of just turning them all the way up or all the way down. Other features of Photoshop I have learnt since the start of the course is that the international A4 paper size is 210mmx297mm, as well as holding down ‘shift’ when changing the size of a picture, to keep its aspect ratio. Also since the start of the course, I have learnt what different various shots are, e.g. an Establishing shot.

In my work, there are also various weaknesses that need to be improved upon. In the photographic storyboard, the majority of the shots are mid or long shots. We would have done better with more close-ups, possibly an extreme close-up at the start or end. We could have also tried to use more angles in order to make our advert that bit more interesting. We could have also used some props, in order to give the images on the storyboard a bit more variety. The print advertisement also lacks props, so this would be another weakness. I also have limited skills on Photoshop, and factors of the image, including text don’t really look that effective in my opinion, although my skills have progressed since the start of the course.

If I were to do this project again, I would bring in props for both the storyboard images, and the print advertisement image. In addition, I would also get specific models for the storyboard, as some of the people we used walked away halfway through, which restricted what shots we could take. I would have also liked to use the shutter speed on the camera to see what effect this would have on the images, and experiment to see which shutter speed produces the best images. I would also like to experiment more with the manual focus, so that the image is of the best quality possible. It would have been interesting to see what different depths of field are, and I think the print advertisement would have been greatly improved with the use of studio lighting. I wish I had been more confident with the camera, so that the images were more attention-grabbing. There are also skills that I would like to look into more on Photoshop, and experiment with. One example is the filters, because the only one I used was the black and white filter, which is used in a lot of images and I think there are other filters on Photoshop that increase the effectiveness of the image a great deal more than black and white. Another feature of Photoshop that would make the image look more interesting are brushes, and I could possibly implement and controlled colour palette so the colour scheme matches.

To move towards the standard achieved in professional working practise, I could learn how to use a camera properly, e.g. use aperture control to control the depth of field, or use a light meter to measure the amount of light in the image. Another key element of professional work is studio lighting. In Photoshop, media professionals use the clone or retouch tool to make the model look as good or bad as the need him/her to, and I think I should consider using this in my next project. I could also use the unsharp mask tool, as I did in this project, but learn what settings make the picture look best instead of just guessing. Another tool that I could use is the load selection tool, so that I can manipulate the text and images. If I was to make a moving image advertisement, to achieve a professional standard, the first thing I would do is use a tripod or a stand, so that the camera is stable and not shaking when the video is taken. I would also get the depth of field right, as zooming can pixelate the image.

Given that the audience for this product is female teenagers, I think there are various elements of the image that work in engaging the audience’s attention. In both the print advertisement and the storyboard, the girl is the focal point of the image. Alice, who is wearing the rainhat, is looking happy, and she is wearing fashionable clothes, so acting as a role model for the audience. I also think the text that I have used works, as it is colourful and contrast to the black and white background. They are also modern fonts used, not old looking ones. There are also elements in the storyboard that work, for example, the models used in the pictures are all teenagers, therefore the audience can connect to the image more. The position that the models are in, is another way to connect to the audience. A lot of teenagers are waiting around a bus stop for ages, and sometimes the weather does turn bad and there’s nothing you can do about it. The storyboard shows the rainhat keeping Alice warm, therefore through functional positioning, we are reaching out to female teenagers.

However, there are also elements of the advertisement that do not work. Teenagers like to see variety in adverts, and in our moving image advertisement, we have failed to meet this need. We didn’t use many close-ups, so if the advert was aired on TV, it would like slightly boring. We needed to use close-ups so that we could establish key points in the advert. The print advertisement also has elements that do not work in connecting to the target audience. Although, the black and white background contrasts to Alice, I don’t think teenagers would really want to see a black and white advert as opposed to a colour one. I also think that Emily, the girl in the background of the image, should have been more focussed on, so that it is easier to see the comparison the advert is trying to make.

The project we have created is tailored to meet the demands of the target audience, but only to a certain extent. The models used are the same age as the target audience, although the product would not typically be aimed at teenagers as it is not particularly ‘cool’. The pictures were also taken around the college, so the geographic variables meet the needs of the target audience. In the print advertisement, Emily shows the audience how it is to feel bogged down at college, with loads of bags, and being soaked in the rain, whereas Alice shows what all teenagers should be like at college- happy. These 2 models are tailored to the target audience because they are both examples of ordinary students. On the other hand, teenagers enjoy experiential positioning adverts better, but the one that we did, was only functional and possibly symbolic.

In the next project, I plan to make the advert use experiential positioning, in order to grab the audiences attention more. We could have also done it in a more prominent place in Darlington so that it is recognised by more people. To make the product look even better to the audience, we could have tried to get more female models so that the product looked even more popular. Next time, we could have also taken the images/ movie on a rainy/cold day to actually see the effects of the products.

The work we have done demonstrates our understanding of audience segmentation systems in many ways. For example, we are only trying to appeal to female teenagers, narrowcasting the audience so that there is less risk of failure. We are also geographic variables, as we would show these adverts in the North East, and on the moving image advert there would be a Yorkshire/ Darlington accent, and the background shows various places in Darlington e.g. Vane Terrace and the bus stop on Abbey Road. We would also like to aim the product at ABC1 socioeconomic group. We would also be supplying the products to teenagers, who would therefore be in the bachelor stage of life.

Initial Skills Assessment