BTS - Production.

The Shoot

 Once I had completed all the necessary research and experiments to allow me to gain knowledge and grow my product, I was then able to complete my final photoshoot! As explained previously this was done in the studio in college, using a backdrop, two lights, the camera, tripod and various sheets of colour to give me the desired effects. 

 Upon reviewing my experiments with lighting, I knew I needed to get a variety of shots, both with the lights adjusted, and with normal lighting for a more 'natural' photograph. In addition to this I did however still want to have that intense light source, but due to setting up the white back drop, I wasn't able to bring the lights as close the the model as I did in the test shoot when it was just against the plain black wall. This caused a minor issue, as of course it wasn't as intense as I had hoped, despite this I continued on, getting shots with and without the coloured sheets draped over the lights. 

 This was't something I was too concerned about as in my test shoots I discovered when trying to adjust the ISO that intact when I changed the shutter speed it gave a really interesting outcome. With such intense light source coming from the left & right, it really added depth to my image, so I did show these in my blog, and decided that if I wanted too I could actually use them for my final product. I understand however these were test shots but as the test shoot went on I was able to be more confident, therefore producing the pictures in which I intend to over lay for a spread in my magazine!

 So during the shoot I got my model to bring at least 3 different 'outfits' in order to give variety in the shots, and I got a mixture of portrait and landscape, as this would give me more options when it came to the final layout of my magazine. I was able to complete my whole shoot in one day, taking over 200 pictures in which I only needed about 15/16. This is something that was interesting to chose and go through the process. I took that many as at the beginning it took a while for me to get the lighting I wanted and was happy with, I took lots of shots from different angles again to give me variety. The issue with taking so many means that a lot of time is spent going through the pictures and picking out the best ones to use, on the other hand the good thing mean that I also have a large variety of pictures to choose from. It also was good because I didn't want to settle for 'ok' lighting and angles, I wanted to ensure I got it perfect, this meant fiddling around with the settings such as ISO, the positioning of lights and the tripod and more!

 After getting a few shots on the tripod I decided to take it off as it allowed me to really move around more and get the different angles I wanted. The difficulty I also came across was the shadow that was casted when I was close to the model. I wanted to capture her shadow, as well as her and the background, this was difficult as the back drop was initially larger, but due to the positioning of lights there wasn't much I was able to do! I however got over this factor quickly and just found the perfect angles in which showed all of the above that I wanted.
 Something I however would change or rectify if time allowed me to, was to get some shots sitting on a chair / stool. This was something I thought about AFTER looking through them all, it would have added some real interest for a front cover, rather than the 'typical' head shot. This is defiantly something I will consider if/when I do a photo shoot or project like this again! 

Progression.

Time Management 

 At the very beginning of this task I produced two separate spread sheets in which separated every piece of work I wanted to complete in order to fulfil the brief, along side with the assessment deadlines. By doing so it enabled me to stay on track and help me in regards to the blogs specifically. After checking these spreadsheets it reminded me to be constantly evaluating my work and how far it has come! As assessing and reviewing is such a massive part of this project I have ensured that after every test and experiment I explained what was good, useful, what I will take from it, what wasn't so good and more. This way it gave a good summary to look back on, it showed how far I have come in terms of creativity and the production of my magazine.

 I found that I happily stuck to my pre production plan and could fill that in on time, I also have had all the assessments completed before the due dates as personally, that then allows me an extra few days to go over the work I completed and make it the best it can be! The production for my final major project has just been completed, as I thought by doing the photoshoot on the last few days of term before easter, it would give me the time and space to edit the pictures, write my articles and do anything extra I wanted to do. As I had completed all the assignments (1&2) prior to the shoot it also meant that I was well on schedule.

 I think my performance, personally, has been well documented, both within these blogs and my screen cast in which shows the collection of work I have created for the individual assignments. To be better I could have done some more 'progression posts' as I feel my blog lacks of them. I have on the other hand ensured - as said before- to always summarise, compare and discuss the outcome of everything I have done, however in regards to time management and discussing dates this wasn't something I focused on largely. 

 With the work in which I have produced I am very happy with the outcome of it all. My research in particular is something that kept expanding, as I discussed and explained my hopes for the magazine, it led me onto different websites and magazines to view, this really opened my eyes to the industry and the amount of work that is put in. I produced a lot more research that I had initially planned to do as I found this was necessary (personally) and luckily it has all come into use. The most useful secondary research I did was researching layout and looking at the issue.com website, this being that they have such a large variety of magazines I was able to find magazines that had the type of layout and aesthetic I want to achieve and it really helped me to produce my layout, which of course further helps me decided the types of images in which I will use!
 The most useful primary research I did was the questionnaire, this being because I was able to get genuine responses from my target audience that told me the content I should include, of course consequently driving my project to the correct direction for my age demographic. When I gathered the results it came clear to me that the majority of those who answered we female, this is something I have not yet wrote about in great depth because I believe my magazine can be unisex. I am not 'labelling' my magazine to specifically be for females or males, as the content can apply to all who like fashion. 

 To conclude, I believe that so far in my FMP by creating my own separate spreadsheet to the master brief that was provided, I was able to write in detail the things I want to do and the things I think will make my product better. I think for every individual the spreadsheets will look different, which is why it is interesting to produce one as it pushes you further to create more content. Upon reviewing my own blog I intend to 'update' you more as to how i think I am getting on in regards to the schedule and my personal progress, however for the individual and more specific review, they will be within the blog posts themselves!

Mock-Up.

Tests

 Although in previous blog posts I have experimented in regards to front pages etc, I decided to further develop my idea, by using the test shoots and producing some mock-up pages using the edited versions of them! By doing this it allowed me to review my test shots properly in regards to what I can do better, and also by using my own images as opposed to someone else's I can use my colour scheme without needing to add a lot of effects!

 The mage you can see above is three screenshots put in to one! You can see I used this image first, then layered on my text. The first issue I came across was because the light varies so much, when I went on to change the blending option on the text to 'colour dodge' it was unable to do this! To get around this I opened up a blank document and created my text on there as it allowed me to successfully use the colour dodge option and add stroke. After dragging this in, I decided to change the stroke colour to white as I feel it made it slightly easier to read and made it stand out more, as the text is almost transparent! After this I added the lighting bolts and added '17' to the bottom right, that being the year of issue! This in comparison to my experimentation is very different. In my initial mock up cover the colours are slightly lighter than I hoped (due to using images that are not my own) however I also decided to add more text to the cover, showing what is inside the magazine as well as a barcode. 

 Although I think adding text of what the magazine includes is useful for the audience, I believe it drew attention from the image and left little space on the cover, making it look slightly crowded and unprofessional, so I therefor made the decision to just include the image, name and date!

Secondly I went on to produce this cover, this included a different use of colours (green/pink) as opposed to (red/blue) as I wanted to see what this would look like on the cover! I altered the text at first to make it bold and filled in with a slight 'hue' around it, however i decided this looked too bulky, and this was without that addition of the lightning bolts! I went through the exact same process as explained above, I just believe that by producing multiple mocks it allows me to review them overtime, picking out what works and what doesn't!

This was the last cover I decided to create, again it uses a different colour light as well as different angle. I chose the three shots that used different angles and colours as it gave me enough variety to decipher what I want to do for my real thing! Again this copy does the same process, I just changed the positioning of the title to make it slightly lower, this being that when it is printed the text doesn't bleed of the pages!

 I think upon reviewing these three covers I like the first one best. I think this is because of the lights and angle. By having a slight side profile it adds more interest, in my opinion, to the cover. In addition to this the red source of light adds some colour and vibrancy to the magazine, almost linking then to the name of the magazine which is interesting. The last cover i mocked up is my least favourite as having it so face on makes it very ordinary and flat looking, as because I have decided against additional text to the cover, I consequently think the cover photo should be really interesting and unique!

After producing front pages I decided to refer back to my flat lay in which I lay a large image across two pages, and add a quote or phrase 'scattered'. This was difficult because I wanted the colours to be inverted when they over lapped the image, however it didn't turn out the way in which I had hoped. Next time I think I will separate the words into different layers, and getting rid of the fill and having the stroke colours to be inverted, this is something I will later decide as it all depends on the colour image I use, as well as the background base colour. The background colour is a dusty, grey, pink because I wanted to leave space on the page, as I have seen in other magazines as I really like that layout. I don't think the colour works particularly well, however I didn't want to go too dark, or too light, and I also wanted it to somewhat blend in to the picture and the type of lights used there!

 As previously discussed, in my test shoot I didn't take any portraits with a white backdrop and normal lighting, therefore I used all the dramatic image I had to make this mock up work. My final product will not have only dark images with a strong source of light!

 Lastly I wanted to create a double page spread. Upon doing my test shoots I really liked changing the shutter speed so that it captures movement as when using these lights I think it looks really interesting. So I used one of those images I took and layered another one on top with the shutter speed normal. I found at first they didn't blend at all and it made it look very blocky, as previous to this screen shot I chose images that had different colour lights, this however did not work and straight away didn't give the look I wanted to achieve. After positioning these images I selected the image on top, went to Blending Options > Overlay. This meant the two images lapped over each other enough to show they are separate but I though it also linked them together nicely. Lastly I added stroke to the image to give it a borderland I really liked the outcome of it! Next time I will need to be wiser with my positioning, as I don't want the images too far left or right, or too high or low!

Printing Options.

Printing

 After the majority of my research was completed and I was at the stage where I was creating mock covers etc I decided to do some research in regards to printing the final product. This ranged from places and website I can print them on, as well as paper type, thickness and more. I soon discovered a large amount of websites are either US based, or expect companies to use their sites, consequently printing thousands of copies at a time, this of course was not something I was aiming for, nor needed. In addition to this point I was also enquiring about 'foil stamping' for my front cover as I think using gold stamping for 'VOLT' would really add to the aesthetic, however I found companies in which do this expect a large scale of production, or it is very costly. So although in my research I discussed foil stamping, I no longer think that is an option.

  Therefore I narrowed the search down, looking for Uk websites, and those in which can print on a small scale, as in reality I only want a few copies! I discovered the site 'Mixam Print UK'. It allows you to make a large selection of options as to how you want your magazine printed. I decided on 5 copies to be printed ( as this gives me enough to hand in, and keep for myself), A4 size of course as I wish to keep it traditional in that sense, and 16 sides. As I have previously talked about, my magazine needs to be a multiple of 4 in order for it to work, I decided upon 16 as this allows me to include all three articles, and imagery, without it being TOO much or TOO little content. Next I decided upon 170 gsm, I want my magazine to feel 'thick' and be good quality, I think if my magazine had different content I would choose a smaller size, but due to the content and over all aim for my magazine I wish it to be on slightly thicker paper. Thirdly I chose the paper type to be uncoated, as again this is what I think will work best for my. I am aware the majority of magazines that I researched have the typical silk or gloss finish, however as I want mine to be slightly different, unique and not 'traditional' I wanted to go with uncoated. I also looked into 'natural' and 'recycled' paper, however this can only be done on large scales using this website! As well as this I came across another 'error' much like the foil stamping, this problem being that I ideal want day magazine binding to be 'Perfect (PUR)', however again can only be possible on magazines with 48 sides or larger. This is unfortunate, however I don't think it will largely effect my magazine, as a lot of the magazines you see in shops are done by staple, I was just disappointed as I am aiming for the 'higher end' look and feel. All of this can be done for under £30, therefore this is definitely a sight I will try using for my final project. 

 Prototype 

 A large part of this process also requires me to produce prototypes of my magazine, I have decided however that I will produce prototypes and print them on ordinary paper, using a normal printer. This mainly being for price and cost issues, I don't want to make multiple prototypes and get them professionally printed as this would make the price go up, and I also believe by using ordinary paper I will still be able to view my magazine and review/ assess it. By producing a prototype it allows you to see the product and what it should eventually look like, this will show me what things in the layout work, and do not work, things such as colour and text size and more. I can then edit my work and improve these details before I send it off to be professionally printed. 

Experiment Reflection.

Review so far

 So far in my project I have created a spread sheet in which contains every piece of work that I want to produce. This has enabled me to stick to a schedule firstly, as this is paramount when producing a project like this. I found out I was able to do a large portion of the pre production fairly easily, but first I produced some mind maps showing visually how I want my product to look like. It included a variety of inspirations, possibilities, colour themes and more. From doing this I was able to really specify the types of things I look for in magazines, and what from that I want to apply to my own work. From these initial small ideas I was then able to produce primary and secondary research to build and expand my idea further. This consisted of producing a questionnaire for peers to complete, the questions ranged from content, to purchases, as this would give me a good over all opinion of magazines and what my target audience prefer. I wrote more in depth about it in this blog post!

  After creating experiments such as Fonts, Editing and Test Shoots I have acquired a lot of knowledge and experience through the whole process. I researched a lot of inspiration pictures to use as a guide, and in addition to this I looked on youtube to find out how to produce text in which looks like 'neon tube lights'. This was research as well as experimentation as I wanted to find out the different ways to edit images to get the best out of them. In my test shot blog posts I inserted the finished edited pictures without using Photoshop, this was because in my editing experiments I only used photoshop, so therefore wanted some variety and decided to use Lightroom. This was an application I had not yet properly used, however I found it simple enough to work and bring out certain colours to enhance the images. These experiments were all useful for knowledge and research to add to my project, it shows the thought process and growth throughout as time has gone one. 

 By undertaking these experiments I hoped to achieve to produce the aesthetic with images I want to use. I wanted to explore the different types of font available and possible that would best fit my vision for my magazine too, which was why I thought it was useful to create a mood board of all the fonts I liked. From these experiments I was able to decide the font I will use, the way in which I will edit my images and the layout of my magazine. I briefly created a mock cover and contents page to allow me to look at what space I have to work with and how I want to place the images in comparison to text. My thoughts through the experimentation research process were that I think it was successful. I set out to discover and try new things that I can apply to my final product and that is what I completed. Research has played a massive part in the process as it has allowed my to take my small idea and grow it, adapting it to things a lot the way, such as the outcome of certain experiments, and the reality of creating the magazine with the resources, time frame etc.

Flat Lay Sketch.

Plan

 The next step in the process of creating my magazine was to produce a flat lay out and overall sketch of what they pages will look like and what I intend to have on the individual pages. To do this I wrote down what I wanted to include (in regards to images and articles) and then went and did further secondary research on layout of magazines. This time around I didn't look at recognisable brands and magazines, I found a website online named Issuu where users can publish their magazines to view online. This was really good as it was easy to access and I could filter the type son magazines that inspired me. From doing this research I found out that the layout I want to go for seems to be popular, which means it is good as it will then be popular, however not necessarily make it unique and stand out from the crown, never the less I believe it is something I really want to create and shall therefore do so. I have inserted a few screen shots of the layout I really like and took inspiration from: 

This is from the inside of a magazine which had a variety of articles, ranging from fashion to food.

This really drew me in as I like the border around the image on the left hand page, this is something I am coming to do myself so thought it was relevant.

This is really interesting as the layering of images as well as lighting is really something I am inspired by

   

Lastly I liked the overlapping of these, this is something I aim to do myself.

  By undertaking this secondary research, even though the larger main portion was completed I was able to get even more inspiration and image ideas that allowed my layout to progress and turn into something I really like the look of myself. Throughout this project my research will continue to happen and it is something I will continue to blog as already I can see the progress my project is making by the amount of research I have conducted. It has had a positive effect on my project as it means I am able to see how my product will turn out, I want to make it something good and that I am happy and pleased with!

 So after that brief research I was able to sketch out my own flat lay of what I aim my magazine to look like, I am highly aware this might however change as I progress through the project and write the articles, this is just a brief and initial sketch!

I ensured to include my three articles which are 'Get the look', 'High end vs high street' and lastly a 'May' dedicated double page where I will add photographs and review the trends and possible trends, comparing to celebrities, shops and more. I intend to include a variety and collection of pictures in my magazine, some larger to ensure I keep up with the minimalistic idea, and then others where I will have multiple on one page, surrounded by boarders, quotes etc. That way it differentiates my magazine from a 'photography' magazine to one that is still very highly fashion based, much like the 'Love' magazines.

 In my flat lay I have three- double pages (not including front or back) in which are just images. Then the rest of the pages include the articles. Although this is just a rough plan this took me a lot of time to think through and put together, I needed to make sure the placement of the articles are spread out and even with the amount of photographs. In addition to this I didn't want to keep it 'traditional' so many pages overlap with images, I intend to change the titles and placement of them as well, so that every page is unique and different!

 By completing this exercise it enabled me to think about my layout, placement and arrangement. I was able to look and think about how many images (roughly) I will need when I do my photoshoot, as well as how much time in production it will take up. By doing this plan in the pre production stages it enables me to gain more time in the production process, this being that if I already have a rough idea of where everything will be places, I can set up a mock/draft version in which I can then later use when it comes to the making of my magazine. In addition to this flat lay, I will also be writing my articles up soon, this means that in the time off (easter) I will be able to thoroughly edit and make sure I have all the pieces I need to produce the magazine together, so that when we return I can put it all into InDesign. This means as well that I should be on track according to the spread sheet I produces for Production and Post Production, meaning my estimated time management skills are good!  

  

Test Shoots & Experiments.

Experiments 

This blog post is a recording of all the experiment test shoots in which I have done. Firstly I decided to create a mood board showing the main colour palette and aesthetic I am to make my magazine based on. It is a small collection of magazines,photographers and items in which all closely link with the theme I am creating this fashion magazine upon. This gives everyone reading a good idea of the type of look and aesthetic I am going for and was also more research for my to do, which in all helped me really decipher the look I want.

 After acknowledging I wanted to experiment with lighting I went into the studio and did some test shots. This is a collection of 'Behind The Scenes' photographs I took which showed my set up.







  For this shoot I did not have access to a backdrop as it was currently in use, so I decided to use the wall of the studio which gave me a black background in which I could work with.  You can see I used a soft box and a stronger more specific light. We draped coloured plastic over the lights to give the blue and red effects as you can see above. I also used a tripod for this shoot and only got head shots. The reason for this being that without the backdrop I didn't think it would work/be necessary for my test shots anyway. We were able to change around the lighting direction and colour film/ sheets giving it different effects which I really liked the look of, especially as I know I am able to enhance the light in post production (lightroom & photoshop)
 During this shoot I was able to discover any difficulties I might come across, for example getting all the lights close enough but not in shot, as the cables are very short, and other practical things like that.

Editing

 Although I have created a separate blog post on editing ( here ) I also wanted to use this blog post to show my own photographs and the way I was able to edit them. For my test shoot I specifically used the lighting techniques available, my magazine will not just consist of these types of images, however I am confident taking the other images, the lighting was something in which I had not experimented with before so chose to specifically spend my time altering this. As mentioned before I used different colours and took head shots, I edited them using Lightroom to enhance colours as well as the highlight and contrast. I also used the spot healing tool briefly as they were very close up shots and had not used this tool yet properly. I have inserted a few images below of my results.

 






































 As you can see I focused the colours to have 50/50. Upon editing I realised I should have also just had one colour being used at once as I did not get a result of this. However by doing these shoots I was able to get familiar with the equipment and how they look in comparison with the model and my over all aesthetic. These give a very dramatic look to them and I think they look really interesting compared to an 'ordinary' magazine cover and inside. I intend to merge these types of images with ones that have normal lighting too. In addition to this I also realised in the editing process of how dark they look, meaning I will need to alter my title and text colours if I use the black backdrop in my shoot. This made me realise I also want to use the white backdrop and see what the lights look like against that, as it will look better an emerge better with my colours too.

Review

By undertaking test shoot experiments I was able to put into practice what I researched. This is paramount as it allows you to use your knowledge and put it with what you have researched and are then able to come out with a product - such as the above- which I have never done before. I discovered some issues along the way, one I didn't mention was the orientation in which I use the camera. Upon editing I discovered I kept the camera on the tripod, meaning I got steady shots at the perfect height, however when it comes to my real shoot I know know I want to use the camera off the tripod, this will give the images good variety. As well as this I also shot only head shots and close ups, I didn't do a full body or from a different angle, again this is something I will do in my real shoot. This is why undertaking the test and experiment shoot was important as it made me realise the things I want to change and improve, therefore producing a product in which a lot of research, thought and passion has gone into.