Two films to look at: Cars and Edward Scissorhands

Cars:
-Made in 2006
-Produced by Pixar
-7th Disney/Pixar feature film
-Final film by Pixar before it was bought by Disney
-directed by John Lasseter and Joe Ranft
-produced by Darla k Anderson
-budget $120 million
-gross revenue $461,983,149
-studio- pixar animation studios
-distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
-written by Dan Fogelman, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Kiel Murray, Phil Lorin, Jorgen Klubien, Jorgen Klubien, Brenda Chapman, Robert L. Baird, Daniel Gerson, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Steve Purcell, Dan Scanlon

Information about Producer: Darla K Anderson
-a film producer for Pixar. 
-The 2008 Guinness Book of World Records lists Anderson as having the highest average movie gross for a producer: $221 million per movie.
Toy Story (1995) (Digital Angel)
It’s Tough to Be a Bug (1998) (Executive Producer)
A Bug’s Life (1998) (Producer)
Monsters, Inc. (2001) (Producer)
Mike’s New Car (2002) (Special Thanks)
Exploring the Reef (2003) (Special Thanks)
Mater and the Ghostlight (2006) (Executive Producer)
Cars (2006) (Producer)
The Road to Cars (2006) (Cast)
Up (2009) (Spacial Thanks)
Toy Story 3 (2010) (Producer)

Disney Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios is an American CGI animation production company based in Emeryville, California, United States. To date, the studio has earned twenty-four Academy Awards, six Golden Globes, and three Grammys, among many other awards, acknowledgments and achievements and has made $5.5 billion worldwide.

Disney announced on January 24, 2006 that it had agreed to buy Pixar for approximately $7.4 billion in an all-stock deal. Following Pixar shareholder approval, the acquisition was completed May 5, 2006. The transaction catapulted Steve Jobs, who was the majority shareholder of Pixar with 50.1%, to Disney’s largest individual shareholder with 7% and a new seat on its board of directors

The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 11 theme parks around the world.

The primary audience for this industry is aimed at young children/ family entertainment. Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.

Edward Scissor Hands:
-made in 1990
-directed by Tim Burton
-20th Century Fox, after Warner Bros. passed on it
-produced by Danise Di Novi and Tim Burton

Information about Producer: Tim Burton
-born 25th August 1958
-Golden Globe nominated film director and producer
Specialises in dark and quirky-themed films, but has also directed cinema blockbusters such as Batman.

Producer filmography
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Batman Returns (1992)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Cabin Boy (1994)
Ed Wood (1994)
Batman Forever (1995)
James and the Giant Peach (1996)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Corpse Bride (2005)
9 (2009)
Frankenweenie (2011)
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

20th Century Fox
20th century fox is one of the six major american film studios as of 2010. Located in the century city area of Los Angeles, just west of Beverly Hills, the studio is a subsidiary of News Corporation, the media conglomerate owned by Rupert Murdoch.
New Corporation (News Corp) is the world’s second-largest media conglomerate (behind The Walt Disney Company) as of 2008 and the world’s third largest in entertainment as of 2009.

Cars:

In order to attract audiences for this film it, first of all, is an animation with a collection of colourful and childlike characters which would cause a young person or a child to be drawn to them. there is also the typical rules of having no violence, sexual content, swearing or politcal content in which someone would find corrupting for children. it is a classic family film because it includes humourous diagloge which keep the adults entertained, and a smiple storyline which young children can follow.

the fact that is distributed by disney pixar is a way to attract an audience on its own; as a very successful company with a good reputation for family films, they are trusted by the audience to prodcue fun, family appropriate films.
in the recent years they have started to produce films that are aimed at slightly older people, such as the Pirates of the Caribeann films which were rated as ’12’ certificate. this way, they are breaking out of their tradition of producing animation or cartoons, and can gain more of an audience through a wider range of films.
Cars in particular as a film was advertised like a normal disney/pixar film, through adverts on television, billboards, posters, newspaper and magazine. there was also the release of an official video game which would have attracted a wider audience and encouraged those who would usually only watched the film to invest in a video game and vice-versa. this game was rekeased on Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Mobile Phones, and Leapster. there was also a large release of model cars which became very popular. Related merchandise, including scale models of several of the cars, broke records for retail sales of merchandise based on a Disney·Pixar film, with an estimated $5 billion in sales.
Cars was originally going to be released on November 4, 2005, but on December 7, 2004 the movie’s release date was changed to June 9, 2006. Analysts looked at the release date change as a sign from Pixar that they were preparing for the pending end of the Disney distribution contract by either preparing non-Disney materials to present to other studios, or they were buying time to see what happened with Michael Eisner’s situation at Disney. When Jobs made the release date announcement, he stated that the reasoning was due to wanting to put all Pixar films on a Summer release schedule, with DVD sales occurring during the holiday shopping season.

i chose to layout the interview in a question-answer format, to continue with the laid back approach that i wanted to take, as well as being an easy read for those who would buy it. i also felt that having half the double page spread as images helped with the informal approach, as well as supporting what is being said in the interview. worried that the white background was a little bland i added some photoshop brushes in the shape of music notes and abstract graphics, just to add subtle detail. when it comes to my contents page i used the same masthead from the front cover to link the two pages. i also added a subtle image of a microphone behind the content list for aesthetic purposes. this way, there is no escape from the feeling of the theme. the front page was the most difficult for me to create as i kept moving the layout of the images around until i was satisfied. finally, i stuck with the layout of having the main story image taking up most of the space, with a line of the other images to its left. i felt that this emphasized all the content to the extent that it should be. i chose the colour scheme of blue and dark purple to try to remain gender neutral, as well as having bold, eye-catching colours. i think that this has worked quite well, especially as i have maintained this through the all the pages.
the research i did only really helped me to a limited extent, as i could not find any existing karaoke themed magazines: I researched on the internet looking at images of existing music magazines from different genres and target audiences. therefore, i took the general layout ideas, such as masthead designs, feature positions and advertisements and applied them to my theme. this way, i felt that my magazine still looked reasonably professional, despite being an informal theme.

In the creation of this magazine i used the program photoshop, as well as practicing on other programs such as Pages for the first drafts of the interview, and Keynote to create presentations to show my ideas to the rest of my class peers to gain advice and develop my ideas, and so, was important in my developing stages. . this was the first time i had ever used Keynote, and so, from that respect i have learnt new skills in a new program that i can now use again in the future. when it comes to photoshop and pages, programs that i use on a regular basis aside form this project, i was able to simply practise the skills i already knew extensively, applying them to different situations and developing them further. Photoshop was extremely important to this project as this is where all of my construction took place. Pages was only used once, but helped me to get into the flow of writing an interview, something i know i would have struggled with if done straight onto the page.

I feel that my preliminary task has helped me with this task a lot; the construction of my college photography magazine helped me to learn different ways to use photoshop and developed my skills greatly. whereas in my previous project i would have to ask for help or research different techniques, i was simply able to use my newly found skills without any input from teachers or other students. i found that the actual construction my magazine was a lot easier and less time consuming, despite the fact that there was more to create. i also feel that i didn’t have to rely so much on my research for ideas for layouts or fonts, as my preliminary task taught me the conventions and helped to give me many ideas beforehand.

when it comes to my finished pages i am really pleased with them. i think that the layouts suit the magazine conventions as well as being something a little bit different. I think that this would mean that the audience would be more likely to buy it; not many would buy a magazine which looks unprofessional or that follows a completely different layout convention. I chose to use the main image on the front cover, rather than others that i have in my collection and the one i used in my drafts, as i feel it says two things to the audience. firstly, the woman is holding a microphone, again linking back to the main theme and emphasizing this point even further. secondly, the woman is clearly not a celebrity but just an average person singing in front of an audience. i feel that the second point is especially important as one of the main factors about karaoke is that anyone can join in despite their wealth, age, gender or physical appearances. i think that having a photograph of a ‘famous’ singer on the front, or an image that took place in a complicated photo shoot, would alienate the audience rather than encourage them. the content of the interview also supports this point, as i ensured that the character that i created was not vain, self-centred or arrogant, but encouraging and friendly instead.

it seemed that i picked a theme that there is either very few or no existing magazines. this could mean two things to my magazine: either i have created a magazine in a section of the market in which there is no success or desire in, that other people have thought about this idea but have reconsidered because of the likelihood that it will not draw enough attention. on the other hand it could be that i have simply found a loophole in the market, a section in which there is potential, but no one has explored. either way, this would make this magazine quite a risky one to start and produce in the media, especially as there isn’t any other ones, meaning people are less likely to hear about it or the genre itself. however, with the right advertising in the right market (maybe within karaoke equipment companies etc) it could be very popular in the field, most likely the cult kind that cannot be bought in the average supermarket but at specialist retailers. this is because my target audience is for karaoke DJ’s, venue owners, as well as the average karaoke fan and singer, and so, i feel that the average shop wouldn’t be the place to sell them as it is the kind that needs properly advertising. i believe that this magazine attracts this target audience through the diversity that is in the magazine; in the sense that there is space for companies to advertise their equipment and businesses next to list of top venues, competitions and interviews for the casual singer. Also, the images on the front cover are quite eye-catching, and makes the theme really obvious so that anyone interested in singing would be drawn to it. the use of the line ‘The must-have mag for karaoke lovers and DJ’s’ again makes the theme clear, and is the kind of emotive language which would encourage someone to open it up and read.

looking at the appearance of the magazine, it would seem that the magazine aims to represent the social group of young, white, working class people, meaning that readers that fit into this social group would be more likely to buy it. this is because all of the people that are included in the images throughout the magazine fit into this group, which may give the impression to others that this is the kind of stereotype that goes along with the theme of karaoke. in actual fact, it could be giving a false impression as, especially nowadays, karaoke seems to be directed at an older generation and possibly a different class. this could cause problems in the sense that a middle aged black woman may read the magazine and suddenly feel that she is out of place going to karaoke nights, or even reading the magazine. this is something i could have done a lot better in my own magazine. political correctness is emphasized in todays society, especially in the media such as advertisements and TV shows, and most will purposely include a range of ethnic backgrounds, ages and a mixture of gender to ensure that no one is offended or left out. looking back, i feel that this is something that would need improving in this magazine as this may alienate some potential readers and advertisers, affecting the success of the magazine as a whole if it were to be produced in the media.

i think when it comes to existing media conventions, i don’t think the magazine challenges it that much; only the genre and theme of the magazine is something out the ordinary. i wanted to use existing layout ideas in order to make my magazine believable and professional-looking. i worried about the recieval of the magazine, that people may not take it seriously because of the laid back nature of the content and the leisure-type theme. i felt that if the construction and the appearance of the magazine suited with other professional music magazines of different genres, the acceptance may be easier to gain. As said earlier, i feel that this type of magazine would be a great risk to produce in the main media, and so, it is important not to alienate potential audiences by creating something completely out of the ordinary.

• i started with simply copying the mast head from the front page to use within the title. i also chose to have a black background because i felt it matched the front page better.

• I also copied the green box structure to link from the front page too, and on top of this i placed my page numbers and magazine content list.

• i felt that putting a faded microphone behind the text would add interest and detail to the page. i like this idea and think i will incorporate this idea into my finished draft.

• finally, i just added some ‘sponsors’ at the bottom of the page, to make it look more like a real magazine and to add more detail to the page.

my next step will be to try to organise a photoshoot to take my original images and then start putting together my final draft.

• i started out with simply having a big photograph, and i aimed for it to cover about half the double page, but in reality it was slightly smaller.  i also added some small photo-shop brushes shapes for decoration in the corners, and added the headline. i kept to the pink and green colour scheme. however, i am pretty sure that i will change the colour scheme in the final magazine, as i feel that they come across too feminine, when my aim is be gender neutral.

i then added some other pictures of kareoke singers, representing the ‘runners’ up, and a picture of the ‘venue’ the competition was held at. the photograohs in the real version will include singers of both genders in the photographs, but for the mock-ups sake i did not worry too much about it. i am also not sure about the positioning, and i think i will consider incorporting the images in more with the te

I decided that, in order to fit in with the ‘laid back/ informal’ approach i am going for in my magazine that  i would do the interview and writing piece as a question/answer session, where the author asked the person being interviewed questions and they answer. i also felt that this way i could make the layout more interesting than i simple block of text could look. however, i think that in my final piece that i will make the text smaller and have more in depth questions and answers, as well as more questions themselves.

I am really happy with the masthead and I think that I will keep it to incorporate in my final piece, although the colour may change depending on the image used on the front cover.
I also quite like the positioning of the model, and so I will try to capture a singular, close up shot to use.

In this second stage of construction i decided to try moving the main story to cover over the image itself and i think it works quite well. This way. i also have more to add more stories.

I am not sure whether or not i will keep the green and purple blocks to hold the other content. i think it works well with this front image because it is a really bright and eye catching contrast to the black background. however, i feel that it looks a little tacky and so this may be something i readdress later on in the project.

I also added a caption above the masthead, acting as a slogan for the magazine, to give potential readers more of an idea of what the magazine is about without necessarily opening up.

In this stage I added some magazine content to the front page. I also added the small details such as a bar code. issue number and date, and price.

although i am not whether or not i will keep the layout design for the content, i do think that it has worked reasonably well, and so i will reconsider its use when i have my original images.

I really like the colours used in this magazine. they’re bright, bold and grab attention. However, I think it does make the magazine look like its aimed at mainly females, especially as Duffy is on the front cover, who would appeal more to females than males generally. This encourages me to think carefully about things such as colour schemes, to ensure that it is not sending out the wrong messege to those who would potentially buy it.

another thing i like about this magazine is the inclusion of a free cd. i think that this could be a really nice factor to include in my own issue, naming artists who appear on it. It would good at getting people to buy it as it makes it completely clear what kind of bands and artist the magazine follows.

This cover has given me a few really good ideas. first of all the colour scheme is simple. white background with simply red and black text. the brightness of the other colours come from the images used which gives a totally different look to the one above. by doing this they are not leaning towards a specific target audience like age or gender, but for those who like the music included in the magazine itself.

I think the split front cover is a really original idea too, drawing attention to two main features of the magazine. The adfvertising of including a 27 page special is also something that would make a lot of fans want to buy it over another magazine.

This example is very different from the two above. its a lot less colourful and there is more space on the page. it seems to me that this issue is aimed more at the older generation than the others. I do however like how the colour scheme is completely black and white, and so the attention is completely drawn to the colour photograph. if i were to use this idea in my own magazine i would have to ensure that the front cover image is a really good powerful image, that would draw the reader in.

This is one of my more unusal ideas, as I felt that I could have a lot of fun with this idea, and the photoshoots needed to do this.However, I also think that this could be quite difficult to find and come up with content ideas. Also, I have no idea what I could do the double page spread on so this idea would need a lot of thought and input from others.

The target audience for this magazine will be those who organise or attend karaoke evenings, mainly the middle-aged. This means that I could include features such as the best places to go, as well as the best equipment to use or hire etc.

This is the other idea which I felt was quite unusual and fun to create. However, as the images will have to be original I will need to make up some films to include, as well as the shoots for them and the soundtrack song names etc.  This could mean a lot more work than others, but I still think that the finished product could be quite successful. This would be mainly aimed at film enthusiasts, but I think the audience would change depending on what film was being featured in that particular month.

My other two ideas are based on the rock/ alternative genre of music.

I think that either of these could work really well. However, I do worry that they will be very similar to other people’s work, and so I will have to work hard to make sure that they are of really decent quality. These magazines will also have a bigger target audience, as music genre magazines are quite popular in todays media. However, that also means that there is a lot of competition to these, so I would have to come up with an idea which makes mine stand out.

At the moment I am leaning more towards developing the rock/alternative ideas as I think that finding suitable images will be easy to do. However, I still like the idea of the Soundtrack magazine, as I feel that if worked on enough and developed well enough it could look really well.

here is a sample of the ideas:

i quite like the set of images with the two people, as i think they look like they would make a good band or duet, and the photos  look like they could work well on a front page layout.

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i also thought that i would begin my research today, looking at existing magazines in today’s media.

it would be best to look at different music magazines from different genres, instead of just one, as it will help give me more ideas and perspective when it comes to this section of the media. i intend to create my magazine from an alternative/ rock point of view as that is the particular genre i am interested in myself, but feel that looking at others will help.

in the mojo front covers, i like the idea of having the front image in black and white, over the top a really bold background colour. i think that this makes the front cover stand out really well, and so, i may try to incorporate this idea to my own work. also, throughout all these examples of front covers, many use the technique of having the image overlapping the masthead as again, this could look really good and make the image stand out more.

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I started to work on my first mock-up on photo shop too, using one of the images chosen above. i am reasonably happy with the result, but think that i will work on a few more different ideas and choose my favorite instead on continuing one with this one.

1.do you think the magazine suits the target audience of photography students well?

2.what do you think of the layout, colour scheme and general appearance?

3.what was the first thing you noticed/ thing that drew your attention when looking at the front page

4. do you have any suggestions on how i could improve the magazine?

5. from one to ten, ten being the highest, rate how good you think the overall magazine is.

1       2       3       4       5       6       7       8       9      10

6.how well do you think this magazine mock up relates/compares to actual photography magazines in the media? please give comments

7. any other comments you wish to make.

the overall result seems positive. most of the people i asked felt that the magazine looked professional, and many said that it suited the genre of magazine well, and attracted the target audience. there were a couple of comments about font colour, but these seemed to contradict each other so i’m not sure i will change anything.

my research mainly consisted of looking at actual examples of magazines in the media. i took particular notice of different fonts i could possibly use, of the different types of images i wish to include, and of general photography magazine layouts. as someone who regularly buys photography magazines anyway, i already had a clear idea in my head of the different styles and components frequently used by different companies. however, the research still did help me, especially with the layout side of it. i found it difficult to work out where to place components on several different occasions, and so, looking at examples of how other magazines did it really helped me.

when it comes to construction, the front page was reasonably straightforward to construct. no major changes were made during the time period, and it was generally just a working progress. the only issue was that i had forgotten that the front page image had to be a medium close up, which mine was not. luckily enough i was able to simply enlarge the image and rearrange the surrounding text until it looked alright and fit the brief.

my contents page was more difficult as i couldn’t decide on how to layout the information. i had several different versions which are shown on my blog, and this was the aspect that took the longest to complete. i found asking class mates for their opinions and advice helped a lot when it came to this stage, as i was struggling to make decisions and their suggestions helped to spark some thought process. my first draft had the page content information laid out alternately on different sides of the page, separated by different images. although this layout may work with some things, i felt that it just made the page unclear and slightly messy, something which is definitely unsuitable for a contents page. i also wanted to ensure continuity in my pages, and so, used one of the box styles i had used on my front cover to hold the information on my contents page. this way, the information is a lot clearer, and matches with the front cover better. i also reduced the number of additional images from five to four to give a more symmetrical layout, and a less cluttered feel.

i decided to have the chosen image as the background for the contents page for several different reasons. firstly, there was a lot of clear space which would be perfect for having text  over the top of. also, when the opacity was increased, it seemed that it was enough to give an attractive and eye catching look, yet not too distracting from the information on the page. i decided that the figure should be kept bold just to add a point of interest under the title, and i think that it works really well. the image used on the front page was chosen simply because i liked it, and thought that it works well as a cover piece. the models are at the right angles, and gave the fun, relaxed tone i am going for in my magazine.

overall i am really pleased with how the magazine has turned out, especially the front cover. i think it looks professional enough and has all the right components. i also think that it gives the right message to those reading and seeing it; it is a magazine for students, and so is not meant to be formal and mature. i have included elements of it in a relaxed way and layout in order to attract the target audience. one example of how i have attempted to do this is through the language and vocabulary used. my headlines in particular show that this is not a serious magazine, and yet will provide the information useful to those reading it. on my contents page this is emphasised: “Barry and Jan show us how it’s done” and “pros and cons.” the images also show that this is not a completely serious magazine and  has the room to take serious images by the use of both serious-looking and playful-looking images.

when it comes to comparing my magazine with actual photography magazines in the media, i think it fits in quite well. mine is different in the fact that it is specifically aimed at students, but research shows me that you can buy many photography magazines which are aimed solely at amateurs or those just doing it as a hobby. my front cover, in my opinion, looks quite similar to those in the media, in both layout and content, and so would be received positively as it fits in with the general style. however, i think that my contents page looks amateur in comparison to others; this could be mainly due to my limitations in photo shop techniques, even though they have greatly improved during the process of this task.

i felt that the questionnaires i asked my class peers to complete for me were productive, and gave me a good perspective on the results. in general, people felt that the appearance and layout was good, and looked very similar to other magazines in the media. i questioned both those who were familiar with photographic magazines and those who were not, and i had few suggestions on how i could improve the appearance. one person suggested that the page should be brighter in general, but i believe this to be due to the printing quality, as when i showed them the computer version, they felt it was better.

although these comments weren’t made officially in a questionnaire, i found that the general response to my second layout design for the contents page was much better than the first, and people felt it looked more professional, which is what prompted me to use this one instead of my original idea. they felt it was clearer in layout and more eye catching and attractive, and so, worked better as an overall contents page. although the alteration in front cover image was not something i was totally happy about doing, but was bound my the specification, in retrospect, the alteration makes an improvement, and again, i generally have had a better response from those around me.

overall, my general feelings from this project are positive; i am happy with the outcome of my magazine, particularly my front cover. it is better than i imagined it would come out as and i feel that it fits to the specification well. however, i do still feel that my contents page lets me down,. and doesnt look as professional as it could, although i cannot think of specifics on how to improve it.

here is the finished contents page:

here is my finished front page:

i then spent the rest of this session working on my contents page due to teh fact, as predicted, i was not satisfied with it. this is still in working progress, but generally i am happier with the way the new layout is looking. i decided to use the box from the front cover as an outline for the contents list, to make the two pages go together better.

i finished my front cover, by adding a barcode and price, as well as two other features:

i also started on my contents page, and got quite a way through it.

i used one of my own images for the main background, and used the same title from the front cover to create a theme through the pages.

i then added the actual contents:

as well as some more of my own images to represent features in the rest of the magazine:

finally i added an advertisement at the top to make it more like a real magazine:

i think that this is about finished but i may edit it slightly at a later date, as i am not entirely sure about the layout of the images and text.

Start of front page mock up:

the image i used is my own, and i really like it as the front picture. i think that i will use it in my final piece.

//

‘Hoodies, louts, scum’: how media demonises teenagers

The portrayal of teenage boys as “yobs” in the media has made the boys wary of other teenagers, according to new research. Figures show more than half of the stories about teenage boys in national and regional newspapers in the past year (4,374 out of 8,629) were about crime. The word most commonly used to describe them was “yobs” (591 times), followed by “thugs” (254 times), “sick” (119 times) and “feral” (96 times). Other terms often used included “hoodie”, “louts”, “heartless”, “evil” “frightening”, “scum”, “monsters”, “inhuman” and “threatening”.

The research – commissioned by Women in Journalism – showed the best chance a teenager had of receiving sympathetic coverage was if they died. “We found some news coverage where teen boys were described in glowing terms – ‘model student’, ‘angel’, ‘altar boy’ or ‘every mother’s perfect son’,” the research concluded, “but sadly these were reserved for teenage boys who met a violent and untimely death.”

At the same time a survey of nearly 1,000 teenage boys found 85 per cent believed newspapers portray them in a bad light.

“For much of the press, there is no such thing as a good news story about teenagers,”

Little Britain- the character of Vicky Pollard

Vicky is a moody, obnoxious teenage girl seemingly incapable of doing much but gossip in a strong Bristol accent. She is a representation of teenage delinquents^[1] and chavs.

When questioned about some aspect of her behaviour, Vicky will usually reply defensively with one of her several catchphrases, including “Yeah but no but yeah but no but…”, “What-eva!“, “Oh my god! I soooo can’t believe you just said that!”, “Shut up! I ain’t even dun nuffin’ or nuffin’!” and “Don’t go giving me evils!” She will defend herself by going off on a long rant in which she relates gossip about people who have nothing to do with the predicament she is in, although she claims to be “getting there.” She also speaks unusually quickly, which, together with the gossip she comes up with, will confuse and often annoy the person she is confronted by. Vicky is often seen as the ultimate television chav^{[citation needed]}, although she was created before the term came into popular usage. She is usually dressed in a pink Kappa tracksuit with her hair pulled up in a scrunchy. She seems unaware of how grotesque her appearance is, sometimes describing herself as “fit”, meaning attractive. She is a smoker and in one episode smokes in a swimming pool.(wikipedia)

my initial image:

my first attempt, using different layers etc:

second attempt using layers, lighting techniques and selection tools:

I also had a go at a mock up for my contents page. I had the idea of having a photo pile of polaroid images, and a notepaper background; the contents being written on the nortepaper:

1. S- Final Creative Idea

M- When the ideas are explained and described in my blog, with enough depth for anyone reading to understand what i am hoping to achieve. Also, when I am able to verbally talk about my ideas.

A- will be agreed with Andreas and Jo

R- No specialist resources are required, just a computer to post blog.

T-  Achieved already

2. S- Research existing magazines.

M- When there are descriptions and annotation posted on my blog, with explanations as to why I like/dislike elements of the magazines style etc.

A- To be agreed with Andreas and Jo

R-This is a realistic target. all that is needed is access to the internet, or magazines, and access to edit and add to my blog.

T- Already Achieved

3.S- Photoshop Training

M-When I can use Photoshop to edit and create with minimal help from tutors, and I know the skills needed for basic editing tasks.

A- to be agreed with my tutors

R-It is realistic, as it only involves the resources of a mac computer and Photoshop

T- Individual judgement- when i feel comfortable and confident in my skills

4. S- Mock Mags on Photoshop

M- When I have three or more mock front covers, with either my own original image or one found from the internet, which show different ideas and possible layouts for final draft.

A- To be agreed with my tutors, Andreas and Jo

R- No special resources are required.

T- week of 12th October

5. S- Decide on appropriate layout

M- When I have decided which of the mock up front covers i am going to base my final draft on, or whether it will be a combination of the three.

A-Agree with tutors, Andreas and Jo, and get opinions from class peers

R- no specialist resources needed, have needed knowledge by this point.

T- Week of 19th October

6. S- Book Camera/ take photos for front cover and contents page

M- When i have a selection of images, both original and from the internet, to choose between for my final draft.

A- Will agree this with my tutors, and get opinions from class peers.

R- I have my own camera, so will be able to do this in both college time and outside time, meaning it is a realistic task

T- Have the photoshoots completed by the week of the 2nd November

7. S- Select Final Image

M- when i have chosen a main image for the front covers, and several others for the contents page of my magazine, experimenting with several until i have chosen the one that looks best.

A- Agreed with tutors and opinions from class peers

R- no specialist resources needed, very realistic

T- Have this completed and chosen by the week begininning the 9th November

8. S- Final Construction

M- When i have a finsihed front cover and contents page that i am completely happy with.

A- agreed with tutors, and gather opinions from class peers

R- Should be realitic time-wise, if all other SMART targets are kept to

T- Finished construction should be completed by 30th November

Attempt 1:

Using multiple layers and selection tools to combine two different images into one surreal situation. I also added shadows for the robots to give a more realistic approach.

The finished/ preferred version of this picture is when I flattened it, and posterised it, gave it a slight grain and desatuated it a little. This way the robots look more part of the picture as the whole image has the same look to it.

Attempt 2:

I thought I would have a go at blending two images together to create an abstract-like animal. I chose a monkey and a lion and, concentrating on the eyes, merged them together.

finished product:

Attempt 3:

Here, I just played around with duiotones, a lighting flare and shadow/ highlight balances.

original:

After Editing:

Attempt 4:

Here I just played around with the liquifying tool and hue and satuation tool:

original:

After editing:

]]> http://mcspannersmedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/friday-25th-september-2009/feed/ 0 mcspanner Picture 3 robot tube 2 Picture 4 monlkey tumblr_kq518ev3XU1qzdyjxo1_500 brandon gordon_brown gordon_brownedit http://mcspannersmedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/friday-18th-september-2009-pt-2/ http://mcspannersmedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/friday-18th-september-2009-pt-2/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:17:56 +0000 mcspanner http://mcspannersmedia.wordpress.com/?p=20 ]]> First mock up idea for the front cover :

I really like this draft. i think that the main picture works really well, and the masthead stands out really well. I think that I’m likely to use many elements from this in my final draft.

]]> http://mcspannersmedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/friday-18th-september-2009-pt-2/feed/ 0 mcspanner front page mockcopy http://mcspannersmedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/friday-18th-september-2009/ http://mcspannersmedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/friday-18th-september-2009/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:55:54 +0000 mcspanner http://mcspannersmedia.wordpress.com/?p=3 ]]> In this task I will design and create magazine for college- front page and a mock-up of the layout of the contents page.

Creative ideas for preliminary task:

I am thinking if using the topic of photography as a theme, and hope to have either a photograph of a student with a camera or a photo of a set-up studio with photo shoot as the main image on the front cover.

Other photography magazines:

example 1:

-striking, bold masthead, which is easy to read and understand- obvious that the magazine is about photography.

-large, bright main photograph, which takes up the whole of the page.

-’kicker’- clear what the main article is, as it is bigger and bolder than other articles shown on page.

-common font and colour scheme- looks professional.

example 2:

-different style of photography magazine than in example 1 but still holds all same key elements.

Ideas for front cover photograph:

example 1:

I like this idea as a front cover piece, as it shows from a distance the subject of the magazine, that the magazine will deal with techniques as well as the images produced. however, i may decide to use this on the contents page instead, as I don’t think that it’s striking and bold enough to catch attention from readers.

example 2:

-I think that either of these images would work well as a front cover, as they both portray that the magazine is aimed at photography students, and both are stiking enough to be on front page. I particularly like the black and white one, because its a fun image, but also has the element of showing people with different levels of skills and different types of cameras- a factor that I would like to put across in order to gain maximum number of readers.

example 3:

-another idea is to follow like the photography magazine examples have done above, and including a generally interesting and bold image as the front cover. an image like this would immediately grab the attention of anyone passing by, and so, could work well.

Font ideas:

example 1:

- all of these are bold, clear and concise- it is easy to read what is being said, in order to ensure it is easy for the readers.