Use of post production
Over the whole of the course, I feel that I have really improved in the print aspect of post production. Whilst doing my identity poster, I feel that I didn't know my way around photshop too well, therefore I stuck to only using the resizing tool to make sure that all of the small images on my poster were roughly the same size. When it came to designing my school magazine, I was then able to use this tool as well as learn how to use the cropping tools to crop pictures. This was better than using the resizing tool as I was then able to use the particular part of the image that I wanted. I was then able to use blending options whilst designing titles for the cover of the magazine, such as adding a shadow, which over all helped make the cover look attractive. Another tool which I also learnt while constructing my school magazine was the magic wand and the quick selection tool which allowed me to crop images in greater detail. Whilst doing my music magazine, I was then able to enhance on the tools which I had learnt to use, using them more effectively. I was able to use real media examples, the main one being Kerrang! magazine, to help in the post production of my magazine. It helped me to do determine which colour enhancements to use for my front cover.
Research and Planning
During research and planning for my music magazine, I looked at Kerrang! magazine as a real media model. It helped me to determine which colours to use in my magazine as I noticed that their house colours really stood out and were very bold, creating violent contrasts. This inspired me to use the colours red, white, yellow and black as my house colours. Using the audience survey I was then able to determine what the title of my magazine would be, which image I should put on my front cover and if the title should be placed in front of or behind the primary image.
Concerning planning, I used drafts which ultimately helped me to use the construction time for more important things rather than design my media magazine. Although I did this, I think that I could have use the pre-production time more efficiently by making a style sheet or flat planning as it would help me to make my final product look more attractive as well as more realistic as I would have had an idea of what the whole magazine should look like.
Creative Development
I believe music magazine is the most creative as by this time I had developed a wider knowledge of the tools on photoshop which helped me to change colours of certain images which made the product look more attractive, crop images and create new backgrounds for images.
I feel that my creative strength is my ability to generate ideas, from taking ispiration from real media products and generating original ideas. This helped with my music magazine, the ideas generated by myself being the tile and some of the "rockstar" names which I used in the magazine.
The most important part of the creative process for me was the generation of initial ideas as withough these I would have nothing to work with and my music magazine wouldn't look very attractive.
