Blog Entry - 1

Article

In the last week, I have been able to start the production process of my project by completely the front cover for the magazine that my DPS will appear on. I filled in the sell lines and I used certain techniques that might encourage my audience to read on. These techniques include: declaratives, questions, and ellipsis. Although these are deemed to be good techniques to use when writing to an audience, I feel like they aren’t affective enough. I used these techniques because I did, however, recognise that they would make the front cover seem somewhat powerful, as the questions are put very bluntly. Adding to this effect, I used an extremely bold font, and this – in itself – has connotations of strength and power. Also in the last week, I was able to finish my article. Although I feel that it was fairly well written and that it serves its purpose, I also feel like I could have cut more on my real-life story/anecdote, because this may disengage my audience if they do not find it very interesting. I also think that my article seems quite professional in the way that it was written, but I also feel that I have blagged my audience with useless sentences, such as: “I’ll tell you - it’s submitted to the fury of The Intoxicant we all bow down to”, and “Alcohol takes the brain by the reigns and causes the consumer to think that the only way out of such a booze-soaked mess is to end their own life”.
With regards to photography, I have learned how to use shutter speed to make my images more aesthetically attractive. Alongside this, I have learned how to use the depth of field to my benefit. I feel fairly confident when using these photography techniques on the cameras because I have had some practise with these. To further enhance my skills in this field, I wrote a skills evaluation on Blogger. With regards to Photoshop, my knowledge and skills in formatting a front cover and DPS have improved greatly. Now, with images, I am able use vignetting to give off negative connotations in an image. I can even bring focus to a certain part of my image by either blurring the background around my subject, or by saturating the colour around my subject so that some of my image is black & white, while the subject is still in colour. With InDesign I now know how to format a page in a way that looks like a professional double-page-spread.  From my photoshoot, I have learned how to use lighting to my benefit so that I can create different moods in my images. For example, with my images, I was able to use light in a way that illuminated one side of my subject’s face. With the skills that I had learned from my photography unit, I was able to use the depth of field to bring the focus on my subject. I believe that I was very well organised in this production process because I had planned what I had needed and what I needed to do week before the actual shoot. In elaboration, I planned out what I would need for my subject with regards to costume, prop, backdrop etc. This way, I wasted no time in completing the photoshoot. I chose the photograph that followed the rule of thirds, as this brings the eyeline of my target audience to my subject instantly. Also, it gives the image a greater sense of aesthetic pleasure. I was happy with my images as they followed my plan, however I believe that in some of my images, the lighting didn’t shine in the way that I had initially liked.