During the creative production process of creating my music magazine I have utilised Photoshop and InDesign, during these processes I have learnt many parts of how to adapt a picture and manipulate it to create a better outcome.

The new skills I learnt and used are…

• Spot healing tool
• The eye tool
• Give images any type of coloured glow/gradient

Firstly, the spot healing tool is used to eliminate any imperfections on the model, this helps to give the image a more appealing youthful look.

Secondly, the eye tool can be used to brighten the whites of the eyes to create a more eye catching engaging look, this tool can also be used to enhance the natural colour of the eyes to really make the eyes of the model pop and once again give the model a more appealing eye catching,

Thirdly, the glow and gradient tools are very important to the creation of my cover and throughout my magazine. I use these tools on indesign after I have finished altering my image on photoshop.

Above is the list of possible glow/gradient affects that can be put onto images, blank areas and even text. I like to use this tool as it is fairly simple yet adds a massive effect on how and image or text is portrayed as just by doing this it can convey anything you want, this is vital in creating media especially in music magazine as you can convey a narrative or genre just by using colours.

Mission Statement…

• angles
• distance
• aperture
• shutterspeed
• framing
• shot types
• flash
• ISO

Mise En Scene also plays a big part in the photographing stage, I will need to think about the aspects which are:

• costume
• lighting
• acting
• makeup and hair
• props
• setting

With all the above aspects in mind I have been able to plan how my cover will look and I have planed the costume my star will wear. From learning about my camera I am now able to think about what framings I will use to portray the narrative of my cover, as well as this I have also thought about the facial expressions and body language my star will use to further portray the pop genre of my magazine.

In theory lessons I have also learn about Hall’s theory this is called reception theory, this suggests that an audience can show a response which is presented through an artist and their image, this then allows the artist and their team to look into the psychographics and demographics of their audience, which they can then change their media to appeal more to the specific audience. A second theory from Dyer suggests that a artist can have two images one ordinary and the other extraordinary this also links the star to be absent and present, this appeals to fans as they can link on a personal level to them which makes them more appealing and engaging yet, they are still out of reach which makes them different from a ‘normal’ person. This links to my own cover and production of my magazine as I will follow these theories to make my cover more appealing to my audience.

After learning the new theories and typicalities of media and putting these into practice I now believe that I am ready to create more new media successfully. Learning and putting in to practice the skills in Adobe InDesign and photoshop has given me a feel of how to manipulate text and move images to create meaning and a narrative to an audience

When creating my music magazine I will have to keep in find the four gratifications of the Blumer and Katz theory…

• Social Interaction
• Personal Identity
• Information
• Entertainment

To appeal to the targeted audience well and make my poster the most appealing for that audience the gratifications will need to have been thought about clearly as well as other aspects of media such as…

• Mise En Scene
• Camera
• Typography
• Layout
• AIDA

With all of the aspects thought of my magazine will be fairly successful however, detailed research needs to be done on my targeted audience as this is how my magazine will ultimately be the most successful, With all the aspects in mind and the information on the targeted audience this will help me in making the cover appealing with body language of the coverstar as well as the typicalities of the cover.

When producing a narrative to an audience to seek their appeal there are many factors to consider. On of the main points to consider is the use of Mise En Scene, this includes:

• Props
• Setting
• Costume
• Acting
• Hair and Makeup
• Lighting

Another factor to consider are the settings of the camera and how they effect the quality of the shot, these are…

• Shutter speed
• Brightness
• Apeture
• Depth of Field

The most important factor when trying to communicate meaning to an audience is the camera framing, this is vital as the framing shows the connotations and denotations of what is trying to be portrayed. There are many types of camera framing however, these are the most vital:

• LS Long shot
• XLS Extreme long shot
• MLS Medium long shot
• MS Medium shot
• MCU Medium close up
• CU Close up
• BCU Big close up
• XCU Extreme close up

Ultimately, this effects the way I produce media to my audience and using these factors would befit for a successful audience interaction and this is done successfully by creating shots that appeal to the specific audience to grab their attention and appeal.

• Firstly media can be consumed or prosumed by an individual, this means that anyone can consume the media that is expressed to them and anyone can take place in creating media, for example anyone can read the news online which is information presented to them.
• Media can be used in many ways to show gratification to the person consuming it, for example media can give Entertainment to someone. Media can be used in social situations where people are discussing something they have seen and have in common.  Media can give someone personal identity such as the music they listen to and, finally media is commonly used to portray information to someone such as the news.
• These ideas of what media portrays to people is under the ideology of Blumler and Katz (1975)
• Finally within the task I labelled some of the images the idea of Blumler and Katz. For example I labeled one of my favourite Tv programmes as entertainment, this programme gives me enjoyment when watching it hence why I labeled it under the entertainment section. The ideas of Blumler and Katz will further help me in the development of my music magazine as I can use  these ideas to help me appeal to my audience. 

In this task I built a lego ecosystem, this task outlined that like many things in life, the media also works like an ecosystem as every part of the media could not survive successfully without another component. For example if creators didn’t exist there would be no audience and without audience there would be no income for companies, as you can see this has a knock-on effect, this means that each component of the media is all equally important. The definition of an ecosystem is “a community of interacting organisms and their physical environment” “a complex network of interconnected systems”. 

Overall, we used the lego model to create a basic understanding of how an ecosystem worked and how vital each part of it is, this then enabled us to create a poster of media ecology with the understandings of each component within the media.

Finally I will implement media ecology into the production of my music magazine, when thinking about distribution to the audience as the most effective ways to distribute my magazine I will do this by using social media platforms to reach the best type of audience.

Media Studies interests me in many ways as from my basic understanding of Media Studies I can tell that there are many skills I am going to develop and learn that will be useful in my later careers and, in many life situations in the future. 

Skills I already have: 

• A good understanding of how media is used and the impact of media. 
• Good computer skills and a basic understanding of many editing softwares. 

Skills I am hoping to develop fully:

• Producing skills (as I am interested in a career in the production industry)
• Communication skills (this will help in any career I am wanting to pursue)