Since my last Creative Critical Reflection I have learnt new skills on both Indesign and Photoshop, these new skills have helped me with my Music Magazine.

I have learnt how to manipulate the Border tool on Indesign. I now know how to change the thickness of the border and what it looks like, this helps to make the page look more exciting and it gives texture.

Another skill that I have learnt is that of the Burn tool on Photoshop. This tool helped me to darken areas of my images where I thought they were too bright.

Conclusion:

In conclusion I feel that the new skills that I have learnt have helped me in my work and will also benefit me for the future. I have learnt lots of new skills so far but can still learn more.

I have learnt many different Design skills and Production techniques while doing my Music Magazine.

One thing that I have learnt is how to add Boarders and Text boxes on Indesign to my pages. This makes my work look more professional and aesthetically pleasing as it will give a bit of Texture to my images and page.

Also I now know how to Arrange my sectors on my pages, for example to create an overlay effect, this can be used very usefully as it creates meaning and something exciting instead of looking stiff with no flow. This is a big advantage when using Indesign as its easy to organize and be creative.

One of the most important skills that I have learnt is how to Layer on Indesign so I can move images and layout my pages how I want them to be. It also assisted with my writing as I could make sure it all fit and looked good.

Lastly I learnt how to cut out images using the Magic wand tool on Photoshop.  This is good as it allows me to put different backgrounds and things with my images from my photoshoots. I also learnt how to use the Eraser tool, This helped me to clean up my image and get the best results possible.

The image below show how to use the arrange tool and the Youtube video shows us how to use the gradient tool.

Conclusion:

In conclusion all of the skills I have learnt throughout on Indesign and Photoshop have really helped me to get the end result that I wanted with my Music magazine.

We have been looking at different aspects of a photo shoot during class time, we have looked at these things so that we feel comfortable in taking pictures and knowing how to use the camera and how to dress our star for certain representations. Things that will help me in my photo shoot are:

• Richard Dyers star theory, this theory is all about star image and how photos can change the public representations of them. Therefore I now know how to dress my star and how to photograph specific facial expressions and body language to get the representation I want across to the audience.
• We have been taught how to manipulate the camera to give each image a different story and connotation, this will be helpful when taking photograph to capture my genre.
• Using the ‘Flash Light Kit’ this will help to work with my camera to create different meanings via lighting.

In conclusion I feel that everything we have been learning in class will significantly help me when taking my photographs of my star. The images will be good quality and represent my star how I want them to be represented.

During the first half term in media I have been learning loads of different skills and techniques which will allow me to create a good quality bit of media.

We have been looking at Mise-En-Scene lots so now I can pick out images and decode the connotations of images. Another thing we have been taught is using a camera’s:

• Light exposure
• Apeture
• Field of Depth

Along with different camera shots and angles. Also we have looked at different Demographics and Psycho graphics for target audiences. Lastly we have learnt how to use Photoshop and Indesign to edit images and text.

• Lastly we were looking at all of the different Magazine conventions, this will help me as I know the basics behind a goof magazine cover, some of the conventions are:
• Masthead
• Image (Leading Model)
• Barcode
• Date and Price

In conclusion I feel that what I have learnt this term is enough to creat my own media.

Mise-En-Scene 🙂

• Working with Mise-En-Scene is helping me to understand the denotations and connotations that images could be trying to create meaning for. The elements of Mise-En-Scene are: Costume, Lighting and Colour,Acting (Body language and facial expressions), Props and Setting, but along with these elements you can also look at camera-work. For example if there was an soldier in his army outfit then the denotation would be a soldier and the conntations would be things like:
• Courage
• Pain
• Hero

Camera:

Camera angles are also a tool that can be used to create meaning to an image using various different shots to show different body parts and settings along with angles for different connotations. For example if there was a low shot of a man/woman with their hands on hips and standing tall then the person would look very powerful and confident whereas, if the shot was a high angle shot looking down on a man/woman looking up at the camera  it would connote  that they are weak and not powerful. An extreme close-up would concentrate on one feature on a human, for example it could be of just an eye which would be for either dramatic effect or to show emotion. A shot with low depth of field would concentrate on one close object, for example there could be a phone on the floor and everything but the phone is blurry, this would connote importance.

Conclusion:

In conclusion all elements of Mise-En-Scene and camerawork are important when shooting as you will need to think of the mood you want to set and what you want the audience to think and feel.

I feel that my collage fits the Blumler & Katz, Uses & Gratification because I have got examples on all of the sections, I have made sure I have a wide range from each section.

Social Interaction: For Social Interaction I have included: Snapchat, Facebook and  Whatsapp. The reason I have chosen these specific platforms is because these are what I personally use the most and I also think that they are tho most popular worldwide. They fit Blumler and Katz because they are all based around what us as audience do for the platform, for example Snapchat leaves it to us to add our own friends, post our own stories and send our own snaps.

Entertainment: For Entertainment I have included lots of films and TV programmes. For films and TV as a audience we do not do a lot for the media we just consume it and can occasionally give a review. Youtube is the only source of Entertainment I have included that the consumers do something for the media, for example people who consume videos on Youtube might also upload their own media onto the platform so they are therefore giving back to the media.

Personal Identification: I feel that apps and media platforms that are based around Personal Identification rely on the people who use their platform. Although the creators would of originally made the app they would need consumers of that app to start creating their own media and posting it on their personal page. For example if nobody Posted on Instagram then it would not be a popular app due to lack of media to look at. So I think that media that falls into the ‘Personal Identification’ category really do really on the Blumler and Katz theory.

Information: Media that is used for Information purposes does not rely on the consumers giving back to the media as they are usually giving the consumers new information they may not know about. I have used Sky Sports as they are a reliable source of information and have a broad range of sporting information so I watch Sky Sports frequently.

Conclusion: In conclusion the categories that rely on the Blumler and Katz theory the most are ‘Personal Identification’ and ‘Social Interaction’ as the consumers have the most control over what happens in these particular media categories. ‘Entertainment’ does require the consumers to have some input into their sites whereas ‘Information’ has little to none consumer input.

This year I’m hoping to learn to be able to look into various parts of media as a consumer and be able to look in detail at all of the connotations and Mise-en-scene so I can fully understand the purpose of the media better. I am also looking forward to the practical element of the course, for example I think that learning to create magazine covers would be very handy in the future as I will learn how to create something that could be used for jobs for if I was  needed to create a poster or anything of the kind.

The skills I already have is that I can slightly understand some connotations and Mise-en-scene but my knowledge is not as broad as I would like. Also I have worked on film magazines and teaser covers so I do know aspects of that side of media.