A transferable skill is ‘an ability or expertise which may be used in a variety of roles or occupations. Examples include communication, problem-solving and self-control’.

Within the process of making my music magazine, exploring mise-en-scene, developing meta narratives, I have developed many of my transferable skills.

• Communication: I can now communicate better with other students in the class. I can use many different forms of communication as well. For example I can communicate via speaking to people in person, over social media and over my blog.
• Problem-solving: When facing issues on Indesign and Photoshop, I have overcome them by asking my peers and my teachers for help. I also researched how to do certain tasks online. The internet has really helped me through this. When I couldn’d find anything I kept working until I sorted it.
• Self-control:I have given myself targets and let my peers and teacher give me feedback on my material and ideas.
• Team work:I have worked with the people in my class to be able to build a good relationship with them where we can give each other feedback and critic with good advice. We have taught each other how to do certain thing on Photoshop and Indesign. We have also written essays together with means we have shared ideas and taken different peoples opinions into account.
• Time management:I have managed to get in any essays or work in for set deadlines, and I have prioritised certain tasks that need to be completed before others.

In my opinion, I believe that I have used my time wisely which has helped me to take and edit good images from my photoshoots, detailed research about the R&B genre, artists like NE-YO and magazines like Billboard and carefully planned magazine pages. Even though I think positively of my work, there are improvements to be made. For example, I need to keep working on my  images and I need to edit and experiment with my fonts, adding bold colours to them so that they fit in with the R&B genre.

Through working on my magazine I have improved a lot in my Design skills.

In Photoshop I have learnt to brighten the whites of someones eyes so they are not too dark. I can also play with curves of photos to change their perspectives to the audience. This helps to progress their star image and narrative since editing the photo can tell more of a story I can change the colour of my models and make them sharper. I can give my models highlights and flip the photos both vertically and horizontally which has helped portraying my genre.

Making my DPS went really well since I changed the colour of my model to create more tension and drama to go with the article. I did this as well on my Contents page. However before I changed the colour I sharpened the image first to create a design very similar to some of the designs on my Pinterest mood board. This gave my contents page more colour and passion. The contents page looks like it is apart of the magazine now rather than looking like I’ve just put it there for no reason.

What new design skills or production techniques have you learnt?

In Photoshop I have learnt how to brighten someones eye colour by using the dodge tool, I can take someones spots away by using the spot healing brush, I can lighten and darken my photo by experimenting with curves. I can crop the background of a photo out quickly with the quick select tool and the magic wand tool, lastly I can erase and recover the background carefully by using the eraser tool and the recover background tool. This can help with my genre of R&B because I can use bold curves to convey passion and make the picture smooth to recreate the slickness of R&B. This will also help with my narrative since my article deals with a harsh dramatic subject I can make my model look helpless by using the curves to make my model darker. This helps the representation of my star image since the effects make the photos look more professional and eye catching to an R&B audience.

In Indesign I can make text boxes. In the text boxes I can change the colour and make different gradients within the box, I do this using  the gradient swatch tool and the gradient feather tool. I can write in the text boxes, with the writing I can change the colour, the font, the size, the gaps between letters and how thick and tall the letters are. In a box I can also place photos by copying them and pasting them into the box. This can also help with my genre of R&B since I can use different colour gradients to suit the genre and use an easy to read font so the audience will want to read the magazine more. The narrative will also be helped by making the font easy to read and fix spacing and place narrative where I desire. This will make my magazine look more professional and appropriate to the genre of R&B. Using all of these techniques I can create a star image of sensitivity, passion and feeling.

What went well and even better if:

Everything seems to be working great in Photoshop and Indesign, However I should work on making all my skills work more smoothly together.

Photoshop tools:

Indesign tools:

My mission statement is:

‘Breakdown is one of the top five magazines for those who love R&B music and styles. We include top stories straight from your favourite bands and artists, the best R&B releases and exclusive interviews from those topping our charts daily and your old favourites as well. Breakdown magazine inspires passion and freedom in young adults who don’t know what to do with their lives as well as R&B fashion modelled by popular groups and soloists. We allow our readers to express themselves through everything R&B and encourage variety’

This week I have learned to use flash photography equipment. For example I have learnt:

• how to put up a light stand
• how to connect the light to the stand and move it up and down
• how to connect a softbox to the light gently
• how to test the light out
• how to raise the brightness if needed and lower it
• how to connect the two lights so they will go off together
• how to connect your camera using a hotbox so your camera can go off the same time as your flash

This will help with my music magazine because it has helped me to understand the different styles and poses I could interpret. I got to see how I make something my own and make it original. You can use Mine-en-scene to convey meaning in lots of different ways. For example:

• a story
• an image
• an idea  

This will have a big impact on my own planning and research because I know that I have to connect with my audience on a personal level and get them to feel different emotions by just looking at the cover of my magazine. I realize that I will not only have to use the music genre to make the magazine but that the magazine has to embody all of that specific music genre. Everything in my magazine has to correlate with each other and nothing can be put there for no reason. I want the audience to say the cover looks confident and full of emotion. This is the kind of look I would like to pull off since most R&B artists today look that way.

Richard Dyer a media theorist, decided that the paradox or riddle of the star was that they are both:

• Extraordinary-talented, amazing
• Ordinary-go shopping, drive cars, fail exams

And are both:

• Present-fan sites, tweets, social media, interviews (we can interact with them)
• Absent-concerts, interviews, TV (they are out of our reach)

As a fan we would love to meet these stars.

As a media creator I have to style these people to look like a story I am trying to tell. Every star has their own story so we want to make sure each story or narrative is unique to that star. This will entice the fans and get them invested in the star and the story.

Now that I have done lots of preparation to make my music magazine I will need to begin designing it.

I will need to consider:

• camera
• MES
• layout
• typography
• AIDA
• B and K

When I start to create my own magazine I will need to think about my audience and what I can do to entice them. My model will need to be dressed in appropriate clothes and accessories suited to that style. My models photo will need to be a close up or a mid close up. Then my typeface will need to embody the music genre so the audience will want to buy my magazine. I want to attract the attention of my audience and I need to decide what type of audience I want to aim my magazine at. My magazine will have to interest the audience who like that genre by including things that they like. Throughout my magazine I will need to include my design skills that I learn’t from Photoshop and Indesign. My colours and fonts will need to also suit the genre that I will choose. My image that I take will also have to correlate to the genre. For example for R&B models will break the forth wall.

Finally I will need to look at Blumer and Katz again.

Blumler and Katz said Media can be used for:

• Information– as you can see on my collage I have many social network platforms which update me and tell me what is going on in the world.
• Personal Identity– I watch a lot of youtube and many youtubers have shaped who I am today. I use their catchphrases and share similar opinions to them.
• Integration and social interaction– Here I have different bands that I listen to and I connect with other people who like the same bands as I do.
• Entertainment– As usual people like to relax and have a rest. For me I like to watch a lot of reality TV and dramatic films. This is because i can watch other peoples lives mess up so I don’t feel so bad about mine.

In my opinion getting good shots with the camera takes a lot more than just relying on the focal length and shutter speed. I find that you need to place the models or whatever you are taking a picture of in a place where they can get the most attention and create the biggest effect. This way the audience is drawn to the main part of the story. I need to make sure the signs, symbols and messages I want to convey are placed and highlighted correctly in the frame in the future.

There are a number of different rules of course. For example:

• The Rule of Thirds
• Depth of Field
• Contrast & Texture
• Lead Room

These rules will help me when I am creating my magazine cover and shooting my music video.

In the images I also used Mise-en-scene to create narrative. It is important to include Mise-en-scene as well since it gives the image meaning and helps to represent the story you are trying to tell. You need to consider both things to get a great magazine cover.