PRELIMINARY TASK: reflection

Reflection on magazine advert. Throughout the process of creating my preliminary task I have learnt that I can easily remove the background from an image to create a cleaner look. I think this will really benefit me when making my magazine as I am able to adapt the background of an image if i wish to and through my research i learnt about the power of the mise-en-scene so this flexibility will be useful. I really enjoyed working on this project because I explored things I’ve never done before, for example to better prepare myself I analysed a magazine advert so I was more informed on what I had to add to my magazine advert so i found this helpful to do. It is what i have been doing for my research into covers, contents and double page spread so this has given me confidence to rely on my findings for my final products. I then went on to do some drafts of my advert which involved me drawing out what I wanted my magazine advert to look like originally so I could visualise my idea, which again I found very helpful as I could always refer back to my original draft. However, I did end up changing some things around so i can see that drafts shouldn’t be restrictive and limiting, they can be worked and reworked. The second draft I made was the one I based my final product on as I felt it was more organised and had more details on it. When taking the pictures for my magazine advert I got my older sister to be the person to wear the headphones as she fits into the age range I targeted, I took a few different shots so i had multiple choices and could experiment with each one. The first pictures i took were of her reaching for a suitcase in the boot of a car, this was to show my readers that the product i was advertising is very suitable for travelling, however, i didn’t feel like this photo really showed the product well so i took some more of her just walking with her suitcase and that looked a lot better. I learnt the value of taking more photos than i need as sometimes it is through experimenting that you find the strongest image. I think by using my phone and testing out different angles and different poses it has taught me to not just take one photo but to try out different things to see if you like them more. It is easy using your phone to take photos but it doesn’t give you the quality you would get on a camera. I also edited the photo I chose on my phone this i think limited me a bit as i didn’t have top quality editing tools and I think this is one thing I would change when I come to make my magazine cover. Moving forward, I intend to use a Nikon camera and will experiment with Photoshop or Isuzu in a bid to develop my editing skills.