Task 4: Post-production techniques and processes

Learning outcome 4: Be able to carry out post-production techniques and processes for an original media product to a client brief (P5)

This is my magazine front cover and double page spread that i created on photoshop. I exported it as a JPG and put it on my blog as pictures.

Tools and techniques on photo shop- 

There are many different tools and techniques that can be used on photo shop. For the majority of my photographs i used the crop tool to make them the correct size to fit to my magazine templates properly. I also edited some of the photos by brightening them and making them more sharp. 

For all of my texts on both my front cover and double page spread i used different affects such as 'outer glow' and 'inner shadow'. I used all of these different effects to make my texts more bold, noticeable and so that they are seen more easily. I also used the colour matcher to create my texts to be the same colours as part of the pictures. I used the background fill tool so that i could make my background one colour in the quickest way possible. I used techniques such as duplicating layers and 

selecting and deselecting pictures. All of these tools and techniques are used to create the best magazine and double page spread as possible and to ensure that it looks real and believable. 

My final products analysis - 

My magazine has a bright white bold masthead with a burgundy red background. The masthead is the name of the magazine which is ' Jazz Times'. It is found out the top of the magazine and is above the heads of the people in the image. The website is placed directed to the left below of the masthead in black bold writing. There are also tag lines on the left hand side of the magazine and underneath the masthead also on the left in black saying "North London" The main tagline on my magazine is the name of the band 'The 3 notes'. I did this so that it matches the image and people reading the magazine can identify who the people in the picture are. The fact that they are all wearing black connotes that they are wearing a type of matching uniform and are likely to be working together in a band. Also the way that they are positioned in the image also shows that they may be friends and have a close and fun group friendship.  Denotation is everything that we see on the front cover and connotation is the meaning behind everything that we see. The fact the they are all leaning each other shows us that they have a sense of trust and loyalty towards one another. All three of the band members are looking directly in to the camera which also shows that they all want to make eye contact with the audience which shows that they may want to communicate with the audience. The informal tone and positioning of the band shows that they may be a reasonably cool and new band. The band in the image act as an icon of the magazine as they are the ones who are representing jazz music for this edition. 

I kept the colour scheme limited too red, black and white so that my magazine looks reasonably smart and also the red represents the theme of jazz and also connotes a sense of love and passion towards jazz music and mainly in the edition a love and passion towards the 'the 3 notes'.  There was not much of a setting in the background of my image so i decided to add colour bricks  rather than just leaving it a plain grey brick wall. The colours inside the brick wall make the image as a whole look more exciting and works well with the jazz theme.  The genre of my magazine is a jazz. This is shown by the deep reds and black colours on my magazine and also all of the tag lines let the audience know that this magazine has something to do with jazz music. 

The main cover line on my magazine is the name of the band on my magazine, 'the 3 notes' and directly underneath it placed in a black box says ' talk music, love & legends' These main cover lines state the main story of the magazine, which is why its the big text on the front cover. 

My double page spread matches my front cover as it is about the same band and is using all of the same colours. I did this to show the audience that the people in the image on my front cover are the people being spoken about in the double page spread. The matching colour scheme and same images of the band show that the interview will  be with the band 'the 3 notes'. The images on my double page spread are of the band performing, the image shows the readers that the band are new, young and are having fun whilst making and performing music. As well as just having a plain red background i added a slight square background to keep the theme of jazz going and to make the double page spread more effective and enjoyable to read. 

There are also images of each band member individually. I did this so that the readers can be introduced to each individual of the band and learn their names. If the audience feel that they can connect with the band they will enjoy reading it more.
I also added a twitter link and hashtag at the top of the double page spread to show the audience that they are a new and improving band that are modern and also want to gain as many fans and followers as possible.  The whole article speaks about the band and there new lifestyle and how they are enjoying new fame.  This will be enjoyable for the readers to read because they can relate to people who have lived a normal lifestyle and have only just learnt what fame really is and what it is like.


Here is an old version of my original double page spread. It really shows how much it changed during the editing stage using photoshop. 

This version of my double page spread would not have worked for many reasons. One reason why it wouldn't work is because it is not columned correctly and all of the texts were not fitting. I then realised that my sizing and spacing of everything was too big and even the photos weren't going to fit, so i scrapped it and started from fresh creating a properly columned double page spread that fitted everything that was supposed to be on there.