Production Reflection

1. Production Reflection
Emma Garthwaite

2. Process – Initial Plans
This week we have done our initial reactions to the brief of what we have to do. I have
chosen to do a fashion magazine for my FMP. I already had my heart set on this idea
when I found out about this project. We made mind maps and did the general summary
of what we wanted to do. We then moved onto research, I think I could have done
more research on existing products but I think that’s something I’m going to improve on
this week and do research on one more magazine. My primary research could have
gone better, I think I need to send it to more people who are in my target audience due
to my primary research not getting the best responses such as people not knowing
much about the fashion industry and thinking it is still like how it used to be with the
models having eating disorders etc. Therefore I need to send my survey to people who
are more involved within the fashion scene. This is the main thing that I don’t think has
worked due to the people I’ve got to fill it out. However now I know the negative stigma
around fashion magazines and I can make my magazine a lot different and not what
people are expecting it to be like and make a different fashion magazine compared to
the stereo typical ones with the bad reputation.

3. Process -Research
this week we have finished our initial plans and uploaded them to our new blog we made. We then started on
research for our work. I researched three existing products to get inspiration for my product and to think about
how I can use elements of them to inspire things I want in my own work. I did this and I think this always helps with
ideas for shoots and adverts. It also inspired my front cover idea of an all blue look with a blue theme which I am
excited to try out.
Our main focus after Wednesday however was production experiments which includes testing fonts, images and
different lightings. I personally wanted to test some header fonts for my front page which I have started doing. I
have also tested natural lighting with a variation of models to get the full effect and be able to focus on different
things as I also wanted to experiment with a variety of shapes and sizes within my magazine. i think this went really
well and the two models both look great in separate shoots and shoots together therefore I've now found out that
i can do both and use them for featured article photos.
We then did a shoot testing gels within the studio and trying to get different tints within the lighting. We first tried
blue gels and they worked alright. They added a cool tone to the photos but didn't add the blue tint we really
wanted in the photos. However we then used the orange gels which gave a beautiful orange tint and a great
amount of shadow with the photos and this is definitely something i want to use within my magazine for a dps
advert so that worked a lot better than the blue. Finally we used both gels and each side which gave us a warm tint
on one side of the face and a cooler tint on the other side of the face which gave a really cool effect however i
don't think its something i can incorporate into my work therefore i think think i will be using that idea for my
magazine however it was definitely an interesting concept to experiment with.

4. Process – Production Experiments
this week we have done production experiments for our fmp. I have done a few experiments. Mostly
photography experiments. Firstly i did an experiment with the gels in the studio. Both blue and orange
gels. The orange gels went really well and gave the photos a really nice orange tint and added alot of depth
with shadows. It is definitely something i want to use in the future for adverts etc. I then did an experiment
with blue gels which didn't work too well and just gave the photo more of a cool toned look. We also
experimented with natural lighting on different days both outside and inside. We created different images
with different settings on the camera and different angles. It was a really interesting experiment to do with
it being both natural lighting outside and shoots inside with the lighting cooming through windows. I also
tested some fonts and found a few that I like. I wanted to test for headings, mast heads, tag lines and block
text. I wanted fonts that worked well together and looked right for my work. I definitely think I found a
good few that I would like to use in the future within the production of my work. I think the experiments
definitely helped me with what I want to do within my work and saves me from trying to work things out
as I go along.

5. Process – Pre Production
This week we started planning and pre production. For this I needed to work out what
I was doing fully within things such as colour schemes and layouts for my work
therefore I started by making style sheets with colour schemes and fonts for my front
pages and double page spreads so I put together some colour schemes and used the
fonts I had found within my experiments for my style sheets. I then created some
general lay out ideas for my work, I did some general ones with shapes and then also
did some actual layouts with photos id done within my experiments for general ideas
that I want to recreate within production. So I used the photos I already had and made
them into layouts for the adverts I was creating therefor I had general ideas and could
use them for ideas for when I come to actually making my adverts I need to recreate
and actually reshoot for my actual product which will be pretty simple considering I
know exactly what I want thanks to my layouts I made.

6. Process – Production week 1
This week we started production which was a lot more simple due to having
everything already planned from pre production therefore I already had an
idea of what needed doing for my work. Therefore I started off with doing a
few shoots for things such as adverts and simple things like that to get that
already done. Which will either work in my favour or I should have got my
more complicated things done first. I got some photos for my adverts and
made two adverts at first. I got these done this week and used things in photo
shop I haven’t used before such as making my own brush which worked really
well as a stamp for one of my adverts. I loved learning new things and finding
new things to use for my work. I think my adverts will be a solid part of my
work due to it being another form of work that can be shown through print
and I do think my photos are well edited and look good enough for my project.

7. Process – Production Week 2
• The second of week of production at the start I did a shoot for my front cover
which went okay. I definitely don’t think the photos I took for my first front
cover shoot were the best id taken therefore I did another shoot later in the
week due to these photos being used for my front cover and my dps therefore
I knew they needed to be good enough for both within my project. I liked very
little of the first ones however had trouble picking from the second shoot. I
think sometimes if you don’t 100% know what you want from a shoot then it
can be hard to actually get the right photos within the shoot. Therefore after
the second shoot I had a better idea of what I wanted therefore It was easier
to get the photos I wanted. I then also started making my front cover within
photoshop. I wanted it fairly simple and minimalistic which I think I definitely
got. I found simple fonts and stuck to one font to keep the simple look within
it. I think making my front cover was okay I just wish I could of made it a little
more interesting but I love the photo I used for my front cover because I feel
like it works so well and looks so good with the central positioning I went for
especially with text down each side.

8. Process – Production Week 3
In the third week of production I started shooting for things like my double page
spreads. I was doing some natural lighting shots and things for my double page
spreads. I wanted something different to the studio however when it came to
outting them in my dps it just didn’t look right therefore I didn’t use them. This is
the positive of trial and error however at the time it does feel like you are wasting
time which can be frustrating. However if you manage your time properly and
have a schedule you can stick to it shouldn’t be a problem. Within this week I also
started building my double page spreads. I wanted these to be an equal amount
of text and pictures so that the audience done get bored of the text or the photos
get repetitive so I wanted to still focus on the photography but also the content
aswell. Therefore I made sure I tried to keep the photos and text equal. My first
dps took me a while to make due to me trying out different layouts to see
whether they would work due to the one id planned not working fully with the
photos I had taken therefore I wanted something new that worked 100% rather
than something that sorta worked and looked alright. So making my first dps took
a while.

9. Process – Production Week 4
Within the fourth week of production I actually did a lot within this week because
we got the idea of using the projector in the studio for some photos. I wanted to
use these for a photography section within my magazine. Therefore I came up
with a photographer with a story and a background and then linked the photos in
with this story. Therefore I got photos of French and Italian streets and put them
on the projector to show that he wants to stick by where he came from. I used 3
different unique models to show that he doesn’t go for the stereo typical models
and wrote an article about why I loved his work and why he does what he does. I
personally think this was my favourite part of the entire project that I did and I
was so happy that I did it. This took up 3 double page spreads that I made for my
magazine which I was really happy with because I was scared that I didn’t have
enough content and this whole article just put me so much more at ease because
I was so happy with the photos and the concept. I did one shoot as an experiment
at the beginning of the week and then did a proper shoot further into the week
with all the models and the correct backgrounds ect and was very happy with
both sets of photos but obviously used the second shoot due to it having
everything I needed within it.

10. Process – Production week 5
Within the last week of production this consisted of me putting everything
together in indesign due to me already planning out layouts and things like
that on photoshop. Therefore putting everything together and making sure
everything works within the double page spreads. I really wanted my
double page spreads to look good with them being the main feature in the
magazine and I am happy with them I just think I need some more practice
with better ways to lay things out. Although within this project I wanted it to
be more simple and minimalistic which I think I definitely got across I just
think it maybe could have been a little bit better with the layouts and make
them more unique to show the concept of the magazine more through things
like the layout which is the only thing I would have changed. So therefore this
week I have just been putting things together and making sure that
everything looks right together and is aesthetically pleasing for the audience
as that is important within the print industry especially with magazines.

11. Process - Evaluation
This week we did some evaluation after finishing production. We evaluated
every point of the project. Including our research and things that had lead up
to our production weeks. This gave us a big look into what we could have
improved throughout our work ad gives us a chance to know what we need to
improve on for our next projects because there is always room for
improvement and then next week we can make improvements to certain
things so that we can really get the right grade we need after looking back on
it all. I am really excited to be able to look at what I’ve picked out throughout
my evaluation week to be able to really improve my work and get it to the
point and to the standard it really should be when im not attempting to rush
through things. I think evaluating things is important. Both evaluating them
yourself and getting peer feedback, this is because its important to look for
things to improve in every aspect not just within my production hence why I
think its important to evaluate every aspect not just the main finished
product