Production Diary- Film Magazine Front Cover

1. F I L M M A G A Z I N E F R O N T C O V E R
D A T E : 1 7 / 0 1 / 1 7 - 2 0 / 0 1 / 1 7
Post-Production Diary

2. Photo Manipulation
 Date: 17/01/17-18/01/17
 Upon selecting the main image, following from
the production/photo-shooting stage, I then
moved onto manipulating this image.
 This was accomplished through the Abode
software Photoshop, of which allows for the
manipulation and editing of imagery.
 During the process my first step was the removal
of any unwanted elements of the image, this
being the background of which I planned to
replace to a dark black to blue colour gradient.
 In order to accomplish this, I used the lasso tool,
allowing me to trace around the edges of the
protagonist within my image, in which all
unwanted background was captured within the
tools boundary. Upon completion, I then deleted
this selected area, resulting in deleting a large
proportion of the background.

3. Photo Manipulation
 After this, I then formed a new layer
to the project, in which I then applied
the fill tool to create the background
of my main piece.
 This was accomplished through
applying the gradient settings and
selecting my planned colours of black
and blue. With this setting the
background formed an effective sense
of atmosphere, in which the later
colour of blue illuminated the middle
of the page, helping to draw attention
to the centrally placed main character,
whilst the outer edges graduated into
a more subtle black.

4. Photo Manipulation
 Following this, it was then necessary to address
the rough edges surrounding the featured
character within the main image.
 This was accomplished by, first, applying the
eraser tool, in which any lingering pieces of
background were removed.
 Following from this I then applied the smudge
tool to the outer edges of the main protagonist
image, in which I worked towards blending the
protagonist into the background of the piece.
 Upon completion, the edges were then finalised
with the application of the blur tool, allowing me
to further blend the character image with the
background, creating for a sense of natural unity
between the two.

5. Photo Manipulation
 After integrating the main image
into the background, I then
worked upon the adjustment of
colour and lighting within the
image.
 This was accomplished through
first access the exposure and
saturation tools, in which both
these elements were decreased.
This was effective in darkening the
overall aesthetic of the piece,
appropriately suiting the
dominating dark presence of the
promoted film’s antagonistic
presence upon the protagonist.

6. Photo Manipulation
 Upon darkening the image, I then
applied the RGB curves tool, allowing me
to adjust the colour levels of the piece.
During this process, I decreased the level
of red within the image, effective in
draining the warmth from the piece;
forming an appropriately cold and
unwelcoming atmosphere.
 This cold aesthetic was emphasised by the
increase in the levels of green and blue, of
which an aesthetic reflective to the filters
applied within my horror teaser trailer
and film poster; effective in retaining the
overall house style of my film. This cold
filter forms an eerie atmosphere, effective
sense of sorrow; thus foreshadowing the
protagonist’s grim experience throughout
the film.

7. Photo Manipulation
 Upon finalising my edited image, I then worked upon sharpening
certain features of my protagonist. For example, using the sharp
tool, I emphasised the colour pigment within the eyes of my
protagonist. This was effective in emphasising the impact of their
gaze, as the colour of their eyes was sharpened; making for a
more visually appealing piece.
 I also applied this tool to emphasise the scarred, flesh written
messages upon the protagonists skin. This was effective in
emphasising the red hues, signalling the bloodied wounds, of
which had become somewhat lost as a result of my previous
draining of the images overall colour saturation. This was
effective in making these messages stand out against the
darkness of the image, thus creating for a more visually
impactful aesthetic; reflective of the importance of this feature in
conveying the film narrative.
 I also used the brush tool to apply additional tones of red to the
wounds, creating for a more realistic application of blood upon
these rather seemingly serious injuries. This red was then
blended into the image using a combination of the blue and
smudge tools.
 Upon completing this action, the photo manipulation of my
magazine main image was complete.

8. Evaluation- Strengths
 The images were smoothly integrated into the colour gradient
background.
 The manipulation of colour, formed an effectively cold
aesthetic, forming a unwelcoming atmosphere connotative to
those applied within my film poster and teaser trailer.
 Character features, such as their eyes and wounds were
enhanced using the sharp tool, making for a more impactful
direct address of the character to the audience and sounds
that appear more shocking to the viewer, through the
emphasise upon the colour red (reflective of blood).
 Successful removal of unwanted background with no
deviation to the original background plan.

9. Evaluation- Weaknesses
 The application of filters does somewhat hinder the
realism of the piece regarding colour, however, is
effective in emphasising a dark atmosphere and
reflecting the paranormal nature of the antagonist.
 The process of applying each technique was time
consuming and during the process of smoothing
images edges, this had to be repeated many times
before the image had blended into the background to
an acceptable degree.

10. Overall...
 This session has resulted in the successful
completion of the main image that shall
feature upon my magazine front cover.
Throughout this process, the image editing
software, Photoshop, was utilised with
confidence. This resulted in the effective
integration of a colour background to my
original image, the atmospheric saturation
of warmth, and an increase in the
application of blue and green hues,
forming an appropriately unnerving and
cold aesthetic, reflective of the other
promotive products for my film.
 Thus, although a time consuming process,
this session resulted in the high quality
finish to the central visual focus of my
magazine front cover.

11. Composing the Piece
 Within this session, I was required to compose
my magazine front cover. This included the
creation of all text elements as well as the
application of my film’s main image, as well as
accompanying thumbnail images.
 This process was accomplished using the Adobe
software InDesign, allowing for the creation of
magazine composition.
 In beginning this process, I firstly began to
formulate the text elements of the magazine front
cover. Regarding the content of this text, this was
specified within my draft written content (formed
within the planning stage of this piece), of which
I thus utilised as a guide for this process.
 Upon typing out each element, I then used the
magazine covers from EMPIRE and TOTAL
FILM that I had specified as the leading
inspiration within my style file, to inform the
applied fonts to this text.

12. Composing the Piece
 This resulted in the use of the following font
types for the following text features:
- Masthead- Trebuchet MS/ Bold/ Red
- Anchorage Text- Arial Rounded MT Bold/
Regular/ White
- Cover lines-Arial/ Bold/ Red
- Main Cover line- Arial/ Bold/ Red
- Pull Quote- Arial/ Bold/ White
- Flash- Arial Rounded MT Bold/ Regular / White
- Additional Information- Minion Pro/ White
- Tag-line- Arial/ Bold/ White
- Sky-line- Arial Rounded MT Bold/ Regular
These font types were selected due to their bold and
sans typeface, of which these possessed an
aesthetic similarity to the covers that I had
researched prior to this stage. This made for text
that possessed both a conventional aesthetic as
well as a visual coherence, due to the bold nature
of this text.

13. Composing the Piece
 After creating this text I then placed each
element within their intended position upon
the piece, as a guide I applied the central
composition commonly used by TOTAL
FILM.
 After text was complete, I then worked upon
placing my main image upon this piece. This
was accomplished through the place option,
of which I inserted the respective image file
into my magazine composition. Following
this, I then adjusted the size of this image,
until it fit smoothly and centrally upon the
page.
 Making sure this layer was placed below the
text elements of the magazine, I then
cropped away any areas of excess image that
had broken the boundaries of the page.

14. Composing the Piece
 After making a few adjustments to the placement of text,
ensuring that the main image remained unobscured by the
secondary elements of focus, I then inserted two further
images. These images were to act as the thumbnail images
upon my page, providing the reader with a visual
identification of further films featured within the magazine.
 Regarding the nature of these images, these were
screenshots that I had taken from past media productions,
in which a screenshot from my AS opening sequence
‘Through the Lens’ and from my AS preliminary piece
‘You’re Fired!” were featured upon my piece.
 Upon inserting these images I then created two white
frames in order to emphasise their presence upon the
aesthetically dark page. This was accomplished by using the
shape tool, in which I created two squares and placed the
two images within each one. These were then placed within
the upper right corner of the page (drawing compositional
inspiration from TOTAL FILM’s thumbnail placement).

15. Composing the Piece
 Regarding elements such as the flash
upon my page, the shape tool was
also used in order to create the circle
in which this text offer is placed.
 In regards to placing my featured
film’s protagonist over the Masthead
(conforming to the image
conventions of a magazine front
cover), this was accomplished by
inserting a separate version of my
main image onto the piece, of which
did not include its accompanying
background. This image was placed
over the text, layering itself over the
originally placed main image.

16. Evaluation- Strengths
 The central composition specified during the planning stage
was conformed to, making for a conventional magazine
layout.
 This session resulted in the completion of my magazine front
cover first draft.
 The application of text colour conformed to those applied
within my teaser trailer and film poster; these being red and
white.
 The edited main image was successfully integrated onto the
piece, and a method of placing the featured protagonist over
the masthead accomplished.
 The application of font types was consistent in style,
conforming to the bold and coherently readable aesthetic of
convectional film magazine front covers.

17. Evaluation- Weaknesses
 The placement of white text possessed limited
options, as if placed upon bright areas of the image,
the text would be lost upon the featured protagonist’s
pale complexion.
 Although convectional, by placing the main image
over the masthead, this text is somewhat difficult to
decipher at a glance.

18. Overall...
 This session was a success, in which I was
able to create all necessary text elements for
my magazine front cover and then piece
these together in correspondence with my
original sketch and written plan, whilst also
integrating my edited main image into the
piece. This session was heavily guided by
the magazine covers that I had gained
inspiration from during the research and
planning stage of this piece, thus making for
a piece that prioritised reflecting
convectional composition and aesthetic
types. Thus making for a piece that appears
professional, of which a lot of time was
dedicated.
 However, a potential improvement of this
piece could be decreasing the size of the
main image, in order to allow the masthead
to be more easily read and visible upon the
page.