Practical Skills

 

Practical work:

Dreamy glowy effect and background change:

I created this piece on Photoshop this is an image of Lisa from a girl Kpop group called Blackpink. This was my first experimentation I first started with creating my dreamy glow effect on Lisa, I looked at a step by step Youtube tutorial on how to create a dreamy glow effect because I wanted my images to look aesthetically pleasing and brighter also it's not a very harsh effect but it makes a difference. To start, I duplicated the layer to create two layers I then changed the lighting on the duplicated layer to Lighten, after I did that I went to filters I went to the blur tool and picked Gaussian blur to create that dreamy glow look. I fixed the Gaussian blur to how much glow I wanted on the image I decided to go for a more settle glow blur, because when I added too much Gaussian blur the image wasn't clear it had too much of a glow and was heavily filtered. This process of making the dreamy glow effect was very easy and I had no hassle creating the glow also the tutorial I used was very straightforward and and helpful I loved how the glow looked on my image. To make the background a different colour I first used the lasso tool all around my image so that the background is only highlighted. It's important for me to only select the background because I don't want the whole image to be a different colour I just want my background colour to change. After doing I then masked my layer that I used the lasso tool on so that it only has the shape of the model and that part won't be affected by the background colour, as my theme is pastel colours I used a purple gradient background as I think it fitted the image the best. However, some of the background was still white I used the paintbrush tool in a white shade to fill the white spaces and make them into the gradient purple colour I used for my background.I love how this image turned out in the end. I'm glad I experimented with my background because I got to play around with different tools and effects to create a a whole new background for my image. I liked how the dreamy glow effect looked on my model and it fits the mood of my magazine.

Photoshoot set up:

Getting my models ready:

These are images of me getting my models ready for my photoshoot. I wanted my models to look their best, so I bought some makeup and created an eye look on them; most Japanese makeup is glittering so I wanted to add some glitter in their eyes to indicate that I am inspired by Japanese beauty looks and to make them appear more aesthetic.  I thought the glitter fit the tone of my photoshoot, and I wanted everything to be perfect including their makeup so they looked professional.  

Studio setup:

This is my studio setup. My studio setup was simple I used a white and black backdrop, a Canon camera, and a tripod, which I didn't use because it was too stiff and quite hard to take pictures on as some of my images required me to do close up shots I preferred taking pictures without tripods. My classmates Muqs and Esi assisted me with the setup because it would take a little longer if I did it alone, they helped with setting the studio lights together I really appreciated my classmates helping me set up the lights, as I was finding it a bit difficult to put the lights together on my own which shows that teamwork was involved when setting up the studio for my photoshoot. I set up the studio early so that I could have everything prepared and ready to photograph my models.Before beginning the photoshoot I also tried the coloured films. I wanted to combine the colours to see how it would appear since I wanted to experiment with all of them before deciding on my final colours for my photoshoot, so I'm glad I tried out a variety of colours because I got to see which colours looked best with my models. Overall, I was prepared with the studio setup because I set up everything beforehand which means it gave me extra time to experiment with the lights and adjust the camera to my personal preference.  

Model 1: Fizza (setup):

This is the studio setup for Fizza my first model. Her style was streetwear so I used red and blue coloured film for the lighting because I thought it matched her vibe because they are quite dark colours. I used a black backdrop for her photoshoot because she was wearing very grunge looking clothing, so black complimented it and I don't think it would match her vibe if I used a white backdrop so the black backdrop was the best option. The photoshoot went very well because everything for the set was ready before she arrived and I acquired a lot of photo options for her photoshoot so that when it comes to my production I can choose from the range of photos I took of her. 

Model 2: Esi's (setup):

This is the studio setup for Esi my second model. Her style was cute fashion (kawaii)  so I used pink and purple coloured film for the lighting because I thought it matched her vibe because the colours are quite pastel and light colours. I used a white backdrop for her photoshoot because it would make the photos brighter and a black backdrop wouldn't make sense to use as she's wearing light pastel coloured clothing and she's supposed to be the cute aesthetic unlike my model Fizza which her style is the complete opposite. The photoshoot went very well because everything for the set was ready before she arrived and I acquired a lot of photo options for her photoshoot so that when it comes to my production I can choose from the range of photos I took of her. 

Directing skills: 

This is an example of my directing abilities. Because I was the director I had to lead my models and instruct them on how to pose, where to sat and so on. In the first image, my classmate Muqs placed my model's hand to look like the picture I was showing on the iPad. I wanted to show my models a visual image of how I wanted them to pose so they could copy it and I could make any adjustments if they weren't doing the pose correctly. My visual image were my sketches that I drew, which I made sure to show my models beforehand so they could practise any poses that they might find difficult. The second photo was a duo photo, so I instructed one of my models to go behind the other one and one to go in front to match the visual sketch I drew for that photo. I wanted my real life photos to match the sketches I drew so I made sure everything was accurate and well positioned. My directing skills were very good in my opinion because my models understood me and how I wanted them to pose. I also assisted them in getting into the position if they couldn't do it themselves, my sketches were very helpful to my models and to me because they were visual images of how I wanted them to pose for each pic. Also my models can look at the sketches of each photo that I drew and see what position they should be for each picture instead of not knowing how to do the pose. 

Duo setup (Fizza and Esi):

This is the studio setup duo pose for both of my models. Esi style was cute fashion (kawaii) so I used pink and purple coloured film for the lighting on her side because it matches her vibe because the colours are quite pastel and light colours. For Fizza side her style was streetwear so I used the red coloured flim for her side as her style is the complete opposite to Esi's, I tried using blue but I didn't like the mixed of pink and blue so I stuck with red also  I thought pink and red would make a nice ombre so I combined them two colours but I'm glad I tested out the best too. I used a white backdrop for the  photoshoot because I wanted my front cover to look bright and a black backdrop didn't really suit what I was going for, also a white backdrop would make my photos look brighter so it was convenient to use a white backdrop instead of a black backdrop. The photoshoot went very well because everything for the set was ready before both of my models arrived and I acquired a lot of photo options for my front cover  photos so that when it comes to my production I can choose from the range of photos I took of both of them to be my final front cover photo. 

Title making:

This is my magazine title which I created on Photoshop. I followed a step-by-step tutorial on YouTube to create the glass effect for my title because I wanted my title to be unique and cute as I think this effect would really be suitable for my Japanese fashion magazine, I didn't want it to be a basic and simple looking title because in my opinion those titles look a bit boring and it's not very eye-catching.I think the glass effect on my title really fits the vibe of my Japanese fashion magazine it also looks like a bubble effect as well which fits perfectly with the Japanese design styles as they like to think outside the box and they like uniqueness, also the glass effect isn't commonly used in fashion magazines titles as they don't like to add effects to their fonts because most fashion magazine brands prefer to keep their font very stranded for example Vogue they aren't into the artisty type of fonts they are more into the professionally looking fonts for their title which is understandable but I didn't want to do that for my title for my magazine. However, AR magazine a Japanese magazine brand has used this glass effect for their title I was inspired by them because I liked the glass effect looked on their title and it looked really good on the magazine so I wanted to create my own glass effect font for my own Japanese magazine title but in my own style. The YouTube tutorial was very simple and straightforward as it showed me what tools to use and how to create the glass effect and ect. However, I was unable to use the font design that they used for their title because I couldn't find the font on Photoshop and if it was a downloadable font they they didn't link the font they used which was a bit frustrating, but in this case I decided to pick my own font to use as that font was unavailable for me instead I used a font called Lucida Grande. I chose this font because I liked the way it looked on the glass effect because it's a bold font that stands out it wasn't too bold and big which I liked and it should the glass effect very well. I tried using other fonts but they weren't as good as this one because some fonts didn't show the glass effect as well or some of the fonts were either too bold or unreadable so this font was the best choice for my title. Although I didn't have access to the font that was used in the YouTube tutorial it gave me a chance to see what other fonts would look good for my title and I feel like my title looks very unique which makes my magazine stand out more as I used my own font and not the one in the tutorial. 

Overall, I loved how the glass effect looked on my title because it suits the vibe of my magazine which is a very cute aesthetic it's a very Japanese style font as most Japanese magazine brands are very outgoing with their magazine styles and like to add unique features to their magazines. I had no hassle creating this  glass effect for my title besides the font problem but that was an easy situation to resolve the process of making the glass effect was very simple and easy for me. 

My steps:

First step: 

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Fourth step:

( I used command + J because I used a Mac)

Fifth step:

Sixth step:

Seventh step:

Sticker making:

These are the stickers I created for my magazine front cover. I made this using Sketchbook because it provided me with all the tools I needed to create my sticker designs, I first drew out all of my designs before colouring them, I used pastel colours for example baby blue, light pink and ect for my colour palette for my sticker colours because I wanted my magazine to give off that cute vibe as Japanese magazines like to use cute elements to fit the kawaii aesthetic that so I really think my stickers fit the Japanese aesthetic, as I didn't use basic colours like black or grey for my front cover that most fashion magazines tend to use and I added stuff to the front cover normally they don't add anything to the front cover besides the model pic and the title so I wanted to be different and stick to how Japanese fashion front covers look as that's what my FMP is based on. I want to put the stickers around my models so that they stand out more and it won't make my magazine look basic and boring I think the stickers will give my magazine a lively- eye catching appeal. Overall the process of making the stickers was very easy to create because I knew what stickers I wanted to draw and they were simple sticker ideas to sketch, I had no hassle creating them also the Sketchbook software I had experience using it so I knew how things work so it was an easy software for me to use. 

Trying out masking:

First step: 

Second step: 

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Seventh step:

Eightieth step: 

Ninth step:

Final piece:

I wanted to try out masking in this experimentation I created this piece on Photoshop. I first found a suitable image for my experimentation I chose this image of Jennie from Black Pink because there is a lot of space in the background it's also a very clear picture it's also an an easy image to cut out. I started by using the object selection tool to mask out my main image because I only wanted an image of her and not the background, masking was quite difficult at first because it kept picking up her body which I didn't want i wanted to remove the background but however I got there in the end because I used the black brush tool to get back any missing bits that the object selection tool took away so I was able to have a smooth image to work from. I also used the magic wand tool to remove any white bits that had been picked out from the background making the rough edges smooth. My second step was to duplicate my mask layer three times so that I could have three separate images of my model to overlay in the front and two of my model images at the back to create an illusion that there's three bodies of her. I selected one of the three mask layers and opened layer style In layer style I went to colour overlay and added different colours of my choice, I chose blue and red because I thought they complemented the image and it went well with the colour contrast of my main image and the linear light effect looked good on my image because it added some depth to my image.This created a really cool illusion because it appeared that there are three people in one image when there isn't. It also makes the image look more interesting and added some colour to the image it also added a fun effect which makes the image eye catching and appealing. Overall, the process of creating this image was quite simple masking was difficult for me at first, but I believe I now understand how to use it to some extent. I really liked how my image turned out; it's definitely something worth doing for my Japanese magazine for one of model pages.