Picmonkey

I have been using the website Picmonkey.com to edit my images before I edit them on Photoshop, this is because I want to edit the colours and then use the image that I changed the colours of for the base of my front cover. This will make it easier to edit, also, I am more aware of how to use that website to change the colours of the picture than I am of Photoshop.

 

This is the original image that I used before I edited it.

First, I cropped the image to the size that I wanted.

 

Then I used the 'Exposure' tool to change the brightness, shadows, contrast and highlights on the image so that the white sheets in the background were easier to fade without it looking messy and like I had just drawn around the main image with a paintbrush.

Then because I still could see the faint marks of the sheets in the background, I used the drawing tool to neaten up the outside of the image. This makes it look like the background is all white originally and it looks cleaner and nice, ready for when I put it on my double page spread.

Front Cover Image.

I was originally going to choose this image as my front cover to my magazine.

When I was editing it on photoshop, my teacher came over and said that she didn't like the image because her face looked like she was in pain.

I went through the rest of my images and came to the conclusion that this one was the best out of the rest of them because she doesn't look to smiley or to rigid and uncomfortable.
My teacher still didn't think that this was the right image to chose and asked some other people what they thought. They said that they didn't like her expression that much.

However, I showed them the images of a conventional rock/indie magazine and they had unusual expressions and positions throughout the magazine.

I noticed that in the front covers the artists are not smiling or being boring. This is why I want to choose this image.

This shows that I wasn't just getting her to be weird for no reason, I was sticking to my brief and research.

Interview

Because I was not able to get an actual artist for my magazine, I decided to write the interview myself but I did it in the style of an actual conversation with someone else.
I did ask my friend a few of these questions for example 'If you were on a desert island, what three things (non-survival) would you bring with you and why?' so then it gives it more of a sense that this person has more of their own personality.

Interview:

 

 There has been talk of a new album. Is it true?

Yes, I am not sure if I am allowed to say or not but yeah. I am really excited about it. We have recently been running through the songs for now and next week we are shooting for the album cover which is pretty exciting.

Who is your inspiration?

Hmm... It’s difficult to pick just one. There are so many! I love this band called Branches. They write some beautiful folk/indie music but I also just adore old school rock and roll like Chuck Berry and The Beatles. I have a variety but I guess they are all my inspirations. 

When did you decide that you wanted to be a musician?

When I was about 8 years old, I went to this festival, I can never remember the name of it but, I remember seeing the Kaiser Chiefs playing and they were amazing as ever and the crowd loved them. I wasn’t tall enough to see them play so my mum lifted me up and placed me on the recycling bin, while holding my hand obviously. I was waving so much at the main singer and suddenly he smiled at me and waved back. I was so happy and from what my mum tells me, I was jumping up and down with excitement. From that point on, I wanted to be that person on stage who made people happy with their music, I wanted to be the person who smiled and waved and made people’s day better.
 
If you were on a desert island, what three things (non-survival) would you bring with you and why?
Oooh... That’s a hard one. I would probably say my computer, a dongle for the internet because my life would be over without it and 'Looking for Alaska' by John Green which is just the best book in the entire world. I could re-read that book a million times and never get bored.

How did you get the idea for the song ‘In your arms’?

Well, I am a huge musical geek and so when I went to see Les Miserables, I fell in love with all of the characters and songs. I cried my eyes out when Eponine died. I loved her so much and the idea of dying in the arms of someone who you love but it is unrequited was so upsetting, but she was also inspirational because she did the right thing to give the guy who she loved the letter from the girl that he was in love with. I decided to sing it coming from her point of view and I still think of this amazing heroine when I sing that song.

Favourite song of all time?

Definitely ‘Try This at Home’ by Frank Turner. I just am in love with his music and it always makes me feel so much better. He is so political with his music and this one is always one that I can dance to in my room at home. All my cares go away when I listen to that song so yeah, definitely Mr Turner’s song.

If you could, what artist would you love to collaborate with? (Dead or alive)

John Lennon, bless him. I wish that I could go back and meet him. I would just love to do a song with that man. That would be the most amazing thing if that were to come true. If I could only choose someone who is alive though... well... I would have to say Brandon Flowers or Laura Marling. They are both too good.

Edited Images

On Thursday I had a photo shoot with my friend Chloe. Due to my artist cancelling on me, I asked her if she would be okay with posing for my magazine and she said yes. I am carrying out my interview with her today and I am also posting my favourite images of the original photos that I took with her on Thursday.
I used the website 'picmonkey' to edit my photographs, this is so I can crop, change the contrast and put nice editing touches onto the image easily before I do my photoshop for my main magazine front cover, double page spread and contents page.
These are 6 photos which I have edited in different ways so I can decide on how I might like the image to be in the final coursework ^_^

This is one of my favourites. I love the editing technique and the actual image. I am thinking of using this one for my front cover.

This is the image that I will use for my contents page, it turned out how I wanted it to in the flat plan so this will be the image that I use.

The original of this (above image) is like the image below as the t-shirt is originally red and yellow, however seen as though my colour scheme is blue and orange so I had to change it, this is what I will do for my final piece.

Images From The Shoot

 I took lots of photographs that would potentially be in my magazine and so here they are :) ENJOY!

I thought that this would be quite a nice image for my magazine as it is the artist laughing which makes it seem more inviting, however, this wouldn't have worked as I explained before that my music genre don't have people smiling in their images and it isn't a convention for a rock or folk magazine.

I like this image for my double page spread however I am a bit worried that it is a bit long for one page, I don't want the picture to go onto the next page and I don't want to make the image any smaller on the page as then it won't be as eye catching or aesthetically pleasing to the reader.

I like this image to put onto my double page spread as the artist is playing a ukelele which shows the kind of instruments that she plays and shows us her personality in a sense.