Photoshop Modifications

I have been practicing with Photoshop lately as practice for when I will create my Music Magazine Cover and I have been experimenting with different tools and finding out their functions and what they will do, currently I am experimenting with a photo of Emma Blackery and I have managed to remove the background and rounded down the edges of the image, This is what I have done so far:

I hope to continue to experiment with Photoshop and image editing.

Task 10 - Music Magazine Analysis 1

Here i have a magazine cover from NME and using the terminology i have learned in the lesson i have annotated the magazine cover, as seen below:

Intro to photoshop

Today i had my first lesson on photoshop to create my college magazine cover, i took an image of the school and edited it.

Using photoshop i removed the background/sky using the magic wand tool and i also added text to the top of the cover, i also experimented with the brush tool and the burn tool. I also used the text tool and experimented with the 3d shading.

Task 9 - Analysing A College Magazine

When i look at this magazine the first things that i notice is that it looks extremely formal as there is lots of text laid out in columns, there is also very little images on the front cover which doesn't make it look very exciting. However, at the bottom of the cover there is a section about a christmas concert which shows there are some extra curricular activities and there is also a column on the side with the sub heading "Head's Message" which shows that the head teacher is involved in the activities of the school.

Other parts of the cover that I notice is that the school crest is at the top of the cover and the Title of the newsletter which also has a winter theme to it as it was published around christmas time. Also the images of the graffiti on the wall shows that school has a relaxed attitude and likes to involve students.

What would i do differently

Firstly, I wouldn't call this a magazine at all, it looks more along the lines of a newsletter. Also i believe the newsletter looks too formal as it has lots of text but i think it could use a couple more images and a little less text.

Task 8 - Ideology

Ideology is the system of ideas and ideals that form the basis of how we think of something or someone

For example, the ideology of my school can be shown through different ways; the typical ideology for a school is a safe and non-threataning environment, for example, in the following images:

In this image the ideology makes it look like a cool image, however, there are some aspects of the image which makes it look uninviting. The dark sky even though photoshopped looks gloomy and miserable and the angle it is taken at makes the building look big and almost looking like a prison.












However in this image the ideology is good and it make the building look inviting. The sky is bright and clear and the building is not shot in a way which makes it look scary, the building looks more inviting and it shows a more safe learning environment.

Task 7 - Applying The Male Gaze

We can apply the male gaze to practically anything in the media and not just that in music magazines but television.like Hollyoaks, the male gaze can be applied to this clip here:

In the start of this clip we see Mercedes washing a car in small shorts and a tank top and her friend joins her and Mercedes tries to get her to dress more revealing as to get more male attention and get more business. As they continue to wash cars they start to get more customers and when the two guys come over and try to wash cars they do the same as the girls by taking their shirts off but still getting little to no business, the girls taking all of the customers by washing the cars in an over sexualized manor by bending over infront of the men and washing themselves with the water and showing lots of skin. The girls are using the male gaze theory to their advantage in order to get more male attention by making themselves look more pleasing to the male eye which in turn attracts more customers.

Task 6 - The Male Gaze

The Male Gaze Theory 

The male gaze theory was first introduced by Laura Mulvey, the concept was developed to show how an audience views women. The ways in which they view women can be thought of in 3 different ways:

• How men view women 
• How women look at themselves
• How women look at other women

The male gaze shows the power women can have over men using their sexuality, women in pop culture are typically seen doing this, for example:

In the Q magazine on the left Lilly Allen is not being shot on the cover to promote her music career or any sort of music industry, she is portrayed on the cover in a way that is over sexualised in order to gain male attention. Her seductive, highly suggestive pose and the strap line "Lily Allen & Her Wicked Wicked Ways..." is used to appeal to the typical male patriarchal society and convince them to buy the magazine.

Now in this image we see  the lead singer of Joy Division, Callum Moreman where image is just focused on his face where he has a cigarette in his mouth which gives him the appearance that he is cool and has a "bad boy" personality type, where as you wouldn't usually see females in this type of pose.

Here we can see Beth Ditto who is completely exploiting the male gaze theory as she is not typicaly what the male patriarchy would call attractive which is why it has had such an effect. This is not entirely out of character for her either as she contiusly takes her clothes of during her shows.