Submission Sheet

Video Production Advert Evaluation

In the video production lessons we had, we were required to create a short 15 to 30 second advert on a product that we had chosen in the groups that we were put into. We had to research many different video advertisements and look at the things they were selling and how they went about achieving that. We also had to look at how the product itself was featured in the advertisements and where it was placed – the beginning, the middle, the end or if it was featured/placed all the way through. We also had to research different shot types and how they were used in short films, such as ‘Soft’ and ‘Wasp’ (that we had watched during the lessons).

Both researching the shot types and different types of advertisements were very helpful for when it came to planning out the video advertisement we were going to be creating. They helped us to understand that not every advertisement was the same and that they all had a lot of thought put into them.

During the video production lessons, we learnt a lot. We learnt that different shot types give off different effects and messages when they are used in different situations and that, sometimes, the shot type used didn’t match the message trying to be conveyed.

With what I have done so far – the filming of the video advert as well as the skeleton edit we did in Adobe Premiere Pro – I am happy with it. I feel that it went very well and very smoothly while filming and, while we had to film a few parts more than one time, it helped us to see how things can turn out differently if only something it shot from a different angle.

While using Adobe Premiere Pro for the first time in order to create the skeleton edit (an edit that does not include special effects or sound effects) of our advert, I found that it was rather tricky to figure out to begin with. However, once I had tried out the different tool available to me, I got the hang of what I needed to be doing. I managed to shorten down all of my group’s footage to only 23 seconds of footage. The next step is adding in the effects and finishing off the editing for the advert.

If I did this project again, I can’t think of much that I would want to do differently, as I felt that the majority of it went quite well. However, I do think that when we were in the filming process that we could have done more takes of the different scenes and tried more different angles and shot types to see if that changed how we felt when we watched the footage back again. We also could have tried using different locations that did not have as much natural lighting, as I feel this may have helped us out more when we watched it back.

Print Advert Evaluation

From the photography and graphics lessons that we had, we were required to produce an image montage and a print/magazine advert, respectively. Throughout both lessons, quite a bit of research was required, from simple image research to the sizes of magazine/print adverts themselves, which proved to be a lot harder to find than I thought. This was because there are many different size magazines, so they obviously have different sizes. The image research that I was required to do in photography helped me because I got to see freaky/unique imagery on a whole scale; there were some images that I saw and found that I wouldn’t have fit on the spectrum before.

In the photography lessons, I learnt a lot of new skills. I learned how to set up the camera - as well as how the camera works, the tripod and how to alter the height of it to how I need it, the redhead light and what to do and not to do while using it and then I also learned how to set up the seamless background which proved to be very helpful for when I was shooting images. When it came to using Photoshop in the photography lessons, we were taught how to use the ‘levels’ and ‘curves’ tool which allowed us to change the brightness and contrast of the images we had taken.

In the graphics lessons, a lot more skills were learnt; though I felt this may be because we were doing many different things each week. We learnt how to use many of the different features on Photoshop, from cutting out using the ‘pen tool’ to blurring with the ‘gaussian blur’ tool. A lot of the skills I had learnt in this lesson aided me in being able to create my final piece in both lessons.

I am happy with my final pieces; though I feel as though I was supposed to end up with only one by the end of this assignment. I like that I was able to bring in what I had learnt in my Photoshop lessons into my photography lessons when it came to the editing process for the montage I created. The Photoshop tools that I had learnt in my photography lesson also proved helpful when it came to my Photoshop work, as I used them on the images I was editing for my final magazine advert.

If I did this assignment again, I would first make sure that I knew what was being expected of me by the end. I feel as though I was only supposed to end up with one final piece from both of the sessions, but I was unclear during the project. I would also make more of an attempt to bring in the photographs I had taken in the photography portions of my lessons into my graphics lessons. If I were to do this assignment again, I would also ask for more techniques and tools to be taught to me so that I could try and experiment with them.

Notes on Editing in Adobe Premiere Pro

Lesson: 07-10-2015

Once we had finished filming for our advert, we had to open up Adobe Premiere Pro and get used to editing in this software and produce a 'skeleton edit'. A skeleton edit is an edit without including any special effects or sounds and just getting the parts that cut that we needed to use and discarding the parts that we didn't need to use. 

When we first got started, it was hard to get the hang of what we needed to be doing, as I was new to the software. Marissa helped us in setting up the initial document settings, as we were unsure how to help set it up. 

Once we had gotten started, Bethany and I were okay with cutting out the different parts of the clips we had taken in order to get what it was that we wanted to keep. When we had gotten through one part and cut the part we wanted, we had to insert the part we had cut into the timeline shown at the bottom half of the program.

We did this for all of the clips we had and then saved what we had done for our skeleton edit.

Notes on Filming

Lesson: 07-10-2015

While filming our advert, I helped Rosie to set up the tripod before we began. I voiced my opinions to my group as we were filming. I did this by letting them know what I thought might work better and the different angles we might be able to shoot something from. When I had these ideas, I would use the camera in order to show how some angles might work better to others.

In the areas that we had more natural lighting than we would have liked, we tried to use it to our advantage, rather than letting it hinder our progress.

As our third location was in a different building, we had to ask for permission to use it, which Bethany had already done before we had to begin our filming. This was helpful as it meant that we could get right into filming the final part of our advert.

Magazine Advert and Evaluation

Lesson: 08-10-2015

In this lesson, we were designing and creating our final piece for our magazine advert that was based off of the short film advert we created in Marissa's lesson.

We were introduced to some guidance for creating our magazine advert, and were advised that instead of creating it straight into Photoshop, it would benefit us to create some rough sketches first. These sketches were so that when we came to designing our advert in Photoshop, we would already have a rough idea of what we wanted to put where. 

In the guidance we were shown, we were also told the kind of things that were had to consider putting onto our magazine advert; these included, a slogan, headline and the product itself. We were also told that if we wanted to, we could include a sub-headline, extra info the buyer may need and even a logo.

When we were aware of what needed to put onto our magazine advert, we had to do 3-5 (or more) rough sketches about what we might want our advert to look like once we created it in Photoshop. Once we had these designs, we had to go about creating our magazine advert in Photoshop.

This is the magazine advert I created.

In order to get to this stage, I had to research sizes of magazine adverts so that I could have something that resembled the actual size of a magazine advert. The size that I used was 210mm in height and 148mm in width. Once that was done, I went out to finding a background that I could use on my advert. We were told that for this assignment, we could use one from the internet that we could find. 

While the background I decided to use didn’t match the product I chose to sell, I found out during my research on different types of magazine adverts that they don’t always directly include the product they are trying to sell in their magazine. I went with an image of an abandoned roller coaster as I felt that it still felt a bit off-putting to look at, and I also felt that clowns are often associated with theme parks, hence my choice.

Copying that image into Photoshop, I used the ‘free transform’ tool in order to stretch my image until it fit the size of my advert. Following that, I used the ‘blending options’ and then ‘colour overlay’; then, I selected the shade of red that I wanted and used the ‘soft light’ blend mode at 70% opacity which gave me the background how I wanted it to be.

Next, I opened up the product label that I had created and dragged the title of the product into the file I was working on. This was so that I could use the same font for my magazine advert. Then, after positioning the product name where I wanted it to be, I pressed CTRL + T to enter the free transform mode and pressed the button at the top which allowed me to ‘switch between free transform and warp mode’. Doing this allowed me to stretch the image into an arch, which was the effect that I wanted to have. Then, going back to my product label, I dragged over the ‘shampoo’ text that I had, again as I needed to use the same font for it.

After dragging that over, I positioned that where I wanted it and then I used the ‘ellipse’ tool in order to use that as a background for the ‘shampoo’ text.

Then, using the ‘rounded rectangle’ shape tool, I created one and positioned it in the top right corner, so that it looked like a banner. Then, changing the opacity to 70%, I created a text box and used the Agency FB font at 14pt, as well as changing the ‘horizontal scale’ to 160% for the writing in the text box. Once that was positioned on top of the rounded rectangle that I used, I was finished.

Throughout this task, I learnt many different skills. Though a lot of it was through clicking on things and seeing what they did, I feel as though I learned a lot. I learned that having a rough sketch of a plan before beginning with the Photoshop process was very helpful. I found that, even though I didn’t stick to any of the sketches that I had designed before we began, I still found that it was easier to get started with something as a rough guide.

While I am quite pleased with my final piece and how it looks, I feel as though it could have been a lot better, had I prepared better. The final product is quite simple and doesn’t look too crowded. I wanted to try many different tools out; however, I felt as though the final piece would have looked very crowded and a bit too busy if I had. So, while I am pleased with how it turned out in the end, I felt that I didn’t give myself enough time to be able to try out all of the things I wanted to try out before the deadline.

If I were to do this task again, I would do a few things differently. Firstly, I would plan out my time better so that I could have the time to try out different techniques and tools. I would also try out different designs to see if something else would have fit it better. I think I would also try to make the advert about the product that had been done in my group; I feel that this may have worked better in the end.

Week 5 - Memory Check

Lesson:12-10-2015

Memory Check

What is ISO and what does it effect?

• ISO stands for International Standards Organisation and it affects how sensitive the camera is to light. The drawback to using a high ISO is that the pixels become grainy and detail is often lost in the photograph taken.

When would we use the ‘P’ control setting on the camera mode dial?

• The 'P', or Program, setting on the camera is something akin to semi-automatic. The camera would handle most of the work, but you can make adjustments to the ISO and White Balance when you need to.

• We would use the Program setting on the camera when more flexibility is required. It is also helpful when working on composition, as it means that you don't need to worry about the aperture or exposure when getting shots.

Name two important considerations when attaching the tripod base plate to the bottom of camera?

• Make sure that it is fastened tightly to lessen the chances of it coming loose.

• Ensuring that the and ensure that it is put on the right way around, with the arrows pointing towards the lens. 

Name three important considerations when using a red-head lighting kit.

• Make sure not to touch the red-head light and the surrounding barn doors that are there as the protection. 

• Leave the red-head light to cool down for 10-15 minutes after use. If this is not done, the filament in the light bulb is prone to breaking.

• Health and safety regarding the power cables of the light should be taken into consideration.

When focusing the camera, what do we place on the object/subject to ensure it is the center of focus?

• The small green rectangle that appears is where the subject of the photograph needs to be, so that it is the center of focus. In order not to break the rule of thirds, once the shutter button is held halfway down for the focus, the camera should be moved to get the right composition for the shot.

Name two techniques we can use to adjust the brightness and contrast of a photograph?

• To adjust the brightness and contrast of a photograph, you can use the 'levels' and 'curves' tool in Photoshop. When using the camera, we could adjust the brightness and through control of the ISO, shutter speed and aperture. 

Photography Final Piece and Evaluation

Lesson: 12-10-2015

In this assignment, we were required look for images that we found to be freaky/unique and write about them. We were then asked to pick a few of these images, which we would then look at attempting to recreate. In weeks to follow, we had to find objects/subjects that would allow us to recreate these images and then set-up our own lighting and camera set-up in order to take pictures of these things. Following that, we had to use Photoshop and the skills that we had learnt in order to achieve the recreation of an image that we found in the previous weeks.

During my research, I had a lot of difficulty finding images that inspired me. For me, it was quite hard for me to find freaky/unique images that I liked enough to want to recreate. During the research session, I was given the idea to look at ‘surrealism’ in photography and art, to see if it would aid me in finding something to inspire me. Given that I did this, there wasn’t much that I found that I wanted to follow through further with. By the end of my research, I found that only one or two of the images I found were ones I hoped to follow through with.

When we were told to find freaky/unique/unusual photography, I wasn’t sure what I was expected to find. There are a lot of things that I looked at that didn’t fit the criteria of freaky/unique. For example, at one point I was looking into a lot of gore and images like that to see if I could find something that I thought would fit the theme. After emailing to ask what kinds of things were to be expected in freaky/unique photography/imagery, I was told that things that looked a little strange or surreal could be under the classification of freaky/unique.

I didn’t really have many ideas throughout my work. By the end of working on this piece, I was relatively happy with what I came out with. My idea was to get a photograph of an eye and arm from someone in the class and then edit and merge them together in order to attempt to recreate one of the images I had found during my research.

When shooting the images I wanted to use, I had to take the time and interference's into account. Because we were shooting images in groups, it meant that we only had a limited amount of equipment to use, so we had to take turns using the camera and red-head lighting. By the time I got the camera, there was only a short amount of time left to get my images taken. The interference's I encountered was the natural lighting in the classroom; this made the shots that I took a lot brighter than I would have liked them.

When editing the shots that I took, I first used the ‘pen’ tool in order to cut them both out so that I just had what I needed. Once I had cut them out, I made sure I ‘feathered’ the selection so that when I deleted the selection, I had a smoother edge around the now cut out photographs. Then, arranging the images where I wanted them, I changed them both to black and white using the ‘adjustment’ under ‘layers’. Then, I used the ‘levels’ and ‘curves’ and adjusted them until I was happy with the brightness and contrast left in my image. Following that, I decided to use a ‘gaussian blur’ in order to attempt to give the feeling that the image wasn’t completely focused.

This is the final piece that I created for this assignment.

In the next assignment, I think I would make sure that I completely understood the task. While I feel that the way that it was explained to us as a group was okay, I found myself not completely understanding what was expected from me for a lot of this assignment. Nevertheless, in this assignment, I learned quite a lot. I learned new Photoshop tools that had not yet been taught to us; as well as how to use different shots to my advantage. One of the shots that I took was rather light compared to how I needed it to be; however, when editing, I found that I could use it to get a better contrast for my images.

In my opinion, I don’t think that my final image meets the assignment briefs, nor my original proposal. This is because, for a lot of the task, I was unsure of what was being asked from me. I felt that whoever I asked in the class seemed to be thinking different things, so I found myself getting a lot of different answers when I asked. As much as I wanted to make sure that I was clear on the task that was being asked from me, I felt that whenever I asked, it was forever changing. By the time I had found out exactly what it was I should have done throughout this assignment, I had already taken my photographs and was halfway to creating my final piece. While I wasn’t too far from what the outcome of this assignment was, I still feel as though it didn’t turn out as well as it could have if I had understood from the start what was being expected from me.

Advertisement Proposal

Lesson: 30-09-2015

We are going to be selling a shampoo that is designed to be best used on frizzy hair. It will be called 'The Crazy Clown' and the slogan will be 'You Will Dye For It'. Our advert idea is that a clown that uses the shampoo will become human again. 

The overall idea is that the advert will start in a room with an archway for the establishing shot, then the lights will go off for a very short period of time (1-3 seconds). After this time, they will go back on and the clown will be stood there - this will be shot as a wide shot, in order to still see the setting as well as the clown. 

Then the shot will cut to a stairway and  the clown will be walking down the stairs - sound effects/recording of creaking floorboard will be added afterwards for more effect. The shot used here will be a mid-shot or a close-up shot, in order to see the top half of the clown, transforming into a close-up as the clown walks down the stairs. In the next shot, it will cut-in to the frizzy hair of the clown, focusing on that feature as he walks off.

Finally, the shot will cut to our final location, where another establishing shot will be shown, this time with the clown in the distance, way away from the camera. It will walk towards the camera slowly, scrubbing its head as though it is washing its hair. As he walks forward, it will transform into a close-up and then an extreme close-up. Then, the screen will flash bright and the clown will be shown again, this time by a mid-shot and looking far nicer and with less frizzy hair.

The whole advert will be black and white, for effect. As well as this, the sound effects of creaking floorboards will be added to it. We will make use of lights while we are filming, to give the effects of the screen going dark/bright. An eerie soundtrack will be used for this advert, giving it the freaky feel that we are aiming for. 

Daniel will be the actor of the clown for this advert, myself and Rosie are going to be handling the camera, while Bethany will be handling the props.

The audience we are hoping to target with this product is teenagers to young adults. 

Set-up and Shot Annotations

Lesson: 28-09-2015

In this lesson we were focused on taking the pictures that we would be merging together in order to create our final freaky/unique image.

This is the setup that we created in order to take pictures of our subject. In my case, I was required to take pictures of an arm and a eye for the image I hope to recreate.

This is the first picture I took. While I think it went quite well, I feel as though I should have taken the shot from many different angles so that I would have something to compare to later on. I also feel that there was too much lighting on the image once I had taken it. I feel as though I could have asked my model to have her arm at different angles so that I could take more pictures and try them all out when creating my final image.

The second picture I took didn't go very well, I don't think. I couldn't get the camera to focus properly when I kept on trying to make it focus. Even though the image isn't full focused, I feel as though I can use this to my benefit when it comes to editing the image in Photoshop.

If I were to do this task again, I would ensure that I got more than just one shot of each part I needed. I would be sure to ask for help if there was something I could not figure out how to do. Taking pictures of the same parts but in different shots could prove beneficial to me in the end.

Photography Proposal

Lesson: 05-10-2015

Memory Check

Would we use a large or a small aperture to achieve a shallow depth of field?

• Large.

When would we use the 'S' control setting on the camera mode dial?

• For a fast/slow shutter speed.

What do we do to make the camera achieve focus?

• Hold the shutter button halfway down.

Name three items needed when producing a seamless background lighting set-up.

• White background
• Redhead light
• Tripod

When focusing the camera, what do we need to place on the object/subject to ensure it is the center of focus?

• Green rectangle/square.

Proposal

For this assignment, I intend to create a freaky or unique magazine advertisement using the photography I will take in the following lessons.

I do not require props for when I am shooting my imagery; the image I have decided to recreate means that I have to use someone from the class as my subject. I have already asked and got her approval to be photographed, so there will not be a problem when it comes to shooting my images.

For the photographs that I need to take, I need to use the camera and the red-head lighting setup. As I am using a human subject, setting up a seamless background will be hard to do; as a substitute, I have decided to use the whiteboard in the classroom as a background.

The location I will be shooting in will be the classroom. While somewhere darker would be more preferred, the classroom location has the whiteboard, which I need to use as my makeshift seamless background.

The considerations I will have to take during the shooting of my images are the usage of the camera and the light coming through the windows. The problem with the usage of the camera is because we have to be in groups to share the camera around and take turns; this will use up time that I could be doing something else in. With the daylight, it is impossible to get rid of it while shooting, so I will edit my images when I am at the Photoshop stage.

Once at the Photoshop stage, I will be using many techniques and tools to edit my images in the right way. I will mainly be making use of the ‘pen’ tool in order to cut my images out; then I will be using the ‘levels’ and ‘curves’ tools in order to get the image darker and to the contrast that I would like it to be. I may also be required to use the ‘gaussian blur’ tool; I feel that this would be able to give me the effect that I would like for my final image.

The only obstacle I feel that I may face during the photographing is that I am not too familiar with using the camera yet. This may cause one of my shots to not be shot correctly.

Once I am able to use the camera, I don’t expect the shooting of my images to take more than 15 to 20 minutes.

Product Label and Fonts

Lesson: 01-10-2015

In this lesson, we had to look for fonts that we think would fit our product and theme that we are using. In order to find these fonts, we had to go on dafont and look through the fonts that were on there. 

When we found a font that we liked, we had to print screen the page and paste the print screen into Photoshop. Then, using the rectangle marquee tool, I selected the font that I wanted to keep. I then right clicked and selected the inverse to select the area that I didn't draw around. Deleting the unwanted parts of the screenshot using the backspace button, I then pressed CTRL + D to deselect the image. Then, pressing CTRL + T, I made the image bigger to fit the page. Then, selecting the Magic Eraser Tool, I clicked on the white of the image to remove the background from the image.

I repeated this 5 times for the fonts that I found and liked from the website.

I chose the 5 fonts that I chose because they all seem to reflect something that is either freaky or seemed to me that it related to clowns in some way. When I think of clowns, I think of something that's a bit funny or a bit weird, and that's exactly what I thought when I saw these fonts. The top two aren't really so much related to clowns as much as they're related to being a bit freaky.  

After the break, we had to focus on using one of the fonts that we found in order to create a product label for the product we are going to film our advertisement on.

This is the product label I designed for the product my group had chosen. I decided that I didn't want it to look too busy once it was finished, so I made it rather simple. While I even looked at the shampoo bottles I had at home, I found that it wasn't actually as easy as it looked. 

I started off trying to look for the right size that the label on a shampoo bottle could be, but in the end I had to guess until it looked like it was the right size. 

After I had the size how I wanted it, I used the 'paint bucket' tool to fill the background red, adjusting the hex colour until I was pleased with the shade of red.  Once that was done, I took to the internet to look for something that looked akin to blood dripping, copied the image into Photoshop and then made it the right size so that it fit across the top of the label. Then, I duplicated the layer, went to 'transform' and flipped it both horizontally and vertically. Finally, I moved the new layer to the bottom of the label until I was happy with the position that it was in.

Following that, I took to the internet again to look for a simple bar code that I could use on the label. When I found one, I put it into the bottom right corner of my label and positioned it how I wanted it to be.

Next I decided to create the 'NEW!!' part of the label. First, using the technique that I had learned when making my Simple Banner Poster, I created a square using the rectangle tool and holding shift so that it stayed equal on all sides. Then, with the 'direct selection' tool, I clicked on the bottom right corner and pressed backspace to make it into the triangle. Positioning it in the top right corner, I then changed the colour to white so that it would stand out more.

I then created a text box and put the 'NEW!!' text in, using the Arial font at 20.13pt and changing the horizontal scale to 160% so that the text looked a little squished and a bit more spaced out. I then stuck to typing out the ingredients for the shampoo (using ingredients from another shampoo bottle that we had); for these I used the Calibri font in 8pt. I positioned them above the bar code on the right side and then finally began making the title for my label.

Starting with one of the fonts I found in the previous lesson, I put the name of the shampoo and used the 'magic eraser' tool in order to get rid of the white parts of the background. Then, pressing CTRL + T, I changed the size of this as well as rotated it to the left. Then I created the 'shampoo' part underneath. For this I had to go and find a completely different font, as I thought that the other ones I chose didn't fit as well with the other that I had used. Once I had found one, I cut out the text that I needed from the page and used the 'magic eraser' tool again to rid of the white background. Rotating that as well, I positioned it underneath the main title I had created.

Next, using the 'ellipse' shape tool, I made one big enough to fit the name of my product into. Then, changing the position of my layers, I rotated the ellipse until it was behind my product name. Then, I linked the ellipse and product name layers together so that I could move them all at once should I need to.

Finally, with one final text box, I used the Agency FB font at 11pt in order to write the hair type that the shampoo should be used on.

That was how I created my product label for my group. However, I failed to add in the slogan for our product while creating this label.

I enjoyed making the label, and once I got started with it it wasn't as hard as I initially thought it would be. I was pleased with the end product, too. Sometimes I had trouble with the way things were flipped and how to rotate things, so throughout this I played around with different rotations and different transforming techniques.

Library Induction

Tutorial: 01-10-2015

Today we got an induction to the Library, also known as the LRC (Learning Resource Center). There are two sides to the Library, and both sides have their own selection of books. One side has books on Travel and Tourism and Businesses and the other has books on media, drawing and manga. Both sides of the Library have computers that we can use should we need to. 

We also got told about our printing credit, which is £2.00. We were told that after we had used this £2.00, we would have to top it up with our own money. Then we were told that colour printing costs 5p per sheet and black and white printing costs 2p per sheet.

When the tour was over we were asked to go and look for books or films that grabbed our interest.

These are the books I chose to photograph when we looked around. I chose these books because they are about the things I am interested in. The one on the left is all about game art, while the one on the right is a monthly magazine that I've collected lots of myself that focuses mostly on anime, with Japanese culture and games sometimes shown.

Planning for our Advert

Lesson: 30-09-2015

In the beginning of this lesson we were given a sheet and Marissa went through some basic do's and don't's for when we were doing our advert. We were then shown some adverts and had to answer the questions on our sheets regarding the adverts themselves. 

After that, we had to get into our groups and find adverts that advertised the product we had decided to do in our groups. As I moved groups halfway through the lesson, I have two sets of advertisements, however the group I moved into was doing shampoo as their product. The group I moved into consisted of Bethany, Rosie and Daniel. I got myself familiar with my new group's product and proposal so that I was able to write up my own proposal.

 After break, we were sent out in our groups to look at the locations we wanted to use in our adverts. We were introduced to location recce's and how to use them before we were sent off.

While we were out looking for our three locations, we had to fill in the location recce as well as take pictures of the places we were hoping to shoot. The locations above are the locations that my group hopes to shoot in when we shoot our advert.

When we got back, we were given a storyboard that we had to draw out what we were hoping to happen in our advert and give brief explanations next to them as well as the shot type we were going to use.

Video Production Planning and Research

Lesson: 29-09-2015

We were split into groups of 3 or 4 and were required to get to know each other. In my group, we had trouble deciding who was going to be in front of the camera and who was going to be behind the camera, so we are going to discuss further and decide these when we decide what our advert should be on. We are considering masks, or not using shots of the face for the person who is going to be doing the acting.

When discussing props and objects that we may be able to bring in, we found that none of the members of our group had anything that could be useful for the advert. In order to tackle this, it was suggested that we could go and buy some supplies, should we need them.

We then had to look at different adverts that we could find that were considered freaky or scary in some way. 

Title: "This is a Special Time" (Little Baby's Ice Cream)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erh2ngRZxs0

The first advert my group looked at was from Little Baby's Ice Cream, titled "This is a Special Time". This advert is really quite unnerving and I don't even want to watch it after the first time we watched it in my group. 

Title: "Missing Our Deals Will Haunt You" (Phones 4U Advert)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2oL_gXECtg 

The next advert we looked at was from Phones 4U, titled "Missing Our Deals Will Haunt You". Throughout the whole of this advert there is a sense of eeriness and uneasiness. It gives off a bad vibe from the start.

Title: "Baby Doll" (PlayStation 3 Advert)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqkNPcUMffU

This advert was the final one my group looked at and it was for PlayStation 3. The advert was titled "Baby Doll". While it is a very simple advert, it is rather odd. The moving doll gave me a really freaky feeling.

Rules of Composition and Set-up

Lesson: 28-09-2015

Memory Check

Look at the slides and identify the composition rule?

• Rule of Thirds
• Cropped/blurred
• Viewpoint
• Leading Lines

What do we do to make the camera achieve focus?

• Hold the shutter button halfway down.

The ‘mode dial’ on our camera has the following four acronyms, what do they stand for and what do they control?

• 'A' = Aperture 
• 'S' = Shutter Speed
• 'P' = Program
• 'M' = Manual

At the start of this lesson, we looked at the rules of composition from a PowerPoint presentation. We learnt 9 rules of composition, which are as follows:

• Rule of Thirds

This rule states that a photograph tends to look its best when the subject of the shot is placed along imaginary lines  - either horizontally or vertically - that divide the overall image into thirds.

• Balancing Elements

In this rule, it is told that while using the rule of thirds makes for a more interesting photograph, the rest of the photo can look very empty. This is why it is important to include other objects that are of a lesser importance to fill the space and balance the elements.

• Leading Lines

Because our eyes are often drawn along lines to see what is at the end of them, using leading lines in composition, it can be very helpful for showing off the subject of the shot, as well as to 'pull' the viewer into the image. 

• Symmetry and Pattern

Much like leading lines, symmetry and patterns can be used to draw in the viewer so they are led to the subject of the photograph or image. Different patterns and symmetry can be found everywhere, whether they are noticed at first or not. Once used, they can make for very good way to catch someone's eye.

• Viewpoint

Rather than shooting from just straight on, it's good to think about lots of different angles and views that we could shoot from. These could be from above, below, the back or even the side. By changing the view and angle that something is shot from, it can change the message and impact that the image has. 

• Background

Finding a plain or quiet background to shoot something in front of can often be a big help. It is found that if a background is too busy or cluttered, that it will take away from the subject of your shot in the final piece. By using something that is less busy to look at, but is still nice to look at and goes with the subject of the shot, the final shot won't be affected by what is in the background.

• Depth

Being 2-D, photography can sometimes make it hard to convey the sense of depth that was present at the time of the photograph. By including more objects in the foreground or background, depth can be created in an image. 

• Framing

Sometimes, the ability to isolate the subject of the shot is created by putting fence panels or gate holes (or something else entirely) in the position to frame an image. This helps to keep the rest of the world out of the image that is being taken.

• Cropping

Sometimes, it is found that the subject of a shot can become cluttered among the other things that appear in a shot. By cropping out all of the things that aren't needed, the subject can be brought back into the main focus of the shot.

After this, we were taught how to set up the tripod, camera and redhead light. We were cautioned that we had to be careful with the redhead light, as if it was handled too harshly, that the filament in the light would break and have to be replaced. Then, we were shown how to make a simple backdrop using a sheet or two of plain white paper with no creases in it. This is so that when we want to take pictures of 

We were then put into groups in order to shoot our images or objects with the limited amount of resources we had.

Simple Banner Poster

Lesson: 24-09-2015

In the second half of this lesson we were asked to create a simple banner poster, following a similar tutorial than the one for the 'ghostly images'. For this, we started off by using the 'rectangle' shape tool to create a rectangle, and then using the 'add anchor point' tool on either side of the rectangle in order to be able to create the inward arches. 

Then, with the use of the 'rectangle' shape tool again, we made a square. Clicking on the 'direct selection' tool, we clicked on the bottom right corner of the newly created square until the point was black. Then, pressing backspace, we got rid of half of the square and it became a triangle. 

Next, opening up the 'blending options' on the triangles layer, I added the 'gradient overlay' and set the angle to -90 degrees and the scale to 150% to make it look more like a banner. Then, I left clicked on the shape itself to manually change the shapes gradient. 

Afterwards, I duplicated the layer and then flipped the shape horizontally so I had both parts I needed for my banner. Both triangles were then put into place to create my banner. 

Then, using the text tool, I added in the text and changed the colour to white so that it would stand out on the orange of the banner. 

For the background, I started off with a plain orange background, adding a new layer and then filling it with the 'paint bucket' tool. Then, going to 'blending options' and 'gradient overlay', I changed the gradient so that it looked like the image below.

Then, so that the poster looked more filled, I cut our and used a character from one of my games. I made it so that there were 3 copies of the layer with her on it. The one on top stayed where it was while the one below I moved a few pixels to the right. I then added the same gradient overlay, this time checking the 'reverse' box on the layer style. With the second copy of the image, I moved it further to the right and then added the gradient overlay again, leaving the 'reverse' box unchecked this time.

That is how I came to my final result of my banner poster.

Ghostly Images

Lesson: 24-09-2015

In this lesson, we had to follow a tutorial in order to create pictures that had a ghostly effect to them. We began by finding appropriate images and putting them into Photoshop. Then we had to cut out the picture of the person we chose using the skills we learnt last week - using the pen tool and clicking around the image. Once the image of our choice was cut out, it was moved around until it was in the space I wanted it to be. 

After finding and cutting out the images that I wanted, I had to go and find background that I thought matched what I was trying to create.

To get the 'ghostly' effect on the cut out images I was using, I used the 'gaussian blur' option under 'filter'. I then set the pixels to 11.5px in order to get the blurriness.

For this one, I decided to put two people in the image. The man on the right was changed to black and white through using the 'black & white' option, which is found under 'image' and then 'adjustments' in Photoshop. This was done before I used the 'gaussian blur' filter. With the man on the left, I was unsure whether or not to put him in; however, I liked how he seemed to be fading into the bottom of the picture when I added the blur.

For the second of my three images, I chose to go with something both that I knew and something that was animated. Both images above are from the game Subarashiki Kono Sekai (It's a Wonderful World). The background is of the Shibuya Crossing in Japan, as depicted in the game, while the person is one of the main characters. 

I did the same as for the first image in terms of blurring the image; however, for this one, I duplicated the layer and then I put a 'gaussian blur' on the second layer that had the pixels set to 100px. I did this because I felt that it gave the image an outer glow.

For the rest of the image, I did the same as I had before.

For the last of my three, I used a Korean idol as the person I was using and then I found a background that I thought fit. I used the exact same technique as in the first one - adding the gaussian blur at 11.5px and then positioning them on the background that I chose. This time, however, I made it so that the person fit on the majority of the background, rather than sticking with a corner.

I felt that the fog in the background I chose helped to make it look more ghost-like.