Evaluation of progress

REVIEW POST

Here are my magazine covers and contents pages. My evaluation post has also been added to this.

In the four months I have been developing my coursework, I have arranged one photoshoot, created two front covers, and two contents pages. Arranging the photoshoot was the first step I took after drawing up my plans. After contacting both models, Tess and Mia, I shared my plans and brainstorms with them and asked for their opinions. After overwhelming praise for my plan, the two girls suggested keeping their fashion primarily black and white since I wanted to focus on coloured lights – after testing this idea it became permanent to the plan. After shooting multiple angles of the two, I cut it down to the ones I wished to use. Since this took a lot of time, it allowed me to concentrate on the editing I may like to do once I begin using photoshop. I decided early on that I wanted a psychedelic-esk effect by layering the same images and having their primary pigment a different colour – similar to wearing 3D glasses with red and blue lenses. However, once it came to photoshop I realised that this made the image too messy and hard to distinguish. I dabbled with the opacity settings and the pre-set effects/filters until my design resembled my plan better. Another decision I chose early on was my contents pages, I did not want this to elicit more attention that my front covers. I took inspiration from Vogue Magazine’s contents page, which takes a minimalist approach. My masthead, Centre Stage, became problematic since I did not want this to take away from the front cover image. I initially wanted this to be placed behind the model’s head, as magazines like Vogue and Grazia often uses. However, on my cover this looked very abstract and not ‘quite right’, so I resorted to having the masthead higher – slightly overlapping Tess’ forehead on her front cover and sitting above Mia’s head. For my plan, I chose to conduct my coursework from the perspective of Judith Butler’s ‘Gender Performity’ theory, which is what lead me to choosing the bedroom setting for my cover. I chose this because the bedroom is the primary room which one dresses themselves, has time on their own, and the main room of privacy for said individual. This helped to convey the idea of ‘performance’ and the bedroom being their ‘dressing room’, which serves as a room to prepare and a room to hide the person they really are – through aesthetics not inner beauty and personality, which everyone has. For this reason, I kept one setting but changed my mise-en-scene. For instance, in Mia’s solo images the lighting is brighter, highlighting her facial features, with a blank background. But for Tess’ they are darker, and her shadow is projected onto the wall behind her. I chose this to show two sides Butler’s theory- that for some this is enjoyable developing their identities and expressing themselves but for others it’s a painful thing which does not always bring them joy. Furthermore, for my next progression I hope to add additional features to my contents/front covers which reach my online audiences and persuades them to visit online – also using social media icons.