Camera Composition

 In addition to camera shots and camera angles, another important thing to consider in your camera shots is camera composition. Camera composition refers to some of the elements that go into making a photo look the way that it does. In particular, I'll be focusing on framing, the rule of thirds, and depth of field. I'll be using the images from my preliminary magazine to demonstrate what I've learned about these elements! 

Framing

framing refers to when the subject of an image is surrounded by an element in the foreground. This shifts the viewers focus onto the subject and emphasizes what is happening in the image.

In my magazine, I chose to avoid framing because I wanted to have the subject of my images be fairly close up. I believe that adding a frame to this would have negatively impacted the aesthetic of the magazine. 

Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is when you use a 3x3 grid of lines to align the subject of your image. When the subject is aligned in the intersection of these lines, more emphasis is drawn to it. Additionally, you can use this to add different moods and connotations to the image.

I used the rule of thirds in a few of the images in my magazine because I wanted to make sure that the focus of the image was immediately on the models and the way they contribute to the style of the magazine.

Depth of Focus 

Depth of focus is how in focus the image is and how clearly it can be seen. Deep Focus shots are completely clear with everything in focus. This type of focus make sure that every detail is in view, letting you see the setting and all the characters in the shot. Standard focus keeps the subject and midground in relative focus, only blurring the background. Finally, shallow focus is when everything in the image, except for the subject is blurred. 

preliminary double page spread analysis

By this point in the creation of my preliminary magazine, I already had a rough idea of the style that I was going for and some of the elements that each page should have.

This page consists of the main article of the magazine and supporting images. At the time, I wanted the article itself to me the center of attention. Because of this, I made the article take up the majority of the two pages, leaving the images off to the side. I also tried creating a clear division between the article and the page number by adding lines between them.

As for the title of the article, I wasn't sure if I should use the stylized font from the previous pages or if I should transition into a simpler one. After trying both out, I decided that it would be better to used the original one since I've already established that as the style of the magazine. Going back and changing this would only detract from this style.

However, I believe that this wouldn't work well with the subheadings. Instead, I went with the same font as the article. I think this allows the subheadings to feel more connected to the rest of the article.

 

preliminary contents table analysis

 

After analyzing my preliminary cover page, I realized a lot about my thought process going into making my magazine. Because of this, I decided to continue my analysis and focus on the table of contents this time. Once again, I'll be going through the steps I took to make this part of the magazine.

For starters, I was happy with the style that I used on my cover page. Because of that, I decided to continue using the stylized font and the minimalistic design. This can be seen in simplicity of the text and the use of mainly black and white.

I also liked the effect that the shallow focus on the main image of my cover page had, creating a simplified look. For this reason, I used the same technique on the main image on this page. However, I also decided to make the image monotone, changing it to be black and white. At the time, I felt that this would also add to the minimalistic design.

On the right side of the page, I added the article titles and their page numbers. After adding them, it felt to me that everything was a little too crowded and that it was difficult to tell which stories were the most important. Since I'm not very knowledgeable on creating magazines, I started researching how to solve this. I came across a concept called font hierarchy and decided to implement this by making the important articles a larger font than the less important ones. After adding the descriptions of the articles, I once again used font hierarchy to make it stand out less than the titles.

However, after adding the article descriptions, everything still felt too crowded and the minimalist design had been damaged. To solve this, I used different examples and discovered that making the descriptions a light grey helped restore the minimalist design while still providing the necessary information.

preliminary cover page analysis

Last time, I showed you all the magazine that I made. However, I also wanted to analyze it to hopefully improve in the future. I also wanted to break down the steps I had to take to make it. Specifically, I'm going to focus on the magazine cover today.

When I first started,  I decided to use a template from Canva. This is because I'm still not very knowledgeable about what goes into making a magazine. I also spent a lot of time researching what the normal elements of magazine covers are, especially focusing on the overall aesthetic of magazines. I found that magazines typically include a central image, a stylized title, the type of magazine, the issue, the date, and the main articles. Additionally, I realized that magazines have barcodes, obviously used for purchases.

By this point, I decided to make my magazine about fashion. I was particularly drawn to the modern and minimalistic look of magazines like "Vogue", inspiring me to go for bold lettering and stylized font for the magazine title. Additionally, the name "Nu Era Look" was inspired by my love of modern fashion mixed with an informal writing style.

The image I used also parallels this minimalistic and modern style. The shallow focus removes background details from the image, preventing it from looking overcrowded. The almost disinterested look from the model was also inspired by the likes of "Vogue".

After making the title and the image, I needed a place to put the rest of the important information I believed should go on the cover. After spending time brainstorming, I chose to add a bar on the side that would facilitate this. However, adding this bar made the rest of the magazine, especially the title, looked uneven. It took some time to rework and shift the design elements around until I was happy with the result and could finally add the rest of the information. This included The issue, the main story titles, the date, and a barcode. 

preliminary magazine - double page spread

 Welcome back! After making the magazine cover and table of contents, I decided to also make a preliminary double page spread. This was by far the hardest of the 3 to make but I think I did a reasonably good job at making one, especially since it's my first attempt.

Here it is!

preliminary magazine - table of contents

 After creating the cover page for my preliminary magazine, I decided to keep going and make a table of contents as well.

Here's the table of contents!

preliminary magazine - cover page

 Hello! After having spent time in Canva and learning about what goes into different camera shots and scenes, I've decided to create a preliminary magazine. This is because making a preliminary magazine will help me practice for my finally media product, as well as create a baseline for the future of my media product to see the growth it's made.

Here's the Cover page for it!

see you next time for the analysis of this cover page.