Introduction to Photoshop

Using Photoshop


Adobe Photoshop is a graphic and picture editing tool. It enables the user to alter, manipulate and create images either from existing photos or found images.


Tools:


Marquee Tool - cuts box shapes around a part of the image


Lasso Tool - unlike the marquis tool, the lasso tool allows you to cut out parts of the image freehandedly. I found this tool quite useful when I needed to crop out irregularly shaped objects from the image. It allows you to be precise.


Clone stamp tool - makes a perfect copy of a highlighted part of the image. This worked well for me since I could make clones of different people/objects and incorporate them into a single image.


Blur Tool - allows you to blur/smoothen out hard edges of an image. This works well when making clones of people/objects and adding them to other images. Blurring out the edges of objects makes gives the image smooth finish.


Sharpen Tool - sharpens soft edges in an image


Eraser Tool - erases unwanted pixels


Burn Tool - allows you to darken areas of an image. This worked well for me - I used to to create shadowy effects, especially on peoples' faces.


Horizontal Text Tool - allows you to type over images


Basics of Image Design & Construction:


When making my poster, I first thought about my frame in terms of rule of thirds and composition. I wanted the viewer to first notice how there are three people and all of them look the same. To achieve this, I cropped (using the lasso tool in photoshop) the person from two separate images and incorporated them in one single frame. I placed the hand in the bottom right third and I then added a dagger in the dead body's hands so that it catches the audiences' attention after they have noticed the three people. Last but not least, I added a title for the picture which is in another language to give the image a mysterious feel.


I initially found Photoshop to be quite challenging however, after playing around with it, I am quite comfortable with it. I found the whole layering idea quite complicated and it took me quite a while to get it right. The move, lasso and clone tools are the most useful tools in my opinion since they allowed me to incorporate several different components of different images into a single frame. I found this idea rather fascinating which is why I believe that Photoshop is a very useful program.


I think Photoshop is absolutely vital in the creation of a media product as it enables editors to think outside the box and create images/frames that helps us take a step outside the real world using a large amount of creativity. It also allows people/editors so correct mistakes and make actors seem more appealing which catches the audiences' eyes and gives them an incentive to watch the film/purchase the product,etc.

Basic Stills, Camera Work & Composition

Composition:

Photography brings a visual language that is universal in understanding. We must then understand its vocabulary which consists of shapes, textures, patterns, lines, colours, shade of light to dark and sharp to blurry images. Just as we must learn to arrange words in a coherent order in order to make sense when we write or speak, so too must we put visual elements together in an organized manner if our photographs are to convey their meaning clearly and vividly.

Composition means arrangement: the orderly putting together of parts to make a unified whole; composition through a personal, intuitive act. However, there are basic principles that govern the way visual elements behave and interact when you combine them inside the four borders of a photograph. Once we have sharpened our vision and grasped these basic ideas of principles, then we will have the potential for making our photographs more exciting and effective than ever before.



Rule of Thirds:
Rule of Thirds is a very popular rule in photography.
This is how it works:
-You draw imaginary lines across the image which divides it into thirds (horizontally & vertically).
-This will split the screen into four 'hotspots' where you place the most important elements of your composition.
-These 'hotspots' usually tend to catch the audiences' attention.
-This rule is a good guideline to help you structure your frame.

This is a basic task that we had to perform to practice our photoshop skills.

Dr. Who Trailer :)

Dr Who Trailer

1) Introduction to Media Studies

In our AS course of Media Studies, our main task is to produce an opening sequence (with titles) for a new fiction film from scratch. This involves creating it through the three stages: pre-production, production and post production. The audio and video must all be original unless it the music or audio is from a copyright-free source.
Before we do this task, we'll be practicising the basics of making a film by performing a smaller-scale prelim task, where we are given storyboards to follow and shoot accordingly.