Design Process

Mock-ups, roughs, shooting schedueles etc.

Music Magazine - Mock-ups

(Cover)

(Cover)

(Contents)

Music Magazine Photographs – Before and After

Because I didn’t take these photos in front of a green screen, the model was more difficult to cut out from the background. However, I managed to cut her out rather well with the use of Photoshop’s built-in tools, such as the ‘eraser’ tool, the ‘magnetic lasso’ tool, and the regular ‘lasso’ tool.

Once I had cut the model out, I imported the image into a blank ‘A4’ sized Photoshop document, created a new layer underneath the newly imported layer with the model on it, and added a black background by using the ‘paint bucket tool’ on the blank underneath layer. I then created six new layers. On the first of these new layers, I created a white rectangle shape and positioned it underneath the model. Then, on the second of these layers, I generated black and white ‘fibres’, scaled it down, and then positioned it on top of the rectangle to make it look like a white wood window ledge. With the third layer, I used a small, “feathered” ‘paint brush’ and added a variety of small sized dots to create the effect of a starry night sky. I made a white circle on the fourth layer, using the ‘shape’ tool, and added a subtle ‘outer glow’ to give the impression of a Moon glow. Next, I designed a Moon texture in Adobe After Effects, and Cinema 4D and imported it into the Photoshop document, then scaled it down and positioned it on top of the circle, thus creating a Moon effect. After this, I duplicated the image of the model, flipped it vertically, used the ‘paint bucket’ tool to make it a silhouette, and then lowered the opacity to make it look like a shadow. Finally, I used the sixth layer to create a shadow effect on the model; I did this by using a “feathered” ‘paint brush’. By lowering the opacity of the layer, then adding a block of black over part of the model, I successfully created a shadow effect.

Similarly, I did not take this photo in front of a green screen, which meant that I had to use the same methods to cut the model out of this photo that I used to cut out the model from the previous photo.

Once cut out, I duplicated the layer twice and lowered the opacity of both, one more so than the other. I then positioned the duplicate layer with the highest opacity slightly higher up than the original layer, and then progressed even higher up with the other duplicate. Thus creating a vibrating effect which emphasizes the roaring of the model. However, this model is not holding a musical instrument, so I added some musical symbols using the ‘shape’ tool in Photoshop. I then added ‘outer glows’ to said ‘musical symbols’, and then used the same technique that I used on the image of the model, on the musical symbols to further add to the vibrating effect. Lastly, I imported a screenshot of some flames that I generated in After Effects, and placed the layer underneath all of the other layers. After scaling that layer up, I had finished.

Once again, this photograph was not taken in front of a green screen; therefore I had to use the same methods of cutting out the models from the background.

After I had cut the models out, I created a new layer underneath the layer of the models, and then used the ‘gradient’ tool to add a nice “fading” background; this effect also enhances the observers’ visual focus on the models as the top of the background is faded due to the gradient. Following this, I imported a screenshot of some flames that I generated in After Effects and placed the layer underneath the “models” layer, but above the gradient layer. Once this was done, I lowered the opacity of the flames.