FMP WEEK 23 (WC: 03/05/2021)

In one of my tutorials it was recommended that I used Adobe After Effects to produce some content that contains moving image or animated fonts. As a result of this, I went onto LinkedIn Learning, found some videos and began to learn. I thought this would be a very successful idea for the Instagram page because it would mean the content that I am putting out there switches up a bit; video content is always good at pulling in the audience to spend more time interacting with the post as there is the moving visual element to it. Learning Adobe After Effects was proving to be a great challenge; I am extremely proud of pushing myself out of my comfort zone to make some content using Adobe After Effects as this is a program I had been aiming to learn for so long. However, just because it was recommended to me by a teacher I attempted to make some content (some good, some bad) and after a lot of bad attempts I managed to animate don’t, create moving backgrounds as well as learn things like making a moving font banner, learning how to make a shape move, and masks and multiple images at once. I was very pleased with my actual results however because the program is extremely complex, it meant that it took me a very long time to be able to come to terms with the layout, process and technical buttons which I am still not completely confident in. I followed an Envato+ Tutorial for Adobe which taught me everything I needed to know. I was recommended a course which was paid but I found this on YouTube for free with 4 hours worth of content to learn from. This has proven to have been useful in expanding my technical abilities within moving image while allowing myself to branch out of my comfort zone and produce work which has a lot fo time and thought going into it. On the other hand, in terms of practicality, learning how to use Adobe After Effects after never using it properly before only right before my deadline was not my most logical move within this project as a lot of time which was spent learning different techniques could have been spent by making work for the magazine. This has led me to make more Instagram content but lacking in the actual Sentient Magazine content which has pushed me back a few steps.

I have began writing up my articles for my magazine, there is also proving to be very time-consuming and difficult resulting in me having to cut down a lot of the written content for my magazine in order to get everything done on time. I have adapted the visual side of the magazine by making the decision to scrap the articles on the 12 laws of karma and just use quote pages for them because realistically, I would not be able to get them all done in time. This is another decision which is logical for me to make at this point, even though it is slightly disappointing, I remember the complexity of making a magazine is a huge thing to master and the fact that I have created any content at all is extremely good news for my personal development.

The interviews I conducted for the magazine will be placed at the front; the whole point of my magazine is to uplift people, present interesting insights into people’s lives and opinions and to positively influence someone’s day as shown in the choice of articles I have researched and written, therefore placing the interviews first allows there to be some engaging written content to pull in the readers initially. The interviews are all done with people that inspire me, which is a relevant choice for a magazine catered to people like me.