#sixthpost

Photoshop Image Adjustments Part 1

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This week we began learning how to apply curves and other tools in photoshop to colour correction and colour grading. I found this lesson fairly easy and was confident about it as I have gained a lot of experience in this software through both poster design and animation. So today was all about adjusting images so that they look better/more natural than the original copy.

(There are two parts to this post as we edited a lot of images)

We mainly looked at colour grading and colour correction;

Colour Correction is the process of ‘fixing’ an image, or restoring its former quality through different techniques in photoshop. For the most part, all the images in this post used mainly colour correction techniques to fix up the colour balance in the images. A good example of the usage of colour correction is when you might take a photo of a beautiful landscape, but the photo you take just doesn’t do it justice, so you can correct the colours afterwards is post.

Colour Grading is more about getting an image to look how you want it through the manipulation of different colour balances, saturation, hue and other important aspects of images. A great example of this is like when you post a picture to instagram and apply a filter to it to make it look how you want.

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Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts Learnt :

( A lot are similar to Illustrator )

B = Brush  

Z = Zoom

[SPACE] = Pan  

E = Eraser 

[  ] = Brush size

Option/Alt = Colour Dropper

⌘ + Shift + 4 = Screengrab on Mac   

Win + Shift + S = Screengrab on Windows

⌘ + m = curves

⌘ + i = invert layer

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Current Software Skill Rating:

Windows : 10

MacOS : 8 

Photoshop : 8 (increase from 7 last week)

A fan is...

No No No! This is not the fan that we’re talking here!

Today, we’ll discuss on the fan as in a fandom!

A fan (noun) is someone who admired and obsessed with a particular celebrity, band, star, film and TV show where they will get themselves involve in fandom or fan activism (Hills 2002).

Do you consider yourself a fan if you didn’t involve in fandom?

Why not? I can be a fan even if I doesn’t involve in fandom.

Fan clubs do exist on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and YouTube. Yet, you do not need to become an official member to be a fan apparently (Kleefeld 2017). For example, an individual wearing merchandise as in t-shirt, cap or bracelet proclaiming his or her fan interest such as “I’m part of this fandom. I’m an A.R.M.Y.” (BTS fans’ name), going to Shawn Mendes’ concert or participating in Lakers’ message boards, none of that is necessary to be a fan. With that said, there is no rules and no exact process to join or leave a fandom. On the contrary, Kleefeld (2017) noted that a person keeping his or her fan interest to his or herself, separated from others, then that person is not part of the fandom but still considered as a fan. Therefore, you are still considered as a fan even if you do not involve in fandom. 

My own experience as a fan:

Everyone sure has an idol or a fan of a team or band, so do I!

I’m a fan of Taylor Swift. I’m a Swiftie since 2009. She’s gorgeous, she’s cute and she’s talented. She’s just like a sister to me that taught me many things through her songs. I was once a girl with low self-esteem, she taught me to be Fearless, taught me to Speak Now when I faced any difficulties in life to the person that I trust (my parents and confidant) and the latest song Lover taught me to care and love my beloved one more. In 2010, I bought the “Red” album and I bought the “Speak Now” album in 2012. I kept listening to the songs by looping it while I’m studying that time and that gave me motivation and strength to study.

Has fan activism gone too far?

It is so exciting to see your idol performing on the stage and have the latest album that you purchased signed; it is so motivating and entertaining when you can interact with your idol be it in person or through YouTube Live; you’ll always follow the current trend of your idol such as what brands your idol use, what type of fashion style they are wearing recently and what is your idol’s latest songs or newly released video about your idol’s life. Yet, what if an individual or a group of fan is too obsess with their idol? What will happen when fan activism gone too far?

In my viewpoint, being an obsess fan leads to the imagination that an individual is being in love with the idol, that he or she will start to think of the idol more often, think of touching the idol or search for the idol’s address, which in other words, stalking. According to Tiffany (2017), an obsessive fan will feel disappointed when the idol does not reply messages or does not agree to meet up, which then makes the idol feel irritated when an obsess fan keep on writing letter or text his or her idol until he or she gets a reply. When there is rejection, an obsess fan might not think rationally and even has no self-control. For example, sexual harassment, cyberbully that leads to long-term depression of the idol, or even killing of idol due to multiple rejection may happen when fan activism gone too far. As an illustration, the video below shows one of the K-pop star, Sulli’s suicide case due to depression caused by obsess fans.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIwoWyG7vyQ)

References

Hills 2002, Fan cultures, Online Research Library: Questia.

Kleefeld, S 2017, ‘Fanthropology: fans vs fandom’, Freaksugar, 4 September, viewed 19 November 2019, <http://www.freaksugar.com/fans-vs-fandom/>.

What is fandom? Fandom or fan communities are a group of fans of someone or something, especialy the very enthusiastic fans (Dictionary.cambridge.org, 2019). Fans come in all shape and sizes. They could a 12-year-old living in Malaysia or 35-year-old living in Netherlands. Thanks to the advancement of today’s technology, these fandoms connectivity has become wider than ever. They connect to stories and characters across borders and without judgment. I still find it weird but amazingly interesting that people can actually connect and trusted each other through the social media platform based on their mutual interest in something without even met each other in real life. But I guess that is the power of fandom. You are there to support each other through thick or thin.

So, what if we gave our youth the chance to imagine themselves as the heroes they grew up watching, heroes of their own stories and passions? That is basically what fan activism is all about. Fan activism can be defined as a form of civil engagement and political involvement emerging from the passions of fandoms and fan culture. This activism is a fan-driven effort to engage with civic, social and political issues and address them. There is significant power and potential of fan activism. Fandoms can be ideological and cultural resistance against society's heteronormative and patriarchal values. Fan communities are well established in their ability to unite and mobilize in response to casting decisions, show cancellations, etc. These collective mobilization efforts are now being used to support social justice and human rights campaigns, inspiring young people to get involved.

Often it is understood that activism is a resistant practice, resisting or pushing back against a hegemony to provoke change (Brough and Shresthova, 2011). Thus, in the term fan activism, the recent discourse of participatory culture in the new media space and the longer history of fan participation in pop culture suggest a potential contradiction. Taking for example the Harry Potter Alliances (HPA), a group build on young’s people passions towards their fandoms serve as an entry point for creating civic identities, encouraging political expressions, and supporting political actions.

So, how exactly did they do that?

The Harry Potter Alliance is a coalition of fandom leaders and members who are passionate about the power of story inspiring social change and affecting it. Just as Harry and his friends fought the Dark Arts in the fictional universe of JK Rowling, we are striving to destroy the horrors of the real world such as inequality, illiteracy and violations of human rights. Among the strategies of HPA are Inspiring their members to take action in their local communities and all across the planet, using the power of their creativity, intelligence, and compassion to change the world, and Harnessing the media cycle to bring attention and action to issues of equality, human rights, and literacy. One of the latest HPA campaigns focused on the Hunger Games, drawing attention to the fact that the Hunger Games are actually real.

Another interesting campaign that was organized by HPA was the ‘A World Without Hermione’ campaign.  Let’s face it, what Harry’s would have done without Hermione in his life. The campaign is about ensuring more girls had access to education and opportunities to change the world. I personally think that the campaign is the perfect example when we talk about empowering women, that is to give them the right platform to fight for their rights.

These movements lead by the fandom, might not be big but it does make changes. The important things are the willingness of the people to actually support and be part of the changes that have started to show its benefits to people. Although, there will always be injustice in the world, but as Harry Potter has taught me, that means we should never stop resisting and that all of us can be heroes.

Resources:

Dictionary.cambridge.org. (2019). FANDOM | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/fandom [Accessed 21 May 2019].

Brough, M. and Shresthova, S. (2011). Fandom meets activism: Rethinking civic and political participation. Transformative Works and Cultures, [online] 10. Available at: https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/303/265 [Accessed 21 May 2019].

According to Leah Klett in a January 2019 article titled “LifeWay Christian Stores to close some locations amid declining sales” the nonprofit organization, LifeWay, will unfortunately be closing a few of their locations due to lack of sales being made in the past few years. LifeWay manages more than 170 stores across the United States and is known for being one of the largest providers of Christian resources by selling church music, church supplies and Bibles. It is claimed that recent sale conflicts have been due to the growth in online retail sites like Amazon and Walmart that offer fast shipping and competitive prices. To meet these customer demands, LifeWay is looking to transition their sales to online servers to create a more digital shopping experience. Sadly, LifeWay is not the only Christian company to reach this fate. The Family Christian Stores and the Send The Light Distribution have reported that they will be going out of business in 2017 through 2018. 

As I learned in lecture, bookstores are one of the major outlets for the Christian religion. They are known for marketing bestselling book series and contemporary movies like Left Behind and Veggie Tales. Although I am personally not interested in religious products, it is unfortunate to learn that Christian companies are forced to close due to growth in the online retail industry. However, it is comforting to know that LifeWay is taking this fallback as an opportunity to make their products more accessible to customers by going digital. It is also known that the radio and TV are the most important mediums for religious communication today. Therefore, the loss of multiple Christian companies in recent years should not be a major setback for the Christian community. 

E. L. James' self published novel, Fifty Shades of Grey recently hit theatres on February 13 2015 after a movie deal was made for the self-published novel.

Although some places have banned the movie, it didn't change the fact that in four days, the movie made $93M and although many have claimed that James' writing is terrible, no one can deny the fact that her novel has made a lot of money and that there is hope for even those who want to self-publish to turn their books into movies.

Another example of this is Kathryn Stockett's novel The Help, which was also self-published and became a film.

Of course, self-published works aren't the only novels that have turned into a film. A lot of major feature films came from novels and have proven to draw many people to the books as well as the film.

It helps to get your writing out there, but one thing to remember is that when you're writing your novel, you're not writing for the screen, you're writing for the imagination.