Picture Analysis

Picture Analysis:

-Group Shot

-At Home

-Live Shot: On Stage

-Posed Shot: Camera man directs talent, can use props, mise-en-scene

-Everything in the shot of the scene includes: lighting, body position, facial expressions, clothes makeup and props, proxemics and camera angles

-Impromptu Shots: Unplanned Shots

Advantages of posed shots:

-Can manipulate it, so the model can do the pose you want

-Guaranteed a good quality shot

Disadvantages of posed shots:

-Can look too forced

-Time consuming

-Expensive

-You have to turn up with a lot of stuff i.e. lipstick depending on the shade you want

Advantages of Impromtuous shots:

-Get more personality and feeling from it

-Live action shot, can always get the unexpected

Disadvantages of Impromtuous shots:

-Can’t direct them, won’t turn out how you want

Laura Mulvey:

-Media Analyst

-Male Gaze Theory

-The camera is a heterosexual male; the camera can be accused of objectifying women

-Feminist theory states that women only exist as a metonym. This is backed up by the make gaze theory

This picture which was taken is an Impromtuous shot, the photographer did not plan for this pose, and it was simply something which occurred at the concert. It’s an action shot of Pennie Smith, London Calling. This picture sums up 1970’s punk music. The reason for this is as it’s not planned. This is not someone’s opinion on how the music should have been its how it actually was.

Photo Editing

I have started to use the software Pixlr and have created a new image from one i got fro the internet. I added another layer to the original picture then from this i could erase from a layer then this can change the colour of specific parts of the image. This shows that photo shopping is easy and every aspect of a person can be changed and edited. This gives us an unrealistic expectation of everyone we see in pictures used for media.

Today i also learned about hyperreality and how the media can manipulate and change a picture and make a person change completely so they are in fact a different person. This makes unrealistic expectations for people as they think people can actually look like the people in images which are completely different to the actual person.

From using Pixlr for the first time ever, i have experienced how easy it is to change different parts of an image and each change will make the person less and less human and this is something which offers frequently within media. People are changed in to a different person to meet everyone's expectations on what looks the best and in every case, this is simply not real or correct.

Ideal Consumer

My ideal consumer is a teenage girl called Charlotte Atkin. She is 14 years old and lives at home with her Mum and Dad. Currently she studies at school as a student and does not work, as she is too young. From this she relies on her Mum and Dad to give her money to buy things. She receives an allowance of £15 per week and this is her money to do what she wants with. She mostly spends this money on going out with friends, she is not very good at saving which means when it comes to buying magazines she would want a low priced but goof quality magazine. Her parents would be in the category of C1 OR C2, which is based around people who are skilled working class and administrative or professional working jobs. By looking at what class the parents fall in to I can make my magazine suitable for them and affordable for them. Also as the parents will initially be paying for the magazine so I know the content of the magazine cannot be too edgy as they may hesitate to buy the magazine for their daughter.

As my ideal consumer is someone who does not work and relies on pocket money from her parents, I had to take in consideration that my magazine would need to be affordable by the target audience and form this my price would have to be low in order for my target audience to buy my magazine. As their only way of receiving money is through pocket money, the amount that my magazine costs would have to be minimal in order to allow my target audience to buy my magazine as well as allowing them to spend their money on other things this meaning they would be more encouraged to buy my magazine and carry on buying it through each issue produced.

Uses & Gratification Part Two

          Uses & Gratification

About:  Blulmer and Kat’z uses and gratification theory suggests that media users play an important part in choosing and using the different aspects of media. This theory suggests that as a media user seeks a source which meets both the wants and needs of the user. We are becoming more active media users; we want more ways to interact with the media. (3D and Surround Sound make films more interactive)

The Needs That Have To Be Met:

-Diversion (Escaping from life)

-Personal Relationships (Talking about it to someone afterwards)

-Surveillance (Looking)

-Personal Identity (Feeling a belonging)

Diversion: Where a user feels the need to escape from everyday life and relax. It is important as it provides society and culture with unique and inspirational perspectives. Diversity can create new ideas and changes that can be beneficial to a society, or even the world.

Personal Relationships: people use the media to fulfil their need for companionship and to form a relationship with others.  (To be part of a social group within society)

Surveillance:  This is where the media is used to find out what is happening in society around us. For example, a music magazine can be sued to find out the latest chart and about the social life of different celebrities.

Personal Identity: Sometimes members of society can use the media to find out about themselves. Sometimes the way people are presented can reflect us.

Personal Relationships- This allows you to keep up to date and find out all about different things going on with celebrity’s lives. From this you will be formed in to a social group in which you can chat about what you’ve found out. In this case, the magazine contains a quote from Selena Gomez saying “I have to sacrifice things for love” and inside the magazine it will be explained further and from this the viewer can go on to tell their friends about the information they’ve found out.

Personal Identity- In magazines, the images selected often reflect the reader and how they may be influenced by the celebrity. For instance in this magazine the image of Katy Perry and what she is wearing reflects how the viewer dresses or how they are influenced to dress.

Surveillance- Allows the viewer to find out information on the celebrities personal life and in this case we can find out what “He hadn’t told” Katy Perry as she reveals all, inside the magazine.

Diversion- Allows the viewer to escape from everyday life and just focus on something else i.e. someone else’s problems. Problems pages nowadays are not there to help with problems, they’re there to make the reader feel better about themselves as they compare their life to the other person’s life who has the problem and thinks of theirs as better. In this case, you can view people’s problems and how Dappy would go about them.

Ray Gun Magazine Analysis

These magazine covers are only a few sections of the many different ones in which Ray Gun produced. These magazines tested everyone’s way of thinking about how a magazine should actually look. The approach to designing these magazines is very different to any other ordinary one. The designers have tested people’s way of thinking and what they think is acceptable to be a magazine front cover. The unique part of the designs of these particular magazines is that every magazine cover is different. Different colours, different layout, different themes. This mean the magazine don’t have a signature look, customers of the magazine do not have a specific design to look out for as every cover is different.

Some people are set against the way these magazines were designed. They feel that it is unacceptable and unreasonable to have as a front cover for a magazine and feel this could be a reason why many people do not purchase the magazine. However, others think the ways these magazines are designed are amazing and the cause of the magazine doing well is because of the wacky designs. Some people like it some people don’t, my own personal opinion is that the magazines are designed in different ways to make an impact for the viewer. I feel that by making sure a wacky design more people are likely to remember the magazine and buy it again to see what the design could be next. I think the designs of the magazines may be a reason for the magazine doing as well as it did. From the magazines I chose I can see that on every design the Masthead still stays at the top. I also noticed that the magazines contain very little information to what is inside the magazine. The magazines always have a main image and have few details to what is included in the magazine, I think this helps to create the effect in which the magazine gives off, it gives it the edge it needs to be successful and liked by people.

Deconstructing Photographs of Artists

On this image of Rihanna, I can see she is holding a cigarette in one hand. This shows that she is rebellious and doesn’t’ particularly care about her health. The shot has been taken as smoke exits her mouth which shows an action shot of her smoking.  Her hand is lifted in the picture to show the cigarette off more. The emphasis on this picture is Rihanna smoking. She is wearing a top which shows off her tattoo which again could show how rebellious she is and to most people they would look at this picture and associate her as a bad role model. This is conveying to viewers that Rihanna is bad and in photos, she is always the first to show off something bad, in this case, her smoking. In this shot, she has turned herself to the side and turned her head to face the camera, this pose is almost like she has turned around unexpectedly to get the picture taken and has been caught smoking. This shows a side of mystery towards Rihanna and makes viewers question how ‘bad’ Rihanna actually is.

The pose in which Rihanna is doing with her face is almost a ‘don’t care’ attitude. It shows she is not bothered to be shown doing something which can have an impact on her health and give her a negative image on the whole. It also shows that she doesn’t care if she is judged and labelled to be a bad influence as this is maybe what she wants to be. From being rebellious, many people will approve of her and will admire her for being different and not caring what people think. Rihanna is holding her arms close to her which shows she is not completely open or comfortable with what she is doing, she may of wanted to make the image more innocent to make her look less of a bad role model and more of a person who tries something new. This image could also show that Rihanna is showing her independence and how she Is not afraid to be different and judged for the action she takes. The clothes she is wearing looks like she has just gotten out of bed then the shot being taken looks like she has been stunned by the camera and is almost hiding away from the camera. She is not smiling; she looks moody/unhappy almost like she didn’t want the photo to be taken by the photographer.

In this image of Miley Cyrus she is looking directly at the viewer which shows she is confident and is showing women empowerment. By looking directly at the camera, meaning she is looking directly at the viewer, she is intimidating the viewer. For men, they would not like this and would feel intimidated; this is how Miley Cyrus is showing women empowerment. The pose she is doing is almost like she is taking her top off, which again could make a male feel uncomfortable as she is very forward with it and is looking directly at the camera. It puts her in control rather than the reader which could make them feel uneasy. On this picture, Miley Cyrus is wearing revealing clothes and a lot of flesh is on view, this could be to get the attention of a viewer, mainly a male one.

She is revealing herself by pulling down her top; she wants to gain male viewers attention. The image has been put in black and white and this could signify that as Miley is revealing so much, the colour has been used to make it less obvious and not so much out there.  The shot which has been taken is a posed shot. She has been told to put her hands where they are and to turn to the side slightly. This means that the photographer knew exactly what they wanted the picture to show and how they wanted Miley to be perceived. By doing this they will grab the attention of any male viewer.

 

Sniffin' Glue Magazine Analysis

 The magazine "Sniffin' Glue" is very un-unsual in the designing of the front cover. It is un like the traditionally settings of a magazine and for some they think it is a brilliant design and for others they feel it is stupid and will make less people buy the magazine.

For the design of the magazine, the colours are very basic as they only use the colours black and white, this can make a magazine look sleek or can detract viwers from the magazine as they may feel it looks boring and un-interesting. On certain magazines a main image is included but on others, like the one below, a image is not presented and instead a drawing is shown. The wacky design of this magazine would make some question how simple a magazine can get before people stop buying it. Very few pieces of information which are contained in the magazine are shown on the front cover so for a viwer, they know very little as to what is inclueded in the magaizne, so from this the people who buy the magazine may only be purchasing it because of it's design.

Usually to attract a viewers attention, colours need to be added to grab their attention. As the colour sheme of this magazine is basic black and white, the magazine itself has to be good and there has to be a story line which atracts the reader. On the magazine to the right, the first issue of Sniffin' Glue, they have included text which says "punk reviews", this sentence alone would attract viewers who like punk music and many others as reviews from other people often interest the reader as they want to know what everyone else thinks of the genre of music.

Mood Board for my Music Genre: Pop

I have created this mood board to help me with ideas and to imporve my knowledge on pop music as this is my chosen genre for magazines. I have researched popular pop artists and looked at words reating to the genre to help me with my magazine designs.

Deconstruction of Country Magazine

                                                               Music Genre: Country
This is a country magazine which is showing/explaining all about thespecific music genre. A Masthead and Main Image have beenused on this magazine, a basic format for most magazines, and other parts of information have been included within the magazine to show the viewer what they can find inside. By using a main image and placing it in the center of the page, it makes it stand out more and grab people's attention. The colours which have been used are appropriate as they fit the genre of music well. The magazine also has a competition part included where you can win a prize. This is a good technique to use as it makes the magazine interactive and more people will be likely to buy the magaznie as they could gain something more from it. Bold text has been added for subtitles then smaller writing has been used to show the information. This may of been done as if everything was written in bold, large text, it may be over powering and people may feel there is too much information on the front page so they don't view the magazine, but by placing smaller fonts for different parts, the magazine fits well together and the individual pieces of information are placed around the magazine to make it easy to read.

The magazine contains a feature called a bullet, this is where information is shown in a way which presents it as a bullet point. This is handy for when certain information is important, it helps to make sure the viewer doens't miss the information and can see what's happenign. In this case the bullet has been used to show the competition which is included in the magazine. This piece of information plays a part in helping the magazine to sell as more people will purhcase the magazine if it contains something they can be interactive with i.e a competition or crossword.

Jazz Magazine Deconstruction

                                                       Magazine Genre: Jazz

This Jazz magazine has a masthead and a main image on the front, the image is the only one on the magazine and the person who features in this main image is someone who is invloved in Jazz. This means the image which has been used is suitable for the magazine and fits the purpose. The colours used on this magazine however are very basic and plain and will not catch the attention of peoplepassing by. This would mean people would just look over and not notice the magazine. Also as the colours arevery dull and limited, people may think the magazine will be dull and not intersting so they simply walk past and do not ackonwledge it. The colour scheme used also does not relate to Jazz. People who would be looking for a Jazz magazine may want something more vibrant and colourful and this magazine does not offer it. The magazine features a technique called Wob, whcih is where there is a black background and white texts. This is a common feature used to make the text stand out more and this is important for this magazine as the colours are so simple and un intersting.

Not much information features on the front of this magazine and this could mean asviewers do not fiind out a lot about whats inside the magazine, they may feel they do not want to buy it. There is no ctaching stories on the front so many people will beun intersted and may feel the magazine is pointless. Howver, although the magazine is plain, the use of the blue colour dotted around the magazine gives it more life and makes it look livlier and fuller. The colour blue could also create a meaning to the magazine, blue connotes sadness which could be said as 'the blues' and this fits in with Jazz.

Deconstruction of Pop Magazine

                              Music Genre: Pop

Rihanna has been placed in the center of the magazine to stand out and grab people’s attention. She is wearing little clothing, which may be to grab the attention of a male. By wearing bright red lipstick, it could be saying that she wants to be noticed and wants attention. Red connotes passion, love and romance and by Rihanna wearing bright red lipstick, it is showing what she is like as a person and what she represents.  Rihanna has been placed in the center of the page as a head shot, this my of been done so passers by will notice the point which stands out the most on the magazine which in this case is Rihanna. This magazine is targeting males to get their attention by placing Rihanna in the center of the magazine. If the picture of Rihanna had placed to the side of the magazine and not feature as the main point, not as many people would be likely to pick up the magazine and purchase it. Rihanna is posing in a way, which would get attention from males too; Rihanna has all these aspects, which make her the main part of the magazine. The writing on the page is coloured white on a dark (black) background, which is commonly used in magazines. The Masthead of the magazine is placed at the top but again the main picture of Rihanna has been placed over the top of it to make it stand out even more. The name “Rihanna” has been placed on the magazine too, this makes it even clearer who is on the front page to increase the amount of people who view the magazine as this would appeal to a large target audience. The caption “My fans don’t really know who I am” makes people want to read more and find out if the point will be explained so more people buy the magazine.

Main StreaM Vs. Niche, Social Demographics and the Magazine Decline

Mainstream vs. Niche

Mainstream:

-Mainstream Publication is one that appears to a lot of people (broad public appeal)

-Mainstream Magazines: -NME, Q, Chat, Bella, Kerrang! etc.

Mainstream Advantages:

-Hope for big sales, means more profit

-Wider target market and appeal to advertisers more because of more people interested in it

-Covers more subject matter

Mainstream Disadvantages:

-Flooded market/proliferation of product

-No specific targeting of any one group

-Mainstream magazines are usually owned by multimedia organisations with links to record labels

-This cross media convergence can manipulate record sales

-You have to be careful to what you include on a mainstream magazine; you can’t offend such a large group of people (no offensive nature)

-Mainstream magazines can lack credibility

Niche:

-Niche is for a small, specific and dedicated audience

-Examples of Niche magazines are: -Terrorizer, Pitchfork, Fangoria etc.

Niche Advantages:

-Niche magazines have credibility as they only target specific groups of people, they can focus directly on one subject

-Writers of Niche magazines can be more expressive

-The consumer (audience) is usually more dedicated (fanatical) which means they will frequently buy the magazine

-Doesn’t have an advertiser which means they won’t get negatively shown

-Niche magazines can get away with using technical terms and jargon in their magazine

Niche Disadvantages:

-Niche magazines are aimed at specific groups, so the audience of them is smaller than that of a Mainstream magazine

-Hard to get noticed as not many get publicized

- Not many people have heard of Niche magazines

-Niche magazines can be quite expensive

-Doesn’t have an advertiser, so less money will be received

-Niche magazines can be lower quality as they cannot afford a top designer to create the magazine

-The aesthetic quality (way that it looks) can be lower

In times of economic pressure, people stop buying luxuries like magazines. In the last half of 2013, magazines lose 6.3% of print sales. (http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/uk-magazines-lose-print-sales-average-63-cent-full-abc-breakdown-all-503-titles)

Magazine which has lost sales: Women’s Way Cookbook

Women’s Way’s Cookbook has gone down by a massive 44.5%. This could be for a number of reasons such as even more now, supermarkets are making it easier and more convenient for everyone to buy food which is already made and other products which are pre-made are offered to help with the hassle of cooking something from scratch. Therefor people nowadays do not need any magazines or articles to tell them about how to cook food as majority of it can be bought already made. This shows that people are becoming lazier. Another reason could be that people are trying to go for healthier options when it comes to food and certain food magazines specialise in healthy meals such as Waitrose. Due to this magazine not being specifically on healthy food, less and less people are buying it and opting to buy a magazine which can offer them healthier alternatives.

Magazine which has increased Sales: Thomas and friends

Thomas and friends has increased its sales by 42.3%. The reason for this could be because as the target audience for this magazine is around 3 year olds, I can infer that more people were having children around 3 years ago which would be a cause in the increase of sales. Another reason could be as the new Thomas Land opened. From this the cartoon Thomas is being advertised and shown more and this could be why the sales increased on this magazine.

Socio-demographic indicators used to help design our target audience

A: Upper Middle Class- higher managerial, administrative or professional

B: Middle Class- Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional

C1: Lower Middle Class- Supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional

C2: Skilled Working Class- Skilled manual workers

D: Working Class- Semi and unskilled manual workers

E: That at Lowest Level of Subsistence- State pension or widows (no other earner), casual or lowest grade workers

-My magazine is going to be aimed at the categories C1, C2 and D. My magazine will be a pop one and this will appeal to people in these groups.

Health and Safety concerns and issues

Health and Safety concerns and issues

-Permission to take someone’s picture

-Taking precaution while out and taking pictures

-Check to make sure the person you are taking the picture of doesn’t have epilepsy, due to the flash on a camera

-You can only take pictures of members of the public if they’re 16 or older

-Be aware of people surrounding you while taking pictures (i.e. getting the camera stolen)

Features of a Magazine- Pride

School Magazine Front Cover & Content Page

I havecreated my front page and content page for a school magazine.I have included different aspects in the magazine, those of which are included in actual magazines. I have used techniques such as a MastHead, featured Names and Head Shots.

To start off my designing of the school magazine I had to do some reearch in to magazines, i found out different techniques which are used within the magazine and how they benefit/effect the magazine. After this i had to do some research on what people would like to see in a school magazine and to do this, teachers and sixth formers were invited into our class to talk about what they would like to see, from this we could create a school magazine which people will want to read.

After gaterhing all my market research, i went on to the Apple Macs to start creating the design for my front page. As i was not formiliar with using Apple Macs, it took me awhile toi adjust and understand it. After i was confident with using Apple Macs, i was able to start my design.

As pictures are needed on the magazine, i had to go around school and take pictures of students/ the school which would fit in with my magazine and imrpove it.  After getting a suitbale amount, i transferred them on to the Apple Mac and placed them in a folder. I chose to use green, black and white as my main colours as they fit in well with the school colours and all these colours together didn't clash.

I decided to pick a main picture to us on my front page and then from this had smaller images from around the school. I thought by putting the pictures on a pin board, it would fit the theme of school well and would be suitable. I also added a MastHead whcih related to the main image on the front page and then had boxes which included different aspects of what the magazine included. I chose the name "Real" as i thought this would be a good name for the magazine. If students saw the name they may want to read it more as it would be from their point of view and would show an understanding and realtion to the srtudents about school life.

For my content page, i decided to keep it simple as i didn't want to confuse a reader if they were trying to find a specific subject, so i made sure all the page numbers and subjects were arranged in a easy way so people could find the different subjects. I made the title of the contents page similar to the title on the front cover to keep it consistent. I used the same colour scheme for the front and content page and used similar fonts. I also added images to my content page as i thought it was very basic and plain, this made the content page look a lot better.

  

Self-Evaluation for my Preliminary Page

Front Page of School Magazine:

For my front page I can see different aspects, which I have done well, and others in which I can improve. My masthead, which I have chosen, has been placed in the corner of the page leaving it looking less like a title and more like a name of an article include in the magazine. To improve I would need to increase the size of the Masthead and move the position of the title towards the middle. Also by pinning and tilting the three pictures on my front page, it almost causes an illusion with the main image making it look tilted too. Also I have tilted the pictures only slightly and to improve I should make sure I tilt the picture thoroughly so it is clear the image is being tilted to either the left or the right. I have chosen to use the same font size for the majority of writing on my front page and to improve the magazine and make it look more interesting I should vary the sizes and fonts of the text I include. To improve for next time I could also make sure the distance between each box of writing is equal as on certain boxes the text is more towards the top of the box than the bottom meaning it is not positioned in the middle which would make for a well presented front cover page.

Contents Page of School Magazine:

For my contents page I have done certain aspects well and others in which I could improve. When adding the title to the contents page I wrote ‘content’ rather than a more suitable name which should be ‘contents’. To improve further I could also make the font size of the title bigger as it did not fit the whole top space of the page and made the top look too plain. Also the page numbers I included were wrong as for example, I listed the first page as being a page of information about the school when the all first pages of magazines are the Front Page not when the information starts. Also to improve for next time I could add more suitable images and take better pictures to show off the school more. However, one point I did well was add a suitable background which made all the writing easy to read and made all the different aspects on the contents page stand out and it made them a lot easier to read.

Overall:

To conclude on my performance over the tasks we have done, I feel I have worked well and kept within a reasonable time frame. I’ve made sure I completed all my work and uploaded it on to the Blogger website. To improve for future reference I could make sure I comment more on my peers work when they blog it and get them to comment on my pieces of work too. This will make us improve on our work generally as getting feedback from others in the class will show us where we can improve and what we’re doing right. By commenting on others people’s work I can help them to improve and gain an understanding in what they’re doing right and how they could improve.