Thursday, January 13, 2022

Magazine Front Cover

 


Research

1) Use Google to research potential magazines that you could use as your brand/design for this project. Create a shortlist of three potential magazines and embed an example front cover from each one. We recommend looking at lifestyle magazines or a similar genre as these are more achievable to re-create.





2) Choose one of the three magazine brands to use for your project. Then find three different front covers for your chosen magazine and embed them in your blogpost. Analyse the fonts, colours and typical design. What is the language or writing style? How are the cover lines written? You need to become an expert in the design and construction of this magazine and its branding.





Planning

1) On a Word or Google document, plan your main cover line (also called the 'main flash') - this is the main cover story that links to your central image.

VOGUE - "HANDLE WITH CARE"

2) Briefly plan the image you will need for the cover - model, costume, make-up, lighting etc. At this point, simply describe the image you need to capture.

Model- Fabian

Costume- Urban Clothing

Make-up - No make-up

Lighting - Natural Lighting

3) Write the cover lines and any additional text you need for your magazine cover.

 "HANDLE WITH CARE"

4) Sketch out your cover on plain A4 paper using your written planning. Take a photo of your sketch and upload it to your blogpost.





Photoshoot

You will need to arrange a photoshoot for your cover image in your own time - you can use your phone or your own camera to take an image. If you don't have a phone or camera that is suitable, you can sign out a camera from the Media department.


1) On your planning document, write the date, time and location of your photoshoot and the name of the model or photographer you will use (you can choose anyone to be your cover model or you can be the cover model yourself).

Date: 25/04/2021

Time: 4

Location: Some hill near Greenford station

Model: Fabian

Photographer: Marcel

Publication to blog and evaluation

1) Once you have completed your design in Photoshop, go to 'File > Save as' and save your finished Photoshop magazine cover as a JPEG image. Then, upload it to your blogpost.

2) Write a short evaluation of your work: have you succeeded in your brief to create a new, original edition of an existing magazine? Would your cover stand up alongside a couple of genuine covers of your chosen magazine? How professional is your work alongside those genuine examples?

I believe I met the brief well. My goal for this cover is to make it bright and eye-catching, which I feel like I have met that goal pretty well. It looks professional but some tiny improvements can take this cover to the next level.

3) Finally, what would you do differently if you completed this assignment again?

The change of text, I believe some text in the cover can be improved so its easier for the audience to understand what the content of this magazine is going to be about. As well as minor adjustments to the photo will make it clearer.

Advertising and Marketing Index

 1.) Advertising: Narrative in advertising

2.) Advertising: Persuasive Techniques

3.) Advertising: The representation of women in advertising

4.) Advertising: Gauntlett and Masculinity

5.) Advertising: Score hair cream case study

6.) Advertising: Maybelline CSP case study

7.) Advertising: Assessment LR

Advertising assessment: Learner response

1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WW: Good textual analysis and application of Gauntlett

FBI: Explicit reference to the "socially liberal media" and whether it has been influential or not

2) Read the whole mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify at least one potential point that you missed out on for each question in the assessment.

01: the Emporio Armana 2010 advert

  • I should have elaborated more on the pose and facial expressions, which suggest lust, desire. Male model makeseye-contact with audience.
  • Secondly, this links with the appeal of the advert. Irresistible appeal – ‘sex sells’ (common narrative in men’s grooming; Barthes action code).
02: Gender representations, the Emporio Armana and the Score hair cream advert (1987)


03: David  Gauntlett on socially liberal mass media, Maybelline "That Boss Life" (2017) and the Score hair cream

3) Look at your answer and the mark scheme for Question 1 (Diamonds advert unseen text). List three examples of media terminology or theory that you could have included in your answer. 

  • Gauntlett
  • Van Zoonen
  • Representation


Advertising: The representation of women in advertising

 1) How does Mistry suggest advertising has changed since the mid-1990s?

Since the mid-1990s, advertising has increasingly employed images in which the gender and sexual orientation of the subject(s) are markedly (and purposefully) ambiguous. As an ancillary to this, there are also a growing number of distinctly homosexual images - and these are far removed from depictions of the camp gay employed as the comic relief elsewhere in mainstream media. This essay is concerned with providing a critical analysis as to the potential of such depictions to undermine conventional gender role stereotypes and the norm of heterosexuality that dominate advertising and the media at large.

2) What kinds of female stereotypes were found in advertising in the 1940s and 1950s?


women were suffering their own identity crisis after the war. Prior to the war, feminists had been articulating the idea of women having their own plans and careers; but soon after 1945, women were made to feel guilty by warnings of the 'dangerous consequences to the home' that had begun to circulate (Millum, 1975:73). Looking at women's magazines in the 1950s, Betty Friedan (1963) claims this led  to the creation of the 'feminine mystique': 'the highest value and the only real commitment for women lies in the fulfilment of their own femininity. The highest good is keeping house and raising children' (Millum, 1975:74).


3) How did the increasing influence of clothes and make-up change representations of women in advertising?


A major area of expansion in production/consumption - clothes and make-up - which led to women being increasingly portrayed as decorative (empty) objects (Winship, 1980:8; Busby & Leichty, 1993:258). A poignant example of where this occurs is in perfume advertisements; according to Diane Barthel, one of the most common images here is that of the 'fair maiden'. Taking Figure 1 as an example, the innocent female is equated with flowers and nature: 'what is communicated is the sense that any rude contact with reality might spoil the maiden's perfection.


4) Which theorist came up with the idea of the 'male gaze' and what does it refer to?


Laura Mulvey's (1975) theory of the 'male gaze' is important here; she contends that scopophilia (the basic human sexual drive to look at other human beings) has been 'organised' by society's patriarchal definition of looking as a male activity, and being looked at as a female 'passivity'. Male power means that any social representation of women is constructed as aspectacle for the purpose of male voyeuristic pleasure.


5) How did the representation of women change in the 1970s?


From the mid-1970s there was a proliferation of distinct images that became labelled as the 'New Woman', and that were seen as representative of the 'changing reality of women's social position and of the influence of the women's movement' (van Zoonen, 1994:72). The New Woman was supposed to be 'independent, confident and assertive, finding satisfaction in the world of work and recreation, seeking excitement, adventure and fulfillment' (Cagan, 1978:8).


6) Why does van Zoonen suggest the 'new' representations of women in the 1970s and 1980s were only marginally different from the sexist representations of earlier years?


According to Liesbet van Zoonen, however, the ability of these images to undermine traditional female stereotypes is superficial. At the level of content analysis, the roles that women take on in these advertisements appear to be progressive (the employee, the active woman); however, with a more semiological approach, van Zoonen asserts that the New Woman 'only departs marginally from her older, more traditional sisters.' Deconstructing an advertisement promoting the 'Jenni Barnes Working Style' range of clothing, van Zoonen points to its claim that: 'A woman should look forward to dressing for the office.' Having a job is seen merely to provide 'another happy occasion for women to dress up and present themselves.' Indeed, a woman 'is portrayed stepping confidently towards the camera in an office environment observed by a male colleague from behind; but she is not portrayed actually working' (1994:73).


7) What does Barthel suggest regarding advertising and male power?


Barthel notes that 'today's young women can successfully storm the bastions of male power... without threatening their male counterparts' providing we can reassure them that, underneath the suit, we are still 'all woman', that 'no serious gender defection has occurred' (Barthel, 1988:124-125; Davis, 1992:50). In other words, that there is no real threat to male power. Another dubious image of the New Woman is the 'dark lady': on the other side of innocence and romance, is the knowledge and sexuality of the daring femme fatale (Barthel, 1988:76).


8) What does Richard Dyer suggest about the 'femme fatale' representation of women in adverts such as Christian Dior make-up?


Richard Dyer however, claims that such images are something of a misrepresentation of women's liberation: '[advertising] agencies trying to accommodate new [feminist] attitudes in their campaigns, often miss the point and equal "liberation" with a type of aggressive sexuality and a very unliberated coy sexiness' (1982:186). Thus, all we are really left with is a woman who continues to construct herself as a spectacle and, just like the innocent maiden, is presented as a willing co-conspirator of men's sexual advances - and worse, believes she is 'liberated' in doing so.


Media Magazine: Beach Bodies v Real Women (MM54)


Now go to our Media Magazine archive and read the feature on Protein World's controversial 'Beach Bodies' marketing campaign in 2015. Read the feature and answer the questions below in the same blogpost as the questions above.


1) What was the Protein World 'Beach Bodies' campaign?


The PR team intentions were portrayed with the display of beautiful teen models to entice women to live this lifestyle.


2) Why was it controversial and how did some audiences react?


The advertisement received a lot of back lash and criticism as it promotes a body image that may not suit others and make the viewers start to question there body. This does portray a image of taking skinny supplements to feel good about yourself and have a "beach body".


3) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?


Dove had a image in mind when portraying the Real Beauty campaign. Having the word real meaning realistic expectations of how body image should be portrayed. Showing off body's of all ages and types, they made it clear that everyone is different and shouldn't be shamed for what there body looks like.


4) How has social media changed the way audiences can interact with advertising campaigns? 


Using Social Media as a platform, they using new technology to express their opinions and ideas. 


5) How can we apply van Zoonen's feminist theory and Stuart Hall's reception theory to these case studies?

We can apply van zoonen's theory to the beach body campaign as the women is being objectified for the male gaze and the camera is directly sexualising the women and she also reinforces unrealistic but western beauty standards of thin and light. 


6) Through studying the social and historical context of women in advertising, do you think representations of women in advertising have changed in the last 60 years?

I do think that representations of women in advertising have changed in the last 60 years because during the 1950s, women were perceived as obedient and innocent and also quite passive. However, as time has gone on, women are now able to challenge these traditional norms of women. Also there is an increasing tolerance of gender fluidity and non- binary gender in today's day and age. 


MIGRAIN FINAL INDEX

1) Introduction to Media: 10 questions

2) Media consumption Audit

3) Language: Reading an image - advert analyses

4) Reception Theory

5) Semiotics: icons, indexes and symbols

6) Genre: Factsheet questions

7) Narrative: Factsheet questions

8) Audience: classification - psychographics presentation notes

9) October assessment learner response

10) Audience theory 1 - Hypodermic needle/Two-step flow/U&G

11) Audience theory 2 - Bandura and Cohen - moral panic

12) Audience theory: Media Effects factsheet

13) Industries: Ownership and Control

14) Industries: Hesmondhalgh - The Cultural Industries

15) Industries: Public Service Broadcasting

16) Industries: Regulation

17) Industries: Brand Values and Lines of Appeal

18) Representation: Introduction - Taken trailer and analysis

19) Representation: Theory - MM article and application on of theory

20) Representation: Feminism - Everyday Sexism & Fourth Wave MM article

21) Representation: Feminist theory

22) January assessment learner response

23) Representing ourselves: Identity in the online age - MM article & Factsheet

24) Ideology: BBC Question Time analysis and binary opposition

25) Ideology: MM reading on ideology and the wider media




Thursday, December 9, 2021

Advertising: Gauntlett and masculinity

 1) What examples does Gauntlett provide of the "decline of tradition"?

Twenty or thirty years ago, analysis of popular media often told researchers that mainstream culture was a backwards-looking force, resistant to social change and trying to push people back into traditional categories. Today, it seems more appropriate to emphasise that, within limits, the mass media is a force for change. The traditional view of a woman as a housewife or low-status worker has been kick-boxed out of the picture by the feisty, successful 'girl power' icons. Meanwhile the masculine ideals of absolute toughness, stubborn self-reliance and emotional silence have been shaken by a new emphasis on men's emotions, need for advice, and the problems of masculinity.

2) How does Gauntlett suggest the media influences the way we construct our own identities?

Modern Western societies do not leave individuals in any doubt that they need to make choices of identity and lifestyle - even if their preferred options are rather obvious and conventional ones, or are limited due to lack of financial (or cultural) resources. As the sociologist Ulrich Beck has noted, in late modern societies everyone wants to 'live their own life', but this is, at the same time, 'an experimental life' (2002: 26). Since the social world is no longer confident in its traditions, every approach to life, whether seemingly radical or conventional, is somewhat risky and needs to be worked upon - nurtured, considered and maintained, or amended.

3) What does Gauntlett suggest regarding generational differences? Is it a good thing that the media seems to promote modern liberal values?

discussions. Surveys have found that people born in the first half of the twentieth century are less tolerant of homosexuality, and less sympathetic to unmarried couples living together, than their younger counterparts, for example (see chapters one and four). Traditional attitudes may be scarce amongst the under-30s, but still thrive in the hearts of some over-65s. the mass media has become more liberal, and considerably more challenging to traditional standards, since then, and this has been a reflection of changing attitudes, but also involves the media actively disseminating modern values. It therefore remains to be seen whether the post-traditional young women and men of today will grow up to be the narrow-minded traditionalists of the future.

4) Why does Gauntlett suggest that masculinity is NOT in crisis?

roles, men are said to be anxious and confused about what their role is today. In the analysis of men's magazines (chapter eight) we found a lot of signs that the magazines were about men finding a place for themselves in the modern world. These lifestyle publications were perpetually concerned with how to treat women, have a good relationship, and live an enjoyable life. Rather than being a return to essentialism - i.e. the idea of a traditional 'real' man, as biology and destiny 'intended' - I argued that men's magazines have an almost obsessive relationship with the socially constructed nature of manhood. Gaps in a person's attempt to generate a masculine image are a source of humour in these magazines, because those breaches reveal what we all know - but some choose to hide - that masculinity is a socially constructed performance anyway. The continuous flow of lifestyle, health, relationship and sex advice, and the repetitive curiosity about what the featured females look for in a partner, point to a clear view that the performance of masculinity can and should be practiced and perfected.

5) Does advertising still reinforce the "conventionally rugged, super-independent, extra-strong macho man" that Gauntlett discusses? Offer examples for both sides of the argument from the wider advertising industry.

We can take in a example. The archetype of masculine strength and independence, James Bond, cannot be too hard and self-reliant in today's Bond movies without being criticised for it by another character. 

6) Gauntlett discusses the idea of 'girl power' and offers examples from music and film. Does advertising provide evidence to support the idea of 'girl power' or is the industry still reinforcing traditional representations of men and women?

The idea that women can be extremely tough and independent whilst also maintaining perfect make-up and wearing impossible shoes - seems to have had some impact on the identities of young women. One of the most obvious developments in recent pop culture has been the emergence of the icons and rhetoric of 'girl power', a phrase slapped into mainstream culture by the Spice Girls and subsequently incorporated into the language of government bodies as well as journalists, educationalists, culture critics, and pop fans themselves. Magazines for young women are emphatic in their determination that women must do their own thing, be themselves, and/or be as outrageously sassy and sexy as possible

7) Do you agree with Gauntlett's argument under 'Popular feminism, women and men' where he suggests that younger generations are not threatened by traditional gender roles and are comfortable with social changes? Does advertising provide examples either reinforcing or challenging this idea that younger generations are more comfortable with changing gender roles?

I agree. Gauntlett idea of 'popular feminism, women and men', where the younger generations are threatened by traditional gender roles and values. Today society is more accepting to these social changes, where the younger generation are reinforcing and being more comfortable.

8) What examples from advertising does Gauntlett provide for the changing nature of gender in society (from the section on Judith Butler's Gender trouble)?

discussed Judith Butler's manifesto for 'gender trouble' - the idea that the existing notions of sex, gender and sexuality should be challenged by the 'subversive confusion and proliferation' of the categories which we use to understand them. The binary division of 'male' and 'female' identities should be shattered, Butler suggested, and replaced with multiple forms of identity

9) Why is advertising such a good example of the 'contradictory elements' that Gauntlett discusses with regards to the mass media? In other words, how does advertising continue to both reinforce and challenge gender stereotypes?

Within popular culture. We may occasionally find ourselves saying that 'the mass media suggests' a particular perspective or point of view, the truth is that not only is 'the mass media' wildly diverse, but that even quite specific parts of media culture put out a whole spectrum of messages which cannot be reconciled. It is impossible to say that women's magazines, for example, always carry a particular message, because the enormous range of titles target an equally diverse set of female audiences. Furthermore, even one magazine will contain an array of viewpoints. As we saw in chapter three via the account of one Cosmo editor, magazine staff - like almost all media producers - are far more interested in generating 'surprise' than in maintaining coherence and consistency.

Monday, November 29, 2021

Videogames: Tomb Raider Anniversary

 Language and Audience



1) How does the cover communicate the genre of the game?

The background and the symbol behind Lara Croft can communicate a adventure genre codes. The hieroglyphics clearly seen with the gold complex design of presumably some treasure can communicate to the audience a quest narrative. Lara Croft pose with one gun pointing up and one down shows shes ready for any type of action, as well as the gun and the pose, it communicates a action genre as well with the adventure codes as well.

2) How does the pose and costume of the character appeal to primarily male audiences?

The costume is very limited, as it shows more skin and expose her body more. The pose allows the audience to see Lara Croft in full range. The lighting helps with this as the light shines behind her to show highlight her sexy key features.

3) How might the cover be read as empowering for female gamers?

Lara Croft is seen holding guns, ready for action. She's put in a light where shes not to be messed around. This can empower female gamer's as the Lara Croft portrays the message of a strong, leading role in the game.

Magazine Front Cover

  Research 1) Use Google to research potential magazines that you could use as your brand/design for this project. Create a shortlist of thr...