Coursework Progress (Week beginning 9th Dec)

This week I have just progressed further with my report, using the past example which Dave supplied. Over the Christmas holiday I plan on taking more original photography and when I come back after the holiday I will be able to improve my pre-production.

Revision - Gender Representation.

Analysis of 'Doctors', Series 15, ep 157.
Representation of women

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b03ktskx/
How are the women represented? Sexualised, powerful, stereotyped?
Teenage girl- She is smart, mature and hardworking.
Girls mum- Stereotypical mother, stays at home and it quite powerful.
Nurse(?)- Looked down on by male, often criticised and patronised by him, but becomes rather powerful towards the end.




Analysis of Dolce & Gabbana The One "Street of Dreams"
Representation of men.



The man in this advert is powerful and seems superior to the female character. Some aspects which make me think this are:
-He drives the car
-He seems like a business man
-He leads the woman
-He is older
-He stands in a powerful position on the balcony
-He picks the woman up in his car
-The woman is always looking at him in admiration
-He compliments her

Also, the male audience can relate to Matthew McConaughey and find Scarlett Johansson attractive, and vice versa for the female audience.

Coursework Progress (Week beginning 2st December)

This week I have made a bit more progress with my inserts. I have added more pictures to my collage, and rearranged a few things. I have also started to write my report. It is going well so far but I still need to include something about my second piece of pre production. I am going to get everything done over the Christmas holiday, and I am going to take the report home and write some more of it up, so I have more time at college for the actual production.

This is the report so far:

When I finish the report, I will give it to Dave and improve it based on his opinion.

Coursework progress (Week beginning 25th Nov)

This week, I have added proper lyrics to my inserts and I have created a rough outline of what I am going to do with my back cover using images from Google. I still need to take more photos for the inserts and I also need to create another CD cover which I should have done for my pre-production. For the collage of photos on the last insert, I am just going to use my own photos from over the years, as it will seem more realistic and it will be so much easier. I was unsure what to do on this page, to go with the 'thank you' note, but as I looked through some albums, I realised that the lifetime collage is quite popular and in my opinion, effective, so I chose to do this rather than leaving it with a plain picture.

Here are the inserts so far:
Page 1 & 2:

Page 3 & 4:

Page 5 & 6: I have now added some of my own pictures.

Coursework progress (Week beginning 18th Nov)

This week I have began creating my inserts for the Anya - Fragile album. I have used pictures that I have previously taken, and I have sorted out the layout. I used other albums as inspiration for the layout and small print, and also for the 'thank you' message at the back. At the minute, I have just used random letters for lyrics, as I just want to get the basic layout done. Also, I am planning on changing the background images once I have taken more photos. This is the production so far:

Page 1 & 2

Page 3 & 4

INCOMPLETE Page 5 & 6

All preproduction work, including original designs and rough work.

Album covers using images from Google, etc.

Original creations:

Coursework progress (Week beginning 11th Nov)

Over the weekend I took a few more pictures, however it went dark quite quickly so I only managed to get 4 photos. I have created another album cover which is very similar to what I have already created, however the pictures are of much better quality. I have also messed around with the font size and colour. However, I'm not sure if this image is going to benefit the album as it looks more like a film poster image, at first I thought that the image of the girl walking down an alley alone would represent loneliness and being fragile which is what the album is all about - also, on analysing my survey results, more than half of the people said that it doesn't really matter whether the album image relates to the genre, so I am unsure about whether to change the image. 

I have also created my own back cover using original photography. So far this is just a draft but I like the look of it. I would like to have a better, and more meaningful image but at the minute I am just working with what I've got. This is the production so far:

I really like the idea of the plasters as it connotes being broken or fragile so I think I will stick with this idea, however I'm not sure about the background image, but as I said earlier; I was simply working with what I had. I think the layout is good and the positioning of the logos, barcode and writing is quite good. I have also used the same font and colour as what is on the front, for the right hand side of the back cover as it sticks to the colour theme and makes the album look more 'tied in'.

Coursework Progress (Week beginning 4th November)

This week I have began creating my own original album. During the half term I took some photos for the cover and thought more about my ideas. 
However, after putting the pictures on the computer, I noticed that the quality wasn't great. I continued with the creation of my album anyway, and figured that although the image was quite grainy, it looked rather effective. 
I based my album on In A Perfect World by Kodaline, and the main image on that is quite grainy so I believe that this could work out for me - I am still going to take some more pictures at the weekend though. 

This is the rough album cover that I created with my original photography:

I have also started to write some lyrics for my CD inserts; these lyrics will help to portray the genre without having to be so blunt. 

I think that I have made a little bit of progress this week and I should begin to think more about my second album an the inserts. I struggle a bit with time management and I think that this could be a problem as I may run out of time. However, once I have taken some more photographs and brainstormed my ideas in more detail, there shouldn't be too much trouble.
Overall, I am quite happy with the work that I have done so far, but I need to work a bit faster. 

Coursework Progress (From Oct 14th - Oct 25th)

In the past two weeks I have decided on a singer and album title for my first CD cover. The singer will be called Anya and the album name is Fragile. I chose Anya as it is quite an obscure name and it sounds realistic; you could image people talking about her. The music type is quite alternative, with a hint of 'easy listening' and my inspiration for this was Kodaline. Their music is alternative, and their album cover features a lake with people in the distance. This image doesn't really relate to the genre of the music so I based my album on this. 

I also collected some responses from my survey - the results showed that most people don't mind if the cover image doesn't relate to the genre of music. Most respondents said that they preferred the album cover to have a 'normal' style rather than black and white/sepia/bright, etc. 53.85% of people said that they preferred to have a photograph on the cover in stead of a cartoon, 3D graphics and so on and 42.31% of people said that they would rather have a plain cover rather than a busy one. 

I based my creations on the results I received, and I will still be collecting more throughout the half term to aid me in my coursework designs.

During this week and the last week I have designed various album covers using Photoshop, Dafont and various images from Google. The design above is similar to the idea I have for my final production. I plan on using the same font, and a similar picture of the pathway surrounded by trees, however I think I will have a girl in my image. I messed around with the settings on Photoshop and altered the image to my preferences - the image started out very bright, however I changed it so it looks more like a night time image.

I then began to create my back cover.This was just a quick draft, but it did include the main features that will be in the final production. However, I realised that the size was wrong and after a bit of thought, I decided that I would not be able to take my own picture of the sea due to where I live. 

I then altered the size and changed the background image. However, I am still unsure on whether I like that background or not. I am certain on the layout of the logos, barcode and small print, and I really like the plasters, but I feel that the colour of the plasters is too much of a contrast to the dark background and it is not very often that you see an album cover with the same image on the back and front. 

I began thinking about my second album in more detail towards the end of the week. I found a picture of my cousin on her website and used that as the main image for the album. I played around with the effects and made the image seem slightly more professional and more suitable for the album. I then found a font that I liked, which was quite girly but not over the top and used the 'Eyedropper tool' on her eyes, to get the colour of the writing. Her eyes are the main focus point of this album as she is looking directly towards the viewer so I thought that making the writing the same colour, would be a good idea. I put the writing vertically as it was a better fit and it gives the album some originality.

I plan to take my photos during the half term week, as I have got a whole week to change my mind and take a suitable image that will look good as an album cover. I have not yet completely decided what my second album will look like, or even the inserts but I have had a few good ideas.

Overall, I think the past few weeks have been very successful, and I have made some good decisions that will help me when it comes to creating the real thing. I have finally got the hang of Photoshop and really hope that everything turns out well. However, I think that I should manage my time better and start thinking in detail about the second album and the inserts. 

Coursework Progress. (Week beginning Oct 7th)

This week I have decided that I am going to do a CD cover for my coursework, so I textually analysed 3 album covers in detail, and created a questionnaire on surveymonkey.com. Textual analysis will help me to understand what certain music genres have in common where albums are concerned and the questionnaire results will help me to figure out what to do for certain audiences and what is most popular for certain genres, etc.

Coursework - Textual Analysis of CD Covers

CD Cover

Kodaline ~ In A Perfect World:

• Lots of blue - a calm colour
• The image has been taken in an isolated place, there is no one there except the 4 people that we can see.
• Quite a grainy image, not very clear. 
• The image relates quite well to the title, as it shows the sea and mountains etc. This is quite a good representation of the world and for some people this may be seen as perfect.
• The camera shot is an extreme long shot as it shows all of the surroundings and we cannot see the facial expressions. 
• The lighting is natural and quite high key
• The back is a complete contrast to what we see on the front, although it shows a similar scene, it is in the dark and only has a few splashes of pink in the sky.
• The fonts used are simple and easy to read.
• The four people on the front cover are quite obviously having fun and this could suggest that the music that has been created through for men just having fun.

David Bowie ~ The Next Day

• Complete album cover is black and white. This gives mixed messages as white normally has positive connotations whereas black gives negative connotations. 
• You cannot see David Bowies face on the cover as it is covered by a white square with the album title written in it. This leaves the audience questioning what his facial expression is and why it is covered up.
• This album makes an intertextual reference to one of Bowie's previous albums 'Heroes'. As you can see in the top right corner 'Heroes' has got a line through to show that it is not the 'Heroes' album.
• The name of the album also relates to the image as it is 'The Next Day' which implies time has moved on and is passing, so the use of an old image shows that time has passed since then and things are not the same.
• The camera shot is close up so you would be able to see his facial expressions if the white square was not there. 
• It is hard to tell what the lighting is as it is in black and white but I would assume that the lighting is low key.
• The back of the cover is also the 'Heroes' album covered over with a white square and new song titles etc. 
• The fonts used are easy to read and are the same on both the front and back

Two Door Cinema Club ~ Tourist History.

• The front of the album cover is quite dark and the only bright colours are in the cats eyes. The green is a connotation of envy but could also be seen as quite soothing, and the darkness represents mystery. 
• The image does not massively professional as it looks like something an average person could take. It is not really in a professional scene, it looks like it has been taken in a kitchen.
• The font is the typical font that we relate with Two Door Cinema Club as it is used on all of their merchandise and albums. 
• The way that the eyes are inside the 'OO' makes them the focus point of the whole album cover. 
• The album name is really quite small and the band name is a lot bigger, which could suggest that people will recognise the album from its image rather than the name. For example if someone saw it from far away they would notice the image before they notice the album name. 
• The camera shot is a close up but the cats face is mainly covered up by the text.
• The lighting is low key and it looks like the image has only been lit up by the flash of the camera.
• The back of the album is plain and again their signature font is used. The blue of the font represents calmness and the white of the background represents positivity and simplicity.

Magazine Cover Analysis.

Girl Talk Magazine.

The audience for girl talk magazine is around 7-13 year old girls. I know that this is the age group it is aimed at due to the amount of colour used, and some of the cover lines, and due to the name of the magazine, it is pretty obvious that it is aimed at girls. Also, as the magazine layout is rather busy, it is aimed at children, rather than people towards to top of the socio-economic scale.

The main image of Demi Lovato relates to the audience, as she is a typical role model for young girls. She has featured in a few childrens films, and also some childrens TV programmes. This would make her well known to children, and it would attract them to the magazine. The cover lines also relate to the audience, as they are somewhat immature, for example the word 'OMG!' would be used by children, and winning £100 would seem like a great prize to young children. There are also 6 quizzes on offer, ranging from 'Are you the BF boss?' to 'How do you rock?', these would appeal to children as they are things that they would like to know the answer to. The use of pinks and purples on the cover lets us know that it is aimed at girls as they are stereotypically girly colours and finally all of the girls featured on the front cover are ones that young girls could relate to and know about.

The representations used on the front cover are mainly positive as all of the girls are smiling which would lead people to think positively of young girls. Also there are no revealing images or seductive poses being used by the girls; they are all casual, friendly and a few show a bit of attitude which 7-13 year old girls will be beginning to use.

Womans Weekly.

The audience for this magazine is 40+ year old women, in class C, D and E on the socio-economic scale. I know that it is aimed at 40+ year olds, as the cover image shows Sheila Hancock, a woman in her 80's. Also, it talks about families which implies that it is for older women, and it has an article on knitting which is a stereotypical elderly woman hobby. Finally, there is an image of a couple walking their dog, and the couple are old. Had this magazine been for a younger audience, the cover image would have been of a younger celebrity, there would be more about clubbing and finding the perfect man, and a lot less about families. Also, the price and layout tells us that it is for class C, D and E's.

The main image relates to the audience as Sheila Hancock is 80 years old. This will attract an older audience as they may want to read about her, and they could probably relate to her. Also the cover lines relate to the elderly audience as they are about nuisance calls, budget dinners, soothing skin, knitting, holidays, pains, memories and a small bit about fashion. All of these topics relate to an older audience as it is what they are interested in. For example, most younger people are careless and spend their nights partying rather than worrying about pains and knitting. The cover line about fashion also relates to the audience as they are all items of clothing that would be more appealing to older people rather than younger. 

Finally, this magazine cover gives a positive representation of elderly women, as Sheila Hancock is smiling and looks happy in the cover image. There are no negative story lines other than 'Stop nuisance calls', but that does not really give a negative impression of elderly women.

Textual Analysis

Forrest Gump



Visual codes:

• The way the children are dressed in this scene gives us an idea of the time period; they are all wearing rather old-fashioned clothing, which makes the audience realise that it is set in the 1950's. It is easy to tell who are the bullies and who aren't, as Forrest is wearing 'nice' clothes and looks pleasant and approachable, also Jenny is wearing a girly pink dress and is carrying school books which would suggest that she is a good girl, whereas the bullies are wearing typical 'mean boy' clothes that make them look mean and unpleasant. 
• Also, the leg brace gives away the time period as now-a-days there are many more advanced medical cures. When Forrest is sat at the bench, we realise time has passed and it is probably closer to the 1970's now, due to the clothing and general personal appearance.
• Forrest looks quite confused and upset at the start, as he is frowning. Jenny also looks the same, however the bullies seem happy and somewhat proud as they have smirks on their faces.
• It is set near a field, down a tree-surrounded path, until there is the flash forward and Forrest is sat at a bus stop. 
• There are a few colour connotations in this clip, for example: Forrest is wearing a blue shirt which symbolises calm and tranquility as he keeps his cool when the boys are bullying him. Jenny is wearing a pink dress which symbolises love and acceptance, as she helps Forrest during the bullying and accepts the way he is. 

Technical codes:

• At the beginning of the scene the camera is still, and there is a long shot of the bullies and a close up of Forrest and Jenny. This is so we can see what the bullies are doing and we can tell read Forrest and Jenny's facial expressions. The lighting is natural, and high key, and all the way through you can see the environment that they are in. The editing is relatively fast when the shot changes from the bullies to Forrest and Jenny.
• After this the camera tilts up when Forrest is on the floor and there is a moment of handheld camera movement. 
• When Forrest begins running, the camera tracks his movement and gives us a close up of his legs. 
• Soon it changes into slow motion as the braces break off his legs. As he speeds up the camera speeds up with him and it goes back into normal speed.
• When Forrest is talking to the lady on the bench, the editing is of a medium speed and there is a lot of close ups. 

Audio codes:

• At the beginning the sound is just diegetic, and we hear the sound of the bikes and stones crunching. Then Jenny and Forrest are talking and it is still diegetic, however it changes when Forrest begins running and we hear quite slow victorious music that speeds up as he does. 
• There is also a voice over while he is running and the voice over then turns into an actual scene of Forrest when he is older. 

The Vow



Visual codes:

• The way that the pair are dressed in this scene suggests that it is set in modern times, as the clothes seem rather up-to-date. Also the way that they have their hair also implies that it is set in the 21st century as they seem to be quite common hair styles for the present day.
• At the beginning of the clip, Paige looks rather confused and worried, whereas Leo has a look of mischief on his face. The audience can tell that Paige is confused as she raises an eyebrow and then her face completely drops when she realises that Leo is taking his shirt off, and the audience notices the mischievous look on Leo's face when he does not stop smirking. Towards the end we see happiness from them both as they are laughing and smiling although they are freezing cold.
• It is set at a lake in America, but the main place that we see the characters is the car. The car is a good visual code as it indicates that the film is set in quite recent times as cars only really became a big thing after the 60's.

Technical codes:

• In this clip, there is a large number of close ups. This is to show facial expressions and feelings, it is used when the pair are talking to each other so we can see how they feel about what they are saying, and hearing. There are also a few extreme long shots when the couple are in the lake, this is to show their setting and how they feel about that particular environment.
• There is a lack of camera movement as the camera is always still and focusing on something. This may be because it is quite a calm scene so there is not much movement needed. 
• The editing is of an average speed in this clip.
• Towards the beginning of the scene, the pace is quite slow as Leo and Paige are just talking, however when they run into the lake the pace picks up a bit as we see Leo rushing to get ready, and then running into the lake and picking Paige up.
• The lighting is a natural low key as it is set at night time in what seems like a rather secluded area so there are no street lights or lights from buildings. The only light is the moon, in this scene.

Audio codes:

• For the majority of the clip there is just diegetic sounds varying from talking, to the water in the lake. However, when Paige is contemplating going in, non diegetic music begins but we still hear the diegetic sounds at the same time. The volume of the music becomes quieter when they return to the car, and becomes more of a soft tune.
• There is quite a bit of ambient noise in the scene as we hear the lake water crashing and splashing, and we also hear noises in the car such as talking and movement of seatbelts and doors.

Audience Task

Balamory

1. The intended audience for Balamory is 0-10 year old boys and girls, all over the country. (There may also be an unintended audience who are the parents of the children).
2. Children watch Balamory for entertainment purposes and to kill time. Very young children do not have anything to do and so they spend their spare time watching television. Older children have less free time but still have time to watch television. Children may also watch it for information purposes. As they are young and still learning about the world, they will get positive information from TV shows, that will guide them in the right direction in life. Many childrens TV shows are about learning new things.
3. The programme is mediated as it makes us focus on specific characters in specific episodes. For example, if the episode is based around 'PC Plum', they will show flashbacks of him and he will always be the main topic of conversation with all of the other characters. It will be constructed so that the viewers only see the positive parts rather than any negative parts. This may make a child think differently to how they would if the programme had not been constructed and selected. 

Coming of Age.

1. The intended audience for Coming of Age is British teenagers and young adults, specifically from the ages 13-25 years, it is aimed towards both males and females. The intended audience is teenagers and young adults because they may be able to relate to it. There are a lot of jokes that teenagers would find funny and they would be able to empathise. I would say it is only really aimed towards British teens as the humour used is the typical British humour that people of other nationalities may not understand or find funny. 
2. This programme meets all entertainment purposes as it is funny and gives the viewers a chance to escape reality. It may also be a used for social interaction as it may be a talking point between friendship groups. 
3. This programme is constructed so that as an audience we only see the good parts, we do not see mistakes made by the cast or any 'bloopers'. If the aim of a certain episode is to make the audience dislike a specific character, we will be shown a lot of negativity towards that character coming from other characters and sometimes even the person themselves. 

Representation Task

AS Media Representation Task.
Class - Newspaper.
This article on the Daily Mail website is a good example of how class is represented in the media. The article is about Prince Harry's antics which were all over the media a few years ago; he was found doing drugs and sneaking into clubs. This article shows an unexpectedly negative representation of royalty as it is not the norm for Princes to do things that other young boys do. Members of the royal family are brought up with good manners and etiquette and it is very out of character for royalty to be found doing drugs or going to clubs. I have identified this through the use of negative language such as 'raged', 'staggered' and 'death'. The image that is used also led me to identify this as it is not exactly flattering, and it does not make him look positive, prim and proper 
like it should. 

Gender - TV Show.

This scene from 'Snog Marry Avoid?' represents both females and males. The representation of females is negative as it implies all women are self obsessed and fake. It shows a girl called Kate with fake nails, fake eyelashes, fake hair, and fake tan. This is not a positive or accurate representation of girls as not all women are like that. It also gives a negative representation of males, as when asked 'snog, marry, avoid?' almost all of them responded with 'avoid'. This is a negative representation as it shows men only look for good looks in a possible partner rather than personality, which is not solely true. While some men are like that, it is not everyone. After the 'make under', Kate looks a lot more natural and when the men are asked 'snog, marry, avoid?' again, they all either say 'snog' or 'marry' - this again implies that men judge girls on their looks. 

Age - Film.
The film '10 Things I Hate About You' represents many ages in different ways. It gives a negative representation of teenagers as it shows the main character Kat being moody and angry at her peers and family members. It also shows her sister Bianca being the typical spoilt daddy's girl, who goes in a tantrum when she does not get her own way. Finally it also shows Patrick who is an outcast that likes to cause trouble. These 3 characters are all negative representations of teenagers and none of them really have a great attitude until the end of the film. It also gives a negative representation of middle aged people. Walter (Kat and Biancas father) is very strict and seems to wrap his daughters in cotton wool to avoid them making mistakes and doing things wrong. Ms Perky is careless and not afraid to tell people the truth even though it may hurt them. She does not do her job correctly and can sometimes offend students. These two adults are also a negative representation of different age categories as they both do things wrong and do not consider the feelings of others.





Race - TV Show.
A good example of race being represented in a TV show is 'Little Britain'. In this clip an elderly lady is given a gingerbread man from a young girl - she is enjoying it until she finds out that it was made by an Asian child, and when realising, she throws up and is sick all over the child. This is a negative representation of the British race as it shows racism and ignorance. However it is quite a positive representation of the Asian race as it shows they are willing to do things for others and not just think about themselves. Another scene in 'Little Britain' that presents a negative image of the British race is on multiple occasions in the Fat Fighters club. Marjory, the club leader, asks Meera (a Hindu lady) to repeat herself whenever she says anything, this again shows negativity, racism and ignorance.





Sexuality - Film.
Sexuality is represented both negatively and positively in the film 'Bad Teacher' through two characters specifically. In this clip we see teacher Elizabeth Halsey cleaning cars seductively - she is heterosexual and has a strong sexuality as she isn't afraid to approach the new teacher Scott Delacorte and talk about her body. She gives a somewhat negative representation of heterosexuals with a strong sexuality, as she seems like quite a 'gold digger' and uses her body to play men. On the other hand, Scott Delacorte is a heterosexual with a weak sexuality as he seems rather awkward when talking to Elizabeth. He gives a positive representation of heterosexuals with a weak sexuality as he is naive and has good morals - he does not want to go out with Elizabeth as he recently split up with his girlfriend. This makes the audience like him as he seems vulnerable and down to Earth.