media studies12/11/2010

Right so in the last few weeks I've been learning about sexuality in media, how genders are positioned and dressed to give a certain appeal, and as always, it's all about sex.



Today, i learnt about Tough Guise.

Tough guise is often brought up in media, several TV shows and films, even music videos, have a strong image of men.

For example, if you are a fan of Walt Disney (I know I am) you will see a recurring pattern in his films...Big, strong men, rescuing a damsel in destress. Snow white, Cinderella, Sleeping beauty, The little mermaid, Hurcules, Beauty andf the beast...etc

I am literally just watching Gok Wans "How to look good naked" They're talking about how 60% of people use hand cream, they used woman who work in a hotel using chemicals to clean and men building, and one of the men actually turned round and said that he doesn't wear hand cream cause it isn't very "manly".



So define manly?



Tough, strong, dominant, independant, hairy, smelly, dirty...This steriotype seems to be making a pattern, often in the news.

85% of murder is committed by men

1 in 4 men will use violence against their partner

95% of sexual child abuse is committed by men



So this is what you aspire to be? Think there's a screw loose if this is the case.

This brings me to my next point of tough guise, several White males tend to act "black", a term which means they are tough and strong and not to be messed with, the posture of the body gives an uncomfortable feel to people who witness it, body language which threatens other citizens.



Here's the culture bit, many black families (not neccesserily in this time period) are working class, from the ghetto, gangsters, and several don't have fathers for role models, looking up to how the celebs act in their videos and how they position themselves in pictures screams "MAN" and as a form of survival, they would be tough so people wouldn't disrespect them.



White people put on this front too, without the somewhat steriotyped background, to be respected by others, after all, fear means respect.

Photo Editing

I chose a few pictures for my front cover and had a little play around with photoshop, this is what I came out with.

Draft layout for college mag

Judging from what I've seen in other college magazines, the layout is pretty simple, easy to read, not too flashy or over decorated...well, actually they're quite boring and plain.

I would like to do something that will actually draw attention to it, such as this magazine cover:

The only problem on this magazine cover is that it is hard to read, jumbled and doesn't have a lot of information, older people applying for college may want something more simple.

So I have decided to stick to the basic, plain colour scheme etc.

But my amazing photographic skills will make it beautiful...

College magazine layout research

I've had a look at some college magazine front covers, research suggests they are entirely different to any other magazine, the magazine may be aimed at a younger age group but it doesn't have your average celeb, impossibly buff guy or "miss perfect" on the cover, it is full of more real looking models, the layout is simple and there isn't alot of random things nobody really cares about unlike most magazines.

Here are some front cover examples, I could possibly consider a layout like one of these for my own college mag.

These first two covers have a more child like look to them, the colours are attractive and bold, although both the layouts and designs are completely opposite, they both have a good appeal that would attract teenagers.

The only thing with the first magazine is that it looks as if it is aimed at only females, the steriotyping of pink colours, curved text and a photograph of a girl.

These two magazines are both very similar, there is a bold headline, the colours are simple as is the layout and although both key images are of females, the magazines don't look remotely sexist or only aimed at one gender.

College magazine photoshoot

Right, so THIRD attempt thanks to my cleaner and the refresh button, I hate you both.

Anyway, I did a quick photoshoot at college for my college magazine, a few friends modelled their beautiful selves for me and this is what i came out with:

Media Studies- 01/10/2010

Today I did some work on Demographics.
What the...?
Demographics- Concrete variables: Gender, race, age, income, employment status and even location, used in government, marketing or opinion research.

In my media studies course, i will learn to analyze the media around me and be critical about what I see and hear.

The Jincar scale (Joint industry committee for newspaper advertising research)- This is the scale used to define the social class one individual belongs to (steriotyping)

Photoshoot Ideas- Music magazine

Different genre music magazines have different colour schemes, photo angles, layouts etc. The pop/R'n'B music magazines are more candy coloured and bright because they are suitable for most audiences, the rock/metal magazines are darker and the shoot is normally of a band, whereas in other magazines, the key image is of one band member/artist, because they are the most recognisable.

For soft pop, (the classy stuff e.g- Christina Aguilera, Cheryl Cole, Mariah Carey, Beyonce knowles) the key image is more glamorous and the colour scheme is more neautral.

Rap music, the shot is usually taken in a studio, the artist is photographed in a mid shot or head and shoulders shot and there arn't many colours used.

Most magazine front covers are taken in high-key studios.

What do you want in a magazine?

Simple questionaire, please copy paste&fill in your answers

(put an X in the box [X])

1.What is the best free-bee to recieve in a magazine?

Make-up/hair/beauty products [ ]

Candy/sweets [ ]
Posters [ ]

Music downloads [ ]

Other (please specify) [ ]

2.Favourite article?

Celeb gossip [ ]
Music realted-new atists/interviws [ ]
Fashion [ ]
True stories [ ]
How to...? articles [ ]
Sports or Film [ ]

3.What attracts you to a magazine?

Free-bees [ ]

Colours [ ]

Pictures [ ]
Interesting articles [ ]

Price [ ]

Weekly magazine, buy it anyway [ ]

4.Anything inparticular you would like to change about your magazine?

.......................................................................................................................

Thankyou you beautiful people.

Media studies- 24/09/10

Attempt 2, my laptop is so against me today, if i don't make it through this blog AND publish it, i may throw it through the window. Fingers crossed. Wouldn't want to explain that one.


So, this lesson we learnt about signs and codes, how things can trigger memories with a simple logo, picture, or word. For example, the golden arches makes us see McDonalds, we see past the image to what it stands for.
3 Basic types of sign and code;
-Iconic sign- appear exactly like the thing itself, but always represents more.
-Indexical signs- indirectly suggests what they mean, acting as cue's to existing knowledge. (e.g. Golden arches- McDonalds)
- Symbolic codes- act as signifiers of meaning totally disconnected from what they denote.

I also learnt that in advertising, different people are used to raise appeal for that certain thing, for example, make-up is often advertised by attractive woman to make the buyer think "Wow I could really look like that if I bought this product!?" when really we all know its just photoshop and a hell of alot of botox. Beauty is only skin deep in advertising and you'd be surprised how the model has an effect on the buyers view.

Semiotics- A way of explaining how we make meaning.
Signs- Smallest single unit of meaning.
Denotation- Literal meaning/thing in itself.
Connotation- Suggests another meaning.

Front cover designing

Right, I've done a few comparisons between different magazines, but what makes the front cover stand out, more importantly, how does it stand out to different people? Could you imagine a 30 year old man picking up and issue of Bliss for its free lipgloss mascara combo and tips on how to get super shiny hair?

I will investigate different magazine covers and why they are appealing to different sex's and age's, I might even find a few ideas for my own magazine.

Brand ID.

The big name across the top of a magazine (title, headline...whatever) shows alot about the magazine, showing the buyer what they are buying for one but also showing new readers some information about the magazine, for example, if the Brand ID was pink, purple and had love hearts scattered around it, you'd naturally view it as a girls magazine.

see the difference?

Cosmopolitan is a fashion magazine, there are several plugs over the cover to draw people in such as "359 sexy fashion finds" and "The real reasons men cheat". These are clearly aimed at a female buyer, whereas Kerrang magazine is a music magazine for rock/metal/punk bands fans to read up about tours, band members and even get posters of these bands. The magazine is for both genders, and doesn't have any plugs directly aimed at either sex, the colour scheme seems more "manly" because there isn't any "girls colours", which could also lead us to think there is alot of sexism in magazine making.

Colour design.

Colours seem to change on magazines throughout seasons, yellow is a bright happy colour so it could be used on magazines to represent Summer, orange however is a more Autumn-y colour so the colour of the magazine can also show season as well as sex.

Media Studies- 17/09/10

So, first lesson of media, I have done some research on magazines, we discussed the headlines, colour schemes, layout, mast line, main image, brand ID, cover lines, date, price & issue number, barcode, print size, camera shot, strap line, eye line, framing, font design, puff, plugs, point size, studio shot and mode of address.
We also spoke about different types of magazine such as Aspirer.


i've done some research on what age group magazines can be aimed at and if it's determined by genre.
Magazine 1: Animals and you
This magazine is about animals judging by the title and pictures, also a girls magazine, the colour scheme is light blue and purple and there are pictures of young girls holding animals, the logo is a paw print in the shape of a love heart. Also a free gift is issued every week and "cute" posters. The description says it's perfect for 7-11 year old girls who love animals and pets, so pretty much your average young girl. The headline is writen in a curved comic style print with a pink outline, there isn't any specific layout, pictures and words seem to be just randomly placed over the page.

Magazine 2: Mens health
Mens health is a magazine for men, or butch women, or maybe just women who like looking at half naked men...The title is always in the top center of the page in bold red letters, and the main picture is usually of a shirtless man with alot of muscles, very defined muscles and in black and white, it is also a mid-shot picture. It doesn't come with a free gift, but there is alot of advice on how to gain muscles. I don't think it has an age group but it is obviously aimed at men who work out!

Both these magazines are entirely different.