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.