Research: Magazine Front Covers

 

Research of Vogue

 

Shot type: medium closeup
Photo is of Dame Judi Dench and is behind the masthead
Photo takes up entire page
The font of the masthead is a black didot font. The text is mainly pink and black, with a splash of purple and white.
Two types of fonts, both italic and not
The text is mainly at the bottom and middle of the page, apart from the masthead
The front cover addresses social issues such as the Coronavirus pandemic ("The actor on life, love and quarantine") as well as body positivity ("One woman weighs in on body positivity")
No barcode
Contents to the left of the page
Date at the top left underneath the masthead

Vogue is fashion magazine founded in 1892, however it didn't start posting about fashion until the mid-1930s. The magazines were illustrated at first, and in 1932 the first colour photograph featured on the front. There are currently 28 types of Vogue, ranging from British Vogue to Vogue Korea.

Research TMRW magazine

  

Shot type: medium long shot
Edited so her face and hands are the brightest thing on the page alongside the writing
Covers entire page
Masthead: bold, white font
Two different fonts 
Masthead is at the top of the page and the two other pieces of font are down the side. The masthead is the biggest of the pieces of font, followed by the bottom right.
Nothing on the page except the photo, the text and the barcode at the bottom
Targets music fans, specifically fans of Sabrina Carpenter
The magazine aims to create "thought provoking content of the highest quality".

Shot type: medium closeup
Masthead: bold, black font against white background
Three different fonts 
Masthead is at the top of the page, one piece of text along the side and two at the bottom
The text is all white apart from the masthead
Two of the texts are italic but in different fonts. The "Niall Horan" is in a slightly more bold font compared to the contents along the side. The names of the celebrities along the bottom are not italic or bold.
Contents respond to political and social concerns, such as Brexit. It also mentions Instagram and a digital protest.
Targets music fans, specifically fans of Niall Horan, Nao, Vince Staples, Alex Aiono, Puzzle and Daya.
The magazine aims to create "thought provoking content of the highest quality", as well as distancing themselves from the "perception of a 'magazine'".
Barcode on the top left corner of the photo, has price on it.

TMRW is sold online as well as in a few select stores. Since all the paper is recycled, the price is £9.99, however special editions are £14.00. Shipping in the UK is £4.00.

Titanium by David Guetta (ft. Sia)

 Narrative: 

The music video starts with a close-up on a young boy surrounded by a wreckage. He appears to be in a school. As he begins walking, he passes a door with a teacher stood just inside the room, on the phone. She looks terrified and slowly shuts the door on him. He continues walking, eventually leaving the school, and passes a police car. He grabs a bike and leaves.

When he gets home, he stares at the TV, which is showing a news report on a supernatural occurrence at a school. He begins to pack his bag and tries to leave, but the door wouldn't open. The police storm in but he has managed to get the keys and has escaped. The next scene is him in the woods, but the police find him again. They surround him, he gives off a force field and the music video ends. 

Shot type: wide shot
This is effective as it allows the viewer to see the devastation caused.

Shot type: focus on the teacher on the phone

This is effective as it shows the terror on the teacher's face.

Shot type: wide shot of TV

This is effective as it allows the viewer to see what the boy is seeing and also develops social representations.

Shot type: extreme wide shot

This is effective as it shows how small the boy is in comparison to the trees around him.

Shot type: full shot

This is effective as it allows the viewer to feel panicked for the boy

Shot type: full shot
This is effective as it shows the boy surrounded by all the police officers.

Background:

Titanium was originally written by Sia for Alecia Keys but when Keys turned it down, it was sent to Guetta. Guetta, Giorgio Tuinfort and Nick van de Wall produced the soundtrack. Despite the Guetta version originally being meant for Mary J. Blige (who's demo version was leaked on the internet), Guetta preferred Sia's version and subsequently released that. Sia recalled "I never even knew it was gonna happen, and I was really upset. Because I had just retired, I was trying to be a pop songwriter, not an artist."

The song itself is a house and urban-dance song with a tempo of 126bpm. 

Changes to Music Videos

There have been many changes to the music video over the years. The three types of music video are performance based (where the main focus of the video is the artist singing), narrative (fragmented, never complete) and concept based (mainly focuses on society's issues, such as drugs, alcohol and sex). The main purposes of music videos are to promote the artist, increase sales, entertainment and to create a relationship between the artist and the consumer.

Conceptual based music videos range from Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles to Where is the Love? by Black Eyed Peas. Video Killed the Radio Star is a performance and concept based video, and is critical of the up and coming music video industry and how society believed it would kill the radio industry. Many of the shots are closeups of the performers and it included animated overlays. Where is the Love? is a performance, conceptual and narrative video. It focuses on racism, gang crime, pollution, war, religion and beliefs. One of the shots shows the Statue of Liberty, which is a symbol of freedom for America; yet despite this, America is one of the worst places for racism and racist attacks. The song is still relevant today, demonstrated by the lines "But if you only have love for your own race / Then you only leave space to discriminate" and "Nations droppin' bombs / Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones / With the ongoin' sufferin' as the youth die young / So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone". The difference between these two videos is mainly the style. They both may be conceptual, but Video Killed the Radio Star uses a lot of animation, whereas Where is The Love? uses a lot of wide shots and closeups of the artists.

Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles

Where Is The Love? - Black Eyed Peas

An example of a narrative music video is Young Volcanoes by Fall Out Boy. It uses a lot of short, quick shots, both a mix of medium shots and wide shots. The storyline is mainly based around the kidnapping and drugging of four men, who are served red wine, blood and food by a group of women. The drugs ensure that the men hallucinate that the entire affair is a party, when in reality, they are being tortured. Like most narratives, the story is left unfinished, however, the music video is third in a series of eleven, so the viewer has a chance to see what happens next. The video isn't just a narrative, as it also includes one of the men singing, however, the majority is a narrative. The song juxtaposes to the darkness of the video, as the lyrics and music are relatively upbeat. Another narrative/performance music video is Material Girl by Madonna. The song details a woman who is extremely materialistic and is followed around by many men who shower her in gifts. A lot of the performance is a voyeuristic Madonna surrounded by a group of men that are giving her gifts, however, the narrative follows her falling for the guy who has nothing, showing that she isn't all materialistic. It uses a lot of sharp cuts between narrative and performance, effectively showing the story. This music video was a forerunner in changing the style of videos. These videos are extremely different, more so than Where is the Love? and Video Killed the Radio Star, since one is dark in nature and one is upbeat and bright.

Young Volcanoes - Fall Out Boy

Material Girl - Madonna

Rockin All Over The World by Status Quo is a performance style music video. It uses closeups and medium closeups of the band performing the song on stage, which is typical of an early music video. Another performance music video is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It uses closeups of the four members before zooming out to show the members on stage. A lot of the following shot types are closeups of Freddie Mercury's face, as well as medium closeups of the other members. Performance based music videos haven't changed much over the years, except for the addition of conceptual and narrative scenes. 

Rocking All Over The World - Status Quo

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

Music videos started off as performance, before Video Killed the Radio Star (which is considered to be the first music video that wasn't fully performance) introduced concepts. From there on, with the introduction of narrative, music videos have become something that everyone is used to, a vast contrast to the days when people thought they would kill the radio industry. A lot more money also goes into creating a music video these days, before, the majority were under $500,000, with the exception of Scream by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson (it cost between $7,000,000 and $11,7454,141).

Photos

Closeup

This photo represents the emotion that can be seen in a dog's eyes and how the eyes are the window to the soul.

Medium Shot

This photo represents the freedom of a wild animal.

Wide Shot

This photo represents freedom and tranquility of water. It also represents life, since water is essential to living. 

 

What I learnt when making an advert

 

When making this advert, I learnt how hard it is to make all the elements work together. For example, the picture of the swan was quite dark originally, and the writing wouldn't show up properly. I had to lighten the picture quite a lot in order for it to make it work. I also learnt that some elements just don't go well together. I originally had some pictures of flowers in the background behind David Attenborough that I had to remove due to it not looking right.

Context in the Media (Historical and Cultural)

 

 

The Daily Mail Online has chosen to use this image due to it successfully conveying the unrest in American politics right now. They used a reference to an elite person, which is usually seen as more newsworthy, as well as major negativity. A lot of the world are watching the elections, so to know that Trump wants to stop the counting is scary. By reporting this, they target Americans that live in the UK and want to keep track of the elections. Historically, the Daily Mail are right-wing leaning and supported fascists such as Hitler and Mussolini and although Trump isn't technically a fascist, he shares some ideas with Hitler. Culturally, the Daily Mail is a tabloid and has many tabloid conventions, such as a very dramatic and emotionally charged headline - despite the subject being more serious. 

This is the same event but reported by The Guardian. They have chosen to use a less emotionally charged and dramatic headline and report it in a sensible fashion. The Guardian is a left-wing broadsheet, so everything they report is serious. The headline "US elections 2020: Biden holds lead over Trump in tense wait for results" is informative and factual, and the picture they have chosen to use shows a white man yelling at a black person, which is stereotypically considered to be a thing that Trump supporters do. Culturally, The Guardian has chosen to report this as it's a current affair that will affect everyone.

Fun With Fonts

This font could represent something written in blood due to the trails underneath it.

This font would be good for Christmas due to the snow on top.

This font looks like movement and would be good for a action movie.

First Elements 11 Practical

 

Online News Consumption

Despite TV remaining the most used platform for news by adults in the UK, it has decreased to 75% in 2019 from 79% from 2018. Online media usage has increased to 49% from 44%, as it is the most popular platform for media consumption for 16-24 year olds. 

BBC One was the most used news source in 2018 (58%), compared to ITV (40%) and Facebook (35%), yet they saw a decrease in views in 2019. Use of social media platforms increased. There's evidence that UK adults are consuming more news from social media, commenting on apps like Twitter and Facebook. However, magazines and TV are still more trustworthy than social media.

Six in ten 12-15 year olds are interested in news, as they wish to know about the world around them. The only reason some children don't watch the news is because it's "too boring". TV is the most popular platform for 12-15 year olds, with BBC One/BBC Two remaining the most-used sources. TV, family and radio are seen as the most truthful, with social media and friends seen as the least.

In 2019, 73% of people interviewed used Facebook for news, down from the 76% in 2018. It was the only popular social media platform to decrease in usage, with platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat increasing. 16-24 year olds and ethnic minorities are more likely to use social media, with the exception of Facebook. Men are more likely to use WhatsApp, Twitter, LinkedIn and Reddit for their news, whereas women are more likely to use Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. Those using social media for news get it from posts instead of directly from websites and apps run by news organisations.

     News consumption in 2020