Saturday, 21 April 2012
Friday, 20 April 2012
Cohen's Moral Panic
Stanley Cohen wrote 'Folk Devils and Moral Panics' in 1972. In which he suggested that a moral panic happens when a 'condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests', leading to people who threaten the social order being described as 'folk devils'.
Cohen believed that the media has a huge influence on moral panic. He used this to describe the presses reporting of the ‘mods and rockers’ behaviour. Cohen’s Moral Panic has been used within the media to lure a audience ever since. For example, this picture of Kurt Cobain shows a trend of smoking and drinking alcohol which the public wanted to be involved in, as it was believed to look 'cool'. However, some societies would not have agreed with this, but this photo was still shown in the media.
Moral Panic has said to have several features:
Stanley Cohen wrote 'Folk Devils and Moral Panics' in 1972. In which he suggested that a moral panic happens when a 'condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests', leading to people who threaten the social order being described as 'folk devils'.Cohen believed that the media has a huge influence on moral panic. He used this to describe the presses reporting of the ‘mods and rockers’ behaviour. Cohen’s Moral Panic has been used within the media to lure a audience ever since. For example, this picture of Kurt Cobain shows a trend of smoking and drinking alcohol which the public wanted to be involved in, as it was believed to look 'cool'. However, some societies would not have agreed with this, but this photo was still shown in the media.
Moral Panic has said to have several features:
- Concern- There must be awareness that the group is likely to have a negative effect on society.
- Hostility- There is a clear line between society and the group in question, who are then known as 'folk devils'.
- Consensus- There must be a wide acceptance that the group is a real threat, making the 'folk devils' seem weak.
- Disproportionality- The action taken towards the accused group is unbalanced.
- Volatility- Moral panics disappear quickly, as they're no longer in the public interest, leading to the media then focusing on another group.
Semiotics
Semiotics is the study of signs, analogy, symbolism and communication; including words, sounds and body language.
Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure was one of the founders of semiotics, recognised in his ‘Course in General Linguistics’ in 1916. He established that a sign is divided into two parts: the signifier, which is the form of the sign- and the signified, what the sign represents.
He produced the process: sign > signifier > signified. For example: red lipstick > subject of lust > desire. The media use semiotics to attract a audience, as people respond to certain images, colours and patterns.
I will be using semiotics within my music magazine, as I want to attract the widest audience as possible. This means I will use certain colours, fonts and images to lure customers in and reinforce the indie rock genre. For example, my artist repeatedly had red lipstick on during the photo shoot to highlight the male gaze. A range of fonts were also used to stop my magazine becoming tedious to look at.
Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure was one of the founders of semiotics, recognised in his ‘Course in General Linguistics’ in 1916. He established that a sign is divided into two parts: the signifier, which is the form of the sign- and the signified, what the sign represents.
He produced the process: sign > signifier > signified. For example: red lipstick > subject of lust > desire. The media use semiotics to attract a audience, as people respond to certain images, colours and patterns.
I will be using semiotics within my music magazine, as I want to attract the widest audience as possible. This means I will use certain colours, fonts and images to lure customers in and reinforce the indie rock genre. For example, my artist repeatedly had red lipstick on during the photo shoot to highlight the male gaze. A range of fonts were also used to stop my magazine becoming tedious to look at.
Friday, 23 March 2012
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Photo Shoot Plan
I have to produce several of my own photographs for my music magazine, therefore I will be holding a photo shoot for my artist. My artist will be Elizabeth Bailey. The photo shoot will be held in several locations; including the Albert Docks and outside the Liver-buildings.
The photo for my front cover will be a mid shot of Elizabeth; showing that she is wearing a shirt under a dress with an over sized Levi denim jacket. This has a mise en scene of the indie rock genre. She will have her arm up on a ledge, creating a 'no nonsense' portrayal of my artist which is frequently used within the rock genre. Also, she will have a large cross earring on show, and will be wearing red lipstick to contrast with her Auburn hair and attract the male gaze.
The photo for my contents page will be similar to the front cover. It will also be a mid shot; however it will be from a high angle. She will also have her middle finger up, reinforcing Cohen’s Moral Panic as it will intrigue the audience to read the article. The background will show some water and an ocean safety traditional life buoy, emphasising how she is on the coast on a summer’s day. Yet again, she will have her cross earring on show and she’ll be wearing red lipstick.
For the double page spread, I will choose three photos; one of Elizabeth standing in front of the Liver Buildings, and another of her posing infront of a white wall. The photo of Elizabeth in front of the Liver Buildings will highlight her hometown and upbringing. She will be wearing red nail varnish and lipstick, which is clearly visable, to yet again highlight her Auburn hair and contrast with her green dress. The sun will be shining against her hair to to increase the visablitiy of the colour. I have also made sure that one of the Liverbirds' is on show, to strongly portray her background.
Moreover, the photo of Elizabeth posing against a white wall will be a medium close up, with the white background clearly highlighting her Auburn hair. Yet again, she will have red lipstick on to reinforce the male gaze. Her mouth will be open, as if she's about to bite, creating a seductive image of herself. The lighting will be quite dim, representing the dark stereotype of rock music. However she will be wearing a cream shirt to contrast with the darkness, as it will emphasise how she also fits in with the acoustic indie genre.
Additionally, I will take a photo to Elizabeth to create my own album cover for her. It will have some of her Auburn hair covering her eye, conforming with the normal rock image. She will be wearing a white shirt, and a green jumper. This will portray the indie and acoustic genre she is also expressing. Her cross earring will clearly be on show as the image will be a close up, supporting Dyers' Star Theory.
The photo for my front cover will be a mid shot of Elizabeth; showing that she is wearing a shirt under a dress with an over sized Levi denim jacket. This has a mise en scene of the indie rock genre. She will have her arm up on a ledge, creating a 'no nonsense' portrayal of my artist which is frequently used within the rock genre. Also, she will have a large cross earring on show, and will be wearing red lipstick to contrast with her Auburn hair and attract the male gaze.
The photo for my contents page will be similar to the front cover. It will also be a mid shot; however it will be from a high angle. She will also have her middle finger up, reinforcing Cohen’s Moral Panic as it will intrigue the audience to read the article. The background will show some water and an ocean safety traditional life buoy, emphasising how she is on the coast on a summer’s day. Yet again, she will have her cross earring on show and she’ll be wearing red lipstick.
For the double page spread, I will choose three photos; one of Elizabeth standing in front of the Liver Buildings, and another of her posing infront of a white wall. The photo of Elizabeth in front of the Liver Buildings will highlight her hometown and upbringing. She will be wearing red nail varnish and lipstick, which is clearly visable, to yet again highlight her Auburn hair and contrast with her green dress. The sun will be shining against her hair to to increase the visablitiy of the colour. I have also made sure that one of the Liverbirds' is on show, to strongly portray her background.
Moreover, the photo of Elizabeth posing against a white wall will be a medium close up, with the white background clearly highlighting her Auburn hair. Yet again, she will have red lipstick on to reinforce the male gaze. Her mouth will be open, as if she's about to bite, creating a seductive image of herself. The lighting will be quite dim, representing the dark stereotype of rock music. However she will be wearing a cream shirt to contrast with the darkness, as it will emphasise how she also fits in with the acoustic indie genre.
Additionally, I will take a photo to Elizabeth to create my own album cover for her. It will have some of her Auburn hair covering her eye, conforming with the normal rock image. She will be wearing a white shirt, and a green jumper. This will portray the indie and acoustic genre she is also expressing. Her cross earring will clearly be on show as the image will be a close up, supporting Dyers' Star Theory.
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Richard Dyer's Star Theory
Richard Dyer published a book called 'Stars' in 1979, in which he established that the viewer's understanding of the media is influenced by stars. Therefore popular magazines usually use images of stars on the front cover, as this attracts the public attention and increases sales.
| Uncut, June 2008. |
Dyer suggested that stars are produced for profit purposes only and not their artistic talents, and this is the record labels only priority. He believed that institutions create the artist through their costume and public appearances etc, as well as who will bring the most controversy within the media, such as David Bowie. For institutions, artists are basically a product used to make profit, therefore they produce several similar artists to receive a safe profit.
Artists display their cultural values and attitudes freely throughout the media, as well as promote a certain idea.This enhances the artists 'star quality' as they become well known to the public who have the same beliefs. Stars usually focus on youth, sexuality and materialism.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Typeface
There are two main categories for typefaces: serif and sans serif.
Serif fonts have more detail added onto the end of the strokes of letters and symbols. These additional strokes are known as serifs. Serif fonts are traditionally used in printed material, such as books and newspapers. They're also widely used in magazines, as it's a lot more formal and the editors believe they are ‘cleaner’.
However, sans serif do not have serifs at the end of the strokes; the term comes from the French word sans meaning ‘without’ . Sans serif fonts are a lot more modern, and are usually used for headlines rather than body text.
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Friday, 10 February 2012
Questionnaire Results
I have collected the results from my questionnaire and put them into several pie charts so they're easy to interpret.
I have came to the conclusion that my magazine will be based on the acoustic indie rock music genre. This is because 56% of the answers of 'what are your preferred music genres?' are acoustic and rock, and therefore this genre will attract a wider audience.
Also, as 61% of participants said they are willing to pay £2.99 on a music magazine so I will charge this much. It will be available monthly as 44% of participants regularly buy a music magazine each month, as well as it being able to subscribe to.
The magazine will include include information about artist/bands own music taste, concert reviews/pictures, album reviews and free posters. This will increase sales as it broadens the magazine's contents.
I have came to the conclusion that my magazine will be based on the acoustic indie rock music genre. This is because 56% of the answers of 'what are your preferred music genres?' are acoustic and rock, and therefore this genre will attract a wider audience.
Also, as 61% of participants said they are willing to pay £2.99 on a music magazine so I will charge this much. It will be available monthly as 44% of participants regularly buy a music magazine each month, as well as it being able to subscribe to.
The magazine will include include information about artist/bands own music taste, concert reviews/pictures, album reviews and free posters. This will increase sales as it broadens the magazine's contents.
Moodboard
My chosen genre for my music magazine is indie rock. I've created a moodboard which features a number of artists who all fit in this category. For example: Arctic Monkeys, Florence + The Machine, The Maccabees, Arcade Fire, The Eels, Bombay Bicycle Club, Noah And The Whale, The Killers, The Vaccines.. I have included photos of numerous bands/artists, album covers and some photographs of artists live in concert.
College Newsletter Contents Flatplan
I have created a flatplan for my college newsletter's contents page.
Photoshop Practice
Original image.
This is the original image of Dave Grohl, from the Foo Fighters, which I found on NME's website.
Edited image.
I edited the photograph of Dave Grohl on Adobe Photoshop. I changed the background to 'smudge stick' effect, and left Dave Grohl clear to draw attention to him. I changed the stroke length to 10, the highlight area 15 and the intensity to 5.
Magazine Vocabulary
There are numerous lexis that I will be using throughout my coursework, such as:
Masthead- It's found on the cover of a newspaper, usually at the top, and gives the name of the newspaper/magazine/newsletter.
House Style- The house style distinguishes the newspaper/magazine/newsletter from it's competitors, as it's known for it's distinctive design.
Headline- A headline is the title of the newspaper/magazine/newsletter article. It is usually in a large font across the top of the front page, and placed above or below the masthead.
Sub-headline- A title, or heading, of a subdivision.
Dateline and price- The dateline shows the date of the newspaper/magazine/newsletter's release date, and the price lets the reader know how much it will cost.
Byline- The byline is the line usually located under the headline which tells the audience the name of the writer.
Puff- A puff is a section or graphic that promotes other contents in that edition.
Earpiece area- The earpiece area is also known as the pug feeder. The pug's (logos and promotions) are placed here. They're usually at the top left and right-hand corners of the paper.
Strapline- The strapline is used to sum up a story.
Support story- A support article is a minor story that can be seen on a small area of the front cover, and often include a cross-reference.
Lure- The lure is what makes the consumers want to read the article.
Splash head- This is the main story on the front page of a newspaper, it features the most important news in a striking way.
Page lead- The page lead is the first paragraph of a newspaper/magazine/newsletter article. It should inform the reader of the basic content of the story, the rest of the article will then improve on it. The lead is usually written in bold or capitals.
Cross-reference- This tells the reader that the article carries on into another page; "turn to page 2".
Photograph caption- When photos are used, there are normally a sentence or two underneath that describe the photograph.
Masthead- It's found on the cover of a newspaper, usually at the top, and gives the name of the newspaper/magazine/newsletter.
House Style- The house style distinguishes the newspaper/magazine/newsletter from it's competitors, as it's known for it's distinctive design.
Headline- A headline is the title of the newspaper/magazine/newsletter article. It is usually in a large font across the top of the front page, and placed above or below the masthead.
Sub-headline- A title, or heading, of a subdivision.
Dateline and price- The dateline shows the date of the newspaper/magazine/newsletter's release date, and the price lets the reader know how much it will cost.
Byline- The byline is the line usually located under the headline which tells the audience the name of the writer.
Puff- A puff is a section or graphic that promotes other contents in that edition.
Earpiece area- The earpiece area is also known as the pug feeder. The pug's (logos and promotions) are placed here. They're usually at the top left and right-hand corners of the paper.
Strapline- The strapline is used to sum up a story.
Support story- A support article is a minor story that can be seen on a small area of the front cover, and often include a cross-reference.
Lure- The lure is what makes the consumers want to read the article.
Splash head- This is the main story on the front page of a newspaper, it features the most important news in a striking way.
Page lead- The page lead is the first paragraph of a newspaper/magazine/newsletter article. It should inform the reader of the basic content of the story, the rest of the article will then improve on it. The lead is usually written in bold or capitals.
Cross-reference- This tells the reader that the article carries on into another page; "turn to page 2".
Photograph caption- When photos are used, there are normally a sentence or two underneath that describe the photograph.
Monday, 6 February 2012
Feminist Theory
In 1975, the British feminist film theorist, Laura Mulvey, published a well known essay called 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'. In this essay she established the 'male gaze', as Mulvey believed media audiences view women from a heterosexual male perspective. For feminists this meant: how men look at women, how women look at themselves and how women look at other women.
This issue of GQ showed Dianna Agron and Lea Michele in revealing clothes, with the assumption that men will buy the magazine. This magazine cover portrays both the girls as 'objects', whereas Corey Monteith has remained fully clothed whilst holding them in a sexual way.
This issue of GQ showed Dianna Agron and Lea Michele in revealing clothes, with the assumption that men will buy the magazine. This magazine cover portrays both the girls as 'objects', whereas Corey Monteith has remained fully clothed whilst holding them in a sexual way.
Friday, 3 February 2012
Music Magazine Questionnaire
Could you please complete this short questionnaire about music magazines by clicking here.
Qualitative And Quantitative Questions
There is a distinct difference between qualitative and quantitative questions. Qualitative questions are known as open questions as there's space for everyones personal answers, such as 'what is your favourite genre of music and why?'. Therefore you get a more detailed, realistic response.
However, a quantitative question is closed as you are given a set of answers to choose from. For example, 'what sex are you?' would have the two options 'male' or 'female'. This means that the answers are easier to collate and can be compared to each other: saving a lot of time, as all the answers are relevant to the question.
I have chosen to do the majority of my questionnaire using quantitative questions. Although I will also include some qualitative questions, so I recieve a few more detailed responses.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Rule Of Thirds And Depth Of Field
Rule of Thirds.
Sometimes only part of the subject in a photograph appears sharp. The depth of field is the zone of sharpness, but it doesn't abruptly change from sharp to unsharp. Everything in front or behind the depth of field loses sharpness.
Sunday, 29 January 2012
What's This Work About?
I will be creating a music magazine for my AS media studies coursework, and will be regularly updating my blog, showing any work I have produced. My coursework will include: a front cover, a contents pages and a double page spread. I will come up with a few potential designs after distinguishing a target audience, as well as reviewing a few current music magazines. My own photographs will be used for the main features in my magazine, and will be improved using Photoshop. I will also be creating a front cover for a college magazine, featuring a medium close up of a student.
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