Prelim Magazine Evaluation

Our first prelim task was to create an example of a school magazine front cover and contents page, both pages had to be produced in Photoshop to reflect some knowledge of the basics in this program. The front cover had to include a mast head, a mid-shot photography, and appropriate and positioned text.  

Before we created our magazines we had to sketch out the initial ideas and create a colour scheme. The colour scheme I chose was light blue, navy and white (shown in colour in the sketches). I chose these colours because they go well together. My magazine was aimed at an audience of 14-18 year olds and targeted as a general interest magazine. For my contents page I kept a minimalist feel so that the reader could focus on the articles, which I chose in order to appeal to the general interests of most students.

The picture I took for the front cover was of someone holding their GCSE results and looking upset because of their grades. I chose this image because it reflects the main article of the magazine "How are your results". For this image I edited the background out of Photoshop using the magic rubber tool, this was to improve the look of the picture and help the text to stand out on the front page.

American Beauty, The Dining Room Scene!

What we learn about the Burnham family..

-They are all very distant                                     -Repetitive lives (the music is always the same)

-Family photos:                                                   -Father and daughter used to be close

 Happy once?                                   

 Show traditional family hierarchy

The Mise-en-Scene..

-The roses are the centerpiece of the table

-Table positions: the daughter is sat in the middle suggesting she is holding the family together

-Muted colours reflect the dullness of their life

-Red roses in the center of the table

 Blue walls in the dining room

 White kitchen

-Red, White and Blue: repeating motif

Camera Work..

-A long shot/establishing shot is used at the beginning of the scene to help introduce what's happening at that moment

-The camera very slowly moves into the conversation: 

 This focuses our attention to the conversation

 Suggests we are spying

Music..

-The music Caroline repeatedly plays is Bali Hai from South Pacific (old fashioned):
  Gives the idea she is also trapped but in the past
  Shows that she is in complete control
-The non-diegetic sound reflects the feelings or actions of the characters:
  When Lester and Jane are talking about how they used to be close the music reflects that they are upset
  When the boy is focused on the music sounds creepy which reflects the creepiness of what he's doing

Hot Fuzz and This is England Contrast!

Film Comparison

This is England Research!

 Warp Films.. -Warp Films is the sister company of Warp Records and was set up in 1999 with money funded by NESTA. The company was originally based in Sheffield but now has an office in London.
-In 2008 plans were announced for the collaboration of Warp Films and Madman Entertainment.
-Warp has now produced a total of 23 films.

Shane Meadows..
-Meadows, a self taught film maker, was born in 1972 in Uttoxetor, Staffordshire which explains the location choices for his films. He left school before achieving any GCSE's and went to Nottingham.
-In 1994 he volunteered at Intermedia Film and Video in Nottingham in exchange for free use of camcorders and editing software. With this equiptment he was able to make a huge amount of short films with the help of his friends. They set up a film festival to show Meadows' films called 'Six of the Best', which is where he was first noticed for his film 'Where's My Money, Ronnie?'.
- Since then he has directed 12 films, which have won many awards including the BAFTA for Best British Film for 'This is England'.

Prelim Magazine Task

This is my school magazine front cover and contents page.

Hot Fuzz targets a British Audience

How Does Hot Fuzz Target a British Audience

American Beauty!

Lester Burnham: played by Kevin Spacey 

Character: -Pessimistic                       -Regretful and disappointed in life 

                   -Controlled by his wife      -Given up

                   -Submissive                      -Bored and lazy         

                   -Mundane voice

Family: -Seem Typical/Cliche              

             -The mum acts like the father stereotypically would

             -Burnham Family Hierarchy 

              1. Mother

              2. Daughter

              3. Father 

Trapped: -In many scenes Lester looks like he is behind prison bars:

                 1. For example when he is looking out of his window the bars cover his face 

                 2. Also when his image is reflected in the computer screen the data appears across his face

               -Trapped by his wife        

               -Only let out to go to work

               -In the shadows when in bed, like he's hidden away 

Colour: -Red, White and Blue repetitive motif, which links to america

             -Natural/bland colours reflect Lester's image as he seems to be boring and bland

             -Also it helps the colour motif to stand out

Music: - Repetitive, as the tune is repetitive it reflects Lester's life  

            -Awkward/Uncomfortable sounding                      

            -Music fits the visuals       

The Man

My first impression of this man was that he was poor, homeless and scruff, his beard and hair indicate this as they look very unkept. After looking for a minute I noticed that he was posing which indicates that he is proud of how he looks.

In fact the man isn't homeless or poor, the picture was on The Sartorialist webpage. It was taken outside the Ralph Lauren flag ship store on Lexington Avenue in New York where he works. On closer inspection you notice the patches in his trousers aren't scruffy to cover rips but placed neatly and the folds on the bottoms are clearly very neatly folded. His shoes are also not the shoes of a homeless person as they are not dirty or damaged in any way.

Hello, my name is Sarah..

Academic
-GCSE results: I got 10 GCSEs with a B in English language.
-AS Course: Media, English Language, IT and Psychology

Media Interests
-PHOTOGRAPHY!
-Films: Comedy films, Tim Burton Films, Romeo + Juliet,  The Labyrinth and Pixar animation films
-TV: Comedy shows, The Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd, The Big Bang Theory, Heroes, Miami Ink, The Clangers
-Music: Rock, Indie and Alternative ( Blink 182, Klaxons, Bring Me the Horizon, The Beach Boys, Kasabian, Lostprophets)
-Magazines: Music and photography magazines
-Internet: Photography and shopping
-Games: SSX and Kingdom Hearts

I am studying media because I am very interested in the media industry and finding out more about the areas within it.