Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Statement Of Aims: music video

Statement of aims

STATEMENT OF AIMS : BAND 5


An excellent, highly detailed, statement of consistently relevant aims and
intentions that clearly responds to the brief, targets the intended audience and
reflects the specified industry context such as specified record label/tv channel
through a coherent concept for interrelated products

 The aims and intentions demonstrate a plan for thorough and sustained use of
appropriate codes and conventions for both products

 Excellent evidence of application of knowledge and understanding of the
theoretical framework of media through sustained use of highly appropriate
subject-specific terminology

colours, tones, moods, what they reflect 
meaning/message
song, talk about it
shots
angles
transitions

Music Video

My music video is going to appeal to a wide range of audiences of all ages as anyone can relate to having fun and reminiscing on old memories. I inspire to aim it at even 30 to 49 year olds which could be considered as 'exporters' or 'reformers'. 
I have mainly targeted the video at females, however, as I want them to align with the female singer and feel as if they are her when listening to the music. 
The song I have chosen is quite emotional and sings about love and heartbreak in Italian. I feel my music video fits in well with the song as it gives a touching atmosphere. 
In the music video I have included multiple shots in different locations where my artist can be seen with friends, at parties, in beautiful locations, doing amazing things and it overall gives the effect that the viewer is watching the life of the artist as they watch the video and feel a connection them. 
There are a lot of bright colours in the music video but also much darker shots as the song has sad but also more uplifting parts to it. It includes shots of the night sky and ocean to add to the effect of spiritualness and nostalgia.
I want the viewers to align with the artist and understand their feelings as they watch the video and feel it on an emotional level. The song is supposed to bring out past feelings or memories as the shots could remind the viewer of a certain event that happened in their life which is similar. 
I have recorded the shots in many different angles to insure the artist can be seen in different ways and different locations can be depicted. I wanted to add as much going on as possible in the shots to ensure the viewers enjoy the music video with the story unveiling as they watch. 
I created a fading transition between the different locations and changing of shots to add to the nostalgic, slow feel the video gives. I want the transitions to symbolise someone recalling the memories in their mind or replaying them like a film in their head. I am going for a dream-like appearance in the shots, a bit faded and short moving on ti the next memory. 
The pace of the music is quite slow and calm so I didn't want my shots to be too chaotic, so I made sure they fit in well with each part of the song and align with it. 


Magazine Front Cover

In the front cover of the magazine I will use a lot of gold tones to add to the beach-like and dreamy effect I am going for. I will use myself as the artist so I am going to get a picture of myself posing in a magazine-like style with gold lighting on my body. 
I aim to make the cover look like a lifestyle magazine so I will add information about fashion or dieting on the cover to refer to other pages inside the magazine. I will add an imagine of a bag or item of clothes to advertise another page on the inside. 
In the left centre of the cover I will talk about my artist and ensure it is quite catchy so people will want to turn the page and read all about her. 
I am going to put the barcode and the price in the bottom right corner of the magazine as most magazines have it there and I don't want it to cover any of the image as it just has to be small. I prefer people focus on the magazine itself rather than the price. 
The title of my magazine is in Italian and means "The Voices" which fits in well as my artist is Italian and it is an Italian song. I like the fact that it combines Italian and English as it could reach a wider audience from other places worldwide.
I want the text to be orange or yellow as I think black or white would be quite bland and that is not the effect I'm looking for. I am targeting older audiences however I am sure it is still quite classic and formal in the yellow tones and will interest women of ages 30 to 49.
I will put the date of the magazine right under the title in the style of other magazines and I think will be in the same colour as the title as I don't want too many colours going on. 
I am looking for a natural, life-like effect as I don't want the cover to appear edited. I prefer it looks like it is in the great outdoors and beautiful nature as older audiences would prefer that rather than a brightly lit photo in a studio room. 
I feel the clothes I am wearing in the photo make me look older or appeal to an older audience.

Double Page Spread

In the double page spread I want to use a few colours but of the same tones. I think pink will fit nicely as it will attract females that are my target audience. 
I am going to put the title in quite large, bold font with the subheading right below it in a slightly lighter colour. I think I will put the subheading in lowercase, but I shall play around with it and see what fits better. 
I want to put my stand-first in the left top corner right under the title and subheading as it will grasp the viewer's attention immediately, especially being in bolt black font. I am going to ensure my stand-first is interesting and use exclamation marks to create a cheerful or excited tone. This is quite an important part of the spread as it will make the viewer decide if they want to read further or not. 
I want my columns to be neat and tidy and separated into paragraphs with different topics or questions being answered in each one. 
Each paragraph will have a different subheading, whether it is a question or just the title of what I am going to talk about. I am thinking of putting the question as a subheading and going straight in with a quote so it gets straight to the point. 
I will use quotation marks to indicate exactly what my artist has said in her interview pulling out the most important or interesting things that may make people laugh. I will also add information from the interviewer's point of view to interest the reader.
I want my pull-quote to stand out but be at the bottom of the double age spread. I will make the font big but I'm still debating if it should be bigger than the subheading as it is just as important.  
I want to add a lot of different fonts to ensure it looks interesting and stands out. I would like each subheading to have a different font style to divide the different paragraphs and topics. 
I am going to add a large image of my artist and two other smaller ones, all in natural settings. The larger image I am planning on cutting out and removing the background so it looks more magazine-like and then I want to write around it so it looks more professional. 







Monday, February 24, 2020

ANALYSIS: Attitude website

ANALYSIS : Attitude website

Homepage  Attitude website
Powerpoint     Essential analysis and summary
Explain the following about Attitude analysing the technical codes and elements of the website to  help you.  
  • Identify Target Audience :  Sexuality, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality , class ?
  • Look at the range of content, technical codes such as colour, font and images, possibilities of audience feedback, representations, links to any social or traditional media etc.
  • presentation :   How is masculinity and sexuality represented in the website  ? Are certain stereotypes or elements  foregrounded or given higher priority and focused upon more than others for the benefit of the target audience ? If so, why ?
  • How closely linked is the website to the Attitude magazine in terms of ownership, content and style ?
You can look at some of the following elements to help you
  1. Masthead
  2. Website layout and design
  3. Image/text ratio
  4. Colour palette
  5. Website features
  6. Mode of address ( formal/informal )
  7. Content and ideology of articles and pages
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

The target audience of the Attitude website is gay men, particularly in their 30's or older. It wouldn't necessarily appeal to a young gay audience as the themes are much more mature and more formal than a typical website for teenagers. There is a fair mix of ethnicities on the website, however a lot of the men that appear in the topless shots are white males.  The content is mainly targeted at a wealthier  working class or upper class audience. We can see that lower class audiences wouldn't be targeted as theatre plays are advertised on the website, and it is well known that wealthier and older audiences tend to go to them.
It is a stereotype that gay males like theatre so Attitude didn't miss the chance to include it and ensure it can reach maximum interest.
The website includes a "boys" section which is much less formal than the other sections of the website. The fact that they decided to name it "boys" instead of lads, men or males shows that it is trying to create another stereotype.
The title of the website is written in very bold and plain font. There is a wide range of black and white and not much colour in the layout, adding to the fact that it is for an older audience as younger audiences would prefer a pop of colour to give it more life.


The content includes pin-up males that may not actually be gay, like Shawn Mendes or David Beckham. This is an effective way of Attitude to get a wider audience. The males may not be gay but however they are attractive and would grasp the attention of multiple gay males. The website adds links to nude shoots to insure more people would be interested, sometimes even grasping the attention of females. The website finds a good link in simliarity between the LGBT community and straight members of the public who would be interested in the same topics, for example the Shawn Mendes article.



There is a lot of articles about news on attacks or abuse on gay people carried out by straight people to raise attention that still many members in society do not accept gay people. There are also articles about shows and pride events with drag queens or famous people so more people can join or get involved.
In very small font there are links to the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram of the Attitude website so that more information can be found on other social media platforms.
The website doesn't necessarily focus on just gay people it tries to receive liberal society views and doesn't separate the genders or sexualities. It does this well by adding straight celebrities and females who have a positive attitude towards LGBT.


On the other hand, the website includes sections where the public are asked on their views about LGBT to allow other people to feel involved in the website and have a say, even if they may not agree or share the same views as the target audience of the website. Many of the people that appear in this section are of different ethnicities but mainly older.
 There is a "style" section where the hottest clothes are advertised which adds to the stereotype that gay males like fashion more than straight men as it wouldn't normally be advertised in a straight men's magazine as they would focus more on cars or women.

Monday, February 10, 2020

Online Media: ZOELLA

PAPER 2 : Online Media 1 : ZOELLA

SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE ONLINE AGE

You will look at the role played by blogs and websites in the media today, exploring the way in which these convergent media platforms increasingly overlap, as well as investigating the potential that they offer for self-representation.
The changing relationship between media producers and audiences will be considered, as the idea that media consumers have now become producers who regularly and actively participate in the creation and dissemination of media content online.
The impact of digitally convergent media platforms on media production, distribution and circulation will also be explored.

  Text 1  : " Zoella "  : GENERAL ANALYSIS 



You should be mainly analysing her blog ( new version and archive) as well as her other outlets on youtube,twitter etc.
Analyse and summarise the  content and purpose  of her blog/ youtube channel and insta

  • What areas of life does she focus on ?
  • Who is her main target audience ?
  • Does she simply entertain her audience or support, give advice and educate ?
  • What is her mode of address ?
  1. Are there any differences between the  content and purpose of her various blogs and online channels ?
  2. How does Zoella produce  income ? This link  will help and here's an article about youtube and its income channels
  3. How can her audience interact with  or give feedback to Zoella/Zoe ?
Define parasocial interaction in your own words
Summarise the representation of gender as well as other representations  such as age , class or ethnicity that are most dominant in her blogs. You can also explain any use of stereotypes and  gender performativity along with relevant technical codes such as body language, use of colour, props and formatting.
What are the main differences between Zoella and Zoe Sugg as representations ?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________



Zoella mainly focuses on lifestyle videos where she talks about hair, make-up and fashion that would appeal to teenage girls, but mainly females aged from 12 to their mid twenties. She started off with Primark hauls which is a typical, affordable high street store that many young females shop at, making it accessible to the viewers. She tends to make videos about Primark hauls even in her most recent videos which shows that it still is an interest among her viewers even after 10 years. Primark is cheap but has many different items which makes its products widely bought across the UK. Zoella creates make-up videos advertising different products from different brands and boosting her fame and income. In each video she talks about a certain item and sponsors it, receiving many from the companies ho pay her to mention the product.
In her videos Zoella is seen to have very "girly" hairstyles, which may girls may want to try as they see it looks stylish on her. She tends to change her hair colour and haircuts often, while doing hairstyle tip videos that receive many views.The theme in her videos is bedroom settings with pink and pastel backgrounds with cute lights of fluffy cushions. With time as her videos progress the background looks nicer and the quality of the videos improves majorly. It is clear that as she gets more viewers she starts to put more effort into her videos and uses better quality cameras to insure she makes the videos as appealing as possible. Her main target audience is teenage girls who would want to follow her path and be like her, being like an influencer for them. She isn't an influencer in a healthy way but more in a fun way where she does videos about eating junk food or playing games or doing Q&As with her friends and family. However, in her most recent videos she mentions being Vegan and going to gym. The main focus in her videos is entertaining and keeping a cheerful atmosphere for her viewers, rather than educating them. She starts to talk a lot about her private life once she gets comfortable with her viewers and fills them in on her anxiety or panic attacks, creating a parasocial interaction and more familiar connection with her viewers.Zoella uses a very direct mode of address when talking to her audience. She looks directly at the camera and talks about her life in a friendly, talkative way to involve the audience more and insure they like her personality. On her blog she includes links to all her social media platforms, books, stock and things she is interested in. By putting all her important details in one place she makes it much easier for people to access her products and buy them or receive more fame. By adding products she likes to her blog she is receiving income from different companies who ask her to sponsor them.
She adds a link to her two instagrams where the different themes can be evidently seen. In the "Zoella" one there is more pink and girly themes, whilst the "Zoe Sugg" one is much more formal and elegant with lighter and darker tones to show a more serious approach as she is getting older and may not attract the same young audiences. 

As Zoella is now 29 it may seem that she is too old to continue doing videos for teenage girls as she cannot relate to that lifestyle anymore, so in her recent videos she can be seen acting in a more formal and more educated way. 

ZOELLA Paper 2: Analysing audience and theory

PAPER 2 ZOELLA : Analysing Audience and theory

You may get a question in the Online Media section which explicitly asks you to apply a specific theory to your online texts and you will definitely need to know about key audience/representation  theories for at least one section of paper 2
Explain how the main audience theories we have studied can be applied to Zoella/Zoe Sugg and her audience

  • Cultivation
  • End of Audience
  • Fandom
  • Identity
Plan the key points you would make in the exam question below:

How far can aspects of identity be seen to affect the way in which audiences use online media?Discuss, with reference to Zoella. You should refer to relevant academic theories in your response

____________________________________________________________________
        
     Gerbner's Cultivation theory basically tells us in respects to Zoella's youtube channel that the more we see representations of the stereotype that  young, teenage girls love pink things, make-up and hair, the more we believe it is true. We often see this in Zoella's videos as she always follows this stereotype, making her viewers follow her and try to be like her increasing the stereotype. However, her "Zoe Sugg" page is more formal and grown up where she talks about much more serious and relatable topics that may interest larger audiences. If people keep seeing young girls like Zoe Sugg doing similar videos with pink and cute backgrounds they further get the idea that most young girls behave in that way, when really there is a lot of girls who enjoy playing football or like cars. 
        Gauntletts' theory of Identity tells us that we follow the social media or internet to create our own identities. For example, young girls could be influenced by "Zoella" to behave in a certain way because of how social media tells them, for example the fact that they have to wear make-up, have pretty hair or take perfect selfies. This in a way could make people have a fake identity as they just want to copy others and be "normal" in society. With "Zoe Sugg" as another Youtube account and page, we can see that the person is physically the same one who  does the "Zoella" videos, however the attributes and character she plays are very different. This shows Zoe Sugg is torn between her two identities and is unsure if she should continue them both or stop one of her Youtube accounts. This is because her "Zoella" one is much more stereotypical and might not interest as many audiences now as it has been going on for a long time and people have grown up with her and changed interests. Both of her pages, however, are different identities and may not actually be who she really is behind the camera, she is just trying to appear interesting for her viewers. 

        Shirky's End Of Audience theory states that people may now be more influenced to respond to texts on Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat as they have become very popular in society and it is almost seen very peculiar if someone doesn't use social media. This could link to the way that fans of "Zoella" recreate make-up videos in her style and post them, trying to get noticed by her or accepted. A lot of people created Youtube accounts after seeing Zoe Sugg's success and find a lot of pleasure seeing their followers or likes going up as it makes them feel satisfied and content. The majority of people in this day and age believe that if they do not have enough likes or comments they are not good enough, which shows what internet and technologies or idols do to people's minds. Fans of "Zoella" watch her videos and head to social media to express their feelings toward them. The majority of her fans are girls aged 13 to their late twenties who enjoy and have a parasocial interaction to her videos, whilst the older people may believe it is wrong and is feeding bad things into young girls' minds.










Attitude and Zoella: exam question

EXAM QUESTION : Attitude and Zoella Clay Shirky argues that audiences in today’s online age are no longer passive consumers of media ...