Christmas Studio Photo-shoot Images

Best:

I chose this particular mid-shot as one of my best photos for a number of reasons. This photograph would work extremely well as a front cover image due to there being plenty of room at the top of the image for a magazine masthead, and with plenty of angles produced from the female models arm for cover lines and banner headline. Also, the use of the scarf offers a good, blank canvas for other information i want to produce for my front cover.

A weakness however of this image is the focus, i would have preferred to have the focus on both the models faces but here it is only centered on the the female's face.

For the briefing, i think this photo fits rather nicely, with the costume and setting fitting in with the winter scheme, i.e the hats and scarfs, and the blurred bauble background. Moreover, the TA for this picture would definitely 16-18 demographic as the models are that similar age so the readers can not only enjoy but relate to the image.

"Meets the brief well. A fun, life-filled image for winter for your teen TA. Fabulous shot." ~ Soldisee

         

                                                                               Best:
Furthermore, i chose this as my other best image as it creates a sense of reality, and the models expression is a genuine one. It was hard at first to entertain the model, but when i finally got a genuine laugh it bumped up the quality of the photo's, as fake laughter is very obvious when compared to natural expressions. The robin on the shoulder further adds to the fun of the shoot, with it having a Christmas theme, the more fun expressed within the picture i believe the better the image will be. Also, the costume with the woolly hat and scarf were good accessories to add to the picture, conveying the coziness of winter. However, the grey hat and jumper does clash slightly with the backdrop, and so that aspect of the costume i would have most likely altered.

Shelter Charity

Shelter Charity Website

The charity 'Shelter' help millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through there advice, support and legal services, with their aim being to make sure one day no one will have to turn to them for help through campaigning. This campaign offers many ways of help including face-to-face service, a national helpline (0808 800 4444), online advice and legal support. Shelter give people a voice, with hit either being carrying out research, calling on the government to tackle the consequences of the housing crisis or working with the press to ensure that the voices of those effected are heard.  
Mission Statement: 'Shelter exists to defend the right to a safe home'

The Layout
This charity website's layout is very clear and open, with them using white as there background colour to make the page much easier to understand for people who want to donate, learn about this charity or receive help. This literal 'white space' helps separate the design elements conveyed on this page (i.e. the contrasting logo of "Shelter" and the big campaign image) and creates visual groupings within the features. Again, their secondary colour is red, with this alert, bold colour striking against the white background to emphasize the important information - for example, the charity itself "Shelter" or the people they help, like the participants in this charity event wearing bright red tops. However, the charity use the colour turquoise to make the donation side of the website extremely prominent as the overall aim of the charity is to get as man people as they can to donate.
Alongside this goal, they have then used an image to enhance the motive of this charity (creating a safe place for the homeless) and create a positive atmosphere for the website. The image itself contains two fund-raisers smiling at each other as they show off their achievements on the back of their t-shirts - this happy, positive facial expression represents the cheerful, delighted attitude this charity has towards people raising money and consequently helping the homeless. Rather than using a reluctant, sad picture as the first eye opening image the visitors see and portray gloomy connotations to the website, the charity resemble the happiness the people in need feel after being saved by charitable volunteers.  

Navigation Bar

Across the top of the web page is where the navigation bar is located. This campaign ensure to include all topical features that would benefit the visitors, such as 'Housing advice', 'Get help', 'Support us' and 'What we do'. The bar itself is very simple and plain, with no bold colour t make it stand out - however this is not ineffective as people who visit this page do not need these headings to stand out due to the visitors most likely know why they are on this website and so to have them there however not standing out is not a criticism.
Furthermore, the language used within this whole website is very clear and statistical. To help visitors understand the context more, the charity have included contextual pictures and bold headings, addressing the information they are writing about. Again, the page has used colour to emphasize the heading, with the titles being in the same bright red as the logo, ensuring the visitors understand the importance of the issue Shelter is raising awareness on. 

Overall, Shelter is a great charity that opens up the eyes of not only the public, but to higher members of society, such as the government, and raises awareness and support to those suffering from homelessness. Their campaigns are endless, from organizing events like sleep walks or donating items to the less fortunate and consequently achieved over £36,928,000 of donations last year. 

Magazine Textual Analysis

Magazine Textual Analysis: Miley Cirus Issue of 'Fashion' Magazine.

 

The main attraction on the front cover of this magazine is the large, medium-long image of Miley Cirus. The sultry, voyeuristic pose implies the sexual implications of this magazine, and that this “fashion” magazine is specifically targeting female audiences due to the issue having a female model representing women bang in the centre of the cover and so also is representing women’s fashion. Also, by using Miley Cirus as the model of this issue, they make the magazine relatable to young girls as they will recognise the woman on the cover and therefore subconsciously feel more connected to what the magazine is stating.

Firstly, the bright blue eyes of the model is making eye contact with the reader initially reigning in the admirer, along with the boldness of the eye make-up emphasising the pale blue eyes which in turn matches the mast head of the cover, linking in the model precisely to the issue. Also, the harsh, dark eyebrows and blood red lipstick emphasises the voyeurism of this issue and suggests representations of ‘femme fetale’ which links to the theorist Steve Neale. According to Neale, genre is developed through ‘repetition and difference’. Within the models aesthetic, she is accompanied with red lips, red nails, finger biting, and an extremely scandalous dress including many holes revealing much skin. This creates a convention for sex appeal and confidence which is seen throughout the cover. Not only does the dress imply confidence (and the many holes connotes a ‘web of lies’ through the clothing looking like a spiders web), but the suggestive pose by Miley creates a voluptuous representation of women and that now young girls should look this provocative to be ‘in fashion’ and to fit in with society.

In addition, a technical code is applied in this issue, with the colour red of Miley’s nails and lipstick connects with the other red features of the magazine that is highlighted in red, implying the other red text is important to the reader of the magazine and the editors want this information to stand out to the reader.

Moreover, Barthes theory is also applied in this magazine with again the colour red. For the women reading, this colour red could be interpreted in many different ways, with it either meaning confident and sultry, aggressive, or passionate, and so this magazine will therefore be viewed in many different fashions, however it is suggested that the editor of this magazine rather wanted the audience to think of passion and voyeurism due to other connotations made through the image of Miley.

Furthermore, the contrast of the red, blue and black (all bold colours) against the white background only emphasises the bold statement about women this magazine is creating. This issue of ‘Fashion’ magazine is making a daring implication about women proposing that this image of Miley Cirus is what you fantasise and wish you could look like, and that by reading this issue you can then learn how to draw people (mainly men) in just like this magazine drew you in as a reader. This links to the theory of Stuart Hall. According to Hall, it’s not the denotation that creates meaning, it’s the connotation. This issue is all down to representation, and how today’s society now represents women with these sexual implications, not even implicitly with the provocative medium-long shot but even with denotations such as the text submitted around Miley, such as: “Why you should want sex” or “Shocking is what I’m good at”.

The History of Magaiznes

The History of Magazines

Magazines Targeting Women:
One of the first romance fiction magazine to ever, being published weekly, was Peg's Paper in 1926, that was specifically targeted at a young working-class female readership.
As you can see from the image on the left, most early magazines targeted at women either refered to homes, housewifery and how to look good or improve your appearance. Periodically, most magazines targeting women came about during the second world war, or pre-war encouraging women to do their best to help their husbands who go to work or to war. Womens duties during that time were to lok after the house and to everything in their power to help their men, in a sexist society their roles were maily house labour such as sewing, refereing to the "clever needlework inside" on this magazine cover, and so magazines for women focused on what society told them to focus on, following societal norms. The use of bright colours on a plain backdrop was popular in this time as well to appeal to the target audience with fashion and make up being a huge pleasure and form of entertainment for women. Cooking was also targeted at women so by using sweet foods on the front covers of magazines would again appeal to women as then it would be percieved as they would be able to to have fun cooking for their husbands and family when it fact this was a labour and duty of women that wasn't all that entertaining - along with cleaning the house.

Magazines Targeting Men:

The first ever British magazine targeted at men was published in 1731, being the Gentleman's Magazine and lasted for over 200 years, outrunning the first ever women's magazine. The name "magazine" was used for the first time ever by editor Edward Cave which meant "storehouse". It's original content was provided by regular controbutors and even enveloped books quotes. This differs massively to the womens magazines as historically, men's magazines encouraged them to go to Universitry to become highly educated for good employment and eventually be strong providers for their family. However, unlike womens magazines they included much more excited topics making them more of a pleasure to read and less of a guide and chore.

The Guardian

The Daily Mail

BAUER Media Slide Show A Level Media

Bauer slide show from macmillanm

Media Forms

What Exactly Are Media Forms?...

Over the many centuries, different types of media have spawned all over the world ranging from written formats such as books to varieties of broadcasting like television or movies. 

Printing

One of the earliest forms of media came across during the 15th century, which was printing. Before printing was invented in 1440 by the Printing Press, the only form of media was books which were quite rare due to them only being hand written. As the Church had all control at this point in time, the majority of the books were written by monks themselves and so only contained religious studies and beliefs, therefore making it difficult to spread any new ideas and developments other than that of the Church.
However, after the Renaissance, media was now successfully spreading with different peoples opinions now getting across and developing all over the world.
The print media includes texts such as newspapers, journals and newsletters which still have big influence and significance in today's society despite the fact that print media has declined over the last few decades.

 

mentalhelp.net: Types of Media

Broadcasting

The newer most upcoming and well known type of media form is "broadcasting". This includes television news, radio news and even to some extent movies and video games. One of the most popular forms of broadcasting media would have to be television news, with many people sticking on the news in the morning whilst getting ready for work, or either switching on in the evening after dinner. However, due to more honesty and truth slowly coming out, many people have chosen not to believe such news broadcast-ed over the television due to the governments selective media that gets show cased over many different television channels. Another form on the other hand is radio broadcasting, which is mainly used when driving as many people prefer visuals however in the car its useful to listen out for traffic news in case of blockages in your route. Obviously, radio was extremely popular before television was invented as its really the second form of media created aside from books and newspapers (printed form) and so still lives on today as a majority, especially with the older generation.

mediaknowall.com: Media Forms

Internet

Without a doubt over the past decade the internet has risen above and beyond and has now become the most popular platform in media history. "The web ... allows for a more interactive approach by allowing people to personally tailor the news they receive via personalized web portals, newsgroups, podcasts, and RSS feeds." - therefore more and more people are steering towards the new, easier way to accommodate new information. Just like this blog i'm currently writing, many people have turned to web blogs to express different types of news feed and by doing so make it more efficient for people to find personal accounts and opinions on certain parts of news or lifestyles, many different opinions can be heard through the use of blogging and more currently a variety of "youtubers" are turning to vlogging, which is a visual account of these blogs.   

sparknotes.com: Types of Media