natasha2hofe’s Blog

 My magazine uses the forms and conventions of magazine “Dazed and Confused”, a multi purpose magazine of music fashion and art aimed at an alternative underground target audience. It uses simple front covers with large bold magazine title and minimal puffs and buzz words. This front cover style creates an upmarket look and puts almost all concentration on the image used. I developed “Dazed and Confused” ideas by using a slightly more down to earth image than what they would use. I did this so that more people would look at the magazine and feel that they could relate to it. The font I used for the music artists name looked as though it had been painted on, I used this to attract an artistic audience as they are often more interested in alternative music rather than something more mainstream.

To attract my audience I used an image with a direct mode of address to make it eye catching and also so the audience feels they are connected with them.

 “Dazed and Confused” publish their own magazines. I think they would be they perfect people to publish my magazine as it is the slightly less extreme version of “Dazed and Confused”. I know there is defiantly a market for a magazine like my own because by researching “Dazed and Confused” I have found out that a lot of young people between the age of 16 and 18 find “Dazed and Confused” a big investment to make financially if you are to buy it every month and not always is the material inside relevant to their younger student life.

 By creating my music magazine I have learnt a huge amount about photoshop. At first I also found it very difficult to transfer my ideas into a photograph but after thinking things through and drawing out a plan I eventually was able to capture the perfect photographs for what I wanted! From this I have learnt how to compose photos the way that I personally want them and not just copy another.

 My contents page was very important to me. When I did my preliminary task of making a school magazine contents page I found myself make things very basic and not something you would expect from a creative person like myself. Therefore when I came to make my contents page for my music magazine I made sure it was individual and interesting. I did this by creating a square collage of photos centre to the page relating to my front cover image and double spread. Underneath I then only listed a few eye catching and interesting stories, interviews and so on, from the inside of my magazine. Also since my preliminary task I have learnt that the composition of a double spread page needs to be though about well, especially the image and length of the article. I wanted my photograph to cover both pages, therefore I had to make sure it was cut so that my music artists’ face wasn’t cut between the two pages and just laid across one.

Crash Bash

‘Crash Bash’ is a beat ‘Em up game which originated from the design of one of the worlds most popular platform games ‘Crash Bandicoot’.

 Because ‘Crash Bash’ is a beat ‘Em up game this means it is based on unlocking different levels with something awarded to you after defeating opponents while avoiding as much damage as possible yourselves.

 The rules and outcomes are reasonably basic. The aim of the game is to complete the levels and defeat the evil ‘Papu Papu’. To complete each level you must defeat your opponents in mini games which range from twitch games such as Crash Ball which is similar to Pinball; Beat ‘Em Up games, such as Polar Panic, in which each character rides a polar bear and they attempt to smash each other off an iceberg arena, and variations last one standing and high point games.

 All but a few of the characters in this game are based around a certain animal. The main character Crash and the only female character Coco in the game are bandicoots, which in real life are know to be fairly timid creatures whereas the rest of the characters are larger more aggressive animals such as gorillas and bears.

 Both bandicoots, Crash and Coco are always on your team, fighting for good cause only, whereas the other more aggressive animals defend the evil Papu Papu.

 Eurocom developed the game and haven’t done Crash Bandicoot before but it doesn’t show. The graphics in Crash Brash reflect the same bright cartoon feel Crash Bandicoot did. Although Crash Bash doesn’t show the best 3D technology around, the characters are animated well and the backgrounds have large depth of fields giving a sense of realism.

 Thumping beats and bubblegum vibes work very well when it comes to the sound effects of this game. They are light and fun to listen to with being too distracting.

 The target audience for this game is fairly young as it is quite a light hearted, bright. Fun and colourful game which contains not too much violence, and the ALSPA minimum age is only 3. Gender wise, video games almost always seem to be more focussed towards male orientation; you can see this in this game from the characters simply because only one out of many is female.

I chose to analyse Life on Mars as it is extremely exciting in the way of sound and mise en scene. I selected a 10 minute period to study from the first episode or the first series.

Life on Mars is about a male police man who is hit by a car. Whilst being in a coma he goes back in time to the 70s and lives his life but 30 years earlier. I thought the section I chose to analyse would be interesting as it is very exciting and shows when he is knocked back in time. Most of the characters involved include police officers and criminals while the themes are related to crime relationships and time travel.

The camera work begins with a big close up to show intense frustration and emotion, this then cuts to a medium short of the main character in the car crying which gradually zooms in slowly focusing on his face and that is the main focal point. This creates strong atmosphere with is enhanced by the orchestral score music.

Suddenly from slow moving shots it quickly cuts to the character gradually getting angrier and pounding against his steering wheel. All cuts involved here are quick and fast moving when suddenly he nearly crashes into another vehicle creating a quick and busy panic. The screech of the tyres and sound of both cars horns are loud over the orchestral score and send viewers into panic. Straight after this has happened the orchestral music stops very suddenly and parallel incidental music playing from his ipod in his car fills our ears gradually getting loud and louder building great suspense. Suddenly he is hit by a fast moving car and the music cuts completely creating absolute maximum impact as he lies there on the floor.

The purpose of the magazine is to inform my target audience of 6t^h form students about social and academic happenings throughout the year. It is also a good source for advice about student life for lower 6^th formers who are new to the scene.

The layout of the front cover I find is simple yet effective. A close up shot of a girl laughing was used; this expression she is showing instantly creates an energetic uplifting feel about the magazine.  By using a close up shot you the students face is extremely eye catching and manages to fill most of the cover while leaving the perfect amount of room around the edge for text to frame this bright image.

The text used for the name of the magazine was in a large font. This made it eye catching and one of the main focuses. I also used large fonts for the most important and interesting headlines that were used on the front cover. The colours of the font used were purple and orange, I used these colours because they tied in well with my main image in which the student is wearing an orange and purple striped t-shirt underneath her jacket. Curtain autumn shades where also highlighted in the bush behind the student. By using orange and purple as my main colour scheme I instantly created an individual fun atmosphere about the magazine.

When creating the contents cover I used a similar background image to that of the front cover. It displays leaves but this time using more intense autumn colours. I faded out the image in the middle leaving only a strip of strong colour at the top and bottom; this gave a good base to write the contents of the magazine on while looking attractive. The text in the contents page was the same font and orange as used on the front cover. By doing this I have instantly link the two together.

A simple font was used throughout the reason for this was that I wanted to create a simple look and for the main image to be the main focus as my target audience of 6^th form students often find images far more intriguing due to their laid back attitude to life.  Another thing I did to relate with the students laid back attitude was to use informal language and simple words, this created a cool appeal.

My first impressions of the film where that it was intense and confusing. I was however very impressed with how it confused me, as this meant it was a clever film especially in the way in which it was created; at first I didn’t understand the way in which the scenes of the film where ordered but after roughly half an hour into the film I understood that there where two initially separate, parallel storylines – the main one, shot in colour, is the backwards story with scenes that intercut with those of the other story, which is filmed more like a documentary, shot in black & white, and mostly takes place inside a motel room with the main character narrating, talking about the effects of his condition.

The opening scene showed Lenard shooting Teddy. People would be quite shocked but this as it is an extreme act of violence. However as the film went on more violent acts appeared and by the end of the film someone may not find a shooting as shocking as they did at the beginning. This is an example of the Desensitization theory which is where someone gradually becomes immune to violence when they are over-exposed to it.

The majority of the audience for Momento would be watching it for entertainment purposes. According to the Uses and Gratification Theory everyone has different uses for the media, other reasons for an audience may be for personal interaction ie. Going to the cinema as afterwards the film would be a cause for convocation or maybe personal identity ie. The viewer might enjoy watching films they in which they can relate to the characters. I feel it is possible to identify with Lenard more than the other characters because of the way in which it is filmed. It filmed so that you don’t know what has just happened this is extremely effective and puts you in the same position as him.

After reading reviews, all of which I found where extremely positive, I noticed how very complexed and profoundly clever Momento is. On average people gave it 8.6/10 on performance, this is extremely high eg. “Christopher Nolan’s “Memento” is truly a rare and exceptional achievement in modern filmmaking”. My positive view of the film is now much strong because other peoples positive opinions have been forced upon me this proves the Two-Step Theory.

After reviewing this film I find that the Desensitization theory is the most effective. I find this because I was defiantly far more shocked when viewing violence and the beginning of the film in comparison to the end.

The Cultivation Theory:

Due to the difficulties with proving the effects of media on the individual, more refined theories have been developed. It suggested that any one text may not have an effect but years and years of consuming will alter certain kinds of views about the world, e.g. repeated news reporting of crime feed perceptions that crime is on the increase.

Desensitisation:

This theory suggests that the audience’s attitude to violence can be affected by having been exposed to too much violence on screen, i.e. they become less sensitive to real life violence.

Modelling or Copycat Theory:

This theory simply states that negative behaviour can be imitated. It is perhaps the most widely reported of all the effects a theory due to it’s implicitly and apparent observable consequences.

Criticisms of the Theories:

Such theories are said to be elitist and therefore lacking in objectivity. This clearly makes assumptions about certain types of media and the audiences who consume them. These theories suggest that an audience is completely passive.

Welcome to your brand new blog at Edublogs.

To get started, simply log in, edit or delete this post and check out all the other options available to you.

There’s stacks of great supporting material too! Take time to view our some helpful introductory videos, read through our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) or stop by The Edublogs Forums to chat with other edubloggers.

You can also subscribe to our brilliant free publication, The Edublogger, which is jammed with helpful tips, ideas and more.

And finally, if you like Edublogs but want to be able to simply create, administer, control and manage hundreds of student and teacher blogs at your school or college, check out Edublogs Campus… it’s like Edublogs in a box, all for you.

Thanks again for signing up with Edublogs!