02 NEWS: Representation

 1) Women are under-represented, which reflects a patriarchal social/cultural context. All three front pages depict women either in relation to men or in relation to fashion. One example would be on the November front page, the only representation of women is the lingerie advert; which indicates that in the 60s, the sexist attitude was that women only cared about fashion and their image. On the 20th October front page, Jackie Kennedy is depicted only in relation to her ex-husband as she is defending her right to remarry, stating "We're very happy". Additionally, a black woman, Elizabeth, is featured on that same front page, but only because the article details the shock of her marrying a white man. This reflects the context of 1968, which completely contrasts modern contexts as this would not make the front page nowadays. 

The headline "Unions postpone strike" reflects that unions had more power than they do now, which symbolises the 1968 cultural context. Furthermore, Barbara Castle, the only female politician, is featured as she is fighting for less unequal pay, which signifies 1960s gender roles and context. The article "Britain shoots for gold" uses terms which would not be used now; this article unapologetically uses discriminatory language which shows how even in the late 60s, racism was incredibly common and less frowned-upon. This represents a completely different social context to now. The article "Lawyers will urge divorce by consent" further represents 1960s context because it shows that the establishment worried that an easier divorce process would break society. 

Representation of Age/Gender

 Age

Mojo celebrates older musicians, by putting a picture who is now old and mentioning a man who was popular in the 70s, which goes against stereotypical representations of popular musicians. 

The stereotypical representation of older people as facing an uncertain future- "there are a lot of grievers out there"

Young people are linked with excess. From the picture of young Queen- "we were a sacrifice to the God of excess"

Gender

Men tend to be linked with seriousness and authority (+ masculinity and warfare)

Cave represented stereotypical authoritative/serious man 

Explain how music videos use media language to promote their artists [10 marks]

-mise en scene

Allows us to see where the videos take place

TDB

 symbol of conformity/tradition, set in average american high school. Clear hierarchy.  

Codes who has power and who wants to belong.

Deeply saturated colours- bright, strong

-camerawork

TDB

Traditionally delivery of performance and illustration of the lyrics/ story. 

band and lyrics are in shot. showcased via close-ups, mid-shots and high-angle shots. Arc pans around artists. Artist shown like this as labels want to promote their artists (close-ups authenticate them- face shows them singing)

-sound

-editing

TDB

Cuts between shots of band and interpretation of the lyrics/ story itself

MUSIC MAGAZINES: MEDIA LANGUAGE

 Look carefully at the front covers of MOJO and RNR magazines. 

QUESTION: How far do MOJO and RNR use different media language to create different connotations? (CONNOTATION meaning: an idea or quality that a word makes you think about in addition to its meaning.)

In your answer you should have 2 paragraphs:

• analyse the media language in MOJO and RNR magazine. 'Media language' includes the placement of the main image, the type of photography, lighting, colours, fonts, how busy or restrained the cover is, the layout (such as alignment to the margins), how serious or playful 
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the media language is used differently in both extracts to create different connotations. Are there similarities in both covers? What sorts of audiences are they targeting? You could think about MOJO's rock aesthetic of living loud and dangerously compared to RNR's folk, rock, blues vibe. 
  
  
•  MOJO has a more busy, cluttered cover due to its numerous cover lines, images, puffs and a dynamic cover mount in neon colours with a vibrant cartoon image.  RnR has many cover lines too, but they are more minimalistic and justified to the RH margin.  They are all in white creating a calm, orderly, uncluttered quality. Equally the cover mount, with its modest verbal play, unheard, is very plain and streamlined. MOJO's choice of colours is vibrant, electric and dynamic. Particularly in the primary colours of the cover mount, with its playful skeleton. By contrast, RnR uses soft, dull browns and only red as an accent colour- it is far more monotone. 
• Dave Grohl is positioned to dominate the cover; he is given power and prominence and occupies a great deal of space. It's clear how dynamic the group is as the title of the band is placed in between his hands; it's in a distinctive text unlike other fonts on the page. The 'Foo Fighters' font is sans serif red and white and in italics with a drop shadow. This connotes action and energy, which is supported  by the title of the featured article "further adventures of Dave Grohl", with "adventures" being the key word. The pull quote states "We've been to funerals, we've been to jail"- this conveys the idea that the band has experienced struggle and have been in dark places. It can be inferred that this struggle was for their music.This media language reflects a very stereotypical rockstar lifestyle. The RnR cover is far less aggressive; the main splash is a folk singer, Christy Moore, who comes across as more tranquil and laid-back than Grohl. The pull quote "yoga, camomile tea" connotes relaxation, with the last words "Our Father" reflecting the start of the Lord's Prayer. The pull quote overall demonstrates that Moore leads a retired, calm, spiritual lifestyle. 
• Therefore I judge that although both magazines conform to genre conventions and feature a star as the centre of visual interest and celebrate them, MOJO does so in a more dynamic, aggressive, confrontational way compared to RnR's gentle, low-key, folksy vibe. This is because MOJO targets a primarily male rock audience while RnR is aimed at folk and blues audiences. Although both music magazines feature many articles (typical of music magazines), RnR is more orderly and restrained. 

Finalised Statement of Intent

 

 My brief is to create a homepage and one linked webpage for a hobby website for teens and my website is called "Home of Hobbies". The aim of my website is to inspire all teens to find hobbies they can fall in love with to take some of the stress away from their daily lives. My website includes six articles with original pictures, and one working link which will take you to my main article "Ready...set...paint" where I show how easy it is to paint and de-stress. 

My website aims to communicate ideas of relaxation. The blue and white layout is aesthetically-pleasing, creating a homely vibe. I use the font "Coquette" to create an informal tone, which is more comforting to teenagers. The majority of the images used for the articles and the main image on the website were taken at home. This links in with the idea that these hobbies can be done at home; something I aim to express to teens who view my website. 

While my website has colour codes of the typically ‘masculine colour’ blue, the overall presentation of my website counters this stereotype, meaning that it appeals to all teens, not one particular group of them. Furthermore, I don't mention gender in any of the standfirsts for my articles or in my main article. This makes my website even more of an anti-stereotype and demonstrates that my website is inclusive to all teens. 

I aim to appeal to my target audience through my use of images as I use soft lighting and hues of yellow in my pictures, enabling me to reach a target audience of teens who want to escape the large stresses we experience daily. These images are warm and comforting, which help to set the overall tone of my website. Also, none of my images include one specific gender. This makes my website more inclusive.

Statement of Intent

 My brief is to create a homepage and one linked webpage for a hobby website for teens (14-18 year olds). My website is called "Home of Hobbies".

The aim of my website essentially is to inspire teenagers to find hobbies that they can fall in love with to take some of the stress away from their day-to-day lives. My website includes six articles with original pictures, and one working link which will take you to my main article "Ready...set...paint" where I show how easy it is to paint and de-stress. 

My website as a whole aims to communicate ideas of comfort and relaxation, as that is what teens would hopefully take away from my article. I use a simple colour range of mostly blue and white; these two colours create a soft vibe which will make my website more appealing. The overall layout is also quite simple but aesthetically-pleasing; this creates a homely, welcoming vibe. I use the font "Coquette" to create an informal tone, which is more comforting to teenagers. 

The majority of the images used for the articles and the main image on the website were taken at home. This links in with the idea that these hobbies are simple and can be done at home, which something I aim to express to the teens who view my website. 

I aim for my website to appeal to all teens. While my website has colour codes of blue which is typically a more masculine colour, the overall presentation of my website counters this stereotype, meaning that it appeals to all teens, not one particular group of them. Furthermore, I don't mention gender in any of the standfirsts for my articles or in my main article. This makes my website even more of an anti-stereotype and demonstrates that my website is inclusive to all teens. 

I aim to appeal to my target audience through my use of images as I use soft lighting and hues of yellow in my pictures. This lighting enables me to reach a target audience of teens who want to escape the large stresses we experience daily. These images are warm and comforting, which help to set the overall tone of my website. Also, none of my images include a particular gender (apart from my dance article, which show a group of ballerinas I saw at a dance company). This makes my website even more inclusive.

Website Link

https://09caitlinb.wixsite.com/my-site

October Mojo Magazine