Monday 16 December 2013

Lifestyle Conventions 2&3



Lifestyle Conventions 4


The standard model “guy” is a pretty straightforward being. When we tell our lady to shut her trap so we can watch some footie, it means just that. There are no hidden messages whatsoever. And it certainly does not mean, “Honey, now is the best time to talk about where this relationship is going.” But as we’ve stressed oh-so-many times in the pages of this very magazine, women on the other hand, are not so much into this business of being straightforward. The word “fine” for example, could mean a million and one things, and it is way better to have all your limbs chopped off by a mega-powered chainsaw than have a woman say the dreaded word to you.
So this month if your girl mutters, “We don’t really need to celebrate Valentine’s Day if you don’t want to,” don’t take it as your cue to jump for joy and spend all the cash on Star Wars Lego. Why? Because there is simply no chance in hell that she actually means it, plus it will take you forever to build one stupid Millennium Falcon.
If anything, it’s simply a test to see if you’re really the sensitive and caring dreamboat that you’ve been pretending to be, or if you’re just, well, a guy. So what do you do? If you really dig the chick – and third base is a great possibility – we recommend you sell all your worldly possessions and spend it all on that one special day. And to help your cause, we’ve got some pretty good V-Day gift ideas on pages 98 and 99. After all, third base is a pretty damn good thing.



BOTH = Orange

Monday 9 December 2013

Introduction to Lifestyle Magazine

Introduction to Lifestyle Magazine

The types of content in lifestyle magazines vary between advertising, mainly clothing, perfumes and fitness regimes. There are also small stories about life and mainly sex. The main focus points of the magazine are, health "10 ways to get happy" , beauty "immaculate complexion" , and appearance "personal stylist: party shoes".

From my analysis I have discovered that this magazine is probably targeted for women, as it advertises women perfume and clothing it also shows women wearing fancy clothes on the front cover. There is also a high heel on the cover. This magazine is probably aimed for young women as their interests of fashion and beauty are all included in the magazine. The design also suited for a female the pink ad light colors used on the front color. Also some of the phrases used on the contents page suggest it for a stylish woman, " if its stylish for Kate Moss..." (Then its stylish for you).

The purchasers benefit form buying the magazine varies from, tips on losing weight and keeping in the best shape. They may also benefit from the tips on style and fashion over the summer " what will you be wearing this summer ". The buyers of this magazine may want to read up on the latest gossip, and keep in touch with the crowd, " Jsp meets Russell Brand ", and " Joaquin Phoenix shows his darker side ". Another benefit they may want is to see the different culture of women around the world and what they do to look good. Also they may want all of the tips on fashion and whats "in" at the moment.
Finally they may want to view the latest products from beauty companies such as Chanel, Hugo Boss, and Dior.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Music video research

 

Britney Spears - Toxic 

In this video Britney presents a negative image of girls, she does this by, her clothes that she is           wearing, she has man outfits in the video, including an air hostess which is still very revealing, and a see-through outfit, which makes her look naked. The Cinematography in this video makes it worse, the camera always takes close ups of her breast and her lips. At some parts she even feels her breasts. She sometimes leans over and the camera follows her all the way to show as much of her as they can. All of this connotes that Britney likes to show her self off to men, she also steals a mans phone in the video to show that she may have some sort of power over the man, but he doesn't look to phased. These features of the video present her in a negative way.




Lily Allen - Hard out here

Lilly Allen's recent music video presents a negative image for a woman because, the actors in the video are wearing little ballet outfits that show their bum and breasts off a lot, also they are asking for attention because they are always shaking it and gyrating. The props used are expensive bottles of champagne which they are just pouring over themselves like its nothing, they are surrounded by expensive things like bentleys and nice clothes. The cinematography shows off the dancers bums and breasts too, by taking a considerable amount of close ups and slow motion scenes of them shaking their bum.The camera also shows lily allen looking at the camera and sucking on a banana. The main punchline is "its hard out her for a bitch" which connotes that anyone who wants to have a good life then you have to be good looking and have a good body.



Lorde - Royals

This video represents a positive image for a woman, because she is wearing clothes that do not stand out and are not at all revealing this makes her look like she is not trying to show off, also the setting is the streets and the colour correction suggests a less energetic environment. The cinematography is also plain, it only shows off the top half of her body and focuses only on her singing. There are also no messages in the video that may suggest that she presents a bad image. All of these features make Lorde look like a good representative because, they suggest that she is not trying stand out and show herself.

Grading

1/12

B1

What you have here is very good and you have responded well to the question, using key examples. However, Is boring and plain a truly positive representation of women?


T: Try to use more examples and key terminology (see VCOP Blog), especially to finalize your argument for Royals being a positive representation.






                                                                             

Monday 18 November 2013

Album Analysis





Lady Gaga - Born This Way 

On this album cover Lady Gaga has taken the shape of a motorbike, which is generally associated with a male type thing. This connotes that Lady Gaga want to be more masculine, or she could be challenging the stereotype of males being more in motorbikes. She is also dressed scruffy and looks like she has been roughed up. This suggests that she doesn't care about how she looks, and is confident. She isn't afraid of what people say.











                                                                                                                                                
           
 Limp Bizkit - Gold Cobra 

This album cover shows 3 near naked girls laying down in seductive positions with their tongues out. This connotes that the artist Limp Bizkit is a voyeurist and likes looking at girls naked, the girl is oblivious to this and makes it look like she doesn't care that the man in staring at her. The 3 girls laying down naked connotes that they are only there to be looked at and enjoyed.






       



 Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA

This album cover shows Bruce in front of a red and white striped background, which is probably the american flag, and along with the title of the album "Born in the USA" suggests that Bruce Springsteen is very patriotic about america.









Justin Timberlake - 20/20 experience

In the album cover it suggests that he is very stylish and dapper and the gold coloured writing suggests that he is a class above everyone else and that he deserves gold. Justin can see into the future ( 20/20 ) experience and his clothing is almost like he is ready to receive an award. The facial expression of Justin suggests that he is use to success and big events.











Jason Derulo - Talk Dirty 

Jason Derulo is placing a girls hand on his abs. This suggests that Jason Derulo likes girls touching him and wants the girls to do what he says. The fact that Jason is showing his abs suggests that he is confident and likes the way that he looks. The album cover also says 2 chainz very small in the middle right of the cover and he has chosen a red colour for it so that it doesnt stand out as much. This connotes that Jason wants all of the fame and wants everyone to think that 2 chainz has a lesser part in the song.






     
Imagine Dragons - Continued Silence

Imagine Dragons shows a man floating up in the air holding a briefcase ,there is also alot of fog in the atmosphere. This looks like it is imitating a dream, the briefcase may be holding drugs which makes the atmosphere look like they are on drugs. The title continued silence suggests that the man is high and is oblivious to people shouting at him. The album overall makes the scene look like a dreamland.











Miley Cyrus - Bangerz

In this album cover Miley Cyrusis looking at the camera directly, she is also looking sorry for her self like she is helpless and needs your help. This suggests that Miley wants you to help her because she is looking directly at the camera. She is wearing a very short dress. This suggests that she wants you to see her in a different way, more sexually. The Bangerz title in the background is very bright and luminescent. This suggests that she wants you to see the title of the album, and bangerz is another word for breasts.








Device - Device

This album cover is really weird, it looks like the figure on the album is under control and possesed. This suggests that the artist wants to possess you and control you when you are listening to their music, the music may make you want to do something. The album shows the figure in some sort of pain, this suggests that the artist likes putting people through pain. The album is in black and white, these are very negative colours to use, this suggests that the music that is being performed is dark and heavy. finally the 'v' in device is red, this could suggest blood.












Tyler the creator - Wolf

In this album cover Tyler the creator is looking up into the sky like he is daydreaming and thinking of what he could have been, this is shown when the image of another man is looking down smiling at Tyler. The background of the album is light blue which could suggest that it is supposed to be the sky.













Michael Buble - To be loved

In this album cover Michael Buble has chosen an orange background so that he can stand out more and that everyone is focused on him. He is putting on a tie and smartening him self up, this could suggest that he is about to go to a big event, and that he likes to look his best. The fact that he is looking away from the cameras suggests that his mind is focused on a more important thing. Michael Buble has mad his name on the cover black so that it stands out more and so everyone can see who he is.








































Thursday 24 October 2013

Photoshop Skill 2

How to apply a liquify effect to your work

First you have to find the image that you want to apply the effect to ( this effect looks better on a 3d image ). You can import you image by going to file, place and then find your image.

Next you have to make sure the layer is editable, you can do this by right clicking on your image in the layer bar and selecting rasterize layer.

Position the image where you want it on the page. Look up the top and go to filter and click on liquify.

You will see a blank canvas on your screen with your image. You will use a brush tool to click and drag on your image and this will smudge it almost. On the right of the canvas you will see a list of settings, that you can change to alter the strength of your brush.

Once you have applied the effects that you want, you then select okay and then you have applied the liquify tool.


Saturday 19 October 2013

Representation of girls in music videos

The common representation of a girl in a music video are that they are merely there to spice up the video and to keep the viewers watching. They are basically props for the male singer/band. They are normally there to dance around in sexy clothes or maybe even in no clothes what so ever to keep the audience attracted. Some recent music videos show this stereotype. For example Robin Thicke with blurred lines, where three girls are shown as slaves to the three male artists, they are wearing next to no clothes in one variation of the video, however in another, they are not wearing ANY clothes. The artists treat them as toys, they throw the girls around the studio, some may perceive this as prostitution.

 The girls in the videos provide pleasure to alot of male viewers, but to some this is becoming a big worry and that people are starting to dislike these sorts of video. The government in particular say that the videos have a very bad influence on young teens and teenagers in general. Their problem is they think that the videos will influence young male teens to treat girls and their girlfriend in this appalling way and the girls do not think this is wrong because this is all natural in "popular music videos". Some girls even go to the extent of acting like the girls in the video by wearing very revealing costumes. I agree with the critics 100% on this as a lot of studies show that they are correct and that it is very wrong for girls to be treated like this at a very young age.

The problem is spreading rapidly all over the media, for example in TV programmes, music videos, and magazines. The image of a typical girl is changing rapidly into a sex slave for all types of men, and now teenage girls do not care about it, some even aspire to be one of the girls in the videos.

In conclusion the image of a woman in a music video is wrong and should not be shown to everyone around the world, because the problem is already bad but if these crude videos internationalize then the problem will get greater.


Grading

1/11

A3

What you have here is very good and you have responded well to the question, even posing your own questions. You have used examples solidly. 



T: Try to use more examples and key terminology (see VCOP Blog). Pick out all of the technical aspects (Mise-en-scene, editing, lyrics etc) and how they help you come to your conclusions.






Wednesday 9 October 2013

Presentation Evalutation



 WWW:
 In my presentation I have included some detailed information about how the music artists acts in the video in this case the artist is Justin Bieber.

Whilst delivering my presentation I spoke confiedently and faced the crowd aswell.

Another good thing about my presentation is the images and annotations I included into my presentation, which made my presentation less dull and stood out more.

EBI:
In my presentation I could have summarized the music video in general this would have given my presentation a bit more detail. I think that I needed to research the video more to be able to make a more in depth presentation.

Another thing that i could have improved on was allowing my partner Jake to be more involved in the presentation by speaking more. This would have relieved the pressure off of me, and given jake a chance to get a better mark.

Finally although I did include pictures to my presentation, I could have perhaps added more or even a video or sound file, this would have ensured that the audience were engaging in my presentation.



Wednesday 2 October 2013

Hip-Hop presents a negative image

I do believe that hip-hop represents a bad image on a real man, and that what is shown in hip-hop music videos is wrong and unacceptable, things like men wearing massive puffy coats, and huge gold jewelery. Another thing that i do not accept is when the men are always involved in crime and theft, sometimes you even see the artist robbing banks in the music video. Also the artists shown in the video are trying to show there dominance and authority by having alot of girls with virtually no clothes on, who are acting very sexually.

An example of this is the music video made by Justin Bieber, Boyfriend where he is shown with a lot of girls wearing very revealing things to try and impress him, and Justin is trying to act cool by ignoring them. He is also shown wearing very expensive jewelery and clothes, he is also standing around dancing to showoff to the girls. Justin is also hanging around extremely expensive vintage cars, and is acting very natural around them like he has them around him everyday. Another video that says that men are wimps for not acting like them is the video by 50 Cent  "candy shop". Where he is very aggressive about himself and his body language is appalling, he is flailing his arms all over the place.

In conclusion i agree with the statements because in 2 music videos by popular artists they both show the same thing, that you have to know alot of girls and you have to have nice expensive clothes and accessories, and in 50 Cents video you have to rob shops and commit crime in your everyday life, the videos clearly show the message that if you do not do these thing then you are a wimp.

Thursday 19 September 2013


Logo Evaluation


My TV programme is called the underground school, because it is set in downtown London by the tube stations, this means that the characters are violent and they all live in council flats. They have all had bad upbringings leading them to drugs and criminal offences  The students don't care about school or the teachers all they care about is meeting with their friends 
and taking drugs. The school connotes that the school do not provide good equipment for the students as the equipment that is shown in the middle of the logo are all broken and overused. This connotes that the school don't care about the school and the students and perhaps that the school are short of money.

First of all I used the shapes tool to designs my own tube station logo. Next of all I imported a grunge texture from Safari and applied it over my logo, which created the broken effect over the logo. I then used what i learnt online to apply a green colour correction. I added school in the background and chose the opacity to %50. I next added a black layer over my logo, i then changed the opacity to %80, i then used the eraser tool to reg out a faded hole in the middle of the logo revealing it. It also gives a radial gradient effect.

I think that i have designed a good logo in terms the school, the colour correction works well with the logo, the grunge textures within the background and on top of the logo works well with schools concept. I think that i could've added more school features to my logo. So overall i would give my self an 8 out of 10.

Friday 13 September 2013

How to apply a colour correction on photoshop

First of all you have to go to your layers, and at the bottom you will find a button 4 buttons along saying "create new fill or adjustment ".

Press that button and choose solid colour, obviously pick the colour you want, choose overlay, and change the opacity to about 50%

Place the newly created layer above the layer that you want a colour correction to be applied to.

You should now have a colour correction on the image that you wanted.


Wednesday 11 September 2013

Denotation & Connotation

1. Back In Black- ACDC

Denotation: It has a Black background.
Connotation: This could suggest that someone close to, or in the band may have passed away.

Denotation: The TItle of the album is very dark grey in colour and is faded into the background.
Connotation: The album is spooky, or dark.

2. Queen II- Queen

Denotiation: The title of the album us "Queen II".
Connotation: Queen may have released an album before this which was a success.

Denotation: The background is black, revealing the 4 members faces above everything else.
Connotation: The members thought that they were perhaps more famous than anyone else, so therefore wanted to appear bolder and brighter.

3. Bat Out Of Hell- Meatloaf

Denotation: The album is orange in colour, this may represent fire, and it is set in hell.
Connotation: This suggests that the artist is crazy and all over the place. It also connotes that the artists style of music is crazy, he most likely is a rock artist.

Denotation: The bat on the motorcycle is escaping from hell on a motorbike.
Connotation: Perhaps meatloaf has just recently got out of troubles and has escaped from his "hell"

4. Born In The USA- Bruce Springsteen

Denotation: The background is a picture of the American Flag
Connotation: This connotes that Bruce Springsteen is very patriotic about his country.

Denotation: He is facing away froamera on the album the cover 
Connotation: This could suggest that he doesn't like his appearance and is afraid to show anyone.

5. The Man Machine- Kraftwerk

Denotation: The Band are all doing the same motion.
Connotation: They Album could be about electronic music, because they are all in the same position acting like robots.







Tuesday 10 September 2013



Waterloo Road chose to use this logo as it represents that they are an untidy, unorganized school and that they do not care about how their school is represented.




The producers are trying to appeal to all age groups 
       and types of people because if they were to use only one type of character then the series would get boring andwould only appeal to one type of person.



Waterloo Road is broadcast at Thursday 8:00pm because the content isnt appropriate for young children 

due to the swearing and violence involved in the show. However teens would love this show because of the violence and adult behaviour. 



The meaning brought out by the logo is that the school is unorganised and not well kept at all.























                                                                           

  

Tuesday 3 September 2013

What type of school is Waterloo Road

Waterloo Road is obviously a school in trouble, because in the opening scene a kid smashes a window, this connotes that he doesnt care about school property, suggesting that the school doesn't respect the students very well. The teachers dont do anything about this, this suggests that they also do not care and are only there for a job and money not to advise over the kids. They also smoke outside infront of the kids which sets a bad impression suggesting furthermore that they do not care about the students health.
All/most of the kids are not wearing typical school uniform, this suggests that they do not respect the school laws and neither to the teachers  as they are hardly smart. This has obviously been going on for a while as at the end the headteacher loses it and starts throwing equipment and paper of the roof.

Sunday 1 September 2013