School Magazine Pictures Planning

The following pictures are pictures that I won't be using for my final magazine cover:

 I won't be using this picture because it looks as if my arm and hand is in an unnatural position. I want the picture to look natural.

 I also won't be using this picture. I decided not to use this picture because of the poor lighting. The poor lighting makes the photo look dark, where I would like the picture to be bright.

Continuing, I also decided not to use this picture I look to serious and slightly angry. The main topic is GCSE results and I want to focus on the positive aspects. Therefore, I should look happy and proud in the picture.

Finally, I decided not to use this picture of the sixth form building since the sky is too bright and there is no detail. I took a better picture of the sixth form building that I may use instead.









However, these pictures are the ones that I decided I might use in the final cover of the school magazine:

 Firstly, I decided that these three pictures may
be possible photographs I might use because I look happy and I want the emphasis to be on the positive aspects of this years GCSE results. The lighting is also as good as I could get it in these pictures. I decided to use my GCSE results sheet and my school uniform as props. I did this because the GCSE results sheet is about the section of the magazine and the school uniform was used as it is school related and me look like a smart and punctual student who has just achieved good GCSE grades. personally, I feel like I will use the one on the right as there is just a plain background and it shows me as being happier than the other two pictures.

This is an edited version of the picture I will use as the main cover image. I didn't like the shadow behind me and decided to use Serif Photo Plus to cut out the main image from the background behind me.

I have also decided that this may be a picture I might use for a sixth form related article or section of the magazine cover. I chose this image because the background sky looks nice and has good detail. additionally, the picture has the whole of the front of the sixth form building.






Finally, I will use these pictures because since it is a school magazine, I wanted to show hard work and also, one of the main articles of the magazine is the outstanding GCSE results St Greg's students achieved. I thought that these two pictures show hard work and complement that article.

Mock School Magazine Design

This is the part of the preliminary task where I had to create a mock cover of a school magazine cover. I have included a logo, a masthead, a tagline, puffs, a pug, a bar-code, a price and some images.

I am planning to include the following features and articles:
- In the tagline, I will  include either the "50th anniversary edition" the school phrase, "Christ at the centre of living and learning".
- I also want the pug to say the edition number, for example, "issue number 8".
- The puffs will include little messages about what is in the magazine or any additional features.

The pictures that I want to Include are:
- Pictures of the school field because there is a new 3G pitch being built soon. If I put text next to or near this photo, I will go into details about the new pitch, like construction time and what it will be used for.
- For the cover image, I want to include a picture either of myself or someone else looking happy and proud while holding their GCSE results sheet. I know that not everybody achieved the results they would have liked, but I want the article/theme to be positive and not focus on the negative aspects. This image will be a mid-shot and I will try and make sure there will be bright lighting behind the model.
- I would also like to take a picture relatively sport/football related because I want to include the school football team scores and results.
- I want school related pictures because it will further emphasise that all the topics are about school and that it is a school magazine.
- I may also use another student to look like they are teaching or doing a science experiment. I would do this because since the emphasis is on school and it is a school magazine, the whole point of school is to learn and gain an education. I think this is a good way of representing learning.

School Magazine Analysis

This is part of the preliminary task I will be doing. We have to find a school magazine or newsletter and analyse the different features of the magazine cover.

Representations Of Women

Male Gaze, Fashion, Advertising and the Pose

There are now books on the representations of women in the media. These are:

- John Berger's book Ways of Seeing provides an accessible introduction.

- Laura Mulvey's famous essay on the Male Gaze launched an important insight in the field of cinema.

Bechdel test

To pass the test, there must be at least one scene in the film where there are two or more women with no men present, talking about a subject other than men.

Erving Goffman

Erving Goffmann's gender advertisements theory is useful here because he focuses on poses common too magazine advertisements. Goffman points out that commercial photographs involve carefully performed poses presented in advertisements.

Cant and the Recumbent Position

Cant is when women tilt their head at an angle in photographs. Cant is combined with putting a finger in the mouth or touching the face in a child-like way. These poses have become so common in advertisements so we don't notice them. Also, the recumbent position is the name of the laying down position.

The Male Gaze

John Berger says "women watch themselves being looked at". Women learn to look at themselves through the eyes of an imagined man because the ideal spectator is always assumed to be a male. As a result of this, female models in adverts addressed to women 'treat the lens as a substitute for the eye of an imaginary male onlooker'.

Male And Female Stereotypes

This is a Prezi I have made about the different stereotypes associated with males and females. I have described what the stereotype is and also included a picture reinforcing that stereotype.

Gender Representations

This is a Prezi I have made about our classwork on Gender Representations. we discussed the different representations of men and women, different attitudes towards men and women and Erving Goffman's theories.

Magazine Feature Analysis Film Magazine

This is the film magazine I chose to analyse for my magazine feature analysis task.

Magazine Feature Analysis Football Magazine

This is the magazine analysis task I have carried out. I had to find two non-music related magazines and analyse the different features of the covers. I decided to use magazines of two different genres, so I chose to use a football magazine and a film magazine.

My First Media Post

Hello and welcome to my first A level media studies blog post. The main task of the project is to make a music magazine cover a contents page and a two page spread for the magazine. Also, the additional work and planning needs to be recorded in a blog, this blog! I am excited and am looking forward to working on this blog. So far, I love media studies and can't wait to get started with this project. In this blog I will talk about the different tasks completed over the course. Some of the parts involved are planning, the main task itself and the evaluation.

Thanks, Luke B