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EVALUATION OF TERM 1B

This term we have studied the magazine industry, magazine production and the film industry, within
these topics we used the Big Issue and The Jungle Book as examples for us to base our own work
upon and get an idea of how both industries work and how the types of media are created.

When learning about the Big Issue, we focused on several different aspects of the magazine; its
history, the target audience, how the magazine uses intertextuality and how we can apply this into
our own work and finally we created our own cover of the magazine using Photoshop software. The
Big Issue has an interesting history, the magazine founded by John Bird whom learnt how to read
and write in prison and suffered stints of homelessness himself. Now a Lord, John Bird started the
magazine in response to the increasing numbers of homeless people in the city of London, his
experiences and the lack of opportunities he received helped him to create one of the UK’s leading
social businesses which allow vendors to help themselves without relying on others. In order for the
magazine to sell to the widest audience possible the magazine is not targeted at any demographic in
particular, they aim to cater for all ages, cultures, genders and social classes. A clever way in which
the Big Issue aims their magazine at a wider audience is through the use of intertextuality, this is the
referencing of one text within another. Intertextuality is usually used for audience pleasure as it is
within the Big Issue, this is done through the recognition of references from other texts as a sense of
inclusion and familiarity comes from this. Many of the Big Issue covers have examples of the use of
intertextuality, for example during the EU referendum they produced a cover which depicted
politicians faces on the members of ABBA In order to make them seem like the cast of Mamma Mia.
This makes a serious subject seem much more light-hearted so it can appeal to those that like
politics the article would have been informative but also those that do not care for politics can enjoy
the joke.

From what we learnt about the Big Issue and intertextuality, we then went on to create our own
cover of the magazine. The story I chose for my cover was sexual assault in Hollywood, focusing on
the recent allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Against a black background, there was a picture of
Harvey Weinstein with a blood red ‘X’ across his face, this is where I used intertextuality as the red
‘X’ came from the cover of the movie KILL BILL which Weinstein produced. I was happy with this idea
as to those who did not know about the movie, it would still portray a strong message that people
like Harvey Weinstein can no longer get away with what they’re doing and to those that enjoy cult
films they will understand the reference and it almost seems like an ‘F you’ to Weinstein. A topic like
this is also one that is not targeted at a certain demographic, it picks up on something that almost
everyone has probably heard about and something that we more than likely all feel the same about,
therefore creating a wide audience for Big Issue vendors to sell to.

The second chapter of work we completed was focused on film and camera work, during this time
we had to produce a music video taking into account genre, mise-en-scene and the different types of
music video that exist; artistic, performance and narrative. During our theory based lessons we
learnt the basics of camera work, including many types of shots and editing styles and techniques as
well as sound. Mise-en-scene was a big part of this too, the term refers to all things that are a part of
a scene, this can be props, costume, actors, setting etc. Using the skills we had learnt, we were then
able to analyse classic videos, deciphering what type of music video they were and recognising the
other techniques within them. As the music video I was producing was a narrative style video I chose
to focus on this within my analysis using Foo Fighter’s ‘Walk’ to do so. The story within the Music
Video is heavily based on the film ‘Falling Down’ in which a man loses his sanity, this creates
familiarity within the audience as they can recognise the similarities. Aiding their understanding and
interpretation of the narrative. This is a prime example of how our studies from different chapters so
easily overlap, intertextuality is in every media platform. The relationship between the song and the
video is very close, slow cuts in the intro mirror the music, the character is seen punching someone
when a cymbal plays in the song, these examples help keep emphasis on both the video and the
song. Mise-en-Scene is also key in this video, even in the opening scene, props are vital, the music
video produced in 2011 shows that it is set in current times through the stickers on cars, some say
‘Bieber’ and ‘Coldplay’ and others have ‘President Bush’ on, all showing the video is meant to be set
in the present.

The video that I made using Adobe Premiere was to the song ‘afterglow’ by Wilkinson, the meaning
behind the song is that although a great nigh out is ending and this can be sad to some people, we
can live in the ‘afterglow’. This word refers to all the memories and happiness we get from a night
out with people we love. Using this idea, I chose a narrative style video documenting a group of
friend’s night out, starting with them getting ready, drinking, then finally going out, ending in their
journey home. In attempts to make the music mirror the video, I used a rewind of a previous shot
when the words ‘hold the sunlight back’ played and again when the words ‘strobes and lasers’
played I included clips of lasers and strobes. I feel I successfully told the narrative included in the
song well with the video I produced and my use of Mise-en-Scene was effective, I think I lacked a
wide array of camera shot types and need to focus more on the cinematography in future projects.

Most recently, we have learnt about the history of the Jungle Book, right up to Disney's new CGI and
live action remake of the classic story. Written by Rudyard Kipling and released in 1894 as a series of
short stories, the Jungle Book has been turned into a huge array of texts, whether it be films, tv
series or books. The stories are fables and use anthropomorphism to give moral lessons through the
life of the main character, 'man-cub' Mowgli. Walt Disney Production's 1967 film production of the
Jungle Book was an animation, the last under Walt Disney himself whom died during the making of
it. This text itself has yet anther example of intertextuality, again showing how our studies of each
chapter engage with each other, vultures within the animation have a look that clearly portrays that
of the beetles, with one in particular having the voice and features of George Harrison.

A key part pf the storytelling in the Jungle Book is through anthropomorphism, this is the attribution
of human characteristics to an animal, in the movie, animal characters show human facial
expressions and have features such as articulating hands. This technique helps create a psychological
distance from darker themes such as death, loss and conflict, especially for children.
Anthropomorphism helps some audiences to understand and pallet things that may be unfamiliar to
them as it can be hard to understand human emotion that we have not felt. Animism plays a role
within the storytelling of the Jungle book, the term refers to the belief that all things on earth have a
spirit and impact human life, much like all the animals in the Jungle impact Mowgli's life when raising
him.

With the recent Jungle Book movie being such a great profitable production for Disney, it only seems
reasonable to then further study the ownership, rights, marketing and distribution behind the
company. Media analyst, Paul Dergarabedian said that Disney "leads the world in production and
distribution of popular culture.", meaning that they set the trends and lead the market of children
and family media production. Disney is a conglomerate of various popular media and culture
organisations, owning all the rights to 20th century fox and the Star Wars franchise. With so many
projects happening all the time, Disney creates synergy between their charitable work and their
movies, using charitable campaigns themed on their products, this can increase sales and create a
much better reputation for the company, an example of this is their NHS health programme,
promoting healthy eating and exercise in young children through showing clips from their movies,
boosting Disney's image and perhaps profits without being seemingly profit-driven. The Jungle Book
website alone is a complex and successful marketing tool, there are activity packs for parents to
print off for their children, a teaching section where teachers are able to use Jungle Book related
exercises in their class for free, essentially advertising their upcoming movie to classes of children
around the world.

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