Media Progress 2010.

This year I feel my progress has expanded and developed alot. I have learnt alot recently, especially surrounding collective identity. I have learnt about how individual identities are created through tastes and media influences for example what types of magazines and music a person listens to plays a huge influence on how a person's identity is created, shaped and portrayed. Collective identity can be created by aspects of a persons individual identity being similar to a group of other individuals for example same music tastes and fashions. Collective identity unites individuals and is a shared identity and ideologies by a group of people, Collective Identities can cause be the cause stereotypes of certain groups. Being or becoming part of a collective identity can link in to Maslow's hierachy of needs in which people need to feel a balance of the elements which create their individuality and their needs to feel accepted and fufilled as a human being emotionally and mentally.

Regional Identity is also very important to feel linked to a individuals heritage for example in class we watched a film about south waelian regional identity and demographic factors which create the ideologies, in this case unemployment and lack of jobs and the closure of the dockyards and factories causing a severe economic decline and the effects of this to regional identity behaviour and attitudes of the characters and how they percieve their own regional identity and how it shapes their own identites as individuals and as a whole collective identity for example in the film the characters seem unaware of their regional identity whilst taking the micky out of a traditional welsh hym however whilst referring to them self as welsh they feel their welsh identity is being taken away from them because of other ethnicities and cultures within their region.

We have also looked at how identities are much easier to shape edit and create through social networking sites anybody can create any type of identity they wish through personal information,images, videos and posts. New Media technologie such as hand held video camcordas and websites like YouTube have made it increasingly easy for anyone to become a media producer and showcase their work, this may also play a big part in creating identities and the types of consumers of a piece can create a collective identity for example band fan websites a collective identity through shared ideologies and identities in this case musical tastes.

Here is an example of the way fan sites create an identity and share ideologies with the audiences

Media + Collective identity

Because media technology is developing and progressing there are more ways to express collective identity and create ideologies and identity around the self through technologies like web and social networking sites for example sites like Facebook,Youtube,Blogger,IMDB and band appreciation webpages. Most people are exposed to the Media and have internet useage and this has enabled anyone and everyone to become a media consumer and producer. It is easy to upload and share videos and posts and broadcast them to the world without particuarly specialised equiptment. People can construct identities and collective identities and feel united through intrests and lifestyles, there are many websites that are exclusively designed for specific intrests which people can join and discuss creating a feel of a shared and collective identity.

Facebook, a social networking site allows users to express and participate in a collective identity of being a Facebook user, it allows users to have access to games, photos and add friends there are many applications and groups about causes and events which give the users a sense of togetherness and shared ideologies and intrests. Users feel a sense of shared identification within there "friends" on facebook, comments are shared on eachother's page which engage the users and make them feel connected and creates a collective identity. This links in with Foucault's technologies of the self in which we try to attain a state where we are happy and accepted. Facebook seeks to do this by friends, "liking" posts, comments and statuses and joining groups and even being invited to events. Users can create videos and post/share hyperlinks on facebook to be viewed by friends.

Youtube creates a collective identity for the user by creating a comment and rating system for audiences. It allows anybody to create a youtube account and upload videos, whether music or instructive and creates a collective identity for the audience and creator by linking similar videos it connects everybody through one media technology. Important global news and television highlights, for example football matches are broadcast on "Youtube" people can express their creativity through film making and work can become "followed" through ratings and groups created within Youtube. Audiences can save their favourite videos and watch them whenever they want to. Creative identities can be created through viewing statistics and common intrests within audiences and producers.

IMDB (Internet Movie DateBase) constructs a sense of collective identity through out users rating and commenting on films, audiences can watch films and read reviews. It creates a collective identity of people who are interested in the latest and classic films, users can share and view their opinions on films and find out further information about films. The website features a "community message board" and a "contributor zone", it lists top biography contributors and allows all to read them.

Blogger, allows its users to create a profile in which they share details about themselves and factors about their lives like intrests, hobbies and music tastes. Users choose to "follow" other users blog posts and comment on them. Blogger is about creating posts about them, their lives, causes their interested in. like other networking sites users can post pictures, videos and hyperlinks. It creates a collective identity by users following eachothers posts and analysing them, creating their own identities and topics of blog posting.

Band fan websites and tributes create a collective identity through one common intrest, most band fan websites include pictures, music previews, factfiles on the bands interviews and forums in which fans and users can interact about the band and comment on pictures, they have a collective identity and intrest in the band and share ideolgies and may link into eachother with other intrests for example fashion, ideologies and political views.

magazine image front cover

This is a front cover I created of a magazine. The task was to copy and recreate the styles and conventions from the magazine itself. I tried to do this by analysing the layout and colour schemes for exmaple white text for the heading and copy the positioning of the heading from the original magazine. I looked at the types of audiences that would read Dazed & Confused Magazine and compared it to other magazines to see similarities and differences which helped me create my copy by analysing the orignial copy. I looked at factors like where the heading covered and the postioning of the image, i compared this with previous editions of the magazine via web to see the trends of the front cover and font style/colour schemes which are repated so the audiences can instantly identify and recognise the particular magazine from all the others available. For example Dazed & Confused differs from other magazines because it is not predominantly celebrity gossip or news it is more creative arty and fashion, music related. The colours are not aimed specifically at a targeret gender, female or male specific. The magazine advertises beauty, hair and healthcare products for both men and women but has selected specific brands to tie in with the feel of the magazine and the types of products the readers would take interest in and have a desire to want.
Ive found it much easier to use the tools on photoshop than I had previously. I have become much more used to using the layers and text tools, for example using the right fonts which represent the magazine and placing them etc. I think I still have to develop my skills on using the wand to cut out and edit the shapes of images and backrounds but i think it wont be too hard to master now ive got a basic grip of the tools. I have learnt how to change the opacity of texts and how to rotate texts which will be very useful when I create the front cover for my A-level coursework, I think that by then I will be much more able and confident with alot of the tools on photoshop its just a case of getting used to them and using them to help me understand how they all work. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnjGSGC3Ka0UxQy0qQ6OKUxfIhd18J9HzhisQJJh2V5qf0bWA7D4t6xHE2I1TS0qyY4inzAKjCyEQoW4F51Km4Lb6dyUfI-P73ZmKy3OEkh1LxwggQ2JLXExsbICEYFy4Y-gLqLp0XqwQ/s400/50947.jpg
This link is an example of the layout of Dazed and Confused Magazines. The layout and front cover often portray arty/indie types of people or musicians portraying a certain image to the reader. I feel the target audience for the magazine is aimed at both men and women of a yougner audience who are into indiviual types of bands and musicians who have an interest in catwalk fashion and contemporary art and films rather than mainstream Hollywood Blockbuster types of films. Audiences who read Dazed & Confused Magazine are likely to read an array of other magazines maybe specialising on hair, fashion, celebrity culture, LadsMags etc but choose Dazed & Confused aswell because it has a bit of everything within it. It has news on music, bands, fashions, interviews, film reviews art etc and it is different from other magazines in the fact it is neutral and doesnot portray stong sexualised vibes or cry out to a certain genger, it is a more specialised and querky magazine targeted at a limited audience.
http://i.models.com/feed/uploads/1165336477_orig_Picture2copy.jpg This is an example of how the magazine targets both Men and Women in a sexual way but a equal way rather than a specific gender and sterotypical features, large breasts and sixpack muscles, perma tans etc which alot of magazines play on in order to attract audiences. This image is strange and eye catching artisitc and individual and anti mainstream which is what Dazed and Confused is all about.

Photoshop/Creativity blog

Today the task in media was to learn basic skills by using photoshop. This activity was to help us practise and grasp the basic skills of usig layers to copy and paste images, use the tools to make the same image appear a number of times and move them into the correct position on the screen and link the texts to the next page , so in affect create the front page and following slides of the website. I found it really hard to follow the steps and got stuck on the different layers. I was trying to complicate from the actuall task and create what I wanted which was the ideas in my head about the website page for the film. It was important that I grasped the basics of photoshop but it was also good that I have learnt how to work it because of the problems and frustration i was having with the programme. It will help me remember the mistakes and not to make them again. With some more practise with the same images I think i will become much more able and used to using photoshop by the time I have to start creating my website. I have lots of ideas about colour schemes and images that I want to use which I have got from learning about sign systems that audiences are used to being exposed to,and what they represent about genres of films. For exampe "chick flick" style of films are often associated with the colour pink and girl band styles of music. My creativity has developed alot since starting the Media course about a year ago, I have become more aware of the ways in which media texts like magazines target specific audiences through colours, images, words, headlines, music genres, specific celebrities interviewed and diet regimes all play a big part in identities and representation created through the Media.

Continued

My creativity has also developed in the semiotic/signsystem feel for example i have been thinking about what types of music would create the right sign to the audience about the genre of the film and convey the style and meaning behined the film for example because our film is indie/deep i am looking at a local indie band "The Friday Finish" to create a unique and individual feel for the music on the trailer, this will hopefully pull in the audience and convey mystery and turmoil which are emotions running throughout the film. Here is a link to the Band site of the music i am looking into for the trailer..
I have been analysing aspects of the trailer and magazine like colour schemes and what they instantly convey to the audience. I wanted colour schemes that would instatntly give an accurate feel of the film and genre. The colour scheme i think would really showcase the trailer and magazine would be dark colours like blue and black so that audiences can relate it with confusion and dark humour/thoughts.

How Has My creativity Developed Through New Media Technologies

My creativity has developed through using new media technologies like web .2.0 for example evaluating my work via internet sites likes YouTube, researching online for film information and watching videos online to make comparisons. I have learnt more about editing software online and how certain programmes are used. By using technologies it has been easier to film and stay in contact and updated. I have become a media producer as well as a consumer because of the digital technologies which has helped me had a greater insight to how media texts are produced and the ways in which they are consumed.

Blog

This is my first ever Blog.