Representation- Masulinity and Femininity

A typical man is seen as the violent and as if they act like hooligans. Violent masculinity is now seen as the social and cultural norm. We feel like this is the norm because of the way the male gender is presented through the media.

We get these facts and figures because in some cases this is actually true and this is then proceeded through to the media and is then overrated and magnetized to make is seem like everyone of these males are the same. We are also taught through media that many men hide behind a mask. They show on the outside that they are tough and can stand up for themselves but on the inside this is not true. They really are sensitive. For instance, this is shown in the movie the wizard of Oz. The wizard has a strong and powerful voice showing that the wizard is superior. But when he is then uncovered he is in fact a coward.

In the media masculinity is seen and represented as more powerful and ruling than femininity.

A typical female in the media is seen in two different ways; one being that they are kind and caring. They are put across as soft and will do anything for people. The other being that woman are seen as ‘whores’, that they will put themselves forward for men. In some ways this characteristic can be seen as a dominant woman. That they would be the upstanding and powerful ones. But in other ways this could be seen as they get told what to do, going back to the powerful male being in control of woman.

The differences between femininity and masculinity put forward through the media is that men are shown as the violent and more out front personality, whereas woman are shown to be the more petite personality. That men are more superior over woman. This could also be seen as a similarity too. Where men are put forward as dominant and powerful, if you are represented as a woman in media to be a ‘sex symbol’ you would be seen as dominant and powerful.

The attitudes of how masculinity and femininity shown has changed overtime. Nowadays there is more in media of woman being the more dominant type, whereas before it was shown as the male was always in control. They would always be in charge. For example, there has only ever been one woman prime minister in Britain and this is only in the recent years. This is because in the media is shown that males are more in control, so people would believe that a woman couldn’t control a country. But over the years this has changed, changing people’s minds.

Termonology

In last lesson we learned different termonology in media. The term Horizontal Integration is a type of ownership and control. This is where a product is sold in numerous markets. This happens when a firm has either been taken over or is merged with another company which is in the same industry as them. The term Conglomerates is vertually the same as the above, it is when two companies are joined together. Consolidates- This is when a larger company buys a smaller company. Convergence is where there is the bringing together or different technologies. You also have Vertical Integration this is when a company produces their won type of product, they are united through a common owner. the term Intergrated is the bringing together of things, for example having a film and then bringing out a comic of it. Mergers is when two companies become one. Synergy is basically the same as mergers, its the bringing together of two companies to become one. Miniturusation is when you would use a phone instead of a computer, if you was using the internet for example. The term Monopoly in media is when a cetain person has a lot of companies in the same sort of market. When you use websites and videos and picture this is called Multimedia. Portable is linked to miniturisation, a phone is a lot more portable to carry around that a whole computer.

The 8 basic compositions.

Here is the 8 basic compositions;

One dominant focal point- This is where is one main image as

the compositions. It can float or rest in its positions, and it is

free of all sides. There is only one main focal point to the viewer.

Two cominant focal points- This is where there are two main

images present to the viewer. The compositions divides the

viewers attentions to two different focal points in two eye-fixes.

Structure- In this one, the compositions relies on a table or

grid to help its 'structure'. You can add space rules and also add

borders to the composition and this can add benefit to this as

you can add extra things.

Negative/Positive- High contrast is the main characteristic of

this composition. This is used when a picture relies highly on 

the background  for its shape edges. Negative and positive

can also sometimes give the viewer a optical illusion.

Pattern- In a pattern composition the viewer is bombarded

with many pictures/visual units. This is usually used so that

there is a equal distribution to the viewers eye. This usually

touches a minimum of these sids per image.

Movement- This is the use of gradiation, in a gradual process to create a sense of movement. This gives the impression that the images are moving from one area to another. It is usually created by distinctive flowing on a curving eye-path.

Frame- This has multiple visuals, but they are arranged that it spotlights one area of the picture. The standard format forms a border around the area of interest.

Perspective- The impact of perspective composition is the sense of depth. The designer achieves the illusion with a two dimensional image but makes it look like 'through a window' that it is three dimensional.

In class we got a handout about the Graphic Design Code.
This will help when designing my magazine because i will be able to look at the different compositions and colouring of of the basic elements. And this will give me a basic idea, and also help me to take into practise of each of these ready for my final magazine.

Front cover magazine conventions analized.

Here i have analized the magazine 'LOOK'. I looked at the main conventions of a typical magazine. Here we can see the mast head which is at the top of the page. There is also a main picture of Cheryl Cole, she is the main person that they are talking about in the magazine and they have also interviewed her. This is the reason for them putting her as the main image on the front cover. They have used the same colour scheme throughout the front cover. This magazine is aimed at young woman and people who are aspirers, thus the use of the 'girly colours' of white and baby pink.

Genre explained.

When there is a group of media text, and they have similar forms, structures and pattern elements, then this is when it might be called 'Genre'.
These certain things will share a common structural element. For instance, the genre 'War' may have the same typical elements in settings. They would be in a warmine, in vietnam or in world war 2. They would all have the same background setting.
Genre represents a way of classifying ways into distinct types. This way people who like a specific genre can look for that to find what they want. Genre is also a good way for splitting audiences into demographics (age, sex, gender, race).
Genres are often broken down into sub-genres. These are where there is a specific genre, for example romance. The sub-genres for this could be romanic drama, romantic comedies, and sexual erotic films. People can start to become 'bored' with a specific genre that they watch. To try and prevent this they try and blend genre together. These types of mixtures of more than one genre are called hybrids.
The common genre type elements are known as conventions. These are known as the standard way of doing things, this has developed over time and from this, this is what audiences expect to form from genres.

Presentation on gender and age.

Here i have done a presentation on how the creators of a magazine choose their audiences and ages to their magazine. Here i have the heat magazine, and i have explains the gender and age that it aims for.

Presentation on advert and genre.

Here i have a presentation i done about a advert that was in a magazine. The advert is advertising a perfume, i found it in a magazine that was aimed for woman who cared about their image a lot. This is quite a typical advert to be in magazine aim at this genre of people.

Genre Spider Diagram

Mock of a front cover of a magazine

This is a practise of a front cover. I chose to do a wedding cover. I added the main conventions to my cover. for example, the mast head, a barcode, email. I also kept my font and colour simular the whole way through.

What we're doing.

We have know been told what we are going to do throughout the year. We are going to be designing the front cover and a contents page for a college magazine, and our second project is going to be designing the front cover and doing a double page for a music magazine. For practise of our first project i am going to look at different front covers and how the general layout is on them. What the usual conventions are on a front cover. I will also try and design my first cover to get a little practise before i actually go on to do the final piece.

First lesson..

In our first lesson we learnt about the different conventions that you usually see on a front cover of a magazine. The most common ones are; the mast head, this is the title which helps people to identify the name of the magazine, this is usually on the top of the cover. Coverlines, these are basically the summary of the most interesting and main articles that are going to be inside the magazine. Cover image, this is the main image on the front of the magazine, this usually helps us to determine what type and genre the magazine is, the picture is usually the picture of the main topic in the magazine. There is always usually a barcode which is used when paying for the magazine, a date, cover price and a issue number. There is also a colour design, this usually depends on the genre, gender and season, to what the colour design will be. We also learnt about the categories of people to define audience groups. These are.... 1.Succeeders- This is a person who wants a product that increases their power and control in life. 2.Aspirers- This is a person who wants to improve their image and they are also fashionable. 3.Carers- A person who wants to be seen as caring for others. 4. Achievers- These are successful work people who enjoy their jobs and family life. 5.Radicals- This is a person who goes against traditions views and values. 6.Traditionalists- This is the opposite of a radical, these people stick to traditions. 7.Underachievers- This is a person who fails to achieve their potential, they don't do as well as they expect.