AS Media Studies Foundation Portfolio

 Below I have input a contents page from one of Glamour magazine's issues as well as a two-page spread article.   The contents page consists of "on the cover" topics and feature stories. The subheadings are color-coordinated to the page numbers and the Glamour title. Furthermore, the two-page spread includes pictures at the top of the page and the articles right underneath.  It also includes a title and many sub-titles.   

The three magazines included in this blog all have the same genre. I wanted to look at some magazines with the same genre I am concentrating on to observe how I could best reach a wider and diverse audience. I do have to keep in mind that I have a much younger demographic so these color schemes and fonts may not attract my target audience.    All three magazines have a clear and bold font. For the most part, they are all pretty simple consisting of solid-colored backgrounds and a few cover lines. These magazines are much less cluttered and the cover model is always centered. I will be using Glamour magazine as my model magazine to create my own. I picked these specifically because of the organization as well as the confidence and self-acceptance all these women exude.       

 Below are the anonymous responses to the questions asked in my survey. 

 Today I created a survey on google forms to obtain information from my fellow classmates on how to best reach my demographic. Attached are my questions for my survey.

 For my magazine, I really want to reach a younger audience because I feel as though the topics I have chosen to write about are all extremely prominent in teens. During our teenage years, we are usually trying to discover who we are and who we want to be. This is not as easy when there's so much more societal pressure as well as judgment. I want to target all genders that struggle with self-acceptance and self-appreciation. Furthermore, I want to make this magazine as diverse as possible by interviewing individuals with different backgrounds. My goal in my magazine is to emphasize how uniquely different everyone is in the best way possible. I will be doing this by interviewing teens who have struggled with taking pride in who they are, as well as those who have overcome this struggle. By doing so, more teens would be interested by being able to see and read about the many different stories people have dealt with personally. This magazine would allow others to acknowledge that they...

  For many years, the media has failed to recognize women for all that they are, and all that they are capable of. It's very likely to see movies, magazines, and ads that have depicted women in demeaning and stereotypical ways. For Instance, the most common has been the housewife. The woman is seen cleaning the house, taking care of the children, and serving the man. Not only does this uphold the patriarchy that we have seen and experienced for countless years, but it creates the idea that this is all women know and are capable of doing. Furthermore, the media has destroyed and manipulated thousands of individuals into thinking that a woman must look a certain way to be considered beautiful, worthy, and so forth. These unrealitic beauty standards affect our society and younger generations way more than we think. As a child, you absorb all that you see and hear. With the widespread use of the media in today's world, children and people of all age groups begin to feed into this b...

    Since the late 1940s, when TV first became popular for news and entertainment, black women and men have been continuously depicted in a negative light. This representation was often conveyed by white men who held racist, demeaning, and stereotypical beliefs on people of color. When these false depictions are represented in the media, social issues begin to rise and public attitudes begin to change. This image continues to be displayed today which in turn affects the black community and the way they have to live their lives. For Instance, black men are perceived as "formidable" and "dangerous" while black women are seen as "angry" and "sassy" which influences how they are treated and looked at by the masses. This is seen countless times when boys or men of color are stopped by police officers or any person of authority. Black families often teach their kids that if they're ever stopped by cops, they should put their hands up and never make...

 Media representation is utterly reliant on someone else's perception of reality. The way events and people are depicted in the media heavily impacts the way the majority begin to see things as well. All representations are meant to omit someone else's truth but that doesn't make the information entirely true. This false sense of "truth" can be depicted in movies, shows, magazines, books, and so forth. The media tends to be very misleading towards gender/ gender roles, ethnicity, political parties, politics, sexuality, and more. So why is this important? Since media holds such a prominent role in our society, individuals of all age groups absorb this information and take it for what it is. The intention is never questioned, therefore, leading to many erroneous ideas and beliefs.              This image from google allows us to see just how consumed many people are by the media. 

 Since I didn't have a person to model for me, I decided to take pictures of my dog instead. I still put a little beanie on him to make up for a costume and I took these pictures while he was playing with his toy. I did this so the audience would be able to see his authentic playfulness. These pictures were located in my backyard using the sun as the lighting.  You can still use Mis-en-scene with dogs because you are able to portray them in a certain light. These pictures convey my dog, Toby as sweet, fun, and playful. Furthermore, Mis-en-scene creates meaning in pictures because you are able to grasp the feeling the photographer is trying to exude by placing their model in a certain location with specific outfits/ makeup looks. 

 Today, I took pictures demonstrating each composition term from the syllabus. 1) Framing Framing draws attention to the subject.  2) Rule of thirds This composition is useful because it falls perfectly into the eyes of the audience. 3) Depth of field This composition focuses on one subject while blurring out the background. 4) Deep focus  This composition focuses its attention on the whole plant. 5) Shallow focus The flower is being focused on rather than the plant as a whole to capture its beauty. 6) Focus pulls The focus is being pulled away from the environment and focusing its attention on the dog. 

 Today I took photos using six different camera shots from the syllabus.  1) Close-up shot                                                                              This close-up shot emphasizes the emotions of the subject. 2) Over-the-shoulder shot  This shot allows the audience to see the subject in the middle of a conversation.  3) Long shot This long shot shows the subject from head to know and allows the audience to see her surroundings. 4) Point Of View                                   POV allows the audience to see from the eyes of the subject.    5) Mid-shot  Mid-shot allows us to see the surroundings and emotions of the subject.  6) Establishing shot...

Today, I took photos using the three camera angles from the syllabus. These consist of a high angle, low angle, and canted angle.  1) High angle  This high angle conveys the idea that the subject has less power than I do.  2) Low angle  This low angle conveys the idea that the subject is powerful or holds more power than I do.  3) Canted angle This canted angle suggests that the subject is disoriented.

    I didn't include all conventions necessary, however, I used Canva.com to create a magazine cover of how I want to present my magazine. I created my title and coverlines but acquired a cover model from canva as well.                                                               

 I have yet to figure out exactly what House Styles I want to use. However, I know that I want my magazine to be about self-help. I want to have vibrant color schemes, a cover model who looks extremely happy and confident, and cover lines that mention LQBTQ+ Pride, a guide to loving yourself, and mental health. For my magazine, I would like to capture the emotions the model seems to have portrayed in this image from Canva.com.                                      This model portrays confidence and happiness in her own skin.