The Daily Mirror News Task

The front page

The Facebook page

The Instagram page

The Twitter page

The website

1. Explain your role/responsibility within the team and the task. What were you required to do?

Within the team, I worked with Abbie and Cherish to produce the front cover of a physical copy of the Daily Mirror. This included choosing appropriate stories for the platform, creating the headlines and adding images. We then designed the layout of the page to make all of it fit together and produce a finished cover.

2. For one media form, describe the codes and conventions you chose to follow and explain their intended impact.

 When making the front cover, we immediately knew that, as a tabloid, the Daily Mirror was more likely to feature large amounts of image content than a broadsheet newspaper such as the Daily Telegraph. Printed copies of the Daily Mirror certainly have larger image content than the website or social media pages, as this will allow the cover to catch potential readers from afar in a way that is not necessitated by a website or social media. The large image of David Davis that we chose for our cover is very relevant to the article about Brexit. We intentionally chose an image that was not posed, as this allowed us to portray him as perhaps "CONFUSED" in the caption, which conveys the Daily Mirror's lack of support for Brexit. Beginning the image caption with a single capitalised word and then having the actual description for the picture is also a common convention of the Daily Mirror that we reflected in our own version. The inclusion of an advert for Tesco on the front page also shows the Mirror's conventional way of making money through printed advertisements, as well as being targeted towards the Mirror's less affluent audience who would not be shopping at a more expensive store. This cover of the Mirror will appeal to the audience by reflecting their own views and by adhering to the familiar brand identity of the newspaper.

3. Explain how your choices reflect the real newspaper's values and target audience. 

The front page has a clear and immediate presentation of the Mirror's left-wing political stance, shown through the description of the Brexit deal as 'shoddy' and the politician involved as 'diabolical'. The standfirst continues this negative attitude towards Britain's EU-leaving deal, which goes further still to cement the newspaper's position as left-wing.
With the exception of Brexit, the stories were chosen because they were not terribly specific financial or economic stories, which traditionally would not appeal to the Daily Mirror's audience of lower socioeconomic grades. As a result of this, we included alliteration and hyperbole in the headlines to create humour and entertain the target audience through a sensational portrayal of events - a technique also seen in the real Mirror.


4. Explain how your team adapted the news across the three different media forms and the reasons behind your decisions.
 Upon receiving the brief, we knew that some stories could be shown on all three platforms according to their level of importance. For this reason, the Iraq story was featured on all three. However, we felt that stories like the Frozen Finger Fiasco would be better if they were shown in print due to their comical nature, which would allow for a word play headline and contribute to the appeal in the print version. This appeal through entertainment is a necessary one for the printed copy, as it is the only media form that the user must explicitly pay for.



5. In hindsight, is there anything about your team's outcomes that you would adapt or improve?

I think that our cover could have been improved if we had been more consistent with the design. For example, the font could have been made to stay the same across all instances of text, which would make the cover seen more professional. However, I think that the overall effect was achieved and that the cover is a clear presentation of Daily Mirror conventions.
  

Celebrity Magazine Cover

1. Summarise the music celebrity you have created. Include name, music genre, personality and how they are being used to comment on contemporary celebrity.

I gave my celebrity the same name as me, and while this is a fictionalised version of me, I think giving him a normal name rather than a stage name chosen for appeal (such as an alliterative name or a single word like JayZ) supports the character's representation of an indie style of music, where I think artists would be more likely to use their real name. My celebrity is one who presents themselves as more of a normal human being ,rather than other male artists who perhaps go too far to present themselves as macho or tough-looking.

2. Evaluate how you have constructed the representation of your celebrity through your cover image and cover headline/text.

My celebrity sits alone against a nighttime countryside background, perhaps to show the solitude of fame in how it separates you from the rest of society and people's regular lives. He is quite small in the frame compared to other Billboard covers, but this just goes further to illustrate a sense of solitude and loneliness. The 'other side of stardom', as written in the magazine text, is represented through the presence of literal stars above the celebrity, who looks up as in searching for another meaning - or their other side. Of course, the actual message of this phrase, to stop focusing on celebrity glamour and go back to the roots of music, is shown through the celebrity's casual dress and lack of obvious makeup, as well as the use of an acoustic guitar rather than an electric one, which would have been indicative of a modern setting - but this acoustic guitar instead encourages us to look back.

3. Reflect on the production/editing process.  Are you pleased with the end result? Identify what is successful about your shot?  What would you have done differently in hindsight?

I am pleased with the end result, as I think the model and background have blended well to create an eye-catching image - certainly helped by the blue colour grade applied to both. I think the shot of the celebrity is the best one of the set that was photographed, as some others, such as the one where I was leaning on the guitar while standing up, looked awkward and would not have contributed to the relaxed emotion I was seeking. However, I think there is room for improvement, as the model is perhaps too small in the frame, and could have been larger to fill more space on the cover. The reason I made him his current size was to leave some space above his head for the stars to be visible, so perhaps the solution to both problems would have been to retake the shot in many different poses to allow for more flexibility in choice of photograph later on.

Minecraft Pocket Edition Gameplay For YouTube

1) How I did it

To create the video, I filmed myself reacting to a pre-recorded clip as though I were playing the game live. To add to this impression, I often described what was going on in the clip - such as the character holding seeds, which I said opened the possibility of creating a farm. I overlaid the footage of myself onto the gameplay video using the FilmMaker Pro app on an iPad, and also adjusted the size of the overlaid clip, as I didn't want it to obscure a large portion of the actual gameplay. Providing a constant and engaging commentary, which I attempted to do, is very much the style of these videos, as seen in the videos of popular Minecraft youtubers such as DanTDM and SkyDoesMinecraft.

2) How could my video attract Mojang and/or Microsoft, and how might it influence them?

These kinds of videos rely on the fanbase of Minecraft being interested enough in the game to watch a video of somebody else playing it, and provided it goes viral, the thoughts and opinions given by the creator of the video could be heard by many people, including Mojang or Microsoft. An example of popularity leading to this scenario is in the success of the fan-made plugin Bukkit - Nathan Adams, a developer for that plugin, was given a job at Mojang due to the success and popularity of the fan-made content.

Video Games and Me

Perhaps the first experience I had with video games was via a handheld that I haven't ever identified - a small white device resembling a Game Boy, and yet I think it must have been either a Sega product or a bootleg, since it included a few Sonic and Alex Kidd games.

Through the Nintendo Wii in about 2008, I played Mario Kart and an assortment of other games, such as Wii Sports Resort and Super Mario Galaxy. This was in the golden age of the Nintendo Wii, when it was extremely popular for families and still somewhat technologically relevant due to its 'wiimote' controller. My favourite game became Majora's Mask, which I played on PC via a Nintendo 64 emulator (and as a result, I was one of the people who bought the 3DS remake on the first day in February 2015.)

Minecraft Mission

Minecraft: Pocket Edition is the mobile version of the popular open-world sandbox game, Minecraft. It is very similar to the original PC game, but has been adapted to be more suitable for touchscreen devices. As far as actual goals go, it is identical to the original - crafting and mining are key to the player's survival. The flexibility in the game and the lack of a strict objective make it a very accessible game for a wide audience, and the creative potential in being able to build anything you want is a source of signficant appeal. An example of a structure players can build to protect themselves from the game's enemies is a house, as seen in the attached image.

My Breakfast Show Segment

Evaluation

1. Did you fulfil all the content requirements; both in terms of including all the correct features and as well as the actual choices made?

We did fulfil the requirements, as the required sections of the segment - music, a caller, a promo for a celebrity who would appear later, the celebrity gamble game, social media responses, and the news section were all included in our Breakfast Show recording. As well as these features of the show itself, we also used jingles to open each section, as done in the real Breakfast Show and as required by the brief.

2. Have you accurately used the conventions of and style of Nick Grimshaw and the Radio 1 Breafkast show?

I think we used the conventions of Nick Grimshaw's Breakfast Show very well, as we included segments of conversation between the host and the person on the phone, and incorporated some 'youth speak' into the host's dialogue (for example, describing an enjoyable music track as 'banging'). The music played is modern pop music, which is exactly the kind that Nick Grimshaw plays on the real Radio 1 Breakfast Show.

3. How well did you manage your running order/timings?

We created a script with the content of our show prepared, and were therefore able to rehearse the segment in advance of the final recording. This helped us to perfect our timings, eliminate pauses and give the different sections the proper amounts of time reserved for them. For example, the Celebrity Gamble section required more time than anything else, and to accomodate this we made sure that the opening section up until the beginning of Celebrity Gamble did not run on for too long.

Current Music Video Analysis

Castle On The Hill - Ed Sheeran

• Non-linear passage of time

The video cuts back and forth between the present day Ed Sheeran and his apparent younger self. The cutting between the two time periods is without an obvious visual cue beforehand, which makes this structure common to music videos rather than a film, which would usually have a reason for a flashback rather than suddenly cutting back in time.

• Character singing the lyrics while in the video

Present-day Ed can be seen singing the lyrics to the song. This is a convention of a music video, as it is only in this medium that the audience would not question why this man is singing to himself in a secluded location. This can be done to emphasise especially important lyrics (e.g. "Take me back to when" as he says in the above GIF.)

• Visual content reflecting spoken lyrics

The line "Had my first kiss on a Friday night" is accompanied by a shot of the younger version of the character kissing somebody to reflect the statement and reinforce its signifcance.

• Strong contrasting settings & lighting

At one point, the music video shows an exciting and colourful party in the past, which is a totally different atmosphere compared to the foggy fields that present-day Ed Sheeran is walking through. This is also seen in the scene with a large bonfire, where the lighting is a high-key orange, in contrast to the low-key colour grading of the present-day scenes.

• Duration of shots changing according to pace of music

For the majority of the song, the character reminisces about the past, and the pace of the editing is relatively slow to accompany the feelings communicated by the song. When the pace of the song picks up later in the video, the speed at which it cuts to the next shot also increases to synchronise the visuals with the audio.

Continuity Task Evaluation

The story of the video

In our video, two people, both distracted, walk around a corner and collide with each other. The collision causes one of them to drop his phone, which lands on the floor and breaks. He picks it up and blames the other person for the accident.

How was narrative flow created?

We created narrative flow by matching the position and movement of the characters between consecutive shots. For example, when the camera cuts to another shot at 0:08, the positions of the characters are kept the same, in order to make the transition smoother. Another instance of preserving continuity was the dropping of the phone. In the shot where the two characters collide, the phone can be heard hitting the floor. In the next shot, the phone has already landed on the ground, avoiding the continuity error that would have been present if it had been shown landing again.

Did you achieve full continuity? If not, why not?

Although we came close, we did not achieve full continuity. At the end of shot 1, Abbie's character is between the double doors - but when it cuts to shot 2 for about 3 seconds and then cuts back, she is still in the same location. This could be explained as shot 1 and shot 2 taking place at the same time rather than one after the other, but in terms of narrative flow, it would have been effective to show the passage of time on Abbie's side even when her character is not in shot.

In hindsight, what would you have done differently to improve the narrative flow of your video and tell your story more effectively?

We could have improved the video by omitting the sound of the phone hitting the ground and instead showing its impact on the ground in shot 5. Showing the phone hitting the ground would have been an effective shot, as it would have shown the continuation of the dropping movement, and would then lead into shot 6 when the person picks it up, maintaining the narrative flow. This was our original plan, but once the phone was heard hitting the ground in shot 4, it would have disrupted the narrative flow if it were to be shown hitting the ground again.

Trailer Analysis - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Released in United Kingdom on 18th November 2016

Audience Appeal

• The hidden magical world in New York is heavily featured in the trailer, since the audience would find this appealing through the escapism it provides from the audience's normal lives
• The inter-title "J.K. Rowling invites you" uses the famous name of the writer to remind the audience of previous successes - namely, the 'Harry Potter' franchise
• Action/chase scenes are shown in the climax of the trailer - they make the film look exciting and engage the audience
• POV shot at 1:25 deliberately included to hide the cause of destruction - mystery element as to what this thing that no human could match is.
• Short comedy scene at the end of the trailer - tells audience that the film still has its comedic moments despite the fact that "no human could do what this thing is capable of."
  

Genre Signifiers

The audience is made aware of the film's fantasy genre through:

• The use of wands/magic CGI throughout the trailer
• And also CGI animals, e.g. mole-like creature at about 1:28
• The lighting and colour grading are quite warm rather than being desaturated like an action film would be
• Settings that do not exist in the real world, e.g. large, ornate room at 1:02
• Majestic-sounding music to accompany the visuals, connotes fantasy

Character and Representation

• First dialogue heard tells us the name of the main character, as well as a shot of him from above
• He is definitely the main character as he is the subject of the opening dialogue, as well as being shown the most
• He arrives by boat, on his "first trip to America". We know from his accent that he is from England
• He was kicked out of school, although it is suggested that this was not justified as a teacher "argued strongly against his expulsion". So we don't think any less of the main character despite the fact that this has occurred.
• He is clearly part of the magical world that the film presents, as he changes the contents of a suitcase before its examination
• Another main character seen at 0:24, who is clearly one of the main characters due to the way she is centered in the frame
• The person speaking at the beginning's suggestion that there is "more to [Newt Scamander] than meets the eye" is reinforced by the fact that we don't see Newt's face clearly until 0:29.

Branding

• Warner Brothers logo at beginning of trailer
• The film logo appears at the end of the trailer, so that the audience knows which film they have just watched a trailer for.
• At 1:18 and 1:37, the Harry Potter theme tune is included in the music, which brands this film as being part of the pre-existing universe

Reflections on shot

The shot signifies the mystery or horror genre by having a person look around a corner at something unknown, which increases the sense of mystery that the audience will understand from the image, as the audience know it is a convention of the genre. The area behind the subject is in shadow, another convention that makes the picture mysterious, as settings in shadow can connote that something is dangerous, abandoned, or suspicious.

To achieve the effect, we went to the back of the Great Hall balcony and used a corridor that is always dark, which was what we wanted to successfully show a mysterious setting to fit our idea. We also had a handheld light to illuminate the subject’s face from one side, to make the lighting look more dramatic and add to the contrast between the dark inside and the bright outside.

We wanted the audience to interpret the still as having a threat nearby, at some point in the narrative where the protagonist does not want to be discovered. The still does not fully give the scenario away, as you cannot see what the person sees, so the audience is kept in suspense.

The shot successfully uses a contrast in lighting between the bright foreground and the dark background, which emphasises the darkness of the background against the light. The shot is also framed within its frame, as the two white walls create a vertical letterbox effect. This makes the protagonist seem to be in a claustrophobic environment, as our view of them is restricted by the two walls in the foreground. The shot is taken from a low angle, which served to make the shot more interesting rather than to connote power of the character, which was not our intention. The medium shot worked well, as seeing the character’s legs is not necessary and the viewer’s attention is instead directed to the upper body, head and hands.

In hindsight, it could have been better if the subject were in the centre of the image, since the photograph currently has much more of the white wall on the left than it needs. A canted angle could have been employed to make the still more dramatic, especially to connote the movement of the person who has just looked around the corner.