Representation - Old

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2552459/Jackie-Stallone-92-cakes-heavy-make-trip-buy-electric-heater.html

The title of this Daily Mail article is "Jackie Stallone, 92, cakes on heavy make-up for trip to buy electric heater", with the tagline "Don't let your face melt! Jackie Stallone, 92, cakes on heavy make-up for trip to buy electric heater". Daily Mail has already stated Stallone's age twice before the article has even begun, meaning her age is something of importance. This is a negative representation of older people because already telling the readers the person's age  means this is the first piece of information we gain from the person, meaning the article is going to be based around that. The comment in the tagline "Don't let your face melt!" can be seen as patronising towards older people because they are stereotypically seen as a bit weak and frail, meaning they might need a bit of help. This 'advice' the Mail is offering to Stallone is giving a negative representation of older people. 

The close-up image of Stallone is focusing on her looks, which is essentially what the article is about due to the title saying "cakes on heavy make-up". This article is just focusing on her age and her looks, giving a negative representation of older people because it's telling readers that you have to maintain your looks at an older age.

Representation - Female

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2549143/Amy-Willerton-looks-pretty-plum-jumpsuit-The-Saturdays-singer-Vanessa-White-shies-away-cameras-boyfriend.html

"All eyes on you: Amy Willerton looks playful in a plum playsuit at designer eyewear launch" This title represents Amy Willerton as a classy person. "Designer eyewear launch" says that she's famous enough to go to these kinds of events. The images in the article are all of her walking towards and inside the venue. She's smiling in all of them, so this creates cohesion between the image and the word "playful" in the title. "The Bristol beauty" is a demeaning description of Willerton because it's telling the readers that that's all she is - just a beautiful woman from Bristol. This tells the audience that if you're pretty, you can get famous. This is a negative representation of Willerton because it's assuming that's all she is. It also sends out a negative message  to the readers because the representation it creates will make the readers (especially female) feel pressured to look like Amy Willerton. Saying the "21-year-old model looked pretty" makes her an inspirational person to females who fall into this age group because most women want what's stereotyped as the perfect body. With Willerton being a model, she'll set aspirations for other women to be just like her.

Breaking Bad - Audience

Breaking Bad is a show about a chemistry high school teacher who falls ill with lung cancer. To fund his treatment, he uses his expertise in Chemistry to cook and sell 99.9% pure crystal meth with one of his former students. Its target audience is 18-40 year olds due to its constant drug references, profanity and nudity. 

How to improve

Audience Question

• Talk about the connotations of the cover features and how to influence their target audience to buy the magazine
• Use more media language, e.g. representation, mode of address, objectification
• Justify my answers - not only describe what I see but say why it's been done, the meanings, the connotations etc.
• More general detail in my descriptions of both describing and justifying

Representation Question

• Refer to specific texts in my answers
• Do research beforehand into existing media texts to be prepared for the exam
• Use more media language, e.g. ideology, connotations, gratifications
• Use justification as well as description

Revision and study

• Make a list of keywords to revise and remember
• Add work to my blog constantly so I'm reminded of what I need to talk about in my exam
• Go onto newspaper/magazine websites to gather an understanding of things like representation, objectification and gratifications
• Look at more case studies to prepare better for my exam

Coursework

• Reshoot for my second pre-production
• Finish off the rest of my unfinished blog posts

Production

Double Page Spread - Analysis

This double page spread is taken from a Cosmopolitan magazine. It's an interview featuring Jennifer Lawrence, who is described in the introduction as a "rising star". The introduction to the interview is placed under the headline. This informs the reader who the interviewee is, and will sometimes briefly mention an upcoming film, tour, song, album, or event that has happened. It might also include the name of the interviewer. 

The headline for this double spread reads "Jennifer's Mystique". Mystique is the name of Lawrence's character in her film X-Men: First Class, so Cosmopolitan has incorporated this element of Lawrence's career into the article. The word "mystique" has connotations of glamour, mystery and allure. Lawrence is seen as a fashion icon, especially on red carpets where she's at her most glamorous, so the connotation of glamour is shown here. The magazine has also referred to Lawrence by just "Jennifer", her first name. This instantly makes the interview personal to the reader. It makes the reader assume the interview is personal and that perhaps they will be reading a personal interview. 

The main image for the interview is an image of Jennifer Lawrence. The photo is a close up from her shoulders up. Her clothes and make up are very classy - nothing has been overdone or seems too extravagant. Lawrence is making eye contact with the camera and her facial expression is fairly serious. This sets the tone of the interview. The reader can assume that the interview will probably be based around any work she has coming up, and not really about her personal life. If she was doing a crazy pose with an over the top facial expression, the reader may assume the interview would be about personal life and secrets and such, but the fact that Lawrence seems serious in the photo, with the word "mystique" in the headline, tells the reader that the interview is going to be mostly quite serious. There is a small caption by the image of Lawrence that reads "Young, determined and ready to take on the world". This is a small caption for the main image.

At the top of the page it says "cosmo upfront". This is what Cosmopolitan lists their interviews under. 'Upfront' is a good word to use because it tells the reader that the interviewee is not going to hold anything back in the interview. At the bottom of the page, there is the date of the issue, the name of the magazine, and the page number.  The words are black and red. These are the two colours used for the text on the rest of the page, so it fits in with the theme of the page.

Casualty - Female Representation

• Woman talks down to man, breaks stereotype of male dominance. 
• Female paramedic is superior over the male - female is first on the scene.
• Women are not sexualised. They're seen in doctor's uniform and paramedic uniform, so they're not seen as sexual objects. The doctor and nurses uniforms are blue which is often stereotyped as a male colour, so there's still that element of male dominance.
• Paramedics are often male-dominated roles - female paramedic differs from this.
• The head of the hospital is a female so this breaks the stereotype and is another way that females are represented as superior against males.
• All the nurses and doctors around the patient are female which represents power and intelligence from women.