Wednesday, 21 November 2018

Print Media - The Big Issue

Print Media - The Big Issue


Media

Colour - yellow, saturated, black and white body(unsaturated)
Angle - Looking up at the woman - giving her more importance, power and priority
Type of shot - midshot (just below) wide shot  
Focus - Sharp image - emphasises how toned her body is - important on selling the product
The Depth of Field - Whole body in focus (everything) - selling something
Mise-en-scene - the bikini is the same colour as the background - looking confident
Body language - Shoulders back, confident - accentuate her body
Props - Nothing - just a bikini - the right clothing to sell this product
Lighting - bright - focus on the body
Realism - not realistic, could be setting the beauty standard (women should be thin, slim and overwhelmingly white) - certain ways to pose to make different parts look better, lighting makes different parts better -
Narrative - A protein advert - body tone and going to the beach - gym
Use of text/copy- "Are you beach body ready?" - uppercase - large font - catch your eye - shouting at you
Font design/size - Capital letters, makes you look and read it, the importance
Layout - behind the model, the main focus should be on the model and not the wording - left third
Mode of address - Looking down to the camera - sell ideas - direct mode of address - choose this advert over one where the person isn't looking
Who/What is seen - Female in just bikini (yellow) - the same colour as the background - focus on that 
How are they represented - unobtainable goal - chiselled body - sexualised body - Female's are objectified and used to bring in customers
Race/Age/Gender - Young Adult - Female - White
Themes/Messages- You should have this protein bar and it would make you skinny/have a better body

What is The Big Issue?

The Big Issue magazine launched in 1991 in response to the growing numbers of homeless people in the streets of London, by offering people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income through selling a magazine to the public. Twenty-five years on, our vendors come from a variety of backgrounds and face the myriad of problems associated with poverty and inequality. Vendors buy The Big Issue magazine for £1.25 and sell it for £2.50, meaning each seller is a micro-entrepreneur who is working, not begging. Therefore it is vitally important that buyers take their copy of the magazine when they pay for it. In 2016, The Big Issue sold its 200 millionth copy, celebrated its 25th anniversary and launched The Big Issue Shop, a fully customised online platform committed to selling products with a social echo. More than 200 million copies of the magazines were sold, 92,000 people have sold The Big Issue, In the past 25 years vendors have earned £115 million, 3700 new vendors walk through the doors every year. Since 1991, the magazine has helped over 92,000 vendors earn £115 million. There are currently around 1500 vendors, and last year alone we helped them to earn a total of £5.5 million. Currently, the magazine is read by over 400,000 people across the UK and circulates 83,073 copies every week. Founded in 2005, Big Issue Invest extends The Big Issue’s mission to dismantle poverty through creating opportunity by financing the growth of sustainable social enterprises and charities across the UK. We are the UK’s first ‘Social Merchant Bank,’ by social entrepreneurs, for social entrepreneurs. Big Issue Invest currently manages or advises on £150 million social funds. Big Issue Invest offers social enterprises, charities and profit-with- purpose businesses, loans and investment from £20,000 to £3 million. Since 2005, we have invested in approximately 300 social enterprises and charities, all of which have positively influenced the lives of an estimated 1 million people across the UK.


Right Wing Politics: the political right opposes socialism and social democracy. Right-wing parties include conservatives, nationalists and on the far-right racists and fascists.

Left Wing Politics: they support social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy and social inequality. 

Left Wing Newspapers

The Guardian
The Independent
The Observer
The Mirror
The Morning Star
The i
Daily Mirror

Right Wing Newspaper

The Telegraph
The Express
Daily Mail
The Sun
The Star
News of The World

Task 3:
Throughout the text, the migrant group are represented in a negative light, being portrayed as people who will always beg for money over getting a job. They are portrayed as people who are making fun of being immigrants and making it seem like the beggars think it is alright to beg.

Task 4:
The homeless migrants are represented as people who have ended up living in shopping malls - Stratford Centre in East London turns into a shelter overnight for a meal and a place to sleep - this creates a sort of empathy towards the homeless as they are getting help from the companies that allow the homelessness to take hostage in the centres overnight. 
- Grooming Gangs
- Fights - broken bottles
- 4 regular people died - health complications
- substance abuse - Alcoholism and drug addiction 
- Mental health issues
- Prostitution 

Task 5:
- 6% of homeless people are veterans (around 1,000)
- guarantee armed forces personnel the opportunity to have a home, to heal and to retrain when they complete their time in service.
- victims
- need to cater for this group
- Not Shildrick and McDonald's Theory

Why are veterans becoming homeless?
When veterans come out of the war, they feel depressed, like there is no one there for them, cast aside and left to rot, feel as though they have no understanding or compensation. They also feel as if there is no net to catch them, and they have to start looking for jobs and houses. Veterans tend to become homeless due to having a relationship breakdown due to their PTSD (Post Dramatic Distress Disorder) and have alcohol or drug problems. When on the streets, living without a home, the veterans feel cold, wet and lonely; living without money for food and having to wait for their benefit payments to come through, meanwhile going from shop to shop trying to find some way to warn as much money as they can. Even though the law states that the council should help those veterans who are struggling to get a home, many think that the 'should' must be turned into a must. Unfairly, if there are no visible things that are wrong with the veterans, it is believed that they shouldn't get helped by the council as there doesn't seem to be a thing wrong with them. On the other hand, if there are any visible problems or disabilities with the veteran, it becomes a high priority that they get helped and receive the treatment that they need.

social conditions veterans homelessness - PTSD - alcohol - drugs - divorce rate increase - mental health support waitlist - no priorities given - bottom of the housing

deserving poor - veterans - disabilities - foreign people who are contributing to society - asylum seekers - refugees with good intentions

undeserving poor - wasters - lots of kids (keep having kids to get more benefits) - overeaters (permanently eating to get more benefits) - work shy/laziness - addicts - rapists/murderers/serious crime - beggars/foreign beggars - refugees?


Issue 1332 - Still At War 




The Big Issue highlights the importance of war veterans and the homelessness through their Issue 1332 - Still at War. War veterans become homeless in many ways, one being that they have had relationship issues, another could be due to them having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which could have led them to alcoholism or drug use. When soldiers come out of the war, they tend to feel depressed, like there is no one there for them and are cast aside to rot. They may also feel


Statistics and reasons why veterans are homeless?
  • Military charities said the shameful figure is a record high and the Government is failing those who risk their lives for Queen and country.
  • Les Standish, who won the Military Medal in the Falklands War, said: “The Government has let these people down. These men and women were willing to fight and lay down their lives for this country and the only help available to them is from charities.
  • “I became too scared to go to sleep and began drinking heavily. I was medically retired from the prison ­service. My world collapsed and I was homeless. I slept in my van for six months and felt unable to talk to anyone. But eventually, I got help.”
  • Cait Smith, 45, runs the Bolton Armed Forces Centre for Veterans with her fiance Scott Hawtrey, where she helps homeless ex-service personnel.- “Homelessness among the veterans community is getting worse by the month. The youngest we have dealt with is an 18-year-old and the oldest is 97. And we helped people of every age in between.”
  • Northern Ireland veteran Tony Hayes, 58, is now the chief ­executive of Veteran Assistance UK, a charity helping homeless ex-­servicemen and women and those who are ­struggling with PTSD. He said: “Nearly all the homeless veterans we come across have PTSD or some form of mental health ­problem. Once they leave the Army, they lose their support structure.“Those suffering from PTSD will often turn to drink and that can have an impact on the marriage and in a short period of time, a veteran can find himself homeless.“We estimate 13,000 but we ­believe it’s an ­accurate figure from what our outreach teams are seeing.“From our ­experience, the problem of homeless veterans has never been greater. I’d say 13,000 is a minimum – it could be far higher.”
  • Charity bosses say the problem has been made worse by cuts to the armed forces, which has led to almost 30,000 troops losing their jobs since 2010. 
  • We have told how former troops suffering illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety lost their homes after being unable to find new jobs.
  • That made their illness worse and drove them to the brink of suicide.
  • There are 12 to15 rough sleepers on the streets of Windsor and we’ve got 50 to 60 on our books. Typically, two in ten at any one time will be former military. They may not necessarily have just left the military, but that is where they developed their mental health issue which led to them being homeless.
  • He said: “I was homeless for about six months but it felt like years. I was dossing down in drug users’ flats and going from pillar to post. Initially, the Army was perfect for me. They train you to fight and kill and everything you need to do, and they do everything for you.
  • But when you get out they forget about you. The drugs helped me block it all out. I got medals for my service in Afghanistan and Kosovo but I threw them away when I was homeless. I just wanted to forget.
  • If veterans’ charities are right there could be more than 13,000 war heroes living on Britain’s streets.
  • Veterans are at risk when they quit the forces. They have often seen harrowing things and are left with long-term psychological damage. Without support for their PTSD, many veterans lose everything. And cuts to the armed forces have made things worse, as veterans struggle to adjust to civilian life.
  • But he could not escape the painful memories of military life and turned to drink – routinely downing around nine litres of powerful cider a day.

Most media studies on poverty point in the direction of a recurring observation that usually the poor are presented in one of two contrasting frames: the ‘deserving poor’ and the ‘undeserving poor’.
While the frame of deserving poor employs a sympathetic treatment of the poor, the frame of the undeserving poor is built upon the rhetoric of deficiency in individuals who are portrayed as a burden on the taxpayer due to their dependency on welfare policies
(see also, scroungerphobia, Golding & Middleton, 1982)

Gerbner's Theory: Cultivation theory states that high-frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages and the belief that they are real and valid. Heavy viewers are exposed to more violence and therefore are affected by the Mean World Syndrome, the belief that the world is a far worse and dangerous place then it actually is. According to the theory, heavy viewing of television is creating a homogeneous and fearful populace, however, so many studies have been done in this area that really no one knows how or even if violence on TV or in film negatively or positively affects its audience. Now cultivation theory has taken on a more general definition in regards to mass media. It now extends to encompass the idea that television colours our perception of the world. For example; if someone stays inside and watch news about crime all day, they might be inclined to believe that the crime rate is far higher than it actually is and they might easily become the victim of a crime. Or in another sense heavy viewership of any media can perpetuate stereotypes both positive and negative. It really comes down to the question of to what extent does reality shape TV and vice versa. 


















Big Issue: In Bob We Trust Essay


You will analyse the media language and media representation of the 1333 issue of the Big Issue “In Bob we trust”. To what extent does the Magazine diverge from mainstream/rightwing depictions of the poor/homeless. Why are the magazines remit an important factor in the way the magazine represents homelessness? Discuss the social and political context of homelessnessDiscuss the impact of homelessness in Britain today from your research.


The Big Issue - launched in 1991 in response to the growing numbers of homeless people in the street - offers the homeless the opportunity to earn an income through selling a magazine to the public. Vendors buy the magazine for £1.25 and then proceed to sell it for £2.50, making each seller a mini-entrepreneur who is working and not begging; allowing The Big Issue to give them"a hand up not a handout" - this meaning to help them earn money for themselves and not just give the money to the homeless. 

Issue 1333 - In Bob We Trust, written by James Bowen, is about a cat, who is is named Bob, who has adopted an owner, James, who is homeless; a true feel-good story of how James Bowen, a busker and recovering drug addict, had his life transformed when he met a stray ginger cat. His homeless owner is an addict, however, upon meeting Bob, the owner begins to heal himself in order to care for Bob - who he had named Bob. The whole picture would remind any viewer of winter - the blue, white, gold/yellow and red colours covering the image. The blue in the background could link to the spirituality, loyalty and trust that Bob has shared with James, his owner. The white in the lower third of the background could represent to protection, cleanliness (which Bob does, in fact, help James clean his addictions), and purity. The red of Bob's scarf could serve as a semantic code for the strength that he gives his owner in order for his owner to stop his addictions and become clean, and the love that James has for him. The yellow of the lettering could speak for the happiness and joy that Bob brings for James. The semantic field of winter colours that is present in the poster could represent the coldness that the homelessness have to be put through, and the dangers that they have to face - such as hypothermia - because they have no home. However, the winter colours could act as a representation for the faith and confidence - possibly to keep each other alive that the two have in each other; Bob being that James is there to keep him alive, and James being that Bob is there to stop him from being addicted and healthier. The wide long shot of Bob is showing all of the cats and his background, however as much as this shot emphasises on the conditions that the homeless have to plough through, it also emphasises on the clean. The wide shot overall introduces the beginning of what In Bob We Trust is about, setting the viewer's perception of time, place and logical action of the writing that is about to transpire. By looking straight into Bob's eyes, it is almost a way to get the viewers to sympathise with him - getting them to not follow in the views of the right winged newspapers. Bob the cat looks proud, and having a scarf around his neck could indicate that the homeless owner looks after the cat more than himself. Being outside, it emphasises the fact that Bob's owner is, in fact, homeless and Bob is a companion of his; Bob is the light of his owner's life. The focus of the picture is all on Bob, him being the sharp point in the image, the background being blurry, this could be a metaphor for the owner's new life - his background and past activities are near to nothing in comparison to his new life with Bob. The wordplay of 'In Bob We Trust' is similar to the words that Americans have on their dollar bills - words that they worship. This could be an indicator of Bob being the hope and trust that is needed for James to pull through and get better. Although this image isn't that realistic with a healthy looking cat being the portrayal of what the cat looks like in real life after being cared for by a homeless man, there are some realistic traits where the cat is the only thing that is helping James get better. The use of big lettering for Bob highlights his importance to James since he found his way into James' life.

Throughout the magazine, homelessness awareness is what is being spread, telling the public that what the right winged newspapers portray them as is not true. The right winged newspapers tend to represent the homelessness in a negative light and those who are people who beg from money rather than get a job. Newspapers such as the Telegraph thinks living on the streets is a lifestyle choice and should think that it is something that could be dealt with advice. The Big Issue magazine parallels to the right winged newspapers - helping those who are homeless no matter how they got there; portraying them in a light that isn't dark. It is important for this magazine to spread awareness of homelessness and not in a negative light as it proves that the right winged newspapers are wrong; showing the public what being homeless is really like and how it invades peoples lives in the first place.



















Wednesday, 7 November 2018

Media Industries: The Jungle Book

Media Industries: The Jungle Book

Vertical Integration - This is the combination in one firm of two or more stages of production normally operated by separate firms.
Horizontal Integration - The acquisition of several production companies offering a wide range of films for different markets.
Conglomerate - This is a thing consisting of a number of different and distinct parts or items that are grouped together. A group of small companies underneath a big company.

Synergy - This is the creation of a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts
Circulation - This is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the reader.

Box Office receipts
Budget:  $175,000,000
Opening Weekend USA: $103,261,464
Gross USA:  $364,001,123
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:  $966,550,600
The Jungle Book (2016) has taken over 1 billion US dollars already at the cinema box office
In 2016 Disney’s productions earned more at the box office than any of the other six majors; Disney amassed $2.56 billion globally
They focus on blockbuster films and their strategy to “reboot” their older animations (Cinderella, JB) helped to guarantee success.

Production companies involved  
Fairview Entertainment
Moving Picture Company (MPC)
Prime Focus
Walt Disney Pictures
Was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, directed and co-produced by Jon Favreau (), and written by Justin Marks. 
It was partly based on Disney’s original version but also drew more on Kipling’s original books, giving a rather darker tone
The Jungle Book exists in a strange limbo-world between live action and animation.
All the animals and landscapes, etc., were computer generated, (mostly) by the British digital effects house MPC
The animal characters were deliberately created with a realistic look, in order to target older movie-goers
Key elements of how the characters and landscapes were brought to life include
      Analysis of the gait and movement of live animals
      Skeletal mapping
      Fur movement simulation
      Landscape mapping
      Creating a visual library archive of objects to fill the landscapes
Technologies impacting on the film include:
      Blue screen
      Facial mapping
      MPC – simulation packages for fur movement
      Previsualisation techniques
It is important to recognise that these features were used to create an immersive (believable) production thus making the film relevant to older audiences.
An advantage for Disney in the creation of the film over rivals (Warner Brothers, who were making a film on the Jungle book at the same time) was in The Disney corporation’s ability to utilise its copyright-protected Songs (e.g. bare Necessities)

Technology
JB16 one of the most technologically advanced movies ever made’; as the director noted, ‘I found myself wrestling with the same things as Walt, who used cutting-edge technology for his day, but with a different set of tools and technologies.’
JB16 is the result of cutting-edge CGI – the animals were created digitally post-production and the one actor in the film (playing Mowgli) acted against a blue screen.
scenes for The Jungle Book were first filmed using motion capture. ‘We motion-captured the entire movie before we filmed anything and we cut the whole film together,’ says Favreau.
Using that footage, the effects team then built the film’s sets virtually, a process known as previsualization (previz). ‘Everything was mapped against the virtual sets. We designed
the sets like you would for a video game.’ (http://www.wired.co.uk/article/jungle-book-jon-favreau-disney-film)
The CGI was mostly created by MPC.
Their website includes an excellent exposition of how the effects were created
The VFX won both the BAFTA and Academy Award. The new film opens and closes using analogue techniques, however, referencing the original film.

Ownership 
JB16 was planned by Walt Disney Studios Chairman, Alan Horn, as one of a series of remakes of their classic properties: ‘Hollywood makes lots of films for kids, but
Disney reboots are considered safe bets. They revive classic characters for a new generation of kids, and their parents may be especially willing to shell out for related merchandise.’
Disney has leveraged the technology within the film to widen audience appeal and create spectacle during the marketing e.g. showing film teasers in 3D

Rating
PG

Plot Synopsis
The panther Bagheera opens the film by saying that there are many stories in the jungle, but none quite like that of the man-cub Mowgli. Mowgli is seen running through the jungle above the trees with his wolf brothers. Since he was a baby, Mowgli has grown up with the wolf pack, raised by Raksha. The jungle experiences a very dry season, so the animals come together by the Peace Rock to form a truce and drink water from there. Mowgli uses the shell of a fruit to grab water for himself, which makes the other animals see him oddly. The wolf pack leader Akela tells Mowgli not to use his man tricks in front of the other animals. The crows then begin to caw, signalling the arrival of the fearsome tiger Shere Khan. He is aware of Mowgli's presence and considers Man to be forbidden in the jungle. Akela covers Mowgli and tells Shere Khan he cannot have the boy. Shere Khan vows to come for Mowgli once the rivers run again. Knowing the jungle isn't safe for Mowgli anymore, Akela and the other wolves discuss his future there. Bagheera volunteers to take him back to the man village, despite Raksha's protests. The others agree it's for the best, and Mowgli shares a goodbye with Raksha, who says he will always be her son. Bagheera guides Mowgli toward the village, but once they come across a field of buffaloes, they are ambushed by Shere Khan. Bagheera holds the tiger off for Mowgli to run. Mowgli runs down a hill as the Buffaloes stampede. Shere Khan tries to spot Mowgli, but the boy escapes. Shere Khan returns to the Peace Rock to confront the wolves. He mauls Akela and throws him off the cliff. The tiger then assumes leadership over the other animals and awaits for Mowgli to return. Now wandering alone through the jungle, Mowgli comes across a huge snakeskin that has recently been shed and soon meets the python Kaa. She puts Mowgli under her spell with her hypnotic voice and eyes. Kaa tells Mowgli of where he came from. He was an infant when his father came across a cave in the jungle and protected him from Shere Khan with the "red flower" (fire). Mowgli's father blinded Shere Khan's left eye, and the tiger killed the man. Kaa wraps herself around Mowgli and prepares to eat him but is attacked by another animal, forcing her to release the child. Mowgli wakes up and meets the bear Baloo. Since he saved Mowgli's life, he asks the boy to help him gather some honey from a cliff face. Mowgli breaks off some honeycomb but gets stung a few times in the process. Thankful, Baloo takes Mowgli under his wing (or paw) and they form a friendship. Baloo shows Mowgli that the man village is nearby and that he can go whenever he wants, but Mowgli decides to stick with Baloo, who shows Mowgli all about the "bare necessities of life." Bagheera encounters Mowgli and Baloo. Baloo claims that Mowgli is helping him hibernate for the winter until Bagheera points out that bears don't hibernate in the jungle. The panther still wants to get Mowgli to safety. At night, Mowgli hears a herd of distressed elephants. Baloo and Bagheera see this and get worried until they watch Mowgli help a baby elephant out of a hole. Bagheera tells Baloo how Shere Khan is after Mowgli and that he needs to get to safety. Reluctantly, Baloo tells Mowgli he never thought of him as a friend and wants him gone. Heartbroken, Mowgli retreats to a tree. A small monkey starts to bother Mowgli, and soon more monkeys show up and capture him. Baloo and Bagheera see this and follow. The monkeys bring Mowgli to the temple of King Louie, a massive orangutan. Louie claims he can protect Mowgli, but he wants to learn the secret of the red flower (fire) and thinks Mowgli can deliver it to him. Mowgli says he cannot, sending Louie into a rage. Baloo and Bagheera arrive in the nick of time and fight Louie's monkeys while Louie chases Mowgli. Louie taunts Mowgli by telling him that Akela has been killed, which Bagheera knew about. As Louie tries to get Mowgli, he runs through his temple, causing it to crumble and crush him. Infuriated that Bagheera didn't tell him about Akela, Mowgli runs away. He enters the man village undetected and takes a burning torch back into the jungle. As he runs back, the other animals see him with the fire and follow. A piece of ember falls from the torch and slowly starts a fire. Mowgli confronts Shere Khan as the other animals gather to watch. Shere Khan tries to turn the animals against Mowgli by stating that man has brought the red flower into the jungle. Mowgli tosses the torch right before Baloo and Bagheera show up. They, along with the other animals, standby Mowgli and against Shere Khan. Baloo battles Shere Khan. Mowgli wants to fight, but Bagheera says he must fight like a man and not as a wolf. Mowgli runs toward the trees. Shere Khan takes Baloo down, but before he can kill him, Raksha and the other wolves attack Shere Khan. Mowgli sets up a trap in the trees and waits for Shere Khan. Escaping the wolves and Bagheera, the tiger climbs the tree and walks the branch where Mowgli is standing. The boy tells Shere Khan he is not afraid of him. The tiger pounces at Mowgli as the branch snaps. Mowgli jumps to safety, but Shere Khan ends up falling and is consumed by the fire. Mowgli returns to the other animals, and the river, aided by grateful elephants, turns its flow, putting out the fire. Mowgli is seen running with his wolf brothers again and is reunited with them and Raksha. Baloo now lives close with Mowgli, Bagheera and the other animals, and he says he could get used to this.


Production: The making of the film; pre-production and funding; shoot (format); post-production - SFX (e.g. Walt Disney Company).
Distribution: The way the film gets to screens; distribution company (e.g. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures).
Marketing: The process of raising awareness; targeting an audience; creating publicity through various methods. A distributor is responsible for marketing a film.
Exhibition: The way we view; getting the film to a paying audience (e.g. Cineworld).

Media Ownership is dominated by the Big 6 Media Corporations. These exist as conglomerates.

Cel Animation - The process of first drawing each frame of animation onto paper, then transferring those to transparent acetate sheets (cel, short for celluloid). Colour is then added on the reverse of the cell. Layers are built to create dimention. The cels are individually photographed onto the film by a rostrum camera. 



Multiplane Camera - used to create an early 3-D like effect. The multiplane camera was a special camera that helped record the movement of multiple layers of artwork that would move past the camera at various speeds and distances. The first vertical multiplane camera was invented in 1933 by Ub Iwerks, the former Walt Disney Studios animator and director. Disney used this approach to create a 3 – D like effect in several Jungle Book sequences



Previsualization The visualization (now especially through the use of computers) of how something will look when created or finished. Ultimately, previsualization is the process of imagining and planning a final product. Can be on screens or storyboard - shows what the finishing product should look like.

Motion Capture - the process of recording the movement of objects or people. The technology originated in the life science market for gait analysis but is now used widely by VFX studios, sports therapists, neuroscientists, and for validation and control of computer vision and robotics. People wear suits which has coloured spots on the suit so that the computer can track the movement of the person and then change the person into the character/animal that the producers want.

Blue Screen Technology - a blue background in front of which moving subjects are filmed and which allows a separately filmed background to be added to the final image.


Why is the Exhibition in the UK from Disney important?
Disney controls the way a film is produced and distributed retaining more profit and are also able to use some of their own media channels such as ESPN to market their films






































How Audiences Consume and Interpret Long Form Television Dramas

How Audiences Consume and Interpret Long Form Television Dramas Frank Underwood and Claire represent the anti-hero their characters are co...