Language, Audience and Representation - Consolidation Task

Language:
The masthead is at the top of the magazine slightly covered by the model which suggests that the magazine is well known and confident in itself as the full title doesn't need to be visible for people to recognise what it is. Surrounding the sides of the magazine cover are secondary articles which give an insight as to what the magazine includes and implies to the audience that the magazine contains a lot of information. The colour scheme is black, red and white. The colour red is bold and masculine which highlights the important articles and also adds a modern tone to the magazine. The bright red colour also contrasts with the other colours that are used. The feature article photograph is Jay-Z, he is placed central on the cover facing the camera and making eye contact, which is directly addressing the audience. Jay-Z is wearing a black and white suit which portrays the magazine as sophisticated and professional. This links in with the secondary article placed on the left hand side of the model saying 'Smart Business'.

Audience:
The demographic audience for this GQ magazine would be men aged 20-35. Furthermore, the psychographic audience for this magazine would be business men who are interested in professional wear. Also men who are interested in cars as the cover features the 'GQ Drive' article.

Representation:
The model on the magazine cover, Jay Z, is dressed in a suit which makes him look sophisticated. Also, he is stood slightly leaning to the side and the smile on his face makes him look relaxed and approachable. This challenges the stereotype of black rap artists who are commonly stereotyped as aggressive, often wearing a baseball cap, gold chains and casual wear. Black rap artists stereotypically have unfriendly facial expressions, whereas the model on this cover is the opposite.

Use of camera angles and movement in a film clip

The Shining typewriter scene:

1) What camera angles and shots are used when Wendy is reading at the typewriter?
The camera angle when Wendy is reading the typewriter is a low angle shot looking up. Then a POV shot is used as she looks at what Jack has been doing followed by a zoom shot which is used as she realises what he has been doing.

2) How do they make us feel?
The use of a low angle shot allows the audience to see Wendy's facial expressions as she reads the typewriter. We know from this shot that what she is reading is shocking her simply due to the expression on her face which makes us curious as to what she is reading. This shot also allows us to see everything she does and makes us feel like part of the action.

3) Where does the zoom in take place, and what is its effect? 
A mid shot is used to begin followed by a zoom to a close up shot as Wendy is staring at the typewriter looking at what Jack has done. This shot is used in order to reflect the shock and horror that she is feeling as she realises what her husband has been doing, a person who she thought she knew well. It also shows the audience that Wendy is not aware of anything surrounding her, she is only focused on the typewriter.

4) What camera shots are used as Jack moves into the room?
A tracking shot is used to show Jack entering the room. An over the shoulder shot is then used to show the audience that Wendy is being watched and emphasises the fact that he is behind her and that she is unaware of this.

5) How does this make us feel? 
The over the shoulder shot makes the audience feel the tension building up as Jack creeps up on his wife. The fact that she is unaware of this makes us worry and feel scared for her. The audience can also in some way sympathise with Wendy as her husband is showing such unusual behaviour.

Past paper questions

Analyse the front covers for both GQ and Saga magazines commenting on the visual codes, layout, design, language and mode of address. (40 marks)

On the GQ magazine cover the model, Clint Eastwood is centred and making eye contact with audience, this mode of address is directly addressing them.  He is wearing a denim shirt and jeans which is associated with the Western genre. His sleeves are rolled up showing his veins holding connotations of aggression and action. To emphasise this point further there appears to be a red tint over his skin portraying him as a 'rebel' like character. This image ties in with the language used such as 'Badass'. The magazine cover also uses more informal language such as 'Stuff' and 'Bros'. Furthermore, the title of the magazine 'GQ' is partially hidden suggesting that the magazine are confident in their product.

Target audiences

The first magazine I have chosen is 'Mens Health'. The demographic audience for this magazine is men aged 20-30 and the psychographic audience is those interested in having a healthy lifestyle. The language used demonstrates this as it uses phrases such as 'Burn fat fast'. The font is large and bold highlighting this as the main magazine article. Another psychographic audience measure would be homosexual men as they use a clean, cut male model positioned central on the magazine. The audience of this magazine has been targeted in different ways. Firstly, the colour scheme of the magazine cover is red, blue and black. The masthead is in red, aswell as key articles such as 'The 9 to 5 six pack' this links into the colour red having connotations of energy and speed. This suggests to the audience that the article will feed them fast results.

Analytical task - Hawaii Five O

Hawaii Five O shows that it is a crime drama through different ways. Firstly is the use of the characters which are always used in typical crime dramas such as villains, heroes, experts and ambiguous characters. The episode has the typical characters for this specific genre, for example the heroic characters are the cops and there are villains who are engaged in the crime in the prison. The heroic  The props used are all generic features of the crime drama genre as there are: guns, prisoners uniform, prison guards uniform, body armour and police cars. It is set in an American big city which follows the generic features of crime dramas, as they tend to be set in big cities where crime tends to take place. The camera work in this episode of Hawaii Five O matches the genre of crime drama because the editing is fast making it exciting as this genre is supposed to be.

We can see from this episode of Hawaii Five O that it follows Robert McKee's narrative structure. It begins with the inciting incident when Chin wakes up handcuffed to the bed by those who have broken into his flat. Then progressive complications begin to take place, Chin is drugged, kidnapped and put into a prison. The crisis then occurs as Chin realises he is in prison with people that he himself, as a cop, has put into prison. The climax of the narrative happens when the prisoners escape out of their cells and a riot takes place, those who Chin had put in prison previously now go head to head with him. Then the main issue is resolved as Chins friends break him out of the prison and return him to safety.

Enigmas are used throughout the episode of Hawaii Five O in order to make the audience question what is happening and keep them interested. An example of this is when Chin gets kidnapped and put into prison, we as the audience wonder why he has been chosen to be put into prison and who has decided to do this. Once Chin is in the prison and riots take place we wonder whether Chin will survive and we question if he will be able to escape. This makes us want to keep watching in order to see what does happen. 

A series tells a different story in each episode whereas a serial has on going stories that run through many different episodes. Personally I think that Hawaii Five O is a serial as there a little stories running alongside the main story within the episode, which will carry on throughout following episodes. An example of this is the story of the detectives boyfriend and his suspicious behaviour, we will find more about this later on as it is not the main focus of the episode. 

Codes and conventions

For my chosen magazine I have used cosmopolitan, which follows all the codes and conventions of a magazine cover. It has a masthead at the top of the page and a pug in the top right hand corner. This magazine cover also has a feature article photograph of Angelina Jolie in the middle with a headline linked to it. It displays the date and price and also the barcode. Furthermore, there are secondary articles around the side of the cover which give you an insight to what is going to be in the magazine. However, on this magazine cover there is no puff used. 

The mode of address for this magazine is informal as it uses informal language such as 'sex' and calls people by their first name only, for example 'Angelina' rather than 'Angelina Jolie'. The colour scheme of the magazine cover is blue, yellow and white. These are all bright colours suggesting that this is an uplifting and engaging magazine.

Connotations and denotations

For my film poster I have chose the horror film A Nightmare On Elm Street, the colour scheme of this poster is black and red. The designer of the poster has chose this as red has connotations of danger and blood which gives you an idea of what the film is going to be about. The designer also uses black as this colour has connotations of death and creates a sense of mystery which gives you a further insight on what the film is about. On the poster there is a woman on the floor with a look of fear in her face which suggests the figure stood tall behind her is haunting her. The fact that the figure behind her is stood tall shows that he takes pride in his work. Furthermore the figure is wearing a dark outfit which implies that he works at night where he can hide in the shadows. Finally, the light coming from the window outlines the figure suggesting that he is the prominent character.

For my game cover I have chose the game dishonored, the main colour scheme is black and grey suggesting that this is a dark game as both of the colours used are dark. Furthermore, black has connotations of death which suggests that this game involves death.