Q9 LEGO ad breaks

The LEGO Movie was a huge success and when it aired on ITV as Warner Bros. used the ad break to their advantage. When the film stopped for an ad break, the advertisements that would have originally played seemed altered from usual. The ads took on a LEGOfied form where rather than real life with real actors, LEGO characters took their place. This was an extremely clever move by Warner Bros. because they did something that hadn't been seen before and they generated 5% more revenue onto the opening weekend revenue.

The target audience was primarily a younger demographic (12 years old and below) but it certainly stirred a sense of nostalgia within the older audiences who may have grown up with it. This nostalgic feeling couples with the sense of humour in the original adverts convey so, therefore, people may chuckle along, enjoying the entertainment as much as the film.

Emmet's representation as the hero of the story whilst also being portrayed as weak and scared is a break from the stereotype of heroes being cool and calm in the face of adversity. This promotes a good image of self as the tagline on many of the posters is: 'The story of a nobody that saved everybody'. This makes it seem as though anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it - which is a beautiful message (and it's true)!

Similarly, with the character Wyldstyle, the stereotype of being the damsel in distress is broken and she in-fact saves the main protagonist multiple times. This is a growing trend as women's rights and strength are getting more and more recognised in society so the showing of strong women to impressionable children boosts the image of women and helps young girls feel empowered.

Bob Marley cover - Q4

Refer to Extract 1 in the insert. Analyse the representation of Jamaican Reggae music andmusicians such as Bob Marley in this MOJO front cover. (5 marks)

This MOJO Magazine has gone against its normal stereotypes of having very black and white colours and rock stars by featuring a full-colour picture of the reggae star Bob Marley. Bob Marley’s name is emblazed in the Jamaican colours which shows how he was very colourful and how that colour now represents reggae due to its origin. Reggae is a big influence in Jamaican culture and having Bob Marley on the front cover of MOJO Magazine shows that they respect all cultures and music.

Having Marley covering the masthead shows how important he is and makes you realise how big he is in the reggae music scene. The cover mount includes the words ‘explosion’ and ‘classics from the birth of reggae’ which connote excitement and ‘classic’ a sense of nostalgia. Rather than a stern and serious face, Marley is smiling and looking directly at the reader as if he’s happy to see them – this breaks the usual stereotype of rock icons being portrayed as serious, even saints in some. However, the magazine also keeps a bit of its stereotype with ‘BOWIE THE LOST ALBUM’ coupled with a black and white photo of Bowie looking over his shoulder. 

Q4 MOJO Magazine cover and representation of artists

MOJO magazines present musicians and artists as important and powerful, often with strong and confident stances looking at the camera. They're positioned in front of the name of the magazine, implying that they're more important than the magazine itself.

The magazine has broken its usual stereotype of only having male rock icons on the cover, which shows that this woman (Joni Mitchell) has made a big impact on the music scene. The black and white colour pallet makes it seem as though Joni is part of history, engraved in music legends.

The tagline of 'The agony & ecstasy' makes it seems like she has gone through a lot to get to where she is today and that she has had failures and triumphs in her career. Her quote "My gift was born of tragedy" enforces this point as she clearly has had a hard time but it only made her stronger and better.

Q8 - 5 marks - Observer online

PREP
To revise the 'media language' question, you focus on the layout. It is a quick and easy question, worth 5 marks and only 2 examples needed. Please copy the question onto your blog and write the 2 examples taken from the recent Observer online. The answers below will help you.

The use of a dark blue colour for the header connotes serious, sober and objective news. The colour blue infers a serious and formal feeling to the site and helps tell the reader that this newspaper covers hard news.

The highly ordered layout of the homepage with columns and squares making it clean and sorted, the use of white for a background and the little use of graphics and big pictures present a fresh, non-cluttered experience for users which also presents a seriousness that tells the reader that there will be hard news.

Q9 Observer online messages and values

1.  The major use of newspapers is to offer a sense of knowing what is going on in the world. The Observer knows that its readers are serious and interested in international affairs. This is evident in hard news articles about..... politics (Brexit) and protests in foreign countries (yellow vest protest in France)



2. The Observer meets its audience's need for a range of cultural, sporting and artistic news. It provides these 
with... articles about music and history involving Britain



3. The Observer does not shy away from 'difficult' issues that could make uncomfortable reading, such as... the hunger strike in an Iranian jail and violent protests in France



4.  The Observer has sections which are designed to appeal to different types of readers.The Observer reflects the diversity of its readership in articles on... students and education as well as foreign people like Rahaf al-Qunun 



5.  Newspaper readership can still be used as a symbol of one’s social identity. The term ‘Guardian reader’ connotes a certain type of social attitude and The Observer  similarly reinforces a set of social and political attitudes, and thus identity, in its representations. For example, Observer  readers like to think of themselves as open-minded and this is reflected in the Observer’s practice of allowing both sides of an argument equally to be put when the newspaper is clearly on one side of this argument. There is an example of this in.... the main article on the page about Brexit and how they have opinions on Brexit and the current state of the government further down

6.  The entertainment function of newspapers may take the form of humour.  It may take the form of diversion into

a celebrity world of ‘glamour’. It may take the form of human interest stories in which readers are invited to sympathise with the subjects of the article. Newspapers further offer games, puzzles, crosswords and the like. At the higher end, sections such as the New Review in the Observer may offer the pleasure of extremely well-written think pieces and literature reviews. An example of this is.... the article on 'why today's leading men are driven to be buff'

Year 11 prep: Music Video Question

TD - Teenage Dirtbag
SB - Sk8er Boi


This video is documentary style mostly hand-held camerawork, de-saturated colour and fast-paced editing. - SB

This video has saturated colour, more controlled camerawork, slower-paced editing. - TD


This video consists of mostly montage shots. - SB


This video has more developed editing with cause and effect. - TD


In this video, the singer values rebellion, which is seen in the narrative. - SB


In this video, the singer values 'fitting in', conformity, albeit to an oppressive system, which is seen in the narrative. - TD


This video is set in LA, a big city, with its connotations of street credibility. - SB


The mise-en-scene of this video is American suburbia with its connotations of conformity. - TD


This video is intertextual in its narrative (=it makes references to high school drama). - TD


In this video, the singer performs to camera. - SB


In this video, real locations and 'everyday' costume for the performers connote a sense of naturalism. - SB 


In this video, there is a sense of linear narrative (a story is told, in the order it unfolds). -SB & TD

QUESTION 1 CUFFS

Sound:

The cafe is busy and you can tell by the diegetic sound of people talking and the clinking of cups and plates, yet it gives off a sense of calm and normality of the situation. The PCSO's call for assistance brings in a change of mood in the relaxing and calm scene in the cafe; it brings an air of urgency. There is a wheel-screech as the JCB forklift turns into the public area. When the protagonists leave the cafe the music starts (non-diegetic) and when they start driving there is a lot of screeching, implying that they're driving at a high speed, connoting that it's urgent that they go.

I'd give myself a 3 out of 5