Volunteers help Cardiff students get home in freshers' week
This article from BBC News is about preventing teenagers from being a part of crime, while being under the influence of alcohol and possibly other drugs too. This is due to a number of sex attacks that happened last September "which prompted police and students'leaders to take action." They've managed to create a "Safe Taxi Scheme" and "the Student Safety Bus" to help create a safer environment for students from Cardiff University. They are supposed to help students who are "vulnerable after drinking too much".
The taxi service seems like a good idea as it lets students get home even if they don't have the money at the time, as they can pay at the student union later. This ensures that teens stay out of trouble and get straight home safely. This article also highlights the dangers of alcohol and what can happen if it's used irresponsibly, which unfortunately seems to happen a lot within this generation.
I find it really refreshing to see news like this and I think schemes like this should be much more common in all universities as it would make everyone feel safer, especially young females who might be vulnerable after a night out.
Meet the superhumans - an advert to promote the 2012 Paralympics.
The first thing the audience hears is the sound of opening doors, this could be seen as a metaphor, it is opening doors to a new start, new opportunities and an open mind. It is welcoming the audience to a world with no barriers, where possibilities are endless and potential is limitless. We then begin to hear a song by Public Enemy - "Harder than you think". This song is very upbeat and fast paced, it is supposed to make the audience feel excited while watching. Almost a minute into the advert, the music is cut. There are sounds of explosions, car crashes and a babies heart beat. This is very effective as it adds to the dramatic images shown, it makes the audience realise that all of these athletes have had a very difficult life and had unfortunately been through these experiences. It makes the advert more memorable and adds to the realism.
As for visual codes, at the beginning there is very low lighting and shows a silhouette of a human, this allows the audience to make assumptions and leaves them intrigued. It is then soon revealed that it was a disabled person. The clips from army and car accidents are used as flashbacks to remind the audience that all of these disabled athletes have been through a very hard time. Although this is supposed to be negative imagery, it then goes onto showing the superhumans succeeding and doing the same sports as non disabled people. This shows that even though unfortunate accidents have happened to these people, they've worked very hard to change it into something positive, something to be proud of. They are shown using their disabilities to their advantage. The technical codes within this media text are very effective as they clearly present the hard work and effort that these athletes put in, this is shown through the extreme close ups. Additionally, the fast cuts create an exciting atmosphere and make it possible to include many more video clips.
This is a very positive representation of disability, it's supposed to make the audience see that they really are superhumans.
Rudimental - Waiting all night ft. Ella Eyre - music video.
Throughout the video the song was obviously playing, but at the very beginning you first hear the sound of people pedaling their bikes and doing tricks, with a few beeps from cars. Then suddenly you hear someone on the bike being hit by a car. This adds to the narrative of the music video, which shows the true life story of Kurt Yaeger after his accident in 2006. For the music video to make sense, they had to include a clip of the accident. The sound of cars beeping early on was foreshadowing what is going to happen.
The music video ends in a similar way to how it starts. With the group of pro BMXers riding their bikes. In between that it shows the progression of someone who was hit by a truck. There are close ups of him in the hospital bed, and the devastated expressions of his friends and family members. This negative imagery soon turns positive when it shows all the support he was getting from his family and friends, it is what motivated him to get better. There are clips of him having fun, doing the same things he usually would. He is shown practicing to walk and putting a great amount of effort into training himself. There are even moments of anger included, where he throws bikes etc. because he was failing. But he kept practicing and finally succeeded. This would be very motivational for the audience. The fact that most of the music video is recorded from first person perspective, allows the viewers to feel like they're a part of what was happening.
I watched season 1, episode 1 of both The Only Way is Essex (2010- ) and Made in Chelsea (2011- ). These are two very successful shows in the UK, and I would argue that they both have a similar audience as both of these shows aim to show off the lifestyles of people who live in Essex and the people who live in Chelsea. There are obviously multiple differences between the shows, you can tell this by simply looking at their titles. Chelsea is seen as a more upper class area, as it is very close to central London, which means the people living there are wealthy. Whereas the people from Essex are stereo-typically known for being unintelligent and promiscuous. From the very first episode of The Only Way is Essex, it is clear that the characters massively focus on their appearance and the opposite sex. The vocabulary used throughout the episode includes of "babe" and "fit birds", this might be relatable to some audiences. The fact that the male characters call the females "fit birds" shows the lack of respect they have for them and that they're very shallow as they focus on their appearances. In the episode, the female characters are seen in beauty salons or clothing stores, and the men are seen at the gym to pass time. This implies to the audience that the characters care a lot about their appearance. Although the characters in Made in Chelsea seem to have similar interests, but they appear to be more educated as they discuss books and don't use any slang language, unlike discussing "vajazzles". The music in the TV shows is also an important aspect. In The Only Way is Essex the background music consists of the mainstream songs you'd hear on the radio such as "Frisky" by Tinie Tempah ft. Labrinth; in Made in Chelsea the background music is by the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra which is much more classy and sophisticated. Although "airplanes" by B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams, which would be considered as a pop song. In Made in Chelsea, the men and women clearly love to take care of themselves and wear nice outfits. The difference between it and The Only Way is Essex is that they shop in shops such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton as they're shown at the beginning of the show. Additionally, unlike the men in The Only Way is Essex who go to the gym as a hobby, the male characters in Made in Chelsea go canoeing and talk about playing polo. This shows a clear contrast in social class between the two shows, as only wealthy people would be known to be doing such activities. Furthermore, the divide in class and status is shown through the setting, in Made in Chelsea the characters are seen drinking champagne and cocktails in a club in central London. Unlike in The Only Way is Essex, where they all go to a local club. The shows start off very similarly as they both have two male friends discussing females in the car while they're driving; which shows that the genres and themes of the shows are very similar.
Untouchable (2011) is a French film directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano. The genre of the film would be a biography with a mixture of drama and comedy included within it. The movie covers themes and representations of disability and race but overall it is about friendship. It focuses on a mismatched friendship between a wealthy middle-aged man and a black man who's an ex-convict. Both of these characters have their own disadvantage, one physical and the other socioeconomic.
Disability is shown mostly under a positive light in this movie, it shows the audience that people with disabilities are still able to live normal and fulfilling lives. An example of this from the movie is when both of the characters go paragliding; an activity which you wouldn't expect a person who is paralyzed from the neck down to be willing, or even to be physically able to do. Phillipe hires Drill as his care taker because he doesn't treat him differently, he doesn't pity him or show him sympathy. That is exactly what Phillipe wanted. The friendship between the two of them grows and they begin to introduce each other to their own worlds. Phillipe has a massive influence on Driss on the way he behaves, this is clearly seen when at the beginning of the movie Driss violently drags a man out of his car because he was parked in a place he wasn't supposed to. Whereas towards the end of the movie, the same situation occurs, except this time Driss asks the man politely to move. This shows the audience how the character has changed positively. Similarly, Driss introduces Phillipe to a different type of music, he also lets Phillipe smoke weed... this is something the audience wouldn't expect an upper class man to be doing.
Race is also a major theme included in the movie, Driss and Phillipe are clearly from two different backgrounds and the audience would have never expected them to become friends. At the beginning of the movie, when Phillipe is interviewing people to be his carer, Driss is the only black man in the room. He is presented very differently to the white men as they are all dressed very smartly and have very good qualifications for the job. Driss however is wearing very casual street clothes and has no interest in actually applying for the job, he just wants to be able to claim his benefits. This is a negative stereotypical representation of black people, but his character grows throughout the movie and shows the audience his true loving nature.
The movie shows the development of Phillipe and Drill's friendship, it is engaging to the audience through the use of humour; which in my opinion is a big factor which lead to the movie being so successful around the world.
Social media is often recognised as having a negative effect on people's lives as it encourages some people to be superficial, give others abuse, "troll" people etc. Even though social media clearly has lots of negative side effects; some people have found that it helped them deal with their mental illness.
The anonymity that some networks provide means that people can open up about their problems without fearing negative perceptions of mental health. Additionally, people are able to connect with others who are going through the same situations/issues which helps because it allows them to feel less isolated.
A 23 year old called Sophie Hawker suffered from anxiety, she found a tweet on twitter about "someone going for their first CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy - a type of counselling) session for anxiety" this made her research further into it and gain the support and advice she needed. She said it gave her "confidence to talk about it in real life because I'd already practised talking about it online".
Madeline is a 21 year old that found Reddit and YouTube helpful. She said "The social media channels where you are interacting with people that you don't know are more helpful for mental health issues".
In my opinion, I think the media needs to be recognised for it's positive effects as well as the negative ones. Although there might be more negative effects to media and the anonymity it provides, there are also positive sides to it as it helps people express themselves in ways they can't do face to face with others. It helps people find the support and information they need to help them with whatever issues they might be going through.
I worked
alone to create a script, poster and DVD cover for a thriller that was supposed
to be aimed at a teen audience, which would be from the age of 15-20 as my
movie is rated 15. I put a lot of thought into the age rating of my movie and
conducted research to make sure I choose the appropriate rating. My movie is
called “Love –M”, it’s a thriller with sub-genres of romance and friendship
throughout. The romance included is likely to attract more females to watch it,
which is specifically why I tried to make the poster and DVD cover appeal to
both genders.
For my pre-production
I carried out research and looked at many thriller posters and DVD covers to
discover what the key codes and conventions are for the thriller genre, to help
me with my production. It was immediately clear that the colour code for
thrillers is black, white, red and hints of blue. For example, the “Shutter
Island” poster has the conventions of a thriller as it includes a picture of
the protagonist in low lighting, which creates a more mysterious atmosphere.
The title of the movie is in red, and so is the month it is coming out, these
are the only two things in red; this is purposely done as they are important
pieces of information that need to be remembered by the audience. The image of
the island, ties in with the movie title to give the audience a little bit more
information about the storyline. On my poster, the title and “coming soon” are
also the only images in red, as I thought this will catch the audience’s
attention. I also used the idea of the protagonist being in low lighting, as I think
this intrigues
the audience by making it more mysterious which should make them
want to find out more. The poster of “Gone Girl” has a central image of the
protagonist standing backwards, with his head turned toward the side so that
you can’t see his full face. I liked the idea of this as it doesn’t reveal much
to keep the audience curious; therefore I took a picture of the protagonist in
my movie in the same position and put it as the central image of my poster.
The image below is of my first
attempt in creating the poster:
I wanted the central image to be a
silhouette because the audience isn’t supposed to know who the image is of, but
once I created it and saw what it looked like I immediately realised that it
needs to be a real photograph of someone as that would look much better. This
is my final poster:
The images on my poster and DVD cover were created to appeal
to a teen audience of both genders, this was difficult as males and females
often like different genres and have contrasting ideas and preferences. This is
why I didn’t want my production to reveal too much about the movie, I want the
audience to have the freedom to be curious as this should attract them to watch
the movie. My central image is in very low lighting to create a sense of
mystery and secrecy. The background is filled with notes to give the audience a
further insight into the storyline, yet not revealing much at the same time. I
think this will appeal to a teen audience as teens often do pass notes around
to each other, but also some of the messages could be similar to ones that some
teenagers might receive online as part of cyber-bullying or blackmail. This
might make them feel relatable to the movie.
In comparison to other thriller movie posters and DVD covers, “Love –M” follows the typical colour scheme of black, white and red; with the red being specifically used to make all the important information stand out. However, the central image of most thriller posters and DVD covers is a picture of the protagonist; this is seen on the “Black Swan”, “The Guest” and “American Psycho” posters as well as many more.
In spite of this I decided to make my central
image very dark with only a side view of the characters face, as this created a
much more inexplicable style. Furthermore, the fonts used for the title of
movies are usually bold to make it eye catching, as seen in the poster of “Hard
Candy”. But I decided not to follow this feature as I thought it would be more
suitable if my title looked informal and was in a handwriting style, since the
title is what is written at the end of every note in the movie. However the
title is a darker shade of red, which makes it stand out anyway.
The notes on the poster and DVD cover were created by me to make
them appear more realistic. My DVD cover follows the same conventions as other
DVD covers of thrillers; it has a dark colour scheme with just a few images at
the back. When writing my blurb for the back cover of the DVD, I was trying to
make it interesting to make it appeal to a wide audience. The image below is of
my final DVD cover:
Overall my final production of my poster and DVD cover to
“Love –M” had similar key codes and conventions to other thriller posters
because it needs to be clear to the audience what the genre of the movie is. I
think I’ve included all of the features that are needed on posters and DVD
covers to make it look professional. Although, I think if I actually wrote out
the notes in the background and took pictures of them, the poster and DVD cover
would have looked better as they’d appear more realistic. Additionally, I
could’ve taken more interesting images for the back of my DVD cover to attract
people to watch it.
This article is from The Guardian newspaper, it's aim was to attract everyone's attention to the major fault in iPhone 6. It achieved this through revealing the so called "error 53" problem. "Thousands of iPhone 6 users claim they have been left holding almost worthless phones because Apple's latest operating system permanently disables the handset if it detects that a repair has been carried out by a non-Apple technician." This problem only becomes apparent if users update to the latest version of Apple's iPhone software, iOS 9. After it was installed many people lost their photos and other data held on the handset, tech experts claim that Apple knows all about the problem, and have done nothing to warn people that this may happen once you install the new update.
It's very clear that Apple haven't mentioned this because they didn't want to lose customers, and also so that people will have to pay more to get their iPhone's repaired as "Apple charges £236 for a repair to the home button on an iPhone 6 in the UK, while an independent repairer would demand a fraction of that." I think that "error 53" was created purposely so that customers are forced to pay much more to repair their phone, I think this is ridiculous because Apple seem to do this a lot, as there are also multiple problems with their chargers.
