Planning - Lexicon of Words

Alternative

Melodic 

pop-rock

Riffs

Hooks

Acoustic

Ballads

Emotive

Guitars

Patchwork pop

Energetic

Gigs

Internet

Underground

Mainstream

Tempo

Solo

Debut

Lily Allen- Hard Out Here - Music Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0CazRHB0so

I think that Lily Allen's new video is very effective at highlighting the inequalities between men and women that still exist today. I believe it's a very accurate representation of some of the stereotypes women face, although still a little controversial, but that is just another reflection of society. I think it's unfair for Lily Allen to be compared to other controversial artists, such as Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus, because her views are in favour of women, not degrading them. The method she uses to portray this, if misunderstood, could seem as if she is degrading women, but the video is so obviously sarcastic showing the audience that she is just emphasising how outrageous these other artists are. Adding a little controversy and humour makes sure that the video gets good press, and resulting in making it a wider known message, making sure she gets her point across. The fact that the video makes people uncomfortable emphasises even more that this kind of view and representation of women should not be acceptable. When I first saw the video, I was a little uncomfortable, but I was more surprised by how little it actually shocked me. These kind of videos should not be so common, that people begin to see it as normal behaviour, a point I feel Lily put across perfectly.
It was a very brave decision for Lily, as she would have been aware of some of the complaints she would get, but it shows that she is standing up for her views, not just doing as she's told, especially by male executives, as she expresses in her video.
Lily uses features from these other controversial artists, such as the balloons from Robin Thicke's video and Twerking from Miley Cyrus's video, but uses them in a humorous way, mocking these other artists, and highlighting how wrong these portrayals of women are.
Lily Allen shows her feminist views in this video, which I find admirable, as it seems no other artists have had the confidence or willingness to do so before.

Planning - Youth Subculture Collage

This collage is supporting evidence of my Youth Subculture/ Reader Profile

My Magazine is aimed at young people aged 15 to 25, who like pop-rock/alternative style music. These teenagers are socially active, either on social networks or out and about with friends. They like to shop and experiment with styles and are also a confident audience that like to have fun and do not take themselves too seriously. They are passionate about music, always on their ipods, playing instruments or at concerts, contributing massively to the music industry. The kind of music they like is not always necessarily in the charts, but are relatively well known amongst the genres audience.

Research - My Sixth Form Magazine- Annotations and Denotations

The Arctic Monkeys

The Arctic Monkeys were an unsigned band that promoted themselves. They had no idea how to publicise their songs on the internet, so resolved to creating free demo cd's of which they handed out to the public. These cd's became known as beneath the baordwalk, and often are mistaken for their first album. Their fanbase quickly widened as their accumulated fans created a famously popular MySpace page of which the band had no idea about, or participation in, helping to make them more well known.
As the Arctic Monkeys became increasingly popular across England, BBC Radio and Tabloid press became increasingly interested in them.
The band played at a number of festivals such as Reading and Leeds for unsigned or unknown bands, where they could publicise to audiences. However, due to support from the music press the turn out for the Arctic Monkeys was greater than expected.
In 2005, the banned got signed to DOMINO records.

Planning - Featured Artist Inspiration: Music Magazine.

 Nina Nesbitt

Of Monsters and Men

Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir

These two artists are the basic inspiration for my own artist to be featured in my Magazine. Both Nina and Nanna have their own distinctive voice and music sound that makes them stand out of the crowd as musicians. They also have very distinctive style that I would like to apply to my artist too. They are both simple, with great voices and their guitar, making them relatable to a lot of the public, and in particular, my audience.

Planning - Codes and Conventions

One of the main conventions that are covered by all three examples is the placement of the Title. In each magazine the Mast head is situated in the top left corner. This is a convention that is typical of many magazine layouts. Two of my three examples include the word 'six' in their main title, such as Blackpool's "sixth sense", and St Joseph's "six". The connotations of this word link directly to 'sixth form' implying to the reader that the magazine is of an educational genre. The title 'Sixth sense' acts as a type of pun, as 'sixth' relates to the sixth form and 'sense' refers to education, but put together, they have a different meaning. On the front cover, it is also typical of all three examples to include the name of the establishing school in a tagline either underneath or above the main title.This will be a good idea to include because it gives a more professional tone to the magazine.

In the contents page it is typical to have a list of articles and their page number references, and in all of the examples the titles of the articles have been given educational puns and names that relate to sixth form. This shows that the magazine is aimed at an audience of young students.

In two of the examples, the magazines have included a 'letter from the head teacher' or 'note from the editor'. This may be quite conventional in school magazines, as it promote interactivity with the teachers at school, so would be a good aspect to include in my sixth form magazine.This also promotes a positive representation of the school, as the photo of the headteachers show them bright and smiling, and engaging with their students.

The magazines do not have a narrative because they are of an informative nature. They do not tell a story but inform the students and their parents of certain events and notifications happening at school.

The Contents pages are also quite conventional. They all include a contents title at the top of the page, with the contents list situated to the top left of the page, so this is something I shall consider using in my contents page too. Another similarity between two of the magazines is that they both include a picture of the front cover on their contents page. This helps to give the magazine a brand identity, so is something I shall definitely use in my magazine.

All the sixth form front covers have the Title coloured in white. The colour white has connotations of purity and innocence, something that is relative to children, or those at school. The majority of the colour schemes are similar, mainly white backgrounds with black font and a splash of colour here and there. This simple colour scheme keeps the magazine looking professional, therefore showing a professional representation of the school itself.