Magazine Evaluation

Brief

For the preliminary task with Ms Elger, we were asked to create a new school magazine’s cover and contents page within Photoshop, featuring a mid-shot photo of a student within the background, along with some appropriately laid out text and a masthead.

Mock Up Images / Flat Plan

Mock Cover

From the start, I wanted to have a semi-posh feel to the cover, in order to add both comedic effect and class (no pun intended). All the cover lines were also related to in-school activities and events, so it becomes relevant to the students, and news that may effect them is also placed in it in order to lure people into buying it - by giving news of upcoming events in the school, you give them a reason to keep buying it (keeping up to date with the times).

Mock Contents Page

In order to attract the younger audience (the students), I gave the contents page a sort of "comic" feeling to it, to keep the tone informal whilst relevant (the panels would be filled with pictures related to the school. The contents list is also easy to read through, being clearly labelled and having relatively large text.

Skills Development – What did we learn?

I learnt how a magazine cover should be laid out – how it’s colour schemes, use of font, choice of cover lines and overall style can contribute towards targeting a specific audience, as well as what makes a good contents page.

That, and people always look better with top hats.

Hot Fuzz + This is England How do they relate to a British audience?

Skins Tony Stonem

What do we learn about Tony in the opening scene(s)?

Systematic Nature

In the opening scene, we see Tony open his eyes at the sound of distant church bells, and the camera zooms out from his face and reveals his bed. The bed sheet itself has two headless bodies on, and Tony sleeps between them, looking like a 'floating head' - this could be the directors way of portraying Tony as detached from normal feelings and the like, as you see later on in the series when he decides to cheat on his girlfriend and win her back just to get create excitement. The bed is also extremely neat, and, coupled with the fact that he's awake before his alarm actually goes off, it's suggested that he may suffer from insomnia (being unable to sleep, either at all or for extended periods of time).

His bedroom as a whole is extremely neat, and his clothes are folded and packed neatly into drawers - this hint at a possible case of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in him. He also goes through a rather specific series of workouts when the alarm goes out, suggesting he does it repeatedly each morning, with a specific routine to go through - this is again suggested by his watch alarm going off (apparently set by him) that tells him when his sister has come back, and he goes through a routine to distract his father so she can let herself in. This is apparently a part of the routine, as his father states that it happens "every morning".

Confidence

The neatness of his clothes and the systematic workout he goes through in the morning, accompanied by the unashamed flirting with the (then naked) woman across the street, shows Tony's confidence, taking pride in both his appearance and his effect on people. This may also add to the self-centred / detached nature of his character - he doesn't seem to get ashamed or regret things (until later on when he becomes rejected by his friends after cheating on Michelle), and just does things to keep himself entertained and feeling good about himself.

Attention Seeking?

Both the flirting with the woman across the street and the focus on keeping himself completely neat and, in some ways, 'superior' suggest a possibility of 'ADHD' (which may also be hinted at later in the series, when he does a lot just to get his friend's attentions after they abandon him). It's also suggested by the fact that his character stands out against the background of his house, which is mostly comprised of neutral colours.

Pretentious?

The book Tony reads whilst in the bathroom is called 'Nausea' by Jean-Paul Sartre - a book on existentialism. There are two main views on what him reading this book actually means - that he is either mature for his age (as at the time the show is set, Tony would be around 16), or that he is reading it simply to look intelligent (showing him to be pretentious, as well as adding to his pride in his looks).

However, the book's plot itself could relate to his character:

"The novel concerns a dejected historian in a town similar to Le Havre, who becomes convinced that inanimate objects and situations encroach on his ability to define himself, on his intellectual and spiritual freedom, evoking in the protagonist a sense of nausea."

The character of Tony believes people to be simply objects in his life, able to be manipulated and the like for his own personal gains (in order for him to "define himself, on his intellectual and spiritual freedom", if you will), whereas later on he finds them to be obstacles in his pursuit of excitement as they refuse to be manipulated by him (Michelle doesn't go back to him, Sid doesn't do what he says, etcetera.).

American Beauty Family Notes (Dinner Scene)

What do we learn about the family?

Mise-en-scène

Jane's Portrayal

When the camera cuts to the short of the family at the table, Jane can be seen to be sitting directly behind the roses as well as being surrounded by candles. This could be presenting the idea of innocence in her character, or possibly that she is the 'rose' of the family. This also links back to one of the first scenes of the film, where Carolyn can be seen to take care of the roses in the garden - this could be the directors way of suggesting that Jane is in fact the only reason that Lester and Carolyn are together, as they clearly don't seem to love each other anymore.

The Family's Portrayal

There are mainly muted colours in this scene, again, which I think is the director's way of displaying the dullness of the family themselves. The separation and formality of the table scene seems to suggest that there's also not very much of a connection between them (even if they do want to connect to one another, as in the case of Lester and Jane). The parents are also directly opposite of each other - which may not seem to abnormal, but it again adds to the formality of the situation and also suggests the two to be 'direct opposites'. Lester's submissive nature is also shown by his slumped posture in the chair (as well as his retreat to the kitchen when confronted by his wife).

Camera Work

Jane's Portrayal

The scene starts with the camera focusing on several small tables - on these tables are multiple pictures of a smiling Jane, accompanied by roses. The camera then cuts to a wide shot of the dinner table (above), and directly in between the parents sits Jane. These shots seem to be the director's way of portraying Jane, again, as 'innocent', as well as being directly in the middle of the conflict between the parents - perhaps the only reason the parents are staying together.

The Family's Portrayal

The slow zooming of the camera suggests that we, the audience, are "spying" on them, or to put it more accurately, seeing into their real lives (rather than the fake one they portray to others, as seen by the personality difference in Carolyn whilst speaking to the neighbours at the beginning of the film). This is furthered at the end of the scene when you see through the camera of Ricky, who is spying on Lester and Jane in the kitchen, and it zooms in slowly in the same way.

You also see various close ups of picture frames, besides Jane's pictures, that show the family in a seemingly happier time - one of these shows the family in a more stereotypical family hierarchy, with the father standing above the mother, adding to the feeling of regret within the character of Lester. It also shows the rag that Lester throws on the side after cleaning his hands land directly next to an old picture of the family again being happy, showing possible 

Music

The diegetic sound within the scene - referred to as "elevator music" by Jane - is 'Bali Ha'i' from South Pacific, an old song from 1949. From the dialogue, you can tell that the mother is the one who chose the song and that she's an old-fashioned person for doing so. It also shows her to be dominant, as the other characters don't really have a say in the choice of music, despite them all having to listen to it. Jane also complains that they "always" listen to it, furthering the suggestion of earlier scenes that their lives have become repetitive. It could also suggest that Carolyn too looks back on the past with regret or longing, as does the character of Lester.

Background Research Warp Films

Warp Films is a sister company of Warp Records, an English record label, and was set up in the year 1999 with from NESTA (National Endowment Science Technology and the Arts). It's based in Sheffield, England, with another office being in London, and has just 14 full-time staff.

They've produced several well known films, such as 'My Wrongs #8245-8249 & 117' (which won 'Best Short Film' at the BAFTAs) and 'This is England' in 2006, a film based on what 80's Britain was like.

Background Research Shane Meadows

Shane Meadows was born in 1972, on the 26th of December. He's 37 years old right now, and in 2006 wrote This Is England for Channel 4.

He grew up in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, in the Westlands Road area. That area is a single road which used to be full of council houses. His mother worked in a fish and chip shop, and his father was a lorry driver. His father was once considered a suspect during a murder case after finding the body of 11 year old Susan Maxwell, which in turn led to Meadows being bullied during his childhood. On weekends, he sold fruit and vegetables and in Uttoxeter Market. His love of cinema showed at that young age through regular trips to the Elite Cinema.

Shane Meadows began making independent short films in 1994, and his first feature length film was made in 1996, called 'Small Time'. His 2006 film 'This Is England' had a great reception, with Metacritic reporting it scored on average 86 out of 100, based on around 23 reviews, and recently a new 4 part drama series has been made, set about 3 years after the film and still starring the same characters, called 'This is England '86'.

Magazine Cover and Contents

Cover

Contents Page

Hot FuzzStoryboard and Annotation

American Beauty Opening Scene Analysis

Lester Burnham (played by Kevin Spacey)

• Submissive: seen by the way his character is dominated and put down by his wife and child
• Dissapointed with his life: seen by his opening statement of "In some ways I already am [dead]", and the hateful way he describes his wife - "She wasn't always like this"
• Sexually frustrated: "jerks off" in the shower, and calls it the highlight of his day
• Regrets marrying his wife, seen by his unloving descriptions of her and the line "she wasn't always like this"
• Loves, or at least doesn't hate, his daughter: he wants to help her, but doesn't see how he can - "I wish I could tell her that's all going to pass - but I don't want to lie to her"

"How does the film portray Lester as being 'trapped'?"

His character is portrayed as trapped in almost all of the elements in the scene, from visual hints, to sounds and more obviously in his dialogue. For instance, one of his opening lines is "In a way, I'm dead already", showing how he thinks of his life as insignificant yet unchanging (and the whole "dead" simile is again shown in the position his body changes to when he turns off the alarm clock - it looks like the classic "dead body" position, arms at opposite angles, etcetera.).

He's also shown to be trapped physically by physical objects and visual elements: when he's looking out of the window at his wife, the window's frame looks very similar to a prison cell's bars; when in the shower, he's physically trapped by the shower door; in the first image when he's at work, the columns on the computer monitor have him behind them, representing (again) cell bars.

"How does the music add to the atmosphere and the character of Lester Burnham?"

One of the more noticeable aspects of the music is how repetitive it is, which adds to both the atmosphere and to Lester as a character: it represents Lester as a character, in that he's found his life to be repetitive, possibly to the point where it's become an annoyance to him; the atmosphere is made to feel out-of-place, or uncomfortable, with the pacing of the music not really matching the speed of the scenes - Lester doesn't move all that much, and the other characters don't walk fast either, so a repeatedly fast beat is very out place.

"How has the Mother been portrayed in the classic Father role?"

It's easy to see how the mother has been placed into Lester's rightful role - the stereotypical family hierarchy goes in the order of Father, Mother, Children, in descending order of control, whereas in the film it seems to have shifted the Father's control to the end, so that the other roles of the family have more control than he does. The film furthers this idea through several ways: having both the wife and daughter talk down to him when he's walking to the car, and portraying him as pathetic when he accidentally opens his briefcase; when he's forced to sit in the back seat of the car like a child, whilst the actual child sits in the front with the mother (the car scene also has him being "held down" by his briefcase, again showing how he's being portrayed as trapped). The wife is also up before the man, even though (stereotypically) it's meant to be the other way around - women take longer to get ready, etcetera.

Representation The Man

This picture was taken from The Sartorialist, and was shot in Lexington Avenue, New York City

Outside of a Ralph Laurent shop

First Glance:

"Poor" - patchy clothes, smoking habit

"Working Class" - seems comfortable wearing them, can't afford new trousers and would rather patch them up

"Unclean" - again, patchy clothes, but also an untamed beard

Second Glance:

"Fashionable" - checkered shirt, scarf, rolled up trousers

"Clean" - very neat patches, tidy shoes, fingers aren't stained by nicotine

"Confident" - the pose and how comfortable he seems wearing those clothes