Decision Day

This blog is going to be very different from my usual blogs. Normally, I take on this essay style to fit the criteria of the blog topic, but this blog is about my decision when it comes to which project I will contribute my time and effort to during my AICE Media Studies class. The decision is between doing a two minute video of the beginning of a film or doing the four pages of a magazine issue.  According to Wayne Cherry, the author of the article "Our Place in the Universe: The Importance of Story and Storytelling in the Classroom", he states that, "The Four Cs of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity go hand in hand with storytelling projects in the classroom". If I wan to create a good storytelling project for this class, I need to keep these essential concepts in mind while making my decision. I will be discussing the pros and cons to each of the projects, as well as some background information, and decide which project I will take part in.

As stated before, the two options are creating a short two minute opening of a film or four pages of a magazine. The film will need to consist of creating an excellent opening. Details and film techniques will be greatly required to create a masterful beginning to a nonexistent film that will make the audience want to continue watching. The magazine project consists of four pages. These pages are the cover, the table of contents page, and the first two pages of a featured article. Photo editing skills are key here. Let's go more into depth with these projects and the software I would need to use for each.

Let's start with the two minute opening film project. This is often the first choice people will gravitate to first because it seems more fun. It's fun to direct, film, act, and edit effects to make a cool little video. The software program that will be used, if I choose this project, will be Premier Pro. Premier Pro is a pretty great video editing program. While I was learning how to use the the software, I made a short, two minute video on 'The Adventures of Mr. Super Hand Sanitizer'. It was just a few clips that were put together of me recording my hand sanitizer with a sticky note cape 'fighting' a virus, which was a hand drawn paper cut out. I found this software to be really fun to mess around with and fairly easy to use.

However, making a polished two minute video seems very implausible with the current state of the world. The pandemic made the future very unstable and unpredictable. If I were to do a video project, I would need to find a location to record and set a schedule for the actors, which will be other students contributing to the project, to meet. If there were to be another mandatory lockdown in my area, all of those plans will need to be cancelled. This puts a big risk on the project because it may not be possible to complete it. If I don't complete the project, that automatically means I fail the class. 

Now I'm going to talk about the four page magazine project. This project is still pretty cool. Writing articles comes very easily to me so that won't be an issue. I mean, have you seen how article/essay like my blogs are? The project doesn't limit you on what your magazine can be about. This means that any topic is on the table. There are also many resources that provide tips and tricks to create unique covers and show some cool ideas on how to organize the magazine pages.

The downside to choosing this project is that the software program that is being used isn't very easy for me to work with. The program is called Indesign. It's not that it's a bad program, I just don't understand it as much as Premier Pro. I kept getting lost during the tutorial and I kept messing everything up. Another disadvantage is that magazines aren't very popular. As of right now, the most magazine exposure I received was a few weeks ago during class when we were learning about magazine cover techniques. This is pointed out in the article, "Survival of the fittest: four editors on the future of literary magazines" by Joey Frankin. The article shows how four magazine editors are adapting to the decrease in popularity of magazines. It states that, "Literary magazines have never faced so much adversity..." which is the primary reason why I have not had much exposure to magazine articles.

Now, I am a very logical thinker. As you've seen from the text above, I assess the different opportunities and detriments of each choice and decide what is best for me. Although it seems that there are more downsides to choosing the journal article, that is the option I choose. I find that multiple smaller problems are a lot easier to deal with than a few big problems. Especially when one of those big problems are that the project may not be completed. Even though I will need help with the software for the magazine, I will have a much higher chance of getting it done than the video project. 

There is also another factor that I didn't even mention. This factor is that this project can be done with the help of other students. Before the second week of class, I already had someone who I planed to work with. We both decided on doing the magazine project for basically the same reasons. We even planned out some ideas before hand on what the magazine issues would be about. The ideas may shift as we continue to work on the project, but we have a basic idea. As for the problems I have with this project, we will work together and make that we don't fall behind.

With all these factors in mind, I have decided to do the four page magazine issue.

Magazine Cover Review

Covers of a magazine are the first thing people see when reading a magazine. They are specifically designed to grab people's attention and ensure that they are continually reading it. According to Michael Scherer, in his article "Chances are you won't bother to read this article. It is just one long block of text, after all, unbroken by alluring pictures, snappy captions, or eye-grabbing infographics. You can't click it. You can't flip it. All you can do is read it. (Does Size Matter?)", he states that, "... the visual sea change has overtaken the magazine industry in the last three decades...They are filled with color, oversized headlines, graphics, photos, and pull quotes." Magazine covers are a staple of not only magazine advertisement, but also embrace the statement design of the magazine company. A lot of information is given on just the magazine cover alone. By studying the choices that magazine companies make regarding their magazine's covers, you can find so much information of the company, what they stand for, and who their target audience are.

Starting with gathering information of the magazine company, it is clear what their main topics are based on the cover alone. Let's take a look at an example of this. The Better Homes and Gardens magazine is a perfect example. Looking at the cover alone shows that the magazine company is all about arts and crafts. They are geared toward the idea that, 'you need to put up a good image' and 'you need to outdo all of your friends to show how great you are'. The magazine cover that I was shown was a Halloween/Autumn issue. Everything was color coded and the image was of nicely decorated pumpkins and ghost cookies. The text is focused on the top and sides of the cover so that the most eye-catching thing on the cover is the well decorated pictures. See how much information there was from just the cover of the magazine. I already assessed that they were all for decorations and crafts for people who want to look better than some of their peers. 

Another example of getting information from just the cover of a magazine is Sports Illustrated. The title alone can give you an idea of what the magazine company is about. Anyway, the cover shows a man (most likely a famous sports player) in the direct center with a field background. All of the letters are bold and color coded. In fact, all of the imagery is also very color coded to probably match the colors of the team being featured. It's already clear that the magazine company focuses entirely on sports and highlighting certain team's achievements (minus the swimsuit issue).

It is nice to get an idea of the company and what type of magazine they are putting into the world, but it is also interesting to see what a company stands for and positions they take for different issues. These can also be shown through magazine covers. 

O, The Oprah Magazine shows this. Although the main focus of the magazine is to make people feel good and promote positivity, there are also some smaller articles based on political issues in the United States. On her cover, it shows a big picture of her smiling with her dog on her shoulders because as I have stated before, this magazine company is focused on positivity. However, on the top, there is a small article introduction that states, "Oprah Talks to Voters. Our election roundtable revisited: Who is still with Trump, who isn't?" Although it isn't the main focus of the magazine, it still shows what the company stands for when it comes to United States Politics. 

Another example of the cover showing where a company stands for is GQ. In contrast to O, The Oprah Magazine, they are very clear about what they stand for and scream it in big lettering and a very cool and lighting dramatic picture. In electric blue lettering and font, the main article is shown, "CHANGE IS GOOD. A special issue featuring TRAVIS SCOTT and the Ragers, Agitators, & Activists who are boldly imagining the future." It's already clear on the issue they are talking about, and what they are standing for just by looking at the cover.

Now, it would be pointless to talk about magazine covers without covering the topic of target audience. Different magazine companies target different types of people and it shows through their choices on their magazine. It is very stereotypical of gender, race, and other demographics; but it is what attracts those demographics to the specific magazine. In the words of Michael Scherer, "In addition to grabbing attention, the explosion of choices parallels a fragmentation of consumer tastes." The consumer will pick what they are interested in and stick to the magazine company if it keeps producing magazines of similar, if not the same, interests. 

I have already sort of covered this with my examples for companies showing their stand on issues. O, The Oprah Magazine is geared towards women looking for life advice; which is why the issue is not really the main focus of the cover page. Compare is to GQ's cover page which is bold and don't leave their views on issues to a side article. This is considered to be stereotypically male which is the target audience of GQ magazines. It is a stunning difference. 

Other than gender, there are many other target audiences that magazines will cater to. Southern Living is a great example of this. Southern Living's target audiences are people who live in the Southern part of the United States. From their cover alone (which was the food issue) it showed a big picture of this delicious food. On the sides were color coordinated texts of articles, which were mainly along the lines of # of recipes to try, but it was more catered to residents of southern United States. 

As shown from all these examples, the cover page of magazines are very important. Looking at them in-depth show so much about the magazine company and much more.

Title Sequence Clips

When I would watch movies, I would often look at the opening sequence as just a blip in the movie. I saw it as an insignificant introduction that made me wait for what I came for. Sure, some opening sequences, such as The Lion King (1994), were fun and entertaining to watch, but in the back of my mind, I really wanted the movie to get on with it. It wasn't until recently, during my AICE Media Studies class, that I realized that opening sequences aren't just filler to get the movie started, but rather a brief summary of the tone, the characters, the setting, or the genre of the entire film.

Going back to The Lion King example, when I watched it as a kid, I remember thinking, 'Why are there so many animals? Isn't this a movie about lions and that pig looking thing?' and 'Awww! Look at that baby lion! It's so cute!' I didn't pay attention, or even notice, the significance of the opening until I re-watched it with the intent to figure out why the opening sequence was the way it is. Starting with the music, it starts suddenly and very loud! The music continues with the lyrics being sung in Zulu, and African language. The screen shows the sun rising then turns to many beautiful shots of the savanna. These shots, along with the music, establish that the story takes place in a savanna somewhere in Africa. Then there are the various shots of different animals, in the savanna, looking in one particular direction and then traveling to that location. This signifies that there is something very important that is going on. The audience is then introduced to three of the main characters: Mufasa, Rafiki, and Simba. They are shown to be important. Mufasa is standing over all the other animals on Pride Rock, the animals clear a way for Rafiki to come through, and Simba gets held up by Rafiki as all the animals cheer. Then BAM! The title card hits as the music comes to its last beat leaving the audience with excitement for the remainder of the movie.

(obtained from the nytimes)

Now, I know that's a lot on just one movie opening sequence, but there is just so much information that is conveyed in those first few minutes. The audience is introduced to the setting, become aware of who the main characters, and gather insight to the rolls that each of the main characters play. The opening scene has so much significance to the movie it is a part of. According to the article First frames: titles in the digital realm, by Miles Merril, it states that, "The typography and visual style created in the opening sequence can establish the mood and image system not only for the film you are about to watch, but for the poster, DVD/video packaging, web site, and all promotion and branding graphics." The opening sequences of a movie can do more than just show the important characters, but it can also set the tone of the rest of the movie. Let's look at an example of that. 

Scream (1996) is a horror movie with an intense opening that clearly sets the tone for the rest of the film. It immediately starts with anxiety filled music with sudden screams as the title card appears in white then fades to red to represent blood. This is then juxtaposed with a girl who is just chilling in her home and getting ready to watch a movie. The phone rings. She answers it with a friendly greeting. A calm male voice answers the phone and they casually chat. The girl says that the caller got the wrong number and she hangs up. A causal wrong number call. The phone rings. She picks it up and it is the same guy on the other end. They continued to talk casually as the caller asks for the girl's name. The girl doesn't give him her name and hangs up again. She goes back to getting her popcorn ready. The phone rings. She picks it up, but this time the conversation is longer. He asks her what she is doing. She replies that she is getting ready to watch a horror movie. The discuss about which horror movies they like and there is some meta commentary about horror movies. The man keeps asking to know her name. When she refuses, the man says, "I wan to know who I'm looking at." Suddenly mysterious music starts to play as the tone shifts from light banter, to a sudden anxiety unsafe feeling. Despite the man's "attempts" to fix his mistake, the girl knows what's going on and hangs up the phone. The music gets more and more intense as she goes deeper and deeper into panic and fear. The phone rings. She picks it up and starts yelling at the man to buzz off or she will call the police (with stronger language). His voice suddenly scowls at her giving a very sudden shock compared to the cool and controlled voice he was using during their earlier conversation. They are yelling at each other, the girl out of shear fear and the man continuing to aggressively yell. She tells him that she has a boyfriend that will find the man behind the phone. The man behind the phone goes back to his calm voice and asks, "His name wouldn't be Steve would it?" She shakily asks, "How do you know his name?" "Turn on the patio light."

(Obtained from Natasha Wilson, a blog)

Now, I did leave out some lines because it would be much longer, but what we just saw there was the tone being set for the entire movie. You see that it went from calm to sudden panic and fear. Even the title, with its sudden appearance turning from white to red, was a big indicator that this movie was not going to be a nice walk in the park. In fact, Miles Merril takes not of this in his article. He states that, "Flim titles are very important because they set up the expectation of an audience." As shown from Scream, the title card immediately showed the audience that the film was going to be very scary and anxiety filled. Three other films that have great examples of using title cards are Saturday Night Fever, Pulp Fiction, and What About Bob?

(obtained from dailynews)

Saturday Night Fever has a very upbeat and chill tone. This is shown through opening sequence and the title card. The title appears in red letters in front of the main character's feet, who is walking to the beat of the song "Stayin' Alive".  Pulp Fiction's title card appears right as the opening scene shifts tones from a really iffy coffee date with racist comments to a full blown armed robbery. The title comes in BIG BOLD ORANGE LETTERS on a black background with a loud heavy metal guitar rift playing in the background. What About Bob has a very simple title card with the thin blue letters overlapping each other as the gold fish in the background is swimming around to calm music. Based on these three examples alone, you get a very close idea of what the film is going to be like based on the way the title card is presented. 

Overall, a movie's opening sequence can show the audience what the movie will be all about and get them in the mindset of the genre that is being presented. All the elements come together to create a great introduction that gets the audience ready for the rest of the movie.