Reading an image

Reading an image

In this advert, a black and white colour scheme is used perhaps as a way of making viewers immediately aware that 50 Cent is in fact an endorser of the Reebok brand. By doing this, it's clear that the main point they wanted to establish through the advert was 50 Cent's association with the brand since with his popularity at the time, it's certain he would've been capable of influencing consumers, particularly those listening to hip-pop, to begin purchasing Reebok products. If actual colours were used in the poster though, the focus of the advert [50 Cent] may not have been as initially striking as it is in black and white. This is further aided by the fact that the shot used of 50 Cent isn't a full body shot, but rather a close up of his face on an eye level as if he's looking directly at the viewer with a rather serious expression, adding to the more personal aspect of the ad. Not only this, but the quotations on the right side of the close up shots of 50 also add another layer to the personal aspects of it all. With the tagline in the centre reading 'i am what i am,' placed in front of a collection of fingerprints, it's apparent 50 is saying your identity isn't something to be ran away from and rather your individuality should be embraced by yourself. The fact that the font of this tagline is one that often be considered to be synonymous with gang affiliation, something 50 has in fact experienced himself, it's apparent that he's embracing exactly what the tagline says as oppose to denying it since it makes him who he is. This is again, further supported by the quote in the top-right as he refers to how things like life aren't always promised around where he's from because of things such as gang warfare, and so people should take the time to do whatever they need to do as soon as possible.

This advert for the iPhone 5 is a fair bit more simplistic than the previous one. The colour scheme first off is pretty simple, although not being black and white, with everything in front of a white backdrop. With the phone being displayed on the left at different angles side-by-side to showcase how they look effectively, and the title 'iPhone 5' being on the right of it, it's clear exactly what this product is. However it's the tagline in particular which stands out with: 'The biggest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone.' With this being said, it's almost suggested that the iPhone 5 is a revolutionary device in its own right in a way similar, if not exactly the same in terms of new features, to the very first iteration of the phone. Whether this is done by new hardware or software isn't stated, but it's this obscurity of what exactly the phone brings new to the table that contributes to the drawing in of more customers. It's taglines like this which truly entice those who see it to purchase the product since they want to understand what exactly they're missing out on by not having the phone in the first instance. An oppositional reading for this though, could be that in reality the phone isn't revolutionary by any means and it's just a new paintjob for the phone glamorised by the iconic advertising of Apple. 

Media consumption audit

Media consumption audit

Newspapers

In terms of newspapers, I tend to read the 'The Guardian' and 'BBC News' predominantly as well as the 'Daily Mail' here and there just for the fun of it. When I read these publications not only do I do it on my mobile phone as oppose to obtaining physical copies due to more simpler accessibility offered by the smartphone, but I also rush to the technology section. After having read over the top stories of the day and the news of the world in general as a means of just being aware of current affairs, I go to the technology section since I possess quite an avid interest for the happenings in the technological world whether it be about new iterations in the Android operating system or developments in virtual reality.

Television

I actually don't watch television particularly often and maybe that's due to the fact that there's applications such as YouTube which allow for more in variety in what you can view. However when I do watch TV, it's usually the news and that's about as far as it goes. When they're on though, I watch 'The Apprentice' for it's more funnier moments and 'Youngers' for its depiction of London teenagers venturing into the music industry.

Radio

I actually happen to not listen to the radio at all whatsoever. This may be due to the fact that I don't happen to be the biggest fan of mainstream music by any means and I also tend to listen to more artists from the U.S rather than from the U.K.

Cinema

I don't get the opportunity to watch films that often due to timing constraints with things like homework and school in general. When I do watch them however, it tends to be with friends at the cinema and the last one I did go and watch was 'Fast and Furious 7,' which in my opinion wasn't all that it was cut out to be. 

Online

I access the internet on a daily basis whether that be at home or school for primarily research, educational and entertainment purposes. With this said websites I frequent on my laptop and phone are 'theverge.com' for technological updates, 'rap.genius.com' for in-depth annotations of lines of from rap songs I want to decipher and 'google.co.uk' because well, it's Google. When it comes to social networks though, the one I use primarily is Instagram due to my admiration for the concept of photography and videography. However I'm going to be using it nowhere near as often as I did during the summer holiday due to the challenges posed by the next 2 years of A-levels and also a developing questioning of social networks in general.

Why Media?

Media. The significance of the concept of media is somewhat unrealised and unthought about in our day-to-day lives, which is particularly ironic considering that it actually does make appearances in our day-to-day lives persistently. As said in the definition above, media can crop up in outlets whether that be televisions, mobile devices or magazines, all things we tend to use quite frequently in the modern world, showing its constant presence in our everyday lives regardless of if we're aware of it or not.

For this reason, along with several others which range from my interest in areas such as photography and videography to just wanting to be more conscious of the entity [media] that plays such a big role in our lives nowadays more than ever (arguably), I've opted to pick AS Media Studies. I hope that over the next year I learn more about the people behind the scenes that make the calls on what exactly gets put out to the general public in things such as newspapers and televisions, but also how media can and has been used to alter people's ideologies on certain things whether that be for good or bad.