The Big Bang Theory

'The Big Bang Theory' is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, who make up two of the executive producers for the show along with Steven Mularo. Unlike 'The Inbetweeners', this show focuses solely on a group of nerd scientists and the antics that they get up to. The four main characters, Sheldon, Leonard, Raj and Howard, are scientists at a local university, and they also enjoy participating in activities that can be classed as nerdy or geeky. They collect comic books and superhero figurines, participate in online gaming, are intense Star Trek fans, etc. They are all extremely intelligent and have problems communicating when it comes to women. Raj cannot speak to women at all and Sheldon isn't interested in relationships with women as his sole focus is on his work.

The clip above shows Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, Raj and Penny visit the local comic book store. The way the nerds inside the store react is a classic example of the social anxiety nerds are typically known to show around the opposite sex; they all act as if they have never seen a female before. The articulate manner in which Sheldon speaks is also typically associated with a nerd, and is similar to that of how nerds are portrayed to speak in British television. The way in which Penny reacts to Sheldon's knowledge of 'the multiverse' that exists inside these comic books is one of bewilderment, and it shows that she is miles out of her depth.

This programme provides classic examples of the portrayal of American nerds, which is different to how nerds are portrayed in British television. Unlike Will Mackenzie from 'The Inbetweeners', the nerds in 'The Big Bang Theory' don't wear formal clothing, but instead wear shirts with a superhero print. In the clip above, Howard is seen to be excited when looking at a "new Batman belt buckle", which shows the obsession they have with superheroes. The four nerds can also speak the fictional language of Klingon, which is the language spoken in the Star Trek universe. Lorre and Prady's view of a nerd has both similarities and differences to Beesely and Morris's from 'The Inbetweeners'. The characters are all extremely intelligent like Will Mackenzie, but they are more nerdy in the sense that they participate on more nerdy and geeky things. They enjoy all the superhero stuff and comic book collecting, and these things are not prominent to a nerd's characteristic in British television.

The Inbetweeners

The Inbetweeners is a British comedy, written and created by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, that focuses on four teenage boys as they engage in typical teenage activities. It isn't a programme that is focuses fully in nerds, but one of the four main characters is a nerd. The character of Will Mackenzie is portrayed to be extremely academic, as well as being formally dressed and being a character who lacks social skills. He had previously attended a private school and he speaks in a formal tone which can be classed as nerdy. He gets called names by the other students, is one of the few students to wear the full school uniform, and carries a briefcase instead of a normal back pack. 

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-inbetweeners/4od#2

The above link leads the Channel 4oD website, which shows the sixth episode of the second series. The episode is named 'End of Term', and is focuses on the students taking their AS exams. Will is the only one out of the four boys that spends time revising, and in the end spends too much time revising. The increased attention and anxiety that Will applies to his revision and exams is a typical characteristic of a nerd/geek. If a person spent most of their time studying at school instead of playing sports or socialising with others, then chances are they would be unpopular and be singled out as being a nerd or geek; which mean the same thing. 

In terms of Will's nerdy characteristics, this is as far as they go. The way he is portrayed is that of a typical British nerd, as oppose to American. This is clearly Beesley and Morris's view of a nerd; someone who is well educated and dresses formally. Will isn't portrayed to spend multiple hours gaming online like characters from the Big Bang Theory or Francis from the previous post. He in fact spends a lot of time out with his three close friends, and the antics they get up to ultimately make the programme. This programme, along with the IT Crowd, provides an example of the British perception of a nerd, and we can look at it and draw up similarities and differences to the American perception of a nerd. It seems that the two perceptions can appear different, and that will become increasingly evident in future blog posts.

Boogie2988 Youtube Channel

This video is by a Youtube uploader called 'Boogie2988'. He tackles the modern day issues through posting videos of him talking about recent events. He also performs comedy sketches, where he takes on the role of a character called 'Francis', which he created. Francis is a classic example of a nerd, as he gets up to all sorts of nerdy things in his many videos.  The video above is named 'Early Christmas Present', and includes Francis receiving two Star Wars lightsabers from his mum. The way he reacts to the presents and what he does with them are heavily associated with the stereotype of a nerd. 

Francis is obese, wears glasses and speaks with a lisp. All these things could lead to him being bullied and classed as a nerd. Francis doesn't wear extravagant, superhero marked clothing like the characters in 'The Big Bang Theory' do, but instead he wears plain clothing. This could be because it is hard for him to find clothing his size, and it also shows a lack of style. He has a great knowledge of computers and other form of technology, and he is a serious gamer. He also lives with his mother, even though he is over 30 years old. Other videos that can be found on his Youtube channel associate him with these things. 

The video opens with Francis playing video games as he ignores his mothers call. He is surrounded by high-tech equipment and isn't interested in coming away from it until his mother says that he can open an early Christmas present. The viewer will get the impression that he is like a child and has failed to grow up and mature, and this is proven by his reaction to the news that he can open a present. He is gaming online using his computer and is wearing a headset. There are also empty cups and litter on his desk, which shows that he spends a lot of time at once gaming as he collects a stash of food before starting to play. It also shows that he doesn't care about the mess he is leaving, and is only focusing on his game. 

The main part of the video shows Francis both opening and playing with his new lightsabers. His reactions when he opens his presents can be heavily associated with a child's. His face expresses a look of shock and excitement as he marvels at the lightsabers. His dialogue expresses more excitement on his part as he shouts out the names of characters who own the lightsabers from the Star Wars films. He repeats the phrase "Oh My God" as he unboxes the toys, and his excitement grows as he starts to play with them. He imitates the movements of the characters from the films and seems generally overwhelmed with excitement and joy. He is enjoying himself too much to stop when his mother asks him too. He also goes to play outside, which shows that he doesn't care if he is seen playing with kids toys in public. 

Here are some other videos from the Boogie2988 Youtube channel:

Guardian Newspaper article by Alice Bell (Oct 2010)

'Who's the Geek?'
Article on what the word 'geek' actually means, with famous people revealing their geeky secrets. The article is inspired by a date with a man of which the author attended, and how he expressed that his geeky secret was 'too embarrassing' to share. He enjoyed Warhammer, which involves taking small, plastic models of orcs and painting them. Alice Bell didn't arrange to see the man again, but revealed that it was because he was ashamed of his geeky interest and not because of what the activity actually involved. The article contains several quotes from several celebrities on the topic of the geek and what it actually is.

•  'Words like Nerd and Geek have been reclaimed in recent years. It used to be an insult, now it just means you're into your stuff. That you're proud of what you love, it's about being enthusiastic. It's a liberation.' Simon Pegg
• 'A geek is being able to be serially obsessed with things. I'm a geek and proud - I used to spot buses.' - Professor Brian Cox
• 'Geek used to mean people who collected Star Wars figures, but now it means anyone who'sgot an interesting slant to them.' - Jonathon Ross
• Geekery is being passionate about something, without caring how it might look to other people or social norms.' - Sydney Padua

Nerd/Geek Research - Media Magazine (Sept 2011)

'In Defence of Media 2.0 or How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love Being a Geek.'
Nick Potamitis reflects on his own experiences as a producer, and calls upon Media students everywhere to embrace their inner geek. He mentions some of the activities he enjoys which can be classed a nerdy, and these include comic designing and Warhammer. 

• Being a geek is about 'Being able to be serially obsessed with things.' - Professor Brian Cox
• 'Being a geek is a creative act. It's not just about collecting things and facts, although that is a lot of what it's about.' , 'Geek can be used as an insult now'. - Nick Potamitis
• 'It just means you're into your stuff. That you're proud of what you love, and you're happy to know a lot about it... it's about being enthusiastic. It's a liberation' - Simon Pegg

Textual Analysis and Connotations

Media	Textual Analysis	Connotations
The Big Bang Theory TV	Leonard is wearing a suit to go to a date with penny. He doesn’t look relaxed and looks nervous. He is also wearing glasses, which is a typical accessory worn by a nerd.	Shows that nerds get overly nervous around girls, wear glasses, wear smart clothing but lack a sense of style. However, it does show that nerds can attract girls, and those of the status of Penny.
Boogie2988 Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cnL80ItPxA	He is obese. Wearing glasses, polo shirt, trousers and gaming accessories. He also has groomed facial hair.	The start of the video shows that nerds spend a lot of time gaming, and it is obvious that he doesn’t want to be disturbed. It also shows that nerds can be quite childish, as he got excited when he was allowed to open an early Christmas present. The fact that he got really excited by getting toy lightsabers also shows that he is childish, and has failed to mature. He has no interest in the adult world. This idea is supported by the fact that he can’t wait to play with them, as he does so straight away.
The Big Bang Theory TV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqHpk97qeEc	Sheldon is wearing a superhero T-shirt and trousers. Leonard isn’t wearing typical nerdy clothes, but is wearing glasses and has his hair positioned in an unstylish way.	It shows that nerds still enjoy superheroes and everything that comes with them. They also enjoy childish toys, which is evident by their reaction upon receiving them. The start of the video portrays Sheldon as a very intelligent person, as he is working on some very difficult physics equations. He also expresses how it makes him very happy, when other people may find it incredibly dull and boring.

How and Why is Representation Complicated?

Representation in the media can be complicated in many different ways. The audience is key when it comes to the representation of a certain social group within any type of media. There are a lot of different views around regarding audience and the significance of it. Many people believe that the audience is paramount to the success of certain media, as producers will target a specific type of audience that they feel would take most interest. Many people feel the opposite; that there is no such thing as an "audience" or that the audience is a set of individuals who actively make their own meaning about a text. What ever the belief, the audience is vital as they are the people who take interest in media, allowing it to sell and become popular. They are the best judges of whether something is good or bad.

The audience links strongly to complication of the representation of certain things within certain media. The audiences perception of an opinion or view portrayed in a certain piece of media is crucial. For example, a film could portray a typical view of today's youth; showing them drinking, doing drugs, and just generally causing or getting into trouble. This view is what the majority of people believe through either witnessing it themselves in different ways or just seeing a lot of media texts portraying the same view. As this is the standard hegemony, people will be able to understand and 'read' the media better than they otherwise would if the view being portrayed went against the hegemony. The audience will agree with the standard view and be more receptive to the media if it's something they or the majority believe in. They will also be more comfortable with the view that is being portrayed. Some youths may take slight offence to this view which is being portrayed through all different kinds of media, as they might not do the things that a member of today's youth is perceived to do. The media can also cause confusion if the majority of the audiences view is different to that of the one that is being portrayed, and it goes against the hegemony. The audience will stuggle to connect to the media if what it is portraying is perceived to be wrong by the majority. For example, if a nerd was portrayed to have lots of friends and be good at sports in a film or TV programme, then people wouldn't be able to connect with the piece. It would be perceived as wrong and would be open to criticism.

Negative/Positive Representations

Negative Representation: This picture is hinting toward the life of a nerd, and is taken from an episode of the TV comedy ‘South Park’. The man is an expert player of an online computer game, and throughout the episode it is perceived to be his life. He looks to be around 40-years-old, has lost his hair, has a casual beard and has some spots. He is very fat and doesn’t seem to care about his appearance anywhere near as much as the game that he is playing. He is wearing a protective strap on his right hand as he has a common injury associated with over clicking on the computer mouse. His apartment is littered with clothing and looks generally messy. There are empty energy drink cans on his desk, and he is also using a pillow on his chair to rest his head on. This could be because knows he is going to in that position all day and wants to be comfortable. 

Positive Representation: This is an image taken from ‘The Big Bang Theory’, and it shows how nerds can indeed excel socially and obtain girlfriends. The general conception of nerds is that they are not good socially, especially around females, but the character Leonard from the hit comedy has no such problems. Leonard wears superhero shirts, wears glasses and possesses a comb over haircut, but he still manages to attract a girl who is deemed to be extremely attractive by himself and other people. It shows that people can look like nerds or/and like nerdy things such as computer games and comic books and still excel socially. 

Negative Representation: This is another image from ‘The Big Bang Theory’, and Leonard and Sheldon have just been bullied through having their trouser taken. Nerds are known to lack physicality and be the victims of bullying, and this picture is evidence of that. Obviously this is not always the case, but the idea is represented in this picture. The characters are both wearing typically nerdy clothing. Sheldon is wearing one of his many superhero shirts, has unfashionable shoes and is wearing his socks half way up his shins.

Positive Representation: This image is taken from the film ‘Napoleon Dynamite’, where Napoleon is performing a dance in front of one hundred people as part of a school election campaign. It is perceived that nerds lack confidence and avoid situations where the main focus is on them, but this image is evidence that shows that this is not always true. Napoleon is still dressed as a nerd though, as he is wearing his usual large and round glasses with his shirt is tucked into his waist-high trousers.

Negative Representation: This is a picture of Maurice Moss from the popular British comedy ‘The IT Crowd’. The program follows two nerds and their department manager who work for a hugely glamorous business solving IT related issue from the basement. Moss is wearing the typical nerd clothing. He clearly lacks a sense of style, wearing a smart checked shirt, a dull tie, and glasses. He is working on what looks like some kind of computer hard drive, the likes of which he is also surrounded by. He is also surrounded by old computers and other various pieces of complicated technology. Moss is a shy character that lacks vital social skills, making it hard for him to communicate with the workers upstairs who are considered to be ‘normal’. The fact that Moss and his co-worker Roy work in the basement of a hugely tall building is clear evidence of the lack of respect that the other people in the business have for them. The other workers have the opportunity to look out over the city of London from their workstations and have the luxury of daylight. Moss is the perfect fit for the common perception of a nerd; poor dress sense, poor social skills, overwhelming interest in technology, play with computers in the darkness all day.

This is an image from the film ‘Benchwarmers’. The story of the film is that of a typical underdog story, where nerds form a baseball team and take on all the best teams from around their area. The teams they play against happen to contain their former high school bullies, and so they get revenge over them through winning. They win the tournament, and it shows that the belief that all nerd are bad at sport is wrong. They are bad at the beginning, but once they get practice and the opportunity to play, they become unstoppable. Through this achievement, the nerds gain more friends and become respected and popular. In this picture, the characters are wearing baseball uniforms instead of their typical nerd wear. In fact, they look like ordinary people in this photo. They are on a baseball field, which isn’t nerdy at all, and they are celebrating one of their many wins as a team. The character on the right, Gus, isn’t actually a nerd, as he is a keen baseball player. He helps the nerds come to terms with the game and gives them hints as to what to do. This shows that nerds can blend in and become friends with sporty people, and that not everyone finds them to be weird or strange people. 

Presentation

Collective Media Identity

I have started to look at and study the representation of 'nerds' in today's media, and also the perception of the stereotype from when it started in the 1950's. I looked at a variety of different texts from TV and Film where nerds are portrayed in different ways. I examined clips from 'The Big Bang Theory' and 'The IT Crowd' to analyse the behavior of the people viewed as nerds, and why they might be viewed in this way. I found that the characters in the 'The Big Bang Theory' enjoyed things like comic books and Star Trek toys. They are also extremely intelligent and lack basic social skills. All these things come together to contribute to their social standing; which doesn't seem to be very high. They are often mocked and referred to as 'geeks', due to their intelligence and enjoyments. They wear superhero-themed T-shirts and regularly visit their local comic book store. One of the characters cannot speak to women, while another character lives with his mother at the age of 30. The characters in 'The IT Crowd' are quite similar as they possess a great knowledge of computers. They work in the basement of a massive company below all the attractive people who work on the upper floors of the building, where no one pays attention to them or appreciates them.

I also looked at the modern nerd-based films 'Benchwarmers' and 'Napoleon Dynamite'. The characters in 'Benchwarmers' are portrayed to be bad at sports, and are damaged by the bullying they suffered in their previous school days where they were teased and pick on due to their different sources of enjoyment and entertainment. The whole film is based on them starting up a baseball team to beat their former bullies' teams to give hope to all the young nerds growing up. One of the characters is too scared to step outside of his house, due to his fear of sunlight, while another always wear a helmet and wears his trouser way above his waist. 'Napoleon Dynamite' is a very random film, but the representation remains the same. Napoleon and his brother Kip are two classic nerds that wear glasses, have no sense of style and struggle in terms of social standing. Kip chats with strangers who he labels "babes" all day, while Napoleon possesses two friends and gets bullied at high school.

I also looked at an older nerd film named 'Revenge of the Nerds' (1984), where the idea is very similar. I studied the film to see if i could identify any differences in how the nerds were portrayed in this film, as oppose to the more recent films such as 'Benchwarmers' and 'Napoleon Dynamite'. They were all portrayed in the same light, apart from the fact that intelligence about the latest technology didn't come into the stereotype as much. This is due to the fact that computers weren't as advanced as they are today, and so a characteristic of today's nerd is that they play console or computer games 24/7. I identified the turning point of people's perception of nerds to be the introduction of modern technology, such as advanced computer games and games consoles.

What did you use? What did you do?

Mainly I used Adobe Photoshop during the post-production process. Firstly, I edited the photos I had taken of the classmates that were going to play a part in the magazine. For example, I edited out things that stood out on the person. These things included small spots and freckles. Editing these out made the images look more professional, therefore adding to the professionalism of the magazine. I then used Photoshop to make the magazine pages. I added text, images and background colour. I also added shapes to go behind the text to make things stand out more. I used different colour text for different pages, which Photoshop made very easy once I got used to using the software. I also used Blogger, which is a website that allows you to share things that you have done. Every time that I completed a piece of work, I would post it straight on to this website. For example, after I had made the first drafts of all the magazine pages, I posted them all on to the blog. I also wrote a small amount of text under each page to explain what the page was about and what I did.

How well did you use this software?

I didn’t use the software well at first, but I got used to it as I continued to use it. Blogger was easy to use and get used to, but Photoshop was a bit harder. I quickly learnt how to insert images on to my blog posts along with text, and it was easy to actually post the piece of work. Photoshop was quite complicated at first due to the amount of tools there were at my disposal, but I had used different versions of the software before. Example of the tools I had to come to terms with are the cropping tool, lasso tool and magic wand tool. I had learn what these tools and many more were for and did before I could really start getting the work done. I had time to come to terms with the software during the preliminary task, but I still had things to learn by the time it came to the main task. As I was nearing the end of the main task, I had become competent with the tools and knew what each one was for. As a result, my work was completed more efficiently as I neared the end of the coursework.

What did you learn about?

I learnt a lot about Blogger and Photoshop, as I was constantly using them. I learnt how to insert images into posts on Blogger, and ultimately I learnt how to post, edit and delete posts. I mostly learnt about Photoshop and the tools within it. I learnt how to insert images, crop images, add colour to all aspects, etc. I became a lot more familiar with the software as the year progressed. 

Conventions Revision

Which were the most influential conventions for you? How did your study of them affect your decisions and outcomes?

One influential convention was the questionnaire, as the data I collected was extremely significant as I would take all of it into account when making the magazine. I made questionnaire to hand out to members of the class in order to gather other people’s opinions about what they would like to find in a magazine they would buy. It would be interesting for me to see if there were any factors that completely went against what I was planning to do. Included in the questionnaire were questions relevant to the type of magazine I was planning on doing. For example, data was collected on topics such as; favourite music genre, what the person would find to be most enticing, if they would like a free sample CD included, how many albums/singles the person purchased per month, and how much the person would be prepared to spend on a music magazine. Gender was also noted so I could see if there was any difference in what the two genders preferred when the results were eventually put together. I analysed this information carefully, and I went on to use the information when creating the magazine. For example, there was an equal split through preferred music genre. This enabled me to focus more on what genre I would prefer to make the main focus of the magazine. My opinion didn’t count as much for other topics, as the results of the questionnaire really helped me to make some decisions. A good example of an obvious preference was the question about the enticement of the magazine. Many people said that they would be enticed by interviews and reviews, rather than the other options which were available to them. These other options included news and freebies. So using this information, I decided that the main focus of my magazine was going to be an interview with an up and coming star of rap music. After collecting the information from the questionnaire, I immediately discarded the news and freebies ideas and focused on the interviews and reviews option. The questionnaire served me really well, as it enabled me to look at other people’s opinions. This stopped me from including things that only I thought would look best in the magazine, which could have made the magazine look bad.

Other useful conventions that I included in my blog were the professional magazine analysis and the magazine drafts. In terms of the drafts, they allowed me to see what I needed to improve in order to step up and increase the quality of the final product. I am going to talk a lot more about the magazine research though, as this was definitely the most influential convention out of the two. Looking at the front cover, contents page and double paged spread of professional magazines, such as NME and Karrang, increased my knowledge of what these pages should look like. For example, I gained a lot of knowledge of how the contents page should be structured in order to make it look good and be easy to read. Without this research, I wouldn’t have had anywhere near as much of an idea of how these pages looked in professional magazines. I spent a lot of time completing this research, as I analysed a total of five different pages in detail. I looked at the text to image ratio, the structure of the whole page, the positioning of images and text, the use of colour and the relevance of it and the subject of the less significant headlines. All this information became incredibly useful to me when I moved on to designing my magazine. I tried to take into account some of the things I had picked up from these professional magazines. For example, one of the things I noticed about most of the contents pages was that there was an image in the middle of the main body of text. The content of the magazine was usually listed on the left side of the page. I decided to include this structure in my contents page. Without looking at this particular magazine layout, I would have spent more time deciding what structure I wanted to follow for my contents page. I would have had no clue about how magazines structured these pages.

Overall, all these conventions made a massive impact on the way my magazine turned out at the end of the year. My magazine pages looked similar to those of professional magazines, when they probably wouldn’t have had I not abided by these conventions. There was a very big contrast between this and the work I had produced for the preliminary task. During the preliminary task, I was not required to complete any of these detailed conventions. I think that because of this, my work during it suffered in comparison to the main task. I didn’t really have a clue about what a professional magazine looked during the preliminary task, and due to this the quality of the pages was very poor. I remember my contents page looking absolutely terrible. Of course it is obvious that I had nowhere as much time to complete it, but still it was very poor in my eyes.

Did you subvert any conventions that you studied in music magazines?

I did go against some of the conventions that I studied for the magazine, one of which I remember made a big impact. The two main conventions I went against were the use of colour that I found in professional magazines, and the amount of images used in them too. In terms of the colour, I noticed that a lot of the magazines I analysed had an expansive range of bright, vibrant colours. A lot of them had front covers with colours such as red and blue as the background, but I went against this and used black. I did originally use grey for the front cover, orange for the contents and blue for the double page spread. If I had kept these colours, there would have been a lack of consistency on this aspect, as the professional magazines tended to stick to a certain colour or range of colours. However, for my final design, I decided to go with a black background for all three pages. I did this because it made the content on each page stand out more, and I struggled to decide on any other colour anyway. Black seemed like an obvious choice at the time. I think that the decision had its pros and cons. It was good in the way that it created a sense of consistency and it mad the content stand out well, but it was quite risky because it went against the research that I had collected from the professional magazines.

In the case of the amount of pictures I included in the magazine, I don’t think that there were anywhere near enough and I think that this went against me. I only included four pictures in my magazine; three of the main subject, and one of the band who were displayed on the contents page. I did this because I originally thought that this amount would be enough when I looked at all the pictures I had taken. I didn’t actually take that many pictures and they were all pretty similar with little variety. Looking back on it now, I should have planned what pictures I wanted to take more carefully before actually taking them. There weren’t really enough or any valid reasons to only take this amount of pictures, so I am not sure why I did it. It was a very bad thing to do, and was something that probably cost me dear in the end. So in this case, it definitely didn’t work. 

Research and Planning Revision

Detail how your understanding of the importance of good research and planning skills developed throughout the pre-production of your AS and A2 coursework

Adequate research, drafting and audience feedback are all extremely important when it comes to AS and A2 coursework, and I realised this more and more as I progressed through AS and during the preliminary task for A2. I researched magazine structure and text type briefly first time around for the magazine I was to going to be producing. When I produced my first draft for all pages and realised that they weren’t good enough, I decided to engage in more thorough research. Through doing this research, it allowed me to complete the product quicker as I knew exactly what I wanted and was supposed to do. I found and analysed front covers, contents pages and double page spreads from a number of different magazines and looked at structure, text to image ratio and the general appearance. I also looked to see if it served the correct purpose and was suited to the genre of music it was representing. Doing this research more thoroughly enabled me to see what I needed to include in my magazine to make it look better than the first draft. I also made questionnaires and handed them out to members of my class to gather views on what other people think would look best in my type of magazine. Looking back at AS, I feel that I should have planned the images that I was going to put into my magazine in more detail.

How did your knowledge of digital technology and your research and planning skills develop throughout the pre-production of your AS and A2 coursework?

My knowledge of both digital technology and research and planning skills developed significantly throughout the pre-production on my AS coursework. For example, my skills on the Apple Macs and using Adobe Photoshop improved through using them all the time in order to make my product. My research and planning skills also developed throughout AS. They developed at times when I realised that my work wasn’t good enough and so I engaged I more planning to make the work better. These skills are currently progressing at this moment in time, through starting the A2 coursework. I am aiming to take these sets of skills which I learnt last year and build on them, which will hopefully result in an increase of quality in my work. 

Creativity Revision

Do you think you were creative or not throughout your coursework?

I don't think that I was particularly creative throughout my coursework during AS Media Studies. I had to make three pages of a music magazine, including a front cover, contents page and a double-page spread. I decided to go with the simple idea of getting a class mate to dress up like a rapper and create an article about his rise to stardom. This wasn't very creative at all because it was not out of the ordinary or eye-catching. There have been many other stories similar to the one I decided to go with, as it is always about someone who started off with nothing and ended up making something of themselves. I should have thought outside the box and tried something a bit different from this standard idea. In terms of what the pages of the magazine actually looked like, I don't think they were anything special. I looked at examples of professional music magazines on the internet and copied the page layouts and structure. For example, my front cover was of basic structure. It consisted of a central image of the rapper, with all the various headlines neatly arranged around it. This type of structure was definitely not very creative. I also wasn't very creative with the type of photographs I took of my class mate posing as a rapper. I took three shots of him posing in typical rapper stances, which were all in the same place. I could have made him make some unusual poses that would catch the eye, and maybe dress him up in some more extravagant clothing. All I did was put a rapper's hat on his head and that was it. I also could have taken photos of him in a variety of locations which were relevant to what a rapper does. For example, I could have taken photos in some kind of music recording studio, or in front of a wall of graffiti. I only took photos of him in front of a grey, boring wall. 

Did technology enhance your creativity or not?

Having access to the latest technology definitely did enhance my creativity, as I was able to do a number of different things. An example of the hardware I had access to was the Apple Macs and the software stored on them, such as Adobe Photoshop. I could do a number of things with the photos I took and put on to Photoshop, such as shooting over rough edges, colour editing and cropping. These tools and many more were available to me via this software. Without this technology, I wouldn't have been able to edit the photos I took to make them look better. I wouldn't have been able to insert other objects (text, shapes, etc) around the main image for the front cover, contents page and double page spread. 

What ideas did you communicate and what stylistic techniques did you use? How did it relate to your interests/self-identity?

The ideas that I communicated through the magazine were that of a stereotypical nature. I put pictures of a rapper dressed in typical baggy clothes and hats into the magazine along with a story of how he rose to stardom. This idea isn't very creative in the way that this is the case with a lot of modern day rappers around at this point in time, and a lot of people perceive them to be informal people walking around in baggy clothes and jewellery. This image is actually changing as time is progressing. Instead of creating this stereotypical image, I could have told the story of a boy who had a rich background, and was different from all the people around him. I could have also taken pictures of my class mate dressed in smart suits. This would have been very risky however, and could have backfired. The ideas that I did portray through the magazine were ones that were of a relation to me, as I like this genre of music as well as many other genres. I am not saying that I am someone who walks around looking like a rapper, but does take a certain interest in this type of music.

Was your product influenced by your environment?

My environment did influence my product, as I am surrounded by many people my age in a school who prefer this genre of music to others. I knew this genre would appeal to people my age and so decided to go with it. The structure of magazine that I decided to go with was also influenced by my environment to a certain extent. In every shop, the music magazines always look the same. They all have flashy front covers and images, and contain modern language and interests. I decided to go with these ideas as I was trying to make my magazine look like the professional ones.

Was it original or did you add something extra to an original media text?

The product was an original one, as I didn’t use text which had been taken from another source. It was all my work, but it was strongly influenced by other media texts. There are bound to be many professional articles and magazine front covers around that are very similar to mine, as this genre of music is very popular now days. The type of interview which my magazine possessed will also be very similar to others which are out there in many ways such as language, images and structure. So in a way it wasn’t very original as I just took a common idea that is already used in many magazines and formed my own magazine.

Would you take any creative skills into future projects or have you been influenced to engage these skills in any other projects?

I will take the skills I have used during AS into future projects, as I feel the skills and lessons I have learned from this year have been very good ones. During this year in A2, I will be able to use these skills to great effect and expand on them, and this will hopefully result in a higher standard of work. For me it’s all about taking the basic skills I have picked up, and adding to the fundamentals to increase the quality of those skills.  

Digital Technology Revision

What were the good and bad things about the software and hardware used at AS in terms of skills development?

The hardware we used in AS were the Apple Macs, which I found hard to use at first. I didn't really know what anything was due to the fact that I used Windows PC's most of the time. I also found the keyboards hard to use, due to the fact that they are very small and precise. I found myself making a lot of typing errors which became an annoyance, as I had to keep going back to make corrections.

I also used a video camera to capture our music video. I liked using this video recorder because it was easy to use. It also provided good practice for A2.

Photoshop was one of the many pieces of software that I used throughout the year. As the year progressed, my understanding of all the different tools increased and I was able to work more efficiently when using the application. I also used iMovie to edit the video we filmed at the end of the year, which was very easy to use.

Over the time that I was studying AS Media Studies, I became more and more familiar with both the software and hardware that we used.