How musicians are represented on this MOJO cover

 Write about how musicians are represented on this MOJO cover.

On this Mojo cover, we see John Lennon who was part of, some might say, the most famous music group of all time. He is positioned directly in the centre with a fairly close up picture of his face. No elaborate costumes, just simply his face. This is a powerful image of a powerful man staring at the readers and this would attract buyers. His serious face connotes a serious topic or article to come in the newspaper. There is no decorations with splashes of colours behind him, it is just him and the reader. The background is blue which could mean that the article will talk about his sadness while being in the spotlight and what a toll this had on him. It is also a sad issue as John passed away in 1980 and it is always sad to see a massive star pass. He looks just like a regular person which readers would pick up on because it could mean many reasons. One being that anyone can become anything as he did whilst still being the man he was before fame. Also that you don't need to stand out to fit in. He is a familiar face to those in the targeted age range for the magazine and so they will naturally gravitate towards it. he was loved by many people and so by putting him front and centre of the cover, people will be more likely to buy it. The picture shows that John will be the focus of the magazine which gives the reader a clear idea of what will be inside. 

The magazine is fairly cluttered with puffs and the big CD that the reader will get while buying the issue. This is usually the case with most MOJO magazines as they want to pack as much information on the cover as possible to give the reader a sneak-peak of what is to come. The title MOJO is placed behind John's head which shows respect for the artist as he is the priority over getting their brand across. There is a bit of negative space but not too much and there isn't actually any pull quotes. There are a lot of cover lines which means also brings all the attention off John as the feature if some people only wanted the magazine for Pink Floyd, they would still know the article was in there. The tag line is very powerful as well as it reads 'The Long Goodbye' people will find this emotional and would like to read it even more to see a nice tribute. 

The lighting is quite bright and it also covered some of his features and parts of his body. This could represent that in the article, they will be bringing his life into the light and not let him become a shadow and always remember him. The image isn't pixilated or blurry at all which might also suggest that famous people's life's aren't always as clear and crystal as people think. There is no noise on the picture. 

                                                                                                                         

Analysing MOJO covers

 

Newspapers:

Questions:.

Newspaper industries –ownership and control question: who controls The Observer / Guardian and what are its values?

The Guardian and Observer are owned by a trust set up in the 1930s

The Observer’s liberal values had been under the ownership of the Astor family and the newspaper easily fitted with the values of The Scott Trust. 

Press freedom and regulation question: What is meant by 'a free press'? When The Guardian newspaper investigated (and revealed) what The News of The World newspaper had done to get stories, what big changes in press regulation resulted?

A 'free press' means the old media where newspapers are able to campaign on political issues and journalists are expected to be higher critical of those in power.                                                              Most of the press joined a new regulator named IPSO (Independent Press Standards Organisation). The idea was to hold magazines account for their actions to protect people's rights and maintain freedom of a voice for the press.

Convergence question: "When newspapers operate online there is technological and cultural convergence." What does this mean in The Observer?

In the Observer, this means that the newspaper can use traditional media language on newspapers and also update to new types of media. The online version allows people to comment and read what 9other people have said which wouldn't happen on the print version. Online versions of newspapers often differ from the print version as they take on more online attributes (such as ‘clickbait’). The Observer has sections which are designed to appeal to different types of readers. 

Newspaper audiences question: The Observer has different sections designed to appeal to different types of readers. Explain this with examples.

For example there are: comedic opinion pieces and reviews of theatre, dance, music, cinema, architecture, computer games and television listings. This appeals and pleasures to the culture consumer and will please different people in different ways. 

Uses and gratification question: how does The Observer meet readers' needs for personal identity and social integration?

For personal identity, it allows readers to enjoy various topics of news and expand their reading.  It shows both sides of an argument to expand their values of the story and their own. For Social integration, the stories offer different opinions on a story, helping people to form basic conversations and interactions. With the variety of news, people feel more welcomed as a member of common culture. They can also discuss online. 

Active/passive audiences question: in what way can The Observer's audience be 'active' ?

Now, with all the technology we have readers can be 'active' in many ways. This could be by simply buying their newspapers every week, writing to the editor, going online and starting a conversation or poll, commenting on their accounts or spreading the word to a friend. 

Covid 19 poster

 

The Observer's twitter page

 

PREP 

1. If you access The Observer print edition online, you can access added features. What are they?

By accessing the Observer online, there are many features that people use and can help the observer gain popularity. Firstly, the fact that it is online and has a chat box, allows people to interact with one another and give their thoughts on the current issues. In times like we are, we can have a proper conversation face to face so chatting online is a good way to discuss things you are passionate about. You can also re-tweet things you like which allows other people to see it, hence growing the Observers platform and getting more people involved with discussing. By also looking at it online, you can zoom in on different part that interest you without reaching for your glasses or squinting if you got the physical copy. Newspapers are normally mostly in black and white and so by accessing colours and eye catching ones at that, makes people want to read it more. 

2. This is The Observer's Twitter page. What do you notice?

The Observer's Twitter page gives people a chance to see 'tomorrows front page'. This is good for gaining viewers as it gives people a sneak peak of what they could be reading tomorrow. It also makes people want to read it more as they want to know what articles are written surrounding the title or they see a picture of a famous person and want to know. It also gives people a secure way of knowing their money won't be wasted as the worst thing is buying a newspaper and it being awful, this gives people the chance to see if they like the headlines. Their page is also attracting a lot of people as: people of all ages now are using social media more and more and so people will be able to access it more easily from home. This could also attract a younger audience as they are more likely to read it online. People all around the world can see it and so people will be more encouraged to read it or trying and find one the next day. It spreads the word very easily. I also notice that they are an official account as they have a verification tick so people know to go here when they want news of information. 

Uses and gratifications: Lego movie video Game

 

Blumler and Katz's theory:

By using Blumler and Katz's theory, the two uses and gratifications of video games I will be talking about are entertainment and forming relationships. 

People play on video games for a number of various reasons and one of them is for pure entertainment. If people feel they are having fun and being occupied, it makes people happy. Especially in the times we are currently in, people will get more bored than usual and by playing video games, they will be entertained. This will help children and adults to take their mind off everything around them and just have some fun playing. For example the Lego Movie Game is very popular as it is now available on various different online devices. This must mean that a mixed-age range of people find the game entertaining as they strive to complete new levels and earn points. It gives people excitement as they get given missions and maybe even reach the dance party stage. As the levels develop, it becomes even more entertaining! They can have some alone time whilst trying to figure out how to beat Lord Business, or finding out about Emmets personality as people grow fond of them. Leaving people a bit uplifted about their day and feel as though their time has been well spent playing the Lego game. 

Another gratification would be forming relationships (both with on-screen figures and in real life through sharing pleasures with friends and family). I think that this is very important because some of the characters could have similar qualities to you! Thus makes people feel a deeper connection to the characters and love for the brand which will help their real life as well. The game is a very fun and shows a lot of happiness and will make the person cheerful too no matter what they are going through which you can transfer into people situations. If a character on the game brings you joy, you should go and make your family joyful as you are lucky enough to feel. The game allows the person playing to go through different emotions which you are allowed to show in the real world. The characters can influence the gamer in many positive ways and you can even see your favourite characters all the time and get to know them even better! For example, you could absolutely love Wonder woman and now get to learn all her strengths, weaknesses and perhaps even relate to her now. By completing levels, you can feel proud of yourself and learn to congratulate yourself as you can now do to others. Th3y are making decisions and choices all the time in the game and again, this can relate to the real world as eventually, you will have to make a lot of decisions and by easing this in now, it can create good qualities in the future. 

In conclusion, I think that video games, especially the Lego movie, does give a person joy and give people the chance to relax and escape reality, even if it is just for a moment. The game can help to take peoples mind off something which can always be useful and this can positively affect people. 

lego movie revision activity

 

Lego movie revision activity 

1. British Heart Foundation, Cofused.com, BT and Premier Inn all had the desire to work with the Lego Movie brand because they knew that they would gain a lot of publicity from it. Lego has always been a much loved brand and children and parents all over the world and they will be waiting for any sneak peaks of the movie to come. By the companies using all Lego, this gives hints of how the movie will look and what the animations will be like. The fact that they even paid the cost of production truly states how much they wanted to buy into this brand as they knew the benefits. As they expected the video went viral and so they gained publicity. The businesses   that used the Lego production will have boosted their company drastically because of this advert. The use of Lego will make the advert more interesting and fascinating regarding the fact that they used Legos to portray their company message. It is family friendly and so will attract a large number of viewings. 

2. By each advert being made out of only Lego, if definitely links to the film. This is because it gives the person watching an almost sneak peak into what the Lego world could look like. People can start to familiarize themselves with the type of animation and look the film will have before it comes out. I think that this also gives the film a sense of individuality as you don't see films being made out of Lego and especially not adverts. It expands this Lego world because it shows children that Lego isn't just for your living room, it can be just as exiting in a film form or even in a BT advert! I think by having these adverts in entirely Lego, it links to the film because this is entirely in Lego too and we will get to see it more in-depth when the movie comes out. I think that this was a wise choice as people will now be desperate to see what the actual film is like now they know the style it will be in. 

3. It is so important to maintain the brand identity of the film so that everyone knows where the advert is coming from. It's not a random Confused.com advert using Lego, It's a Lego movie inspired advert which gives people hints and information at the same time. By following Batman or Vitruvius, it reminds children about the upcoming film and could encourage them to book a ticket or go and play with their Lego. By following a character around, it reminds the audience of the promotional message which is the Lego movie. They get to meet a character which will get them exited for the new film. The Lego movie will be getting more immediate publicity without putting tons of movie trailers on the screen. They drop characters into adverts to drop the movie name. This is subtle which is why they need to maintain the brand identity.