The Big Issue Essay

Analyse why The Big Issue magazine has used an intertextual approach to the referendum on its front cover.

• How does intertextuality create meaning in this source?
• Use of Abba reference (Swedish pop group)
• Use of Personality (Nicola Sturgeon, David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.)
• Use of images
• Use of text

The Big Issue has used intertextual references in this cover to attract a more broad audience as people who will recognise the intertexual references will be more likely to buy it, they have done this by creating a crossover of UK politicians and the Swedish pop group ABBA. This is to infer the Brexit ordeal by implying that Britain is moving out of the EU and to somewhere different, metaphorically speaking. People who are interested in the plans of Brexit will want to read to find out the specifics from the cover alone.

 The headline is 'The Winner Takes it all' referencing an ABBA song to reinforce the point that Britain is has a choice of Nicola Sturgeon, David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage and whoever is chosen (the 'winner') will take all the glory. This use of personality in this cover is to influence maybe higher class people to read as the topic consists of political ideas with comedic value in the use of intertextuality. This therefore creates a large target audience of individuals who do or don't like Brexit; whom are from a class variety as lower and higher classes can both understand. 

The use of images in this source reinforces the comedic value of The Big Issue as bright colours have been purposely used to make the cover stand out to all audiences as it creates a warm, eye-catching funny vibe to appeal more to readers. The background, on closer inspection, is more intricate than first anticipated by the eye. It includes images such as the world disco ball (for comedic purposes with the ABBA reference), a semi-transparent Brexit poll vote sheet and another sheet with squares. This could show that this magazine isn't just some witty comical idea, it is cleverly thought about as it includes small details just on the cover even though it looks like a pretty straightforward simple cover at first glance. The comedic value could be there to try and influence people into seeing the UK referendum as entertaining so that people angered by Brexit can feel a little more at ease and less on edge about the ordeal.

The use of the referendum being the cover is intertextuality used as it is contemporary and most people will want to try and keep up with the present, especially if they don't know much about what is happening in parliament and want to find out in a cheap, easy to hand matter. This is also useful as The Big Issue is sold in big cities like London where it is extremely multicultural so people with little knowledge of the UK parliament can find out easily whilst helping out the homeless who sell these magazines. 

Overall, the use of intertextuality in this source has been used to portray across the UK referendum to a large variety of people without coming across as 'too serious' or 'too ridiculous', creating an equal balance to reinforce a large scale target audience. 

The Big Issue 2017 Cover Analysis *

The Big Issue Cover:

 Masthead: The Big Issue logo.

The lead: 'What's the worst that could happen..." inferring what would happen if Trump wins the election is what the lead article is about.

Serif font: Majority of the font included in this cover is Adobe Fan Heiti Std B.

Cross head: The plus section in this article is to show an incite into what the magazine shows other than the main lead story on the front so that people who see the cover will know that there is more than what is featured on the front. The Big Issue tends not to use many subheadings.

Mode of address: The magazine uses formal language but in a comedic undertone with the pictures shown on the cover.

Sell line: The sell line used by the big issue is: 'A hand up not a hand out.'

Banners:the cross head plus section is a bright yellow outlined with black which stands out from the blue background as well as the same coloured box in the top right hand corner. This makes is more likely for the reader too glance at the boxes and read whats inside so it has to stand out.

House Style: The Big Issue has a unique, distinctive design as it includes bright colours with a mixture of things happening on the cover as there is Trump with a large head holding the world and Putin in an eagle as well as the white house in the background and lightning which could connotate a viewpoint. This is so that more people will want to read because of the memorable uniqueness of its front covers.

Kerning: The spacing between each letter on the cover has a close proximity maybe to fit the layout without cramming each separate part in so that it stands out better, making it easier for the reader to read.

By-lines: The cover consists of the date of the issue in small font 

Comparing Editorial Comment*

The Daily Mail                               

The Guardian

Similarities:

Both newspapers consist of:

A small masthead
Column style - text based (no images)
An authoritative, persuasive tone
A subheading which outlines opinion
Information based on current affairs
2-3 different comment articles

A relatively similar layout

Differences:

Daily Mail:                                                           The Guardian:

Informal language                                                              Formal language

Biased viewpoint                                            Objective (slight left wing bias)

Persuasive language                                         Facts and detailed knowledge

Simple vocabulary                                                        Wide vocabulary range

Analysis

The Daily Mail and The Guardian both appeal to an older market audience. The readers of the Daily Mail are more likely to be less educated due to the simple vocabulary and informal language that they use in their writing as well as being right wing due to the biased viewpoints that the Daily Mail provides. However, the readers of The Guardian are more likely to be left wing and educated due to the formal language and wide vocabulary used. 

1. Consider why people return to the same newspaper title repeatedly and feel that it represents their own views that they can identify with. How is this particularly obvious with the comment page.

People read these newspapers due to the Gratification theory as people as readers relate to the newspaper's content and viewpoints as they feel the same way about things as the writers of the newspapers do and can identify with it. Readers of the Daily mail will have a more informal biased viewpoint on topics rather than readers of the Guardian as they have different views and ideas or else they wouldn't return to the same newspaper again and again. Readers of the Guardian, however, will have more factually detailed ideas behind topics with formal objective viewpoints. The newspaper will also come across to the reader as reliable as they have had faith in the newspaper since they began reading so will always view it as a trustworthy source. 

2. Which paper might satisfy the audience's need for entertainment the most? What kind of escapism does it offer readers and which articles provide the most entertainment.

The Daily Mail satisfies the audience's need for entertainment the most as it has strong bias that is usually portrayed in a comedic tone with puns and creative phrases. 

3.Reading newspapers is informative because it explores current affairs and culture, but which paper is best for providing this level of education?


4. Reading newspapers is informative because it explores current affairs and culture, but which paper is best for providing this level of education?

The Big Issue Research

News: The Language of Copy

The Daily Mail

Here is an article on the Daily Mail website covering the topic of storm Brian, firstly, we notice the bold headline 'Brain Batters Britain' as a use of alliteration, reinforcing the informal tone used consistently by the Daily Mail as well as the word 'batters' to emphasise the how violent the storm is through more informal language. The tone created is a mixture of shock and negativity as it is nature that is creating the problems, so there is not much we can do about it, creating the Daily Mail's emphasis on the stopping of flights in Heathrow and of ferries in Kent, creating anger for those who need to travel. This provokes a shocked reaction of readers of the UK as they are unfamiliar with extreme weather in Britain. The agenda is shown to be biased against the storm as it is doing harm but doesn't suggest actions to take as it is nature's creation that we cannot stop ourselves. This article is written informally through the tone and language used in more of a conversational chatty tone to keep the audience intrigued. The responsibility of this story is shown to be reasonably truthful with the basic information and facts needed to know about the storm.

The Guardian 

However, the Guardian website covers the same topic in a more detailed analysis of what the storm is currently creating to parts of the UK. It even includes a video showing the damage caused by the storm, creating more content for readers to view. It uses a formal tone throughout informing the readers on the events of the storm through facts and figures as well as evidence of ferry departures closing due to the storm. The title is formal and shows fact with information on the storm heading to Britain after flooding parts of Ireland. They use other sources of information interlinked with its own such as the video footage, UK Met Office announcements and the tweet from P&O Ferries, showing the current update of the situation so that all readers are updated and recently informed. I can see that from the copy no bias is shown so that the Gaurdian remains unbiased to every situation as it is just stating current facts and figures without using vicious vocabulary to describe any destruction caused. This story is indeed trustworthy as other reliable sources are interlinked and the content is shown with facts and detailed unbiased information.

Storyboard Plot and Evaluation*

Plot:

The plot consists of a tree which is cursed. The idea is that a family moves to the house occupying the tree and doesn't know of the curse until the son hears rumors at school about his house being cursed and haunted as the origin of the rumors was that somebody died in that garden through eating a cursed seed which then grew inside them and sprouted a tree. The tree is known to cursedly kill anyone at random relative or friends to those who pick its leaves. When the leaves fall off, it shows a name of who will die as a result of the leaves being picked. The first leaf picked will trigger the rest of the leaves to slowly fall over time, becoming brown before doing so. The boy must try to end the curse before he has no family left. 

Evaluation

The title sequence of the TV drama consists of multiple shots to create the element of the horror vibe to reinforce the genre. The first shot of the sequence is a shallow focus on the tree which is located on the right hand side of the screen, bending towards the left hand side, with a few leaves flying off due to a burst of wind. In the background there is the house, out of focus while the focus remains on the tree while the camera shifts to right, zooming closer on the tree, as a tracking shot, making it the main feature on the screen. The camera angle is from a low shot of the garden at night, setting the scene for a horror vibe to indicate the genre of the show.
The camera then focuses mainly on the tree, until the trunk is in mid-shot then the camera begins to pan down the trunk to the roots where the colour begins to change and blood rolls down the roots, dripping onto the floor. The leaves flying around begin to fall into the pool of blood, creating the title name, which the camera pans over as an medium ariel/high angle shot of the pool of blood, showing the title 'FALLEN' made out of leaves.
The camera then begins to move closer to the pool of blood as an extreme close up onto one of the leaves so only one leaf is in focus. A name begins to carve itself onto the leaf showing one of the producers/ directors names then duplicates onto another leaf with a different name in an old 60s movie strip/reel like style, with diegetic reel sounds being used to emphasize this. The screen then cuts to black and white then black and the first scene in introduced. 

Evaluation Questions:

1. What Media Language have you used in your title sequence and how do they follow the codes and conventions of this element of a TV Drama?
I have used multiple media terms including; zoom, tracking shot, ariel shot, high angle shot, shallow focus, scenes and pans. This follows the codes and conventions of a TV Drama as we have created an title sequence with a memorable title. Before the title sequence there will be an opening sequence and afterwards an introduction to the main producers and directors. This shows that our title sequence follows the codes and conventions of a TV Drama.

 2. What genre is your TV Drama and how is that made clear in your title sequence? 
The genre is a mixture of horror, mystery and drama. This is shown through out title sequence as it is mainly dark colours of browns and blacks with contrasting reds which connotates the danger and blood shed foreshadowing that people will die in the series. 

3. When in your episode will your title sequence occur and why? 
The title sequence will occur after an opening sequence to give the audience a taste of the plot so that they can decide whether it is to their taste for them to keep watching.

4. How does the mise en scene of your title sequence suit the chosen genre, setting, era and the narrative of your programme? 

5. Who would be the target audience of your programme and what will appeal to them about your TV Drama idea? How is this communicated in the title sequence? 

6. What TV Dramas did you refer to for inspiration for your own original idea?

7. If you were asked to complete a textual analysis of your title sequence, how would you comment on the director's use of camerawork, editing, sound and mise en scene? 

8. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your title sequence?

Title Sequence Pitch

Title Sequence Pitch Storyboard:

News: An Evolving Media Product

The Guardian:

Website

The Guardian's news online differs from their print as it includes multiple articles on the home page which would translate to the front page on a print; showing that lots of different headlines can be shown on one page, whereas on a print, there would be one main headline with few stories underneath. It also differs at it includes live updates, videos and the weather, which the print does not have as once it has been printed, that's how it will stay. The website includes lots more information more quickly as it is easier to find older news stories as there is a search bar, in which, readers can search for certain articles or key words to find the information they need which is overall more accessible for readers to find anything the Guardian has made news on all in one place. It also differs as news prints cost money every time you buy, whereas online you can pay a subscription fee for live updates to become a supporter of the Guardian, which helps to fund the website as subscribers pay monthly or annual fees to the site. 

It entices it's readers through the idea of having every reported news story available in one place so that they can find any news story from any time. It makes them want to keep coming back to the site as everything is easier to access, especially specific news stories through the simple layout as each type of news is split onto a specific category which can help to find what news each individual wants to look for.
The online edition also includes more photos than shown in print so that it makes it easier for those to understand without reading, which will help if they're in a hurry and want quick news as they have other things to do. It also includes online crosswords so that the print value of crosswords haven't been missed, creating an adapted line between website and newspaper.

Along with subscriptions as the source of income, the Guardian also makes money through those who pay for advertisements on the site so that they have two strong valued sources of income.

Daily Mail Online

Website

The Daily Mail's news online differs from their print as it shows live articles on it's feed; the homepage is covered in up to date news with places where people can comment and/or share to another website. It also has multiple ads on the page, showing a source of income. It also includes a link to Facebook as on the top bar it includes how many likes it's received on Facebook; 12.5 million. It's contemporary as it includes the time it was last updated with information as well as categories that each set of news is sorted into. 

The target audience would be more younger news lovers as they have adapted with the new technology, making it easier for them to access in comparison to the older generation as they may not have much online experience, so struggle with the new adaptation on news, which is why they would rather settle for print news.
It also has a search bar, in which, anyone on the site and search for specific news to their interests, making stories much easier to access.