30/11/2012

Channel 5 News

This week we had guest editor Geoff Hill from Channel 5 news critique WINOL and we in return have decided to critique Tuesday evenings Channel 5 news bulletin.

Parts of the bulletin I liked
- To begin with I really wasn't sure about the way Emma Crosby, the presenter of 5 news, was standing up. After a while however I did get used to it and I think it made the bulletin slightly more interesting than when most presenters are sat down reading the news
- There was a good balance of stories throughout the bulletin from floods, viruses, sports personality and celebrity stories. I believe this gave quite a good variety for audiences.
- I also liked the vox pops which were used in the sports story, the reason for this is because for a story like this, peoples opinions are very important.
- The use of graphics in the flood and virus stories were very effective, using graphics for statistics allows the audience to understand these numbers in a much easier way than if the presenter was reading them.
- One of my favourite parts of the bulletin was the 'coming up next' at the end of the bulletin, this really entices viewers to watch the next bulletin and I definitely think this is something we should use on WINOL.

Parts of the bulletin I didn't like
- Emma Crosby, the presenter of 5 news was good, however I believe in certain stories she could of been a bit more serious. When talking about the death of the women in St Asaph, it seemed she was slightly too smiley for such a story.
- Channel 5, much like other main news broadcasting channels have on demand, however you can not watch the Channel 5 news bulletin online and I think that they could really benefit from having this.
- The wink to the camera by Emma Crosby at the end of the bulletin was slightly cheesy, and in my opinion kind of dampened the professional style and quality of the news bulletin as a whole.




27/11/2012

Fashion Feature - Faux Fur



1. Cream fairisle faux fur collar cardigan – River Island £55
2. Faux fur twist snood – River Island  £30
3. Faux fur gilet – Primark £12
4. Black leather look faux fur collar jacket – River Island £60
5. Fur earmuffs – Accessorize £17

The fall runways were sprinkled with pieces of fur this season, making it a ‘must have’ on your winter wardrobe wish list. With the weather in England constantly changing, fur pieces can be a complete saviour. If it’s not too cold, fur gilets allow for a simple, fashionable look, allowing your body to keep warm in the process. Yet if it’s cold, a large fur coat or a fur snood can be perfect for wrapping up in the winter weather. The versatility of fur makes it easy to create a stylish look this season, whether you add a fur gilet/coat to jeans, a maxi dress, leggins or a skirt and blouse, it can change your look in seconds. Celebrities such as Olivia Palermo, Kim Kardashian and Kate Moss have been seen out in fur gilets, snoods and coats, keeping warm this season. Consequently, although it does seem unlikely, you can go wrong with fur and too much of it can be seen as a problem. To pull the look off to perfection, it is best to wear one piece of fur at a time, teaming it with simple pieces such as jeans, boots and a plain tee with a fur gilet/coat.  Faux fur accessories are also on trend, you can purchase snoods, hats, ear muffs and gloves in many high street stores for under £20. Unfortunately, although most is faux fur, the bigger pieces such as jackets, gilets and cardigans can be slightly pricey, however no pain no gain! You might need to break the bank slightly for some statement pieces but it’s worth it!

By Georgia Spears

Fashion Editor

So this week is my third week as features fashion editor for WINOL and our online magazine Absolute:ly. This week has probably be one of the most productive so far as I have managed to sort out 2 new features to be created before we break up for Christmas. This thursday I will be attending the Winchester Student Fashion Show rehearsals, filming the catwalk models, behind the scenes hair and make up and an overall document of what goes on in a fashion show. Not only this but I have attained press passes for the Birmingham Clothes Show Live for next Friday, so I will be creating a gonzo style piece, where the camera will follow me around for the day whilst I interview a variation of people and also film the fashion show itself.

To be fair, I am completely loving my position as features fashion editor as this is the exact type of job I want to be doing when I leave University. We have recently changed the layout of Absolute:ly and it is now looking far more professional, allowing us to have a much bigger space to put up photos and sections to put each feature under. I am creating a fashion and gossip feature each week as well as producing Dr Fashion each month. Currently I am looking for someone to volunteer for a free makeover with me as Dr Fashion, come on you know you want to! If anyone knows someone around Winchester how may be interested in doing this, please feel free to contact me and let me know.

I will be attempting to blog every feature I produce for WINOL and Absolute:ly, uploading it on my blog as well as www.winol.co.uk.

HCJ Lecture 5

The following notes are from our most recent HCJ lecture on Freud.

- The all encompassing theory is the theory of everything. It relates to how everything starts off with a problem.
- Freuds work addresses a problem -> the misery of human condition.
- Our unhappiness is because we are divided. Ultimately, we are alienated by ourselves. Marx had a similar starting point.
- Freud believed that we don't know what we want, we are unhappy inside. Not only this, but he thinks that we are all troubled. Freud was a psychiatrist for a while and listened to peoples problems. By doing this, he found out that most people had problems, and if they thought they didn't, then they were kidding themselves.
- Freuds answer to this was psychoanalysis. 'We think that we are rational, but were not'. He believed that there is a secret part of ourselves that make decisions, but we didn't even know about it.

We live in a Freudian world, whether we like it or not. Freud was an atheist, even though both his parents were Jewish. He was not only an atheist, he was also a cocaine addict, was deeply ambitious and also a well known celebrity of his time. He believed that he had discovered the archeology of the mind. Freud strongly believed in the unconscious mind, he thought that people will say what they really think by accident, even if you don't want to say it. Ultimately, it's because it's what you really believe and want to say. You can access the dominant part of your mind through your dreams. Most people do need psychoanalysis, as they have underlying problems that they don't know about. This is one of Freuds most adamant points. At the centre of this is a deep pessimism, Freud was very pessimistic about us as humans, his theories are a dark vision of humanity.

Attack on Plato
Freud followed Platos ideas of the tripartite self - reason, spirit and desire. This can relate to the chariot image, there are 2 horses and a charioteer. The 2 horses are spirit and desire and the charioteer is the reason. Plato thought that reason is in control of spirit and desire. In contrast to this, Freud thought reason was the weakest, are people are irrational as we are driven by our desires.

Attack on Marx
Marx thinks of the self also via the tripartite self - natural, alienated and species self. He believed that we would progress to a happier self and society. Teleological relates to things moving forward, everything is going somewhere. Our deepest needs are aggression  the wilful desire to hurt others and ultimately seek our own destruction in the death wish - this can be related to the ideas of Hobbes.  Freud takes Hobbes and Machiavellis view in terms of human nature.

The Freudian Personality
Freud sees the reality of human nature as pain and suffering - arising from his own internal division. He splits the mind into 3:
1. The ID - Answer to misery. The ID is with us from birth and is at our core. Sex and aggression are related highly to the ID. It is the dominate part of the personality. "A cauldron of seething excitations" - Freud. The ID is the temper tantrum throwing toddler who throws a fit in the middle of the supermarket.
2. Ego or Self - Reality principle. This is the least powerful personality trait. It is the voice of reason. Moderation and common sense are the traits related to the ego/self.
3. Super Ego - We do not have the super ego when we are born, it comes from the outside, from people such as parents, teachers and society. The Super Ego is totally irrational (the same as the ID). It is the parent saying 'do better', 'be perfect', 'get an A*'. The Super Ego also punishes with guilt. Freud relates the super ego with religion.

Freud believed that society is full of suffering because it is full of pain, and there are 3 types of different pain.
1. Our own decaying body - natural - headaches, back pain etc
2. Nature - the external world - slings and arrows of outrageous future - rain and wind = a pain. It is all unpleasant.
3. Greatest Pain - our every day interaction with one another as people is loaded with pain. People are out to get us, to hurt us, but we as irrational beings are inclined to hurt others also.

Freud thinks that the answer is psychoanalysis, however this is not open to everyone. He believes it is needed to strengthen the ego, however it is expensive and the masses will end up continuing on their destructive path. Freud outlines the same coping mechanisms, but does not recommend them. Some of them are as followed;
1. Chemical solution - Intoxication - it is temporary.
2. Isolation - Temporary and it only works for a few people
3. Religion - As a type of sublimation - mass delusion.
4. Sublimation - Finding socially acceptable releases for aggression e.g. sport.

Civilisation is a collective super ego, imposing moral limits on the ID.

Marx states that if we change the system, things will change, but Freud says that we are the system, if we eliminate property we will not get rid of aggression. The answer is psychoanalysis. Freud claimed he had found a way to deal directly with the unconscious  the ID. In sleep the ego switches off. In dream world the ID is rampant, dreams show the complete truth. Freud believed that there was no way to escape aggression.

Many people don't believe in Freud, however with the media and society, Freud was highly influential. Freud also influenced the modernist movement.

James Joyce - writing in a way of breaking of the rules. Free association - the unconscious would come to the surface. A way to release the ID is to be creative. Childhood obsessions and impacts - Freudian outlook.

Attacks on Freud
Popper - Freud was vague so Karl Popper believed that his theories couldn't be proven.
Schopenhauer spoke of similar things such as controlling sexual urges, therefore it portrayed that Freud was actually not the first person to create these points.






Seminar Notes - Brief

Happiness is the concept of great importance. Plato and Aristotle believed that happiness is the supreme god.
Aristotle refused to link happiness with the pleasure of the senses. He said the relation between an activity and it's pleasure was one of cause and effect.
A Militarian (who calculate why people do things) would argue that before you do an activity, you should estimate the amount of pleasure and pain that will come.

Jeremy Bentham - The felicific calculus (the measurement of pleasure and pain)
Variable 1 - Fecundity - probability that the action will be followed by sensations of the same kind
Variable 2 - Purity - probability that it will not be followed by sensations of the opposite kind

In terms of politics and public policy, Bentham said that we must consider 'extension'. Extension is to consider how widely the pains and pleasures will be spread across the population.

Aesthetic - Schopenhauer and Kant believed in this. It relates to the world as will and idea which was one of Schopenhauers written pieces, portraying aesthetics and the arts.

15/11/2012

HCJ - Lecture 4

Apologies in advance as these notes are slightly jumbled and may not make complete sense. I do intend to go back over these notes, adding more detail and putting them in a much better order!

Modernism - Nietzsche
1872 - The birth of tragedy in the spirit of music. This relates to the philosophical significance of music.
Nietzsche - was the professor of philosophy in 1869 at Basel University, at the young age of 24.

Musical instruments were banned by the church until the enlightenment as folk music could be related to peasants and this was seen as bad and the 'devil' by the church. Both Nietzsche and Schopenhauer were philosophers of music.

Aesthetic relates to the emotional response to beauty - Plato and Kant
Plato believed that in another form, there is the most beautiful music, even more beautiful than what we believe is beautiful. We, in this life, have come close to the most beautiful music, however there is always better.
The most powerful aesthetic response you will ever have is to music according to Nietzsche.
The empiricists and idealists are now coming together as they are getting similar ideas and outcomes relating to science.

French revolution - napoleon tried to create an empire, and continued to try and take over India and Egypt.

Timeline
Kant 1790 - French Revolution
Napoleon in India and Egypt - 1800
Hegel - The phenomenology of mind 1809
Schopenhauer - The world as will and representation 1818
The reaction 1820/30 - Religious revival/romanticism
Marx 1848 - Revolution and reaction
Darwin 1859 - Origin of the species

The Will - Schopenhauer - if you strip away everything, space and time etc, the world is simply a thing in itself. The will is like Kantian noumana. The will to be/will to survive - the will is just everywhere.
When you see something you want it to exist. Ultimately, Schopenhauer is Utilitarian in some ways.

Nobody knows if God exists, which is an agnostic belief (Kant).

Bramah - the will of the universe (knows that the world is a dream)
Mira - the importance of what we perceive
Both of the above are a Buddhist/Hindu view

Relating to the points above, the chant you often relate to doing things such a yoga and meditating 'hmmmmmmmm' many describe this as the sound of the universe as a thing in itself.

Apollo (in control, advises) and Dyonisis (irrational, emotional) - Greek tragedy
Buddha - existence is pain
Schopenhauer - you must always overcome desire (when you experience this desire, it is 'the will')
He states that music is a healthy way to overcome this desire.
Nietzsche - God is dead

Music is mathematical. When you open a piano, the strings are all different lengths and sizes, ultimately the mathematical calculations done to determine the sound that comes out of the piano, relates completely to mathematics. People in the enlightenment worked out the connection between music and mathematics.



07/11/2012

Gossip

Below is my Gossip feature which was created for our fashion website. You can see the feature and the rest of our fashion features on: http://www.winol.co.uk


The hottest couple of the year Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, now named by fans as Kimye, can be spotted in most fashion and gossip magazines around the country. The pair who have been friends for many years, finally decided to step out of the friend zone in April and have taken the headlines by storm with their romance. For Halloween last week the pair dressed up as Batman and Catwomen, with Kim looking sleek and sexy in an all black PVC Catwoman suit, styling herself more towards Michelle Pfeiffer rather than the more recent Anne Hathaway version. It seems in more ways than one Kim is using Kanye as a style-guru, with Kim getting rid of over half of her wardrobe under the guidance of Kanye and is constantly praising him for having ‘great taste’.
The above image is courtesy of accidentalpaparazzi (Creative Commons, Flickr)
In previous years Kim has been seen on both the ‘what not to wear’ and ‘hottest’ lists around the world, however it can be said Kim’s style has gone from strength to strength as time has gone by.
Image above (left) courtesy of Kalumba2009 (Creative Commons, Flickr)
Image above (right) courtesy of Hollywood_PR (Creative Commons, Flickr)
Kim is known as being the most glamouress of all the Kardashian sisters and is always been seen out in her most expensive and stylish outfits. Even when visiting sister Khloe’s husband, Lamar Odoms home town of Queens, New York City, the stylista attempted to wear sky high heels. However, in recent months Kim has been seen wearing a variation of Yeezy trainers, and much more classic low-statement pieces than in previous years. With the sisters clothing range, Kardashian Kollection opening in Dorothy Perkins stores around the UK this week it seems we may have a lot in store if Kanye has had any input into the fashion choices.
By Georgia Spears

Dr Fashion


Below is my first fashion feature produced: Dr Fashion. This is a gonzo journalism piece where I go out as 'Dr Fashion' and find someone who i think isn't showing their complete potential in the fashion department, and make them over. You can also find this article on WINOL's own fashion website: http://www.winol.co.uk 
Enjoy!


Makeovers. A word that about 50% of the female population dread and 50% get excited about. Hair cuts, new make-up, new wardrobe and even a brand new statement bag or shoes are what many women see as benefits of having a makeover. However, the 50% of those who dread such a task are often either happy with the way they look, or are stuck in a pattern of dressing in the same way on a day to day basis. I decided to search Winchester to find women who would both benefit and be interested in a makeover that would not only boost their confidence but also widen their wardrobe choices to suit Autumn/Winter trends. Step one, find someone who would not turn their back and walk as fast away from me as possible. I found Laura Brett, 19 in the Multimedia Centre at the University of Winchester working on an essay for her Education Studies degree.
I instantly noticed the way her baggy jeans and hoody did not flatter her body shape, making her look a size bigger than her actual curvaceous figure. Not only this but her lack of make-up and hair which was a rich dark brown was shoved up in a loose ponytail. The issue I had from the beginning was how do you go up to someone and tell them that they simply ‘don’t look good’ or ‘I could make you look better’. Luckily for me Laura was very forthcoming admitting that when she needed to make an effort with her clothes she would e.g. an important night out, but on a day to day basis she just didn’t have the time. The task was set, I was determined to show Laura that you can still look both good and stylish without it taking more than 20 minutes of your time in the mornings.
The beginning of the makeover began with Laura bringing in a mix of her own clothes, some that she thought were maybe ready to be thrown out and some that were for keeps. Together we sorted through the mix leaving us with a couple of her good choices, a gold necklace, a pair of leather brown dolly shoes and a top from Topshop. I then went shopping with Laura in West Quay, Southampton, helping her pick out some cheap but classic pieces for Autumn/Winter 2012. Most of Laura’s choices at the beginning of the shop were baggy jeans and plain simply tops which is what her previous wardrobe mostly consisted of. I then began to pick out some pieces for her which would flatter her body shape. Such items were a pair of black skinny jeans £25 from Dorothy Perkins, a baggy colourful top £32 Topshop, black blazer £25 from New Look and a pair of boots; £30 from New Look. Wearing the colour black always flatters body shapes, making them seem slimmer than normal. Adding a baggy top with skinny jeans allows women who are conscious of their stomach to hide this, showing off features such as shoulder bones that make the rest of your top half look slimmer.
Throughout the process I didn’t let Laura see herself trying these clothes on in the mirror until we showed her the before picture of her in her baggy jeans and hoody. The reveal of her new look which showed class, style and also flattered her body shape left Laura amazed at the transformation. “I love my new clothes” said Laura “I can’t believe how different I look and feel.”  

Economics - HCJ Lecture Three

Adam Smith - The wealth of nature - relating to why one country is wealthier than the other.
Unwealthy countries have free individuals and trades.
In the 18th - 19th century, China became a third world country. Adam Smith believed that this happened due to government intervention. Like Newton, Smith believed in moral philosophy, in his book Smith spoke of how people are all about the number one, people who give to charity are ultimately doing it for self satisfaction purposes. Rich people who give to charity, get so much self satisfaction it outweighs the amount of money that they are loosing. This idea is similar to that of Hume, who also believed that people want to maximise pleasure and get less pain. Trying to live off others does one no good. Making others happy ends up causing pain.
The law of unattended consequence - trying to help people but then you end up damaging them in the process. An example of this is taking away benefits so people HAVE to go out and do something, e.g. get a job.

David Ricardo was the opposite of Smith who believed that value comes from trade. This idea is much more metaphysical. He thinks that there is a spirit value in things e.g. coal has no value but when humans apply concious effort to it, it then gets value. This also relates to the labour theory. This theory describes the way the more labour that is put in to something, the more value something has at the end of it.

Thomas Malfus (1820) is related to the Victorian era where basically everyone was grumpy. Malfus believed that humans will always starve to death and they will always eat everything. He thinks that to be man is to constantly be on the brink of extinction. Ultimately, the ways of thinking I have just described can portray his moody and very much 'i hate life and everyone' tendencies. Malfus thought that by being married and not having sex will stop people from dying. In the 19th Century, we almost bread to extinction. The moderns would laugh at Malfus and his ideas, however some have said that Malfus is back 'in fashion' due to climate change and malnutrition. In general the price of expensive and decent food is so high that malnutrition is quite common in many third world countries.

Karl Marx thought that economic analysis is useful. Yet also politics are questionable. Labour is the onlu source of value, thought Marx. Because of profit and capitalism, people who grow the food won't be able to buy it in the end, which ends up as a large fatal flaw in the system.

Television Reporting

The following notes were taken from one of our first lectures this term, taken by none other than THE Angus Scott, I say 'THE' as up until now, our year believed he didn't actually exist. The reason for this was because both Chris and Brian (our other lecturers) and the third years constantly spoke of him but we never actually saw him. But yes, he does exist and gave us some very useful information on the do's and don'ts of television reporting. 

On Assignment
- Do research
- Think pictures all of the time
- Know where you are going BEFORE YOU LEAVE
- Know your library
- Forward plan
- Check your equipment before you leave
- Get permission. Ultimately, shoot in public places is the easiest thing as you don't need any permission to do this.
- Be punctual, NEVER EVER EVER BE LATE! Not a second before or after!
- Get shooting as soon as possible

Filming
- Film in sequences
- Use different size shots e.g. small, medium, large, long shot. As Journalists we try and film what our eye see's, pictures tell the story and you have to show this
- When filming, make sure there is extra room at the beginning and end, for editing purposes
- Maintain continuity
- Shoot cut away e.g. an interview, first thing they said to the third thing. A different shot to cover and edit point
- Shoot in the rule of thirds
- Too much is always better than too little

Terminology
PTC - piece to camera
SOT - sound on tape (interview)
GRAB/CLIP - interview sound on tape (more of a radio term)
UPSOT - sound on tape
OOV - out of vision, presenter talking out of vision
NATSOT - natural sound e.g. birds/bombs
VO - voice over
TALKING HEAD - interview
GV - general view
CUT AWAY - covering shos
SOQ - standard out cue/ signing off e.g. "this is Georgia Spears for WINOL, goodnight"

PTC - piece to camera
- Don't ever start with a PTC
- Only do one if it adds something to the piece
- Place yourself in the action - tells the story far better
- Use movement, walk and talk etc
- Walk before you talk

Interviews
- Get cut aways
- Intro shot for interviewee like them reading a book or something similar
- Use sequences

Coming Home
- Start writing your story when coming home
- Check pictures are out of the library/on database
- Organise graphics
- Report back to the news editor

Writing Intro
- Write the link/intro first
- Remember the 5 W's: Who, What, When, Where, Why and sometimes How
- Never repeat something that is said in the link
- When writing a story think of 1 idea per sentence
- Use the present tense
- Speak plain English, BE SIMPLE!
- Simplify numbers
- Use graphics to explain numbers

Packaging
- Tell a story and use a sequence
- Start with your best picture
- Don't name your interviewee, use a caption
- Limit 'grabs' to 20 seconds max
- End with something that means something
- Never end on an interview
- Don't end SOT - use SOQ - sign off
- "What happens next remains to be seen" - DON'T USE IT!

Press Conferences (Pressers)
- Get there early
- Sit near your camera
- Ask if there are one to ones going on

Media Scrums
- Roll early so you don't miss anything
- Be prepared for the crush
- Look after each other, you are a team.

Last but not least, always remember, 95% of stories are about people. Focus on that. Don't always focus on 'guilty buildings' - showing buildings as theres nothing else to show. You always need to have the other side of the story.








Apologies

It's plainly obvious for anyone that actually looks at my blog that I haven't posted in forever. So to begin this post I will apologise, to myself, my lecturers, anyone who reads this blog and myself again. However, I have been extremely busy focussing on my new role on WINOL so therefore I have a slight excuse (not really). This term has put me through leaps and bounds so far, I was extremely apprehensive when entering my second year at Uni, as I knew it was going to be far more hard work than the previous year. As Journalism students at Winchester, we all make WINOL which stands for Winchester News Online and is our own student run news bulletin, magazine and online website run by second and third year students. My role this year originally started on features and production. I have always been interested in Fashion Journalism since senior school, focussing all my efforts on choosing subjects which would benefit me so getting the chance to produce features of my choice was quite a bonus for me. Consequently, two weeks ago I was given the chance to begin Features Fashion Editor, allowing me to run the new fashion website and produce features for this. Admittedly, I was extremely happy as what better a chance do you get to prove yourself than this? Some might say it's not that much of a big deal but in my opinion, if you get such a chance and put everything you can in to it, it's going to say A LOT to future employers. So, this has been my job for the past few weeks. I have so far, produced a main feature named Dr Fashion, where I basically go out through Winchester, find someone who dresses slightly ... well ... bad, and make them over. Apprehensive was an understatement when I began this feature however the end product was very successful and I'm actually very much looking forward to starting next months one. I have also been creating small features for the website which are Gossip and Fashion based, I have managed to recruit a few other features people who are helping me to produce features for the fashion page which comes in very handy with everything else I have to do. However, I am thoroughly enjoying every minute of what I'm doing at the moment which has always been my aim. You have to love your career and I've always been told the best way to do this is to make a career out of your hobby, well I love fashion and writing, that is me completely sorted.
My aim in the next year of working on WINOL is to stay on as features fashion editor, putting my all into the website and making it near professional standard. I believe that if I put all my effort in, the end result can be outstanding. So watch this space, hopefully this time next year I might have landed myself a Job as a fashion journalist ready for after I finish my course! Hmmm, we will see.

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