Joanne Perry

AS Media Studies

Evaluation Appendix

Original images:

This image represents a prop in which I have used for one of my images within my website, to present an ideological and stereotypical look on the illness. The black and white effect which I have induced into the image represents the sensi-tive nature and the serious tone of the website topic along with the use of shad-ows which I have induced to represent the sinister outlook upon eating disorders. I have used a canted angle to represent something out of the ordinary to position

the audience into feeling sympathy for the people suffering, due to the concept that the canted an-gle represents of how a person who suffers with an eating disorders mind works. This shows how the illness can affect a person’s life as elements like these scales, have a big impact in their everyday lives. Within my website, I have positioned this image near the bottom of the home page as I feel that the image is not of as great of importance as other elements however is still engaging due to the positioning of the image, below the text which features facts about the illness next to it. This is not regularly a conventional way in which images are usually positioned which therefore captures the attention of the audience due to the way in which conventions are subverted and represents surrealism. Due to the facts which are included next to the image, this will ensure that the audience fully engages with the image as the facts are bold and eye catching and represent the images too,

continuously creating links between various elements on the website to present it as professional. I have also featured this image within the slideshow on the right hand side, towards the bottom of the home page in order to represent it as one of the many, dreadful ways in which eating disorders are perceived.

This image has been positioned in the same, surreal, unconventional way in which the previous one of the scales had. I feel that this image is one of much

power due to the strong denotation the image represents. The extreme close up of the girls stomach is powerful due to the way in which it represents a stereotypical representation of an eating disorder as the illness is presented in the way that every girl who has an eating disorder is skinny. This makes it easy for the audience to understand what is happening within the picture and therefore empha-

sises sympathy from the audience, by positioning them this way. This image is edited in black and white and is also featured within the slideshow. Both of these effects are used for the same purpose as the previous image.

This image can appeal to a mass audience as the gender within this image is not clear and therefore I feel that this image is powerful in ensuring that my website gains a larger audience and ensures success. The image represents a close up of a hand, with what is perceived to be, a hospital band around the

wrist. This will shock the audience due to the fatality which is strongly represented. Due to this fatal perception, this will engage the audience as it is a surreal conviction in which I have chosen to pur-sue. Not all charity’s represent images with this context however I gathered the idea from the Barnardo’s poster advertisements in order to create empathy for the audience. The Baranardo’s

posters always represented the worst case scenario. Although this is sinister, it worked well to en-sure that it spoke greatly to the audience and made their charity more successful. This is what I aimed to create when choosing to capture this imagined I feel that the use of shadows emphasises the worst case of the illness as it shows the fatality slowly taking over. The use of black and white emphasises the shadow to show representation of death as well as represents the lifelessness in

which the image is aimed to present. I have again positioned this image towards the bottom of the home page and also within the slideshow in order to show repetition, like in the Barnardo’s TV advertisements, to engage the audience by showing a denotation of what the image can be like.

The denotation this image of an extreme close up of a girls stomach, makes it very clear to the audience of the purpose of the website and ensures that it makes the web-site easy for them to understand. This image is featured within the slideshow of the web-site in order to show a cycle of stages of an eating disorder. The piercing used within the belly button, represents the gender as girls due to the connotation that only girls get their belly buttons pierced. This again makes

the target audience clear to ensure that the audience can understand the website clear and effi-ciently, representing the way in which the audience are ‘dumbed down’ by media. The use of black and white, emphasises the words ‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH’ to ensure that the message is clear and that

the audience feel empathy for the girl within the picture as the audience can clearly see that the girl should not worry about her weight. This shows the stereotypical outlook on how every person who suffers an eating dis-order is skinny.

The repetition of various positioning of extreme close-ups to represent a girls stomach is continued as this im-age is used within the slide show in order to show how the girl is clutching her stomach fat, wishing it wasn’t there. The gender specified image makes the target audi-ence clear, along with the denotation this image presents of an eating disorder and the continuous urge to be skin-nier. The black and white effect creates a dramatic, seri-ous tone to the image, recreating the sensitive subject matter and continuously reminding the audience of how serious the illness can be.

This image, dramatically represents Bulimia Nervosa which is a form of an eating disorder. Due to my website having an anagram for anorexia within its title, I did not want this to narrow down the subject matter, making peo-ple think that the charity is only for people who suffer with anorexia. Therefore, I chose to generate this image in order to increase a mass audience by opening their eyes to vari-ous elements of the illness. This image shows high angle shot of a girl, hovering over the toi-let, as though she is about to be sick. The use of the high angle represents the toilet to be bigger than the girl and therefore presents the eating disorder to be bigger than the girl as though it is taking over her life. I have again

used a black and white effect, representing the toilets innocence, shadowing only a quarter, in order to present that the eating disorder is all due to the girl and it is not the toilet’s fault. This represents that the girl needs help, along with all people

suffering with an eating disorder and the only way they can get help is by allowing themselves to find help; such as Ana’s Angels.

The over the shoulder shot which this image repre-sents, shows a skinny girl clutching her stomach, fea-tured on the slideshow. Due to her slim body this rep-resents the ideology of people with eating disorders all being slim. The way in which I have cropped this image to just show the girls body, represents her low self esteem which she feels for herself. This is also represented in her tight grip on her stomach, showing that she is uncomfortable with the way in which she looks; mainly interpreting this as her weight. The im-age is also slightly canted in order to emphasise how she feels about herself as being slanted and there-fore, not right. The use of black and white, mainly em-

phasises darker shades within this im-age to represent lack of control and sadness taking over her life.

This image was used as the main, large image, at the top of my ‘Stories’ page. This image also represents the title of the page as I chose to write on the girls hand ‘Stories’, for the audience to es-tablish the page that they are on within

the website. The girl used in this image, establishes the target audience of teenage girls, easily for the audience to understand. I feel that this image represents irony as the girl is covering her mouth so that she doesn’t speak, yet the page allows people to speak about what they went through and their recovery of their eating disorder. Therefore this image represents how most girls feel before telling their story and therefore the stories represent how Ana’s Angels have helped people, allowing them to tell their own story. This is effective as the dramatic irony will engage the audience, ensuring that they read more onto the page about how they overcome, what the audience may be currently going through. The black and white effect, emphasises the word ‘Stories’ as the main aim for the im-age to represent, the title. The effect also emphasises the girls fear and lack of control, allowing the audience to identify themselves with the girl in the image as they may, or may have felt like this and

how they had no one to talk to at some point in their lives.

Original Video:

The first shot within my video is a close up, side shot of a girls eyes to represent her looking intently at something or simply staring at nothing whilst thinking intensely. I have enhanced lighting upon her face in order to present innocence

and purity, yet something going on elsewhere in her life, which is represented by the half light which has been created, enhancing a shadow taking over the side of her face. The black and white effect en-hances this more intently, showing more emotion and emptiness within her eyes, creating sympathy for the audience and allowing them to won-der, what is going on?

The next shot is again, a close up, side shot of her face, however this shot represents her lips. During this

shot, there is not happy or sad emotion represented as it zooms out. This represents the emptiness within this girls life. This shot emphasises shadows more thoroughly, representing things to be get-ting worse in this girls life and due to her lack of emotions, represents her lack of control. However, lighting is still used within this shot, along with black and white effect, to show that she still has some form of hope. This ensures that the audience want to continue watching in order to see the girls resolution.

This third shot is brought to a dif-ferent angle, showing an extreme close up of the girls eyes, showing the repetition between shots, how-ever transformed in a different way. This shows the intertextuality in which I have created with the Barnardo’s TV advertisements to show repetition of bad things con-tinuing in this girls life. The half light used shows how her life is slowly being taken over by some-thing out of her control. The use of black and white effect represents

the sad feelings, presented within the girls eyes, emphasising her sadness, positioning the audience to feel sympathy for the girl.

This next shot represents the girls thin body, with an extreme close up of her collar bones. This be-gins to establish, after the dramatic build up, what is really going on in this girls life. The audience

will begin to establish her weight related problem how-ever still may question what she feels so sadly about, does she feel that she is overweight or underweight? The audience may assume that she feels as though she is underweight to begin with due to how thin her body is represented to be. The black and white effect shows mainly shadows within this

shot, representing that this is not right and her body should not be so thin and therefore represents it as dangerous.

The fifth shot shows a close up of a girl standing on weighing scales and represents how little her weight truly is. This shows the audience that the girl is in danger, allowing the audience to feel sym-pathy for her too. The black and white shot emphasises this sympathy with a lot of lighting induced, however a shadow is perceived, faintly across the scales to represent the numbers on the scales to be dreaded and scary to the person who is looking at them.

This wide shot of the girl allows the camera to zoom in, in order to en-hance the feelings of

sympathy for the audience as the girls emotions continue to be established as sad and empty throughout the shot. The use of black and white, half light on her face, shows that she is struggling

with herself and wants the light to be whole, however feels as though it can never be again. The shadow con-tinues to increase over her body, representing things to continue to get worse in her life, with her slouched positioning, showing how the girl feels worthless and as though she cannot con-trol the things going on

within her life.

The following wide shot, shows how the girl is trying to make herself sick within the shot. The cos-tume differs in this shot, showing a baggy jumper with a hole in the shoulders. This jumper repre-sents that she is trying to hide her body, yet the hole within the jumper emphasises that her body cannot be hidden and that it is always there and is all that she thinks about. This image allows the audience to fully understand how she feels, which is that she feels that her body is too big and that she wants to be skinnier. Therefore this shot is of great importance as it finally positions the audi-ence to establish the girls illness, after the build up. The black and white effect used in this image, represents consistent lighting, portraying the girl to consistently feel sad and as though her life is in black and white which can be represented as polysemic. This is due to the colours of black and white

being portrayed in different varia-tions such as old fashioned, de-pressed and more. I wanted the black and white effect to emphasise the depressed and sad emotions of each shot, which I feel that the con-sistency of this shot, portrays per-fectly.

The next, wide, canted angle shot as the girl drops the spoon in the bowl, shows another variation of how the girl makes herself skinny, which is represented by not eating within this shot. This therefore represents anorexia, fulfilling the purpose of the film. Due to the canted angle, it represents that the girl has mixed feelings about leaving her food. Is it that she doesn’t want it? Is it that she physically

can’t have it? The audi-ence will question all of these various possibilities as to what is going through the girls mind during this occurrence. The lighting is again persis-tent, including the black and white effect, empha-sising no change in how she feels.

This medium shot of the girl, with the camera zoom-

ing out, represents how she is curled into a ball. This represents that she feels alone and that the only person she has is herself. By zooming out, it represents the girls positioning more thoroughly to

show more of how alone she truly is by representing her sur-roundings as the cam-era zooms out. Again, the black and white ef-fect represents the per-sistency of how the ill-ness has taken over her life and her lack of con-trol to stop it.

The extreme close-up of the girls eyes is re-

peated however is differed as she is blinking harshly, fighting back the tears which cannot help but come out. This represents to the audience, the girls feelings finally coming out as she realises that she has a problem. Due to her realisation, lighting is enhanced slightly, due to her establishment,

which is a step towards recovery. However, the black and white effect shows that the shot is still empowered by shadows which the girl cannot escape, no matter whether she knows what is wrong with her or not.

I have used an over the shoulder shot to show the girl looking at her body, whilst clutching her stom-ach to represent her not liking what she sees. This represents to the audience how she feels about herself, emphasising the illness and how greatly it can affect her life by continuously making her feel self conscious of her weight and feeling the need to be skinnier. The black and white effects go back

to persistent lighting as she still feels as though she does not know what is wrong and why this is taking over her life, yet she is living with it now and therefore the per-sistency of lighting repre-sents it to be normal.

The use of a high angle shot being induced into the next sequence with persistent lighting through black and

white effect; shows how small she feels compared to what is going on in her life. The way she is holding her head shows that she feels as though she cannot cope due to her lack of control which is taking over not just her body, but her mind too. This shot is polysemic as it represents various of

emotions including, sad-ness, lack of control, self pity and more. Therefore the audience can interpret this shot in many ways and not just for her illness. The shot also zooms in, representing her illness to never stop controlling her life as she feels as though she gives up.

This close up shot also zooms in, mainly to the girls eyes as the shot is a repetition of a previous, beginning shot. This shows

that her feelings have not changed as she is still just looking and nothing and feel-ing nothing, representing that all she is left with is her own torturous thoughts whilst the lighting shows the illness tak-ing over most of her body through the use of shadows within the black and white ef-fect.

The extreme close up shot, followed by zooming in, shows again, repetition of the girls feelings and that her weight is continuously decreasing, which the zoom in emphasises within this shot. The

lighting is similar as the pre-vious, repeated shot, as a shadow is cast over the number, represented them as dark and evil. The black and white effect repeats its way through the shots to emphasise emotion and pain.

The following shot shows a tracking, high angle shot, emphasising the girl giving

up as she slides down the wall and falls into her own arms. This shows that she is vulnerable and weak compared to her illness and feels as though there is nothing left to do and that she just cannot cope with it anymore. The persistent lighting and black and white effect is found once again to show

how the illness can take over the girls life and that she has no power or control. The shot is also presented in slow mo-tion to emphasise how she has no more power to even try and control the illness anymore and positions the audience to feel sympathy for the girl due to her loss of control.

This shot is again represented in slow motion with a wide shot

of the emotional girl, zooming out within the process. Within this shot the girl is crying and in need of hope. The lighting used within this shot represents that there is hope yet the power is in her

hands due to the way in which the lighting is posi-tioned on her hands and on half of her face. The slow motion emphasises her crying and her emo-tions whilst the zooming out represents that it is getting harder and harder for her to continue like this.

This next shot is a point of view shot to give the audience the chance to see what the girl is seeing of her body. During this, she is clutching her stomach, emphasising that this is what she feels worst about, the size of her stomach. By giving the audience a change to see what she is seeing, the audi-

ence will feel sympathy as they will not think that the girl is fat however it is the way in which the ill-ness has allowed the girl to feel. The lighting and black and white effect shows enhanced lighting in the right side of the shot, showing that the girl can get better as the audi-ence will question how.

This shot shows an ex-treme close-up of the girls lips, again representing repetition and how the illness is never ending; whilst the camera pans around her face to a different angle of her lips. This shows that her expres-

sion is not changing and that the illness is not changing either. However, lighting within this shot of black and white effect, is increased as shadows have lessened, representing a possible resolution to come as the audience will wait to see what it is.

Another repetitive shot is used of a wide shot to

again show the girl crying. Lighting is enhanced further again through black and white effect, on this shot, to show that even though she is still upset, she is get-ting closer towards re-covery with every step that she takes. The repetition contin-ues to represent in-tertextuality with my video and Barnardo’s TV advertisements.

This final shot of the girl represents a side, extreme close-up of the girls eyes. Although shadows are still seen ever so slightly, lighting within the black and white effect shows that she is moving forward with her life and is closer to recovery. Within this shot, her eyes are shown as emotional as though she has just been crying, which is also represented through the smudged make up under her eye. However, although she has been upset, she has gotten through it, representing her to be strong and

able. Due to her strong hold, the audience will wonder what she is look-ing at or where she is looking into. I wanted this shot to be represented as her looking forward into the future of her life and looking at good things ly-ing ahead as she will soon find recovery. This still leaves the audience to question, how does she

recover?

The resolution to the girls problems is answered as the logo represents the final shot, showing the charity campaign. The logo lingers and zooms in for a while, representing its importance and impact within the zoom as well as giving the audience time to establish the charity company by lingering long enough for them to remember the name. I chose to use the logo in the final shot as it is easily established as the brand image and the audience can simply search for ‘Ana’s Angels’ and if my web-site were endorsed professionally and realistically, the campaign would easily be found to ensure that every person who feels like the girl did within the video, would be able to get the help that they need from Ana’s Angels.