Fashionista's Bible: Elle Magazine

Photo Cred: Elle.com

Elle magazine is one of the world's largest fashion magazines that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. While there are plenty of articles based on women and fashion, the ratio of words to images is about 1:4. Elle focuses a majority of their attention on images: from top of the line designer ads such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, and Bottega Veneta to more consumer friendly ads such as K-Mart, Payless, and Target, there are pages of photoshoot spends on different and upcoming trends and styles of today, along with clippings of clothing from different runway shows to reveal the designer's newest trends.

Elle magazine effectively employs the use of the human brain to its entirety. The excess use of images makes the viewer/reader use their Limbic brain in order to process what they are seeing and then they are able to take in and understand the small print that goes along with each page.

Take the cover of the most recent edition of Elle magazine, the March 2011 edition. When I see the word Elle at the top of a magazine, instantly I fall in love, I may not want to mate to this magazine but I get this excited feeling inside of me where I can tell my Repiltian brain is intitially kicking in. Then my eyes go straight for Katy Perry, where I know have to use my Limbic brain in order to understand what I am looking at. I notice an image of a beautiful woman in warm lighting gently touching her lip. She seems to be dressed in clothing from the early 1900s. Finally, my Neocortecal brain gets put to use in order to read the headlines at the side of the page. Together, I use my Neocortex to understand the words the letters formulate but also the importance of certain words to others based on whether something is bold, bigger, or tighter together. Katy Perry is in bold near the bottom of the page and the next biggest print on the cover after Elle at the top. Now I understand who I am looking at. I read the rest of the headlines to understand what the rest of the magazine entails and now I am ready to delve into the fashionista's monthly bible.

Photo Cred: Coco Perez- Perez Hilton's Blog

Speaking of Katy Perry and her cover on the March 2011 edition, check out the exclusive video about her much anticipated photoshoot.



Elle magazine incorporates one of the most imporant media shirts: epistemological shift- the shift from word to image. Elle magazine doesn't focus as much on articles and words but on images in order to get their overall message across of women and fashion. They don't spend a lot of page space with words because I believe they found, as well as their avid readers, that the use of image is much stronger. It is always better to see an outfit or a trend than explain it. Therefore moving away from words and toward image


Due to Elle being based mainly on fashion, each viewer/reader that either flips through the magazine or attentively reads it, can develop their own individual meaning, one of the seven basic principles of media education. Based on the ads and photoshoots included in each edition, everyone can take away their own thoughts. Based on the image to the left, some readers could see the two women in this ad as just friends, such as myself, because I have grown to learn to not that fashion ads so seriously. While other readers who aren't as exposed to the inner workings of the fashion word, might perceive this image as two women who are more than friends because they are so close together and one has her arm around the other. This is a perfect example of a reader developing their own individual meaning based on the content within Elle magazine.

Photo Cred: Elle Magazine

Lastly, Elle employs persuasive technique of "beautiful people": persuading through images of good-looking individuals to sell products, lifestyles, behaviors, or ideas. Elle persuades its readers, who many of them are orginary people such as me and you, that they can be like celebrities and fashionistas of today's culture. Through their articles that focus on today's trends and list items you could possibily purchase in order to follow this trend, it makes the reader feel like there's a possibility to be like the people who can afford such clothes advertised and shown. It also gives the up and coming fashionista ideas of what to wear to follow the trends.

Elle magazine is a beautifully constructed fashion medium that focuses on today's world of clothes, accessories, and women. It encompasses the power tools that my class has been learning and utilizing to all types of mediums.

Womp Womp Womp: Media Meditation 2

Dubstep, a revolution taking over music. According to Wikipedia, dubstep first came onto the music scene in 1998. For the last thirteen years, I believe, dubstep has been a part of the underground scene but over the past couple years it has made it's way into many college students' iTunes. Now, I am by no means an expert on dubstep whatsoever, I am just becoming a regular listener. But what I do know is that before I stepped onto Champlain College campus I had no idea what dubstep was or that it even existed. To this day, I am still uncertain of what exactly Dubstep is but I am learning. I know that it is a a type of techno music, more along the lines of electric dance music and not as hardcore as techno which is a type of music that I really don't enjoy listening too. Even though dubstep is a variation of techno, I believe it to be a lot more enjoyable to listen to. I think it might be because dubstep music is a lot of songs that have been altered and more bass and drums have been added to the background music therefore there are still lyrics and singing involved in these songs. Whenever I want to dance or in the mood to have a good time I always look to my friends, who are much more into Dubstep than me, to turn up some of their favorite dubstep mixes.

Some of dubstep artists I've heard of/listened to...


Bassnectar
Photo Cred: http://bonafidedarling.blogspot.com/2010/07/bassnectar-magical-world.html


Datsik
Photo Cred: http://majesticdetroit.com/2010/06/04/datsik-borgore-2/


Major Lazer
Photo Cred: http://mixtapemaestro.net/2010/02/major-lazer-featuring-elephant-man-halo-beyonce-cover.html

Rusko
Photo Cred: http://goingotherplaces.com/2008/12/rusko-destroys-the-essential-mix/




What I find most interesting about dubstep is not just the unusual sounds and beats that these artists come up with but how lately, is is going mainstream. Pop artists all over the radio have been employing dubstep in their music. The best and most recent example that made me even think of this blog post to begin with is Britney Spears' newest single "Hold It Against Me."

The beginning of the song (0-35 seconds) then after the first chorus is comes back in in the background (around 1:04) then again it comes in very strong and it's a little dubstep breakdown (around 2:14). It's funny to me how underground music that I've never heard of before coming to college is now incorporated in the "Queen of Pop" Britney Spears' latest single, one of the most mainstream songs at the moment.

When I first heard dubstep at my first college party my Reptilian brain kicked in causing me to have a "flight" reaction to the music. I was honestly scared when I heard my first dubstep song. But since then, I have employed both my Limbic and Neocortical brains to listen and fully understand the beauty and intelligence behind this new-wave genre of music.

I recommend anyone who is open to new music to take a look at some dubstep. If you're a little wary at first just go to YouTube and search (insert your favorite dance song here) dubstep remix and I can ensure you that something is likely to pop up. Listen to that and continue exploring from there. Wanna dance? Listen to dubstep.

An Embarassing Confession: Media Meditation 1

I'm obsessed with...Photo Cred:http://www.ea.com/blogs/e3/celebrate-tetris-25th-anniversary

Yes, that's right Tetris. Everyone knows what Tetris is and if you don't I have a question to ask, do you live under a rock? Now, I don't mean that in a rude way but what person doesn't know what Tetris is; it's only the best multi-media game to ever exist. Tetris first came onto the scene in 1984 when it was designed and programmed by Alexey Pajinitov in the Soviet Union (thank you Wikipedia). Tetris has been adapted for nearly every gaming console, most notably Nintendo, cell phones, smart phones, MP3 players, even graphing calculators. What was thought to be a fad of the '80s turned into a phenomenon that still captivates the lives of people across the world.

You may be wondering, what makes Tetris so special? My answer: it's not special, it's addictive and that's why Tetris has been such a popular game for such a long time. There are many different elements of Tetris that make the game hard to quit. First, it's a full brain workout. Playing tetris utilizes all three of your brains: the neocortex, limbic, and reptilian. The neocortex, which is the part of your brain closet to your skull, is in charge of thinking. When playing tetris you have to always be thinking on your feet (or fingers since they control the game) as to which way you should turn the piece and where you should place it. The limbic, the second brain in, which is in charge of emotions and feelings due to images and music. The bright colored pieces and the upbeat music are taken in and processed due to this specific brain. Lastly, the oldest and last brain, the reptilian is in charge of our most primitive responses of fighting, flighting, mating, and eating. Tetris doesn't make you want to mate or eat but once the speed of the pieces falling increases it makes the player freak out in a way to get the pieces in the right place. In my case, I've recently begun playing Tetris Battle on Facebook where you play against another person which employs the "fighting" response in your Reptilian brain because you want to beat your opponent and win.

Video Cred: Biodriod via YouTube

What I find even more interesting than how playing Tetris is a full brain workout but how well this simple game has found it's way into the 21st century concept of convergence. Like I earlier stated Tetris was initially made for gaming consoles but awhile back it found its way onto cell phones and smartphones. That is how I initially started playing Tetris back in high school because I downloaded an application to my cell phone. My time was consumed by it. I hadn't played Tetris since tenth grade but a couple weeks again I discovered a new medium in which to play it: Facebook. I can now play Tetris while being on Facebook competing in Tetris Battle against other people on Facebook or with my own friends.

So, if you're looking for something fun to do to waste some time when you don't feel like doing something you know you should be doing, invest in checking out Tetris Battle on Facebook. Before long, you'll be addicted and a Tetris champion.

Also if you have a YouTube account sign in and check out Tetris God, it's super funny but I couldn't embed it to my blog.