Super Curricular

I looked at the article titled, 'Right Pier Right Now!'. This article is about the plans for the building of the Cultural Centre at the end of the pier in Southend. The article goes over the history of the pier and how it needed a place on it for events to take place. This was backed up by quotes from Southend residents who were excited to have a new cultural centre. The article then goes on to describe how the design was selected and the reasons that it came first in over 70 submissions. Diagrams of the design of the structure are shown on the next page to show what it will look like. On the next double page spread the article describes how it may be seen as unnecessary to build the centre as the pier already attracts many people, with quote from a resident against the development, but then describes how the new building will offer a contemporary spin on the end of pier show and discusses how the space can be used for private entertainment and events, and how it can even offer new statistics for the pier in addition to it being the longest pleasure pier in the world. Overall, the article is effective in going over the story behind the proposed cultural centre and goes over the potential that the centre has well.

https://youtu.be/OGIYzugykGA?si=bwGS0R382HeX9ACQ

I watched the ‘World of Our Own’ advert from Shelter. The advert portrays a man and a girl on another planet in spacesuits. About halfway through the advert cuts to the two in a room with an arguing couple, revealing how the two had been imagining the scene before, escaping the dull, harsh reality of their circumstances to imagine themselves in a much nicer and more fun setting, attempting to make the most out of their situation. This shows the effect that financial struggle has on families, appealing to the audience of struggling families who will feel that they can relate to the advert and feel represented. The worried expression shown on the girls face shows how she is struggling and the man is attempting to comfort her.

I, Daniel Blake Review

In our modern world where cinema is mostly dominated by big-budget Hollywood blockbusters it's refreshing to take a break and watch a grounded, realistic take on everyday life and the unfortunate situations some people have to deal with. This film accurately portrays the struggles of those who fall victim to the system we live in, which director Ken Loach clearly displays his disapproval of. The world of I, Daniel Blake feels so real because it more or less is, being shot largely on location using natural lighting to give the film a realistic feel. All the characters are similar to someone you may know and can imagine in the situations presented, making it even more heartbreaking watching them struggle. Although often bleak and stressful there is a wholesome undertone about the film with Daniel offering up his time to help Katie and her two children, keeping them entertained and in good health as they try to get back on their feet. Although I may not have cried, I did feel connected to these characters. I believed that Daniel Blake was real, making the ending of the film hit hard. There are no flaws with the film that I could name, yet I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. It's simply real.

☆☆☆☆

Big Issue Infographic

Here is an Infographic I made about the Big Issue magazine, covering things such as the USP, start of the magazine, and circulation.

Music Video Research

Radiohead- Burn The Witch

• The Radiohead 'Burn the Witch' music video directly parodies the Trumptonshire trilogy from (1966-1969), imitating the stop motion style of the 3 children's series. The creator of the trilogy, Gordon Murray, was not aware of the Radiohead video so it is unknown whether he would've given the band his blessing to use the style of what he'd created.
• The "Trumpton" small-town reflects the family values often championed by right-wing politicians that dislike Radiohead
• The animator behind the music video, Virpi Kettu, wanted the video to contrast with the music to wake people up a bit.
• 
  The band wanted the video to raise awareness about Europe's refugee crisis and the "blaming of different people... the blaming of Muslims and the negativity" currently engulfing European politics. One parallel is a story in the UK where immigrant's doors were painted a certain colour as to distinguish them from other residents (also applying to Jews in the war).
• References to Jews are also seen at the tomato farm where all the boxes have the word 'JOBE'S' on it, the name Jobe is Hebrew for persecuted.

• The band has personal connections to Judaism as they have multiple Jewish friends and guitarist Johnny Greenwood is married to an Arab Jew.
• The video also makes several references to "Hot Fuzz". The film and the music video follow similar premises of an someone inspecting a seemingly picture perfect village and discovering that the whole village is part of a strange cult, with the entire village turning on them. One reference they make is the inclusion of a scale model of the village.

Lil Nas X- Sun Goes Down

•  “I named the song ‘sun goes down’ because i feel like at night is when those thoughts you try to avoid really start to hit and you can’t escape them,” Lil Nas X said on Twitter.
• In the past he ran a Nicki Minaj fan account on Twitter which he initially denied involvement with until 2020 because he didn't want people to know he was gay. He noted that the Nicki Minaj fandom community on social media was the only place where he felt he belonged.
• Being a much more heartfelt song than his other releases, this video took a much more grounded approach than others, focusing on regular life when he was younger in 2017, such as working at Taco Bell.
• When he was younger he was never going to publicly declare that he was gay, the song was a letter to his younger self confronting his fears of coming out and showing that now he can accept who he truly is. This is also shown by how online he isn't afraid to be himself rather than dressing like a cowboy after the popularity of his song "Old Town Road"