Dissertation. Magazine spreads based on the subject of Food.

All of the interviewees whose comments are featured in these spreads were informed that although this is my dissertation piece, the spreads would be available to a wider audience. Any pictures that do not belong to me are credited to the owner, and any information (and in the case of 'Waste Not', the 'Love Food Hate Waste' picture) was requested and permission was granted for my use. 

Dissertation proposal

For my dissertation I propose to create a series of articles on the subject of food. I have chosen to produce a series of articles as opposed to making a documentary because it means that I can focus on many different aspects of the subject.

Because I've chosen such a wide subject area, I think that my audience will be varied. Some pieces that I will be producing will be serious accounts of the food crisis that we have in the world at the moment, where as other articles will be more light-hearted, so I feel that my articles will interest a wide variety of people.

I propose to submit a mixture of styles of articles, including a Gonzo piece,  I would like to do a gonzo piece on how much food a person in a developing country eats in a week. I would first go to see a doctor to find out more about malnutrition and if and how I would be affected, which I would include in my article. Then I would spend a week living on the diet of a person from a developing country, and remark on how much energy I had, how it compared to my own diet, and whether or not my weight would fluctuate during the week. I would also try to incorporate the same type of exercise that someone from a developing country would carry out during the day, such as an amount of walking. I think that this would be a difficult task but would also be enlightening to readers and to myself about how fortunate we are in the Western world.

In comparison to this piece on food in developing countries, I would like to research how much food is wasted every year is the Western world. According to statistics it is estimated that we each waste 120kg of food each year. I would like to find out just how much this is, such as explaining that that's around 286 chocolate bars per person. I would also like to research where this good goes, I know that food is often turned into landfill waste, and there are several campaigns to feed people as opposed to sending food to landfills.

Another topic I would like to write an article on would be extreme diets. I would look at both over eaters and under eaters, and find out what each of them were to eat in a day. In this case, I would either produce two confessional interviews of how a persons life is affected by an extreme diet and compare their diets to that of a healthy individual, or I would use them together and compare the differences in their diets.

One piece that I would like to do is one that we as the features team discussed earlier in the year, although it was never produced. I would like to eat fatty foods, and then explain how much time exercising it would take to burn off the foods that I had eaten. For this I would like to rely heavily on pictures. I think that this piece could be humorous, however informative at the same time.

Another topic that would be interesting to look at would be how food influences the media. I would be interested in looking at advertising for food, such as fast food, and how they adapt their meals to look different for an advertisement. There are also a series of programmes that would be interesting to write about, such as judging other people on their cooking abilities in Come Dine With Me and portion sizes and eating challenges in Man Vs. Food. It would also be interesting to look at the film Supersize Me, although the film was made some time ago and I therefore run the risk of not being current.

I would either like to do a confessional interview, or a 'day in the life of', a competitive eater. I think it would be interesting to find out what a competitive eater eats in every day life, how they train for a competition and the kid of things that they may have to eat.

These are just some of the ideas that I have thought of, and I feel that under the heading of 'Food', there are so many possibilities or articles I will be able to produce. I would like to focus quite heavily on pictures, because I am aware from the other magazine articles that I produced that too many words in a spread looks difficult to read. I am happier with the magazine spread that I produced that had more pictures, because the ratio of pictures to writing was just right, in my opinion. I would try to make all of my spreads look different, so instead of all my spreads being able to go into one magazine under the title of 'Food', they would be able to go into several different magazines.

I am happy I have chosen this idea because I am looking forward to how many opportunities I have to create different spreads and think of different ideas.

Critical Reflection for Magazine.

I decided to base both my spreads on the same topic, because I could write generally about statistics and then with the confessional interview provide a personal account. I chose mental health because I have always had an interest in the idea of mental illness and considered why there is a stigma attached to mental health that is not present with physical health. I began to speak to friends and relatives who I knew suffered from depression. I had seen an article in a magazine in which a photographer had taken pictures of victims of sexual assault, holding up cards of what their attackers had said to them. Many of the people in the pictures said that they found the experience ‘liberating’. I decided to adapt this idea to apply to my sufferers of depression. The people I spoke to told me how depression felt to them, and I took a section from each of their answers and wrote them on cards. In my pictures, the cards are used to cover the individuals face. This is to express the idea that mental illness is a mask that shields you from your former self. It is only when a person reaches the other side of their depression that they are able to feel like themselves again. One woman that I spoke to said that she had recently been to her doctor to say that she felt that she was ready to come off her anti-depressants. Her quote is ‘I feel like the sun is starting to come out’, which is why in this picture, the card is not used to cover her identity. For the writing that goes with it I wrote about statistics of people with mental health in the UK. I detailed my discussions with the mental health advisor on campus and the different techniques that she uses to help people who come to see her. I also discussed some campaigns that are running at the moment, such as Time to Change and the new iTalk app for helping to diagnose sufferers. I edited my pictures in photoshop before putting them into fireworks where I produced my spread. I am happy with the outcome of this spread, although I feel that the pictures take up much of the room and I had a lot more to say. However, there are a lot of words on my other spread so I do feel it is better that I didn't write as much on this one.


My second spread is a confessional interview with a woman who has suffered from depression in her adult life. Although I was unsure of whether it would be a good idea to do both my spreads on depression and not provide a more varied view of mental illness, I thought her story was very moving. I originally planned to conduct a confessional interview with a man I had read about in the paper. His daughter had been plagued by mental illness and when she admitted herself to a hospital, she was released despite her and her father’s pleas. She committed suicide that same day. I made one attempt to contact Mr. Nye, the girl’s father, but he did not reply and I felt it better not to push the matter. I think Gemma’s story is inspirational to people suffering from mental illness, which is the reason I chose it for my spread. I knew some people who suffered from depression and have done for many years, but I felt uneasy talking to them because they were close family friends, and I found it difficult to see them in such a different light to how I had done in my childhood. I was then introduced to Gemma by my mum, she had been friends with Gemma and my dad had known her husband Trevor. Gemma said that she would be thrilled to talk to me, and I conducted five or six interviews with her over an extended period of time. I found it difficult to cut Gemma's story down. Although I have taken out several parts that I had originally left in, i realise that it is still very long for a confessional interview in a magazine. Despite this, I felt the pieces that I didn't remove are key to Gemma's story, her downfall and her recovery. To create this spread, I spent several hours writing up my conversations with Gemma and then condensed my notes. After putting them into Fireworks I had to condense them again before I put in pictures and headings. If I were to redo this spread I would try to cut it down further, however I would have had to spend much more time with Gemma and at the time this was not plausible. I would also have liked to include a picture of Gemma with her daughter Alanah and I regret not asking for one.


I think that my spreads could both be used in the same magazine if there were one that specified in mental health. They both have different information to offer on the same topic and I think they are both informative. I also think that my spreads could also be used individually, Gemma's story would most likely be found in magazines such as Pick Me Up where at my spread 'It's time to talk about mental health' is tailored to students, and would be based in a student magazine. If this spread were not specific to university I think that it could be used in more popular magazines, such as Company.

It's time to talk about mental health.

To view spread in full size, please right click and 'open link in new window'.

Gemma's Story.

To view spread in full size, please right click and 'open link in new window'.

Beauty

(Charity) Shop ‘til you drop

Nathan: Charity Shops. No longer the graveyard of musty, moth-eaten garments and ill-fitting, ungainly gifts. Now, they represent an Aladdin’s cave of vintage potential. But, much like the gold prospector, or the diamond miner - you reap what you sow, and you have to work hard long hours sifting through the XXL polo shirts and not getting tangled up in the novelty ties before you unearth the shiny (although, preferably not) good stuff.

Take, for example, the adventure Nicola and I recently embarked on - the mission: to find the best and most trendy outfit for the least amount of money possible. Definitely under twenty pounds, but preferably even less. There are plenty of charity shops in Winchester, certainly enough to make the competition one with potential for interesting results.

Nicola: I was, of course, the more prepared of the two. Part human, part magpie, I went on a search for all things shiny and beautiful. In my mind there was no possible way I could lose this challenge. I will admit, Nathan has more of a vintage look and flair but when it comes to taking something old and making it look new, I think I know what I’m doing!

So I set out, armed with a belt and a sewing kit to see what I could find.

Nathan:

Nicola: I