Joe's New York Article in house style.

This is a 1500 word article in our house style. The style is based loosly on the house style of Arena magazine.

THE ARTICLE....

Let’s face it, we have all had that urge to just get up and go. Sometimes due to problems we’ve had and sometimes purely for the fact that were bored of life. Most of us are at the age, or near enough, where were looking to take a gap year before university. Some of us just have the urge to explore new places and look into different walks of life. A few weeks ago I did just that. About one year ago, I sat down and after a bad relationship decided I wanted to go and see more of the world. So I looked in loads of brochures on cheap package deals to Spain, possibly to join the rest of Essex in their drunken ventures. I decided after seeing an advert on the T.V. for America, it might be an idea to check out some deals or if not see what I could come up with myself.
After looking in more brochures, I decided I might have more luck trying to plan a holiday for myself. Looking at hotels was depressing. A student like me could barely afford a hotel anywhere so I decided that I might have to stay in a hostel. What caught my eye at that particular moment was the YMCA West Side hostel. Didn’t look too bad but again this was America, it’s not the cheapest place to decide to go on holiday, especially if you’re a student fresh out of Sixth form or college. Nonetheless, after an argument with my mum over whose going to lay the table for dinner I decided to book it. Stupid? definitely not.
Booking a British Airways flight wasn’t as bad as I thought it was either. £280 for a confirmed seat, return, was the most expensive thing about the trip. Overall I worked out the trip to about £1200 which for New York, including activities, isn’t half bad. Thinking about it, not many people would experience the high life of the big apple, even for a day and doing it for six days, for that price was a budget I could live with. That said, it was probably still more than double what it would have been to go to Ibiza and get drunk for 6 days but personally id rather save a little longer, pay a little more and have a better experience.
My Time in New York would start when I touch down at John F. Kennedy International Airport. As I Arrived at 11 o’clock I decided that after dumping my stuff, I would go and check out the famous Empire State Building. The view from the top really isn’t something you would ever want to miss. The feeling of being on top of the world is a feeling that far replaces any experience you have experienced before. Talking to an expert in travelling and local prestigious tour guide Lee Gelber I found out about some of the best places to eat, drink and see during my time in New York. “A Broadway musical is a must” was one of the first things that he said, even before I asked about the main hotspots in town. So taking Lee’s advice I got into a shirt that night and went to the Nederland theatre on 41st to see a popular yet a tad confusing musical, RENT. Personally as a man who’s more commonly seen at Upton Park than the local theatre. I didn’t find this to be what id say is my cup of tea. Nonetheless, it was certainly a worthwhile experience and one id probably do again if I ever visited New York again, as its just unlike anything I’ve ever done before. After the Musical I decided id get back to the Hostel, which upon returning I had found, was cleaned and had cable T.V. I was impressed.
For my A-levels I had studied Politics and enjoyed it enough to want to pursue my own experience of it. I had spoken to Lee and being the Intellectual he was he said if I wanted to experience Politics I had to take a tour of Harlem. Wondering why, yet trusting the PhD behind his name I decided to give it a go. My experience changed after this tour. Seeing Harlem was like walking into a third world country with “mass consumerism”. It was probably at this point that I began to feel thanks for the welfare system that we have in the U.K. I would say that if you believe America is skyscrapers and sunglasses then your mistaken.
Speaking to Lee was defiantly no mistake as I really felt that I was getting a taste of what life was like in America, and certainly taking a different view of what the famous “American dream” is. Feeling somewhat disappointed that my view of America had been ruined, I decided to rush back to Manhattan on the subway. I thought after this somewhat, life changing experience to take a look at one of the more famous things to come out of Harlem, The Harlem Globetrotters. Seeing them play at the Madison Square Garden arena was truly incredible. Thousands of people came to see the exhibition team perform their tricks and shoot hoops. This was one of the more tourist-type activities I did during my time here, but sometimes they turn out to be the most enjoyable activities anyway, so taking in the arena’s fantastic atmosphere and electric passion for the game. Lee’s suggestions prior to the trip have so far been a success. I recalled, before coming out here Lee spoke of visiting places like Little Italy and China town to “get a feel for the local life and experience what is the melting pot of New York City is really like”. I was a bit weary of this after my pervious experience of a rather intimidating Harlem tour but once again I though it is an excellent way of really getting a feel for just how many different cultures there are in New York. Visiting Little Italy, on Lee’s instructions was interesting to see so much culture and life in one area. Italian New Yorkers are notoriously rude and to be honest, after visiting I can see why. China Town looks pretty much like it does in London so at the end of the day the novelty of being in China Town wore off pretty quickly. The object of my trip was to obviously to have fun, but also to experience the various different walks of life. On my journey across New York I encountered a tenement museum. The Museum contained many different records of people who had lived in this tenement and I got into a discussion with one of the museum curators. She believed that New York was the most diverse and ethnically entwined places in the world. Has she ever been to London?. At least in London, people don’t live in separate areas like in Harlem being predominantly black or Little Italy speaking for itself. Sure there are set communities, London’s East End is one that springs to mind, but we mix more than them, FACT. Trying to convince the curator was hard as she was very set about in her ways, as most Italian Americans are.
Once again I decided to get down to the Madison Square arena and watch the New York Rangers take on the San Jose Sharks at Ice Hockey. This was once again a fantastic experience and one that ill probably remember for ever. In America, there is no separation of fans so where I was sitting we had Rangers and Sharks fans sitting next to each other. This is a completely new concept to me as if that was the case at Upton Park or Stamford Bridge most people would end up with claret shirts by the end of the match. When speaking to Lee, the tour guide he comment on the beauty of central park. “Central park and the Wollman rink are a must for anyone”. I decided to try my feet at skating around the rink and although not being much good, absorbing the atmosphere was amazing. Generally New York has been an amazing experience both culturally and for entertainment. My Dad always claims that “travel broadens the mind” and you know what? He’s not wrong. Of course before I went I had to see the landmarks made famous by the films such as King Kong like the Statue of Liberty. One thing I made sure that I saw was ground zero, however there isn’t much to see as there is going to be a new tower built on the sight of the old twin towers. Finally the trip wouldn’t have been complete without a shopping trip to Macy’s and Bloomingdales amongst just a few places for shopping. Upon speaking to the tour operator I was informed that if you show your passport at any checkout, you receive very kindly 11% off of anything, just for being British. God save the Queen.


Leave some comments let me know what you think? Joe Carbonaro

My Progress So Far

Hullo, Joshua here.
My turn to post how im getting along and how much progress i have made.

Me and my group members all assigned each other to certain areas within the magazine which we would research and design a front cover and a double paged spread for.
I chose to do music, as this is very popular in all types of magazines and everyone wants to hear about new and upcoming artists before everyone else.

So i have been researching music within magazines that we are competing with such as GQ and Arena. I am currently annotating covers and looking at double paged spreads to prepare myself for my own magazine article and how i am going to set about doing it.

I have picked my area of music which i shall focus on and also how my article will look and my choice of wording. It will be an interview, but not with the questions shown. The answers will be merged into the piece so it is easier to read and makes it more challenging for myself.

I am planning on conducting my photoshoot soon and have scouted my locations and the props etc.

Thank you for your time and i will try and update this as soon as i can :)

P.S - I have posted some links to my classmates blogs and other blogs in the "interesting links" section

My Three Front Covers That I will Be Annotating By Dominic Kellman

I have finally done enough research to understand why different magazines are failing and why magazines are successful which is why iv'e been able to find the general style of my front cover. By annotating these magazines i will be able to understand furthermore what i need for my front cover and also what i dont need.

GQ



Loaded




FHM



I will also be annotating the double page spread's from these magazines and i will be able to compare the differences.

Written By Dominic Kellman

Jerome's Picture

During media we were given a task to take unique pictures of what represents the school to them.

How Far Are You So Far Dominic?

The group came up with our first title by looking at our keyboard for ideas and we came up with a title called 'Control" as we noticed the key "Cntrl."

When we found our title we made a questionnaire and asked twenty boys from the ages of 16-18 around school to awnser them. From the questionnaire we gavered a large amount of information but the only problem was many people voted for the title of our magazine to be 'Step Up.'

I personaly did not like this title because it reminded me of a dance movie gone bad but i did not want to ignore our target audience because it seemed to relate to them on many different levels compared to 'Control.'

My original artical was going to be based on tarnished modeling careers who have applied to fake modelling agencies but with further research i noticed that this would not reach out to my target audience, so i changed my approach to concentrate more on the sexy side towards the models that i will be presenting.

This is what i have done so far and i will soon be progressing with further research to get the highest grade i can.

I will be back soon

Written By: Dominic Kellman

R&D Stage 1

So far we are in our first stage of research and development of Control Magazine (Working Title).
We have looked into many different magazines that have suceeded and that have failed within the industry. We have all come to notice trends and patterns as to what sells and what doesnt. Convergence magazines i.e. Magazines that focus on more than one type of music dont tend to make a profit. We think this is probably due to the target market being far too broad to appeal to any one person. I personally looked at magazines that are failing and looked as to why, and most are due to the layouts of the magazine or the audience just not seeing an appeal in the magazine content. Other members of the team have carried out basic questionnares in which they have obtained results that helped us to base our magazine ideas around. We have a basic knowledge about what the magazine is going to be (again this is only working titles and basis). We had originally planned our magazine to be a sophisticated lifestyle magazine for boys/men aged from 16-19. We wanted the magazine to be a general monthly magazine, however our research has indictaed that most people want weekly magazines. We have noticed that most sophisticated magazines are monthly. This leaves us with a dilema that we hope to have discussed and sorted by the end of the week. The other members of the team are currently looking into how to take their photos and write their articles as to still appeal to the broad consensus of men aged 16-19 but still maintaining that sophisticated feel of the mag.

Joe Carbonaro 12ac, Gaming and Technology Critic, Control Magazine.