Twenty-One

I had my first go at mocking up an article, and printing it. I decided to go with my idea of a twist on page 3 - The Sexy Page 3 Spud, as it will contain a doctored picture, so I get to have a play with that too.

Okay, so here we have my real one as reference. Or one of my references anyway. I've used a couple of different page 3's to get some variance. I thought it was best to censor it. I also cut the top of her head off. Not because that was rude too, she was just too big for my scanner.

So the first step of making my own was to make my page 3 girl. Who incidently is a potato. With a Bikini on. So I set to work peeling a swimsuit into my tasty tatty.

Isn't she pretty

So now I had to start mocking up the layout of the page, using the real page 3 as a guide, trying to copy the typefaces and styles as best as I could.

The potato looked a bit odd by itself so I thought I'd put it on a nice beachy background, blurring it a little so it looked like the depth of field.

I printed it out using my inkjet printer to see if it would work. Which it did, nicely. This is a scan of what it looks like, after being strategically placed in my bag for a day so it got a bit tatty round the edges.

I'm so happy with the way this turned out. Despite the fact it's obviously not finished as it's just a test, it's starting to look really real.

Twenty

Today I had my tutorial with Frank. It answered a lot of questions.

I have now had all the feedback I need to decide over my political/humerous dilemma. I'm definitely going to go for the humerous. I feel so much more comfortable doing this. The idea of writing competely serious-toned stories, taking a political approach, and fooling people without a trace would have been a clever way to do it, but I much prefer the other idea.

At the start of this project, my focus was just on making people believe the things I told them. Since then I have also become interesting in spoofing the media. Pointing out its controlling side, it's ridiculous side, the side which blows everything out of proportion and how it itself tries to make people believe stories, and react a certain way to them. With the humerous route that I have decided to take, I still get to fool people like before, it's just this way I get to have fun with it, and push the boundaries more. My articles will still look real. This will do a lot of fooling. Frank has also helped me decide to start off my stories seriously. The progressively get more ridiculous. Which does a little more fooling.

By doing this, I am confident that when people see my work, they will still be asking the question 'is this real?', even though the story is completley crazy.

So I guess that's the turn my project has taken, I'm not wanting to pull the wool over people's eyes completely anymore, I just want to see if I can still make them question the lies, no matter how ludicrous they really are.

I have also decided that I am definitely going to do a mixture of full articles, clippings, and headlines on sandwich boards. This is because of the difficulty of printing, and for variety. I do love the idea of having these stories displayed in a way that looks like somone's collected them, and lovingly organised them in a tatty, amateurish way.

One more thing that I have been thinking about, after a few attempts at trying to write some stories, and finding it a little hard to write in the style of a real journalist. Even though I feel pretty happy writing, it has never been my strong point. So I asked myself: Does the language have to be perfect journalism? I think with the nature of the stories, I don't know if it matters so much. Obviously it needs to seem like it's from a newspaper, but I think if it seemed as though it was written by one of the more rubbish journalists at the newspaper, I think it would only add to the charm. However I have got The Newspapers Handbook out of the library. It has shed a lot of light on style of writing and stuff. It has literally everything you need to know about journalism and newspapers in there, it's actually quite amazing. So hopefully I can make these stories as good as possible.

So a very short summary of today would be:

• Format decision = mixture of clippings and headlines
• Style decision = far fetched
• Language decision = good but not perfect

Nineteen

Today I had a chat with Rob. We talked about another change in the format of my project. It is now an option to do a mixture of full articles, clippings, and headlines on sandwich boards.

The way I would like to display this is as if it's somebody's collection of news that they had gathered and organised. There's something about the tattyness and lightness of the newsprint that I plan to print my stories on that I want to keep, and this will be a perfect way to do it. I'd like to be able to display them on a pinboard, as if someone has pinned them up to study.

Seventeen

This week I have been thinking about what sort of stories I will write - coming up with vague subject matters, and twists on existing sections, some which reflect my newspaper research, some which really don't. Some are really outrageous. At this stage I'm still not sure whether I should go for the serious approach, or the piss-take approach.

Part of me wants to take the light hearted route, as feel a lot more suited to this kind approach, as most of the stories I have come up with have just naturally been quite ludicrous. This part of me wants this to be funny. I actually want to make people laugh. But then does that mean I have to sacrifice some credibility?

The other part of me wants to make these stories believable. Completely believeable. So people could read the whole thing and not bat an eyelid, and just walk away thinking it was true. Then I would have successfully conned them. But I kind of feel like that isn't the most important thing anymore. I feel like I've moved on from the whole 'making people out to be fools' thing.

I will get some feedback on what people think about this, and the story ideas I have so far, and make a decision, because right now, both ideas seem like they could work so I'm reluctant to ditch one.

I have now started a whole new book, just for story writing, as it is a big part of my project. I will use each page as a seperate little space for me to build each story on.

Sixteen

I feel like I have exhausted all of the newspaper deconstructing. I have done a brainstorm of things I have found that I want to use from my research, and how I will put a twist on certain aspects:

• Language
• Particular words
• Outrage
• Shocker
• Scandal
• Subject areas
• Politics
• Celebrities
• Drugs
• General Crime
• Gangs
• Gun/Knife Crime
• Murder
• Paedophillia
• Abuse
• Sex
• Science
• New Studies
• Global Warming
• Religion
• Terrorism
• Playing with words for headlines
• Minimal
• Draws people in
• Fake Dates
• Word Play
• Alliteration
• Terrible puns
• Inappropriate use
• Hidden words
• Subliminal Messages
• Spelling words using first letter of each row
• Fake Journalist Names
• Helen Highwater
• Hugh Ray
• Al E. Gater
• Arty Fischel
• Barry D. Hatchett
• Chester Minit
• Lee Vitoff
• Warren Peace
• Robyn Banks
• Poppy Cox
• Horace Cope
• Frank N. Stein
• Lori Driver
• Lynne C. Doyle
• Justin Thyme
• Graphs and Charts
• Linking to real news stories
• Follow up stories
• Hysteria
• Misfortune on the vulnerable
• Children
• Elderly
• Disabled
• Evidence
• Photographs
• Outrageous photoshopping

Fifteen

Today I had my group crit with Frank and Noel. It was nice to see other people's ideas and get feedback on my own, and my problem from yesterday has been solved. It was suggested that I do a series of front pages, instead of doing a whole newspaper, which as I said before, would cripple me. I feel a lot happier doing this.

Fourteen

I have been doing research on printing. I have checked out several places that print whole newspapers, but they are all so expensive, and often require you to print a minimum amount of copies. The minimum being 500. It is cheaper when it comes to black and white printing, but I don't think that's an option. The whole point of my newspaper is for it to look real. If it was black and white it just wouldn't look the part. So now it looks like I wont even be able to print a whole newspaper unless I do it myself.

So making a whole newspaper seems like a bit of an awkward task. Plus I have been worrying that it is a bit too ambitious for the time scale, once I've done all my newspaper related research and feel ready to start making, I'll be trying to write a whole newspaper in less than a month. A perfect looking newspaper. By myself. Too scary.

So I'm a bit stuck now. But I have a crit tomorrow. I aim to be back on track by tomorrow evening with a compromise on my idea.

Thirteen

Newspaper Deconstructing

UK Titles:
Metro
London Evening Standard
Daily Mail
Sun
News of the World
Telegraph
Mirror
Express
Guardian
Times
Daily Star
Independent
Observer
Financial Times

Components:
Front page stories
Big stories
Trivial Stories
Follow up stories
Adverts
Sport
Puzzles
Cartoon Strip
Send us your letters
TV listings
Celebrity gossip
Horoscopes
Agony aunt
Page 3

Twelve

Today was the first day back at college, we did some group work in which we wrote a summary of our proposal, and then we all got to go round the room and read each others, and stick post-it note comments on them. This was mine:

The first comment was from Frank. Thank you Frank, however way ahead of you, I've been watching Brass Eye all Easter.

The second comment - There are elements in the media that I find funny, like the comment says, too sensational/trivial/negative, and I definitely want reflect this in my work.

This has made me raise some questions about my idea:
Will the stories be serious and politically motivated? Will making this newspaper be about me making a stand about the things in the news I disagree with? Is this the way I really want to go? Is it really me? With me being the way I am I feel more inclined with this project to be taking the piss out of the media, rather than taking a serious slant, that's all a bit angry and protesty. But then maybe if I did take this approach, it might be more effective? I need to think about this.

I have also thought about some other issues:

• Is the newspaper itself going to be fake? As in the title. Will it be an existing newspaper? A made up one? Or a slight variation on a real one (e.g. The Morning Standard/The Motro)
• Depending on the outcome of the previous point, what kind of newspaper will I make? If I use an existing one, which one? I like the idea of a red top. I can be a bit more ridiculous with the stories and they way they are written.
• Printing. How many issues can I print? If any? This worries me. If I can only print a small amount copies, then this limits me on my experimenting. I wont be able to leave it on the train for someone to pick up, because if they get off the train with my only spare copy, I'd have to run after them. It would not be practical. If I can't print a whole newspaper at all, then I will have to figure out how I can overcome this. But I will research printing first before worrying about that.
• I want to record people's reactions. The way I'd like to do this is to secretly film them whilst they discover my paper. But will there be issues with this? Would it be worth the hassle? Perhaps I could interview them? But would that look as good as part of my final work? It would be nice to have something to actually show.

Eleven

My idea so far is to make a completely fake newspaper. I think this could be a good way of telling lies. If it were to look real, it would be a seemingly reliable source, and hopefull I might be able to con some people.

I need to start looking at existing newspapers and deconstructing them. I need to take a step back from them and figure out what newspapers conventions are on the broader side of it, and then I also need to take a closer look at each title, and work out what characterises each newspaper, what they like to report on, what sections do they include, and how they handle stories.

I need to do something similar to what Charlie Brooker did when he made this:
Charlie Brooker - How to Report the News

Ten

Museum of Hoaxes
April Fool's Hoaxes
E-mail Hoaxes

Again - all play on people's insecurities. A lot of hoaxes are done through news stories.

7 Fake News Stories That Fooled 

All of these succeeded because they were told from reliable sources.


The Bubble - BBC
Each week, three comedians must differentiate real news stories from fake ones, after four days of isolation 'The Bubble', a remote country house.

Brass Eye
A satirical spoof on documentaries

The last two sources are very close to the route I wish to follow.

Photoshopped News Stories 1

Photoshopped News Stories 2

Photoshopped News Stories 3

Real Images That Look Photoshopped 1


Real Images That Look Photoshopped 2

Nine

I want to start thinking about how I can tell my own lies. I have established that I need to make a reliable source for the lies to come from, and my research has lead me to start thinking about ways of communicating. To tell a lie you must communicate the lie.

Conversations - Face to face/Telephone calls
Social networking
Broadcasts - TV/Radio
Periodicals - magazines
Documents - Leaflets/Letters
Speeches/Talks
Posters/Billboards

After coming  up with several ways of communicating false information, and thought that the best way to make a reliable source was to mimic one that already existed. This way it gives the reciever a sense of familiarity. I believe that if my lie-reciever feels comfortable and is familiar with the platform on which they are recieving the lie, they will be much more likely to believe it.

By pretending to be something that is trusted, I can lead people astray.

I have had the idea of faking news. Everybody trusts the news. How could people refuse my lies if they saw it in a news report? I feel this is pretty foolproof :)

So there we are. I'm going to fake the news.

Eight

I have been researching famous lies, and also common lies. I have been discussing with people what they think are lies told often, why you would lie, and who you would lie to.

Why we lie is what interests me here. I have done some more research on this:

Real Simple - The Truth About Lying

We lie to:
Save face - if you've gone wrong, this is a weakness. You don't want people to see your weaknesses. It's self preservation.
Shift blame -  because nobody likes being in the wrong, or being in trouble.
Avoid confrontation - nobody likes uncomfortable talk, or people feeling bad.
Get one's way - for personal gain. a completely selfish act.
Save someone's feelings - because telling someone a lie is easier if the truth may hurt their feelings. some people react badly to some truths
Make oneself feel better - for reassurance

It seems that a lot of lying is tied to self esteem. We worry about how we seem to others. This backs up my theory that if you play on people's insecurities, you can control them.

Seven

Propaganda
I've had a little research session that has given me a number of resources to look through. I started off reading bout propaganda, and the reasons behind it, and then went on a little investigative journey.

I started off here:
Propaganda Leaflet Archive 
&
Nazi and East German Propaganda

Both full of amazing resources. All propaganda plays on people's strongest emotions, whether it be fear, or love, it's all a bit scaremongery. This is why it worked so well.

Propaganda Techniques
Techniques are designed to fool the audience. They appeal to emotions rather than reason.

Propaganda Critic
This has told me that propaganda does not have to be as blatant as a swastika. It can be as subtle as a joke.

Chinese Propaganda Posters

All very powerful, positive imagery

More links:
Wiki - Nazi Propaganda
Wiki - Japanese WWII Propaganda
Wiki - Soviet WWII Propaganda
Wiki - American WWII Propaganda
Wiki - British WWII Propaganda
Visiting Edward Bernays
History is a Weapon by Edward Bernays
How Americans are propagandized about Afghanistan
Is Government Propaganda Legal?
Manufacturing Consent by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia: Propaganda
Two Ways of Looking at Propaganda
U.S. Navy Recruiting Poster Archive
U.S. Propaganda in the Middle East - Early Cold War
World War Posters
Sacred Congregation of Propaganda
The Dogma Collection
Wiki - Lie
Wiki - Media Bias
Wiki - Misinformation
Wiki - Music and Political Warfare
Wiki - Political Warfare
Wiki - Psychological Manipulation
Wiki - The Sleeper Effect
Wiki - Cognitive Dissonance
Wiki - Crowd Manipulation
Wiki - Deception
Wiki - Disinformation

These resources are all starting to lead me to the same conclusions - that persuasion is all about weakness.

Six

Social Experiments

The Weapons of Influence research has lead me onto experiments which relate to the psychology of influence.

The Milgram Experiment
This shows that people are more willing to obey orders if they are given by an authority figure. Even when the orders conflict with their conscience.

The Asch Conformity Experiment
People are influenced by others, and will deny the evidence of their sight just to conform.

I'm very interested in the subconscious mind. People can be easy to control if you just know how to.

Five

Persuasion

Lies are all about persuasion. You must influence people to believe that what you are telling them is true.

Robert Cialdini - Weapons of Influence

From this source I have found useful information about ways to influence.

People will be more likely to believe false information if:
It has come from an authority figure
If they trust you
If they see that other people believe the information

Four

Adam Curtis - The Century of  the Self: Happiness Machines

BBC Four Documentaries - The Century of the Self
YouTube Channel - The Century of the Self Playlist

We watched this in class a few months ago. It has inspired me for this project and I have watched again several times since. I am fascinated by how Edward Bernays knew just how to control the public, and how to make peoples desires overshadow their needs.

This links in with my chosen trigger - 'Untrue' as Bernays was a master of misleading and persuasion.

"If propaganda could be used for war, it could certainly be used for peace."

Three

Statement of Intent

Gullible

Progress and Achievement
During this course I have realised the importance of research and development of ideas. To be an expert in the subjects you are working with and be fully aware of what you are trying to achieve is fundamental to any project, and enhances the final outcome hugely. I have also been able to pursue my interest in learning about communicating with an audience, and the psychological side of design and advertising.

Context
I have been inspired by Dan Eatock’s work, and can relate to his obsession with themes and collections. I admire his way of looking at the world, and his ability to spot coincidence and contradictions in real life, from his photographs which show coincidentally matching colours in everyday situations, to transforming a pun to a physical form by making a London Underground ‘Tube ticket’ into a tube shape (Dan Eatock, 1998).

Watching and discussing The Century of the Self (Adam Curtis, 2002) in the studio has encouraged my interest in the methods of modern consumerism and attitudes to superficiality. I am interested in how people have let their desires overshadow their needs without hesitance, and how easily lead we really are.

Project Proposal Aims, Methods and Realisation
For the final major project, I focused on the word ‘untrue’. I want to concentrate on how the public are communicated with, and how easily people believe what they are told. I see this project as an opportunity to conduct experiments on how people react to false information, and how easily they trust sources, depending on how official they seem.

I intend to achieve this by experimenting with lies. I will research lies throughout history, how they have been told and how people have reacted to them. I will think about telling my own lies, and see how people react to them.

I will look at propaganda and persuasion from different cultures and times throughout history, and study the effect that it has had, and how it worked.

I have been, and will continue to take inspiration from the programme ‘The Bubble’ currently running on BBC2 “which plays on the fact that some news stories are so hard to believe you'd think they'd been made up.” (BBC, 2010)

Evaluation
Throughout the project, I will record people’s reactions to my work, by presenting it to an audience at various stages. By carrying out experiments, I will be able to see the effect of my work in real situations. I will be writing a blog for the duration of the project, so that I can reflect on my thoughts and progress.

Adam Curtis (2002) The Century of the Self. London: BBC.

Dan Eatock, Tube Ticket [Online]. [Accessed 27 February 2010] http://www.eatock.com/project/tube-ticket/

BBC (2010) The Bubble. BBC Two Programmes. [Online]. [Accessed 1 March 2010] http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qzjnq

Two

I have decided to stick with the idea of 'Untrue'.

I have realised that there are a lot of questions to be answered with this topic, and a lot of areas to explore. I think I will learn more and have more fun with it.

Things I want to find out:
How easy is it to make someone believe a lie
How are lies told?
When are people more inclined to believe a lie?
How far can you go with lying?

One

Brief: UN

I have explored ideas using the trigger 'un'. I used words beginning with 'un' as a base then used those to generate new words.

My two favourite ideas are:

Unimportant - bringing the stuff in life that nobody cares about to the foreground

and

Untrue - experimenting with making people believe false information, and how this is acheived