Analyse the 3 examples of media provided: A day in the life of, how a mad war killed two star crossed lovers [Both Written Text] and the first part of the 1997 feature film Welcome to Sarajevo.

There is a caption under both of the pictures. The caption underneath the large picture tells us that their bodies lay on the unclaimed land for six days before the Serb soldiers snatched them in the night. This just basically lets us know what is going on in the picture, and gives us information with regards as to who collected their bodies and how long they lay there for. The writer makes this article up of both fact and fiction; the evidence at the opening of the article is clearly based on fact as we can see what she is talking about as it is in the two pictures. As the passage goes on, the author invents convosation that she thinks went on between Admira and Bosko and also invents little incidents and actions. She often uses present tense to make it seem, as though the two star crossed lovers are still alive. The order in which the information is given to us is a little irregular, as we are told of the way in which the two where killed in the opening two columns. The writer then goes on about the way the two prepared, before they were gunned down. This is done so that we are made aware of their fate at the beginning of the article, and that we want to read on and actual find out more about Bosko and Admira; or from another perspective, people will of found out what happened to them and will not want to spend the time reading about them. So this way of setting the text out is both effective and non effective. The two pictures are put in to the article to give both an idea of the two people involved in the article and to break up the text so that it doesn’t seem as much text to read, however there is still a lot or text and it is also quite small; therefore this strictly is aimed at a much higher reading age.

The tone of this article is serious, as this is talking about death; there are no witty comments, as it benefits the nature of the subject. Also this article is very well themed around Romeo and Juliet, as the two stories are of a similar nature, as two lovers are driven apart by their religion/families. The writer tries to pull on the heartstrings of the reader; in order to make them read on to find what happens to their fate.

 The second example of media is headed within an abnormally large inverted comma

‘A Life In The Day Of’

This is done in the way to open the article, and the article is then closed with another inverted comer, which includes the interviewees name and the photographer, which I feel is a very innovative idea. The title is serious and is very specific and to the point. There are no subheadings to help the reader find their way around and the text is just one large block. There is a large picture of Zlata Filipovic (the girl that the article is about) at the top of the page. This is large in order for the reader once again to see who or what they are actually reading about, and this helps the reader to imagine that. The picture has been placed next to the inverted comma with the title in, to give the ides that the article is going to be about a life in the day of Zlata Filipovic, who is in the picture. Underneath the picture is a rather large caption; this is links the picture to the article. It tells you about Zlata Filipovic, where she lives and a little bit about the way in which she lives, i.e. they have no electricity and the place in which she lives is constantly under sniper fire. The final thing in the caption is where it tells the reader that she has been keeping a diary for two years, and that it has been published, making her now known as the Anne Frank of Sarajevo.

 The layout of the article is a little too compact and it has a little too much script; much like a newspaper. As mentioned before, there is a large picture at the head of the page and also in two corners of the page there are two inverted columns in which script is written. The article isn’t very user friendly as the picture is boring but on the other hand it is needed to break the text up and show who is being written about. The writing is in columns and very small. It is quite descriptive and gives a picture of what life would be like for Zlata Filipovic. The writer emphasises and concentrates on the basics of life, Zlata and her family feel lucky to have the basics in this situation; things such as food and light. They are also limited to what they can do in their bombarded home, as they don’t have any candles

 ‘After breakfast I do my homework because I can’t do it in the dark at night after school, and we don’t have any candles’

 Most food is also a luxury; the menu is mainly bread and cheese

  ‘Then we have dinner, which is usually bread and feta cheese’

 Many things now are just a shadow of what they used to do, such as playing in the street, that is like Bosko and Admira as they too had dreams of having things back the way they were before the war came along. To them war is pointless they don’t understand it and the writer gets this across very well in the

‘Some days the shooting is worse than others. I’ve had many friends who were hurt and one of my friends, Nina, was killed. We knew each other since we were babies and she was a good friend… we used to play in the park together, the same park where she died. I don’t understand this war’

 This article is clearly based on fact as all of this is recorded in Zlata’s diary, which has been published. The tone in the article is always serious as it talks about things that shouldn’t be laughed about, such as death, and the article is full of fact.

  The opening part of the 1997 film ‘welcome to ‘Sarajevo’ is very much different to the other two pieces of media, as it is a moving image. It begins with a picture inside a picture, to show that the war that is going on is well publicised by the media on the television. The next shot is of ruined houses, which have been destroyed and made derelict by the conflict, which gives further evidence to the viewer that there, is a war on. The film then begins to move into colour to show that’s its not just a film and that it is really happening to real people in a real world so they can relate to the pain that they are suffering. There are then shots of the 1984 Winter Olympics, of how life was before the conflict between the two countries. The film get the message across very well of the fact that people are used to the war, and they have adapted there lives around it and haven’t tried to push against the force of the war. They find things that we would think of as a necessity, as a luxury. We only watch the opening twenty minutes of ‘Welcome to Sarajevo’. It is very emotional, and combines the effect of both articles in one. It shows how a wedding was ruined and as the brides mother was shot down because of the fighting between religions and countries. It shows homeless, starving families and desolate streets. This will have more generalized interest, as a moving image will always attract more people than a two page news report. There is an American reporter, he doesn’t really care about the conflict, murder and death, he just wants the credit for a good story.

‘Back home nobody has heard of Sarajevo but they have heard of me’

They tell the report like he is being brave, dodging bullets when all he wants is fame and popularity. That is extremely shameful, as also there is supposed to be very little food or technology available and their are three reporters sitting around a table, drinking wine and using there laptops and mobile phones. Multiple shots of suffering and torment are used to catch the eye of the audience. The moving image, just shows how shallow Americans are.

After assessing each piece of media, from many aspects and views; I can conclude that from my opinion, the 1994 moving image ‘Welcome to Sarajevo’ is the most effective, as it is basically the least boring of the three pieces. It as the most effective as it not only involves war but it has real life sinareos. Although it does include war, there is less of a mention about it compared to the other two pieces of media. Another reason the moving image is more effective is more people are going to want to watch a film, rather than a boring, plain and bland newspaper article. This is greatly due to the fact that we are greatly becoming and already are, a very tele-visual generation.