Evaluation Question 2

HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

Ways in which I am representing a specific social group:

Appearance/garments of the model. Facial expression of the model. Layout Mise-en-scene. Shot types.

The social group I represented in my magazine was white teenagers/ young adults. I decided to represent this social group because:

It was similar to the one of NME and Q (which were magazines that were the same genre as mine).

I wanted them to be similar to my target audience so that the audience/readers can relate with the people featured in my magazine (eg: same age).

Even though my magazine is aimed at both males and females I have purposely decided to just include a female to break the conventions of females being objectified, as this time the female is the subject of my magazine (eg: no dismemberment).

Appearance of the model & mise-en-scene: Makeup - Red lipstick

Clothing - Leather jacket (associated with 70’s rock look) Model is against metal background (associated with ‘rebel’ attitude and also give

off urban/vintage vibe). Facial expression makes it obvious that she is subject and not object. She isn’t dressed or positioned in a provocative manner which challenges Mulvey’s

male gaze theory and breaks the hegemonic norms. In fact I used a mid-shot radiate the importance of the model.

Direct mode of address (uses and grats), model has fearless expression which emphasises the power of the female (unconventional).

All of these things are associated with what my target audience would be attracted to (connotative level).

This front cover doesn’t follow the hegemonic view as the female model is represented as powerful, however could be possibly seen as hegemonic due to the ‘rebellious teen’ stereotype due to the facial expression.

My audience would be drawn to all these things as all them reflect my target audience and this could allow them to relate to the subject.

Layout – the model is positioned in a confident and powerful way, which would once again attract my female audience.

Layout & mise-en-scene: On the front cover, the model is against a slightly rusty metal door which is

associated with something ‘’urban’’, which was I fact one of the location preference of my target audience/focus group. This means both males and females of my target audience would feel familiar/drawn to this meaning they can relate to the artist.

In the contents page – the layout of the image is still majorly focusing on the model, which is done purposely for the reader to see the importance of the female artist (which empowers the female audience again).

Direct mode of address is kept in the contents page to make her the subject rather than the object once again.

Layout – the way the text flows around the model’s face is purposely done to illustrate that she dominates the page and that the text is not the most important part of the page.

The text is in an amount which suggests its for teen/ young adult readers, as a lot more text with no image would suggest its for an older audience. This is also why I made the image take up a little more than half of the page. However, the text is still quiet informative which aims to keep the reader’s attention but not to lose professionalism.

Filter of the contents page is associated with the 70s/ minimalism which is one of the things my target audience/focus group said they would be drawn to.

In all three of the front cover, contents page and double page spread I wanted my model to make eye contact with the audience to create direct mode of address (ie: audience can create a personal relationship with artist (uses and grats).

This breaks conventions, because in many magazines women are objectified but here the fact that there is direct mode of address means that it gives a sense that she is the main focus of the magazine and not just an ‘accessory’ or being objectified. This is done purposely to combat gender inequality which is often seen in many music magazines.

Both covers sexualise women here

Since my magazine is aimed at both males and females I purposely chose to have a female as the subject so that females coul relate to her.

The model is the main focus of the page as she’s taking up the nearly the entirety of it, which empowers females instead of objectifying them once again. (This is unconventional for women therefore the female readers will feel like they can relate to the artist featured).

The photo presented, represents the model in a positive way & breaks the conventions of the typical ‘’passive’’ and ‘’submissive’’ view of women. Instead, the model almost imposes herself which empowers the female audience.

The direct mode of address allows her to not be objectified. She is wearing makeup/clothes that are seen as ‘fashionable’ to the target audience which allows to relate to her but also look up to her.

Here, no props are used that would stereotypical of teens/young adults (ie: cigarette/alcohol) as I aiming to represent the target audience in a positive way. This means that this may be perhaps pluralistic to the stereotypes imposed on teens/young adults by older people.

Double – page spread

Ideology: In my production, I have prioritised the reception theory with the ability to

relate between the audience and similar aged artists featured within the magazine. This allows the reader to create personal relationships between them and the aspirational artists which entices fans and could potentially create a loyal fan base for the magazine.

The teenage artist presented in my magazine represents youth which perhaps makes the audience want to read about their own potential, this is done by the shot positioning using confident poses and close up shots creating direct mode of address. This is similar to other magazines such as Billboard that grab the attention of their audience by relating. By doing this it means that the audience is positioned to get the preferred reading of the media.