Representation- selling through stereotypes

Media produces use representation areas in order to sell their product.
There are seven representation areas these are:
Gender
Age
Class
Ethnicity
Sexuality
Nationality
Disability

Gender
The genders are stereotyped as sexual objects for the audience to view.  This may include them showing off pieces of skin or wearing certain clothing in order to attract their target audience.

"Erotic objects of desire for the characters within the story, and as erotic objects for the desire of the spectator"-Laura Mulvey, 1975.

Age/Youth
Young people are represented by the media as being anti-social and are represented as people who regularly participation in criminal activity. This also suggests that adults are much more responsible and are less likely to participate in any activities which are against the law.

"Adolescence is inherently a time of storm and stress when all young people go through some degree of emotional and behavioural upheaval, before establishing a more stable equilibrium at adulthood".-Stanley Hall, 1904.

Class

Class is used by media organisations to sell their magazine as their audience may buy a magazine due to the story about the person life as the cover may represent a poor to rich story. This may be because it allows the audience to relate to the celebrity which is included on the media product.

Keith Gandal says that the audience is attracted by the "sentimental rags-to-riches story" in 2007.

Also the average working class man is portrayed as being almost stupid and "baffonish" whereas the upper class are portrayed as being smart, elegant and clever. Richard Butsch in 1992 says that working class males in the media are portrayed as "Incompetent and ineffectual, often a buffon, well intentioned but dumb. In almost all working class series, the male is flawed, some more than others" .

Race

The media companies use race to sell their media products as some audiences will relate to different races consequently some genres of products only feature celebrities who fit into the category of the stereotyped race. For example hip-hop and rap magazine covers will generally only include images of black celebrities who are famous in that field. Also to sell their product to a wider audience media companies will use celebrities and models which could be included in that paritcular group of people. For example if their was a product based to the whole British public the media organisation is more likely to use a white model as the large majority of the British population is white.

"Whiteness has been naturalized, as though it is an invisble "norm". When it is of course an ethnic group like any other."- Sarita Malik 1998.

 

 Nationality/ Regional Identity

Nationality and regional identity are important categories to media product organisation as it allows them to clearly define their target audience. For example a British person wouldn't want to read a Spanish music magazine as it is likely that they will not understand thee language and all stories within the magazine wouldn't appeal to a British audience as the Spanish musicians are less likely to be famous or popular in Britain.

"Identity is generally understood to be the shared identity of naturalized inhabitants of a particular political-geographic space- this can be a particular nation or region."- Andrew Higson 1998

Sexuality

Sexuality is important to a media product organisation as this allows them to identify the target audience. For example a magazine aimed at heterosexual men will sell better if it has an image of a good-looking model shown in a sexual way than if it included an image of a topless man on the cover which would appeal to heterosexual women and homosexual men.

One theorist says that homosexuals are "screaming queens and his female equivalent the butch dyke."

  

 



Music Magazine Genres

Pop

Generally a pop music magazine cover contains bright colours and a famous and popular pop music artist or group. For example this magazine uses an image of Justin Bieber, which at the time this was published was a very popular pop artist. For a pop music magazine the designers would only choose to use a good looking, friendly and happy model. Also the model would be clean-shaven and unthreatening.

The target audience for pop magazines are generally young people especially young females hence the model and the bright colours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM

Hip-hop and Rap

Generally Hip-Hop and rap music magazines covers include an image of a famous artist from that genre who is generally black with an angry expression. This makes him look menacing and powerful. The cameraman usually uses a low angle shot to make the model look powerful and more important.

The target audience for this genre would be teenagers and young adults especially if they are of a black ethnicity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsPfSXJaelk

Dance

Generally dance music magazines have a model on their front cover who is enjoying themselves with a smile on their face. They also include bright colours that suggest fun. Also they generally include fun images and words that relate to the subject of dance. An example of this from this magazine would include "rave".

The target audience for the dance genre would yet again be young adults as they are the kind of people who will visit nightclubs and go to parties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJb0VYVtaNc

Reggae

Generally reggae magazine covers include a lot of bright colours that are associated with reggae. These colours include yellow, green and red. They also generally include an image of a famous reggae artist which in this example would be Peter Tosh.

The target audience for this genre would be people of all ages and possibly of a Caribbean ethnicity. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5FCdx7Dn0o

Blues

Generally a blues music magazine cover includes an older black artist with a guitar as the blues genre originated from black culture and was played by men of all ages aiming to become classic/ legends based on their skills as musicians.

The target audience for this genre would probably be people of an older age possibly with a black ethnicity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHowqKYSXNI

Rock

Rock magazine covers generally use an image of a famous artist from the rock genre. This person will generally have tattoos, facial hair and/or are holding their instrument. They generally never smile this makes them look “cool” and “hard.” They also generally use dark colours as dark colours are generally associated with the rock genre.

The target audience for this genre would be people of all ages as rock has been a popular genre for nearly fifty years possibly of a white ethnicity and a lower or middle class background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBd9330h9kI

Classical

Generally classical music magazine covers include a famous artist from the classical genre in an elegant and a non-revealing outfit however she has been respectfully used in a sexual way. The background also suggests quality and elegance. Also she wears elegant jewellery to suggest elegance and wealth.

The target audience for the classical genre would be people of all ages but especially old people, people of a white ethnicity and people with an upper class background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iLplzcCmxI










Based on my primary research, with the popularity of it and based on the styler of this genre I have chosen to do a magazine in the Pop genre for my AS Media Coursework.

Prelim Evaluation

Prelim Evaluation

My college magazine contents page is like conventional magazine contents page as it has the masthead at the top of the page in large font making standout from the rest of the magazine cover and it uses one main image instead of many smaller images. Another way in which my magazine is similar to a conventional magazine cover is with the layout as all stories are based around the main image.

However the masthead also helps this magazine differ from a conventional magazine as it clearly states that it is aimed at a very small target audience both with the logo and with the title, whereas a conventional magazine cover would use a name which would relate to a larger audience as they are trying to sell their product to a large audience in order to make a profit.

The colour scheme is also like a conventional magazine as my cover has a clear colour scheme of predominantly red whereas an unconventional magazine cover may use a series of different text and background colours.

My contents page is also like a conventional magazine cover as the contents page title stands out clearly from the rest of the page and it also uses a series of images rather than one large one. It is also similar to a conventional magazine contents page as the main stories are highlighted compared to the rest of the “minor” stories.

A final way in which my magazine contents page is similar to a professionally made magazine contents page is that the colour scheme is carried on from the cover through to the contents page so like the cover where I used the colour red, I have continued with the red colour scheme within my contents page.

My target audience is students who are going to Bodmin College and possibly people who are considering enrolling at the college as this would give them an incite into college life.

My cover and contents page represents, attracts and addresses the target audience of college students in a number of ways. The first way in which the cover and contents page does this is by using images only of college students. This represents the whole audience and will attract and address the audience as they now from one image that the magazine is based at them and not younger students of adults.

Another way in which these pages do this is by using stories that would interest the target audience of college students at Bodmin College.  An example the story about the football academy, which would attract college students who may be considering joining the academy, as they will be able to get a feel of what it would be like in that part of the college. Another example would be the story about the ski trip because this would relate to people who are or who are considering going on the ski trip as this will give them relevant information to make an informed decision on whether or not they will go on the ski trip or it will give them even more reasons to look forward to the trip.

Also another way in which the cover would represent and relate to the target audience is with what the models are doing in the photo. The image shows two people picking up a piece of litter. This will help my magazine relate to the target audience because for some students litter is a large problem. Consequently by seeing someone helping with this problem they may be interested to read on and find out how the college is helping with similar problems.

There would be no media institutions that would distribute my magazine because the target audience is so small as this magazine would only be relevant to students of Bodmin College and not to the students nationwide. So if the college wanted to distribute this magazine they would have to pay for a private printing firm to produce the magazines.

During the process of constructing my magazine I have learned how to effectively use Adobe Photoshop in order to produce an effective yet simple magazine cover and contents page. I have also learnt how to take reasonable photos on a Canon 600 D camera, which are in focus and are relevant to the magazines target audience.

My College Magazine Contents Page

My College Magazine Cover

Original Images

         

This photo is pretty good as both models are looking at the camera, it is pretty well focused ,the lighting is pretty good and it displays quite clearly the message which I am trying to get across to the audience. I also decided to crop out their legs as I took the photo as the audience doesn't need to see the whole of them. However if I was to take this photo again I would change the background as it seems quite busy and I would include a bit more of the crisp packet so the audience can clearly see what the models are holding.

I like this photo for  a magazine cover as it allows me to put text either side of the model, it  is pretty well focussed and the model is directly looking at the camera. However, if I was going to retake the photo I would change the backdrop and I would use artificial lighting as the lighting isn't brilliant.

This photo is good as I this photo begins to create a narrative as I have used a low angle shot effectively as they are higher up than the camera. However if I was to retake this photo I would use artificial lighting.

This photo is good as the model is posing and as I'm using a low angle shot it makes the model more important. If I was to retake this photo I would use artificial lighting as this image is a little bit dark.

This is good as it is a portrait of two people which is notoriously hard to get. However if  was to retake this photo I would insure that i got the whole of both models heads.

This photo is bad as half of the models head has been cut off and the camera is slightly out of focus.

This photo is bad as the model is blinking and the camera is slightly out of focus 

This photos is very bad as the model is pulling a weird face and the camera is badly out of focus.