2. 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.
3. 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).
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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
8. 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.
