How does your media product represent
particular social groups?
The magazine I have created represents
my specific social group of soft rock with the aid of the props, costumes and
idiolect used within the magazine article itself. The psychographics of my
social group is A B C1, highlighting that my target audience are typically
higher in the social spectrum which can stereotypically mean higher educated
and intellectually challenged with their reading choices. These classes are of
a wide spectrum and are able to attending gigs as well as concerts due to being
middle class and usually having the disposable income to spend on these events.
The primary audience of my social group are males that enjoy listening to soft
rock and so get pleasure from getting involved with the bands and the musical
information behind the music rather than the gossip. I have used the factors of
clothing and props as clear signifiers as to the genre of soft rock and attract
the audience through relating to the clothing and emotions portrayed through
the facial expressions.
I felt that the poses and
positions of my model were important and could influence who would be attracted
to the magazine. My magazine is firstly aimed at males and secondly aimed at
females and so needed to be sexual to capture the male’s attention yet not
objectify women due to the percentage being close between the readerships of
the magazine. I chose a model that would be confident in front of the camera
and so would portray this to the readers that she is a confident person about
her music and herself in general, having a little care about others feel. This would
inspire and influence the readers to feel that they need not care about others
opinion yet only their own.
I chose to use a female model
within her late teens that has presented herself in a typical soft rock artist
shown in other magazines due to the facial expressions she has held; not
smiling and directing her gaze straight at the readers themselves. The stance I
have chosen to place Leah in is a close position, playing the part of an up and
coming soft rock artist; Leah. Leah was chosen to be the model firstly due to her
long back hair which I felt was perfect for my images due to dark colours
usually having connotations of rock. Furthermore I felt that this was
complimentary with her huge eyes and so caught the reader’s attention instantly
due to me having the high contrast for my front cover image as I felt that this
would emphasis’ her features compared to her pale skin. These will be the
primary factors that will grab my social groups attention due to the cover
image being unique to the ,magazine and the artist being a strong signifier of
the genre and the music that the readers enjoy listening to because of the dark
colours I have chosen. Apart from the clothing and stances I found that for a
soft rock magazine the facial expressions were considered just as important,
Leah making sure she was not smiling and gave direct eye contact to the
audience to draw them in and capture their full attention. An image used within
the double page spread captures Leah having her hand near her lips, further
highlighting a nervous yet also sexual look for the readers due to the touching
of lips having connotations of passion or nervous, being strong emotions which
are typically expressed within this genre of music.
When styling Leah I decided to
make sure she was wearing makeup especially around the eys being dark colours
like blacks and browns to make sure that the artist was portrayed with s sense
of mystery and further related to the audience due to the heavy make up. This
is due to the females that will read the magazine will typically wear this sort
of make up having eyeliner, yet also the primary audience of the males that
will read this magazine will find this an attractive feature on Leah. Her eye
lashes have been exaggerated to draw the readers into her direct gaze and so
allow them to feel a person connection with the artist. This uses the uses and
gratification theory when looking at my magazine due to being entertaining and
easy to look upon the eye yet also a relationship the artist and magazine itself
allowing each issue to feel personal to the reader. This can be seen as an
important factor within my magazine due to the social group not only being main
streamers yet also some individualists and therefore allowing them to feel
special almost and different to the typical music genres and social groups such
as young females that listen to pop. Moreover, her mouth is lightly open,
almost biting her lip which connotes seduction and passion not only for the
artist herself but also for the love of the music. The specific style that I have
presented my artist in is paramount in appealing to my specific social group
due to rock music being known for the dramatic songs, actions and looks, yet
also keeping up to trendy with fashion in some situations yet having its own
unique twist. This can be argued as an icon look for rock music having heavy
makeup around the eyes and so allowing the social group to be influenced
through her styling and clothing.
I felt that I should portray the type
of social group that will read the magazine from the outset and so the front
cover image was extremely important in grabbing the right type of people. I
have chosen to use an extreme close up and place Leah in a low cut top,
although the top is unable to be seen I believed this was aiding me in making
Leah be portrayed for not only her music but her looks in a sexual manner due
to the target audience being predominantly young teenage males and young men. Furthermore
an extreme close up has been used to metaphorically highlight that the article
with be up close and person with the artist and so having nowhere to hide and
express her emotions to the readers. This can be important as it additionally
allows the social groups to understand the artists they adore as well as feel
they are an important part of their careers as they are allowing them to know
their secrets; building trust between the artist and fans.
When using other images of Leah
on the contents page I have used a range; long shot and close up this was metaphorical
for the readers that they will be getting every angle of Leah and so further highlighting
that the magazine will be capturing every angle of the artist. The clothing
that Leah has been styled in are typical casual soft rock clothing, being
leather jackets, dark leather trousers and a low cut top. I chose to use the
fabric of leather due to the connotations being sexual and explicit as well as
being edgy which is how the social group will see themselves as they don’t listen
to the typical music of pop. The top she is wearing is low cut to highlight
that is seen as a sexual icon yet also has class about her and is not too explicit
compared to other artists. These particular items of clothing are undoubtedly worn
a lot by the soft rock community and are seen as stylish, as well as being
easily to access and so allows the females to use her as a style icon and
relate to her dress code. I felt that using these types of materials and dark
colours were able to give an all round impression of the social group my
magazine was aimed at males and females. I felt that the Mise En Scene of
clothing was paramount and could easily decipher what magazines were aimed at
what social group. This is because of their specific interests and styles differ
greatly, having it inappropriate to have a pop artist is explicit low cut
clothing or a soft rock artist in a flower, bright pink dress.
The major prop I used was placed
on my contents page with the male models holding types of guitars being
electric and acoustic highlighting that even though the magazine was soft rock
it would also represent and relate to the social group due to them also
enjoying rough copy music such as live acoustic. This prop is a major part in appealing
to different social groups as I want to allow the audience to get a glimpse of
what is inside the magazine before they read any words or even have to think
about it due to the images being extremely strong at portraying the genre of
the magazine clearly. Another prop I have used within the contents page is a
microphone held by one of my male models to make sure the that genre was clear
and that there was a range of soft rock presented in the magazine not only
acoustic or heavy but live performances and articles with the use of the
microphone. This represents my social group as social and enjoying going out to
gigs and concerts to see their favourite artists and bands.
Within the double page spread I chose
to place flitters on to the images being the colours of red, yellow and green.
These colours are vibrant, non gender specific as well as positive connotations
of power, passion and wealth. This helped me in relating to the types of
readers as well as their emotions they would feel about the artist and the magazine,
highlighting their characteristics within the magazine of drama, passion and
outgoing personalities.
The housing style is consistent throughout
the magazine as well as the images also being consistent in quality and positions
to make sure the themes throughout the magazine were continually highlighted to
the readers. This allowed me to make sure the magazine was consistent as well
as professional and easily recognised. I kept to the colour scheme of red and
gold to relate to the genre of the magazine and appeals to the social group
that would read the magazine in their spare time. The images were simplistic
yet affective, highlighting a serious tone to the magazine yet also a playful
side due to the flitters used.
The magazine article uses the
typical lexical field of the social group that listen to soft rock music. This
is so the readers are able to relate to the magazine and understand what is
trying to be said through the language used. Furthermore, it allows the
magazine to feel specific to the social group and so creating a community with
the same interesting being part of the uses and gratification theory. The idiolect used is informal and almost
conversational between the interviewer and interviewee highlighting that the artist
feels comfortable with their fans and they are able to answer the questions. With
the use of expletives it allowed me to highlight the social group that would
read this magazine due to the strong language and presents her emotions which
is a typical convention of a rock magazine and is seen in many other magazines
such as NME and Q. I felt that this type of taboo language was highly
appropriate and so allowed the audience to feel involved and allows the
magazine to seem rough and imperfect which is what the social group enjoy, a
sense of reality.
