Question 1B

MR NAG

M - Media Language: meaning
R - Representation: How things/ideas are shown
N - Narrative: How we construct stories
A - Audience: who is it for
G - Genre: The type of thing you are looking at

AS Cover meaning/media language:
I have followed the media convention of having my magazine title at a bigger size than any other text on the page so that it takes up around 1/8 of the page.
I have used a bold font for the page headings on my cover so that they stand out more than the smaller text underneath.
I used a bar code in the bottom right hand side of my cover and written the date, website and price.

Representation:
I used this image because of the dark colours and because of the photo editing that I used to make it seem like there are two of the same person in the image; this creates a sense of mystery. Also, my model is looking away from the camera which makes the viewer sense the mystery in the image and look more at the reflection in the mirror.

Narrative:
The story in my image creates mystery as the character is staring into the distance with a scared expression. Seeing the reflection in the mirror suggests what she is looking at: herself.

Audience:
I chose this image, fonts, colours and layout to attract my audience; this is because these are the kind of things my audience would look for in a magazine cover. I used colours such as red, green/turquoise and white to stand out against the background and show the more important parts of the text.
Audience profile:

Genre:
My magazine title is 'Replay' which suggests that the magazine is about music. The cover as whole suggests mystery which also shows in the genre. Headings on the cover also suggest the genre.

Theories

The media language question will allow to write about all theories. This includes the following: age, gender, sexuality, class and status, ability disability, race and ethnicity, national and regional identity. I must also decribe concepts and ideas, both political and cultural. We will need to discuss stereotypes; the male gaze. Representation is also a political decision. 

Barthes, Todorov, Propp, Levi-Strauss: narrative theorists.

Audience theory:

Mass audience:

Niche audience: 

Demographics: who the audience is made up of

The hypodermic needle theory / Uses and gratifications theory

Genre Theory:
John Friske: genre attempts to structure order.
Codes and conventions

Question 1B
25 marks
half an hour
write about 1 concept - one of mr nag
describing only one product - AS or A2

Example Question: 
Analyse media representation in one of your coursework productions.

1. How does your product target an audience?
Use the life matrix to categorise your audience.

The audience of my music magazine fell into the social grade of C2. They were predominantly female between the ages of 17 and 19 years old. This audience are likely to use this form of media for entertainment and read the latest stories about famous people. My magazine is aimed at Tribe wired people.

2. How does your product fit into Uses and Gratification theory and how do these areas overlap?

My product fits into the Uses and Gratification theory as it works as a diversion and would be used as a form of entertainment and for the reader to escape from real life. It could also be used as an Identity because my audience could use it to inspire how they dress or act. My magazine also includes stories about people in world so the audience could also use it as surveillance. 

3. Effects theory: How does the need to commodify your media product make it less 'honest'?

I have used my product as a commodity by including a bar code and a price.

4. Interface: How would your media product have differed if it had been produced in the past for a less 'sophisticated/attention-deficient' audience?

My media product would differ completely if it had been produced in the past. First of all, I wouldn't have been able to produce a high quality digital photograph for my front cover as digital cameras wouldn't have been used. Overall, the technology that used to make the product will change the appearance of it dramatically. 

5. How are your audience likely to respond to your media product?

Preferred: The audience like the colours used on the cover and it will stand out amongst other magazines.

Oppositional: The audience will think the magazine is dark and disturbing and won't want to read further.

Negotiated: The audience will like the magazine for the wrong reasons and will think...

6. Ideology: Does your media product have explicit and implicit ideology?

I have chosen a person to represent the ideas of my magazine. I made decisions about the gender and the expressions of my model because it suggests what genre of magazine it is. The genre of my magazine is implicit as it isn't very obvious as to what genre it is. One of the implicit ideas behind my magazine is my main image, it doesn't allow the viewer to immediately see what genre of magazine it is. The headings and layout of my magazine are more explicit as they suggest the genre more clearly. The currency that my genre values is the alternative views of the audience. 

7. What is a marxist reading of your media product?

The marxist reading of my music magazine would be to make the audience pay for things that they do not need. My magazine follows conventions of other magazines within this genre and doesn't break any rules.

8. Hegemony: How does your media product reinforce the current cultural hegemony?

 9. Post Moderninsm: How could your product be defined: traditional/modernist/post-modernist?

Post-modernism is a cultural concept that follows modernism. This is where the viewer is challenged because things are done differently and conventions are broken in order to be modern. Intertextuality is used in post-modernism; this is when the media refers to another text  and the viewer is rewarded if they recognise it.

My product could be defined as traditional because it doesn't do much to break conventions.  It doesn't have elements that challenge or confuse the consumer because it doesn't break any rules and it has structure. 

10. How 'real' in terms of Baudrillard is your media product?

Verisimilitude is what is real within the product. We view and understand the world through what the media tells us without experiencing it for ourselves. 

My image is of a posed model, so therefore does not show reality. On my final product, I have edited the image and gave it a vignette effect and an iris blur; this also shows that my image does not represent reality. My image includes levels of verisimilitude within my image because of the natural lighting which makes my model look more realistic.

Extras

LEVI STRAUSS Binary theory 'the media exists in creating a series of easily understood oppositions.'

BLUMLER "people see themselves reflected in the media they choose to consume..."

BARTHES  Enigma Codes Theory  "We read the media as a series of enigmas (puzzles) to be solved."

MULVEY the male gaze "the media constructs women as objects of erotic desire."

Z-PATTERN and Gestalt Theory of patterns. Rule of thirds.

In my magazine I have used the binary theory by Levi Strauss in my fonts as I have used fonts that are opposites to compliment each other. I have also used it within my colours so that the colours of my text is opposite to the colours of the background so that it stands out against it. Additionally, I have used this within my layout as the pattern of the flowers at the bottom is mirrored. 

I have used Blumlers theory that "people see themselves reflected in the media they choose to consume" in my work by reflecting my audience within my product. I have done this by including a pretty looking girl on my front cover who is very fashionable. This represents my audience because they will be interested in how they can look like my model and will also be interested in the fashion element.

I have used Barthes Enigma Codes Theory that states "We read the media as a series of enigmas (puzzles) to be solved".

I have used Mulveys male gaze theory that, "the media constructs women as objects of erotic desire" by using a female on my front cover that has been made to look pretty with the way she is posing, dressed and her style. 

I have used the Z-pattern on my cover as I have the title at the top which is the first thing that the viewer will look at, and then because of the way that the model is positioned, it directs the viewers eyes to the left corner, to then read the word 'escape' a the bottom, and return back to looking at the model.

I have used the rule of thirds on my cover by...

Twilight the Novel

1. How does a product target an audience?
Use the life matrix to categorise the audience.

In terms of the life matrix, the target audience for Twilight the Novel would be Home Soldiers. This is because they are home-centric, family-oriented and materially ambitious which are qualities that someone who is interested in reading books might have. The audience of this product would be of a young age; an audience of this age are easily influenced so might read the book only because it is popular and other people that they know read it, rather than them being interested in it themselves.

2. How does a product fit into Uses and Gratification theory and how do these areas overlap?

The product fits into 3 areas of the Uses and Gratification theory. It is used in terms of personal relationships in that people might use it to help them deal with other people as they will see how the characters treat each other in the book. It also fits into the identity area because they might use the way the characters act and things that the characters like to shape and define who they are and how they behave. Additionally, it fits into the diversion area as it's audience will use it as a form of entertainment and as an escape from real life.

3. Effects theory: How does the need to commodify a media product make it less 'honest'?

Twilight the Novel is already been commodified into a product so that it has to follow certain rules and can be sold. In terms of it being honest, it is about a fictional story that is used for a form of entertainment, so doesn't show media that could lie about real life.

4. Interface: How would a media product be different if it had been produced in the past for a less 'sophisticated/attention-deficient' audience?

If this product had been created in the past, the cover may not have attracted the right audience because the technology wouldn't have been available to make the cover appealing to the correct target audience. For example, the 1940's version of Gone With The Wind was created from an original painting that will have been printed on to each book, whereas the Twilight cover may be embossed to make the hands or the apple look 3D on the paper. Also, the image used is an edited photograph rather than an original painting,

5. How are an audience likely to respond to your media product? (Preferred, negotiated, oppositional.)

The preferred reading of this media product's cover would be that the red apple represented something that is natural and has been untouched, which links with the story of the book because it is about vampires that have to bite people and drink their blood to survive, so in terms of symbolism, the apple represents the human girl before she has been bitten by a vampire. Also, the colour red is important on this cover because it could represent a lot of topics in the story: blood, love, romance, power or passion.

The negotiated reading of this media product is that the audience may think that the cover image has a hidden sexual meaning because of the way that the girl is holding the apple. The audience may think that the idea of the vampires...

6. Ideology: Does a media product have explicit and implicit ideology?

7. What is a marxist reading of a media product?

8. Hegemony: How does a media product reinforce the current cultural hegemony?

 9. Post Moderninsm: How could a product be defined: traditional/modernist/post-modernist? (do one for each)

10. How 'real' in terms of Baudrillard is a media product?