Evaluation - Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Media represents particular social groups in many ways. For example: magazines can represent social groups through the use of mise-en-scene, colour, fonts, language, camera-work and editing. Therefore when I made my magazine I took this into account to ensure I gave the right message across to the audience and represented the particular social group in the way I wanted.

I think my magazine strongly represents age and gender. My magazine is aimed particularly at people between the ages of 16 and 25, therefore throughout the whole design of my magazine I tried to make sure it would appeal to this audience. I did this in a number of ways. For example: when I created the front cover of my magazine I made sure that it represented young people in a positive way. The main image on the front cover of my magazine is of a young male, I think this helps establish who the target audience is; for example, you wouldn’t expect to see a young male on the front cover of a magazine aimed at the elderly. The way the male is dressed helps represent the younger generation. I decided he should be dressed in the indie/geek-chic style because this is the style that is popular today amongst my target audience. I thought if he was dressed in a similar style to them, the audience could easily relate to him. His body language helps represent this particularly social group in a positive way. For example, he is looking away from the camera and appears to be laughing. This makes him appear far less intimidating than someone of his age is stereo-typically viewed to be. If he had been looking directly into the camera, the atmosphere of the magazine would have been far more intense because as humans, being looked directly into the eyes is unnatural behaviour. The lighting of the images also represents the younger generation as less intimidating because the colours are bright which creates a positive atmosphere; I created this look through the use of editing the pictures by changing the exposure and contrast of colours. The brighter colours also suggest energy which reinforces the target audience my magazine is appealing too. The contents page again helps represent my target audience in a positive light due to several reasons. One being font. I think font is important in reflecting a specific message across to the audience as each person can interpret it differently, therefore I took a great deal of time to choose a font that I thought was well suited to the magazine and would represent my target audience in a way I wanted. I chose a clear font to use throughout the page as I think it gives a more sophisticated feel. This reflects on the target audience as it suggests they are as mature and civilised as the rest of society. The choice of layout reflects who the target audience is, as I think if the images didn’t appear interesting or eye-catching enough, it would be far less appealing for them. This meant the page had to be laid out clearly to encourage my audience of people aged between 16-25 in order for them to read it. The choice of images was important in representing my target audience as well. For example; the image on the contents page of a female listening to her music represents young people in a very positively light. The way she is dressed is in a way that we would stereo-typically expect a female to dress who was in this age group. I like the fact this photo appears so natural because I think it helps present the younger generation as civilised, the opposite of how people would stereo-typically judge people of 16-25 to be. The choice of images on the double page spread also represents my target audience in a specific way. The three vertical images looking like a photo-booth shoot show the artist to be carefree but yet still civilised. This could be used to represent my target audience as they are within similar ages to the artist and it would be assumed their character would be of similar nature. I think the content of the interview appears very natural, it shows the artist to be a kind and respectful young man, again this helps to represent my target audience in a positive way as it shows people of that age can act politely.

Through the choice of images, costumes, the choice of colour theme and the content of what has been written I think gender is strongly represented throughout my magazine. The choice of image would immediately represent both genders, as it would attract immediate interest. Females would be attracted due to the fact there is a young attractive artist on the front and the males would be attracted because he is a well known artist on the front cover of a monthly magazine, this could inspire the males of my target audience in wanting to become just like him. The choice of costume on the front cover would represent the male audience as they could relate to it, as he is shown to be fashionable by wearing the up-to-date style of clothing, something we stereo-typically believe young males also do. Females would appeal to the costume of the artist as he made to look attractive which would immediately grab their attention. I decided on the colour theme of red because I feel this represents both females and males. Red has connotations of fun; this is something both genders can relate to. The article headlines represent both genders as its not specifically aimed at one sex, but instead both sexes could be interested in and enjoy, for example, ‘Album Verdict’. The contents page would represent gender as well due to the choice of layout. We stereo-typically assume females are more organised and tidier than males, therefore the layout would appeal to them as each image is placed clearly on the page with the relevant page number next to it, making it organised and easy to access the relevant article. The image of the female listening to her music would appeal to the male gender as she looks attractive so this would immediately grab their attention. The double page spread represents both genders as despite the image being of a male, the age of the artist represents young people as a whole and shows them in a positive way through his use of positive and happy facial expressions. The content of the article represents both genders. For example: the males could relate to what the artist is saying and the females would appreciate what is being said.