Research

For some of my research I looked at different types of magazines that inspired me, these where magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Vanity Fair. By doing this it helped me see what types of layout, fonts and images I was going to have to use. It gave me a good understanding of what it should look like and also what types of pictures I should take which was really important as the picture is main part of a magazine cover. Also by doing this I could see what types of subjects where mentioned in the puffs so that i can grasp the concepts and replicate that in my work.
I also did some textual analysis, this consisted of looking at 3 magazine covers and look and each detail and annals it. This gave me good idea of the amount of detail I had to include in my cover for it to look professional. It also helped me see why certain things where included and what affect they have. Another thing that it helped with the themes and layout of the cover, things like having to include a price and bar code. It was the first time I had to really analyse a cover and it showed me how precise I had to be with everything. By looking at the pictures it showed me how I had to take my photo and what outfits my model had to wear. I found out that the photos in high fashion magazines are usually very sharp and bright and the models are quite sexual in there body language and what they are wearing, I then had to recreate this in my photos.
My research has helped me to identify my target audience and also helped me to decide various different things to include in my survey. In my survey i asked a total of 13 people. There was 10 questions, 8 closed questions and 2 open questions. My first question was "what is your gender" I needed to know this as my target audience is mainly female so needed to know who was answering my survey so that I could extract the right information. Other questions like there age and there profession also helped with this. My survey analysis gave me good idea of what type of magazine cover I wanted to create and who my target audience was going to be. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to make a high fashion magazine for the ages between around 19 and 30. By doing the survey I knew exactly what my target audience was and that I had to relate the themes to that. So because my audience is female the puffs will include things that women can relate to and enjoy reading, things like makeup and fashion. I also asked the types of articles my audience prefers to read which again helped my choose a theme that my cover will portray.

Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair targets both males and females, it is aimed at females as Jennifer Lawrence is a strong and successful lady and women look up to her. It is also targeted at men as men find Jennifer Lawrence attraction and would read the magazine because of this. it is also targeted at a high class as it covers a wide range of topics like politics and fashion and the audience must be reasonably well educated and find politics and fashion interesting so think is would be class A and B. Also the mast head is in red, the colour red has connotations of sophistication but also sexiness so this could suggest that the mast head reflect the articles inside and this would attract both gender audiences. The main image is very sexy as it is a picture of Jennifer Lawrence naked with just a diamond necklace on. This would attract a male audience but the necklace has connotations of sophistication as well and this would attract a sophisticated audience. In the picture the background is green leaves which is very natural and also Jennifer Lawrence's makeup is very natural and subtle, This could reflect what the main cover line is about. The main cover line is about Jennifer Lawrence's leaked nudes and it is the first time she has some about it so the publishers of Vanity Fair could be trying to show that it is very natural to do what she has done and also that the article will be very raw and exposed like the main photo. I think that Vanity Fair aimed at ages 20 to maybe 40 as some of the topics that are discussed are quite sophisticated and would appeal to an early 20's to middle aged audience.

Elle Magazine

This addition of Elle magazine features Natalie Portman, She is 33 and has been in many films such as Thor and the Black Swan. This suggest that Elle magazine is targeted at Women between the ages of around 20 to about 50 because woman that age can relate to Natalie Portman and would also be interested in many of her films. this also shows that it is aimed at women as Natalie Portman is a very successful women and is someone women can aspire to bel like. Another thing that suggests that it is targeted at women is the puffs. They talk about haircuts, accessories, shoes and bags; these are all things that women would be interested in. Also the colours in this cover are very sophisticated and subtle which would suggest that it is aimed at classes A and B as that is sophisticated audience. The colours could also suggest that it is targeted at a more mature audience as usually bright and vibrant colours such as pink and purple are associated with younger ages and more subtle colours are associated with an older audience. You can also tell that this magazine is well known as there aren't many puffs and there quite short and simple which suggest that rely more on how well known the brand is rather than getting people attention with the puffs. Also you can see on the magazine cover that the price is £3.60 which is quite expensive for a magazine, so this also shows that it is targeted a a high class as they are  the ones that would be the ones willing to pay that for a magazine. Another things that suggest that the magazine is targeted at a higher class is the clothes that Natalie Portman are wearing are very high class and also look quite expensive which backs up my point of how it is aimed at class A and B.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HCDJ7MN

Prince Harry

In this newspaper article it talks about prince Harrys and his time in Las Vegas. If Harry wasn't apart of the royal family and was just a normal celebrity i think that the there wouldn't be as much attention around this. As he is a royal there are certain expectations of them and it is very unusually to see them in a reckless way. so the newspapers get so much attention from the public when they write about the royal family behaving badly as we don't expect them to be like this. Also I think his class helps to control the media sometimes because on the front page it says "banned photo posed by sun's own Harry" this shows that the royal family have tried to control the back lash or Harrys holiday and because they are so high up they have to power  to do this. I thick that this would make the media want to reveal more about the royal family because things that are banned usually get a lot of attention from the public so the newspapers would make more money by reporting on things the royal family do. The representation of prince Harry here is negative as they newspapers are showing him of as un responsible and reckless which is not things you think off when you think of the royal family. 

Dean Baily- X Factor audition

This audition has been chosen because although he isn't the best singer he is an attractive young man that will appeal to a female audienace. X factor has chosen this audition as it would appeal to young girls and it also entertaining because of how arrogant he is. There is a close up of Deans body in the middle of the audition because its apealing for women to watch. The majority of veiwers are teenagers so they have made a young attractive man the focus. The audition didn't show a lot of him singing because he wasn't that good and his singing wasnt what was appealing about him his looks was so that was the main focus. If all the singers where good then people wouldn't find it funny and would get quite bored, so factor purposely show bad ones so that it will attract more people and keep viewers entertained.At the end of the audition he takes his top of again, the camera than focuses on his abs to appeal to the female viewers. They then begin to rub oil on his body to exaggerate how muscular he is. This audition appeals to all viewers because his arrogance is funny and he is also attractive, so that is why this audition has been chosen out of the thousands that applied.

Andrea Faustini- X Factor audition

The x factor chose this audition out of all the other ones is because Andrea isn't necessarily attractive or fashionable dressed so people wouldn't really expect him to be good. x factor try to surprise the audience and keep it interesting by showing us auditions that we think will be awful but actually they are amazing. Also the fact that he is Italian would cause some conflict ion between people as some people would say that as he is not british he should not go on British X Factor. So if people talk about it, it would cause more people to watch it to see what they are on about. The fact that when he walks in the judges faces assume he is going to be awful exaggerates the fact that they are trying to surprise the audience because even the judges believe he is going to be awful. During his interview with Dermet he talks about his love of pugs and some people would find this quiet comical. During his audition he also brings in a doll of Mel B this would also be seen as comical. Another reason X Factor chose this audition to air is because she is a very likeable person as he is very sweet and cute. This would then cause a fan base to form and people are likely to root for him and tune in to watch the show to see how he does.

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

In the film Bad Grandpa the old man is represented in a negative light but it also represents younger people in a negative light as they respond to the grandpa in a bad way rather than trying to help. Also it shows that they all have certain expectations of how old people should be. He is played by Johnny Knoxville and they go round to unsuspecting members of the public and do outrageous things. This shows old people in a negative light because he is representing the as very frail and needy as they can not do anything for them selves. I the film the grandpa takes his grand child across america he relays a lot on his grandson and can't really do anything for his self. He also blames a lot of the stuff he does on the fact that he is old and he uses it as an excuse. People actually believe him and forgive him because he's old this shows that people see old people as clumsy and bit of a nuisance but because they are old they accept it rather than being angry. The director would represented old people like this because people have a certain image of how people should be and this films ruins that image which would shock the viewers and also entertain them as its funny. In one scene the grandpa goes to the strip club, originally the people there treated him as if he was lost and they where being very nice and caring. This shows that people think that old people get confused easily and they would never think that they would go to a strip club. The grandpa then begins to join in and strip and soon people begin to try and avoid him and ignore him. Bad grandpa shows that people believe old people to be old frail and useless but really there not. The film show a stereotypical grandpa doing not so stereotypical things and this shows them in a negative light.

The Inbetweeners

In the tv show the Inbetweeners the main characters are all male. I feel that the Inbetweeners show the male gender in a negative light. I think this because the characters sexualise women and can be quite disrespectful at times. Also it suggest that many boys don't care about school work which is not always the case. The Inbetweeners generalises the male population when many males are not like this.Also the character Will is represented as quite nerdy and annoying to teachers and other students so they tend to pick on him and bully him. This could suggest that boys that enjoy school do not fit in with the rest of the male generation and therefor they will be bullied. The producer has done this as it is very comical to watch people like the characters in the Inbetweeners. Also some of the statements they come out with are quite shocking and that it entertaining to watch.
The Inbetweeners set a strong representation of the male population but also some of the female characters are represented in a negative light. The female characters are shown as being quite mean and bitchy which is not the way that all girls are.
Teenagers are most likely to watch this as they can relate to the fact that they are at school and although some of the problems they face may be exaggerated some young people can relate to them. another thing is the characters are similar to some people in real life so people could relate to them if they know some like that.

Vogue

Vogue is targeted at B and A class, i can tell this because Cara Delevigne is dressed in a gold dress with a crown on this has connotations of royalty so it would be aimed at higher class women. Also the colour gold has connotations of  sophistication so vogue targets a sophisticated audience. Also care is wearing drench coat which is bushiness attire so it suggest that vogue also targets working women. The mast head is behind the image which shows that Vogue is a well known brand as people will know the name even though you can't see the whole thing. The target age 20 to around 40 as that cars is 22 and people that age would aspire to be like her and look like her. Also she is very relevant in the media at the moment so it shows that Vogue is very up to date with the trends. Another reason why i think that is the target audience is because it mentions brands like Tom Ford which i very expensive and anyone younger than 20 is unlikely to be able to afford designer things. The white background suggests that the magazine is dry clean and crisp. Also the layout is very neat and there is not many puffs. This also suggest sophistication as everything is well laid out and thought about like the way many sophisticated women are. The fact that there aren't many puffs shows that Vogue is very well known as it doesn't need many cover lines to draw people in. They rely more on how well known the brand is. The contused for the mast head is the same for every addition this is so that it is recognisable to everyone. The font used for cara's delevigne name is and e to look like her signature this gives the sense that cars approves of Vogue which would make people think that celebrities like her read it so they should too. The rest of the font for the puffs are all very plain, simple and sophisticated. 

George Ezra - Blame It on Me

In the music video blame it on me it uses a range of different techniques to show certain representation. For instance at the beginig the lighting starts go as soft and it looks like a very sunny day, this symbolises happiness which juxtaposes the theme of the video which is bad luck.  The camera pans to show the environment in which he is in. It then switches to a bird eye veiw as its a shot of a bird defecting so it gives the sense that you are the bird. It is then a close up of the poo on his shoulder and shows his reaction. The background is also blurred so that you focus on George more. There is a close up on his face to show his reaction to being shot in the face with a toy by a little kid. The camera keeps reverting back to a close up of his face to show the emotion and his reaction to all the bad things happen to him. It then goes to a slow motion shot of a rugby player this adds tension. The camera then goes to a long shot of the rugby player running towards us to show the surroundings and also gives the illusinon of the rugby player getting bigger. Then multiple rugby players join in and it switches to a shot of the back of George to show the aggression on there faces. Through out the video there is the cloud good woven in certain camera shots. Gold usually has connotations of winning or success, this juxtaposes the bad luck in the video and they could do this to stress the bad luck that he is having. The graffiti in the back is used to set the scene of a back street of a inner city.

Peaky Blinders

I take a preferred reading to peaky blinders as i agree with the ideas addressed in the TV series. THe producers of Peaky Blinders would want the audience to take a preferred reading and not a negotiated reading which is where the audience does not agree with the ideology of the content. This may be related to culture, age, gender and other factors affecting the audience response.People who live in the west midlands would also taker a preferred reading as the could relate the specific places involved in it. Police men and ladies may take the negotiated reading as the would agree with certain parts of this but in some scenes they are seen as being lazy ad not doing there jobs right. Older and younger generations may take the oppositional reading because they find it a little brash. 

The Size Zero Debate

Both the fashion industry and the media are strong platforms for the size zero image. Many different fashion campaigns hire size zero models which makes it seem normal to be that skinny but in retrospect its not. For instance the Victoria Secrets campaign called “Love Your Body” features 7 skinny women posing in underwear all the models are stick thin and toned. This campaign suggests that it is normal to be that skinny and that that is a normal representation of a woman’s body.  When you think of the size zero image, people automatically think of celebrities and models, but that is not necessarily true, many celebrities struggle with weight problems and are scrutinised constantly by the media. Another example would be the Dove campaign called “Real beauty” where they hired regular sized models to pose in their underwear to show that you don’t need to be a size zero to be beautiful.  The skinny models in the fashion industry are a small minority and the majority of people are a healthy weight, so why do people aspire to look like them when they are just a small minority?

Many people are against the size zero debate. The fashion industry has been scrutinised for only hiring models under a certain weight but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. The Dove campaign encourages diversity by featuring an arae of different: sizes, skin tones, heights, and hair types. The argument is that everyone is different and that s what makes us beautiful.  The curvy women are a contrast to what we usually see on glossy magazines, and that is what makes it so affective. The women are shown smiling and laughing which backs up their campaign of you should be happy with your own body. Doves campaign makes a stand against the fashion world saying that the definition of beauty needs to be widened to a variety of shapes.

The size Zero debate involves a wide range of ages from young teenagers who what to look like them and aspire to be stick thin so they can be models when they are older, to middle aged women who feel that they need to look like that to be sexy.  I think it is wrong and real women should be represented in the fashion world not just skinny girls but girls with hour glass figures and girls with a bit of meat on them. Fashion designers think that they need to have skinny tall models to promote their clothes when really they aren’t the women who will be wearing them.

Overall the size zero debate will always bey a very topical subject in the media. We live in the 21^st century and should be more open minded when it comes to beauty and the way people look. People should be happy in there own skin and we should not be promoting being unhealthily thin.