Mock Feedback

Mock Feedback                                     08/01/18

L.O. review mock exam questions and make improvements.

1) Identify the target audience of MOJO magazine. (1)

• Gender - Male
• Age range - 20-50
• Social class - ABC1
• Interest in genre music - Alternative/rock

2) Explain how media language on the MOJO cover you studied represents and attracts the target audience. (4)

• Media Language - Masthead, cover lines, puffs, main image, colour palette, typography
• Correct terminology
• Representation - Stereotypes
• Specific examples - From the Dave Grohl cover
• Link to target audience

• Blue background represents males as a target audience.
• Main image is a popular rock star that target audience is interested in.
• Cover lines relate to rock/alternative music genre which target audience listen to.
• Dave Grohl is represented as a stereotypical rock star with long black hair and a black shirt, this will attract the target audience because they like rock music.

3) How does media language used in the Extract follow genre conventions and represent the target audience? (15)

• Media language - masthead, cover lines, puffs, main image, colour palette, typography
• Correct terminology
• Identify genre conventions - of rock/alternative music magazine used/subverted
• Link to target audience & representation

• His pose is quite powerful and masculine representing the mainly male target audience
• The blue background also represents a stereotype of male
• Cover lines are mainly of bands/singers/groups that are of the same genre conventions of MOJO and the target audience likes
• The bold letters of the masthead, main cover line and cover lines represent the male audience.
• The magazine also offers a CD of the same genre as MOJO's specialty which will appeal to the audience.
• Puff information will appeal to trigger audience.
• David Bowie is not a typical rock artist so it does not follow genre conventions.

Music Video Case Study

Music Video Case Study           4th January 2018

L.O. choose case studies and research artist and genre.

1) Definitions:

• Narrative based video - contains mostly footage that attempts to tell a story through the moving image. Usually have a storyline that links to the lyrics. E.g. 'Always' by Bon Jovi.
• Performance based video - shows the artist/band/group performance throughout the song and sometimes can play throughout the whole video. E.g. 'American Idiot' by Green Day.
• Concept based video - based around a concept or an idea. They tend to be quite unique and use a particular filming or editing technique.

Types of Narrative based video - 

• Illustration - narrative of the music video closely reflects lyrical content.
• Amplification - narrative may be slightly different however it uses different themes to compliment the songs 'feeling'.
• Disjuncture - where the narrative holds very little relationship to the song.

2) Pair I chose:

• Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars
• If I Were A Boy - Beyonce

3) Information

Uptown Funk

• Genre - Pop / Funk
• Date Released in UK -10th November 2014
• Meaning - to make people happy and want to dance.
• Type of music video - Performance
• What happens in the video - people are dancing like they do in New York and it shows them singing.
• Who features - Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars and extras (e.g. dancers)
• Normally, how are the artists shown - Mark is a full and hip hop musician, specifically a DJ, Bruno is a R&B, Funk and Pop singer.
• In the video, artists are represented as - funk and pop singers

If I Were A Boy

• Genre - Contemporary R&B / Pop
• Date Released in UK - 7th November 2008
• Meaning - it is a commentary on the double standards between men and women and a story of role reversal.
• Type of music video - illustrative narrative 
• What happens in the video - Beyonce shows life as a stereotypical man and her and her boyfriend keep arguing, but when they switch back roles everything seems fine.
• Who features - Beyonce, Eddie Goines and Ryan Locke
• Normally, the artists are shown as - Beyonce is shown as a sassy, fierce R&B singer, Eddie is a actor and Ryan is a model.
• In the video, artists are represented as - Beyonce is the wife, Eddie is the husband and Ryan is the police man.

4) Lyric Links

Uptown Funk

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/markronson/uptownfunk.html

If I Were A Boy

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/beyonceknowles/ifiwereaboy.html

Stereotypes

Monday 11th December 2017 - Stereotypes

Write down all the stereotypes you can think for:

Age - 

• Baby
• Toddler
• Teenagers
• Young adults
• Middle age adults
• Elders

Ethnicity - 

• White
• Black
• Mixed
• Asians 
• Americans
• Europeans

Disabled - 

• Non-disabled
• Physically disabled
• Mentally disabled

Sexuality - 

• Gay
• Straight
• Lesbian
• Bisexual
• Drag
• Camp

Exam Questions

• Masthead - the masthead of this magazine is a sans serif, white and bold font. This would attract the audience because it is bold just like the audience's taste in music. The main image covers the masthead which is what typical magazines do. Mojo has a meaning of a magic spell, this relates to the magazine because the audience might feel they are under a magic spell while listening to their favourite music.

• Colour scheme - the colour scheme matches stereotypically rock music colours, e.g. red, black and white. This will appeal to the audience as if they like rock music, they will probably like these colours.

• Layout - the layout is very simple and matches typical magazine conventions by having the main cover lines crossing over the main image. The other cover lines are also following usual conventions by having them at the side. 

Representation

Representation                                    04/12/17

L.O. investigate the ways in which media represents gender.

Male Stereotype Characteristics:

• Blue 💙
• Macho 💪
• Tall 
• Goes to work 💼
• Strong
• Brave
• Boisterous

Female Stereotype Characteristics:

• Pink 💗
• Delicate
• Shorter
• Stay at home mum 👶
• Weaker 
• Multitask
• Hard working
• Emotional
• Sensible

Male Stereotypes:

• Macho
• Geek 👓
• Gays
• Straight
• Alpha

1) Who is in the picture?

• 7 men in suits
• A topless man and a possibly topless woman hanging off him
• A man and a baby

2) What is the advert/magazine cover trying to sell/promote?

• Trying to promote suits
• Aftershave
• Fairy tablets 

3) What can you denote?

• They are walking at night in a straight line
• She's pouring aftershave all down him and she's breathing in his ear
• The baby is sitting on the man's stomach, playing with his shirt while the man is looking at him

4) What are the connotations in the advert?

• They're upper classed they're in a city
• They're in love
• He is looking after the baby

5) How are men represented? What stereotypes are used?

• They're alpha males
• Macho man
• Fatherly figure

6) Who do you think the advert is aimed at? How do you know?

• Predominately males because women won't want to buy men's suits.
• Men because women don't wear aftershave.
• People with delicate skin because babies have soft skin and fairy tablets are delicate.

Women: Media Representation:

Stereotypes:

• Dramatic
• Mother
• Housewife 
• Lesbian (butch/lipstick)
• Dumb blonde
• Business woman
• Geek
• Sassy black woman
• Slutty one

1) Who is in the picture?

• 1 man (Kid Rock) and 3.5 women
• 1 woman (Lara Croft) and her shadow
• Jessica Ennis Hill

2) What is the advert/magazine cover trying to sell/promote?

• Kid Rock's music and the magazine itself
• The game (Tomb Raiders)
• Powerade drink

3) What can you denote?

• The women aren't wearing all that much 😳
• She has a gun and a bow and arrow
• She is working out

4) What are the connotations?

• He's a bit of a playboy and the women want his money
• She's ready for battle
• She is training and is very athletic

5) How are the women represented? What are the stereotypes?

• As sexual objects/slutty 
• Fierce and heroic
• Strong and counter stereotype 

6) Who do you think this advert is aimed at? How do you know?

• Men and people who like Kid Rock's music because he is on the cover and the women are almost naked.
• Men and women who want to play Tomb Raiders because it is an advert for the Tomb Raiders game.
• People who want to do sport because it is an advert for Powerade.

Mojo Cover

• Gender is represented in this cover by the colour scheme having aspects of  blue and red. Dave Grohl represents males to look very serious and having facial hair.

• In this lesson I have learnt that gender representation is used using stereotypes, stereotype characteristics. 

Extended Learning

• In this cover, Katy Perry is represented as being a stereotypically 'girly girl'. As pink is linked to a more female colour, the use of it being in the background shows that the magazine want to represent Katy in a very feminine way. In the cover, Katy is also wearing a floral dress and is holding flowers, both are associated with females. The font of the main cover line is a serif font that also looks quite feminine.

• In this cover of Vibe magazine, Eminem is posing in a stereotypically 'macho' way by folding his arms and flaunting his tattoos. The use of colour is mainly white, red and black which can be associated as quite masculine colours. The sans serif font makes the magazine look quite modern. Eminem has a very serious expression on his face which also fits in with the fairly macho pose.

Music Mag Covers

27/11/17

L.O. Make a music magazine following genre codes and conventions.

TITLE: RECORD

FONTS USED: Georgia, Impact

Peer Assessor - Freya Piper

• WWW - I like the way your main image is in between the shadowed mastheads. I also think you did well at blending the main image into the background.
• EBI - Add more cover lines and pick a colour theme.

Self Assessment

I think I did well at blending the main image into the grey background and cutting Freya out. I also did well at adding in details.

Improved Magazine Cover

I have added a lot more cover lines and chosen a colour theme to go with it. I think I matched the genre codes because of the use of dark colours like grey and red.

Cover Analysis

Thursday 16th November 2017

Cover Analysis

L.O. Analyse the cover of a magazine, linking it to genre and audience.

• Babyboomer generation = descriptive term for people born between 1946 and 1964.

• Diversification = the action of making or becoming more diverse or varied.

• Audience address = where the audience live😆 / how a magazine addresses the audience to get their attention.

• Discerning = having or showing good judgement.

• House style = a company's preferred manner of presentation and layout of written material.

• Intertextuality = a text refers to another piece of media with it.

Codes and Conventions - Music Magazines

• Masthead - block capitals, sans serif
• Dateline
• Coverline
• Main image - mid shot if its a band, close up for an artist.
• Main coverline - relates to the main image
• Barcode
• Freebie - something nostalgic

• Shot type = Mid shot
• Star Vehicle = Dave Grohl (American singer in Nirvana and now the Foo Fighters)
• Colour palette = Blue, yellow, red, white
• Bands/Artists mentioned =  Dave Growl, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Elvis, Ian Drury, Cat Stevens, Lou Reed, Sparks, David Gilmour, Ringo Star, Urge Overkill, Pavement, Melvins, Afghan Whigs, The Jesus Lizard, Rocket From The Crypt, Jawbox, The Lunachicks.
• Masthead style = Block capitals, sans serif
• Main coverline style = serif, relates to main image, block capitals
• Minor coverline style = some block capitals some aren't, bold colours
• Puff = 159 reviews
• USP = Free CD
• Placement of text = around the main image at the sides and top of magazine

• The magazine Mojo has used a medium close up shot for Dave Grohl's picture. This goes against magazine code and conventions as if an artist is being photographed it is usually a close up shot, whereas for bands it is a mid length shot.
• The star vehicle Dave Grohl is a good celebrity to use as he makes the same genre of music as the magazine writes about

Magazine Ownership & Regulation

Monday 13th October 2017

Magazine Ownership and Regulation

L.O. research ownership, regulation and institutions involved in music magazines.

Time Inc.

• NME Magazine
• Uncut

Bauer Media

• Mojo
• 4Music
• Q

Conde Nast

• Pitchfork

Immediate Media

• Radio Times

Hearst

• -

BBC

• BBC Music Magazine
• Top of the Pops

Magazines are funded by their publishers that pay the costs. The best way magazines make money is by advertising and sales. They get sales by subscriptions and people buying their magazines in a shop. Magazines will also have adverts for their publisher's other magazines so the publisher can advertise for free.

Ownership

• The majority of magazines are published by 9 companies but there titles make up nearly 75% of the market. This means they have a massive influence over audiences and their companies will only get bigger as they control most of the market.

Media Regulation and Law 

• IPSO stands for Independent Press Standards Organisation. It was established on Monday 8th September 2014 following the windup of the Press Complaints Commission. It is an independent regulator for the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK.

• IPSO do: 
• We make sure that member newspapers and magazines follow the Editors' Code.
• We investigate complaints about printed and online material that may breach the Editors’ Code.
• We can make newspapers and magazines publish corrections or adjudications if they breach the Editors’ Code (including on their front page).
• We monitor press standards and require member newspapers and magazines to submit an annual statement about how they follow the Editors’ Code and handle any complaints.
• We can investigate serious standards failings and can fine publishers up to £1 million in cases where they are particularly serious and systemic.
• We operate a 24-hour anti-harassment advice line.
• We provide advice for editors and journalists.
• We provide training and guidance for journalists so they can uphold the highest possible standards.
• We provide a Whistleblowing Hotline for journalists who feel they are being pressured to act in a way that is not in line with the Editors' Code.
• We work with charities, NGOs and other organisations to support and improve press standards.

• IMPRESS is a regulator for the future of media. It stands for Independent Media for the PRESS.

• IMPRESS:
• Award a ‘Trust in Journalism’ mark to publishers that meet our standards for membership.
• Maintain a progressive Standards Code, and assess any breaches of this code by our members.
• Provide an arbitration scheme which is free to all parties and protects publishers against the risk of court costs and exemplary damages.
• Support the development of news publishers, through partnerships and collaboration.

• What rules do magazines have to follow?
• https://www.ipso.co.uk/editors-code-of-practice/ - (Editors Code)

The Future of Magazines

• The biggest change in the industry over the past 20 years has been digitalisation.
• This means everything is done by computer meaning it is cheaper, faster  and easier.
• Technology has impacted the magazine industry because of the digitalisation of most things. I think that eventually print will not be as popular however there will still be some magazines that do print.