Analysing Magazines
Consider the title of the magazine:
Why is it called that?
What are the significant words?
What connotations do they have?
The publisher of the magazine:
Who publishes the magazine?
What other magazines (if any) does it publish?
What other media interests (if any) does it have?
How much does the magazine cost?
How often is it published?
What is its circulation/readership?
Does the magazine have a website?
The target audience for the magazine:
What type of reader is it targeting?
How do you know this (i.e. types of articles and advertisements)?
How does the reader ‘interact’ with the magazine?
The cover of the magazine:
Analyse the images on the cover; the types of facial expressions, body language, clothing, etc used.
What do they tell us about the target audience for the magazine?
What else appears on the cover?
Why are particular typefaces, types of graphics, colours, etc used?
Why are particular items in the magazine featured?
Does the cover look similar to other magazines? If so, why? If not, how does it look different?
The ‘style’ of presentation of the magazine:
What do you notice about the magazine’s presentation?
Does it look cheap or expensive?
How does it compare with other similar magazines?
How does it use colour, print style, artwork, etc, to convey an overall effect?
The ‘mode of address’ of the magazine:
How does it address its reader?
How and when are readers allowed to address the magazine?
What types of articles/features does it contain?
What subjects are covered?
The advertisements that appear in the magazine:
What are the main types of products being advertised?
What is their price range?
Who are they aimed at?
Why are these products featured particularly?
How do the models featured in the advertisements relate to the target audience?
Representations in the magazine:
How are men and women represented? (look at both the images and the text)
Are there conflicting representations? If so, why is this?
How do these representations relate to readership?
Is there a limited range of representations for men and women? If so, what are they and why?
What groups do not appear in the pages of the magazine? Why?
Are celebrities featured in the magazine? If so, what kinds of celebrities? Why have they been chosen?
The competition for the magazine:
What other titles are in competition with it?
What are their circulation/readership figures?
How much do they cost?
What are the similarities/differences?
and finally...
What do you think are the reasons for its popularity (or otherwise)?
What does the magazine offer its readers?
What ‘values’ or ideologies are implicit in the magazine?
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Key Terms
Media Language- media language refers to written, verbal, non-verbal, aural and aesthetic communication and usually a combination of these.
For example, in television drama, a phone conversation between two characters in different locations can only be understood by the audience because of the relationship between the camera angles (close ups, head and shoulder shots or longer shots showing location context), non-verbal performance (facial expressions during the phone conversation), dialogue (what the characters say), lighting (to provide a meaningful atmosphere), editing (so that we can follow the conversation and so that the continuity is correct) and sound (atmospheric music or ‘diegetic’ sound such as a door opening or slamming shut).
When we watch television, we don’t need to think about these things, so they are unobtrusive. What we see appears to be straight forward and conventional. Over time we come to expect certain styles of filming, acting, editing and sound for certain types of programme. So we can ‘read’ the media language as easily as we can understand our friends in conversations without having to recall the meaning of every word.
Form – this term means the structure, or skeleton, of a text and the narrative framework that it is constructed in. The form of a text is instantly recognisable to the audience.
For example the form of a television soap opera dictates that it should have a continuous, never ending and multi-stranded narrative, whose episodes commonly end with either a cliff-hanger or a moment of realisation. The form of a magazine or a newspaper refers to the sections and the order of the articles. It also refers to the means by which a medium communicates, through its formal properties of written, verbal, aural and non-verbal communication, still and moving images, graphics etc. Form works together with style and genre to create meaning for an audience.
Style – this refers to the ‘look’ of a media text, its surface appearance. It can be created as appropriate to the medium, by colour, typography, graphic design and layout, vocabulary, photography or illustration, mise-en-scene, lighting, music, camera angle, movement, framing, dialogue, editing etc. Most print texts have a house-style, many film makers have an identifiable style, as do some television channels or scheduling zones, as well as that used by particular programme makers and writers. Style is very important in creating image, tone and mood as well as attracting and retaining an audience. The term is also used to describe the characteristics of music and sound.
For example, in television drama, a phone conversation between two characters in different locations can only be understood by the audience because of the relationship between the camera angles (close ups, head and shoulder shots or longer shots showing location context), non-verbal performance (facial expressions during the phone conversation), dialogue (what the characters say), lighting (to provide a meaningful atmosphere), editing (so that we can follow the conversation and so that the continuity is correct) and sound (atmospheric music or ‘diegetic’ sound such as a door opening or slamming shut).
When we watch television, we don’t need to think about these things, so they are unobtrusive. What we see appears to be straight forward and conventional. Over time we come to expect certain styles of filming, acting, editing and sound for certain types of programme. So we can ‘read’ the media language as easily as we can understand our friends in conversations without having to recall the meaning of every word.
Form – this term means the structure, or skeleton, of a text and the narrative framework that it is constructed in. The form of a text is instantly recognisable to the audience.
For example the form of a television soap opera dictates that it should have a continuous, never ending and multi-stranded narrative, whose episodes commonly end with either a cliff-hanger or a moment of realisation. The form of a magazine or a newspaper refers to the sections and the order of the articles. It also refers to the means by which a medium communicates, through its formal properties of written, verbal, aural and non-verbal communication, still and moving images, graphics etc. Form works together with style and genre to create meaning for an audience.
Style – this refers to the ‘look’ of a media text, its surface appearance. It can be created as appropriate to the medium, by colour, typography, graphic design and layout, vocabulary, photography or illustration, mise-en-scene, lighting, music, camera angle, movement, framing, dialogue, editing etc. Most print texts have a house-style, many film makers have an identifiable style, as do some television channels or scheduling zones, as well as that used by particular programme makers and writers. Style is very important in creating image, tone and mood as well as attracting and retaining an audience. The term is also used to describe the characteristics of music and sound.
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
AS G321 Foundation Portfolio in Media
Objective
1 -This unit assesses your ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (AO3).
2 - This unit also assesses your application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating your own work, showing how meanings and responses are created (AO2).
3- You will also be assessed on your ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research (AO4).
You will produce two paired media artefacts in response to briefs set, you will also be required to show evidence of research and planning. The set briefs consists of a preliminary exercise, then a more fully realised piece in the same medium. The development of your skills between pieces will be assessed as well as your finished piece.
Print
Preliminary excercise : using DTP and Photoshop, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page.
Main task: the front page, contents and double age spread of a new music magazine (this can be done as a group task)
All images and text used must be original and produced by you. You must include a minimum of four images.
Blogging:
Presentation of the research, planning and evaluation should be done in the format of a blog. This MUST be kept up to date.
Assessment:
This unit is marked out of a total of 100 marks: 20 marks for presentation of the planning and research; 60 marks for the construction; 20 marks for the evaluation
1 -This unit assesses your ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (AO3).
2 - This unit also assesses your application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating your own work, showing how meanings and responses are created (AO2).
3- You will also be assessed on your ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research (AO4).
You will produce two paired media artefacts in response to briefs set, you will also be required to show evidence of research and planning. The set briefs consists of a preliminary exercise, then a more fully realised piece in the same medium. The development of your skills between pieces will be assessed as well as your finished piece.
Preliminary excercise : using DTP and Photoshop, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page.
Main task: the front page, contents and double age spread of a new music magazine (this can be done as a group task)
All images and text used must be original and produced by you. You must include a minimum of four images.
Blogging:
Presentation of the research, planning and evaluation should be done in the format of a blog. This MUST be kept up to date.
Assessment:
This unit is marked out of a total of 100 marks: 20 marks for presentation of the planning and research; 60 marks for the construction; 20 marks for the evaluation
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