Practice questions

14.5

Examine why audiences respond differently to the two media texts below.
Consider:
Who the text appeals to, age, gender.
A secondary audience.
Give reasons for these groups to want to consume the texts.

How do the texts target the audiences?
Ideologies, issues the texts deal with. Ageism.
Colour coding and other connotations on the texts.
Layout, anchorage, use of celebrity.
Mode of address.

Refer to other texts, Harry Brown,

Conclusion which refers back to your initial point(s).

Saga

GQ

There may be multiple audiences for both these magazines.

GQ: 

The use of Clint Eastwood as the main image would appeal to ...audience.

The occupations of the demographic could range from ...class to ......class.

The psychographic of the audience could be those who aspire to be like Clint as a figure of masculinity.

A secondary audience could be an ... demographic. They may have grown up watching Clint Eastwood's films or find him the ideal male type to have as a companion. 

SAGA:

The word Saga is formal, older word for story. The denotations of this indicates to its audience that this is a formal type of magazine for older people. This implies that there are news and celebrity based articles for an older generation. The use of the actor Michael Caine in a photograph taken in a studio situation implies that there will be a well organised and thought out interview with the actor inside the magazine. Some of the other articles indicated by the cover lines on the issue of Saga are about key issues facing elderly readers and the debates surrounding them.

The main article which is indicated by a quote from Michael Caine's interview; 'I can't remember being scared to go out' directly appeals to the older consumer and has connotations directly related to dominant ideologies of the older generation of both genders. This audience is more than likely led to believe that the majority of young people behave like yobs or asbos.

The magazine does not try to overwhelm its audience with garish colours but encourages the readers to feel comfortable purchasing this magazine with its stylish use of reds, whites blacks and greys.

The shot of Michael Caine shows him in front of a wrinkled background which may have connotations that appeal to the older audience on a more subtle level with wrinkles symbolising old age.

Both the magazines have used a lot of visual codes, design ideas and frequent use of persuasive language in order to target their audience.

Both magazines show men that are older than the men on most magazine covers and the subjects are portrayed in a meaningful way that doesn't distort their traditional images of thinking men. 

Caine is shown in a casual suit and with a laid back relaxed pose making him approachable to hius audience.

Esatwood's outfit is cooler with denim which was traditionally worn by workers. His hands are arranged in the style of a thinker and his facial expression is that of a man who has lived a full and interesting life. The framing is closer and the mid shot suggests that the interview will get us close to the man himself. The casual costume in conjunction with the Eastwood stare acts as a mode of address which is in keeping with GQ's tagline of 'Look Sharp. Live Smart'. 

The use of persuasive language such as 'best stuff' and 'obsession' with exclamation marks indicates to the readers that the other articles could be just as important as the main article in terms of appeal.

On the cover of Saga magazine Michael Caime's stare and pose establishes a direct relationship with the readers. The use of words like ageism, crime and old people indicates an attempt to focus on an older readership whilst retaining a stylish, active publication.

Other articles indicate the magazine also has advisory aspects, Paul Lewis' Advice and Christmas Present Dilemas. This is an additional way the magazine would appeal to a target audience that would initaily be intertested in the text for reasons of personal identity as set out in the Uses and Gratification theory.

15.5

Q 1: Study the NME magazine cover and discuss the following:

Visual Codes

Layout and Composition

Mode of address

Persuasion techniques


NME

Q 2: Describe two possible audiences with consideration given to the following:

Uses and Gratifications theory

Fans

Target audience

Positioning

Circulation and readership.

19.5.2014

Study the front covers of the magazines Sugar Lad Mag and Men's Health.
1. Analyse the two front covers commenting on:
• Visual codes
• Layout and design
• Language.

ALWAYS CONSIDER:

Visual codes 

• use of muted colours 

• lighting 

• iconography and setting if applicable.

• clothing and physical appearance 

• expression and body language. 

Layout and design 

• positioning of images. Do they suggest narrative?

• use of colour 

• construction of cover

• use and positioning of pull quotes, persuasive language. 

• font styles 

• gaze. 

Language 

• clues to genre in pull quotes 

• suggestions of mystery and enigma 

• Mag title, tagline.

• representations of gender

Here are some things to look for when analyzing a print advertisement.

1. What does the text say? The text was carefully crafted to create a consistent message about the ad. If there is a headline, how does it grab our attention? What does the main text tell us about the product or service? Does it directly reference the product or service's benefits and factual attributes? Or does the ad prefer to sell the reader on the product's lifestyle benefits instead (telling you how cool you'll be when using the product, for example)? How does the text relate to the images? 

2. What does the image say? Pictures are worth a thousand words, and this is very true for print advertisements. How does the photograph grab our attention? Is the picture depicting the product by itself, or being used by someone? Does the photograph show us a lifestyle associated with the product (essentially telling us how the product would make our life better)? How do the images relate to the text? 

3. Who is the magazine/newspaper/billboard's target market? Would someone from a different demographic (someone of a different gender, someone older or younger than you, someone who made more or less money than you, someone with different political values, someone of a different race) interpret the text and imagery differently? What values does the ad contain (is it young, hip, mature, playful, exciting)?

Homework 19.5.14:

Deconstruct the following advertisements and discuss the narrative structure that is evident.

Consider: Todorov, Barthes, Levi Strauss, Propp.

Related links:

Weetabix ad article

20.5.14

Below is an exam question. You need to be able to refer to your own detailed examples.
For this one consider using The Telegraph's coverage of the London riots and The Original Red  beer ad with the bottle in the shape of a woman's body.

Whatever texts you choose you need to include a discussion on the following within your answer:
Audience categories. Psychographics.
Mass audience. Niche audience.
Key theories:
Effects model. Reception theory. Two step flow. Uses and gratification. The four C's.
Ideology. Moral panic
Conclusion about audience construction and positioning.
Ideology


Task 1: In what ways do different audiences respond differently to the same media text?

Refer to your own detailed examples.

Task 2 (homework): Below are three screen shots from pages of the singer Olly Murs' website.

Analyse the images commenting on 

Visual codes
Mode of address
Representation, 
language used, 

Be sure to deal with the issues of convergence and interactivity within your answers.