Representation and Ideology

 Representation: The process of making meaning in still or moving images and words/sounds. In it’s simplest form, it means to present/show someone or somethng. However, as a concept for debate, it is used to describe the processes by which an image ect. may be used to represent/stand for someone or something, for examle a place or an idea.

Ideology: Often referred to as the system of ideas, values and beliefs which an individual group or society holds to be true or important, these are  shared by a culture/society, or groups therein, about how individual/society should function.

The conceptual area of representation and ideology considers the relationship between

•     People
•     Places
•     Events
•     Ideas
•     Values and Beliefs
•     Representation of the above within the media
•     The issues and debates surrounding their representation

Whose interest does the text serve ?

I chose We Love Pop magazine. This pop magazine is aimed at a different audience. The design of the cover of  a  magazine is crucial in portraying the audience it is aimed at and the font covers and images help represent the ideology of the genre. Ideology is the set beliefs a person/group have and different genres different ideologies.

Who is present in this text ? Who is absent from the text ?

Most pop magazines use bright colours and images so this is the reason the pop music usually a very positive representation. The front cover is more cluttered than a rock magazine or a tabloid so it’s a little bit confused but while it contains a lot of good information for readers/audiences. On  the front cover the stars always seem to be happy and smiling so it is a positive connotation.

Who or what can it be said to represent ? 

The image represent Jessie J as a successful, happy and fashionable star. She is an icon to many people, because she is very talented and she achieved many things during the past few years.

What does the text tell us about who made it and when and where they made it ?

The large masthead is in a bubble with colorful fonts, so this tell us  that We Love Pop magazine made it. This magazine is edited by Malcolm Magazine. We don’t know when they made it  but we know that the magazines are usually published monthly. The magazine launched in September 2011.

Has it’s meaning changed over the years and in what ways ?

The typical content of We Love Pop issue are articles on artists/bands, interviews, features on film, fashion, technology, and beauty and advertisments from companies also aiming at the teen audience such as Universal Music and So Fragrances. Over the years the front cover changed for example the color of the letters or the background or the design but these are not big changes.

What judgements do you make about the truth, accuracy  or effect of this text ?

Personally I’m interested in pop, actually this is my favourit genre. This magazine also contain interviews and celebrity gossip, I think that is not necessarily true but I don’t have any source and the website is written, it is not true. – „ Ok so the Miley think isn’t exactly true. But she is on the list a-plenty ˝- So this  is  my  opinion about the truth.   

What judgements might other people or groups make about it ?

People who are interested in pop music will have a good oponion of the magazine because the magazine full of interesting articles about music.  

 Actually, no one really knows for objection because  this magazine contains a lot of other things like interviews with pop stars or behind-the-scenes exclusives or photos.

What do I need to consider when making a media text ?

• important to consider  what audiences do with representations
• the front cover  has to be interesting and striking to draw the audience attention 
• layout, design and genre 
• what or who I want to represent 

Starting with the analysis of the magazines

The front cover is one of the most important techniques for promoting the magazine, as it the first thing we see. The cover aims to attract and maintain the interest of the reader trough glossy images often of stars and celebrities, vibrant colours, exciting cover lines, free gifts such as lipstick for a woman's magazine or a CD for a music magazine and competitions with attractive prize. 

The languages used by print and images. The style is the most important part of the magazine, because the images, layouts, colors and the visual impact the first thing which chaches your eyes.

My task was to analyse the front page of 3 magazines.

I chose one of them, the Total Film magazine, and I analyzed it.

I wrote about the masthead which is the most important part of the magazine after the image. It has to be bold and stand out. The large image is which you look at first when you buy a magazine, therefore it's important that is also has to be bold and stand out as the masthead. 

Form,Style and Convention

The concept area of form and convention refer to the forms, categories and conventions used to organise and structure the language of media products.

Form:

The form of a media text is it's shape and structure and combination of the ,micro' elements.

•  For example: dialogue,sounds effects, editing and ambience are used to shape a radio drama.

The form of a text is instantly recognisable to the audience.

• For example: soap opera, documentary, historical

Style:

The style of a text is the way the text uses the form.

• For example: Supernatural on City TV has a particular aesthetic that makes it unique within the genere TV drama, makes it style entirely different from Holby City.

Convention: 

Conventoin are usually discribed as the ingredients of a particular form of genre.

•  For example: When making news broadcosts rules of engagement have to be observent.

                                     Videogames promotion share a range of conventions with Hollywood film franchises.

                                     Charity adverst use harsh and striking images.

Scary Movie

What category/genre is it ?

The Scary Movie is one of my favourits. It's a brilliant horror comedy. It has a horror and comedy mix genre.  The masthead of the magazine with red sans-serif font but on the T-shirt the text with serif font. The black background makes it dark, mysterious and horror but the people in the background are not very serious, not like in a normal horror movie.

What codes and conventions does it follow or disobey ?

 The Scary Movie's front cover follows most of the ordinary conventions of the film posters. The image and the title is in the center of the film poster like all other film posters. The title is with big stand out, bold and red  sans-serif font. The image stand out, bold and colorful on a darker background as well.

What categories and conventions do I need to consider and use when making my own media text ?

  1. Stand out and bold title and image(s) on a darker or brighter background 

  2. Advertisments, extra promotions, extra articles and more images on the cover

  3. Quotes and images from the film 

                           

                                 

Media Language

Media language refer to the languages used by audio-visual, print and ICT-based media  to produce meaning. This languages can be 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 two camera angles (close up, head and shoulder shots or longer shots showing location context), non-verbal performance (facial expression during the phone conversation), dialogue (what the two characters say), lighting ( to provide a meaningful atmosphere), editing (so that we can follow the conversation and so that continuity is correct) and sound (atmospheric music or diegetic sound such as a door opening or slamming shut).

What is the text called and what associations do we have with this title/name ?

Bravo is a well known German magazine that include gossip, film, fashion and music. This magazine the largest teen magazine whitin the German-language sphere but Bravo also known in other neighboring countries. 

What is the text about ? What does the text say ?

Bravo covers topics which primarily interest youths, among which are current information on pop and movie stars, as well as relationship and sex counseling.

How does it say it ?

Originally there was only a single Bravo magazine, today different variants are published. This is a result of higher individualisation and changing interest. The Bravo magazine on the front cover use a lot of colorful subtitles and images. The interesting and strikingly colorful cover lines attracts the readers attention because, these are shows how many amazing and interesting story and celebrity gossips in the magazine.

What are its language (print, moving, images, sounds) and style ? How do they create meaning ?

Print and images are the main languages used by this media piece, with a continual style running through this individual magazine, with a consistent font used for the title and subheadings. The style also remains unique to this magazine with the too colorful cover lines on the whole page. 

How are these languages put together, or constructed, to make this text ?

Bravo combines a background pictures with a completely different coloured title and cover lines to maintain the theme. The main image always at the center of the front cover and the cover lines somewhere around the main image. But apart from, the masthead is always the most striking. 

What languages do we need to consider and use while making our own media text ?

When creating a magazine front cover, obviously we can not to use some feature of the media languages, like audio-visual, aural and verbal, but we can use the other methods. If we are making the front cover aesthetically pleasing and creating a consistent recurring theme it will attract a large audience. Also by using ICT-based skills to their full content. The masthead running over  the top of the front page but the cover lines or subheadings surrounding it. 

Brief

Print

Preliminary exercise:

Using DTP and an image manipulation program, 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 masthead. Adittionally candidates must produce a DTP mock-up of the layout of the contents 

page to demostrate their grasp of the program.

Main task:

The front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine ( if done as a group task, 

each member of the group to produce an individual edition of the magazine, following the same house style). Maximum four members to a group.

All images and text used must be original, produced by the candidate(s), minimum of FOUR images per candidate.