NEA Part 4 - Audience Profile

Name 5 ways in which audiences can be categorised.

Media audiences can be categorised as Mass, Niche, or by genre like, TV audiences, Film audiences and Magazine audiences.

Why do you think it's important for media producers to categorise audiences?

So that the media companies can highlight and focus on the types of people that their product attracts.

What is the target audience as described in your chosen brief?

The target audience for my brief is 10 - 13 year old boys.

Give a short explanation as to your understanding of the target audience given in your chosen brief.

I chose the audience for boys mainly because I have a brother who is 10 - 13 and they find the educational system more boring and statistically read less imaginative and educational books, magazines and newspapers. My magazine would also be aimed at the middle classes to try to boost the learning through out year 6 - 8.

The results gathered in survey monkey, will help me structure and plan my magazine. For example, the results show that people want a educational magazine to be factual, engaging and colourful. Another set of results that will help me are the different magazines that people have heard of. The most popular result is National Geographic so I can look towards that magazine to try to gain a better understanding of what makes magazines popular.

NEA Part 3 - Media Theories

Pictures would not copy.

In this lesson learn and familiarise myself with media theories to aid me when creating my magazine.

These three media texts all link to Robert Stam's theory that there are infinite genres because no media texts are alike. This is because, all the three magazines target different audiences, with different genres and different styles. The Epic magazine is a gaming genre, the Match of the Day is a football or sport genre and the Scoop magazine is an educational and informative genre much like the first news.


I will use media theories in my magazine such as Robert Stam's theory and Laura Mulvey's theory to make my media product unique and stand out.

Narrative Theories:

• Propp – 8 character roles: only applies to mainstream texts where characters often pertain to stereotype. Sometimes, can apply to running news stories by analysing a Hero, Villain, False Hero, Princess (or prize), Her Father, Donor, Despatcher, Helper.

• Todorov – Act Structure: Equilibrium, Disruption, Resolution, New Equilibrium.

• Levi-Strauss - texts are often understood by the ways things are placed in binary opposition to each other - the good and the bad, the pretty and the ugly, etc.

Audience Theories:

• Blumler and Katz - Uses and Gratifications.

• Stuart Hall – audience positioning and dominant/negotiated/oppositional readings.

• David Gauntlett – Producer as Consumer (Prosumer): thanks to digital media, many consumers of media as also producers e.g. YouTube as cultural phenomenon.

Genre Theories:

• John Hartley – genre is interpreted culturally e.g. Coronation Street or Eastenders could only be understood in terms of the conventions of UK soap operas, American television dramas tend to have a slightly different set of conventions to British television dramas.

• Robert Stam – there are infinite genres. Basically Stam is advancing an argument that genre no longer exists and we do not have to analyse text in terms of genre.

• John Fiske – genre as ‘convenience’ for producers and audiences – this means commercial success is underpinned by the conventions of genre in terms of what audiences expect.

Representation Theories:

Feminist approaches:

• Angela McRobbie – post feminist icon theory suggesting female character are determined, strong, independent and in control but also utilize their sexuality e.g. Lara Croft, Lady Gaga…

• Laura Mulvey – male gaze/female gaze. It suggests the female form is objectified in a range of media. 

Other approaches:

• Richard Dyer - Stereotype legitimize inequality by marginalizing certain individuals and social groups. "Media institutions with power make stereotypes of those will less power".

• David Gauntlett – Producer as Consumer (Prosumer): thanks to digital media, many consumers of media as also producers e.g. YouTube as cultural phenomenon.

NEA Part 2 -Intertextuality Research

Media text - The media text is any media product we wish to examine. Every description or representation of the world, fictional or otherwise, is an attempt to describe or define reality, and is in some way a construct of reality, a text.

Choose 2 different media texts... as long as they link to the brief you've chosen.  

How and why is intertextuality employed in 2 media products and what effect does this have in their intended audience?

Intertextuality - the relationship between texts, especially literary ones.

The intertextuality in the Discovery and Arts and Activities is that they both have bold, interesting and eye catching covers. This would make people look longer and probably buy the product making more money. The covers also both have bold titles and short captions, e.g. wonder of clay, hinting about what the magazines contents will be about. By hinting about the context, readers would be given a small insight into the magazine which could interest them.

In my magazine, I will use bold and eye catching titles and captions to entice the readers and fully engage them in my magazine.

NEA Part 1 - Media Language and Representations Analysis

How is media language used in 2 media products to create meaning through constructing representations and following genre conventions?

The best way to answer this is by looking at the representations first, then look at how media language is used to create them... 

• What type of shot/music are they using? 
• What connotations do the colours they use have? 
• What does the set represent the time and place of the situation? 
• What does the make-up and hair used say about the characters/models? 
• What does the body language say about the attitudes of the characters/models used?
• What connotations can the type of lighting used in the shot/scenes have? How does it help create representation?

If you chose to do Brief 1:
Choose TWO front covers and TWO double spread articles from educational magazines.

This magazine cover is showing a colourful tiger which is eye catching and can show that the magazine would be fun and interesting. The magazine is formatted in a way that makes it look interesting and makes their target audience want to read and learn more of the magazine. The language used in this magazine is informative but simple and easy to follow. This magazine would try to eliminate the negative stereotype that learning is boring through its use of easy to read facts and statistics.This would change peoples mind about this stereotype by teaching kids facts with jokes and small puzzles.

Fun For Kidz is another colourful educational magazine 
showing the creativity of kids. Its colour is eye catching demonstrating that the magazine is going to be filled with interesting activities for kids to do. The magazine is formatted in a way where it looks interesting and full of pictures and colour. This magazine would try to eliminate the negative stereotype that learning and reading is boring and pointless through its use of bright colours and pictures. This would eliminate this stereotype by making learning seem a bit more engaging and colourful.

NEA Briefs

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• K: The requirements for each of the briefs set by OCR.
• U: How to approach the chosen brief, including writing the statement of intent.
• BAT: Choose a brief and start planning what to write in the statement of intent.
• CO: Use media terminology (all areas of the theoretical framework) in your written and verbal communication.

Brief 1: Create a front cover and a double page spread article for an informative educational magazine aimed at an audience of 10 - 13 years old.

AT LEAST 5 original images,

Front cover:

Original masthead / title,

Strap-line,

Cover price, bar-code, edition number,

Original images; at least one main cover image,

At least three cover lines one of which must link to the double page spread article.

Double page spread article:

Headline, stand-first and sub-headings,

Original images, one main article image and at least three other images.

Feature article of approximately 300 words that links to one cover lines one the front page.

You must not reproduce an existing media product or brand.

Group productions are not permitted but you can use your friends and others to act in, or appear in, the media production. In addition, unaddressed learners and others may operate lighting, sound, recording and other equipment under your direction if required. 

To make it simple... these briefs are individual.  You can use other people to help you but make sure you end up doing all the technical tasks (photography, filming, editing, etc).  You're NOT required to be in-front of the camera in your own production.

- What skills do you already have that can help you produce your chosen media texts?

I have done multiple articles, newspapers and magazines in English and have an understanding of what language and structure they follow. I also own lots of different magazines that can be used as inspiration or ideas.

- What skills do you intend to develop whilst working on your media texts?

I intend to build on my creative skills and my skills for writing for a curtain audience in the magazine.

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