Representation

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine is one that you would typically see in any news agent or large company, and is therefore aimed at teenage, mainstream girls, which is a seemingly large audience base. The magazine isn’t very niche, and therefore can apply to a large market, though it is obvious that it would not be popular with stereotypes of groups such as ‘goths’ or ‘emos’. The magazine is based around everyday girls, who simply want to have a break from college, work or school, and get up to date with the latest chart music and celebrity gossip. Though it is obvious that nowadays it is increasingly popular to be ‘individual’, this category is seemingly impossible to

target, especially within teenagers, hence why I tried to concentrate on a more precise target audience. I feel that the audience that enjoys this sense of mainstream culture will enjoy Pink, since it could be seen a magazine which leads teenagers to grow to read fellow magazines such as Heat, which are targeting for an older audience.

In order to put in place the mainstream element, I decided to take my pictures in a similar way to those that are currently on the market. After watching programs such as ‘America’s next top model’ I managed to grasp an idea of what would make a success photo within a commercial magazine, hence the photo choice of Naima.

Similarities between my photo and Naima’s:

Posture; it is obvious within Naima’s photo that she is looking cool, calm and collected, whilst still looking strong, something that is very important when dealing within commercial magazine, something that I imitated with my magazine. My model therefore has her shoulders back, and her head held high, in order to empower women.

Gesture; There are no obvious gestures in Naima’s photo, other than pure happiness. It is important to display happiness within the photo so that the audience feels comfortable looking at it, and therefore are encouraged to feel happy also. In order to establish this, my model is using a subjective gaze and sporting a large smile, similar to that of Naima.

Angle/Shot Type; Naima’s shot is taken straight on, in order to not look down on the model, which I feel represents equality, allowing the audience to relate to her as a friend, rather than a threat. This is something that I felt was important since teenage girls can seemingly be very threatened by one another, hence the soft and welcoming image, followed by a direct, face on camera angle. The shot type in both cases is a medium close up, where the main focus is the face. This allows the shot to be used on the cover, whilst there is still room for cover lines and the mast head.

Lighting; Naima’s photo is set on a neutral background, so that the attention isn’t taken away from the models face, something that I represented with my main image. The lighting is used to bounce off the models face so that she is able to look her best, in order for women to aspire to be her, I seemingly replicate this by increasing the brightness, so that the model is looking her best. I feel that in order to make the photo more effective, I should have added a back light on Photoshop, similar to that in Naima’s photo.

Costume; This is one of the major features of the front cover image, since my magazine is more focused on the face of the model, in order to create a welcoming a ‘perfect’ look, rather than what they are wearing. This is highlighted within Naima’s photo since it is only her shoulders in the photo, I replicated this within my photo shoot. Her choice of clothing is neutral, similar to that of the background, however my model’s clothing is bright and bold, something that will appeal to teenagers and it adds to the name of my magazine, Pink.

Expression; As I have previously stated, it is important to create an image that every woman or girl wants to be, this includes perfect skin, perfect hair, perfect eyes, and of course, a perfect smile. The expression on the model is to make the audience feel warm and welcome, whilst still creating an element of desire for the audience to be like the model. Although this is the case, I feel that my model is still quirky and original, unlike Naima, who is seemingly ‘perfect’; therefore I feel that my cover will appeal to a wider audience base.

Hair; Many models on the front of magazine have thick, glossy, curly hair; I recreated this with my model, though it is not something that Naima offers, proving that there is a wide market for change and diversity.

Setting; The backgrounds are neutral and plain, in order to keep the audience’s attention to the model, along with offering the editor an opportunity to put the cover lines and mast head on the page. I once again used this idea with my main image, since I felt that is was simpler to edit, than the image I used in my preliminary task.

Stereotypes; I feel that the image that I wished to portray is something that is often related with mainstream girly image; therefore I feel that I am relating to the stereotypes. In this case, it isn’t seen as a negative, since other mainstream companies also enforce this element, proven by Naima’s image, where she is focusing on a subjective image and a bright, white smile. I feel that my image is similar to this, though I still feel that is maintains the audience’s youth, since it is obvious that the girl is also a teenager, meaning that the readers can relate to her.

Pro-consumerist; The magazine Pink, is a baby of magazines such as Seventeen, Top of the Pops, Heat and fellow commercial magazines that are on many large companies shelves. This means that it will be pro consumerist, to follow in these footsteps. It is obvious that magazines are about their contents, and therefore are not all about advertisements, however, my magazine, like others on the market, focuses on offering teenagers to look like their favourite celebrities, which offers the opportunity for advertisements to be placed in the magazine. The adverts that will be placed in my magazine will be make up, clothes from affordable yet up to date stores and mobile phones, something that the majority of teenage girls are interested in.