AS Evaluation Question 2 DRAFT
Posted by Martyn Hollinshead | Labels: Evaluation DRAFTS | Posted On Monday, 27 February 2012 at 16:21
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My magazine represents the rebellious and outspoken type of person through the language and illustrations shown throughout. On my front cover the model is male and looks to be around the age of 18-21 (actual model age is 16). I decided to use a male model as in general the artists that are normally featured in rock magazines are male; this could perhaps be down to the fact that stereotypically males are more aggressive and therefore suit the style of music more appropriately than their female counterparts. To show that my artist fitted firmly in the rock genre I had them dress in fully black clothing, representing the ‘emo’ or heavier variant of rock. I also chose a model who had dyed black hair as this emphasised the dress style well. To help connote the emotions that not only the style represented but also the article inside, I instructed the model to stare blankly at the camera, showing no expression; they look fed up and detached, and this helps to intrigue the reader whilst representing the particular social group. I used a guitar as a prop in this photo to show clearly what kind of artist Pyro was, and the positioning of the guitar (centre of the chest) suggests that he keeps it close to his heart. This is elaborated on inside the magazine. To help show that the main feature was about the cover model I used flame brushes and a red/orange gradient to add fire to the background. This increased the vibrancy of the cover making it more noticeable and furthermore related to the artist, as Pyro means ‘fire’ in Latin.
To construct my artist profile for my double page spread I looked at the background artist profile that I had written for my blog. Using the back story from that I began to create an interview around certain aspects of Pyro’s ‘life’ that I felt would appeal to the audience and also help to convey the related emotions. I decided to split the article into two sections; one half detailed his past, and the other showed what Pyro was planning to do in the future. This gave a real insight into the kind of person that my artist was and also helped me to create a sense of realism by detailing information about an upcoming album and tour. I used different colours to show the difference between speakers and used a dark red for when Pyro spoke, connoting emotions of anger and discontent in the artist.
In my contents page the type of person that is represented is someone who has a broad interest in rock, but likes to play music too. They like to read about what is going on in the rock world as well as find out what equipment is best and which gigs to get tickets for. The reason why I mention that they enjoy playing music is because the guitar is frequently mentioned throughout; there are articles on guitar based bands, reviews of guitars, and a completion in which you can win a guitar. Even the main feature comprises of an interview with a guitarist. In some ways it could be argued that the content is aimed only at guitarists, but that is why I have added a news section and varied features that aim to break this up so that the magazine can appeal to all rock fans, musical or not.
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