How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Age

The age of my models in these images is 17 – 22 so they are of a relevant age to the target audience of my magazine. This is the age that most people will become more popular in the music industry and start to make it more in their career. It also makes the artists feel more relatable and approachable to the audience as they are of a similar age and will make them feel like they can make it too.

Fig 1. shows my questionnaire results which gave me my target age range. As nearly all of the people who took my questionnaire were 16 – 24 which is how I got my target age for the photos I took and the audience I was trying to sell my magazine to.

Fig 3. displays a stereotypical version of a younger person in todays society; they are wearing relaxed, informal clothing which is the typical style of people this age. They are stood outside a shop busking for money which gives the image more of an urban look which is associated with this age range.

However, Fig 2. displays a more stylized version of this age group where the image has been taken in a studio and everything has been created and styled perfectly. This shows the opposite side to this age range where they are much more caring towards their image and are much more fashionable in comparison to the image on the right.

By having this, it represents both types of people in this age range and means that the audience can relate to the artists more than if they were all styled and made up perfectly in every image.

Fig 1. Fig 2.Fig 3.

ClothingThe clothing used in these images represent my audience as it is typical of what they would normally wear and the style which is commonly used.

Fig 1. shows a singular person wearing lighter colours and a style of clothing which is currently in fashion and is commonly worn by people today. By having the modelwearing this type of clothing it is a clear representation of my audience as this is the type of clothing that they would be wearing.

Fig 2. shows a person wearing darker clothing which is much more informal and casual compared to the other image. This helps to represent the other side of my audience who are not as into fashion and are more relaxed and casual in what they wear.

Through having photos with both of these styles of clothing, I have represented more people than by just including images in one particular style. They also conform to the stereotypes of these genders as these images suggest that girls take more pride in their appearance where as boys are more likely to wear whatever they want without thinking about the style.

Fig 1. Fig 2.

Location

I used multiple different locations for the photos I took. This included; studio shots; location shots; and shots taken at venues like concerts and festivals. By doing this, it has made the shots more interesting to look at rather than them being the same locations being used repeatedly.

Fig 1. shows the last song being played at a concert with balloons coming out into the arena which is a scene that anyone who went to the concert or are big fans of the band would recognise. This is the same as Fig 2. as it was taken during a song at Leeds festival and people will recognise the scene. By doing this it is representing my audience as they will be interested in hearing about the festivals and concerts that they either went to or wanted to go to.

Fig 3. shows a shot which was taken in a studio with a plain background. By doing this, I have stuck to the general conventions of a magazine as most images in a magazine are taken in a studio.

However, Fig 4. was taken outside in the centre of York which creates a more urban feel for the image which represents my target audience and the type of place they would be. As a lot of people believe that the younger generation hang around on streets and outside shops, it helps to represent the people that would be reading my magazine.

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Gender

Fig 1. Fig 2.

I have tried to use both male and female models for the pictures in my magazine so that it represents both the male and female audience.

Fig 1. helps to represent the male audience as it is a picture of a man standing playing an instrument which suggests that male musicians write their own songs and play instruments. They are also dressed in casual and relaxed clothing which gives the impression of males not being bothered about image and being more about the music which is typically the opposite of what we view females as.

Fig 2. helps to represent the female audience as it is of just a girl jumping in a feminine way and in very fashionable clothing which suggests that girls musicians are much more involved with appearance as well as the music. It is also the stereotypical view that people have of female artists. Her hair is also very long and flowing out behind her, which is how you would typically see a female artists in a magazine. The pose that she is pulling while jumping is a very feminine pose which is commonly seen in magazines. This means that my photos are very similar to other magazines and represent the male and female audience well.

As my magazine is mainly focused towards the female audience, by including images of women in my magazine, it gives them something to aspire to (like most other magazines do) and also makes them believe that this is how they should be and act in society.

Ethnicity

All of my images are of white, English people which will represent the majority of people who will be reading my magazine. As most of the bands in my genre of music are made up of white artists, it is more natural to have white people featured mainly in my magazine.

However, the City of York is a mainly white area so it would be difficult to include people of other ethnicities. This means that my images automatically represent my audience.

Class

Most of my audience will be put into their social classes by their parents as they are younger and their parents will have the defining role. This genre of music, which is targeted towards my age range, will generally have people in the social classes between B-C2 as this encompasses nearly all of the people who will read my magazine.

The girl in Fig 1. is wearing fashionable, up to date clothing and her hair has been styled perfectly. This suggests that she has money to spend on nice clothing and beauty products to look good.

However, in Fig 2. they are wearing scruffier clothing which is what people would generally expect of my social class. They are also stood outside of a building busking for money which implies that they do not have as much money and are playing to earn more. Some artists do wear more relaxed, scruffier clothing though so it could be that they are choosing to dress like that instead.

The price of my magazine is £3.50 and comes out weekly (which is common with this type of magazine in this genre) so all of the social classes that my magazine is aimed at will be able to buy it easily. As my audience will either still be in education or just leaving and going into the workplace, they may not have as much money to spend so this is a reasonable price for my magazine to be.

Fig 1. Fig 2.