PowerPoint detailing examples and providing revision on theory for the research and planning component of G321

1. Magazines
Mammoth Revision PowerPoint

2. The Task
 To produce the front page, contents and a double
page spread of a new music magazine.
 Your research and planning needs to look at existing
examples of each. This should be by way of analysis
tasks and planning tasks.
 The following slide is the checklist provided in the
G321 booklet. This is a list of the work you should
have already submitted.

3. Task Checklist (Minimum Requirement)
 Brain storming details of initial-to-final ideas. Should include mind maps on genre/magazine ideas.
 Page layouts that are readable and contain image, colour, shot types, any text and key conventions. More than
one draft!
 Planning edit: e.g details of image manipulation from one shot to the other so that editing is planned. For
example desaturated…, or colour boost…, or focal point and blur… etc. These should also be evaluated.
 Test Shots: Annotated photographs/sketches of test shots are important. Decisions need to be justified and relate
to genre conventions, if students challenge the generic blue print then they need to explain this.
 Costumes, props and objects: All ideas should be annotated.
 ‘Characters’: Brief background details of the nature of the characters are important. Although you are focusing on
music you need to have an idea of who your ‘artist’ is.
 Casting of ‘characters’ – brief explanations of casting decisions. Some student hold auditions for roles and
include pics or notes related to auditions. Avoid casting 6th formers who are meant to be hardened gangster
rappers otherwise the magazine will be unconvincing.
 Equipment list: Digital camera (students must include name of camera), tripod, lights, filters for camera etc.
Details of any special effects.
 Shooting schedule: Organisation of time (dates when going to shoot), to include locations and names of actors
required.
 Analysis of three magazines in the same genre. This should include cover, contents and double page spread for
each example.
 Inter textual references: Student’s ideas need to be explained: 1) Reasons for choice of ideas. 2) Source of
ideas with explicit or implicit references to thrillers you have researched. This could be through location,
costume, character, action, shot type, soundtrack. This is HIGHLY IMPORTANT
 G321 Booklet Print is on the o drive; O:Media StudiesA LevelASG321

4. Example Page Layouts

5. Example Test Shots - Location
I took some test shots at my chosen location and some of
the surroundings. This was done to test the lighting within
the room to see how the photographs would come out. In
the first shot the flash was not on and you can see how
the photo is not very clear or sharp, but in the other shots
when the flash was on it made the location look better.

6. Example Test Shots - Cover
Front cover shots: I decided on the composition and clothing style that my
model had. I chose a brown tweed jacket, white shirt and tie, casual skinny
jeans and smart brown leather shoes. Typically this is the way which a person
interested and linked into the Indie Rock genre dresses. I knew this is the type
of style that I wanted to use, this was influenced by my research into the
representation of the Indie Rock Genre. I tried 3 different kind of compositions
which were a white background with the model standing and posing. The next
was one where the model sits on some steps posing with the guitar. And the
last one was the model standing up against a dark wooden background.

7. Example Test Shots – Double Page Spread
Double page spread shots: For my double page spread I have positioned my model to sit
on a chair whist playing his guitar. The setting I chose shows key iconography of the Indie
Rock genre. In the background audience can see shelves of records. I chose the guitar in
which my model used for the pictures, this was a vintage Gibson 1964 guitar. This certain
guitar is typically associated with the Rock and Indie Rock genre. I chose to use this guitar
for my photographs because of what genre it shows. Also the fact that it is red was another
reason for my decision. As in my beginning draft designs I had used a lot of red within the
designs, in things such as title, copy and shapes. So I thought this would be my best choice
for an instrument.

8. Example Image Manipulation

9. Example Analysis - Cover

10. Example Analysis - Contents

11. Example Analysis – Double Page Spread

12. Institution
 You need to show understanding of your magazine’s
institution.
 Identify who is responsible for the publication of
similar magazines in your chosen genre.
 Collect key information about them and the
magazine.
 Add this to your audience research.
 You should be making reference to institution in both
your planning and your analytical tasks. Explain
whether or not you would want the institutions you
have looked at to produce your magazine and give
reasons why/why not.

13. Magazine publishing
houses.
IPC MediaMagazines published:
• NME
• What’s on TV
• Horse and hound
• Golf monthly
• Soaplife
• Look
• Now
• Style at home
• Chat
• Cycling fitness
And more…
History:
The International Publishing Corporation Ltd was
formed in 1963 following the merger of the UK's three
leading magazine publishers - George Newnes,
Odhams Press and Fleetway Publications - who came
together with the Mirror Group to form the International
Publishing Corporation (IPC). Five years later IPC was
created (1968) these 3 company's already had a lot of
history after being founded in 1881, 1890 and 1880
respectively. IPC was acquired by Time Warner in
2001 and was renamed Time Inc. UK in 2014 after
Time Inc. acquired the company in connection with its
spinoff from Time Warner.
IPC Media had a revenue of 6bn pounds as
from September 2014 to September 2015.
They recently sold their ‘Nuts magazine’ this
shows that they want to be a more
respectful company and do not support
pornography. This would give the company a
higher name in the industry. Other
magazines produced by IPC Media have
target audience’s like older males as they
have editions such as ‘golf monthly’ and
‘cycling fitness’ but also accommodate for
young female adults with things such as
‘chat’ and soap life’. Magazines such as
‘NME’ are for everyone as they cover a
range of bands. Which all have a wide
variety of fans. Magazines such as ‘style at
home’ are for everyone from families to
young couples and this magazine helps
them with designs in their new homes.
The mission statement for IPC Media is Iconic media
brands. Content built on amazing relationships and
inspired conversations with millions of consumers.
General circulation figures:
• What’s on TV: 1,253,697, magazines printed per
year but has risen 0.3% since last year.
• Chat: 374,730, magazines printed per year,
dropped -9.7% in the last year.
• Marie Claire: 266,881, magazines printed per
year but has risen 0.7% in the last year.
• NME: 15,384 printed per year but has risen
21.1% in the last year.

14. Bauer Media
Magazines
published:
• Kerrang
• Take A
Break
• Tv Choice
• Q
• Women's
weekly
• Empire
And more….
History:
At the beginning of the 20th century, Bauer is one of the
first companies ever to publish a free advertising paper in
Germany: the Rothenburgsorter Zeitung. Today the Bauer
Media Group is Europe's largest magazine publisher and a
market leader with its titles, including the key markets of
Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand, Poland and the USA.
The company has a presence in a total of 20 countries.
Since 2010 responsibility for the family company has been
held by Yvonne Bauer, the fifth generation to lead the
publishing corporation. She is driving the expansion of
international business as well as the continued
development of the magazines and digital business.
General circulation figures:
• Take a break: 791,001, magazines printed per year
but has dropped -%5 since last year
• Kerrang!: 42,077 magazines printed per year but
has dropped -2.1% since last year.
• TV Choice 1,404,382 magazines printed per year
but has dropped -4.3% since last year.
• Empire: 167,056 magazines printed per year but
has dropped -3.2% since last year.
Mission statement:
The UK’s most influential media brand network

15. Example Market Research

16. Conde Nast
Magazines published:
 Vogue,
 Glamour,
 Wired,
 House & garden,
 Pitch fork,
 Golf world ,
 Brides
 And more…
55 million subscribers.
History:
The publishing house was founded
by entrepreneur Condé Nast in
1909 in the United States. His first
purchase was Vogue, a high-class
fashion magazine at the time, an
elegant compilation of beautiful
verses and photos. Condé Nast
inherited his high society vision
from his French mother and it
helped him get to know the target
audience of his new magazine and
its demands. As a result, Vogue
became a raving success in the US.
Conde Nast reports 15.5%
in pre-tax profits.
Condé Nast International is the international
arm of the New-York based publishing company
which produces many of the world's best known
magazine brands, including Vogue, Glamour,
Gentleman's Quarterly, Architectural Digest,
Wired, House & Garden, Condé Nast Traveller,
Tatler and Vanity Fair. With headquarters
located in London, Condé Nast International
publishes 126 magazines, close to 100
websites and more than 200 tablet and mobile
apps.
Conde Nast's Target Audiences:
• Prestige Pioneer (prestige beauty buyer/first to try)
• Big-Basket Beauty (mass beauty/volume buyer)
• Right from the Runway (luxury fashion follower)
• Eclectic Stylist (high/low fashion buyer)
• Alpha-Millennial (young peer leaders)
• Lovemark Mom (moms who buy brand names/not generics)
• Motor Maven (luxury car experts/the source for their friends)
• Shopping without Borders (global traveler)
• Tech-thusiast (volume consumer electronics buyer)
• On-The-Towners (leading-edge singles, large social network, love to
socialize)

17. Future Media
Magazines
published:
• Guitarist
• Pc gamer
• Film
• PlayStation
• Fast
Etc….
The company was founded as Future Publishing in
Somerton, Somerset in 1985 by Chris Anderson with the
sole magazine Amstrad Action. An early innovation was
the inclusion of free software on magazine covers, the first
company to do so.
Anderson sold Future to Pearson PLC for £52.7m in 1994,
but bought it back in 1998, with Future chief executive Greg
Ingham and Apax Venture Partners, for £142m. In 2001
Anderson left Future.
The high-end magazine publisher's pre-tax profits fell for the second
year in a row – profits have halved since 2011– with much of the
blame due to investment in its fashion and design college and
information technology.
Turnover at the company, which publishes a range of titles including
Tatler and Vanity Fair, fell by just over 6% to £109.95m.
Future Publishing has reported the first profit at its struggling US
business in seven years, as the embattled media owner cut total pre-
tax losses to £1.3m in the half year to the end of March.
Future, publisher of a portfolio of websites and magazines including
T3, Gizmodo and Total Film, also reported that 50% of its revenues
now come from digital and diversified businesses.
The company, which reported a £35m loss and cut more than 400 staff
last year, said that the transformation of the struggling print-focused
business into a digitally diversified content business is now almost
completed.
Adjusted profits – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation,
amortisation and exceptional items – were £1.8m in the six months to
the end of March
Music magazine related to the
publishing house:

18.  All the preceding slides were taken from the following blog;
 http://hcronefoundationportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/
 It is worth looking at as there are other tasks on there you
might like to use.
 Another good blog is;
 http://6103racheljinksg321fp.blogspot.co.uk/
 Although you should be looking at existing work to help inspire
you please remember it is not acceptable to copy another
students work. Copying work and passing it off as your own is
plagiarism and could mean your coursework is disqualified.

19. Revision
 The following slides are from previous lessons on
audience theory and how to decode a text.
 You should be making clear reference to audience theory
in both your analysis and your own planning. The most
relevant one is the uses and gratifications model
combined with Maslow.
 It is also worth looking at Andrew Goodwin and Star
Image as well as Laura Mulvey and her Male Gaze
theory.
 Bear in mind that at A level there is an expectation for
your to do independent reading and research on theories.
This should form part of your 10 hours independent
study.

20. Audience Theory
 Three questions:
1) Why do audiences choose to
consume certain texts?
2) How do they consume texts?
3) What happens when they
consume texts?

21. Audience Theory
 There are three theories of audience that
we can apply to help us come to a better
understanding about the relationship
between texts and audience.
1. The Effects Model or the Hypodermic
Model
2. The Uses and Gratifications Model
3. Reception Theory

22. The Effects Model
 The consumption of media texts has an
effect or influence upon the audience
 It is normally considered that this effect is
negative
 Audiences are passive and powerless to
prevent the influence
 The power lies with the message of the
text

23. The Effects Model
 This model is also called:
The Hypodermic Model
 Here, the messages in media texts are injected into
the audience by the powerful, syringe-like, media
 The audience is powerless to resist
 Therefore, the media works like a drug and the
audience is drugged, addicted, doped or duped.

24. The Effects Model
 Key evidence for the Effects Model
1. The Frankfurt School theorised in the 1920s
and 30s that the mass media acted to restrict and
control audiences to the benefit of corporate
capitalism and governments
2. The Bobo Doll experiment
This is a very controversial piece of research that
apparently proved that children copy violent
behaviour

25. The Effects Model
The Bobo Doll Experiment
 This was conducted in 1961 by Albert Bandura

26. The Effects Model
 In the experiment:
 Children watched a video where an adult violently
attacked a clown toy called a Bobo Doll
 The children were then taken to a room with
attractive toys that they were not permitted to touch
 The children were then led to another room with
Bobo Dolls
 88% of the children imitated the violent behaviour
that they had earlier viewed. 8 months later 40% of
the children reproduced the same violent behaviour

27. The Effects Model
 The conclusion reached was that
children will imitate violent media
content
 There are many problems with the
experiment. What do you think are the
flaws with the methodology? Does it
indeed prove that children imitate
violent media content?

28. The Effects Model
 The Effects Model (backed up by the
Bobo Doll experiment) is still the
dominant theory used by politicians,
some parts of the media and some
religious organisations in attributing
violence to the consumption of media
texts.

29. The Effects Model
 Key examples sited as causing or being contributory
factors are:
 The film Child’s Play 3 in the murder of James
Bulger in 1993
 The game Manhunt in the murder of Stefan
Pakeerah in 2004 by his friend Warren LeBlanc
 The film A Clockwork Orange (1971) in a number of
rapes and violent attacks
 The film Severance (2006) in the murder of Simon
Everitt

30. The Effects Model
 In each case there was a media and political outcry
for the texts to be banned
 In some cases laws were changed, films banned,
and newspapers demanded the burning of films
 Subsequently, in each case it was found that no
case could be proven to demonstrate a link between
the text and the violent acts

31. The Effects Model
 The Effects Model contributes to Moral
Panics whereby:
 The media produce inactivity, make us into
students who won’t pass their exams or
‘couch potatoes’ who make no effort to get
a job
 The media produces violent ‘copycat’
behaviour or mindless shopping in
response to advertisements

32. The Uses and Gratifications Model
 It is still unclear that there is any link between the
consumption of violent media texts and violent
imitative behaviour
 It is also clear the theory is flawed in that many
people do watch violent texts and appear not to be
influenced
 Therefore a new theory is necessary
 This is called the:
Uses and Gratifications
Model

33. The Uses and Gratifications Model
 The Uses and Gratifications Model is the
opposite of the Effects Model
 The audience is active
 The audience uses the text & is NOT used
by it
 The audience uses the text for its own
gratification or pleasure

34. The Uses and Gratifications Model
 Here, power lies with the audience NOT the
producers
 This theory emphasises what audiences do with
media texts – how and why they use them
 Far from being duped by the media , the audience
is free to reject, use or play with media
meanings as they see fit

35. The Uses and Gratifications Model
 Audiences therefore use media texts to gratify needs
for:
 Diversion
 Escapism
 Information
 Pleasure
 Comparing relationships and lifestyles with one’s own
 Sexual stimulation

36. The Uses and Gratifications Model
 The audience is in control and consumption of the
media helps people with issues such as:
 Learning
 Emotional satisfaction
 Relaxation
 Help with issues of personal identity
 Help with issues of social identity
 Help with issues of aggression and violence

37. The Uses and Gratifications Model
 Controversially the theory suggests the
consumption of violent images can be helpful
rather than harmful
 The theory suggests that audiences act out their
violent impulses through the consumption of
media violence
 The audience’s inclination towards violence is
therefore sublimated, and they are less likely to
commit violent acts

38. Reception Theory
 Given that the Effects model and the Uses and
Gratifications have their problems and limitations a
different approach to audiences was developed by
the academic Stuart Hall at Birmingham University
in the 1970s
 This considered how texts were encoded with
meaning by producers and then decoded
(understood) by audiences

39. Reception Theory
 The theory suggests that:
 When a producer constructs a text it is encoded
with a meaning or message that the producer
wishes to convey to the audience
 In some instances audiences will correctly decode
the message or meaning and understand what the
producer was trying to say
 In some instances the audience will either reject or
fail to correctly understand the message

40. Reception Theory
 Stuart Hall identified three types of
audience readings (or decoding) of the
text:
1. Dominant or preferred
2. Negotiated
3. Oppositional

41. Reception Theory
1. Dominant
 Where the audience decodes the
message as the producer wants
them to do and broadly agrees with it
 E.g. Watching a political speech and
agreeing with it

42. Reception Theory
2. Negotiated
 Where the audience accepts, rejects
or refines elements of the text in light
of previously held views
 E.g. Neither agreeing or disagreeing
with the political speech or being
disinterested

43. Reception Theory
3. Oppositional
 Where the dominant meaning is
recognised but rejected for cultural,
political or ideological reasons
 E.g. Total rejection of the political
speech and active opposition

44. Reception Theory
Audience Decodes Meaning/Message
Dominant or preferred
Producer
Encodes Negotiated
Meaning
Oppositional