Question 2: How
does your media product
represent a particular
social group?
Beth Sumecki AS Media evaluation

My Target Audience
I believe my three coursework pieces represent my genre of ‘Rock/Metal’ music very
well. I researched into what existing magazines produced for this genre look like and
what sort of features they print for ideas and inspiration. This was helpful as I was
able to see what to include in my pieces and also how I can challenge the stereotype
in order for my magazine to look original. I also looked thoroughly into my target
audience; how they are presented in the media, the connotations the social group
holds and generally how they are perceived. I researched how the stereotypical
‘Rocker’ dressed, worked and spent free time. This lead me to the conclusion that the
majority of fans of this music are working to middle class people, but gender and age
relied on which types of Rock music they were particularly fond of (as this genre is
very broad). For example, fans of older ‘Metal’ music and classic ‘Rock and Roll’
including bands like Guns N Roses and Metallica would have a fan base of an older
generation. Where as fans of newer bands that may be more ‘Pop Rock’ such as Blink
182 and Paramore tend to appeal to a younger audience. However this statement is
very vague and this does not mean that the audiences do not vary, all types of Rock
music does attract people of all ages. My magazine will cover both old Rock bands
and the newer ones, but I believe buyers of the magazine will generally be the
younger listeners. This is because it is in the interests of most teenagers to read
magazines and be interested in musical culture.

How This Particular Social Group Is
Represented In The Media
I discovered that fans of ‘Rock/Metal’ artists are presented as violent and
aggressive. There have been reports of fights at gigs and also the term
‘moshing’ is often associated with the genre of Rock and Roll and Heavy
Metal. This is where groups of people fuse dancing and violence together
and push each other to live music, and people are often hurt in the
process. The connotations of aggressive nature and Rock music goes back
to the era of punk where rebellion and anarchy were encouraged by
bands to their fans. It was perhaps most significantly promoted in 1964
after the famous Brighton seaside riots, that consisted of two social
groups (defined by their preference in music genre) the ‘mods’ and
‘rockers’ had a large fight, where many participants were injured and
some even jailed.
Also, Rock’s sound itself could be interpreted as promoting aggressive
behaviour as it is stereotypically loud and harsh sounding. This is not
necessarily a bad stereotype it’s understood that music taste does not
dictate over personality traits, but it is useful to keep in mind when
making a Rock music magazine. By this I mean you can incorporate
aspects of these stereotypes in the design and style of the magazine, to
show clear connections to the target audience.

Design elements – Font and Colour
Across the three pieces I used a variety of different fonts, some were simple sans
serif fonts for small text used in the interview for example, where as others were
very bold and impactful styles for cover lines and the masthead on the cover. I new
the masthead needed to stand out the most, and this had to represent my genre
really well because it’s the most important aspect to the magazine. I used a website
called Da Font and looked for different fonts that presented a theme of destruction
(they had a section of fonts dedicate to this theme, so I was ensured any choice I
made would be consumed in the way I wished). This was to convey the stereotypes
of Rock music so that my genre was clear. For variety I chose about 6 different fonts
for the cover, most of which followed this destroyed style. I thought that this aspect
of my magazine conveyed my particular social group well.
Using loud, bright colours also communicates the conventions of the rock fan
base. I used a colour theme that consisted of 4 main colours, red yellow black and
white. These colours all contrast a little and along with my choices of shades in
these colours, this concept represents the ‘loud’ aspect found in the typical Rock
fan. Further more there is a lot of black and dark red on my pages, this use of dark
tones convey sinister emotions again to relate to aggressive and dark themes.

The Model
In both shots of my model, on the front cover and double page spread, she looks
confident, strong and independent. The cover especially presents her pulling a face
that makes her look a little aggressive. The model is also making eye contact with the
camera in both images showing a ‘tough’ persona, I think this strengthens my piece
as it is an aspect that create impact. Having my model presented in this way conveys
Rock connotations, as apposed to having her look timid and more ‘feminine’ as this
wouldn’t have achieved the style I tried to portray in my text, nor would it
correspond with the essence of the model character’s band ‘Deadrunners’ that I
created for this product.
When dressing and directing my model I wanted her to come across a little like
Joan Jett, who was famous for being in the first all girl Rock band The Runnaways.
She’s a role model for feminists and is seen as very independent. Therefore I felt it
was a suitable style to base my model on. In further reference to the model’s attire, I
had chosen a simple dark green tank top and black lipstick, and in the double page
spread she wears a spiked head band to accompany this. This represents elements of
my social group, as there are elements of casual clothing in combination to the
daring rock themed style of the spiked head band and the lipstick. My target
audience will wear similar things, and this will help to engage them. Female
members of my audience will therefore relate to my model also, with the
corresponding gender in addition to her (asumed) similar style to them as well.

Content and cover lines
In my texts, I advertise elements that will directly entice my target audience, and
therefore representing their interests. For example, on the cover a large amount of
space is dedicated to the cover line and plug advertising the free posters included in
this issue. Members of my target audience, (young listeners of the wide varieties of
rock music, aged 15 – 20 of either gender) are likely to enjoy hanging posters around
their rooms representing different forms of pop culture. Movies and music are popular
subjects used in decorative posters, so deciding to give away free ones represents the
needs and preferences that my audience will place when contemplating which
magazine products to investing in. Magazine audiences (stereotypically those that are
of the ages I set my target audience in) also enjoy to cut and stick general magazine
content and pages onto bedroom walls, items or personal objects, enforcing the fact
that the whole magazine should be consistent in reflecting a specific style.
My magazine also covers festival news, in the contents page and on the cover.
Members of my target social group will enjoy events such as live music performances
and so in particular festivals will be a great attention grabber, festivals work as an
ensemble for multiple bands that the magazine will cover and so again will be a major
interest of my audience. They will enjoy the free spirited essence to festivals, and
considering my target age range will be at the appropriate stage in life to start enjoying
such luxuries, coming prior to gaining more freedom. Attending festivals is a typical
activity for this age group to do in general, and so is a good area to cover in any genre
of music magazine. Particularly with my text however, I made sure to discuss festivals
with specific relation to my genre, such as ‘Download’ which books acts purely for the
rock music scene.