Audience Theory of music videos

In this post I'm going to be discussing the audience theories for music videos and how they respond to my final media product. Furthermore, I will be discussing the effects debates such as, effects of exposure to explicit sexual or violent content, effects of advertising, health concerns and censorship debates. Finally, I will also be talking about the responses for example, are they negotiated, preferred, oppositional, participatory, cultural competence and fan culture.

Audience theory:

Hypodermic needle model -
This is a theory which is also known as the 'Hypodermic Syringe Model' it works by giving an image of a 'direct' (embolism) message to the individuals. In the image below shows how the media message is 'injected' into the audiences.

<- as you can see the image shows that when certain text is shown to the 'mass media' and then the 'leaders' take it for the way it comes and then passes it onto the individuals which have social contact with the opinion leader.

Passive audience is where the ideas and views are 'injected' into their minds and they do not analyse is but they take it for what it is as they are immediately influenced by the message.

The factors which contribute this are the speedy increase popularised media such as TV and radio and the industry persuasion (advertising and manipulation)

Overview

SOURCE - MESSAGE - MASS MEDIA - OPINION - LEADER - PUBLIC

Uses and gratifications theory -
This is a theory by Blumler and Katz, it suggests that the uses of media have an imperative part of play in selecting and using the media. The theorists add that the media users look for the best possible media source to suit their situation. There are four sections to the uses and gratification theory.

Diversion: This is in need for 'escapism' the media user becomes lost in the media source.
Personal Relationship: Using the media to fulfill the need for companionship. E.g. Using the media to form relationships, 'Facebook'
Personal Identity: This is by finding about ourselves online whether it be history, knowledge or surveillance. Even the events going on around us 'idols'

Passive or active consumption -
Passive audiences do not engage with the text, they do not question the message as they accepts it the way the media outlet is intended. E.g. Hypodermic Needle Model.
Active audiences engages with the text. They do not simply accept every media messafe they interpret in their own way which is based on their life experiences (e.g. education, family and cultural influences) E.g. Uses and Gratifications Theory.

Effects debates:

Effects of exposure to explicit sexual or violent content -
There are many arguments that the audience (e.g. children) should not be shown or exposed to violent or explicit content as they may feel influenced by it. This audience suggests that they are passive consumers which implies that they are not able to establish right or wrong and they will react to the text and possibly act out its content.

Effects of advertising -
This debate is a very powerful media product. This enables the audience to be persuaded to purchase certain products and services by claiming that they will make their lives better. This also suggests that the audience are passive consumers.

Health concerns -
The youth today are spending on average more than 7 hours a say using media. These are items such as TV, computer, internet, video-game consoles and a mobile phone.Recent evidence has raises concerns about the media effects on the youth which has shown aggression, sexual behavior, substance use, disordered eating and academic difficulties.

Censorship debates -
One of the biggest censorship in media is the age limit. There are some things which younger children are not suppose to see at  their age. Therefore 'censorship' is their to protect them from that.

Responses:

Negotiated -
These are more considered. The view/message is agreed with by the audience. However, they may slightly alter the opinion depending on their personal experience, opinions and how they take the message into account.

Dominant -
The message is sully accepted by the audience as the ideas with the message consistent with their own.

Oppositional -
This is where the audience disagrees with the message and decides to reject it. This can be the idea that they have taken on all of the information and decide to reject the message. However, this could be based on a emotional response, strongly held beliefs and life experiences.

Participatory -
This theory says that in the modern age we are more likely to be involved with the creation of media texts instead of just consuming them. E.g. More involved in reality TV program, websites and blogs.

Cultural competence -
This theory says that, since we are able to get connected with global people we are becoming more 'cultural competent'. This concludes that we are better able to access, interact, understand and communicate with others in different cultures or the same.

Fan culture -
New theory which show that 'fans' are currently seen as valuable commodity to media producers.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/125/4/756.abstract (13/06/2013).,
Media Health concerns [Online]

Defining audiences for documentaries

In this blog post I'm going be discussing how the media producers for documentaries define their audience using research techniques.

Audience profiling
This is what all media institutions need to do before launching a new product (in my case a documentary). When they do define their audience they need to consider key factors;
Age, Gender, Race and sexuality, education, occupation, annual income and disposal income, these are known as 'demographics'. Not only those but they need to be consider the current lifestyle, culture, media interests, buying habits and loyalty to brands.

A method of audience profiling would be SES (Socio-economics Status), this is where the population (adult) are defined by what they do. There are 6 groups;

Group A: Higher management - Bankers, lawyers, doctors and other professionals

Group B: Middle management - teachers and graphic designers

Group C1: Office supervisors, junior managers, nurses - white collar
Group C2: Skilled manual workers - Plumbers, builders - blue collar
Group D: Semi-skilled & unskilled manual workers
Group E: Unemployed, students, pensioners, causal workers.

Quantitative research (TV viewing figures)
Sampling techniques where the findings are shown numerically and the researcher are able to estimate future events or quantities for their samples which they investigated. This method allows media producers to see the figures of TV viewings. For example; www.barb.co.uk is a site where you can view the highest figures of TV channels.  Purposely I feel that this is not a good site to find the documentaries defined audience as it may show which documentaries are trending however, it doesn't show whether what age, race or gender they are. People like different things and if they were a different age, race or gender this can effect the research.
On the other hand, the bright side of this is that the researchers are able to find what the peak times are for channels/programmes of documentaries this can help with defining their audience.

Qualitative research
This research is where a small number of individuals from the audience produces different insights to the attitude and feedback about the media product. The researchers don't only receive the audiences opinion but they also find out why they think that. It helps the researchers understand the motivation and feelings to why they think that. This research can be done through face-to-face interviews, surveys or focus groups. I believe this is very useful towards the documentaries as it goes into detail with what the audience are looking for and it helps carefully define the audience for the media producers.

Psycho-graphics
These are similar to demographics, however these deal with the audience's behavior and personality rather than focusing on what work they do. The psycho-graphics  explain why they do what they do, whereas demographics describes the audience.

The chart for the psycho-graphics:

Main-streamers: Seek Security: domestic, conformist, conventional and sentimental.
Aspirers: Seek status: materialistic, acquisitive, orientated image and appearance. Younger people & sales jobs.
Succeeders: Seek control: Strong goals, confidence, work ethic and organised. Higher management, professionals.
Resigned: Seeks survival: Right & authoritarian values. Interested in the past & tradition. Older people.
Explorers: Seek discovery: energy, individualism & experience. Younger demographic students.
Strugglers: Seeks escape: Dis-organised, alienated, few physical skills. Buys alcohol, junk food, lottery tickets. D & E Demographics.
Reformers: Seeks enlightenment: Freedom of restrictions & personal growth. Independent judgement, anti-materialistic but aware of good taste. Higher education and selects products for  quality.

This is a good chart to use to define an audience for a documentary as it is more detailed and can offer a larger audience for the media producers to work with as they know why they do the jobs that they do instead of categorising them into larger groups, this narrows it down. 

Age & Gender
 This is an important part for defining audiences for a new media product. Before continuing to do Qualitative,Quantitative, Demographics, Psycho-graphics and SES research the media producers would need to decide on a age and gender they are aiming to focus on. 

Types of Documentaries:
There are 6 different types of documentaries, Docusoaps, Reality TV, Fly on the Wall, self reflective, Docudrama and Fully Narrated.

Docusoap is a hybrid genre which is observational on the events going on in the programme. It's a documentary series which follows individual/groups of people. It started in the 90's and was popular because the audience liked the idea as they followed a real soap opera. They follow a central protagonist which enables the audience to know the character. An example would be Big Fat Gypsy Wedding (The trailer below)

Reality TV is fatual TV and it progressed through 1989 - 1999. It includes useful information in a form of 'entertainment'. The programmes would include authentic material which contains serious information using a camcorder, obsevation, surveillance and commentary. An example would be COPS, a clip below shows some shots for what it is like.

Fly on the Wall is where the camera is based on 'the wall' but the people within the programme ignore it, like its not there. The most well known TV show like this is Big Brother a short clip is shown below.

Self Reflective is where the camera follows person/group around however, they know its there.

Docudrama is a reconstruction of events that have already happened. An example would be 'I didn't know I was pregnant' a clip shown below.

Fully Narrated  is narrated all the way through the the documentary. For example, Human Planet. This is used to convey the exposition and dominate what they see.

http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/market-research/what-is-quantitative-research-
http://www.slideshare.net/Kelly_1991/documentary-structure
http://www.slideshare.net/mattwako/how-media-producers-define-their-target-audience-19065036
http://www.slideshare.net/TaylorSykesSmith/types-of-documentaries

Representation of Magazines

What does representation mean?

'Representation is a statement or act made to influence opinion or action, it can also be the act of representing something such as likeness or image.' (28/04/2013).,
Definition of Representation [Online]

Representation can be shown in different ways for example; positive, negative of the social groups, social issues, stereotyping, presence and absence. The representation within a magazine doesn't have to be just about the people, it can relate to location, places, countries and the jobs.

Narrative structures of Magazines

There are several types of narrative structures. In this post I'm going to be dicussing what narrative structures there are and examples that relate to magazines.

Type of structures

Single Strand: This is where there is only one story line/plot.

Mutli Stand: This is the opposite to single strand as it has several stories within the media product.

Closed & Open: An Open structure is where the viewer, listener or reader is left wondering what has happened. A Closed structure is where the narrative has a structured ending.

Linear & Non-linear: Linear structure is where the narrative plays out in chronological fashion. On the other hand non-linear structure is not in chronological order, the actions are out of sequence.

Restricted: This is a story which is told from one person's perspective.

Examples in magazines:

Genre of Magazines

There are plenty of different magazines on the shelf at stores across the world and each individual will have a favourite different genre magazine. Genre doesn't always relate to the type of magazine it is it relates to the production technology. Not only that but, it also can be linked with the distribution method.
In this blog post, I will be researching the different type of genres of magazines, how they are distributed and how it is produced.

Before all of the technology such as, iPhone apps and to be able to read magazines online there was only one genre of production technology. As said before, since there are more available technologies people are able to access two type of genres of the production tech. One is Print form and the other digital.

http://issuu.com/aircadets/docs/air_cadet_xtra_spring_2013/15 - This link produces inside images of every page in the Air Cadet Magazine. This is one method of production technology, digital.

<- On the left I have print screened the way you look at the magazine online. You are able to zoom into the magazine to look at it more closely. You are able to flick from page to page easily.

The other genre of production technology is print. This is where the magazine has been printed and is placed on shelves within shops. This magazine from the previous post, is an example of a print based production technology. You are able to read, keep it and look through it as much as you want. To the right is the same image used on the last post. 

Not only you can determined the genre via the production technology but you can also define it using the codes and conventions on the front cover. This is gives off an idea to what sort of genre it is. However, many people say 'don't judge a book by it's cover', magazines usually use the same layout on the front cover so that the public eye recognize the product. 

 

For two of the examples of genre magazines below, I'm going to briefly explain the content and style. (Codes & Conventions)

Photography...

Content & Style

The content and style of a photography magazine would include three main codes and conventions such as text, layout and the images used.

Text: Language, this would be written for the photography lovers therefore the language used would so that they understand it. Content,
this would include maybe famous photographers going into depth about their photography life, there could also be tips and examples of how to help the reader with their hobby.

Images: The key part to a photography magazine. The images used would be to show the readers different ideas, examples and how to play about with the camera settings, etc. 

Layout: The layout would be where things are positioned. By doing this is also sets the tone and 'look' of the address the producers are trying to pursue to the public.

Tattoos...

Content & Style

The content and style of a tattoo magazine would include three main codes and conventions such as text, layout and the images used.

Text: The language the writers use would relate to tattoos and so the readers are able to understand the what they are talking about in relation to tattoos, etc. The content would include new designs/tattoo conventions.

Images: The images are of tattoos, people with tattoos and ideas for tattoos.

Layout: The masthead is behind the main image, therefore the media producers are trying to make the girl stand out. This also lets the audience know what type of magazine this is as you can only see half of the masthead. The headlines are bold and stand out to the eye. If the audience see a headline which relates to them they are able to see it clearly.

 

Other Examples:

Music

Fashion

Health & Beauty

Gardening

Photography

Cooking

Lifestyle

Kids

Adult

Motoring

Tattoos

Animals

Celebrities

Inserts/Supplements

Magazine: Niche or Mass?

There are thousands of different magazines which attract us, but what makes the magazine mass and what makes the magazine niche. In this post I'm going to be discussing two magazines which I think are mass and niche and explain the reasons why.

What is Niche marketing?
'Concentrating all marketing efforts on a small but specific and well defined segment of the population. Niches do not 'exist' but are 'created' by identifying needs, wants and requirements...' [1]

An example...

FEB 23 2013
Issue 1454
[Taken with camera]

Kerrang! Magazine the worlds biggest weekly selling rock magazines. This shows that the magazine are aimed at people who enjoy rock music. In the magazine they include posters, interviews, tours, advertisements, reviews and fantastic updates of bands! Its for those who are in love with their favorite rock bands and keeps them updated with the latest gig guide or interview.

Selection of content...

The words on this magazine lure the audience to buy the magazine, they want people to see the 'World exclusive' caption. This suggests that the producers are trying to address to the audience that this is the only place to find out this 'world exclusive' story within their magazine. '5 AMAZING POSTERS' is another eye-catching word which the producers want the audience to know that these are the best posters out there to make them want to buy this media product. Furthermore, 'JESUS CHRIST, the crucifixion of Asking Alexandra' Could be represented wrongly to someone who doesn't read these magazines. This is one example as to why this product is very niche to it's market.

The images that are shown are bands, people from bands, concerts and poster previews! The main image relates to the main heading (the splash) 'Fall Out Boy' . In everybody who reads Kerrang magazine their will be one of your favourite bands on the front as the main subject. I think that the producers do this so that if a fan of the magazine sees their favourite band they are more likely to buy it to read about why they are on the front. It may also be the case that they are trying to get a bigger market however, they are also trying to stay in their comfort zone of 'rock'. 

Examples of the fonts
[Taken with camera]

The colours are a key part of the magazine, rock can be represented in different ways but Kerrang! presents the colours according to the feeling of the magazine. Therefore on the first example uses the colours orange, this could represent the fiery 'world exclusive' of Fall Out Boy's return. The colours represent what the magazine is going to include inside also. Mostly they use red, blacks and white but occasionally in this example they have included orange.

The magazine uses a wide variety of fonts to present itself. This includes using different fonts fonts for different sections, such as the splash heading 'Fall Out Boy' which is orange the producers obviously want to address to the audience that this is important. The smaller stories have different sized, colour and box-out fonts which are always underneath the image. One of the captions is a distinct font from the rest, its unknown as to why it's like that, it's probably to lure the reader to find out why so they buy the magazine. Finally, the logo is in red at the top of the magazine which stands out to distinguish the magazine difference to others.

Construct of content...

OCT 20 2012
Issue 1437
[Taken with camera]

FEB 23 2012
Issue 1454
[Taken with camera]

The layout of the magazine is similar but has slight change in the way each they are set out. Firstly, there is a different image on each one. This is so the reader doesn't get tired of seeing the same face and the main image relates to the splash of the magazine with the bands name 'GREEN DAY' and ' FALL OUT BOY'. The poster advertisement is on Issue 1454 is at the top spread across, however on Issue 1437 the poster advertisement is on the left hand down the side. All of the stories on the magazine to the left are near the bottom (apart from the splash) however, the magazine to the right the stories spread down on the right hand side and only one at the bottom. These differences are not very noticeable as they are still in similar places just are slightly off to the side so the continuity in this magazine doesn't matter and can go unseen by the reader.

Codes and conventions...

A poster inside
[Taken with camera]

Caption
[Taken with camera]

There are many different codes and conventions of magazines and the most important one I think is the 'masthead' or the logo. This has to be distinct and stand out of the page so the competitors like 'The Rolling Stones' magazine do not get picked up first by the reader. Kerrang is in big, red bold words and is the same font in different colours on each magazine. The secondary lead is a sneak preview of a story on the front cover which is inside. An example of this would be 'SYSTEM OF A DOWN... New Album! New Danger!' , this is a heading and photograph just something simple to lure the audience into the magazine especially if they like that band. (this is what makes this media product a niche market). The splash has been mentioned many times above, it's the main heading in the middle which is the name of the band who is displayed on the main image. Some of the words have blocks of colours behind them to make them stand-out. It also could be because the reader wouldn't be able to read the words as the image may hide them. These are called box-outs. The feature headline 'World Exclusive' produces that this is the only magazine your going to find out this featured story. There are many more codes and conventions but those are the basic ones which are important.





What is Mass marketing?
'An attempt to appeal to an entire market with one basic marketing strategy...' [2]

An example...

Britain's best selling women's magazine! The magazine produces stories of real life happenings, competitions and puzzles. I believe that it's a mass magazine because It's aimed at an entire market 'women' with one intention of telling reality stories which other women (some men) could relate too. It also has competitions for the readers to be involved in this appeals to a mass market for those who enjoy entering competitions.

Selection of content...

Words are used to grab the readers attention into the magazine. It also is to address the audience by using words relating to maybe similar stories that the reader may have experienced or know someone may have suffered this. Word such as "She lost her legs.. 'but I can dance, Mummy'" is very blunt and the readers would be intrigued to know what happens. Furthermore, the words '£10,000 CASH TOP PRIZE' can tempt the readers to buy the magazine. It sends out a message that you 'could' win this money and therefore its the temptation which the producers address to the audience.

'Her new legs' (Charlotte)
[Taken with camera]

Images are used to prove the reality situations of the stories, it also allows the readers to create an image of what the story is telling them. To the left you can see the image of the girl 'Charlotte' who has got 'Her new legs' (the caption underneath), now by reading the story the reader is able to understand what has happened, but also able to see what has happened. The producers of this magazine want to address the audience by showing them  the perspective and reality of how the lives of others can impact them.

On the front page of the magazine many colours are used, this is to attract the attention of the reader, it also distinguishes the magazine from others. The producers would also want continuity within their magazines so that when the readers pick up the magazine they know what to expect. They wouldn't want to change all the colours, from bright pink to dark brown it may repel the readers away from the magazine.

Different style fonts
[Taken with camera]

The fonts would want to be the same for continuity reasons, the majority of the fonts are similar however they are set out in different ways. This could be because some of the stories are bigger than others and the producers want to address to the audience to read these ones more, here's an example of two different styles of font...
'MY GIRL BECAME A BOY' - Is in capitals and is in white colour font with a pink box underneath.
'Now he's marrying my best mate' - This is coloured yellow and is on the main colour of the magazine, it's also in italics.





Construct of the content...

Take a break [4]

Take a break [3]

Layout is important to magazines, knowing where to put what on a magazine so that the reader can clearly understand what magazine it is. Continuity is a big importance to layout, this markets the magazine therefore addresses to the readers, who they are and have a continual number of issues which are similar. The front cover is the most important part of the layout, it's the first page you see when you pick up it up off the shelf. On the left and right are two different 'Take a Break' magazines. As you can see at the top has 'WIN' advertisements, the logo is in the top left hand corner and the stories are spread across the page. In both of them are six stories on the front page which are in the similar places. One underneath the logo, the splash (main story) in the middle at an angle, three stories at the bottom (the one on the right is shaped into a bubble and the other two are a sort of rectangular shape) and finally the last on just underneath the photograph of the woman. The main image of a 'women' (supposedly represents that this is for women) is also in the same place, opposite the logo. The continuity shows that you know when you are going to be reading a 'Take a Break' magazine, and each of them show similar codes and conventions (discussed later). 

Caption example
[Taken with camera]

The captions on a magazine are their to lure the readers to read the magazine. The producers would address the audience with careful captions which do not give the story away but allow them to grab their eye with taglines that have an appealing approach. 'RAPED for calling off our wedding' A caption off of the front cover, this doesn't cover the whole story but tells the reader enough to want to read the story inside.

Anchorage a piece of text (in a magazine) which focuses on the message of an image and how it's interpreted of how it was intended. [5]   
The stories within a magazine creates the meaning of that media product, the producers do this by using the real life stories/situations which people have wrote into the company to connect with the readers.

Codes and Conventions...

Splash Example
[Taken with camera]

The visual codes and conventions of a magazine are very broad and there is a variety of them. Firstly the 'Masthead' this is the title block of the magazine, or the logo. This has to be 'eye-catching' convention as it needs to be distinct between other competitors like 'OK' magazines. Secondary lead, this is a sneak preview of a story within the magazine for example 'One last photo then... My family was SWEPT AWAY'. The splash is the main story on the front page in the photo right at the top on issue 9, 'Randy Rambo said: Move in with me... and my wife!' the headline and a photography beside it. A spread, or a two page spread is a story funnily enough 'spread' across two pages (or over more than one page). There are many more codes and conventions of a magazine, but those are the basic ones. Examples show below.

Two-page spread example
[Taken with camera]

SOURCES
[1] http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/niche-marketing.html (13/02/2013).,
Niche Marketing Definition [Online]
[2] http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/mass-marketing.html (13/02/2013).,
Mass Marketing Definition [Online]
[3] http://www.onlywayisupfoundation.com/press-and-news/img/take-a-break-magazine-77.jpg (23/02/2013).,Take a break magazine cover [Online]
[4] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0b/Take_a_Break_(magazine)_cover.jpg (23/02/2013).,
Take a break magazine cover [Online]
[5] http://www.dictionarycentral.com/definition/anchorage.html (23/02/2013).,
Definition of Anchorage [Online]

Introduction: Final Major Project

Hello, and welcome to my blog. In this blog I'm going to be posting, discussing and uploading information in relation to my final major project. There are three different media examples which I would like to establish whilst researching the contrasting codes and conventions of each prototype.

My three ideas for my FMP are going to be either a Music video, Documentary or a Magazine. I have much interest in these examples and during this blog I will be updating

 

Documentary...
 

A Documentary is a short film which documents reality. For example, David Attenborough produces documentaries about wildlife in which he doesn't just describe what he's researched but comprehensively explain the animals he's talking about. By indulging the audience with facts, figures and explanations about wildlife this documentary works well. Here is a clip of Attenborough in his fame:

I have a interest in documentaries as they are not like other media products, you can create something which not only documents events but they can inform the audience about facts/figures and give a reality of events and not what just in the 'media'.

Music Video...
 

A music video is a short film/video which is accompanied by a piece of music. As music industry has grown the use of music videos has become more popular, they are also used now to promote a song/album of the artists song. There are several different types of music videos;
1. Narrative:  This usually is the story around the song and they have a meaning which they are trying to get across to the audience. For example

Green Day - Jesus of Suburbia 

In this video there is clear narrative structure of the song and it relates to the song clearly.

2. Performance: This mainly focuses on the band/artist which are usually performing in front of a crowd.
For example

Rage Against The Machine - Killing in The Name

In this video you can clearly see a performance from RATS, they are performing in front of an audience.

3. Cameo: This style of music video is when a famous person is starring within the film, however not involved in the singing. For example

Micheal Jackson - Black or White

At the start of this video, you can see that the famous actors starring within it have no involvement to the singing.

I'm interested in doing a music video as previously I had to create one at the start of my college course, and I was unaware of the work which was needed for it. However, after thinking about what I need to do I found that a music video is an easy way to create what ever you want with a piece of music and can tangent off into so many ideas I could make a better idea for a music video than my last.

Magazine...

A magazine is a publication and is issued periodically which is paper based. It contains, stories, images, poems, hobbies, news and even sports. There are a number of different genre of magazine, for example:

OK Magazine

Health & Beauty Magazine

Photography Magazine

During secondary school in my Media class I had to make a magazine for my FMP and thoroughly enjoyed it. So for my college course, I have an interest in doing another magazine which I can improve, but also create a different style magazine from the one I recently did. 

Finally, that's all of my three choices that I'm interested about doing for my FMP next year. I will uploading research about these three and going into more depth about each one.