Q2. How does your media product represent particular

social groups?

Representation is when a certain person, group of people, communities, topics, ideas or experiences are show in a particular way. The media can often distort the truth when it comes to the representation of something/someone, and how it actually is. This can sometimes be harmful as the media would have us believe something is one way, when in reality it can be slightly or completely different. For example models can be photoshopped to look skinnier than they actually are which can be harmful to girls who this that they need to be as skinny as these fake models to be beautiful in the eyes of society.

What IS representation in media?

My model for my magazine cover:

Race: WhiteAge: 16 Gender: FemaleSexuality: Heterosexual

I chose to represent my model like this because it is relatable to a large portion of my target audience and if the reader can relate to the cover they are more likely to think that the magazine would be interesting to them and are more likely to read it.

WHO has been show in the text?

Clothes: My model is also wearing a tight fitting dress that hugs her figure, which could be worn casually (but more than often would not be) it shows that she is classy and could maybe considered as upper-class, but since that isn’t really the target audience of the magazine it isn’t meant to reflect what my audience should be like, I chose to make my model wear the dress as it looks nice and would make my magazine cover look a bit less casual.Hair: Her hair is let down to give a more casual and “free” look, she is also blonde which is a hair colour a lot of people view as attractive, although its down it isn’t messy, which again shows pride in how she looks, and shows that she is maybe of a higher class and well looked after. Make-up: My model is wearing minimal make up, which is supposed to add to her confidence factor, (that you can feel confident without wearing a ton of make up) which isn’t how a lot of women are portrayed in the media (such as in magazine covers for example) Pose: My model is portrayed to have a bit of an attitude (by putting her hand on her hips and striking a “sassy” pose) This is a attribute a lot of teenagers could relate to as it is a quality that teenagers are stereotypically portrayed to have.

HOW are they being portrayed?

Expression:My model also have an “innocent” look on her face, (but she also has a confident look) which makes her also come across as angelic and elegant while still displaying a rebellious pose.Language:For the language on my cover I chose to not use slang words or swear words etc, because I didn’t want it to take away from the “classy” feel on my magazine, even though that would probably be a lot more relatable and appealing to my audience I did’t want my magazine to be taken less seriously and more casual.Layout:I wanted my layout to be as simple as I could make it to give it a cleaner look, and also to make it as easy to understand as possible, for example I chose to leave a bit of white space (the background) which made everything else stand out so must against it, this ensured that the background wouldn’t draw attention away for my model or any of the writing on the cover etc.I chose to move everything around the model (which is why she is even in front of the title of the magazine) I did this by overlapping as little over my model as I possibly could. (all the information on the front cover was placed around her) crop:I chose to crop the image the way I did to ensure that absolutely nothing made the image I was using was the only focus (I ensured this by editing the backdrop out of the image, as it was a slightly off white before and looked unprofessional. Effects:I didn’t put any effects on my cover, as I felt it took away from the fact that my model wasn’t wearing any make up and going for the “naturally beautiful” look, I changed the exposure (when I actually took the picture for my cover) by turning the studio lights up, and then once it was in photoshop I edited it to turn the brightness of the image up just so it was a little bit more clear, and easier to actually see my model.

How does how they’re being portrayed show/ make up their identity?

I think my audience will find aspects of my magazine relatable, but maybe not all of the elements of my magazine will 100% reflect how I think my target audience are, but to me it was important to have parts of my model that were unique and don’t blend in (the outfit she wore) as the whole point of her being on the front of my cover is that there is something different about her. This also gives my target audience inspiration when they are reading it as they can see that they have something to aim for. The information I used on my front cover (such as the sticker which talks about winning Justin Beiber tickets) is relevant to my audience as my audience is the same audience that Justin targets his music at, I also talked about twitter on my front cover which is a social networking site that a large majority of target audience will be on, this will make them want to read about it.

HOW do the AUDIENCE interpret my magazine?