EVALUATION - Question 2: 'How does your media product represent particular social groups?'

We drew the inspiration for our contents page from an image we found on Google. Before constructing our music magazine, we decided to search the internet. We typed “music magazine contents page” into the search bar, and this was one of the images that came up.

We were immediately drawn to this image due to its individuality – the pose that the model is positioned in is very visually interesting and unlike any other we had seen before. On studying the image in more detail, we also agreed that we liked the overall layout of the page; the model’s position in relation to the text in particular; for example her legs draw us directly to the text positioned next to them. The main attraction to us was the fact that the image fitted around the text; with the text fitting in perfectly between the model’s legs and head, as her legs were stretched out above her so that she was in an ‘L’ shape. We also liked the overall expression and connotations of the photo. The model in the photo looked very glamourous, and as the shot was in an almost sepia tone this created a very classy look; something that we decided we wanted to recreate but with the difference of having the image in black and white, and extracting the purple of the shoes helping us to show our house colours in a different way to how other magazines represent them. The glamour of the photograph was something that we were especially interested in imitating. Our magazine is specifically intended for teenage girls, and one of the passions of teenage girls is looking good, using methods such as makeup and clothes, the model therefore becomes an icon for the readers. This is seen on my reader profile, where I have included images of various makeup items and well-known high street stores such as Topshop and River Island. Our image is taken from a slightly different angle, as we did not want to exactly copy the image above, but simply draw inspiration from it and make it our own- a unique style. All of the images in our magazine are in black and white, with one item in purple, so as to create some individuality and brand identity for our magazine. In this case, we chose to have the shoes that the model wears in purple, as this drew the most attention in our opinions. We also slightly altered the image; having the model listening to an iPod so as to reiterate the musical genre of the magazine. Looking at the mise en scene, we had the model wearing simple high-waisted shorts and a top, as we wanted to appeal to the target audience as much as possible. By having our model wear clothes from the high street, we are appealing to them more because they have a budget when buying clothes, and therefore often cannot afford the latest designer clothes; models wearing designer clothes can be offputting to teenage girls as they feel inferior due to the lack of money which comes with young age. We placed our model on a white floor against a black background, and used spotlights to create a shadow against it, making our photo look more professional and classy. The image below shows our contents page: