The Week also produces a magazine version for a target audience aged 8-14. The Week Junior appeals to children but offers similar educational and news-based content. The magazine uses conventions differently, making different layout choices, with more images, alternative fonts, appealing bright colours and a more suitable language register. Here is a taster of what appears in the magazine.
Task 1: You need to deconstruct the front cover of The Week Junior on your handout, focusing on how appeal is created for younger readers.
Now look back at your notes about The Week from last lesson and complete Task 2 in your exercise book.
Write a comparison of the two magazines in your book, The Week and The Week Junior, using your notes. What is the same about the two products? What is different about the two products and why?
The Week is a UK news magazine that covers how news articles have been reported across the British and International media outlets. It is a review of the top stories and public discourse surrounding important events. This is the front cover of the magazine. It follows the normal conventions of magazines, but how does it create appeal for its adult readership? Task 1: How does this magazine front cover use magazine Media Language (codes and conventions)? Label them on to your handout. Task 2: Look closely at the content and consider how it will appeal to its audience.
The main image is a cartoon. This is a style of satirical cartoon that is often used to make comments about political figures. These tend to be humourous, as they are poking fun at politicians. The image is an intertextual reference to a well-known home from The Hobbit. If you have seen The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, you will know something about what they are trying to suggest about Teresa May, Michael Gove and the Conservative Party (which is also referred to as The Tory Party). The anchorage text refers to 'green', which means environmental issues. The story is questioning the environmental policies of the Government and asking whether they are relevant at a time when protesters are lobbying Parliament to demand more changes to deal with the effects of Climate Change.
Bilbo Baggins' home in The Shire.
1. Explain how you think this front cover image and story might appeal to an adult audience? Consider what it is suggesting about how successfully politicians are dealing with environmental issues. 2. Look at the cover lines and consider what content appeals to the adult readers. Complete the table on your handout. a) Will Oprah run for president? b) Gary Oldman's Finest Hour. c) The backlash against #metoo.
Listen to Radio One's Live Lounge and make notes on your handout about how the show is designed to appeal to the 15-19-year-old target audience. Click here to go to the BBC Sounds app to listen to the programme from Tuesday 18th June. Answer the questions in your book:
How is the programme branded in the opening section and how might this help attract the target audience?
The programme starts at 10am when most younger teenagers are at school, so what does that suggest about the target audience for this programme?
How does the playlist reflect the target audience demographic? Comment on the artists chosen and who would like this genre of music.
How does Clara Amfo address the audience? Listen to her style and language register and what her informal style suggests about the tone of the programme.
How many tracks are played before Clara Amfo begins to speak to the listeners in detail? Why do you think this might be a good way of engaging listeners?
How many ways can audiences listen to the show and why might this appeal to the target audience?
Who is performing live on the show and how might they appeal to the target audience?
How does live performance meet the BBC remit for the station?
TASK 1: Watch Little Mix's music video for Black Magic and then write a summary of the narrative (between 100-200 words). TASK 2: Watch The Vamps' music video for Somebody to You and then write a summary of the narrative (between 100-200 words) TASK 3: I would like you to take screenshots (SHIFT+Prt Scr) of the following shots in each music video and paste these into a word document.
Establishing Shot:
Mid Shot:
Close Up:
Two Shot:
Once you have found them all, label them for checking. TASK 4: Copy down the following key terms you will need to know and include in your exam response.
Narrative: a type of music video that seeks to tell a story.
Performance: a type of music video that focuses on the band/artist and their 'performance' of the song.
TASK 5: Explain why you think that The Vamps and Little Mix have opted for a mixture of both of these elements.
Music videos are marketing products, designed to appeal to the target audience by portraying the artists as somebody they aspire to be like or could relate to. Watch The Vamps Somebody to You and Little Mix Black Magic music videos below and consider how the way the band and characters in the video are presented are designed to appeal to their own music fans.
To analyse the music videos effectively, you need to find three frames from each one to look closely at. Once you have your frames, you need to pick out the following using moving image terminology:
Camera Angles/Movements (Establishing, Long, Medium, Close-up, Point-of-view, Over-the-shoulder, Zoom in, Tracking, Panning, High Angle and Low Angle shots).
Mise-en-scene (Costume, Lighting, Setting or Location, Props).
Editing (How is the story cut together? Is it in time with the music?)
You could also consider how the video is structured. Many music videos use:
lip-synching (matching the singing action to the soundtrack) and direct mode of address (looking straight into the camera) - so it appears as if the artist is singing directly to the audience.
Performance (the band are performing their music track as if on stage).
Narrative (the story behind the video).
Montage (the story just around or speeds up to fit the narrative in to a short three-minute video).
Here is an example of how you could write an effective analysis: In the opening of the music video, Little Mix appear as students with very little style. The mise-en-scene suggests the group are 'geeks', unable to style themselves to fit in with the popular crowd, as they are shown wearing glasses and knitted wool sweaters as costumes. They are clumsy and awkward as they fall down the stairs in the opening establishing shot. The video is based on a narrative of the girls using magic to change their looks and their luck. They become popular with boys and get their own back on the popular girls who were laughing at them at the start. This would appeal to a young target audience who will be able to identify with the cruelty of bullies and how popularity is based on such superficial things as clothing. They would enjoy the narrative of the characters growing in confidence just as young teenagers may like the idea of aspiring to be more confident in their own life.
