Magazines

a magazine is a collection of themed print pages the can be used as informative,m advertisement or as a casual reading experience

A very clear convention is the use of a person on the front cover


Simon Pegg wired cover = UK edition wonder how this would differ from US edition. Simon is in a familiar outfit from Hot Fuzz whit a lot of technical appliances attached. The use of the outfit from hot fuzz plus the other films done by Simon Pegg and nick frost show that this magazine is more aimed toward males as the films target audiences are predominantly male. the use of the technical appliances on the outfit presumably show some of the gadgets that are going to be featured within the magazine

The magazine advertises that Moores law is over on the front page this is a very large thing withing the technology industry hence why they would put it on their front page to provoke a response and for people to buy to find out how and why

Mind charity presentation

The charity mind was founded in 1946 as the national association for mental health. mind offers information and advice to people with mental health problems

the music is a sad piano at a very low volume conducted through a minor key to convey the serious and upsetting atmosphere of the video itself

its all voiced over by various people starting by Stephen fry who is a very strong and prominent figure in the world and the president of the charity then by many people talking about their experiences with mental health and events in their life throughout the point

a lot of the camera shots are closeups showing a lot of the peoples faces this helps to humanize the people allowing people to realize that even though these people have a mental health issue and are different they are still human

a lot of the camera angles are slightly tilted up towards the person speaking or head on the head on angle allows to convey the seriousness and the fact that the people are ever so slightly looking down on the camera this can express that the people feel more powerful and feel like they have power over their mental condition now because of mind

when the camera is not stationary it pans across usually revealing a second person to show that with mind people are never alone and anyone who turns to mind will have someone to talk to. the camera pan can also show that with mind the world keeps moving as with some mental illnesses it can feel like events cause the world to crash and make them feel insignificant and mind helps to show that actually with mind they help make the world move and help to try and normalize the people again

The video ends with Stephen Fry saying "we are mind, and we are working together to make a huge difference for now and the future" this is a prominent closure as it mentions the charity and how they that they intend to make a long lasting effect on the world.

The use of prominent figure Stephen Fry is not only because he is the president of the charity it is also as he has suffered from mental illness himself and also shows that mental illness is a very large matter as they have a very large figure advertising the charity

'ADBUSTERS' MAGAZINE- WEBSITE AND SOCIAL FEEDS

1. The website reinforces the brand identity of the magazine by continuing the house style used in the magazine. The minimalistic and dark theme matches the magazine itself. The website also includes example of spoof adverts used in their magazines which continues the themes they stand for and the messages they want to convey. 

2. There is a clear house style portrayed on the website and magazine. The house style is minimalistic and uses a dark colour palette possibly to symbolise some of the dark themes that run throughout the magazine. 

3. The website includes 'mind journeys' which encourage the reader to consider different topics. Some of these journeys includes music, interaction and videos that would not be available in a print copy of the magazine. On the homepage of the website there is also a 'video of the week' for readers which also wouldn't be available in the print copy.

4. The website allows the magazine to extend their brand by including a donate tab which allows the reader to donate to the magazine as it is ad-free. The website also includes a tab for campaigns which encourages the reader to take part in their fight for themes they are against. It allows the content the audience read to be taken away from the website and magazine to be used/ continued in everyday life. They also include their blackspot shoes and encourage the reader to purchase these in the fight against capitalism. 

5. The website includes a clear message of 'f*ck Facebook' however do include social media hyperlinks at the bottom of the page for: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. They may believe that using these platforms to promote their values is acceptable. The use of social media also allows the magazine to promote what they are doing and making. 

6. Readers can interact through the website with the 'video of the week section' as well as the hyperlinks for their social media. There is also the 'mind journey's section of the website which requires the audience to click through it, creating interaction with the reader. 

Write three paragraphs explain why it’s important for print magazine publishers to have an online presence giving specific examples from your non-mainstream magazine   

Firstly, one reason why it is important for print magazine publishers to have an online presence is that it allows the company to produce more content. In print based products the company are restricted to what they can do. One reason for this is because they are only able to include content that can work in a print based format, for example they can't include any videos or links. Another reason is that they have to be time sensitive. The Adbusters magazine is released every two months. Any information that is valid between the printing of the copies can not be included as it will be irrelevant when the copies are published. One example of an advantage to producing more content is that it can create more interaction between the reader and the producer, offering a closer and more intimate bond. This bond will encourage the reader to agree with the values and opinions the magazine is giving out and encourage them to purchase future copies. An example of this interaction can be shown on the 'mind journeys' tab on the Adbusters website. While leading the reader through an idea or concept the website requires them to click in different directions, links and videos. This makes the experience more personal and enjoyable for the audience. Another advantage to having a online presence and producing more content is that the company can include ways for their readers to come together and make a difference. The Adbusters website includes a tab for campaigns which are ways for their readers to also promote their values and opinions. Some of these campaigns include hashtags, for example #BlackPoppy and #Buy Nothing Day. These hashtags would not work in print copies of the product, having a online presence allows Adbusters to promote them and their work. 

Furthermore, another reason why it is important for print magazine publishers to have an online presence is that it can allow them to reinforce their house style. The brand identity of a magazine is important in creating a name and presence. The brand identity is something that will be recognised and familiar to readers, encouraging them to continue reading. The house style is crucial in creating a brand identity as it allows the producers to create a familiar and similar sense and aesthetic throughout all their copies of the magazine. For example, the house style for Adbusters includes a minimalistic design and dark colours. Having a online presence allows the company to continue their house style and brand identity, further reinforcing it into the minds of their readers. 

Moreover, another reason why it is important for print magazine publishers to have a online presence is that it allows their to further promote their product. One way of doing this is through social media. Although Adbusters are firmly against websites such as Facebook they do include links to their social media on their page. Social medias can be used to further promote the magazine to people who have not heard of it. It also, once again, allows the company to continue to reinforce their brand identity and house style. Another way companies can use their online presence to further promote their product is that it can allow readers to get a sense of the magazine and their content without purchasing the product. As the Adbusters magazine is against capitalism they don't include any adverts in their magazines and their website except for subscribing to their magazine and to purchase their 'blackspot' shoes which are friendly to the environment, this means to purchase their magazine is more expensive than the usual mainstream magazine, coming in at around $30 for a online copy and $65 for a physical one. The price may deter some from purchasing the magazine if they are unsure if it's worth the money. Having a online presence allows potential readers to grow a understanding of the magazine and decide if they want to purchase it. Further promoting their product will encourage more readers and attention to the values and opinions the magazine wants to convey. 

Woman analysis

Advert 1 – Woman

The magazine name clearly indicates the target audience that the magazine is intended to focus on, and it is written informally to try and offer a bit of comfort and connection to the audience. The main image of the advert is of a man smiling with a woman applying her makeup, looking back in the mirror, possibly to look back at the man to see if he appreciates, and this could be linked with Van Zoonens theory that women are just objects for men to look at. The people in the main image are dominated by white males, all of which are seeming to be middle class. This would link in with Bell Hooks theory, that often products are designed purely for the white and privileged classes of society. The language of the advert seems to demonstrate that it is a male voice that, with words such as “dashing out on an important date?” and “and you’re perfectly lovely again” seeming extremely patronising, especially as its seen that the woman needs to be appearing beautiful and “lovely” at all times in order to get her man. This also fits with the context of 1960s America and Britain, where a woman was always expected to be a housewife and be glamourous and obedient, and if she wasn’t she’d be ostracised by society and seen as a spinster. The advert is quite obviously demonstrating the editors ideology that women are submissive and of a lower standing then men, and that the woman needs to look beautiful at all times in order to succeed in getting the man that she needs. It also demonstrates the key ideas of 1960s America and how its products were targeted mainly for the white, middle class society that had the money to spend on unnecessary things such as the latest makeup products, and it even demonstrates its racist culture by hating no black men or women in the advert, which could suggest that Max Factor (at the time) believed that black people didn’t suit/were not worthy of their products, and did not try to target them in any way.

Advert B

In the advert, the woman is seen to be sat down with soap suds covering various places on her body, and she has her hair tied back and is wearing makeup. The first thing to pick out in the advert is it’s unrealistic to expect women to be perfect at all times. The advert clearly shows that, even when taking a bath or shower, women are expected to wear makeup and to have their hair in a perfect way in order to look beautiful for the male eye, which is an approach that Van Zoonen believes to be true to many aspects of society. Also, the advert uses a white woman to display its character, and this would be to target the specific classes in America or Britain that could afford to buy mundane items, such as the breeze soap.  Her positioning also could represent in Roland Barthes theory that she is being made to look vulnerable and innocent, almost like a damsel in distress. This would appeal to men that saw this advert, as they would want their partners to look as glamorous but innocent as the model in the picture. The typography of the advert also seems to suggest that it is being demanded by a man’s voice, the phrase “darling…please…wash with Breeze” is a very subtle imperative that displays the man’s dominance of over the woman and even suggesting that she is unable to make a simple choice such as choosing a soap, let alone going to university and getting educated or making important decisions for many people, such as an PM would do.

Front Page

The front page of the magazine shows a picture of a woman over a backdrop of warm, pastel colours as the time period for the release of this issue is late august, and that is quit an autumnal month and therefore requires a new season for clothes and fashion, which is demonstrated on the dress of the woman as there are multiple flowers and petals that can be seen, very bright and humbling colour display to match the background of the magazine. The text on the subheadings are unique in that the phrase “are you an A-level beauty?” plays  with the context of women’s liberation in the 1960s, where more and more women were becoming educated and more women were being accepted into universities, so to almost suggest that women don’t need an education and only need to look an “A-level beauty” is a display of the patriarchal society if the 1960s showing its colours, as well as the attitudes towards women just being housewives and looking glamourous just for men at all times. The caption of lingerie goes lively would have been a shocking thing to read on the cover of the magazine in the 1960s, but by today’s standards the caption would be tame, as sexualisation of clothing and particularly of women’s night wear in recent magazines is a lot more open about women showing more of their kin to a more wider audience. Van Zoonen would be seeing that as disgraceful but would maybe agree with the caption rather than necessarily provide anything for the “male gaze”.   

Contents

The contents page is reminiscing of a newspaper style layout, with the multiple articles having subheadings and living a very brief or short story about an article you can reads or a little bit of information that could have been topical to the time. For example, the message of Sid James playing Mark Anthony in Carry On Cleo would’ve been topical at the time because the Carry On films were sweeping the nation and were very quickly becoming a hit with the British public. The Image of the Queen at the top of the page grabs the attention of the reader, and this may have cleverly been done to promote how one of the most powerful figures in the world is a woman, and that woman everywhere should be appraising themselves and the power that women have rather than trying to please a man. The list of contents to the left of the page give hints about what the magazine would generally have in terms of content. Its interesting to see how a magazine that’s supposed to be for women is containing a lot of material about pleasing, attracting and trying to keep a man. To todays society that would seem quite a shocking concept, particularly the Alfred Hitchcock article which in multiple occasions Alfred claims not only that he partially owns his wife domestically, but often picked his actresses solely on their appeal and sexual attractiveness. Bell Hooks may have something to say about this, as all the actors and actresses that were chosen were all very wealthy, upper class white males and females, and Van Zoonen would say that the women in a lot of Alfred’s films (particularly, you could argue, Psycho) are only being used as eye candy for the male population that watch his films.

Woman - Kitchen analysis

The entire article is set across a  double spread the title of the article is in large font in red writing helping it stand out. as opposed to the  majority of the articles in this magazine this is in colour which would allow it to stand out within the magazine. The article itself being about having a great kitchen in a woman's magazine is very sexist and typical of the time in which a man would be out working while a woman would stay at home in the kitchen most of the time as they were seen as inferior and served the men around  the world. the article mostly consists of images with small amounts of writing about "the seven star tips for your kitchen" which will improve your kitchen and be money saving. the images are mostly stills and wide angle shots of various kitchens meant to suggest these are really nice kitchens and you want your kitchen to look like this, however two photos contain people in them one shows a grown woman smiling at her new sink while the other shows an adolescent girl and a young boy in the kitchen preparing a meal the boy looks very distressed and like he doesn't want to be in the kitchen while the girl looks happy about this this is again stereotypical of the time as girls were brought up believing that they were meant to be in the kitchen whereas boys were raised to be working citizens. On top of this some of the text can be interpreted as sexist language for instance when describing a sink it states that "It's so easy any girl can assemble it" this is can be interpreted as meaning that all women are dumb and need men to help follow instructions when assembling pieces of equipment such as a sink.

All prices on the magazines article are fairly cheap ranging from under 10 shillings to 20 pounds with the average wage of the time being around 10 shillings an hour this sets a very nice target audience for the magazine.

Media industries theory - Curran and Seaton

Curran and Seaton on Diversity

 ‘Diversity is in the public interest –

But modern societies suffer from collective

Attention deficit disorders […] the public

Interest has to work harder to be noticed, and we need agile but resourceful media

To do that’

-James Curran and Jean Seaton

Monopoly - The exclusive ownership or control of something

Conglomerate - a large company consisting of multiple smaller companies

Subsidiary - A smaller company owned by a larger company

Disney

Disney own companies such as Lucasarts, ABC, ESPN, PIXAR, MARVEL, vice, History channel

Curran and Seaton on Monopoly

‘it [extends] their range of business and politicalconnections, [increases] their corporation’s

prestige and, through judicious editorialappointments, [contributes] to the maintenance

of public opinion favorable to private enterprise’

-James Curran and Jean Seaton

• ·         Having a monopoly means domination of multiple media industries 
•          if the focus is on creating profit, generally conglomerates don’t take risks with the media products they produce
• ·         This often results in limited variety, creativity and quality

Public Service broadcasting = broadcasting intended for public benefit rather

Than to serve purely commercial interests

Independent Producers  = Free from outside control

• ·         Public Service Broadcasters produce content without the sole intention of profit. This results in a more varied range of content across multiple media industries.
• ·         Independent producers contribute to this creativity and variety by providing niche products that often act as the alternative to the mainstream.
• ·         These socially diverse patterns of ownership support a more varied and adventurous media landscape.