Reveal CSP case study

 The key notes on Reveal are here:

General

• According to publisher Hearst: "Reveal is the reader’s best friend: fun, gossipy and full of advice on everything from fashion and beauty to diets and cocktails. We know who's dating whom, who has fallen out with their best friend, whose relationship is in tatters and who's finding motherhood hard. Our high-street fashion is affordable…"
• However, Reveal closed in September 2018 after it stopped making a profit.
• Reveal’s tag-line was ‘Talking with you, not at you!” which implies that the magazine wanted to be seen as a friend to its readers,  sharing secrets about the lives of famous celebrities. It was released weekly and cost 99p.
• The Editor claimed: ‘It delivers glamour, gossip and giggles’ which reinforces the magazine’s identity as a ‘girl’s best friend’. 
• Star Appeal: The magazine consistently used images of celebrities - paparazzi shots as well as posed shots for authenticity. 
• It focused on celebrity relationships and fashion and beauty tips for ‘every day’ women (for example testing high street brands which are more affordable for readers.)
• The magazine itself was affordable at only 99p so it wanted to maintain an audience who could afford to buy it regularly and whenever they see something eye-catching on the cover. 
• The demographic who bought Reveal were mostly adult women, aged 18-34. Unlike Tatler, which is London and South of England-centric, Reveal was bought by women all over the country. Its readership also spanned a much wider set of social classes, from ABC1-C2DE. Psychographic groups for Reveal would largely have been strugglers or mainstreamers.

Media language

• Typography / Fonts:  Sans serif fonts are used to make the magazine feel modern, informal and offering the latest gossip. Handwritten fonts are also used to make the magazine more personal – the reader’s ‘friend’.
• Cover lines: Indirect address favoured by celebrity gossip magazines so it seems like you have just seen them yourself – emphasises the gossip feel. Informal language ‘stuff the diet’ and ‘yay’ make this magazine youthful and accessible.
• Colour scheme: Red, yellow and pink. Bright colours to attract attention – important with no main central image. Gossip magazines tend to be busier and more packed with images to suggest issues that are bursting with different stories.

Representations

• The people represented on the cover are mostly celebrities and well known actors, reality television stars and music artists. Why?
• Celebrities are presented as important and desirable – but the photography is designed to make them look like ‘normal’ people.

Social and cultural contexts

The cover lines in Reveal focus on a few key areas:

• Domesticity and families: ‘baby bump’, ‘mum’ 
• Relationships: normative and subversive as words are used such as‘stalker’, ‘secret meetings’ and ‘sex’. Focus is on relationship breakdowns. 
• Beauty: Diets and skin care are mentioned but these take into account ‘normal’ people since the focus is on previously thin celebrities giving up diets and enjoying treating themselves and, instead of promoting expensive products, the skin care is ‘one simple trick’.
• Advice: Socially, this magazine wants to be like a ‘friend’ in terms of gossip and advice. It also is keen to relate to its working class, mainstream audience and not alienate them by featuring unaffordable, luxury items.

Reveal: case study blog task

Work through the following tasks and questions to build a detailed case study for Reveal - 18 March 2017 (below). This will give you plenty of background information to use in an exam question on print magazines.

Media language

1) How many of the 12 magazine cover key conventions feature on this edition of Reveal? List them with specific reference to the convention on the CSP edition of Reveal.

Title of publication, name checks and bar code, Date and Price.

2) What is the font choice used on the cover and what does this choice connote? Here's a blog to help you with this as we haven't been able to complete the Photoshop typography lesson yet due to Covid-19.

The font choice was san serif and this connotes that this magazines isn't posh and it's cheap to get.

3) How do the cover lines appeal to the Reveal target audience?
The cover lines appeal to the Reveal target audience that celebrities act the same as normal people.

4) What are the connotations of the Reveal colour scheme on this particular front cover?

This connotes that Reveal magazine colour scheme is very vibrant colour because it targets women.

5) How are images used to create interest in the magazine? Find three reasons for your answer. (E.g. mise-en-scene such as props, costume and make-up, body position, facial expression).
One reason images used to create interest of magazines are the celebrities acting like working class people. Another reason is because it shows what the magazine is going to be like. Third reason is well known celebrities.

6) What differences can you find between the use of design and typography between Tatler and Reveal? List at least three and explain the effect on audiences.

The difference between Tatler and Reveal of the designs and typography are:

• Sans Serif
• Colour schemes
• Celebrities

The effect on the audience for Tatler are wearing wild clothes and Reveal are the audience has the same feeling as the audience.

Representations

1) What type of celebrities appear on the front cover? How are they represented in Reveal? (Positive? Negative? Reinforcing or challenging stereotypes?)
The types of celebrities appear on the front cover for Reveal are tv show guest stars and singers. They are represented as normal people in the magazine.

2) How are women represented on the cover of Reveal? Think about both images and cover lines here.
The women on Reveal's front cover are represented as mothers.

3) How do Reveal and Tatler represent social class? (E.g. middle/upper class and working class)
Reveal represent middle class people and Tatler represent upper class people.

4) What would be the preferred and oppositional readings to this cover of Reveal?

The preferred reading is Reveal want the audience to know about celebrities lifestyle and Oppositional reading is the audience think that we don't want to know about celebrities lifestyle.

Social and cultural context

1) What aspects of British life are reflected in Reveal? How does this compare to Tatler?
The aspect life are reflected in Reveal are celebrities acting like working class people but in Tatler British life is being posh.

2) What do the cover lines in Reveal suggest about the issues and lifestyle of Reveal readers?
The cover lines in Reveal suggest lifestyle of the audience are living in a council or a city.

3) Find three other front covers for Reveal. What issues or features regularly appear in Reveal? 

The features regularly appear in Reveal are TV show guest stars and singers and issues are the what they act in Public.

Tatler CSP case study

 Tatler: case study blog tasks

Work through the following tasks and questions to build a detailed case study for Tatler issue April 2017 (below). This will give you plenty of background information to use in an exam question on print magazines. First, create a new blogpost called Tatler CSP case study.

Introduction - Tatler Media pack

1) Look at the Tatler Media Pack. Go to page 2: how does the editor introduce the magazine?

The editor introduce the magazine as a target sensationally accurate rifle shot to the richest readers

2) Now go to page 4 of the Media Pack. Focus on the print magazine (NOT tatler.com - the website). List the key demographic details: age, gender %, ABC1 % (social class), HHI (Household Income), % of those living in London and the South East. What do these demographic details suggest about the average Tatler reader?

The demographic suggest the average Tatler reader are people who are in their middle age.

3) Look at page 6. What do Tatler readers think about fashion? How much do they spend?

The Tatler readers think about fashion is dressing very wild clothes. Tatler spend £843 million.

4) Go to page 10. What are the special editions of Tatler that run throughout the year? What does this suggest about the Tatler audience? What about the pyschographic audience group that best fits Tatler?
This suggest that Tatler audience are middle aged people.The 3 pyschographic audience group that fits Tatler is upper middle class people.

Media language

Revise the 12 magazine cover key conventions and check how many feature on this edition of Tatler.

1) What different examples of typography can you find on the cover of Tatler? What are the connotations of the serif and sans serif fonts? Here's a blog to help you with this as we haven't been able to complete the Photoshop typography lesson yet due to Covid-19.

The font of the magazine has sans serif on the slogans

2) How do the cover lines appeal to the Tatler target audience?
The cover lines appeal the Tatler target audience by having Black and white and one different colour on the font.

3) What are the connotations of the Tatler colour scheme on this particular front cover?

This connotes the colour schemes on Tatler is showing how it's expensive.

4) How is the central image designed to create interest in the magazine? Find three reasons for your answer. (E.g. Mise-en-scene such as props, costume and make-up, body position, facial expression)

One reason that central image designed to create inteterst in the magazine is showing that what is the magazine genre it is. Another reason is the audience is the props that the model is using. Third reason is well known celebrities in the magazines.

Representations

1) What different groups of people are represented on the cover? (E.g. men/women/white people etc. Look at the image and text/cover lines to help here)

The group that are represented on the cover who are white and women.

2) What do the cover lines suggest about the lifestyle of rich people in the UK?
The cover line suggest about the lifestyle of rich people in the UK are posh people who dress in expensive clothes.

3) Are there any stereotypes being reinforced or subverted? How? Why?
There is a stereotype on the magazine which is white people because they are showing a white female so it representation for the magazine is for white people.

4) What would be the preferred and oppositional readings to this cover of Tatler?

The preferred reading is Tatler wants the audience to think that wearing expensive clothes is the best thing as a posh person and the Oppositional reading is that how it is showing white people not everyone in the UK who has a different race/ehnicity.

Social and cultural context

1) What aspects of British life or people are NOT reflected in Tatler? (Watch the clip above again if you need help with this - the clue is in the title 'Posh People')
The aspects of British people that are not reflected in Tatler are dressing normal clothes and care what people think of themselves

2) Tatler runs special issues on holidays, spa breaks, cosmetic surgery, watches and jewellery and private schools. What does this suggest about the magazine's representation of life in Britain?
This suggest that the representation of the magazine that life in Britain is acting posh and care what they are wearing.

3) What audience groups might be offended or insulted by the front cover of Tatler April 2017? 
The audience might be offended by the Tatler April 2017 magazine front cover because it shows a white female not any race/ethnic people in the cover.

4) Find three other front covers for Tatler from different months. What issues, subjects or people are regularly featured in Tatler?

June's front cover that women regularly get hotter than men. April's front cover subjects that women has so much cosmetic surgery than men. July's fornt cover has a issue because you can't afford fancy jewellery and watches.

Magazine: Introduction to Representation

 Representation and stereotypes: blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'Magazines: Introduction to Representation'.
Look at the magazine cover for Closer that we studied last week:

Answer the following questions on your blog:

1) Write a definition of representation in media studies. Clue: The answer is in the notes above!

It is the combination of media language choices that construct the representation audiences see. Indeed, everything we see in the media is a re-presentation because the media intervene or stand between the object they are presenting and the audience and therefore they affect or ‘mediate’ every text we see! 

2) Now look at the cover of Closer magazine above. List all different types of people and groups represented on the front cover. E.g. women, celebrities, race/ethnicity etc.

Women, Celebrities, race/ethnicity 

3) What does the representation of women on this front cover suggest female audiences are mainly interested in?

The representation of women on this front cover suggest female audience are interested in female celebrities' lifestyle.

4) Are there any stereotypes you can identify? E.g. women and motherhood; celebrities etc.

Motherhood, weight and celebrities. 

5) Is there anything on the cover that subverts typical stereotypes in the media?
On the cover that subvert typical stereotypes are Pregnant Celebrities and secret lifestyles

6) What is the preferred reading of this magazine cover - what do the producers want audiences to think when they see it?

The Producers wants the audience feel that celebrities have same lifestyle as the audience.

7) What is the oppositional reading of this magazine cover - how might someone criticise this magazine cover or be offended by it?

The audience feel that we don't want to know about celebrities' lifestyle.

8) What are the social and cultural contexts to this magazine cover? What effect might this magazine have on readers or society?

The effect might the magazine have on the reader or the society that celebrities have the same feelings as the readers.

Introduction to Magazine conventions

1) List the three most important magazine cover conventions in your opinion and explain why for each one.

Title of Publication, Slogan and Flash/Cover lines/Sell lines

Now study this cover of Closer magazine:

2) Identify as many of the magazine cover conventions as you can and write a list of where they appear on this cover of Closer. As an extension, you could also write about the preferred reading for the convention - what the magazine is trying to communicate to the audience.

Title of Publication, Slogan, Flash/Cover lines/Sell lines and Colour Schemes

Example: The title of publication is 'Closer' and appears in the top left of the magazine cover in large white text on a pink background. The connotation of the pink background is femininity which suggests the producers are aiming this at a primarily female audience and perhaps want the magazine to appear friendly and warm.