Media language - Magazines

Question 1

Vogue codes and conventions

Answer 1

• Magazine cover: Indicates target audience, type of magazine, makes mag stand out from competitors, persuades potential reader to buy- appeals
• Font: sophisticated aesthetic, vintage yet classy typeface so conforms to the house style of the mag and emphasises the aristocracy of the institution.
  -Serif font, Times New Roman, which has short decorative lines- feminine + traditional
• Colour Scheme: soft blues and aquatic greens- the idea of the ocean, exotic travel.
  -masthead = green hue, symbolic of the sophisticated, high-end nature of the magazine
• Sophia Loren -medium close-up shot- centre of the frame.
  -high-key light drawing attention to natural beauty and promoting ‘summer madness’.
• Alliteration is used “sand, swim, sea, sun.. Sophia” to entice the audience to purchase the magazine and consume the themes of summer
• Imperative: addresses audience directly, ‘how to scintillate almost everywhere’- sensationalises body image, a desirable consumption of identity the target audience.
• PARADIGM- set of signs that an encoder encrypts
  -SYNTAGM- signs that link perfectly so audience can decode a specific meaning
• Cutext ad:
  -medium close-up framed to the left
  -construct a feminine identity of youth, beauty and sexuality- soft colours (pink lips and nails)
• sell line- ‘uncovered’ ‘bare’ +central image suggests nudity, women as desirable
• attention purely on lipstick due to lack of clothing
• colloquial language- “newest youest”- direct and aligns the reader and encoder

Question 2

Vogue- ML theory

Answer 2

Structuralism- levi strauss
- consumerism in 50s vs 60s
-50s= ‘make do and mend’ ideology, WWII was a time of preservation - lack of material
-60s= New euphoria of ‘shop and spend’, economic prosperity and disposable income
- Sexual revolution: an era of female liberation, fight for equality and equal pay legislation- women had financial independence.

Question 3

TBI- codes and conventions

Answer 3

• My Pitch article= dominated by current affairs- in keeping with the editorial philosophy of providing for the ethnocentric British public and socio political ideology
• Technical codes- mid shot frames street vendors engaging with the public. Framing captures the ideology- displays the mission of the institute- relies on the public to contribute to the mission
• Visual code- main color = red is brand identity of the mag so vendors can be identified and encourages audiences to help.
• informal Language- for the working class audience, “I’ve been through the mill” = colloquial to personalize and make light of the situation- articles provides info about Donato so personal narrative shows realistic nature of the philosophy.
• Direct mode of address- enhances the personal narrative between Donato and reader. positive relationship with newspaper.
• Pull quote- “TBI gave an old ma like me a sense of purpose again” shows ethos of magazine, displays the lack of discrimination of age, gender, ethnicity.

Question 4

TBI- ML theory

Answer 4

Structuralism- Levi Straus
- Print vs Street magazine:
challenges the incompetence of the gov and is devoted to help the poor (25 years). Rebelliousness is evident via the unorthodox approach in the market, rarely done by print.
- Past vs Future-
although 25 years is a celebration but also a reminder that the mission is not over yet. Promise that they will “deal with the foundations of poverty” in the future.