In order to create a successful product, it is important for myself and producers generally to consider the targeted audience before beginning the task, considering in detail their age,gender,general interests, social class etc I considered the ‘Uses and Gratifications Theory’ when creating my magazine, this surrounds the idea that there are four main reasons for the media – to act as a diversion, for personal relationships, for personal identity and for surveillance. My magazine focuses escapism, by using it as a diversion makes the people in the magazine relate to my target audience so they can enjoy it but also feel as though they are part of club, an exclusivity almost
During AS I created a music magazine which could be categorised under the ‘indie-pop’ genre, which related to new modern genres of music growing in popularity thus creating attracting larger audiences paticuarly in young people.
I decided to aim my magazine at the female gender,aged from 17-25 years old, paticuarly those interested in the indie-pop genre, possibly with inclination to listen to similar artists such as ‘Fiest’ and ‘Kate Bush’. Upon studying similar products, NME and Q shared a lot of similarities with my product especially the genre and contained similar artists, but the general content seemed male-orientated- therefore I think that my magazine will be successful in that sense; there is a market for this genre of magazine aimed at women. The age of my intended audience begins around late teens towards young adults, which is typically an age of hedonism, self-discovery but ultimately a time when they begin to explore different sources of inspiration through the people they see in magazines and media generally- so in this sense the target audience in regards to age particularly is suitable to the magazine. The social class I aimed my magazine at was C1-E, because the majority of young people are either students, apprenteships or new workers, meaning they may not have large incomes and therefore the price of the magazine needs to reflect this- the readership of the magazine will decrease regardless of the content quality if the price is too high that they can’t afford to purchase it. My target audience would probably have access to the internet, so the website address is included which allows readers to have a preview of what’s inside the magazine, but also interact with the magazine further.
In reference to audience theory, the readers of my magazine would fall under the ‘ Main streamers’ category even though the genre is more ‘niche’ than others, such as pop or rock music. The content of the magazine would appeal to the audience through the use of competitions which encourage audience interaction and the articles which relate to festivals and music events- these fall under the general interests of my target audience which I discovered during the preproduction stage. Also including artists of the same genre will probably spark a recognition amongst the audience who are aware of who they are already, thus encouraging them to buy the magazine.
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Monday, 27 February 2012
Post modernism in The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a parody of a middle class American lifestyle, focusing on a family who share the same name of the programme. The family consists of Homer (father figure), Marge (mother), Bart (son) Lisa (elder daughter) and Maggie (infant). The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture, society, television and many aspects of the human condition, which is a prominent feature of it’s post modern condition.
The show led to a film being made ‘The Simpsons Movie’ which was released in theatres worldwide on July 26 and July 27, 2007, and grossed over $527 million.
The characters have proved to be largely influential, for example the father figure Homer's catchphrase "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English language, and the programme itself has influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms such as ‘Family Guy’.
Since its debut on December 17, 1989, the show has broadcast 495 episodes and the twenty-third season started airing on September 25, 2011. The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program, and in 2009 it surpassed as the longest-running American primetime, scripted television series. The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, wGunsmokeas released in theatres worldwide on July 26 and July 27, 2007, and grossed over $527 million. The Simpsons can be suggested as a postmodern comedy through the; Intertexuality, Hyperreality and Metanarratives.
The decline of the meta-narrative is a frequent theme in the programme , and there is examples of humouring towards religion, government, and well known social figures . Examples of this are, when Homer gives his soul to the devil for a doughnut, when he is killed by some broccoli and goes to the gates of heaven, and is told he cannot enter until he does a good deed. When he does St peter misses it because he was reading the newspaper. Another example is when homer tries to vote for Obama, but the vote goes to Mcain, suggesting that the votes were rigged. The video is available through the link below. The video also shows a specially made "Fat Booth" highlighting the rising problem of obesity in the united states, making light of pressing social issues.
Key Postmodern features include the non linear narrative containing an ambiguous time space/movement, every episode begins afresh and past episodes are forgotten/ unaffecting- this is similar to comedy ‘Family Guy’ This is references in one episode when Lisa says “ohh don't worry, it'll all be alright by the next episode".
The family have been created with an ambiguous age, location and era. Springfield is a made up place, all we know is that it is in America. The period or time setting is also unclear, all we do know is that it is within the postmodern era. In 17 years Maggie has not learned to walk or talk, and still uses her dummy., the entire family do not seem to age at all. It seems that this level of ambiguity has been used in order to broaden the audience relatibility, because in effect the family can represent a lot of different families in America.
The programme contains cultural diversity and acceptance of issues not typically considered the norm, especially in the sit-com genre. There is a level of Diversity regarding Ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and socio-economic status, which is a prominent post-modern feature. Hyperreality is shown through Jean Baudrillards theory in, Simulacra and Simuation. He suggests that what we are left with are not representations of reality in the literal sense but simulations of reality, which are essentially copies of copies. The mass media have such an influence on the public that the information it exchanges is based on copies of copies instead of the original referents.
The Simpson family is in many ways a symbol of the typical contemporary American family, The show’s opening sequence is itself illustrative of TV’s importance in the family’s existence all family members rush through their everyday lives, all the family members rush to the couch in front of their television set, showing how important watching TV is to them. The opening sequence sets the tone for the show’s continual depictions of TV as both a unifying force and an instigator of the family’s actions. TV is what brings these different age groups together as they watch the vast array of recurring TV shows broadcast in Springfield. Bart and Lisa are binary opposite, but these differences immediately dissolve when an episode of Itchy and Scratchy appears on the TV screen. Any conflicts between the siblings are abandoned in order to enjoy the stimulating cartoon world in Itchy and Scratchy together.
To conclude I think that the combination of typical postmodern features outlined in my essay alongside supporting theorists indicate that the Simpsons can be classified as ‘postmodern’. The narrative and characters themselves seem to lack progression, but in terms of the programmes acceptance and diversity towards various fields (gender,ethnicity,sexual orientation, status) , there has been a great deal of progression which is prominent in the postmodern condition. The show influences a large audience of children because it is broadcast weekly. It also links to baudrillard’s theory of reality, as it’s supposed to represent reality however the events that occur in the programme fail to represent an everyday family and the things that happen to them.
The show led to a film being made ‘The Simpsons Movie’ which was released in theatres worldwide on July 26 and July 27, 2007, and grossed over $527 million.
The characters have proved to be largely influential, for example the father figure Homer's catchphrase "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English language, and the programme itself has influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms such as ‘Family Guy’.
Since its debut on December 17, 1989, the show has broadcast 495 episodes and the twenty-third season started airing on September 25, 2011. The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program, and in 2009 it surpassed as the longest-running American primetime, scripted television series. The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, wGunsmokeas released in theatres worldwide on July 26 and July 27, 2007, and grossed over $527 million. The Simpsons can be suggested as a postmodern comedy through the; Intertexuality, Hyperreality and Metanarratives.
The decline of the meta-narrative is a frequent theme in the programme , and there is examples of humouring towards religion, government, and well known social figures . Examples of this are, when Homer gives his soul to the devil for a doughnut, when he is killed by some broccoli and goes to the gates of heaven, and is told he cannot enter until he does a good deed. When he does St peter misses it because he was reading the newspaper. Another example is when homer tries to vote for Obama, but the vote goes to Mcain, suggesting that the votes were rigged. The video is available through the link below. The video also shows a specially made "Fat Booth" highlighting the rising problem of obesity in the united states, making light of pressing social issues.
Key Postmodern features include the non linear narrative containing an ambiguous time space/movement, every episode begins afresh and past episodes are forgotten/ unaffecting- this is similar to comedy ‘Family Guy’ This is references in one episode when Lisa says “ohh don't worry, it'll all be alright by the next episode".
The family have been created with an ambiguous age, location and era. Springfield is a made up place, all we know is that it is in America. The period or time setting is also unclear, all we do know is that it is within the postmodern era. In 17 years Maggie has not learned to walk or talk, and still uses her dummy., the entire family do not seem to age at all. It seems that this level of ambiguity has been used in order to broaden the audience relatibility, because in effect the family can represent a lot of different families in America.
The programme contains cultural diversity and acceptance of issues not typically considered the norm, especially in the sit-com genre. There is a level of Diversity regarding Ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and socio-economic status, which is a prominent post-modern feature. Hyperreality is shown through Jean Baudrillards theory in, Simulacra and Simuation. He suggests that what we are left with are not representations of reality in the literal sense but simulations of reality, which are essentially copies of copies. The mass media have such an influence on the public that the information it exchanges is based on copies of copies instead of the original referents.
The Simpson family is in many ways a symbol of the typical contemporary American family, The show’s opening sequence is itself illustrative of TV’s importance in the family’s existence all family members rush through their everyday lives, all the family members rush to the couch in front of their television set, showing how important watching TV is to them. The opening sequence sets the tone for the show’s continual depictions of TV as both a unifying force and an instigator of the family’s actions. TV is what brings these different age groups together as they watch the vast array of recurring TV shows broadcast in Springfield. Bart and Lisa are binary opposite, but these differences immediately dissolve when an episode of Itchy and Scratchy appears on the TV screen. Any conflicts between the siblings are abandoned in order to enjoy the stimulating cartoon world in Itchy and Scratchy together.
To conclude I think that the combination of typical postmodern features outlined in my essay alongside supporting theorists indicate that the Simpsons can be classified as ‘postmodern’. The narrative and characters themselves seem to lack progression, but in terms of the programmes acceptance and diversity towards various fields (gender,ethnicity,sexual orientation, status) , there has been a great deal of progression which is prominent in the postmodern condition. The show influences a large audience of children because it is broadcast weekly. It also links to baudrillard’s theory of reality, as it’s supposed to represent reality however the events that occur in the programme fail to represent an everyday family and the things that happen to them.
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