1b – Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to the concept of audience.

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.

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.

Case Study Media

Post-modernity within media texts

In relation to the idea that pieces of media can be deemed post-modern or modern, i think that almost every piece of media contains elements of a post-modern state when looked at from different angles, as the way in which we use media is alone considered post-modern.
However, focusing solely upon the post-modern state within media, i analysed Lady Gaga's music video which accompanies her track 'Paparazzi'
post modern features litter the video, demonstrated immediately via pastiche seen in vintage style font used to introduce the music video, which pays homage to the style adopted during the 'Golden age' of Hollywood.
This is supported by the narrative reference to 'Sunset boulevard' within the lyrics, and also in Lady Gaga's video she replicates use of newspaper cuttings, the style of the house, and a scene shot to show a crowd of paparazzi.

However, the old fashioned,retro feel is quickly abolished by the introduction of modern elements seen in the music video such as the eccentric costumes. The costumes used in this music video also link to ideas outside the video, generally they are quite futuristic and whacky, but particularly the sunglasses Lady gaga adorns helps mimic the Disney company logo, referencing popular culture.
In other scenes, Lady Gaga wears costumes similar to those of Madonna such as the iconic cone shaped corsets previously seen Madonna's 'like a virgin' music video. The song lyrics also contain references to popular celebrity culture through constant repetion of 'paparazzi'which also ties in with the song name.The timing of the music video seems to switch quite frequently back and fourth from day to night also contributing to the post modern style.
Homage is paid to films such as James Bond and vertigo demonstrated by a constant use of hypnotising backgrounds and patterns such as the monochrome twirling background.
Furthermore,studying the realism, the use of a pink neck brace doesn't seem to effect her movement and she is seen as a mannequin at one point, which portrays her as almost robotic, thus breaking down the divide between binary opposites; human v's robotic.

The television programme 'The simpsons' regularly includes features of a post modern media text such as parodies of other films,artists,works,music etc. and the ideas that they parody are both high and low culture which breaks down the divide, thus adhering to the idea of post modernity.

Run Lola Run second run

Run Lola Run (Second run)
Summary: Main character; Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend of one year, Mani. He has lost 100,000 marks on a subway train that belongs to gangster. Lola has 20 min to brainstorm an idea and find a way to raise this amount and meet Mani before he robs a convenience store or worse. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.

The scene repeats the events seen in the runs beforehand; the cartoon including an aggressive dog, her mother on the phone etc. and also the defining moments when Lola receives a phone call, the camera rotates and spins around her in a 360 motion accompanied with the non-dietetic sound of a ticking clock empathising the lack of, and importance of time.

The camera then shows her running down the road and she bumps into a lady with a pram who this time, becomes religious after that incident, which is shown on photographs after the hit. She then runs past the nuns and this time dodges them, does not make any contact with any of them.
The bike rider then does not offer his bike to Lola this time, instead he sees the tramp who has the money and sold it to him.
She then gets hit by a car and sees Mr Maya, a friend of her Father's.
Later, as she is running, Lola almost gets hit by a lorry outside a casino. After seeing the casino however, she enters it and is one frank short however gets allowe in to the casino. With everyone looking rich and dressed nice, she was getting a lot of stares dressed in a tracksuit and with red hair. She then won the roulette though after screaming very loud and then there was another reference to the clock in the casino.

Then, Lola enters the ambulance and see's a man in critical condition, in the meantime, her boyfriend Manni catches the tramp on the bike that has his money and he gets the money back.

Manni then gives the money to the gangster, and secures a ‘fairytale ending’

Do we live in a post-modern era?

Practise essay - Is it simply true that we live in a post modern era?

Post modernism can be identified in almost every field of life; philosophy, literature, media art,science,society, religion etc, the meaning of post modernism changes adapting to the subject which means it is often difficult to define.
For example, before we lived in a modern era, we lived in a ‘pre-modern’ era which based it’s reality upon religion and faith, then as society and the world progressed, we entered a ‘modern era’ which based it’s reality upon science and rationality. Now we are said to be in a ‘post modern’ era, as our sense of reality is based upon us as individuals, taking into account various other factors such as gender, age, religion etc. there is no single defining source for us as individuals.
But to describe the term loosely, we could say that if you are a post modernist, or an idea is described using this phrase, then you tend to be a great deal more open minded and less focused on rationality which is associated with modernity, and pre modernity.
However, post modernist and modernists approaches can be deemed similar in some respects; they both display formalist styles sharing features such as fragmentation,doubling,self-referntiality and irony.

Arguments that support the idea of us living in a post modern society would be the introduction and existence of huge public figures such as lady Gaga, who represents us as a society. she’s different, she steps outside the box that many artists like her and before her were in- she creates new ideas that excite and inspire the world around her, and she rebels against a lot of societies values; through Lady Gaga we could say we have an example of how our era is post modern.
However, although quirky, reinvent and seemingly ‘different’ many would argue that she has recycled past artist’s ideas, specifically Madonna. For example, her constant use of religious symbols such as the crucifix, provocative, exciting and innovative stage performances which seem to step out of the box, yet contain striking resemblances to Madonna’s past costumes, suggesting that Lady gaga is in fact a lot less original than one might first assume.

However, as a final note, we can safely assume that Lady Gaga represents our era and generation, symbolising reinvention, fashion exploration and thinking outside of the box. Recently, she introduced an 'alter ego' via her male version, something which has been demonstrated by other artists,and again highlights her post modern approach to her image, and inevitable direct effect on our society today through the media.
Although it can be argued that Lady Gaga does or does not represent a post modern domination through the media, the term itself is difficult to apply to our era on such a large scale because our perception of the term tends to vary on the indivual and therefore no concrete conclusion can be made.