Applying theories to my product

Structuralism (disambiguation)– refers to the way a narrative is told. As my product is a Local newspaper, this theory won’t apply to much to my product, however I will be able to use theorists to help me construct my articles. A key idea of structuralism is ‘taking a structuralist approach is to move away from the interpretation of the individual text on its own and drive towards understanding the layer, abstract structure which contain them’. This means that if I use a structuralist theory for my articles, this will decrease the ambiguity and help me achieve the preferred reading. Because of this, structuralism wasn’t welcome in the UK and the USA by traditional critics who liked to analyse texts. The basic structuralist theories will aid the understanding of my product to the audience.

TODOROVS THEORY OF NARRATIVE ORGANISATION.

For one of my articles, I will try and construct it around Todorvs Theory of equilibrium > disruption phase > second equilibrium to give it structure. I will use this theory for my Charity Marathon article. It will start off on a positive tone where the person involved will be recalling to the audience the happy memories she had with her relative. The Disruption phase/ disequilibrium will be when the relative is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s meaning the happiness in their lives was interrupted. The second equilibrium will be the person running the marathon to raise money for Alzheimer’s disease to help others suffering with it. This structure follows a basic structure that is used in many films and plays. Audiences are familiar with this plot and therefore will make the article easily digestible. It also narrows down the way the article can be interpreted. The preferred reading of this text is to represent teenagers in a good life, and being in the news for doing something rewarding for a change. Another article I will use this for is my Main splash. At first there will be equilibrium- the cow at home with the farmers, then disruption phase, the cow going missing and then finally new equilibrium, the cow being returned safely home.

Because my product is a Local Newspaper, it will be hard to apply all the Structuralism theory’s to my product. For example, Vladimir Props theory of character types which stated that within a narrative e find key characters such as the protagonist, antagonist, heroine, helper, parental figure, donor and victim. The main goal of my product is to produce something that represents reality as my product needs to provide the locals of Sunderland with the latest news. By including characters in my articles that have certain roles places a barrier between the real and the fake and takes a way an element of reality. Also, when reading the articles, the audience may register a familiar pattern when reading about the characters and may get lost in the article. Furthermore if they distinguish that the people within the article have character roles they may become too emotionally attached with the article which would remove a sense of reality. Therefore, I will not use this Structuralism theory in my product.

A theory, however that I will include in my product is Claude Levi Strauss Binary Opposite Theory. Strauss stated that narratives are usually structured around binary opposites. The opposites take the form of significant contrasts used to create a sense of difference or conflict. The opposites help the audience understand the meaning of a product or a text, for example to understand a male, they would have to register and understand a female, and the two genders are the contrast. An example of when I would use this in my product would be the style of articles that I produce. I intend to include one negative based article and one happy uplifting article. Because the audience will be exposed to the negative one, this will put more emphasis and understanding on the happy one and make it stand out more. The comparison helps the audiences understanding of the article. This will help my product be interpreted in the least possible way. This theory will only be useful to some extent. Because I need my product to appeal to both genders, it will be hard to adapt binary opposites in this way. My articles need to be gender neutral, rather than having one article dedicated to males and one to females. If I were doing this, this would be an example of a Binary opposite, as one article would contain a lexical field of feminine language, and the other article language that would appeal to males.

Hermeneutic code- I will not be structuring my product around this theory, as it represents the full truth being untold. My product has the main target of providing the audience with the latest news of their town, and to deceive them is out of the question. The code also aims to ‘keep audiences guessing until the final scenes where all is revealed and closure is achieved’. I am unsure as to whether this code could be adapted to my product, as I need to immediately catch the reader’s attention in the ‘Kicker paragraph’ of my article. To seclude and withdraw a vital piece of information till the end of the article isn’t a convention that most newspaper articles stick too, as usually the main source of excitement will be what the article is based around. Also if the key point is kept to the last minute, some readers may get bored and lose interest in the article altogether.

Proairetic code- this code refers to an action or an event that indicates something else is going to happen. This is a code I will not be including in my product as I don’t think it can be efficiently adapted. Again, the main goal of my product is to reflect real life and it would be hard to inject hints into articles as to what is to come next. On the other hand, a key selection value used by journalists is ‘Dramatization of news’. This is when journalists try their hardest to emphasis certain points of a news story to make it sound more dramatic and exciting. If I was to include a proairetic code for my product, it would add drama to the article.                                                                                                            

When we as a society look at a feature, we don’t question what we see, but what it represents. We try to recreate the illusion of the representation, not the actual thing. As a society, we forget that signs and symbols are actually, just signs and symbols.

Semiotics is the theory that helps explain the use of the symbols.

A signifier is the item itself, the denotation, whereas the signified is what is being represented, the connotations.

I intend to apply this to my product for example, for my ancillary poster task I am going to have an image of a family, smiling reading the newspaper. The signifier here is a group of people reading, however the signified is that they are a happy family and are enjoying the newspaper they are reading. The newspaper acts as a uniting point for the family, something they can all enjoy. The proximity between the models in my image will be close, again implying that the Newspaper is bringing them closer together as a family unit. This is the signified, what the proximity is representing. The location for the image will be in a family front room, with several props that strengthen the connotation of a family unit, for example a high chair and some slippers. All these concepts work together as a paradigm. The metonymy is that the Newspaper is for a family audience and there is conventions within the paper that will appeal to everyone.

The aim of this is that the signifiers with in my images make the audience think of other conventions to do with family life, for example the inclusion of a young teenage girl reading the paper next to her a woman posing as her gran will represent that the paper is ideal for all age ranges and family appropriate and is also the preffered reading of the text, what I want the audience to see.  This will encourage my target audience to purchase the product.

‘Encoding’- the information interpreted by the reader

‘Decoding’- The information interpreted by the reader

The encoding of the image for my ancillary task that my product is family friendly, a key mechanism to unite the family due to its family intended audience. The decodingy for my product will be that they understand it is for a family audience and suitable for all. By the use of this sign, it enables the audience to understand the product more as they will immediately register the target audience of the product.

Post modernism

A brief description of modernism. ‘In art, music, literature and architecture, modernism challenged traditional material and methods.

Post Modernism, for late nineteenth century to early twentieth century.

• Whereas modernism was pessimistic about the world where nothing was worth believing, Post Modernisms age enjoys the absence of such believes. It enjoys the idea of loss of order and finds breaking the rules exciting.

• A direct contrast between the two is where Modernism sets out to destroy the past; Post Modernism is keen to revisit it with IRONY.

• Post Modernism sets out to put style before substance, although it frequently rejects over-elaborate forms in favour of an austere style.

It was still, however described as a ‘high piece of art’.

High Culture- ‘Worthy, educated, important artistic’

Low Culture- ‘Popular, trivial, mass produced, commericial’.

 

 

 

Post modernism cheerfully mixes both these cultures with an aim to not make distinguishes between them. Within Post modernism, context and seriousness didn’t matter, meaning its main aim was jokiness, irony, spectacle and surface.

When watching the Post Modernism film ‘Pulp Fiction’, both low and high culture elements are present and again playfully mixed.

High Culture:

The house styling and architecture is artistic.

The sculptures and props in her garden portray the characters being wealthy and important.

Low Culture:

‘Twist’ dance that occurs in the diner, a popular dance in the 50’s.

The fast food restraunts, reference to mass produced food.

    Intertextuality is constantly present within such texts, a delight of Post Modernism. Intertextuality refers to mentioning one text in another. It creates a relationship with the audience and compliments their knowledge if they recognise a certain bran or text. Using the film ‘pulp fiction’, as an example, several intertextuality references are made. In the 1950’s style diner scene, there is a Buddy Holly section and a Marilyn Monroe section for example. Audiences watching will immediately recognise this text link. This also brings in an element of low culture into the film (celebrity status). Moreover another example of intertextuality would be when John Travolta’s character orders a Vanilla Coke. He is referring to a real life product, which is rewarding to the audience. It also adds a realism factor to the film and reminds the audience they are only watching a film and stops them getting sucked in.

Post modernism also has a mix of genres. A good example of this for example would be Pulp Fiction. The genres within are: gangster, crime, action, comedy, indie, thriller, Blaxploitation, musical, romance, art house movie

MY PRODUCT IN RELATION TO POST MODERNISM

My product will have elements of post modernism in. Just like Post Modernism aims to break generic rules, I am going to do that with the target audience of my product. Where Local Newspapers are usually targeted towards the working class and older people, I am going to involve a lot more teenagers and increase a family audience. I will be subverting existing conventions of local newspapers and breaking normal conventions, just like Post Modernism. 

However, where Post Modernism finds lack of organisation exciting and revels in breaking the rules, I will not be able to do this for my product. My local newspaper needs to be ordered reflecting my target audience’s needs. It should take the standard layout of an existing product which will maximise the successfulness of mine. A lack of organisation in my product would make it unsuccessful and messy, audiences would mind it hard to follow and this would therefore decrease sales.

- a Standard layout of a newspaper that I found from google images.

Post modernism enjoys revisiting the past with irony; however it will be hard to apply this to my product. I have to take into consideration sensitivity and revising the pat of some events may be upsetting to some audiences.

For my product, style over substance is an issue. Although I have to take style into consideration and it has to compliment my articles, I have to remember the function of a local newspaper, to provide the local community with crucial news. I will be injecting journalist and treatment values into my articles such as ‘drama’ to make them seem more interesting; however they have to be based on the truth. Therefore my product will not be style of substance.

Low culture element will appear in my product more than high culture. For example, I will be including features for bowling and vouchers for Staples, something mass produced. Although it may be challenging to include elements of high culture, for my Seafront article I will be making a reference to the funding of the renovation. As it is a lump sum, this could be classed as high culture. Also the artistic design of the product could again, relate to high culture. The fact my product can playfully mix both elements makes it shows elements of post modernism. There will be lots more elements of low culture in my product, for example in my main splash. This is about the Highland cow that was found wandering Morrison's car park. Morrison's is a national supermarket that has mass produced products. Here this article will also include elements of high culture as I shall be making reference to the farm house and the old fashioned style design.

For Post Modernism, context and seriousness are not the key to success, however for my product it is. If there is a sad article or something with distressing news, I have to make a sensitive approach to make sure I would not upset readers, which would be unprofessional. I can therefore not stick to this Post Modernism convention.

My product will include intertextuality and make references to other products. The aim of my product is to provide news, and although it to some extent is to entertain, I need to make sure my audience don’t get lost in my product and see it as a story. Therefore these intertextual references acknowledge to the audience that this is real life, and brings them back to reality. For example, in my article based on a granddad being run over, I have mentioned the car brand than ran him over (BMW). Furthermore, my adverts will be intertextuality. My advert will be for stationary shop ‘staples’, intended for the Teenage part of the audience. Again this can be rewarding for the audience and also reminds them of the product they are reading.

Mixing of genres- My Newspaper has one main genre, local. Because this is so specific it will be hard to draw in other genres, for example I cannot include worldwide or national news unless it may affect the locals of Sunderland. This therefore makes it hard for my product to mix genres. Unlike other media texts such as books or films, it is hard to use conventions of other genres. Films may have romance, gangster, indie, comedy and action conventions within the narrative. I could however, have these featured in certain articles. For example, one article based on a romance story of a couple just being married, or own on a crime that has just happened. I will take this into account because the variety of news means there will be more potential to appeal to a wider target audience.

                                                 FEMINISM

Laura Mulvey (1975) argues that the dominant view in cinema was male gaze, especially where women are concerned. The female body is filmed for male gaze to provide erotic pleasure as well as being voyeuristic. She is rendered a passive object.

The objectification of woman’s bodies has been a constant theme in critical analyses of woman’s representation. Looking at women within the media, they are normally sexualised for the male gaze and to benefit the male audience. It is hard to find a female actor in a film with a main protagonist role that isn’t pretty or that can be found attractive for males. Directors and producers make sure that there are desirable, well known female actors in the films to attract and persuade the males to go to the film, a bit of eye candy to supplement with the action. For example, in the Dark Knight Returns, Catwoman is played by Anne Hathaway, a 30 year old beautiful actress with a slim figure, clearly appealing to the male target audience of a film. Similar patterns are found in lots of Hollywood films, for example the Bond girls are always slim and pretty and desirable towards a male audience. It is clear to see that when a media text is constructed, the male gaze is taken into consideration.

This is when we look from the male perspective to put things in a film/magazine that will successfully sell to the male audience. This is mostly sexually attractive young women, either with a superior status or being portrayed as the damsel in distress. This can also be known as REGRESSIVE. This is noticeable mostly in action adventure films that have a main target audience of males. If woman are above 30/35, their role in films becomes motherly, or Propps character type ‘The Helper’. For example, ‘M ‘in James Bond, who is played by Dame Judy Dench. The actress is 78 year old and although she is a successful and popular actress, her age and the fact she is no long attractive hinders her being a leading Lady, strengthening the fact Woman are represented regressively in media texts and are objectified or used as a sexual object. Again, it is hard to find a leading lady in a film that is unattractive and old. For my product, it is important that a make a fair representation of Sunderland’s population, therefore I cannot base the newsworthiness of my articles around the age of the female and whether they are attractive towards to males. It will be hard to have a male gaze on images included in my newspaper because my target audience is gender neutral, and feminists may be offended by the way I have represented women. Although in some national newspapers, they have features to appeal directly to men, e.g. the Sun with page 3 girls; it would be out of the question to include a feature like this. I am aiming to make this newspaper suitable for family reading, so therefore this male gaze will not be met as it will not be appropriate for the younger readers. Although I will have women in my article, for example my marathon article will be based on an older teenage girl, sexualizing or portraying her as a passive object to appeal for the male gaze is out of the question. She needs to be shown as just running a marathon and will be very sweaty and red.

Looking at males- Whereas females are objectified as sexual objects within media texts, males aren’t. Conventional approaches to looking at males subjects tend to be limited to acceptable contexts in which traditional masculinity in not threatened. In other words it is common to view a mans masculinity within media products. For example, within TV sports, we are provided with a lot of close up shots of male bodies but are not given any sexual legitimacy by the camera work or commentary. This highlights the different way the genders are portrayed. For my local newspaper, if I was constructing the full product and not just the first two pages, it would have a sports summary in the back, which would no doubt include close up of the male body to highlight important moves. However, this would be for MALE benefit, rather than FEMALE.

When looking at media products, it’s important to consider the sexual orientation of the gender. For example, what a female finds attractive in a man will be different to what a gay man finds attractive in a man. It would be presumptuous to assume they like the same type. It is therefore important to look at an image and think ‘Is this targeted to a male or a lesbian? A female or a gay man?’  It was only in gay culture that an open display & objectification of the male body is for sexual pleasure.

For my product, it will be hard to look at my product from the male gaze and the female gaze and please both. I have to take into consideration that the main target audience is for both females and males and a generalisation of Sunderland’s population. To include things from the male gaze such as sexualisation of women and making them look desirable will not appeal to female audiences of feminists. 

It is hard to argue whether or not my product will have feminism in it. As I have stated previously, my target audience is gender neutral, and therefore I don’t intend to include a lot of it in order to keep the male audience intrigued and appealed by my product. However some conventions I have to take into account will have traces of feminism in.

FEMINISTS THEORY

Radical Feminist theories-Argues that women’s oppression is the result of the system of Patriarchy, a system of domination in which men as a group have power over women. They aim to challenge and overthrow the opposing standard gender roles and oppression of women and calls for a radical reordering of society. I will not be representing or supporting this theory in my product as the target audience in gender neutral and I may lose popularity if it is preaching feminism. Also they purpose of this product is to provide locals with news of the local community. They don’t want to be reading an article with connotation of feminism with in it. Furthermore to support this theory would mean having a lot of features directed to this target audience. For my product I need to provide a fair representation of news to my audience and include a range of news values to them. Again by using this feminist theory would mean a lack of variety and repetition which isn’t an existing variety within a local newspaper. Where my product may include some small elements of ‘Radical Feminists’ will be because it won’t include degrading images of women, or them being portrayed as an object of lust. As a female editor, I will ensure this and take images portraying them as appealing and happy, however not a sexual object. This will have elements of feminism; however it can be more related to the target audience including family members. This relates to this quote “The majority of work focuses on how different media texts have different meanings according to the sex of the producer/audience”. If my product was targeted to women, it may have more elements of feminism within. For example, my article may be totally based on the successfulness of women in media and business and focusing less on males. It also may have articles based on stay at home fathers, where the masculine stereotype is challenged. Further conventions could be negative talk of patriarchy and the challenging off it.

Queer theory- this offers the views that all identities are social constructions, the idea that sexuality in not rigidly defined and can be remade. With regards to this, I will not be supporting this in my product either.

Post Modern feminism- believes that it is but out dated to be discussing gender inequality and discuss uniqueness. This theory here is influenced by whether I want to include elements of Post Modernism in my product. To some extent, this theory will apply. As my target audience is gender neutral, I generally intend not to make too much reference to feminism in my product. Whilst I will not be displaying derogating images of female or portraying them ‘progressive’, I will not be preaching feminism within my articles. I aim to keep gender dominance neutral to avoid upsetting readers. However for my Seafront renovation article I will be making reference to the mayor of Sunderland and his financial decision to expand the seafront. This here can reflect a male’s superior status in society. To prevent this I will put a quote in about a female councillor to balance it out.

 Liberal- believe the problem is male prejudice against women’, embodied in law or expressed in the exclusion of women from particular areas of life. Liberal feminists argue that our society holds false beliefs that women are less intellectually and physically capable than men. For my product, readers could interpret one of my articles as having elements of liberal feminism in it. For example, my marathon article, based on a teenage girl who ran the Sunderland marathon and finished 4^th place. Here this article describes her physical fitness and promotes how her training helped her finish 4^th. However a point that could overlook that it is Liberal Feminism is that the article is more based on the fact she ran it for her gran who has Alzheimer’s, and focuses more on their relationship. Where some Liberal feminists may be annoyed at one of my articles would again be my Seafront renovation one, where it makes reference to the fact the Mayor (male) has announced and decided the renovation and is high place in society has allowed him to do it. Where I am trying to counter balance this, as before mentioned is to include quotes by female councillors and explaining their input in the decisions.

 Third wave –less emphasis on the battle equality and more emphasis on the positive nature of ambiguity and difference. This is a theory that will be included in my product as the fundamental audience for my product is gender neutral. My articles will not be based on battles for equality or have much focus on a gender divide. They will be gender neutral so that they can appeal to both male and females.

images for my product

For my practical, I have took a selection of images, in which I will later decide which ones to use for my product. I have taken several images for each news article to ensure that the chosen one will look as proffesinal and realistic as possible. By taking a variety as well it gives me more chioce and influence for my articles.

This is a long/ wide shot of Roker beach. I took the image without a flash and because it was a late winter afternoon, the natural lighting makes the image look dark. The colour palette within the image is mainly dark, consisting of grey and dark browns. This makes the image look boring and un-aesthetically pleasing. As the image needed is for the front page, I need a colour palette consisting of bright, vibrant colours which will immediately attract the reader’s attention to the article and the paper. From my target audience research, I know that article images attract readers to the article, therefore if my image looks boring and quite negative, it will represent the article as being boring also. The aim of this image was to position the lighthouse within the middle of the statue to clarify it; however this failed and looks unprofessional. Furthermore, to the right of the image a man is blurred again making the image look un-professional. Asking a target audience member, man, aged 48, he commented, ‘I wouldn’t expect to see this image in a Newspaper as the colours are boring’. I then asked a 17 year old female teenager who commented, ‘It’s hard to tell what the story is behind the image as there isn’t a main focus’.

Finally coming to the conclusion it doesn’t represent my article, I have decided not to use this image. However it has been helpful in comparing images I took after to see whether it was more/ less suitable than this image. What I did like about this image however is the camera shot, (long/wide) as it reveals the location well for the audience. 

Like with the previous image, I took this near nigh time, therefore there wasn’t much natural lighting. For my product however, I wanted to use as much natural lighting as possible to represent real life, creating a link to my product name, (Sunderland Life). Due to the poor lighting, it is hard to make out the location of the image, furthermore making it unprofessional. Because the audience wouldn’t be able to fully recognise the location, it will make the article more confusing and harder for them to understand. As this image is needed for the front page, I aim to have a location that will unite the vast majority of the target audience and furthermore be a familiar place that will affect all. As it’s hard to make out the location of this image, it will not affect the audience and therefore not attract them to read the article or purchase the paper. Asking a member of my target audience, they commented, ‘This mage doesn’t relate to your article as it is about the fair next to the Seaburn Centre. This is confusing for me and would put me off reading the article and buying the newspaper’. This acted as constructive critic as it has given me goals to improve for later images.

This is a long/ wide shot image of Seaburn Beach. This image was a tester to see what the lighting was like and if it was too bright in the background. As the Sun was powerful, it meant the image produced was blurry in some parts and makes the image hard to see. This has helped my photography skills and will hopefully allow me to produce more professional images.

I then took an image with the natural lighting behind me and it produced a much better image. This has given me knowledge and skills to help me take my image for my front cover, which hopefully will enable it to look more professional.

This is a long/ wide shot of the area in which I will be reporting about. As I took the image on the beach, it doesn’t reveal the location very well. I want my image to be an establishing shot so that the audience immediately know the place that the article is referring too. The main focus of the image is the sand and the sky as they take up most of the space.  This represents natural sources and real life, which are the intentions of the product. The colour pallet within the image however is aesthetically pleasing. With the main colours being bright blue, green and golden cream, it makes the image warm and inviting. As the intention of the article is to have a positive theme, the colours represent this well.

However because this image doesn’t reveal the location to the best of abilities, I will not be using this image for my product

This is a medium long shot and has a decreased depth of field of the previous image. Again,this image isn’t an establishing shot and doesn’t tell the audience the correct location of the image. Although the audience will have a brief idea of the location, I want them to witness more so the image will have a bigger influence on their thoughts. The image looks naturalistic as I have used natural lighting.

This is a long/ wide shot of the Seaburn fun park and also acts as an establishing shot as it reveals the location to the audience.

Mise en scene: The colour pallet within the image consists of green, blue and shades of red. As the colours are bright, it makes the image look busy and fun. It also creates a sense of excitement for the audience and gives the article a positive ambience. As the role of the image is to reflect and modify the article, it does this well, foreshadowing the article as being a positive read. The image has the correct depth of field that I would like for my image. The props in front of the Seaburn fun park make the image look realistic and life like.

However I will not be using this image as I feel the main focus of the image is off centre and therefore un professional. As I want my product to look as realistic as possible, I need my images to look professional and perfect.

This is my favourite image out of all the ones I have taken. It is an establishing shot and reveals the location immediately to the audience. The colour pallet used within consists of bright primary colours which catches the reader’s eye effectively and modifies the article as being interesting and up lifting. As the article is going to be based around the closing down on ‘Seaburn Fun park’ and the creation of a new park/ fun area, the colours reflect the positivity of the article well. The main source of focus for this image Is the ‘Seaburn fun park’ sign, which is cantered perfectly in the middle, drawing the readers eye directly to that point. Furthermore because it is centre of the image it helps the audience out by telling them what the article is about, making them have a better understanding of the article. As the image doesn’t give everything away, for example from the image we cannot tell the government’s plans for the area, I will have to construct a caption or anchorage that reflects the image well. The only prospect of the image that holds its potential back of looking professional is the car outside the park. This distracts the audience’s attention from the main focal point, and therefore I intend to use the skills I gained from my preliminary task and edit it in Adobe photoshop. I asked a member of my target audience, male aged 38 what his thoughts were on this image and he commented, 'I really like this image, tis clear and the colours are bright'. I also asked a female member, aged 67, 'I enjoy this image, I recognise it and it makes me want to know what the article is about'.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

For my images, I felt it was extremely important to find out what my audiences thoughts were on the image to see whether it would suit them. This way I could tailor my images to appeal more to my target audience and make my product more successful. I made sure I asked a fair representation of my t. a as it is so large. I asked the equal amount of males and females to make sure I could analyse both genders opinions and asked people from different age groups so I could appeal to my target audience to the best of my abilities. The criticism they gave me helped me construct my images to a more successful level.


Crayola costume Article:

Reflecting on my images has helped me progress my work and know where Iv been going wrong. Analysing my faults has helped me learn better ways to attract an audience in my images and also increase the professional level of them.

Audience feedback:

to make sure I was appealing to my target audience I showed a fair representation the above image.

Girl ages 18 said: I like this image as it looks interesting. The girls costume is alarming read and attracts my attention immediately. I really like it

Man, 38 said: 'I like the image as its something different. The girls costume and stance is unique and makes me want to read the article.

Women 68 said: Its nice to see a teenager been shown in Newspapers for something good!

After listening to audience feedback, I feel confident enough to include this image in my final product!

For my main article, I handed out questionnaires to see which image my target audience preferred. Here I knew i would be appealing directly to them. 

My product in relation to Post Modernism

My product will use a large quantity of intertextuality. The aim of my product is to attract the local community and therefore my adverts will be of local recognisable establishments such as vouchers for Starbucks or Frankie and Bennies. This here is an example of intertextuality, as my text will be referring to other texts. Also because the images I will use for my product will be of local places, there may be logos and shops that are recognisable to the audience such as Morrisons or Mcdonalds.

Does it playfully mix other genres?

As my product is a local newspaper and needs to represent the life of the locals, I will not be mixing genres. Locals buy local newspapers with the intentions of receiving the 7 news values and therefore I will not be injecting conventions of different products in my local newspapers.

Does it mix element of low and high culture?
To some extent, my product may mix elements of lw and high culture. For one of my article images for example, I may chose to have histroical building in the background or it be based around a local museum. This would be an element of high culture. I will also include low culture such as iPhone apps, images of local restraunts and vouchers also.

Does it draw attention to the way it is constructed?

For my particular product, it will be easy for the audience to get lost in what the article is saying as they wont neccassirly have any reason to dsbeleive it. Therefore I will make sure within my articles there will be two personal opinions or point of view. Furthermore as there will be an abundance of articles, I will break them up with local adverts and vouchers, to draw the attention of the product to the audience.

Does it exhibit fragmentation of location era viewpoint?

My separate news articles will be set in different locations throughout Sunderland to appeal and represent the whole population to the best of its abilities to attract larger audience. Each article will also be centered and focused on different people or establishments so that audiences can be gaining a cross overview of life in Sunderland and what is occurring.

Does it want the audience to notice and enjoy the above?

Ironic about serious elements?

A newspaper is serious focused as the news can frequently be negative. Therefore journalists and editors have to be conscious of not offending the readers and be sensitive towards sensitive issues. Irony may set in an article if it feels the readers will appreciate this or understand it.

Is its style more important than its substance?

Although the layout I will construct will supplement the reading of the product and make the reading a more clear and digestible, the substance will appeal more to the audience than the style. The newspaper acts as a point of news source where the locals can find out about what is happening in their local element, therefore the substance dominates the importance of the style. 

masthead of my product

Out of the list of possible names I brainstormed for my newspaper product, I have decided on ‘Sunderland Life’, as I believe it represents my newspaper more powerfully and reflects the issues that will be shown in the paper.

·        All my articles will be real life reports of the most important and news worthy stories that will evoke and appeal to my audience and will have effects on their lives.

·         All my features included within the product refer and affect the lives of the readers, for example for my advert, I am going to have a Frankie and Bennie’s Christmas voucher which the reader will receive with purchase of the paper.

·        I will have index columns with emergency number for my audience.

My product will be relating to and affecting the life of the view in one way or another, therefore naming my product Sunderland Life reflects my product better than the other two names I have chosen. Furthermore life has uplifting connotations and sounds enthusiastic. Moreover it is associating Sunderland with this word, and therefore representing both my product and the audiences home city as this and persuade my audience to purchase the product.

Sunderland Life font choice:

Using Adobe Photoshop, I experimented with fonts I found most appealing and suitable for my product. I looked at existing newspaper masthead fonts for inspiration and noticed they are all bold bright coolers, having the effect on the reader that it immediately stands out in a news rack and attract the audience’s attention.

To make my product successful, I feel conducting audience feedback on my product frequently is important in insuring I am appealing to my target audience to my full potential. Therefore after selecting numerous fonts, I printed them of and asked a range of ages and genders from my target audience, from 17-83.By doing this, I would be collecting research from a fair representation of my target audience and not being biased. I asked them to tick a font they preferred most, which would help influence my choice of font for my masthead.

Here is an example of my audience feedback:

The graphs above represent my finds and make them more presentable and therefore easier to read. The most popular font from all areas of audience, both male and female, is the first font ‘Abadi Mt condensed’. For example, all teenage males and females selected out of the 6 fonts, they like that one bet. The 50- 80 range selected mostly the same font; however 1 out of 5 of them, in both genders selected different fonts. However, I am going to generalise my findings and sect ‘Abadi Mt condenses’ as my masthead font as it appeals most to my target audience. If my font is attractive it will maximise potential sales.



Recce

1.Are there any potential hazards that could pose a health and safety risk where your photo shoot will take place (trailing cables/traffic/other objects )?

I will be taking my images outside and the cold weather will have to be a consideration. I will take my images as quickly, however effectively as I can to make sure no models are too cold

2. What will you do to ensure these risks are minimised

I will stay clear of main roads that could cause potential hazards. I will also avoid taking images on rainy days to avoid making my images look dull and my models getting wet.

3. Will the time of day/weather affect the outcome of the photos? Have you allowed for this?

I am going to take my images in day light as I want to use natural lighting. Because I am doing a local newspaper for my product, the images need to represent real life. The natural lighting will help emphasize this. I hope for the weather to be sunny and dry. Because it is winter however, I cannot rely on the weather too much and will have to think of other methods of constructing messages in my images.

4. Have you considered the background to your photos, particularly if taken outside? How will you ensure you will get the background you want?

For my images, the backgrounds will be recognisable places throughout Sunderland, so the target audience can relate and recognise them, persuading them to read the article. Here the background will act as a captivator and draw the audience’s attention towards the image & article. For example, for one of my images I will be taking an image in Burdon. This is a scenic location and helps promote Sunderland

5. Have you considered lighting? What about the ‘problems’ of natural lighting, either outside, or streaming through a window? Will you need to use a flash? Have you considered reflective objects that might spoil the effect?

I will rely on natural lighting to emphasis aspects in my images, however failure or lack of natural lighting will result in the use of my camera flash. This will help brighten aspects of the image and help emphasis a happy mood if failure to do so by the natural lighting.

6. Do you need permission to take photos in the place/venue you have in mind?

No, all my places are in a free location.

7. Do you need to book time in a room (eg the photography studio at Shiney)?

I intend to take my images in an outside location.

8. Are other people/crowds likely to be an issue for you? What have you done to ensure that it will not spoil the effect?

As my locations for my images are popular places in Sunderland, I will have to take them at an early time to overcome this problem. For example, for one of my Images the location will be Seaburn Beach. Due to the winter season, crowds of people won’t be an issue however to decrease the chances even further I will take them on a morning.

9. Are you reliant on lifts/props/friends’ equipment/models? How have you planned that these things will come together at the appointed time? Plan B?

I am reliant on my friends who will act as models for my images. I have already contacted them and they are willing to act as models. I have asked what dates they are available and built a schedule around them.