Statement of Intent

Statement of Intent

How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief?

Product 1 – Magazine

My research into fashion magazines reveals a wide range of cover conventions. Mid shots seem to be most used, but they also include everything for close ups to long shots, mostly of individuals, but also of pairs or groups. The difficulty in this research is that established magazines are able to use more variety because their identity has already been established so I feel I will need to take a much more conventional approach to my covers. Hence, I will use the highly conventional mid shot for my cover, including female models, to attract the demographic that is most commonly targeted by magazines. I will also employ a variety of sell lines around the model to suggest that my magazine will fulfil both cognitive and affective needs (Uses and Gratifications Theory) for the target audience. While my covers will appear mainstream in their layout and design, the sophistication will come in the shape of ethnic diversity as I will feature an hijabi on both my first cover and second contents page. This will establish my magazine as being sufficiently mainstream to attract a wide audience, while also sufficiently diverse to appeal to the   16-25 culturally sophisticated AB demographic audience identified in the brief. This target group is likely to have more left wing/liberal values and to be particularly interested in positive representations of a Muslim woman, who will be depicted as happy and stylish.

Finally, all this should appeal to Bauer Media as it will be different to other magazines they own, extending their readership.

Product 2 – Website

My website is intended to serve two functions. Firstly, it will act as a way to advertise the magazine, but it will also represent an additional revenue stream by offering advertising to the online market. In this early addition there will not be any specific advertisements because the website is newly created, but the two featured pages that I have included will showcase the way that the website is open to having that kind of relationship with companies within the fashion industry. To achieve this, I will include a review page looking at beauty products and a piece of journalism using found images about a fashion event or designer.

To fulfil the audio-visual element of the brief, I will include an interview with the model from the front cover of one of the magazines, but I will make the style of the video, including mise en scene and shot type, very informal. The magazine shows a more formal style, which is in keeping with audience expectations, whereas the website offers a different insight into the same subject.

I also intend to have a forum or page to comment and make suggestions. This will be aimed at encouraging readers to feel more involved with the layout and design of both the website and the magazine. This is in keeping with Alan Kirby's idea of pseudo-modernism where consumers now need to feel themselves as being part of the process of production. I will also make them want to engage with the website regularly.

Convergence

I will use a consistent House style across the magazines and the website and also feature models, typography and stories that feature in both of the production. The company logo for Bauer and the independent media company will be on both magazines as well as the website to create a cohesion of branding.

While the two different pieces will act as adverts for each other, I want the content to be sufficiently different to demonstrate that both are worth interacting with. The stories on the website will be more focused on reviews of products or events, whereas the magazine will feature more personal interest stories with models. I feel that this difference in identity between the two products will give it the biggest reach.