We should now have finished our print research and planning and posted it to our blogs.
This is vital work to ensure that our film posters meet the brief and match the quality of our video work.
Now that research and planning is complete, we need to complete rough cuts/drafts of our coursework.
Upcoming deadlines
Rough cut of video trailer: Thursday 6 December
Three draft film posters: Thursday 13 December
The video requires an exported 90-120 second film trailer rough cut for the film outlined in your Statement of Intent.
The film posters require three completed JPEGs posted to your blog (one for each film poster - aimed at males, females and fans of the genre).
You will then be given final tutorials on these rough cuts and drafts prior to the final deadline after Christmas.
Important note: Media Awards
The Media Awards this year has been pushed back to Tuesday 26 March and will feature YOUR film trailers. However, in order for your work to be eligible for the Media Awards, you will need to meet the final coursework deadline after Christmas.
Monday, November 26, 2018
OSP: Teen Vogue - Industry and social media
The final aspect of our work on Teen Vogue involves an industry case study and textual analysis of the magazine's social media presence.
Industry is the final key concept to address in this in-depth study. It's important to remember that the exam question could cover anything from how Teen Vogue makes money to what attracts audiences to their social media pages. This means we need comprehensive knowledge across the board.
Notes from the lesson
Industry: Conde Nast
Teen Vogue is owned and published by Condé Nast, an American media organisation that publishes around 20 magazines including Vogue, GQ and Wired. The company targets a wide range of different audiences – 164 million consumers across its brands.
In March 2018, Condé Nast announced the launch of Influencer Platform Next Gen, a digital campaign that links advertisers and content creation. The goal is to “connect to a new generation of audience”.
Income sources
Teen Vogue’s main source of income is through selling advertising space online – adverts that are targeted using browsing history.
However, they also monetise their customer data and loyalty, encouraging readers to register online for updates, offers and access to the ‘Insider’ area of the website. This data can then be sold to other companies or used to attract ‘advertorial’ or sponsored content.
Teen Vogue also makes money through YouTube with plenty of 1m+ views on their video content. This is an example of digital convergence – a traditionally print-based product moving into multimedia and accessible on one device.
Finally, they run events such as the Teen Vogue summit and US tour.
Teen Vogue: fashion industry player
Although Teen Vogue has been creating headlines for its political content in recent years, it is also an important part of the fashion industry. Both editorial content and advertising is designed to create a strong desire in their audience for products featured. This links to Condé Nast’s role as a major media company interested in maximising profit.
Some argue that Teen Vogue’s more diverse coverage offers a form of public service through its political coverage. But are features criticising capitalism hypocritical when the brand is owned by a media giant like Condé Nast?
Create a new blogpost called 'Teen Vogue Industry and social media' and work through the following tasks to complete the final aspects of your Teen Vogue case study:
Industry: Condé Nast
1) Research Teen Vogue publisher Condé Nast. What other magazines do they publish and how much money did they make last year?
2) What are Teen Vogue’s main sources of income?
3) How are traditionally print-based products like Teen Vogue diversifying to create new income streams?
4) Why is sponsored content and ‘advertorial’ particularly important in media linked to the fashion industry?
5) Do you view Teen Vogue’s content as a form of public service media or is Condé Nast simply interested in clicks and profit?
Closure of print edition research
Read the following short articles to learn the background to Condé Nast's decision to close the print edition of Teen Vogue in 2016 and then answer the questions below:
BBC: Teen Vogue: How will going online-only affect readers?
New York Times: Condé Nast Ends Teen Vogue’s Print Run
Folio: Your Teen Vogue Hot Takes Are All Wrong
1) Why does the BBC suggest “Teen Vogue’s digital game is strong”?
2) What does the BBC suggest is responsible for the Teen Vogue website’s success?
3) How did Teen Vogue justify the closure of the print magazine?
4) In the BBC article, David Hepworth suggests there is a risk to going digital-only. What is it?
5) How do online-only publications make money?
6) What does Sarah Penny suggest regarding audience consumption for print and digital – and how might it be changing for Generation-Z?
7) What does the New York Times say Conde Nast is known for?
8) The New York Times states that Conde Nast expects to bring in less revenue in 2017 than 2016… by how much?
9) The Folio article also looks at the switch from print to digital. Pick out a statistic that justifies the digital-only approach.
10) Finally, Folio also highlights some of the aspects we have studied elsewhere. Pick out two quotes from the article that link to our work on the Teen Vogue audience, representation or design.
Social media analysis
Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of Teen Vogue's social media presence:
1) Look at the Teen Vogue Twitter feed (you don’t need to sign up to Twitter to see it but may need to log-in at home). How many followers does Teen Vogue have?
2) Now look at the content. Classify the first 20 tweets you can see using the sections on the Teen Vogue website: News & Politics, Fashion, Entertainment, Beauty, Lifestyle, Wellness and Homecoming. What does the Twitter feed focus on most? Does this differ to the website?
3) How are the tweets and headlines written? Can you find examples of clickbait?
4) How does the Twitter feed use videos and images?
5) Analyse the Teen Vogue Facebook page. How many ‘likes’ and ‘follows’ do they have?
6) Click on the Videos link on the left-hand menu. What type of content do the videos feature? Does this differ to the website or Twitter feed?
7) Now look at the Events tab to explore past events. What are these events and what do they tell us about how audiences interact with the Teen Vogue brand?
8) Go to the Teen Vogue Instagram page. How many followers do they have on Instagram?
9) How does the Instagram feed differ from other social media channels?
10) What examples of digital convergence and synergy can you find on Teen Vogue social media including the Teen Vogue YouTube channel? (E.g. opportunities to engage with the brand across different platforms).
Industry is the final key concept to address in this in-depth study. It's important to remember that the exam question could cover anything from how Teen Vogue makes money to what attracts audiences to their social media pages. This means we need comprehensive knowledge across the board.
Notes from the lesson
Industry: Conde Nast
Teen Vogue is owned and published by Condé Nast, an American media organisation that publishes around 20 magazines including Vogue, GQ and Wired. The company targets a wide range of different audiences – 164 million consumers across its brands.
In March 2018, Condé Nast announced the launch of Influencer Platform Next Gen, a digital campaign that links advertisers and content creation. The goal is to “connect to a new generation of audience”.
Income sources
Teen Vogue’s main source of income is through selling advertising space online – adverts that are targeted using browsing history.
However, they also monetise their customer data and loyalty, encouraging readers to register online for updates, offers and access to the ‘Insider’ area of the website. This data can then be sold to other companies or used to attract ‘advertorial’ or sponsored content.
Teen Vogue also makes money through YouTube with plenty of 1m+ views on their video content. This is an example of digital convergence – a traditionally print-based product moving into multimedia and accessible on one device.
Finally, they run events such as the Teen Vogue summit and US tour.
Teen Vogue: fashion industry player
Although Teen Vogue has been creating headlines for its political content in recent years, it is also an important part of the fashion industry. Both editorial content and advertising is designed to create a strong desire in their audience for products featured. This links to Condé Nast’s role as a major media company interested in maximising profit.
Some argue that Teen Vogue’s more diverse coverage offers a form of public service through its political coverage. But are features criticising capitalism hypocritical when the brand is owned by a media giant like Condé Nast?
Teen Vogue: Industry and social media blog tasks
Create a new blogpost called 'Teen Vogue Industry and social media' and work through the following tasks to complete the final aspects of your Teen Vogue case study:
Industry: Condé Nast
1) Research Teen Vogue publisher Condé Nast. What other magazines do they publish and how much money did they make last year?
2) What are Teen Vogue’s main sources of income?
3) How are traditionally print-based products like Teen Vogue diversifying to create new income streams?
4) Why is sponsored content and ‘advertorial’ particularly important in media linked to the fashion industry?
5) Do you view Teen Vogue’s content as a form of public service media or is Condé Nast simply interested in clicks and profit?
Closure of print edition research
Read the following short articles to learn the background to Condé Nast's decision to close the print edition of Teen Vogue in 2016 and then answer the questions below:
BBC: Teen Vogue: How will going online-only affect readers?
New York Times: Condé Nast Ends Teen Vogue’s Print Run
Folio: Your Teen Vogue Hot Takes Are All Wrong
1) Why does the BBC suggest “Teen Vogue’s digital game is strong”?
2) What does the BBC suggest is responsible for the Teen Vogue website’s success?
3) How did Teen Vogue justify the closure of the print magazine?
4) In the BBC article, David Hepworth suggests there is a risk to going digital-only. What is it?
5) How do online-only publications make money?
6) What does Sarah Penny suggest regarding audience consumption for print and digital – and how might it be changing for Generation-Z?
7) What does the New York Times say Conde Nast is known for?
8) The New York Times states that Conde Nast expects to bring in less revenue in 2017 than 2016… by how much?
9) The Folio article also looks at the switch from print to digital. Pick out a statistic that justifies the digital-only approach.
10) Finally, Folio also highlights some of the aspects we have studied elsewhere. Pick out two quotes from the article that link to our work on the Teen Vogue audience, representation or design.
Social media analysis
Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of Teen Vogue's social media presence:
1) Look at the Teen Vogue Twitter feed (you don’t need to sign up to Twitter to see it but may need to log-in at home). How many followers does Teen Vogue have?
2) Now look at the content. Classify the first 20 tweets you can see using the sections on the Teen Vogue website: News & Politics, Fashion, Entertainment, Beauty, Lifestyle, Wellness and Homecoming. What does the Twitter feed focus on most? Does this differ to the website?
3) How are the tweets and headlines written? Can you find examples of clickbait?
4) How does the Twitter feed use videos and images?
5) Analyse the Teen Vogue Facebook page. How many ‘likes’ and ‘follows’ do they have?
6) Click on the Videos link on the left-hand menu. What type of content do the videos feature? Does this differ to the website or Twitter feed?
7) Now look at the Events tab to explore past events. What are these events and what do they tell us about how audiences interact with the Teen Vogue brand?
8) Go to the Teen Vogue Instagram page. How many followers do they have on Instagram?
9) How does the Instagram feed differ from other social media channels?
10) What examples of digital convergence and synergy can you find on Teen Vogue social media including the Teen Vogue YouTube channel? (E.g. opportunities to engage with the brand across different platforms).
This is your final set of blog tasks for Teen Vogue and will complete your comprehensive case study for this in-depth CSP. Complete for homework - due on Monday 3 December.
Monday, November 19, 2018
OSP: Teen Vogue - Audience and Representation
Teen Vogue offers a huge amount to discuss and write about for the concepts of audience and representation.
The exam could focus on anything from the changing nature of digital audiences to how certain groups or issues are represented in Teen Vogue online.
Notes from the lesson
Audience
Although the brand name suggests a teenage audience, the typical Teen Vogue reader has evolved in recent years. The move to more political content has broadened the appeal and changed the genre – young women now expect more from their media.
The ‘Campus Life’ section in Lifestyle also suggests an older readership. However, the audience is still interested in celebrity content and beauty – which Teen Vogue addresses by featuring the ‘opinion leaders’ (two-step flow) of social media.
Generation X: Born between 1965 – 1980
Millennials / Generation Y: Born between 1981 – 1995
Generation Z (or iGen): Born 1996 – 2010
Representation
Changing representations
Feminist bloggers and websites such as Rookie and liberal blog Jezebel have been credited with changing the representation of women and feminism in the digital age.
This can be linked to Clay Shirky’s ‘end of audience’ theory with digital influencers changing the media landscape for women – and established mainstream brands like Teen Vogue are following to stay relevant.
Create a new blogpost called 'Teen Vogue Audience and Representation' and work through the following tasks to complete the audience and representation aspects of your Teen Vogue case study:
Audience
1) Analyse the Conde Nast media pack for Teen Vogue. What is the Teen Vogue mission statement and what does this tell us about the target audience and audience pleasures?
2) What is the target audience for Teen Vogue? Use the media pack to pick out key aspects of the audience demographics. Also, consider the psychographic groups that would be attracted to Teen Vogue: make specific reference to the website design or certain articles to support your points regarding this.
3) What audience pleasures or gratifications can be found in Teen Vogue? Do these differ from the gratifications of traditional print-based magazines?
4) How is the audience positioned to respond to political news stories?
5) How does Teen Vogue encourage audiences to interact with the brand – and each other – on social media? The ‘tentpoles and editorial pillars’ section of the media pack may help with this question.
The exam could focus on anything from the changing nature of digital audiences to how certain groups or issues are represented in Teen Vogue online.
Notes from the lesson
Audience
Although the brand name suggests a teenage audience, the typical Teen Vogue reader has evolved in recent years. The move to more political content has broadened the appeal and changed the genre – young women now expect more from their media.
The ‘Campus Life’ section in Lifestyle also suggests an older readership. However, the audience is still interested in celebrity content and beauty – which Teen Vogue addresses by featuring the ‘opinion leaders’ (two-step flow) of social media.
Generations
Generation X: Born between 1965 – 1980
Millennials / Generation Y: Born between 1981 – 1995
Generation Z (or iGen): Born 1996 – 2010
Teen Vogue: political positioning
Teen Vogue generally takes a liberal, left-wing political stance and positions its readers to become active in their support:
- Pro-feminist
- Pro-gender fluidity and gender identity
- Supports LGBT equality
- Pro-multiculturalism
- Supports Black Lives Matter
- Pro-environment (accepting science on climate change)
- Pro-choice (abortion)
Teen Vogue: audience interaction
How does Teen Vogue encourage audience interaction?
- Activism
- Social media
- ‘Clickbait’ and first-person headlines
- Events – Teen Vogue summit
Representation
Changing representations
Feminist bloggers and websites such as Rookie and liberal blog Jezebel have been credited with changing the representation of women and feminism in the digital age.
This can be linked to Clay Shirky’s ‘end of audience’ theory with digital influencers changing the media landscape for women – and established mainstream brands like Teen Vogue are following to stay relevant.
Teen Vogue: Audience and Representation blog tasks
Create a new blogpost called 'Teen Vogue Audience and Representation' and work through the following tasks to complete the audience and representation aspects of your Teen Vogue case study:
Audience
1) Analyse the Conde Nast media pack for Teen Vogue. What is the Teen Vogue mission statement and what does this tell us about the target audience and audience pleasures?
2) What is the target audience for Teen Vogue? Use the media pack to pick out key aspects of the audience demographics. Also, consider the psychographic groups that would be attracted to Teen Vogue: make specific reference to the website design or certain articles to support your points regarding this.
3) What audience pleasures or gratifications can be found in Teen Vogue? Do these differ from the gratifications of traditional print-based magazines?
4) How is the audience positioned to respond to political news stories?
5) How does Teen Vogue encourage audiences to interact with the brand – and each other – on social media? The ‘tentpoles and editorial pillars’ section of the media pack may help with this question.
Representations
1) Look again at the Conde Nast media pack for Teen Vogue. What do the ‘tentpoles and editorial pillars’ (key events and features throughout the year) suggest about the representation of women and teenage girls on teenvogue.com?
2) How are issues of gender identity and sexuality represented in Teen Vogue?
3) Do representations of appearance or beauty in Teen Vogue reinforce or challenge traditional stereotypes?
4) What is the patriarchy and how does Teen Vogue challenge it? Does it succeed?
5) Does Teen Vogue reinforce or challenge typical representations of celebrity?
Feature: how Teen Vogue represents the changing nature of media aimed at women
Read this Quartz feature - The true story of how Teen Vogue got mad, got woke, and began terrifying men like Donald Trump - and answer the following questions:
1) How was the Teen Vogue op-ed on Donald Trump received on social media?
2) How have newspapers and magazines generally categorised and targeted news by gender?
3) How is this gender bias still present in the modern media landscape?
4) What impact did the alternative women’s website Jezebel have on the women’s magazine market?
5) Do you agree with the writer that female audiences can enjoy celebrity news and beauty tips alongside hard-hitting political coverage? Does this explain the recent success of Teen Vogue?
6) How does the writer suggest feminists used to be represented in the media?
7) What is the more modern representation of feminism? Do you agree that this makes feminism ‘stereotyped as fluffy’?
8) What contrasting audience pleasures for Teen Vogue are suggested by the writer in the article as a whole?
9) The writer suggests that this change in representation and audience pleasures for media products aimed at women has emerged from the feminist-blog movement. How can this be linked to Clay Shirky’s ‘end of audience’ theory?
10) Is Teen Vogue simply a product of the Trump presidency or will websites and magazines aimed at women continue to become more hard-hitting and serious in their offering to audiences?
There is plenty to work on here as this needs to cover two of the key concepts for this in-depth CSP. Complete for homework - due on Wednesday 28 November.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Lecture opportunity and textbooks
If you are applying to university (or thinking of doing so next year) then there are plenty of extra-curricular activities that will elevate your application above other students.
One of these is attending free lectures at London universities on topics related to your subjects or potential degree. The other is reading academic books related to your subjects to demonstrate that you read around the subject.
Gresham College lecture: Has the Internet Changed News for Better or Worse?
Gresham College is running a FREE lecture aimed at media and journalism students on how the internet has changed news. Year 13 students have just studied this topic (and continue to study online, social and participatory media) and Year 12 students will be covering this later in the course.
The lecture is free to attend - you simply need to turn up to the venue, Barnard's Inn Hall, 30 minutes before the start. You can find directions here. Remember you'll be in a professional, academic environment and need to act accordingly. It appears that it will also be broadcast live over YouTube from the link above so that's another way to engage with the lecture.
Reading around the subject
Reading books by some of our media theorists is a great way to expanding your knowledge across A Level Media. The books on the bookshelf in DF07 will give you an introduction to the type of books you could read - something like Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody is accessible and relevant - but you'll need to get your own copy as we unfortunately can't lend out the media copies of the books. The library has some of these books available to borrow and the librarians can point you in the direction of the Media and Film section.
A Level Media Textbooks
As previously advertised, there are now two textbooks available for the new specification AQA A Level Media Studies course. We would strongly recommend you buy both textbooks as collectively they cover the whole course in terms of subject content and also feature many of the CSPs that will come up in the exams. We now have copies of these books in school so you can see what they're like.
The details:
AQA MEDIA STUDIES FOR A LEVEL YR 1 & AS: STUDENT BOOK
AQA MEDIA STUDIES FOR A LEVEL YEAR 2: STUDENT BOOK
One of these is attending free lectures at London universities on topics related to your subjects or potential degree. The other is reading academic books related to your subjects to demonstrate that you read around the subject.
Gresham College lecture: Has the Internet Changed News for Better or Worse?
Gresham College is running a FREE lecture aimed at media and journalism students on how the internet has changed news. Year 13 students have just studied this topic (and continue to study online, social and participatory media) and Year 12 students will be covering this later in the course.
The lecture is free to attend - you simply need to turn up to the venue, Barnard's Inn Hall, 30 minutes before the start. You can find directions here. Remember you'll be in a professional, academic environment and need to act accordingly. It appears that it will also be broadcast live over YouTube from the link above so that's another way to engage with the lecture.
Reading around the subject
Reading books by some of our media theorists is a great way to expanding your knowledge across A Level Media. The books on the bookshelf in DF07 will give you an introduction to the type of books you could read - something like Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody is accessible and relevant - but you'll need to get your own copy as we unfortunately can't lend out the media copies of the books. The library has some of these books available to borrow and the librarians can point you in the direction of the Media and Film section.
A Level Media Textbooks
As previously advertised, there are now two textbooks available for the new specification AQA A Level Media Studies course. We would strongly recommend you buy both textbooks as collectively they cover the whole course in terms of subject content and also feature many of the CSPs that will come up in the exams. We now have copies of these books in school so you can see what they're like.
The details:
AQA MEDIA STUDIES FOR A LEVEL YR 1 & AS: STUDENT BOOK
- NEW SPEC: AQA Media Studies for A Level Yr 1 & AS: Student Book
- AUTHOR(S): Stephanie Hendry, Elspeth Stevenson
- AWARDING BODY: AQA
- LEVEL: A Level Year 1 & AS
- ISBN: 978-1-911208-03-7
- SUBJECT: Media Studies
- PAGES: 272pp
AQA MEDIA STUDIES FOR A LEVEL YEAR 2: STUDENT BOOK
- AQA Media Studies for A Level Year 2: Student Book
- AUTHOR(S): Stephanie Hendry, Elspeth Stevenson
- AWARDING BODY: AQA
- LEVEL: A Level Year 2
- ISBN: 978-1-911208-09-9
- SUBJECT: Media Studies
Ongoing homework: TWO news stories a week
As you know, in Year 13 you have an ongoing homework EVERY week of the year without fail: to find, read and post TWO news stories on your blog.
For this half-term, we will focus on our Online, Social and Participatory CSPs - Teen Vogue and The Voice website.
The details: every week you must find, read, summarise and comment upon one news story from Teen Vogue and one news story from The Voice (A*-B candidates will do more).
You'll also find stories related to the media linked from our Twitter account, @blogmacguffin (access it online here if you don't have the Twitter app) so make sure you're following that too.
Most importantly, you need to do the following on your blog for each story...
What will this look like? Although this was for a slightly different task for the old specification Year 13 exam, this blog post from one of our previous Media students gives you an idea of what a valuable resource these stories quickly become.
Due: EVERY week - no excuses. Exact day set by your exam class teacher.
For this half-term, we will focus on our Online, Social and Participatory CSPs - Teen Vogue and The Voice website.
The details: every week you must find, read, summarise and comment upon one news story from Teen Vogue and one news story from The Voice (A*-B candidates will do more).
You'll also find stories related to the media linked from our Twitter account, @blogmacguffin (access it online here if you don't have the Twitter app) so make sure you're following that too.
Most importantly, you need to do the following on your blog for each story...
- Provide the title and weblink;
- Include a relevant image, graphic or screenshot;
- Summarise the story in your own words: is this is an example of hard news or soft news?
- Explain how or why this story appeals to an audience (use media terminology and theory here).
- Comment on the story: to what extent does it reflect the values and ideologies of the website? Is this an example of quality journalism or simply clickbait?
What will this look like? Although this was for a slightly different task for the old specification Year 13 exam, this blog post from one of our previous Media students gives you an idea of what a valuable resource these stories quickly become.
Due: EVERY week - no excuses. Exact day set by your exam class teacher.
Monday, November 12, 2018
OSP: Teen Vogue - background and textual analysis
Our first Online, Social and Participatory CSP is Teen Vogue - the former print magazine turned online sensation.
Woke definition: a political term of African American origin that refers to an awareness of issues concerning social justice.
This means Teen Vogue covers issues of politics, racism and gender identity… and amazingly has expanded the appeal and reach of the brand while doing do.
Teen Vogue: background reading and textual analysis blog tasks
Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of the Teen Vogue website and read notable Teen Vogue articles to refer to in exam answers.
Teen Vogue has generated a huge amount of coverage (and attracted a significant audience) by re-positioning the magazine as a socially conscious political hub for young women.
Notes from the lesson
Teen Vogue: background
Teen Vogue was launched in 2003 as a print magazine ‘little sister’ title to US Vogue. It focused on fashion and celebrity and was a conventional magazine aimed at teenage girls.
In 2015, in response to declining sales, the magazine cut back its print distribution and focused on digital content. After single-copy sales dropped 50% in the first six months of 2016 alone, the magazine went quarterly (four issues a year) before announcing the closure of the print magazine completely in November 2017.
In 2015, in response to declining sales, the magazine cut back its print distribution and focused on digital content. After single-copy sales dropped 50% in the first six months of 2016 alone, the magazine went quarterly (four issues a year) before announcing the closure of the print magazine completely in November 2017.
Online growth
Led by digital director Phillip Picardi, the Teen Vogue website grew substantially as the print magazine declined.
Between January 2016 and 2017, Teen Vogue’s online traffic rocketed from 2.9m US visitors to 7.9m. The magazine then surpassed 10m unique users later in 2017. In addition, the magazine has 6m Facebook likes, 3.5m Twitter followers and a huge following on Snapchat.
Led by digital director Phillip Picardi, the Teen Vogue website grew substantially as the print magazine declined.
Between January 2016 and 2017, Teen Vogue’s online traffic rocketed from 2.9m US visitors to 7.9m. The magazine then surpassed 10m unique users later in 2017. In addition, the magazine has 6m Facebook likes, 3.5m Twitter followers and a huge following on Snapchat.
Evolution and activism
The spectacular digital growth of Teen Vogue has been credited to the editor Elaine Welteroth and digital guru Picardi leading the magazine in a radically different direction to traditional teenage magazines.
Focusing on politics, activism and feminism, the magazine has developed a reputation for high-quality journalism while recruiting millions of socially-conscious, educated readers.
Focusing on politics, activism and feminism, the magazine has developed a reputation for high-quality journalism while recruiting millions of socially-conscious, educated readers.
'Woke'
Teen Vogue considers itself a ‘woke’ brand.
Teen Vogue considers itself a ‘woke’ brand.
Woke definition: a political term of African American origin that refers to an awareness of issues concerning social justice.
This means Teen Vogue covers issues of politics, racism and gender identity… and amazingly has expanded the appeal and reach of the brand while doing do.
Teen Vogue: background reading and textual analysis blog tasks
Work through the following tasks to complete your first case study on Teen Vogue.
Teen Vogue: background reading
Read this Guardian feature from 2017 on Teen Vogue and
answer the following questions.
1) What was the article that announced Teen Vogue as a more
serious, political website – with 1.3m hits and counting?
2) When was the original Teen Vogue magazine launched and what
was its original content?
3) How did editor Elaine Welteroth change Teen Vogue’s
approach in 2015?
4) How many stories are published on Teen Vogue a day? What topics
do they cover?
5) What influence did digital director Phillip Picardi have
over the editorial direction?
6) What is Teen Vogue’s audience demographic and what does ‘woke’
refer to?
7) What issues are most important to Teen Vogue readers?
8) What does Tavi Gevinson suggest regarding the internet
and ‘accountability culture’ with regards to modern audiences? Can you link
this to our work on Clay Shirky?
9) What social and political issues have been covered successfully
by Teen Vogue?
10) What do Teen Vogue readers think of the magazine and website?
Teen Vogue textual analysis and example articles
Homepage analysis
Go to the Teen Vogue homepage and answer the following:
1) What website key conventions can you find on the Teen
Vogue homepage?
2) How does the page design encourage audience engagement?
3) Where does advertising appear on the homepage?
4) What are the items in the top menu bar and what does this
tell you about the content of Teen Vogue?
5) How far does the homepage scroll down? How many stories
appear on the homepage in total?
Lifestyle section
Now analyse the Lifestyle section of Teen Vogue and answer
the following:
1) What are the items in the top menu bar for the Lifestyle
section?
2) How is the Lifestyle section designed to encouragement
audience engagement? Think about page design, images, text and more.
3) What do you notice about the way headlines are written in
Teen Vogue?
4) What does the focus on education, university and ‘campus life’
tell you about the Teen Vogue audience demographics and psychographics?
5) Choose three stories featured in the Lifestyle section –
why do they fit the Teen Vogue brand?
Five key articles
Read the following five notable Teen Vogue features then
answer the questions below for EACH feature.
For each article:
1) Who is the writer and what is the article about?
2) How does the article use narrative to engage the reader?
Try and apply narrative theory here if possible.
3) Why is this article significant?
4) How does this article reflect the values and ideologies
of the modern Teen Vogue?
There is plenty to work on here - you will need to complete the majority for homework due to the cinema trips over the next couple of weeks. Due date: specified by your exam class teacher.
Tuesday, November 06, 2018
Coursework: Film poster research and pre-production
With our film trailers in production, we need to turn our attention in class to the second half of the brief - print.
The three film posters are as important as the trailer in terms of marks so it's vital we properly research and plan our print production work.
What do you need to produce?
You should create three posters to help promote the same feature film. You should identify the typical placement locations for each poster.
Each poster should be different and target a specific segment of the target audience. Specifically:
Each poster should use a different image but the advertising campaign should appear coherent. Audiences should recognise each poster as being part of the same campaign.
Minimum requirements
Film posters: Research and planning tasks
Create a blogpost called 'Film poster research and pre-production' and work through the following tasks to complete your research and planning for the print side of the brief:
Film poster conventions
Do some generic research on film posters.
1) List the key conventions of a film poster.
2) What makes a film poster instantly recognisable?
3) What are regarded as some of the best film posters of all time? Why?
4) Look back at your statement of intent. What are you planning to produce in terms of your film posters? Can you take inspiration from your research above?
Film poster research - genre
Go back to the five film trailers you researched in your chosen genre (and additional films if you wish). For each film, find at least three different film posters for the film and analyse the following:
1) What conventions are the same on each poster for the same film (i.e. the film's consistent branding)?
2) What differences can your find between the alternative posters for the same film?
3) What target audience do you think each poster is targeting and why? How can you tell?
4) What can you use from these posters in your own film poster planning and production?
Planning and sketching
1) Create a spider diagram or bullet point list of everything you plan to include in your film posters AND all the ways you could target the three target audience segments outlined in the brief: fans of the genre, males, females. Make sure you also create a local film festival in order to meet this aspect of the brief.
2) Produce an A4 sketch for your first film poster, adding significant detail in terms of text and planned images (you don't need to draw the image if you don't want to - but must offer a detailed text-based description if not). Clearly label which segment of the target audience you are aiming for with this poster and where the poster will be displayed (outside location, magazine or newspaper etc.) Remember that each poster can either be landscape or portrait and also needs to link to the local film festival that will be screening the film (see details in brief above). When you have sketched the poster, scan or photograph it and add it to your blogpost.
3) Produce an A4 sketch for your second film poster, clearly identifying the segment of the target audience this poster will be aiming at. Pay particular attention to details you will either keep consistent (to create a brand identity and cover the local film festival aspect) or change (to alter the target audience). When you have sketched the poster, scan or photograph it and add it to your blogpost.
4) Produce an A4 sketch for your third film poster, clearly identifying the segment of the target audience this poster will be aiming at. Pay particular attention to details you will either keep consistent (to create a brand identity and cover the local film festival aspect) or change (to alter the target audience). When you have sketched the poster, scan or photograph it and add it to your blogpost.
Photoshoot planning
1) Which of your characters will appear on each poster? If the characters will be the same on each poster, how will you differentiate the images?
2) What images do you need for each film poster? Write a detailed description.
3) Write a shot list for the photoshoot(s). Make sure you plan a variety of camera shots you will look to capture (medium shots, close-ups etc.) to give yourself flexibility when designing the posters in Photoshop later. Will the photoshoot be out on location or in school with the white backdrop and lighting?
4) What costume, props or make-up will you require for the photoshoot(s)?
This planning should take around a week - perhaps slightly longer if you are currently filming. However, it is absolutely critical that you complete this pre-production work if you are to create three professional-level film posters.
Print planning deadline: Friday 23 November
The three film posters are as important as the trailer in terms of marks so it's vital we properly research and plan our print production work.
What do you need to produce?
You should create three posters to help promote the same feature film. You should identify the typical placement locations for each poster.
Each poster should be different and target a specific segment of the target audience. Specifically:
- Fans of the genre
- Females
- Males
Each poster should use a different image but the advertising campaign should appear coherent. Audiences should recognise each poster as being part of the same campaign.
Minimum requirements
- Appropriate layout and design choices for each poster
- Three different posters, each identifying a specific segment of the target audience
- A common visual style to the overall campaign creating a recognisable brand for the film
- At least three original images across the three posters with a different dominant image in each poster – these must be images generated specifically for the posters
- Images should be created and chosen to appeal to the specific segment of the target audience
- Appropriate choice of tagline for the film and each poster
- Appropriate choices of font, type sizes and colours to create meaning
- Appropriate consideration of the industrial context of production
Film posters: Research and planning tasks
Create a blogpost called 'Film poster research and pre-production' and work through the following tasks to complete your research and planning for the print side of the brief:
Film poster conventions
Do some generic research on film posters.
1) List the key conventions of a film poster.
2) What makes a film poster instantly recognisable?
3) What are regarded as some of the best film posters of all time? Why?
4) Look back at your statement of intent. What are you planning to produce in terms of your film posters? Can you take inspiration from your research above?
Film poster research - genre
Go back to the five film trailers you researched in your chosen genre (and additional films if you wish). For each film, find at least three different film posters for the film and analyse the following:
1) What conventions are the same on each poster for the same film (i.e. the film's consistent branding)?
2) What differences can your find between the alternative posters for the same film?
3) What target audience do you think each poster is targeting and why? How can you tell?
4) What can you use from these posters in your own film poster planning and production?
Planning and sketching
1) Create a spider diagram or bullet point list of everything you plan to include in your film posters AND all the ways you could target the three target audience segments outlined in the brief: fans of the genre, males, females. Make sure you also create a local film festival in order to meet this aspect of the brief.
2) Produce an A4 sketch for your first film poster, adding significant detail in terms of text and planned images (you don't need to draw the image if you don't want to - but must offer a detailed text-based description if not). Clearly label which segment of the target audience you are aiming for with this poster and where the poster will be displayed (outside location, magazine or newspaper etc.) Remember that each poster can either be landscape or portrait and also needs to link to the local film festival that will be screening the film (see details in brief above). When you have sketched the poster, scan or photograph it and add it to your blogpost.
3) Produce an A4 sketch for your second film poster, clearly identifying the segment of the target audience this poster will be aiming at. Pay particular attention to details you will either keep consistent (to create a brand identity and cover the local film festival aspect) or change (to alter the target audience). When you have sketched the poster, scan or photograph it and add it to your blogpost.
4) Produce an A4 sketch for your third film poster, clearly identifying the segment of the target audience this poster will be aiming at. Pay particular attention to details you will either keep consistent (to create a brand identity and cover the local film festival aspect) or change (to alter the target audience). When you have sketched the poster, scan or photograph it and add it to your blogpost.
Photoshoot planning
1) Which of your characters will appear on each poster? If the characters will be the same on each poster, how will you differentiate the images?
2) What images do you need for each film poster? Write a detailed description.
3) Write a shot list for the photoshoot(s). Make sure you plan a variety of camera shots you will look to capture (medium shots, close-ups etc.) to give yourself flexibility when designing the posters in Photoshop later. Will the photoshoot be out on location or in school with the white backdrop and lighting?
4) What costume, props or make-up will you require for the photoshoot(s)?
This planning should take around a week - perhaps slightly longer if you are currently filming. However, it is absolutely critical that you complete this pre-production work if you are to create three professional-level film posters.
Print planning deadline: Friday 23 November
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