Final revision class available 9.00-11.00 in G:14.
Remember:
Representation
It’s impossible to portray every aspect of an individual in a photograph, or even in a feature film, so certain features of their personality and appearance get highlighted, and are often enhanced, when it comes to constructing the representation that the audience will see. When representing a person, media texts often focus on their:
- Age
- Gender
- Race/Ethnicity
- Financial Status
- Job
- Culture/nationality
Signs and symbols are used as a kind of visual shorthand to represent these attributes.
Audience –
Creating Audience
Once a media text has been made, its producers need to ensure that it reaches the audience it is intended for. All media texts will have some sort of marketing campaign attached to them. Elements of this might include
- posters
- print, radio, TV and internet advertisements
- trailers
- promotional interviews (eg stars appearing on chat shows, information leaked to Internet bloggers)
- tie-in campaigns (eg a blockbuster movie using McDonalds meals)
- merchandising (t-shirts, baseball caps, key rings)
Marketing campaigns are intended to create awareness of a media text. Once that awareness has been created, hopefully audiences will come flocking in their hundreds of millions.
Why is genre important for …
Producers of media texts?
- Gives a pattern for construction, a template
- Genre pieces have an established audience who are easy to market to
- Certain personnel can develop their skills working within a particular genre (e.g. horror make up specialists)
- Stars can associate themselves with a particular genre e.g. Will Ferrell is known for a certain type of slapstick comedy, and his face on a poster instantly tells audiences what kind of movie they are likely to see if he is in it.
- Fans of a genre know the codes, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel all the time
Distributors?
- Clear channels for marketing and distribution — easily targetable audience
- Concentration of distribution resources — no point in trying to get eg football matches to a non-sports audience
- Fans of a genre as a whole can easily be persuaded to buy other texts in the same genre eg dance music compilation CDs
- Provides a structure for retail outlets
