Steve Neale:

Suggests threes a corpus containing repertoires (conventions) of different elements o f which you can choose which ones are used.

Genres draw on repertoires from elements and the main tensions are between repetition and sameness versus variation and change.

Products must maintain some element of familiarity through the repetition of genre conventions but also must provoke excitement through difference, for example hybrid genres.

I am producing two products for set brief 3. I have selected this because I am very interested in producing print media, such as posters and magazines. I find the film aspect intriguing and want to develop my skills in both print and film. I have chosen brief 3 because the idea of promoting a romantic coming of age film has many theoretical lenses in which I can investigate. I am particularly interested in exploring gender theories where I can play on stereotypes and explore the male and female gaze. I aim for my NEA product to explore modern views on gender stereotypes and how over time the film industry is changing to appeal to newer contemporary audiences. 

My products target audience will be fans of independent films, who are 13–20-year-old females. They will be teens and young adults who are fans of the coming of age genre specifically as the universal theme of love often appeals to them. According to the Psychographic profiling (Rubicam and Young), I am targeting ‘mainstreamers’ and ‘strugglers.’ In terms of uses and gratifications, I aim to create a product that entertains audiences through the eccentric narrative arc and diegesis and to provide escapism as the audience becomes immersed in the film’s themes of love, excitement, and growth. Furthermore, the register of my products’ text will be rather casual in order to appeal to younger audiences and provide relatability and familiarity. Therefore, my aim is to draw in fans of traditional coming of age movies and provide a unique perspective on the film.  

As I often watch romantic/coming of age movies, I already have an understanding of the genre conventions that often appear, and so I can ensure that they are present in my product to reflect professional works. For example, the posters of ‘Anyone but you’ use lots of bright colours and have the two main protagonists as the dominant signifier, central to the page. In terms of my TikTok videos, I will use signature music and show the key points of the film yet leaving a cliffhanger at the end to entice the audience to want to watch more.  

I want to exploit the opportunities for media convergence between my products through using the same colour schemes and font styles throughout both my videos and posters as well as repeating the same taglines and slogans throughout my products in order to create a sense of unity. My media products will appear consistent, so audiences can recognize my products are from the same campaign.  

Statement of Aims 

I am going to create a cover for a lifestyle and fashion magazine that aims to empower and support women. I am inspired by mainstream magazines like Vogue and Pride as I intend to merge the styles and conventions of both. I aim to target a demographic audience of primarily women aged 18-35 who enjoy fashion and support some feminist ideologies. 

I plan to do this through featuring a female cover star and including coverlines which appeal to audiences of all ages. My intention for my final product is to have one singular cover image of a girl in her late teens (a mid-shot), gently resting her chin on the top of her hand, staring endearingly into the camera.  The direct mode of address creates a captivating atmosphere to engage audiences and appeal to both female and male demographics. Her chin resting on top of her hand conveys an idea of her staring into a mirror admiring herself (as if being looked at through the female gaze). This supports the aims and intended purpose of the magazine of self-empowerment and encourages its readers to do the same. As for my cover star’s image, she will wear a low cut, pink top with her hair free and down and minimal, dainty jewelry. This will portray her as stereotypically feminine and appeal to similar audiences as they may relate to her, linking to personal identity of uses and gratifications theory and attract a younger demographic. I intend to keep the background of my cover image a simple baby pink to provide a clear focus on the cover star and comply with common conventions of such lifestyle and fashion magazines. The price of my magazine comes to £7.50, suggesting it is a well-established and popular magazine which is foregrounded by the strapline “celebrating 15 years of success”. 

My masthead will be called “aura” which symbolizes the supportive and self-empowering atmosphere and audience. The serif fonts represent the magazine as stereotypically feminine and “girly”, which is emphasized through the colour scheme of pinks, white and grey which further connote accepting your femininity and appealing audiences which such ideologies. My cover lines will consist of themes of self-love, famous feminists and topics such as hair stylists, fashion advice and rom-com movie sneak peaks. An example of some of these being the pull quote “spoiler alert!” in relation to an upcoming romantic movie called ‘Taste of Lust’. This suggests that this is an exclusive offer, and fans of the genre must buy the magazine to witness the sneak peek. Another cover line will include mentions of the magazine’s favourite hair stylists, this encourages sales as the reader may possibly admire to have similar hair to the cover star and so will purchase the magazine to achieve that dream. Although many of the cover lines will contain similar content, it creates a well-established representation of the inside of the magazine and will attract their preferred audience and the small variety of content they do cover will attract a wider demographic of new readers and broaden their audience. 

I am going to create a series of film posters and Instagram posts that will promote a coming-of-age movie about the challenges of a long-distance relationship. I want my poster to highlight the key ideas of youthful love and the hope and happiness it provides. However, turmoil and emotional distress will also be represented atmospherically. This poster will feature in The Gentlewoman magazine and targets the demographic of younger, aspiring women. 

My posters will portray two young protagonists involved in loving and silly poses. This clearly foregrounds feelings of love, tenderness, and bonding with idyllic settings (sand dunes beaches, Jersey landscape) further conveying the generic conventions of romance. I aim for feel-good elements of the movie to also be emphasized through the posters. Close-contact proxemics and intimate body language entice the audience yet also create a bittersweet effect as they learn what is to be lost. This introduces a theme of melancholy. The abundant use of bright and vibrant colors combined with trendy — but also timeless — dressing styles reflect The Gentlewoman magazine’s overall uplifting and empowering intentions. The posters’ use of star power will emphasise the popularity of the actors, musical collaborators, and director (through referencing her previous cinematic success). Additionally, my poster’s landscape displays a large mass of land with the sea in view, connoting the long-distance aspect of the movie.  

In terms of VALs, the potential audience for my film can be described as ‘seekers’ and ‘mainstreamers.’ The advertising campaigns will indicate how one of the main protagonists moves away to chase his dream of football. This appeals to ‘seekers’ who drive for individuality and self-discovery, and so will enjoy his solo adventure of pursuing his career. The theme of love throughout the film relates to mainstreamers’ life choices of ‘we’ rather than ‘me’. Their need for security is also provided through the protagonist’s relationship and blissful ending. My target audience is primarily young women; however, the promotional style of my film may also appeal to anyone who aspires to chase their dream. Especially for people who are scared to take the risk of such a large commitment, my film will inspire them to take that leap.  

According to the ‘Uses and Gratifications’ theory, my film posters overall aesthetic will provide many ways of audience engagement. Audiences will be provided with ‘diversion’ and ‘entertainment’ through the euphoric distraction of romance and self-discovery. The narrative will allow the audience to become immersed in the young couples’ love and drama as they navigate through the troubles of their relationship. They may also relate to ‘personal identity’ through the film’s sales campaign, perhaps if they share similar hobbies or are of the same age as the protagonists. Similarly, they could be living in a rural, small area which allows the audience to relate to the marketing literature. Lastly a ‘personal relationship’ may be established using the star power of Dean Lewis as a music supervisor. This appeals to his fans and provides them with a sense of familiarity and enjoyment. 

My posters and Instagram posts will follow some conventions of The Gentlewoman such as displaying inspirational women. In this case, the female protagonist of my film is aspirational due to her perseverance in challenging times and captivating love for her partner.  

1821 – on 5 May John Edward Taylor publishes the first Manchester Guardian as a newspaper in the liberal interest. It appears weekly on a Saturday for  7d.  

1924 – John Russell Scott buys the Manchester Evening News, bringing both papers under the same ownership. 

1959 – the newspaper changes its title from the Manchester Guardian to the Guardian, to reflect the growing importance of national and international affairs in the newspaper. 

1967 – Guardian Newspapers Ltd and The Manchester Evening News Ltd are formed as wholly owned subsidiary companies of The Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd, each with their own board of directors. 

1972 – The name of the company is changed to The Guardian and Manchester Evening News Ltd (GMEN). 

1973 – Sir Peter Gibbings becomes chair of the company, succeeding Laurence Scott. GMEN acquires 10% of Greater Manchester Independent Radio Limited, owners of Piccadilly Radio. 

2004 – In March, digital editions of the papers launched, allowing access to articles, images and adverts as they appeared in print. In July the soulmates dating service interactive website goes live. The paper also introduces a weekly tabloid edition aimed at students and distributed throughout UK university campuses.