Media Language : Stereotypical Representations

Bond Poster Assessment Task

This is an advertising poster for a new James Bond movie, it is designed to grab people’s attention, show what the films about/involves and encourages people to go and watch the film. This product is produced by an advertising company which produces adverts for things like new films and designs posters that are suitable for the cinema, target audience and the film itself. The target audience for this product would be people, mainly men or teens who are big fans of the James Bond movies and other action movies. 

Denotations: It is a movie poster for the new James Bond movie ‘Spectre’. There is a man, holding a gun which suggests he could be the stereotypical ‘hero’ in action-adventure films and a lot of fighting or shooting would take place, also seen in most action films, especially Bond movies. There is also a woman, wearing a glamorous dress so from this you can infer that she could be the ‘hero’s’ helper but also his 'love interest'. These are both stereotypical characters from action-adventure movies. This movie poster connotes that the man and woman will most likely fall in love as the woman will be helping Bond and around him most of the time. In most action-adventure films, the stereotypical main characters fall in love, as it adds more entertainment and because they work together a lot of the time, however in a lot of action-adventure films they fall in love because the ‘hero’ saves the ‘princess’ so it becomes a happy ending. I can also infer there will be lots of shooting and fighting scenes as a gun is used in the main title/logo and Bond is always seen with a gun. 

The representations in this product would be the man and the woman as they are seen as stereotypes because Bond is the strong, brave and handsome ‘hero’ who does all the fighting and protects the woman and has the main role in this movie. The woman is the helper and the ‘love interest', you can infer this from how she is wearing a long, tight and silver dress with her hair and makeup done nicely. The way Bond is standing in-front of the woman shows his power and how he is more dominant.

The product has been designed so it appeals to the audience as the main character, James Bond, is on it and most people should recognise him, especially if they are already big fans of the Bond movies. A gun is used in the logo and as a prop so people will know this is an action-adventure film and will include a lot of fight scenes which appeals to men but can also appeal to women, especially how a woman is one of the main characters. 

The typography is very clear and easy to read and the white background helps all the text and pictures stand out more. The main information, like the title, logo and date of when it's coming out, stands out however the information that isn't as important but still needs to be on there is in a smaller size and at the bottom so it isn't as easy to read, unless up close. 

History Of Magazines

History Of Magazines

Magazines used to be called periodicals.

The word 'magazine' was invented in the 1580s and comes from the Arabic word 'Makhzan', meaning 'storehouse'.

Before the 19th century ordinary ops were called magazines, this is why Charles Dickens books like 'The Great Expectations' and 'A Christmas Carol' are so big nowadays because before the 19th century they were published in chapters as magazines. 

It was during the 19th century that the word 'magazine' started to mean periodicals.

One of the earliest examples of a modern magazine was the magazine called "Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen" meaning 'Edifying Monthly Discussion", this was created by German theologian and poet, Johann Rist in 1663.

In the 1700s literacy and intellectual ability increased, especially among women, society needs or knowledge mean that magazines became a popular cultural staple.

Three English printers produced three essay magazines that set the stage for modern magazines, they were published several times a week which resembled our model newspaper. However their content was more similar to our modern magazines.

In London, in 1731 an Englishman called Edward Cave published a periodical called 'The Gentleman's Magazine' ad this was the first general interest magazine.

In 1900 British magazines were widely distributed around the UK and US.

In 1918 on the 11^th of November, when the first world war ended, ‘War Illustrated’ launched a competition for readers to choose a new name, as the war had ended, so it became ‘News Illustrated’.

In 1933 photo-based news magazines started to appear in the UK.

In 1936 the BBC launched the worlds first regular television service from Alexandra Palace in London, ‘Mickey Mouse Weekly’ printed in a full-colour gravure, Billboard publishes US pop music chart and Nast mergers ‘Vanity Fair’ with ‘Vogue’.

In 1937 ‘Dandy’ comic launched by DC Thompson, ushering in a new style of drawing and a wealth of characters, ‘Marie Claire’ was launched in France by Jean Prouvost and ‘Saturday Evening Post’ sold 3 million copies a week which was the largest circulation in the US.

In 1938 the ‘Beano’ comic was launched, ‘Match’ was launched by Jean Prouvost and the US radio advertising revenue beats magazines.

In 1939 on September 3^rd, war was declared between Britain and Germany so paper shortages forced closures and launches were prohibited.

In 1972, ‘Cosmopolitan UK’ had its first international edition, ‘Under Joyce Hopkirk’ went on to be one the world’s best-selling woman’s magazine and the US magazine ‘Life’ closed with a bumper issue on December 29^th. The loss of advertising to TV and the high cost of postage were the blame for four year of losses.

In 1990, the BBC/Redwood launched ‘Good Food’ which took sectors by storm and titles such as ‘Gardeners world’ and ‘Top Gear’ had a similar effect, the ‘World Wide Web was described by Tim Berners-Lee and ‘Entertainment Weekly’ was launched in the US.

In 2011 on 8th July, Rupert Murdock announced the closure of the 200-year-old Sunday newspaper, the 'News of the World' after widespread phone-hacking exposed. BBC Worldwide agreed to sell or license its magazines to 'Exponent' for £121 million and offload India joint venture.

Me and The Media

My relationship with the media is normal for my age however for the older generation its probably not was would be seen as normal, this is because i spend most of my day on my phone, i will look at it and use it a lot of times whether its to listen to music, watch videos, talk to people, look on social media platforms like snapchat, Instagram and Facebook or use the internet. In this entertain it wouldn't be normal to be without a phone for long period of time otherwise you would start to miss it.

Click here to see the Global social media research summary for 2017

Here is a photo popular and regularly used social media platfoms 

Here is a youtube video explaining how the media controls society.