Reception Theory - Topshop

http://www.topshop.com/

Topshop's website is aimed at women aged between 16 and 35. To cater to such a wide audience, they feature clothes that are in trend for all ages in this age bracket. They have also introduced designer brands to represent Topshop like Vivienne Westwood for the older half of the target audience, and have used celebrity endorsement from various people like Rihanna to appeal to the young half of the target audience. They also have offers on the website like student discounts to, again, appeal to the target audience.

Textual Analysis - Baby Face Brides

The first shot in Baby Face Brides is a medium shot of a man in a suit popping a champagne bottle. The connotation of this is celebration. The mise-en-scene in this shot includes flowers, family and people in dresses and suits so this indicates there's a wedding occurring. The music playing over the start is uplifting and happy. This audio code represents the joy that is shared on wedding days and creates a positive representation of the young couple's wedding. This means the representation of age in Baby Face Brides is already positive - the music supports the idea that the day is happy and full of joy, despite the couple being only just legal to be able to marry.

The picture above shows the young couple surrounded by friends and family on this wedding day. The dialogue over the top is from an interview from the previous shot. This, again, is a positive representation of the young couple's relationship because they are admitting their love for each other, and the shot of them kissing as man and wife confirms this. The representation of age continues to be positive regarding young relationships. 

The show is female-dominated. The show itself is called Baby Face Brides so the focus is on the women. This focus on the women suggests the wedding is more anticipated for and planned by the women. Also, most of the interviews and voice overs at the start (before the opening credits) are from the women in the relationship which again, emphasis the fact that the women are more important in the wedding preparations. The woman is stereotypically in charge of most wedding preparations and decisions, and this show supports this stereotype.

Ethnic Minorities

• Exotic
• Dangerous
• Pitied
• Humourous
• Sexualised

Dangerous - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2569892/The-shocking-gallery-guns-drugs-money-posted-online-13-year-old-boy-just-hours-accidently-shot-dead-best-friend.html

The first image we see on this article is a picture of a black, young boy with a gun. This stereotypes all people of this race to be dangerous.

Pitied - http://www.savethechildren.org.uk 

The children shown on this website are from foreign countries in areas of severe poverty. They are shown looking distressed, ill and lonely. They are pitied because we are encouraged to donate money to help the children. 

Sexualised - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2569857/Prince-Andrew-dating-George-Clooneys-ex.html

Daily Mail has labelled Monika Jakisic as "the Croatian model". This mention of ethnicity plays on the fact that they're more exotic and interesting. The article is covered in pictures of the model in little clothing, so she is sexualised. 

Representation - Old

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2552459/Jackie-Stallone-92-cakes-heavy-make-trip-buy-electric-heater.html

The title of this Daily Mail article is "Jackie Stallone, 92, cakes on heavy make-up for trip to buy electric heater", with the tagline "Don't let your face melt! Jackie Stallone, 92, cakes on heavy make-up for trip to buy electric heater". Daily Mail has already stated Stallone's age twice before the article has even begun, meaning her age is something of importance. This is a negative representation of older people because already telling the readers the person's age  means this is the first piece of information we gain from the person, meaning the article is going to be based around that. The comment in the tagline "Don't let your face melt!" can be seen as patronising towards older people because they are stereotypically seen as a bit weak and frail, meaning they might need a bit of help. This 'advice' the Mail is offering to Stallone is giving a negative representation of older people. 

The close-up image of Stallone is focusing on her looks, which is essentially what the article is about due to the title saying "cakes on heavy make-up". This article is just focusing on her age and her looks, giving a negative representation of older people because it's telling readers that you have to maintain your looks at an older age.

Representation - Female

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2549143/Amy-Willerton-looks-pretty-plum-jumpsuit-The-Saturdays-singer-Vanessa-White-shies-away-cameras-boyfriend.html

"All eyes on you: Amy Willerton looks playful in a plum playsuit at designer eyewear launch" This title represents Amy Willerton as a classy person. "Designer eyewear launch" says that she's famous enough to go to these kinds of events. The images in the article are all of her walking towards and inside the venue. She's smiling in all of them, so this creates cohesion between the image and the word "playful" in the title. "The Bristol beauty" is a demeaning description of Willerton because it's telling the readers that that's all she is - just a beautiful woman from Bristol. This tells the audience that if you're pretty, you can get famous. This is a negative representation of Willerton because it's assuming that's all she is. It also sends out a negative message  to the readers because the representation it creates will make the readers (especially female) feel pressured to look like Amy Willerton. Saying the "21-year-old model looked pretty" makes her an inspirational person to females who fall into this age group because most women want what's stereotyped as the perfect body. With Willerton being a model, she'll set aspirations for other women to be just like her.

Breaking Bad - Audience

Breaking Bad is a show about a chemistry high school teacher who falls ill with lung cancer. To fund his treatment, he uses his expertise in Chemistry to cook and sell 99.9% pure crystal meth with one of his former students. Its target audience is 18-40 year olds due to its constant drug references, profanity and nudity. 

How to improve

Audience Question

• Talk about the connotations of the cover features and how to influence their target audience to buy the magazine
• Use more media language, e.g. representation, mode of address, objectification
• Justify my answers - not only describe what I see but say why it's been done, the meanings, the connotations etc.
• More general detail in my descriptions of both describing and justifying

Representation Question

• Refer to specific texts in my answers
• Do research beforehand into existing media texts to be prepared for the exam
• Use more media language, e.g. ideology, connotations, gratifications
• Use justification as well as description

Revision and study

• Make a list of keywords to revise and remember
• Add work to my blog constantly so I'm reminded of what I need to talk about in my exam
• Go onto newspaper/magazine websites to gather an understanding of things like representation, objectification and gratifications
• Look at more case studies to prepare better for my exam

Coursework

• Reshoot for my second pre-production
• Finish off the rest of my unfinished blog posts