Magazines: Tatler CSP

Print magazine Tatler is our first Close Study Product. We need to study the media language and representation of people, places and groups on the front cover of Tatler (January 2021).

Some of the key notes from the lesson are here:

General

• Tatler is Britain’s oldest magazine (founded in 1901).
• Targeted at upper classes and upper-middle classes.
• Lifestyle magazine with focus on fashion; high society events such as balls and celebrities such as the Royal family and members of the aristocracy (people with inherited wealth, titles and land.)
• There are versions in Russia, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
• Over the years, Tatler has remained interested in the lives of the Royal family, but has tried to re-invent itself as more ‘edgy’ and modern in recent years, to try and target a younger audience. 

Watch this trailer for BBC's Posh People - a documentary about Tatler, the oldest magazine in Britain.

 

And here's the first episode of the documentary - Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous:

Media language

• This refers to how the producers communicate their message to the audience through the media text. 
• Mise-en-scene: what you see - remember CLAMPS (Costume / Lighting / Actors / Make-up / Props / Setting)
• Typography / Fonts: serif title and sans serif cover lines. 
• Words used and their connotations. 
• Colour schemes: usually two or three in a magazine. Sometimes title matches or is juxtaposed with colours elsewhere on the cover.

Representations

• Tend to reflect dominant representations/stereotypes of wealthy upper-class British people on the cover through images and cover lines.
• The cover star is Emma Weymouth (aka Emma Thynn, Marchioness of Bath) and is a rare black cover star for Tatler. Emma Thynn's father is a Nigerian oil billionaire and her mother is an English socialite (socialite: a person who is well known in fashionable society). This cover star shows Tatler is trying to update its representation of race in the magazine in response to recent cultural changes such as the Black Lives Matter movement.
• Average age of Tatler reader is 41 but the cover tends to focus on celebrities or models who are younger than this (due to dominant ideals of beauty in the Media).
• Cover lines (stories inside) tend to focus on preoccupations of upper classes e.g ‘Inside the new British establishment'; Blond ambition (about Boris Johnson's brother); Off-duty Royal dressing. 

Social and cultural contexts

• The issues that Tatler is concerned with tend to be political but not in a particularly gritty way because the magazine is more interested in fashion, merchandise, beauty and ‘lifestyle’ rather than dealing with news in any depth. Hence references to Boris Johnson's brother and 'the workings of the Westminster web'.
• The preoccupation with parties, private schools, luxury holidays and exclusivity (the ‘Tatler Privilege Club’) assumes a high level of income and an elitist attitude which may alienate or offend people from a different social class. 81% of the readership has an above average income. 44% buy shoes or clothes more than once a month so the cultural context of the magazine could be judged as ‘niche’ (for the few) rather than ‘mainstream’ (for everyone).
• Some of the stories featured in Tatler can be seen as outdated as they are concerned with riding, hunting and shooting which are pursuits generally only enjoyed by upper classes. 

Here's an annotated copy of the cover of Tatler to help you (you'll need your Greenford Google login to access this).

Tatler: case study blog tasks

Work through the following tasks and questions to build a detailed case study for Tatler issue January 2021 (below). This will give you plenty of background information to use in an exam question on print magazines. First, create a new blogpost called Tatler CSP case study.

Introduction - Tatler Media pack

1) Look at the Tatler Media Pack. Go to page 2: how does the editor introduce the magazine?

2) Now go to page 4 of the Media Pack. Focus on the print magazine (NOT tatler.com - the website). List the key demographic details: age, gender %, ABC1 % (social class), HHI (Household Income), % of those living in London and the South East. What do these demographic details suggest about the average Tatler reader?

3) Look at page 6. What do Tatler readers think about fashion? How much do they spend?

4) Go to page 10. What are the special editions of Tatler that run throughout the year? What does this suggest about the Tatler audience? What about the pyschographic audience group that best fits Tatler?


Media language

1) What different examples of typography can you find on the cover of Tatler? What are the connotations of the serif and sans serif fonts?

2) How do the cover lines appeal to the Tatler target audience?

3) What are the connotations of the Tatler colour scheme on this particular front cover?

4) How is the central image designed to create interest in the magazine? Find three reasons for your answer. (E.g. the model, the mise-en-scene such as props, costume and make-up, body position, facial expression etc.)

Representations

1) What celebrities or famous people are mentioned on the cover? Why do you think Tatler put them on the cover?

2) What do the cover lines suggest about the lifestyle of rich people in the UK?

3) Looking at the image and cover lines together, what different groups of people are represented on the cover and how are they represented? (E.g. men/women/rich people/race & ethnicity etc.) 

4) Are there any stereotypes being reinforced or subverted? How? Why?

Social and cultural contexts

1) What types of people are NOT featured in Tatler? (Watch the clip above again if you need help with this - the clue is in the title 'Posh People')

2) Tatler runs special issues on holidays, spa breaks, cosmetic surgery, watches and jewellery and private schools. What does this suggest about the magazine's representation of life in Britain? 

3) What audience groups might be offended or insulted by the front cover of Tatler? 

4) Find three other front covers for Tatler from different months. What issues, subjects or people are regularly featured in Tatler?


Grade 8/9 extension tasks

As an extension, you may want to watch the documentary about Tatler linked above to find out more on the social and cultural contexts for the magazine. Then, think about or write answers to these questions:

1) What would be the preferred and oppositional readings to this cover of Tatler?

2) Are there any misrepresentations or under-representations of certain groups? What might this suggest about the target audience?

3) How does the front cover engage audiences with possible narratives? Look for stories, cliffhangers, dramatic cover lines etc.

4) Read this Guardian article on the BBC documentary about Tatler called Posh People. What does the article suggest about the people who produce and read Tatler?

Complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.

Advertising & Marketing: Final index

We have now completed our work on Advertising and need to publish a final index to demonstrate we have finished every blog task. 

Every index you create is an excellent way to make sure you are revising the course as we go - as well as highlighting if you've missed anything. Your index should include the following:

1) Advertising and Marketing: Key conventions

2) Gender stereotypes in advertising 

3) January assessment learner response

4) Advertising CSP 1: OMO print advert 

5) Advertising CSP 2: Audrey Hepburn Galaxy advert

6) Advertising CSP 3: Represent NHS Blood campaign 

For your index, the text should link to YOUR blogpost for that topic so you can access your work quickly and easily for checking and revision. This also means if you have missed anything you can catch up with the work and notes and won't underperform in assessments and exams due to gaps in your knowledge. Look at the video below if you're not sure how to create an index.

Recap: How to create an index

To create an index on your Media blog, first copy the list of tasks above and paste it as plain text into a new blogpost called 'Advertising & Marketing: Final index'. Then, open your Media blog in another tab and use your blog archive to open up all your work from last term. For each post, copy the URL - this is the web address that will end .blogspot.com/name of the post. For example: 

https://mediamacguffingcseyear1.blogspot.com/2020/01/representation-introduction.html

Once you've got the hang of it, you should find the index only takes 10-15 minutes to produce. Here's a short video showing you how to create a blog index in Media in case you've forgotten:

Magazines: Typography Photoshop workshop

Typography is a crucial aspect of communicating meaning to an audience.

"Typefaces give voice to words"

There are two main terms that we need to learn:

Serif
Serif fonts have tabs (or 'feet') at the corners of the letters. Serif fonts are more old fashioned, traditional or authoritative. They are particularly suited to long passages of text as they create a 'line' for the reader to follow.

Sans Serif
Sans Serif fonts are more modern and do not have tabs or 'feet' on the letters. They are used for titles, headings and create a more contemporary, modern feel to the product.


Typography: Photoshop workshop

Task 1

Create an A4 document in Photoshop. Choose a font to represent the following words (you may need to Google their meanings).

Think about:
UPPER or lower case? Font size? Angle? Position on page?

• Mistake
• Harmony
• Falling
• Personality
• Elastic
• Emperor
• Brittle
• Globe
• Radiation
• Relax
• Madness

Task 2

Choose three of the words and create an instant graphic identity for each (see image right). Use the tools, effects and colour available in Photoshop. 

Task 3

Create your own magazine and design a graphic identity for it in Photoshop. 

Choose a font which represents the name
Add an image, shape, colour or slogan that combines with the name to create a brand identity for the magazine.

You will have lesson time to work on this - it will not be set for homework.

Advertising CSP 3: Represent NHS Blood campaign

Our final close-study product for Advertising and Marketing is the 2016 NHS Blood and Transplant online campaign video 'Represent' featuring Lady Leshurr.

This product provides an excellent opportunity to explore a range of different representations: ethnicity, masculinity, femininity, class, age, disability and ability and place. It's also a different type of advert as it's not promoting a product but instead is a campaign designed to influence the audience's behaviour.

Sample questions for Advertising and Marketing

In your Media exams, you are likely to get questions similar to these:

1) Why do advertisers use stereotypes? [6 marks]

2) Explain how advertisements reflect the historical context in which they were created. [12 marks]

Think about how you might answer those questions based on the CSPs we have studied.

Advertising campaigns

Some adverts are produced in a series as a campaign. An advertising campaign is a series of advertisements that share a singular theme, message or idea. These are used to raise awareness of an issue or of the brand itself. The best campaigns have an emotional impact on audiences.

An advertising campaign will usually appear across multiple media platforms - print, broadcast and online.

Represent: background information

Lady Leshurr is an English rapper, singer and producer. She is famous for her freestyling rap style and has her own clothing line. 

This is the advert CSP:

This is a 'making of' video about how the Represent video was made:

The two articles we read in the lesson provide details on the campaign and how it was developed. This also gives information on why blood from people with a BAME background is so vital. 

GLOW words to use in connection to this campaign

• Literal – the actual, obvious meaning 
• Semiotics - the message behind what you see (hidden messages)
• Reinforce stereotype – when a representation is what we expect
• Challenge/subvert stereotype - When a representation goes against what we normally see in the media
• Mass - A mass audience is made up of a large group of people (men, women, children, elderly)
• Niche - A niche audience is a small subset with very unique interests or characteristics 

Codes and conventions of rap music videos

• There are many low-angled, close up shots in hip hop videos, to imply the artists’ power over their audience. The low angle gives them the power, because they look down on the audience and the close up gives status because it implies they’re important enough to have a frame to themselves.
• Sections of direct contact with the camera (the artist usually spends a lot of time looking straight into the camera as if to talk or have a conversation with the audience and relate to them)
• Props regarding costume tend to be used, for e.g. gold jewellery (male rap artists are commonly known to wear heavy chains or prominent rings)
• Show a clear display of emotions – if the tone of the song is angry, the artist is likely to present this through their gestures and facial expressions.
• Strong editing cuts between concept / performance and narrative.

Represent NHS Blood & Transplant campaign: blog tasks

Work through the tasks in this blogpost to make sure you're an expert on this CSP.

1) What does BAME stand for?

2) Why is there a need for blood in the BAME community? 

3) What does this advert want people to do once they've seen it (the 'call to action')?

4) Why is the advert called 'Represent'?

5) Why have the producers chosen famous BAME celebrities to feature in the advert? Give an example of three well-known people who appear in the advert and why they are famous - make sure you write their names and spell them accurately.

6) What are the connotations of the slow-paced long shot of empty chairs at the end of the advert?

7) How does the advert match the key conventions of a typical urban music video?

8) How does the advert subvert stereotypes? Give three examples (e.g. ethnicity, masculinity, femininity, age, class, disability/ability etc.) 

9) How does the advert reinforce certain stereotypes of the BAME community? Could there be an oppositional reading where some audiences would find this advert offensive or reinforcing negative stereotypes?

10) Choose one key moment from the advert and write an analysis of the connotations of camera shots and mise-en-scene (CLAMPS).


Grade 8/9 extension tasks

1) Read this MOBO press release about the "B Positive" campaign - the follow-up to the Represent advert. How does it aim to build on the success of the Represent campaign?

2) How is celebrity endorsement or star power used to make the campaign stand out?

3) Research the following stars in more detail: Lady Leshurr, Ade Adepitan, Kanya King. Why are they famous? How do they help the campaign reach different segments of the niche BAME audience?

4) How does the advert use genre and intertextuality to appeal to the target audience? You may need to research these key terms first in order to answer this question.

You will have lesson time to answer these questions but will need to complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.