Semiotic Analysis of 'Kerrang' Music Magazine

Understanding Representations

- An image of an object is a representation of it
- No representation can be completely true
- All representations are a selection – they have been chosen
- All representations go through the process of mediation (the process of change)

- An event or ‘’thing’’ goes through the process of mediation and becomes a representation

- Budget and technology are factors that impact a representation
- Genre of the media text will also affect the mediation process
- Time frame – the length of the programme. Also the time from production to the release date – the time available for the mediation process
- The perception of the producer also affects how the overall media text is produced – different producers will see things differently and therefore create their texts to signify different meanings

- Most media producers are male. This would make their view of the world different to that of a female media producer

- It is important that the media text meets the expectations of the target audience it is aimed at

- Censorship – controlling the amount of e.g. violence, sex in order to be suitable for the specific target audience
- You can question a representation if you have a situated reality (experience of the situation)
- Mediated reality – watching whilst having no experience of the situation
- Hyper-reality – more real than the real. The representation is more important and more recognised than the real thing e.g. famous people

- How are women represented in the media?
· Housewife
· Professional, working
· Motherly type
· Sex object

Stereotyping

· Discrimination – an act
· Prejudice – a thought

- Stereotyping is most often referred to when talking about race, social class and gender

Semiotics Diagram

Semiotics

· Semiotics – the study of signs
· Metalanguage – a language about a language
· Sign – anything that conveys an image

- a sign can be split into two parts – the signifier and the signified
- the signifier is the physical form of the sign
- the signified is the meaning that is taken from the physical form
- the signified can also be split into two parts – the connotation and denotation
- the denotation is the first order of meaning (the obvious)
- the connotation is the deeper meaning of the sign. This is not ‘’fixed’’.

· the target audience must understand what the text/production is about, through what the signs convey

There are 3 types of signs:

· Icon – the direct, ‘’what it is’’
· Index – the relationship between the sign and the meaning
· Symbol – what it represents, often culturally specific

Diary Plan

School Magazine Front Cover

School Magazine Front Cover Mock-Up

Analysing a School Magazine Front Cover

School Magazine Front Cover