Production Research

1. Production Research Isaac Asante

2. Written Codes - The subject matter is of a famous male actor and his role in ‘Twilight’, the mode of address is informal and this particular issue seems to be gender-orientated to females. • Target audience/Audience positioning - The content of EW is not aimed towards any particular target audience, and is therefore relevant and appropriate for a general audience. The magazine does often feature celebrities on its cover, but “Entertainment Weekly is not a tabloid magazine”. However, this particular issue seems to be targeted at a female audience who enjoy consuming the media aged between 16-25 years old, because the famous actor Edward Cullen is on the front cover. The preferred reading is that the audience finds the actor attractive and like the film ‘Twilight’. • Representation – The representation of Edward here is hegemonic because he has some facial hair and a hairy chest. Moreover, the representation is metro sexual because he seems especially careful about his grooming and appearance, especially his hair style. • Visual codes – His facial expression is relaxed along with casual body language in order to engage the reader and make Edward Cullen look more appealing. The audience presumably know his character traits and his style. The colour scheme is simple: grey and red. Two colours that go well together. The setting is probably in a studio therefore key lighting is used. • Technical codes – The layout is simple too. The title of the magazine is at the top, the image is in the center along with the headline. Plus, there is some use of negative space in order to make the magazine seem more classy. • Genre Codes – The masthead is at the top and very eye catching. The head of Edward Cullen covers part the title of the magazine because producers assume that the audience already know the title of the magazine seen as it is very well known. • Typography – The font it san serif, bold and modern which catches the readers attention and fits in with the modern style of the magazine.

3. Target audience/Audience positioning – The target audience of ‘What’s on TV’ is women of any ethnicity, aged 25-44 years old with young, working class families. Plus, their special interest may be to watch soaps on television because this particular issue features many popular soaps. The preferred reading is that the audience enjoy watching television and want to find out more information as to what will happen next in the narrative of their favoured television programme. • Representation – The representation of females on this front cover is hegemonic because Roxy is wearing makeup, and the other females seem to be passive towards the males next to them. Moreover, the representation of males is also hegemonic because there are two individuals wearing a suit and another has facial hair. This man in particular also looks like the ‘bread winner’ of his family. • Visual Codes – Roxy’s facial expression is happiness but she is not smiling to the fullest which indicates there may be a problem. Whereas, Derek’s facial expression is a snarl which suggests that he is mysterious and is up to something. The fact that he is behind Roxy emphasises his deviousness. The colour scheme is pink and yellow. These colours are most associated with femininity and highlights the female target audience. • Technical Codes – The layout is quite simple. The title of the magazine is at the top, the headline is in the middle and there is a column on the left that goes across the page. This front cover has many images in order to illustrate the different television programmes the audience can watch. In addition, the magazine cover seems ‘busy’ there is no use of negative space and this may appeal to the audience who desire a lot of information and should want a no-nonsense, entertaining attitude towards TV. • Genre Codes – There are many magazine codes and conventions on this front cover such as :The masthead, a pug, secondary leads, a splash, a strap-line, and a tag. These are all used in order to catch the reader’s eye and create a successful magazine cover. • Typography – The font is san serif, bold and modern which catches the readers attention and fits in with the modern style of the magazine. The use of the primary colours (yellow) along with the typography make the text clear and very easy to read. • Written codes – The are many different subject matters on this front cover because of the different television programmes represented. The subject matters focus on the narrative of the programme. Furthermore, the mode of address is informal and the magazine is designed for low income consumers because it says “Only 50p”