Evaluation Question Two

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I believe my magazine is targeted at the more Urban social group. The chart above is from UK Tribes, the website shows many types of social group based in the UK. Rap music is based within the group Urban according to the website. I can relate to this as I enjoy Rap music, and the options in the chart relate to me as I enjoy music from Channel AKA and MTV Base. Therefore the social group I have aimed my magazine at is people who enjoy the same music as me.

The posture of each model is similar, as both have tilted their headand are looking at the camera. I believe the postures are relaxed and therefore relate to the Urban groups as they are usually laid back people, based on my friends who also enjoy rap music.

The angle used for the Vibe cover is straight, with the artist (T.I) looking eye-to-eye at the reader. The angle may just be low as the artist is looking slightly down at the reader, this may show how the artist has power in the industry. For my cover I used a high angle, this makes the audience look slightly down at the artist, which may show how he is humble, as he has just found fame.

I wanted to follow Vibe's convention of music magazines by using a close-up or medium shot. The close up I used is not as close as the cover for Vibe, which shows the blank expression on the artist's face clearly. I opted for a slightly less close-up as I wanted to show more of the artist' clothing, this is because the suit is sophisticated and the white shirt shows more of the colour theme I wanted. (black, white and red) The picture below shows other magazine covers with a close up/medium shot.

I believe the lighting for both are similar, with a Low Key Light being used for both. The cover for Vibe may look brighter as the background is solid white, and my background is a blue wall which was photographed in black and white, which I prefer as it gives the cover more depth. I also think that the low light gives each cover a more natural look, as some covers edit the photo so much that the reader can easily tell it's been edited. I wanted the cover to look more subtle as does the cover for Vibe.

I wanted to use a black suit, white shirt and black tie as does Vibe. This is because I believe a suit can show the social audience is Urban, as many Rap artist's wear suits in their videos and when they are seen going out (shown in the picture below). I think they wear suits because there is a stereotypical view of rap artists being involved in gangs and being very rugged, wearing the suit gives them a more elegant look which challenges the stereotypical views. I also opted to use black sun glasses, where as Vibe use clear ones. I think Vibe chose to use clear ones as it allows the artist to engage with the audience. I developed this convention as I believe the dark glasses show a dark past, and add mystery to the artist.

Moving on to the artist's actual image, I wanted mine to have his hair combed over. This is because it is a modern trend for males to have this hairstyle in the Urban social group, mainly because it has come back into fashion since the 1980's. There are also some white rappers who also have their hair like this, for example Devlin and Professor Green have had this hairstyle. The cover for Vibe does not show a hair style used, as the artist is wearing a hat. The hat itself is often shown by many types of music, with Indie artists such as Mumford and Sons sometimes wearing them through to RnB artists like Ne-Yo.