How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have represented a social group in which image is highly regarded among members and is everything. Young people are highly defined by music which they predominantly form these social groups on which then lead to sub social groups. The sheer importance of live music to this subculture demonstrated through the festival and gig scene is vindictive to the ritualistic activities that lead members to be around like minded people. This means that by having and indie-rock magazine that the image of my models and the appearance they give to an audience is what is going to be the biggest selling point of my magazine. In order to do this I have chosen a model which portrays the look of an indie culture musician. Being part of the Indie culture social group she was perfect for the part as her style was already what I wanted and little needed to be altered about her appearance.

The shorter hair looks very stylish but still is that bit different from a typical pop culture musician with long hair clad with extensions and managers to give a bit more of a rocker/Indie vibe. Another  reason I have chosen her is that with Indie models typically look very natural and show a very real beauty unlike that of a pop culture in which artist are heavily covered in makeup and highly photo shopped. Therefore by having a model that has a natural beauty with minimalistic makeup makes her appear more real to fans and relate to the culture that both her and readers of my magazine live by. I had several other choices in models that I was tempted to use however I used research into Indie culture to determine that she would be the best suited for the role. Also another minor factor into my model was that she has a very peculiar but interesting green blue eye colour that really works well in close up shots and captures the attention of a reader quite well.

I used the U.S.A flag to incorporate into my main article on her trying to make it big in America. This is used to reinforce her image and give an initial concept of what I intend to be featured in the magazine article. Also the shorts are of a style of clothing that is typically worn by girls of the Indie culture social group. I know this through personal knowledge and also through research done into Indie culture. The thick rimmed glasses are a very recent and modern style. Especially found within the Indie social group and sub cultures. This is because they are seen as very different and slightly geeky in an independent way that typical indie fans find fitting. Not used for vision improvement but as a fashion accessory I have equipped my model with them as to give off the cool/geeky independent look that they have become known for. Over recent years skinny jeans have become all the fashion with the younger generation that my magazine intends to target. They have also made a large impact on the rock and indie industry as being known as a very ‘rock’ look. It is a look that has been recycled from the 50’s. In which they were worn by country stars and of those artists at the birth of ‘rock and roll’. This makes them a fitting and stylish piece of clothing for my model to be wearing. Converses canvas shoes are a typical foot wear seen worn by many of the younger generation. Also to have them worn out is considered a fashionable thing amount the cultural society of indie members. Throughout my research there was one main noticeable re occurring item of clothing worn by girls of the Indie culture that my model needed to represent. This was a fur hat as shown. For this reason I have heavily incorporated it into my models dress as to form a link and allow an audience to identify with her. I also incorporated a denim jacket into my models appearance as have been a recent style very popular amongst the Indie culture. However I feel that the slightly faded style denim appeals allot more to an Indie culture as it looks a bit worn and real rather than a darker clean denim which would look unused and give off a appearance of a artist who is higher above and different to their fans in always having new clothes. The knitted jumper with the giraffe she is wearing in some of the location shoots is a very different and interesting piece of clothing. It has the knitted style that becomes popular with young people in my social group in the winter seasons. This means it is an ideal piece to use in my magazine which is going too published in late September just as the winter season is coming. Also the giraffe on it is very different and an abnormal design that you would see on a typical piece of clothing. This gives it the independent and non conforming look that Indie artists tend to go for in its self paradoxically leading them to conform to their cultures stylisation.

There have also been styles that I have highly avoided to ensure that my model is a clear and relatable Indie star and that she does not get blurred with other cultures. I have avoided dressing her in very glamorous dresses and outfits as well as the very in style jumpsuit as this is allot more highly regarded with pop culture and would blur and distort her identity negatively. I also have avoided her overly wearing the colour black and wearing any conflicting rock and metal band t-shirts that you typically find with metal artists. This to ensure that she is not seen to be metal/goth/emo or any other variations of these sub cultures. Being an Indie and rock magazine I do also cover rock music. However I have avoided overly portraying her as a rock star as she is predominantly an Indie musician and to have a clear identity is a key feature in making a presentable image that works.

In choosing the locations for my outdoors photo shoots I took several things into consideration. Being Indie culture I took into consideration the festival scene in the social groups. In which it is highly regarded and ritualistic to those most in depth in the culture. For this reason I decided to make the majority of my shoots reasonably natural. The only man made urbanised scenery in my shoots was typically run down and at natures will giving it that slightly shabby and ‘in’ look. I also tried to portray a slightly ‘old school’ and faded colouring in my shoots. This relates to the rest of the Indie culture from clothing to style of music. I also wanted to avoid highly urbanised and bright locations as I felt this would give off more of a pop culture appearance.

Each prop I have used in my photo shoots has been carefully thought out and selected in order to enforce her image as a normal indie girl who hit the big time and be relatable to the cultural social group she represents. I have incorporated several different guitars into my photo shoots as guitars are a key and iconic piece of the music industry, especially within the Indie scene and are played by a high number of this social group. Therefore by having my model able to play the guitar it makes her more than just a voice and an actual musician of the cultural Indie music.

As with every singer the key piece of iconography is the microphone they use to sing with. For this reason it is only fitting that I have incorporated into my models look. The microphone with the long wire is known allot more within the music preferred by younger generations to that of older there for making it appropriate for my target Indie social group which is predominantly the young.

Another thing I did to incorporate my model into the Indie scene was to re brand her as ‘Georgia and the Sparrows’. I did this because a typical indie branding is to do such a thing and add a ‘and the’ followed by a noun onto the singers name. For example ‘Florence and the Machine’ or ‘Marina and the Diamonds’

Finally in the magazine article itself I have deliberately used her language and references to portray her in depth involvement in the Indie culture and give her the desired appearance of the typical every day Indie girl who hit the big time. I did this by ensuring that she had a fun conversational tone and language that was the same as used in the Indie social group. I also told stories of her past and how she came to fame demonstrating how she was just an average run of the mill Indie girl who that of the Indie culture can relate to. I also told stories of fun and adventures that were not exactly rule abiding and conforming that portrayed her as fun and youthful up for a bit of adventure as these social members would be. When I talked about who she would want to perform collaborations with I did two things that are coming a typical thing to find on the Indie scene. The first of was typically naming other Rock and Indie bands that she would be interested in working with demonstrating that she was a clear part of the Indie culture. The other thing I did which is allot more recent in the Indie scene is the cross genre collaboration of the Indie singer or band and that of maybe a pop or hip-hop artist. For example when Florence and the Machine when they collaborated with Dizzie Rascal. By doing this I have demonstrated that she follows typical Indie culture conventions and is a true Indie artist.