Analysis of Non Fiction

Key Aspects

• Categories• Language• Institution• Audience• Representation• Narrative

Categories• Select and apply categories appropriate to the text.

• The categories to be applied are: medium, form, genre, purpose, tone and style.

• Medium • In assessment, state the medium. • • ‘Medium’ is the channel of communication through

which a text is produced and consumed. Obviously, Empire is in the medium of print.

Medium

• In assessment, state the medium.

• ‘Medium’ is the channel of communication through which a text is produced and consumed. Obviously, Empire is in the medium of print.

Form

• In assessment, you should be able to state the form, and justify what you say by referring to the text. Look at the front cover in particular, the size of the magazine, paper quality and print finish.

• ‘Form’ is the shape a text takes. Form is often closely

related to genre.

• Each medium embodies many forms. The forms of print, in particular, are virtually never-ending and may include advertisements, websites, leaflets, brochures, newspapers, fliers, magazines and so on.

The magazine form has several characteristics. These include:

• coverlines which indicate that the magazine contains a number of different articles, with the implication or direct information that they are by a number of different authors.

• the date of publication, indicating that it is produced periodically.

• a bar-code and cover price, which indicate that it can be bought over the counter and is therefore partly distributed via the newsstand.

• a size which is approximately A4 (210 x 297mm), and therefore typical of most consumer magazines.

• a glossy, full-colour cover, whose main content is a photograph/ illustration of people/equipment connected with the subject(s) that the magazine covers.

Genre

• In assessment, you should be able to identify the genre, and justify what you say by referring to the text. Look particularly at the content and front cover.

• ‘Genres’ are ‘types’ of media text that we associate with particular media.

Genre Continued

• Genres are constructed around a central, core element or series of elements. They are identified by the particular conventions they use and which we come to recognise through regular consumption.

• Conventions are any elements which are repeated in such a way that they become familiar, predictable and associated in their use with a particular genre.

Genre – Empire Film• There are various magazine genres. These can be

split into trade and consumer magazines.• Consumer magazine genres can be discussed in

terms of general interest or special interest. General interest magazines provide content on a wide range of subjects that the target audience may be interested in.

• A special interest magazine is likely to contain specialist terminology as well as content and in-depth features revolving around a narrow range of topics, all related to one special interest area.

Empire Film - Genre

• Therefore “Empire Magazine” would obviously be considered as a special interest (film magazine)

• Look again at the front cover. Which elements identify the magazine as a film magazine?

•Words related to film such as: “movies”, “box-office”, and “blockbuster”•Instantly recognisable film titles such as “Titanic” and “Harry Potter”•Instantly recognisable film stars such as Will Smith and The Rock•The roll of film design of the “featuring” section

Genre and Audience

• Media producers want their texts to be instantly attractive and understandable to the audience, and they do not want to waste valuable time setting up characters and plots or describing what a text is about. Genres using key components that are quickly recognisable are therefore particularly valuable.

Genre and Institution

• Dividing products into genres is also a useful marketing tool which allows media products to be packaged and targeted at audience segments.

Genre and Purpose• Genre is useful for attracting investment.

Because their potential audience, and consequently their potential profit, can be relatively easily assessed, a genre product and its audience can be easily packaged as a commodity to advertisers or investors who want to minimise risk. Thus, genre can be seen as a way of delivering an audience to the media industry which, like any other, is primarily concerned with profit. Audiences are, however, fickle, and no amount of analysis can guarantee success!

Genre

• The articles in “The Slate” are very short in comparison to the rest of the magazine to allow a variety of genre to be featured in this section. This highlights the preferred reading that they are knowledgeable about the latest and varied film releases and high value information. They are the magazine with all of the priority latest information from the film world.

Variety of Genre in the Slate

• Action/ SciFi – “Lockout”• Fantasy/Adventure – “The Hobbit”• Dark Animation - “Frankenweenie”• Action – “How I Spent my Summer Vacation”• Comedy/Romance – Dev Patel• Independent Film – Sofia Boutella• Gothic Horror – The Raven

Variety of Genre in “The Slate”

• We have previously stated that “The Slate” section of the magazine is deliberately varied with different narrative strands.

• Examples - The action genre articles would appeal to men. The Tim Burton film “Frankenweenie” would appeal to younger teenagers and people who are interested in gothic horror and dark humour. The Lockout is aimed at older male target audience.

Purpose

• In assessment, you should be able to identify purposes at both a communicative level and at an industry level, and justify what you say by referring to the text. Consider individual articles and the magazine as a whole.

• ‘Purpose’ refers to the reason(s) for production.

• Communicative purposes may be to: inform, entertain, instruct, investigate, report, criticise, persuade, educate, and so on.

• The purposes of a media text at an industry level may be to: attract investment, make a profit, attract advertising, fulfil regulatory requirements, justify investment and so on.

Purpose – To Persuade• A clear indication of the action genre – the facial expressions, the actors

chosen for the cover, the massive explosion in the background. The characters all have impressive guns. (Genre)

• The use of the famous stars like Will Smith and the Rock (who would have extremely large fan bases) would persuade people to purchase. Also they are synonymous with action films.

• The idea of summer is represented throughout the front cover:• The sun motifs, the warm colours – yellows, oranges. The main action

character is wearing sunglasses. The implication is that you if you buy this magazine your summer will begin early. Connotations associated with summer)

• The inclusion of Harry Potter and Titanic (two of the highest grossing films of all time would appeal to many) “Unseen” suggests an exclusivity that the only place you will get this information is in this magazine.

• Words like “revealed”, suggest that they have privileged information (preferred reading) “Comeback” – suggests that people have been waiting a long time for this revelation.

• “Biggest”, “Blockbuster”, - suggest superlative information about the action films in the magazine.

Purpose – To Inform

• The coverlines tell the reader which articles are in the magazine.

• The Website details are on the front cover – to attract people to the website. On the website there are more advertisement, so inclusion of the web details would please the advertisers. (Institutional consideration)

Key Aspect Language

• The article on Lockout uses complex and sophisticated vocabulary which would appeal to the A, B and C1 groups who would be considered more educated. The article on The Rock gives very detailed information on his life and upbringing as far back as age 12.

Language – Use of detailed and complex information and language throughout reviews section• The information is detailed and in depth about the films, the

production of them, the stars to inform (purpose) the audience and this would particularly appeal to film fanatics who would want this information. Psychographic profile (audience theory). This would attract regular customers to keep buying the magazine by entertaining them.

• E.g The Men in Black article takes up 5 pages and includes information about all of the different aspects of the film. (One of the minor characters in the MIB 3 film is Boris and the article tells us all about his background, his homeland, how the character appeared in different drafts of the script etc.)

Further Evidence of complex and detailed information

• The vocabulary is very complex and there is a lot of movie related jargon again assuming a level of education/knowledge

• E.g - Protagonist of entourage in the “Contraband” article assumes a sophisticated level of knowledge that the reader would have about films. In the article about “The Devil Inside they refer to the exorcist assuming that the audience will understand the reference. Also, in the article about “This Means war” several films are referenced that the actors have been in and talks about actors of the same genre of film without any explanation assuming that the audience will understand.

Language and Audience - Mode of Address (Use of Jargon)

• The mode of address is informal as though they were having a conversation about films/actors to their friends. Also, they address the reader as an equal which would appeal to them. They assume a level of education and intelligence as well as a detailed interest in movies. (Target Audience/psychographic profile of people who are incredibly interested in films.

Language and Audience

• The production quality of the magazine is a very high standard: layout, picture quality, paper, ink, the glossy nature of the pictures, the high quality of the photography all contribute to the high production values.

• The significance of this is that their target audience is A, B, C1 and they would expect such high quality if they paid as much as £3.99 for a magazine.

Technical and Cultural Codes on the front cover used to persuade

• A clear indication of the action genre – the facial expressions, the actors chosen foe the cover, the massive explosion in the background. The characters all have impressive guns. (Genre)

• Words like “revealed”, suggest that they have privileged information (preferred reading) “Comeback” – suggests that people have been waiting a long time for this revelation.

• “Biggest”, “Blockbuster”, - suggest superlative information about the action films in the magazine.

Technical and Cultural Codes Continued

• The idea of summer is represented throughout the front cover:

The sun motifs, the warm colours – yellows, oranges. The main action character is wearing sunglasses. The implication is that you if you buy this magazine your summer will begin early. (Connotations associated with summer)

Empire Film Magazine

Key Aspect - Institution

Institution

• In your study of Institutions, you should identify appropriate internal and external controls that impact on the production of Empire. You should also be able to give specific examples from the magazine that show the effects of institutional controls on the text.

Institutional Controls

• Studying Institutions involves recognising that there are certain institutional factors that affect the production of the magazine and the final shape it takes. Some of these institutional factors maybe originate from the organisation which produces the text – internal controls – and some originate from professional practices, the competitive market, the law or regulatory frameworks – external controls.

Institution and Empire

• The institutional factors that we will be looking at in relation to Empire are as follows:

• Internal Controls – Ownership• External Controls – The Press Complaints

Commission, the law of Libel, the law of Copyright, Empire’s relationship with the film industry and advertisers, and distribution.

Internal Factors - Ownership Questions

1. Find out who owns Empire Magazine and as much as you can about the company.

2. How does being part of such a large organization affect Empire? (Clue – think positively)

3. a) How much does the magazine cost to buy? b.) What are the magazines advertising rates? c.) what is the estimated circulation and readership.

Ownership

1. Empire is produced by Bauer Media. Bauer Media is a division of the Bauer Publishing Group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing Group.

• The Bauer Publishing Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations.

Bauer Media Group

• Bauer Media joined the Bauer Publishing Group in January 2008 following acquisition of Emap plc’s consumer and specialist magazines, radio, TV, online and digital businesses.

• Collectively, the Bauer Publishing Group employs some 6,400 people and in 2008 had a turnover of 2.08 billion Euros.

Bauer Media Group

• Bauer Media is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of many companies collected around two main divisions – Magazines and Radio.

2. How does being part of such a large organization affect Empire? (Clue – think positively about budget and the fact the

group has a number of different publications) Basically, it increases the competitive edge Empire has because:1. It can afford the best in hardware and software, and can

therefore produce a high quality magazine which is attractive to the potential audience and advertisers, thereby helping to maintain and increase sales and advertising revenue.

2. It can further attract advertisers by offering them special deals if they buy advertising space over a number of different publications.

3. It can lower costs, and thereby increase profit, by sharing production and distribution resources with other publications within Bauer.

3a) How much does the magazine cost to buy? b.) What are the magazines advertising rates?

c.) what is the estimated circulation and readership.

3. a. Empire costs £3.99, b. It charges £7,705 for a basic full page

colour advertisement, c. It has a circulation of around 180,000

and an estimated readership of around 844,000, making it the market leader.

External Factors - Relationship with Advertisers and the Film Industry Questions

1. Which institutional factors could affect the target audience for Empire Magazine? (Consider advertisers)

2. Why is it important that Empire maintains a good relationship with the film industry (Your answer should be detailed and include preferred reading and institutional considerations)

3. How does the magazine maintain a good relationship with the industry? (Consider representation)

4. Why is it important for the magazine to be ready for print 3 weeks in advance? (Consider the preferred reading)

5. a. How is the magazine distributed (sold to the public)? b. How and why would this affect the narrative structure

and the front cover?

External ControlsRelationship with Advertisers

• 1. All magazines rely on attracting advertising as a main source of income/investment. Look at the types of advertisements in Empire, the way they are designed, and the amount of space they take up. In what ways might the need to attract these advertisers affect content, style and representations in the magazine as a whole?

• Empire must provide a product that targets the same audience that potential advertisers want to target, and which has content, style, and a design that is sympathetic to advertiser’s needs.

Relationship with the Industry

• 2. In addition, Empire enjoys a good relationship with the film industries and must continue to do so in order to maintain its competitive market position. These advertising/film industries considerations affect several aspects of the magazine, including representations, style, content and design.

3. How does the magazine maintain good relations with the industry?

Through:• positive representations of Hollywood, • Treating films and the work of the industry as

an important art form.• Giving good reviews/rarely being critical• representing the actors and Hollywood

personnel in a good light.

Examples of Positive Representations of the Industry

• The film is industry is represented in a very positive way. One example is in the ‘blockbusters feature’ which includes an educated guess at the box office figures for each of the new releases.

• The high figures which are estimated at for box office demonstrate the financial power and the importance of the movie industry.

• But also there are no negative stories about either the industry or the actors within the industry again to maintain the relationships they require.

• For example the Hollywood industry could be represented as money grabbing and only interested in commercial success owing to the fact that there are several sequels without artistic consideration and also there is a very formulaic approach to making films in Hollywood.

Representation of Actors (Institutional Consideration)

• Actors are represented in a very positive manner, as though they are artists and that it is a very worthwhile thing to be doing. The reason for this is so that they can keep good relationships with the movie industry because they rely on the movie industry to receive the most up to date and relevant information about films to give them the edge over their competitors. This ties in with their preferred reading that they are the magazine who can deliver the most relevant and up to date information.

Examples of positive Representation of Actors

• Taylor Kitsch is an example of am actor who is represented in a very positive manner and with artistic merit. He appears very serious and like he has just been in a fight he also looks fairly attractive in the picture which would appeal to female audiences and represents him in a very masculine way.

• The article on Dev Patel on page 22 shows him in a very confident mood and it tracks his career to date and discusses the success of his performances and each of the films he has been in so far. It also represents him as an actor who is interested in the art form by suggesting that he has deliberately taken smaller roles in more independent films following the blockbuster film “Slumdog Millionaire”.

Distribution 4. All the content of Empire must be ready for printing

approximately 3 weeks before distribution. It is sent from printer to distribution centres to retail outlets approximately 4 weeks in advance of its issue month (eg November’s issue is available at the beginning of October).

• It is crucial that Empire meets its distribution deadlines because it has a limited shelf life (its info goes quickly out of date) and …missed deadlines = missed sales = more sales to competitors = loss of advertising revenue = less profit & market share.

• Empire is distributed by subscription and newsstand sales. The magazine market has grown enormously in recent years and on the newsstand Empire is competing with many other publications.

Distribution• This method of distribution influences the narrative

structure, which takes the shape it does in order to encourage purchase – see section on narrative.

• Being distributed in this way directly also affects the look of the magazine as its front cover acts as its main advertisement. Therefore:– the title, illustrations and coverlines must instantly communicate the

genre and target audience.– it must be more attractive than the competition by indicating any

number of USPs (Unique Selling Propositions). It therefore emphasizes scoops and exclusives, top names, its position in the market, “every new film reviewed” and freebies.

– aspects of language are used to connote a vibrant, modern magazine.

Legal and Voluntary Controls

• Which laws or regulations would Empire have to adhere to?

Legal and Voluntary Controls

• Empire must adhere to the code of practice of the Press Complaints Commission. (They have a very informative website – search!).

• They must also adhere to the general laws of the land. • The laws of libel and copyright may be particularly relevant to Empire: 1. Libel: Empire must not make unsubstantiated claims about the subjects

of its articles or it may be sued. 2. Copyright: film companies will hold the copyright to the film stills;

Empire cannot reproduce them without permission. However, a magazine holding the top market position, produced by a company as large as Bauer, will certainly have agreements with film companies that mean they don’t have any difficulty in obtaining permission to reproduce such stills.

External Controls (continued)

• In addition, press packs sent to the national media as part of film marketing campaigns will include stills sent specifically for reproduction, and in these cases no additional copyright clearance will be needed.

Key Aspect - Audience• Who do you think reads this magazine? What are

their interests/lifestyles/levels of interest in film? How would you define their socio-economic, demographic and psychographic profile (related to personality, interests, lifestyle etc.)

• Film lovers- people who are very serious about watching films, 70% males 30% females readership. Socio-economic status- A, B and C1 are the main groups targeted (price £3.99 which is easily achievable for the groups) young adults are being targeted (18-35).

Audience (Preferred Reading)

• What opinion do the producers of Empire want the target audience to have about the magazine (preferred reading)?

• This is the magazine which can give you the inside information and latest details about movie releases straight from the industry, also they are in the position to give you exclusive insight and unrivalled access to the world of movies and movie stars.

Differential Decoding

• Who might not like this magazine and why?• Elderly people and people who are not regular

film goers. Females might not be attracted to it, also people who are C2 and below in their economic status.

Audience and Institution

• What kind of brand image does Empire try to create of itself?

• They are the biggest brand and biggest film magazine company. ‘empire’ also suggests worldwide/vast coverage. The image they are trying to create of themselves is a worldwide recognised global brand.

Representation

• Although not one of the Key Aspects specified in the NAB question you can discuss Representations as one of the things the makers of the magazine have to consider to attract their target audience, attract advertisers and maintain positive relationships with the industry (Institutional Considerations)

Key Aspect - Representation

• Is there a difference in the way men and women are portrayed/represented in the magazine?

• Obvious lack of women in the magazine and female actors, but where there are females portrayed in the magazine they are portrayed as being subordinate and they are over sexualised. They are shown as having beauty rather than having acting talent, which may put a lot of women off the magazine.

Evidence of Gender Representations

• For example the photograph of the film “How I spent my Summer Vacation” features the heroic male character Mel Gibson protecting the female character in a heroic manner. The picture of Sofia Boutella on page 24 features an attractive actress in a sexually provocative pose and this is typical of the way in which women are represented in the magazine. This laddish treatment of females would appeal to the largely male audience. As we already know the gender split of the readership is 70% to 30% in favour of males. On page 94 the example of The Rock in a confident, masculine stance.

How are actors represented? (linked to institution) Find evidence to support what can be said about the representation of actors. Refer to photos and written content in at least two

articles.• Actors are represented in a very positive manner, as

though they are artists and that it is a very worthwhile thing to be doing.

• The reason for this is so that they can keep good relationships with the movie industry because they rely on the movie industry to receive the most up to date and relevant information about films to give them the edge over their competitors.

• This ties in with their preferred reading that they are the magazine who can deliver the most relevant and up to date information.

Examples of Positive Representations of Actors

• Taylor Kitsch is an example of am actor who is represented in a very positive manner and with artistic merit. He appears very serious and like he has just been in a fight he also looks fairly attractive in the picture which would appeal to female audiences and represents him in a very masculine way.

• The article on Dev Patel on page 22 shows him in a very confident mood and it tracks his career to date and discusses the success of his performances and each of the films he has been in so far. It also represents him as an actor who is interested in the art form by suggesting that he has deliberately taken smaller roles in more independent films following the blockbuster film “Slumdog Millionaire”.

How is the Hollywood Film Industry represented? Find evidence to support what can be said about the representation of the Hollywood film industry by

referring to the content of at least two specific articles.

• The film is industry is represented in a very positive way. One example is in the ‘blockbusters feature’ which includes an educated guess at the box office figures for each of the new releases.

• The high figures which are estimated at for box office demonstrate the financial power and the importance of the movie industry.

• But also there are no negative stories about either the industry or the actors within the industry again to maintain the relationships they require. For example the Hollywood industry could be represented as money grabbing and only interested in commercial success owing to the fact that there are several sequels without artistic consideration and also there is a very formulaic approach to making films in Hollywood.

Narrative

• Again this is not one of the Key Aspects specified in the NAB question but you could talk about this in connection with Institution because decisions are made about Narrative to appeal to target audience, to attract advertisers and ultimately to make profit for the owners. (Institutional Considerations)

Narrative Structure

• The Slate • In Cinemas• Features • Reviews • The reason that there are regular sections and consistent parts of the

magazine in each issue is that the regular customers (Audience) would appreciate the familiarity and consistency and this would attract them to continue to buy (Institution) .This is called recognisable navigation. By attracting more readers the producers of the magazine will make more profit and also attract more advertisers (Purpose and institutional Considerations).

Narrative Structure

• The Slate – The latest and hottest information about actors and films from the industry. This is priority information and is therefore placed at the beginning of the magazine ahead of other sections. Placing this information at the beginning of the magazine would attract browsers / first time buyers to purchase the product. (Institution and Purpose) This also highlights their preferred reading (Audience) that they are the magazine to choose if you want the latest and most important information straight from the industry.