Research - Similar magazine ideas

Magazines that cater more to a LGBTQ+ audience already exist, such as DIVA and Pride, however I want my magazine to target everyone. DIVA, for example, targets primarily wlw (women loving women), whereas magazines like Hello Mr. target more towards mlm (men loving men). This issue of DIVA is fairly simple, showing a lesbian couple on the cover and adopting a pallet with only 3 colours for the text. 

This cover of pride shows Rege-Jean Page. The magazine generally caters towards a queer audience, so while Page is straight, his gentlemanly image is desirable to most. Pride also includes black issues in their intersectional activism, as seen by ‘the mixed race debate grows darker’ which is great to see represented and included on the front page.  

Magazines such as Attitude also cater more towards gay men, as we can see in this front cover Glow Up special. Their cover focuses more on the main picture than the content, as they don’t want to cover the model. Their colours are also limited to two, matching their brand identity. 

Video game timeline 2015-2020

 

Research - masthead ideas

 I want to explore representations and really play around with gender identity as a malleable concept. 

Initial ideas and phrases: 

• against the grain
• against norms
• gradient
• spectrum 
• fluidity
• androgyny 

Both gender and sexuality can be described as a spectrum, so I think that it could be a good name for my magazine. 'Across the spectrum' could be a tagline or used for a call to action. The gender spectrum visualizes gender as a continuum stretching from men to women and masculine to feminine. Gender identities other than man or woman are considered to be non-binary. 

I could use something like these for my logo, and choose one of the colours to use for my main theme and masthead. I am thinking of using the colour green as it isn't as commercially gendered as red, pink, blue, purple etc. 

An example of a gay magazine is DIVA, their main colour is purple and is mostly catered towards WLW and non-binary people. They use the space next to their name to showcase that edition's main focus - in this case lesbian visibility week.

initial response to briefs 3 and 4

Brief 3: 

There is a gap in the market for real life magazines that are targeted for 16-25 year olds, they are mostly aimed at middle aged women. Gender, sexuality and age could be easily represented and could be used to break conventions. I could look into playing with gender stereotypes and breaking conventions, in a similar way to Vogue's Harry Styles cover. 

Lifestyle magazines such as That's Life! are outdated and exaggerated, I would want to be more realistic and showcase an intersectional and youthful view on life, catering to all sexualities and genders. Images could be taken in a range of locations and link to different stories regarding current affairs, personal stories, environment and relevant themes such as gender expression and personal experiences with identity. I could do relevant stories such as one on the current obsession with true crime, and a themed photoshoot to go with it. 

I would like to challenge gender norms and present more feminine men and masculine women, in both subtle and then more outlandish ways. This could link to stories to do with modern gender identity and representation, and how we are progressing as a society with that. I could explore androgyny and the growing number of young people who feel disconnected with their assigned gender, and the rising acceptance of they/them pronouns. People are becoming more open to genderless clothing, so I would love to explore that. 

I think that this works well for youthful audiences, as they are generally more progressive and fluid with their gender expression and sexuality - saying this I wouldn't want the magazine to be purely aimed towards the LGBTQ+ community, I think that could be divisive. 

The androgynous glam rock ideas of the 70s and 80s, headlined by people like David Bowie and Motley Crue, are coming back into the spotlight in an exciting way. Media personalities such as Tripp Kilpatrick and Harry Styles play into their femininity and draw from icons of the past. 

The magazine would link to a website, both having the same branding, I would try to stay clear of the colour red as I think it is overused. The website would include articles and pictures to go with them, and must have a short video. I could do a short documentary-style intro such as Vogue's 73 questions, or the Wired autocomplete survey etc. 

Magazines such as Pride and Kerrang cater more towards a younger audience, so I may draw inspiration from there when thinking about my target audience. 

Brief 4: 

 The requirement for brief 4 is that we use a love song, so there is no gap in the market - especially targeting 16-25 year olds. I think the best way to go about this brief would be to choose an older song so that there is no pre-existing media with it, such as something by Etta James. Due to the fact that the video has to be in a performance/narrative style I would try to use creative shots and mise en scene in order to make it more unique and less cliché. A slow love song such as A Sunday Kind Of Love or At Last by Etta James could be used, and the video could have scenes of juxtaposition with the lyrics where the couple are singing happy lyrics, but the atmosphere and actions in the video suggest the opposite. 

I would use a young couple, as to represent the target audience. I could also use a homosexual couple, which would represent different sexualities and go against conventions. This choice would be able to be used to amplify the hardships of a relationship as, in general, they face more struggles than heterosexual couples. However, using a straight couple would enable me to vary my gender representation in the video. It could be difficult to get any age representation in the video as the couple would be the same age, but I could perhaps feature a parent or sibling as part of the narrative

intertextuality in Stranger Things

Stranger Things has been called a "Frankenstein's monster of 80s influences" due to its many intertextual references within the show. Not only does it draw on the styles of Stephen Spielberg, Stephen king, John Carpenter and many others from that ear of pop culture but it makes clear references to their works. 

One big intertextual reference is to Alien (1979). The Demogorgon in ST is similar to the creature in Alien in many ways, both use a gooey substance that they leave as a trail and trap victims with - also, to enter the creatures netherworld, the characters have to claw their way through the goo. The 'face-huggers' in Alien come out of eggs that peel back in quarters, and ST's Demogorgon's' faces do the same. 

Eleven in Stranger Things is very similar to Carrie White in the film Carrie, both girls have supernatural powers that are a factor in their outcasted situations, and both have had sheltered upbringings - Carrie with her extremely religious parents and Eleven with her experimental scientist. They are also both normally sweet and good-natured but can become angry and dangerous when provoked. 

Stranger Things plays homage to Close Encounters of the Third Kind as can be seen clearly with this picture from season 2. Both shows deal with parents who have an obsession with the supernatural that everyone else deems as crazy. In Close Encounters, Roy constructs Devil's Tower out of mashed potatoes and shovels dirt into his living room while his family call him mad and leave. similarly, in ST when Joyce realises her missing son is trying to use electrics to communicate with her, she uses Christmas lights to make a wall Ouija board of sorts and even drives an axe through the wall (much like Jack Nicholson in The Shining) to try to reach him. 

Stranger Things has many intertextual links with Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, even down to the basis of a suburban boy making friends with a powered being in need. Both Mike and Elliott hide their new friend in their homes without anyone finding out and form a strong and powerful bond. Many moments in the ST universe parallel E.T. such as powers being used on the bicycle, use of a make-shift communication device, curiosity of the other being, government agents in hazmat suits, fear of the other being, and dressing up in a wig. 

Stranger Things manages to borrow from Poltergeist, while simultaneously living in a universe where the film exists. Joyce can communicate to Will who is in another dimension that is somehow connected to her house, like in Poltergeist. Both mothers venture into the other dimension in order to retrieve their children.

Both films feature a group of young boys in the 80's who ride around on their bikes and specifically looking for something. Some of the characters parallel each other such as Dustin/Chunk, Mike and Will/Mikey, Lucas/Mouth and Nancy/Andy. Both groups have a joyful spirit and execute their plans without intervention from adults. 

Fandom in Stranger Things and Forbrydelsen

Stranger Things has gained a huge fanbase since first airing in July of 2016, from viewership to social media presence to merchandise - the show has it all. You can get stranger things merch in virtually any form, from thousands of websites, and mainstream retailers such as Primark have entire ST ranges with their logo plastered on phone-cases and hoodies alike. Stranger things has its own page(s) on Fandom.com and it's entire layout is Stranger Things themed.

The online presence of Stranger Things is overwhelming, with millions of results showing on google and social media platforms. The stars themselves have gained millions of followers on Instagram and Twitter (such as Millie Bobby Brown who was before virtually unknown and now has 43.2million Instagram followers). Almost everyone in western society has at least heard of Stranger Things if they haven't actually seen it. 

Stranger Things has also inspired countless fan-creations in the form of fan art and fanfiction, where people write and draw their own version of events for the characters, often changing their relationships or placing them in an 'alternate universe' where readers see how the author thinks they would act in different environments. 

Stranger Things has a very varied fanbase, from young teens to older adults. The 80s setting harbours nostalgia for older viewers, and for younger viewers it comes across as retro and vintage. Younger fans tend to be more involved in 'fandom' with buying merch and actively talking about it on social media, but older viewers are more likely to just watch the show and talk about it with their friends. Fandom is a huge part of this series as they don't heavily rely on marketing and adverts, but more so on fan promotion such as word of mouth and merchandise. 

Forbrydelsen has a slightly smaller fanbase than Stranger Things as it has a more mature viewership. The critically acclaimed show first aired in 2007 in Denmark and was soon translated to The Killing in the UK. The Forbrydelsen page on Fndom.com is also themed just as ST is. 

While Forbrydelsen doesn't have the same scale of fandom as ST has, it does have a wide audience. companies such as Nordic Noir Tours provide a Forbrydelsen tour in which fans an see the famous bridge from the show, which is apparently a 'must see' according to some fans. Also, you can buy Sarah Lund's infamous sweater online or download knitting patterns to make it yourself. 

Forbrydelsen relies less on fandom than that of Stranger Things. This is partially due to the fact that when it first aired in 2007, fandom was much less popular and less relied on - social media was not the consuming presence that it is today. 

Music Video Emeli Sandé: Star Persona

 Sandé was born in Scotland in 1987 and raised near Aberdeen. Her father was a teacher at her school and she loved to learn and do well. Music was a big inspiration for her, writing her first song at the age of 11 for a school talent show - however school was also a big part of her life. She attended university and obtained a degree in in neuroscience so she had a stable career to fall back on. Later, she married her long term boyfriend, who remained unnamed until their wedding, she cared for him and didn’t want him to be affected by her fame. They later divorced in 2014, just 2 years after marriage. 

Sandé’s music is inspired by Nina Simone after seeing her performance of ‘Why?’ when Martin Luther King JR was assassinated. She said that she thinks music should be poetic and meaningful, wanting a real connection with her music rather than writing throwaway pop songs. Sandé doesn’t make music for the fame and she doesn’t make music that she doesn’t connect to, she’s passionate about her messages within her well thought out lyrics. As well as her own music, she wrote for both Susan Boyle and Leona Lewis; saying that she never actually met them but wished to as she admired them. She also says that her songs are about world peace and political issues, using “honesty” and “raw emotion” in her lyrics. Another inspiration for her in life, as well as music, was Frida Kahlo - she has a tattoo of her on her forearm that she got after university - she says that her bravery resonates with and encourages her. 

In 2017 Sandé was made an MBE for her contributions to music, and in 2019 she was appointed as the new chancellor at the University of Sunderland.