First Media Post: Key Media Concepts

Target Audience:

The Group of people the media product is aimed at. The target audience can be put in to categories: Age, Gender, etc. This will help the company sell they're product efficiently.

-The Primary audience are the main people the product is aimed at for example a newly developed brand of nappies the primary audience would be parents with babies. 

- A product may also have a wide audience where different types of people are attracted to the product, this means that the product is more likely to sell if there are more people who may buy it.

Genres:

A genre is the French word for type and is a term used to describe any category that a media product may be categorised into. The terms for genre vary depending on the area of media you are covering or looking at, For example both comedy and romance are genres used in the film industry and R&B and indie are terms used for certain genres in the music industry. The genre of a media product is often a huge factor in deciding what type of Target audience a product has. For example, a Romantic Comedy film is more likely teen-aged girls than its is a group of teen-aged boys.

Conventions:

Conventions are the key features of a genre. They often are what let people instantly know that this genre is this genre. Here's a few examples:

Romance films will often have things like:

• A boy meets Girl situation.
• A series of obstacles they have to over come.
• Contain's Love scene or hints at a Love scene.
• Happy ending or Tragedy

Action films will often contain things like:

• Dramatic effects: Explosions
• A Hero Vs Villain scenario  
• A love interest
• Car Chases
• Fighting

These elements of a genre help the audience recognize the genre without being told what it is.

Codes(Symbolic & Technical):

Similar to Conventions, Codes are a way of conveying media meaning without using words. 

-The props, costume and editing are all symbolic codes. For example, to convey that its Christmas or Halloween to an Audience with out actually telling them it is you would place a Christmas tree or a Jack-O-Lantern  in the scene. A costume can change the setting, and let the audience know the films in the past, present or future.

-The lighting is also another way you can subtly put codes in a film. A Horror films lighting is often very dark, shadowy and Un-natural lighting. Where-as a Romance is a lot more softer. Candle light dinners, Sun sets etc.