Deconstruction of TV Listings Magazine Article

On the documentary ‘Don’t Stop the Music’

The main title of the article is different to the title of the documentary, but of the same musical theme to introduce its context at a glace. I could do this for my own product to introduce and engage people with my theme. The title uses alliteration and is short and sharp in order to be eye-catching.

Information of scheduling and where to find the documentary is clearly presented by a large font and bright yellow background at the start of the article so that it's easy to find. This article is within the 'Factual' category of the magazine, showing that documentaries are appropriate for this exhibitor, although the article only takes up half of an A4 page, is in the middle of the magazine at page 13, and this is the only documentary article presented, suggesting that this exhibitor may not be appropriate for my ancillary product.

The writing style is informal due to the language such as 'chucked', which indicates that the readers are most likely less formal and literate, which may not be appropriate for my documentary as I am using formal language. A weakness is that the documentary's main character also uses quite formal language, so perhaps their distributor has targeted their product at the wrong audience by choosing this exhibitor.

There is an intertextual reference to pop culture with 'Simon Cowell' linking to the X Factor. This indicates TV Choice's audience's generic pleasures and interests, which I could link to my own ancillary product to engage with this audience.

There is a blue house style for the article border, background fill, and image, which matches the school uniform of the children so that it is aesthetically pleasing and stylistic, and is also a primary colour to represent a primary school which is the setting of the documentary, introducing it. Blue also links to the main character's tragic background which the article discusses, presenting his depression effectively and making the images and text flow together.

In the image, there are children standing around a piano as this is the theme of the documentary, allowing the large image to introduce it at a glance. This will also engage parent readers, as they can relate to having school children this age themselves, which is effective for attracting audiences.

The article is introduced by stating a popular previous product from the producers of this documentary in order to attract audiences familiar with it and to create a well-known brand. Although I am unable to do this myself as I have no previous products, I can utilise the brand of my popular exhibitor, Channel 4, to achieve a similar effect.

The article uses a large font to summarise the aim/ plot of the documentary, and is informally written with another reference to pop culture - 'Tinie Tempah', further identifying the type of audience which the article is trying to engage with from this exhibitor. From watching the documentary myself, I could criticise that its reference to Tinie Tempah is misleading, as the music in the documentary is mainly within the classical genre rather than pop.

There is a large star shape and font to show that the documentary is a new programme, in an eye-catching way which will gain interest and attract its audience.

The smaller image which shows the documentary's main character adds context to the plot of the documentary. It also adds professionalism to the documentary by presenting the main character's credentials, as he performs professionally for audiences in London.

There are photo credits at the side of the article border, and the article's author is written in bold at the end of the article within the textbox. The characters within the image are also credited within the image itself. This has allowed me to understand the format of TV listings magazine articles.

This magazine is mainly targeted at women due to the dominance of soap operas throughout the magazine, which are also targeted to female audiences. Therefore the main character's tragic background has been incorporated into the article to evoke empathy from stereotypically sympathetic female readers, engaging them with his character and the documentary. It also adds context and meaning to the plot of the documentary, making it stronger and more powerful. A weakness is this section of the article doesn't explain the content of the documentary with much detail, however it could be argued that it creates an enigma, encouraging the audience to view it.

The end of the article invites the reader to become involved with the didactic plot of the documentary by donating instruments to schools. This engages them with the documentary, making them more likely to view it.