Analysis of Music Magazine

The masthead of the magazine is big, bold & eyecatching. It's a masthead most of us will recgonize.

On the cover is a picture of Brandon Flowers from The Killers, and underneath it reads ''THE BIG HEADLINERS! THE KILLERS'' this is eye catching and where our eyes go after looking at the masthead and the picture of Brandon Flowers.

The Killers are a well known popular band, so they are a safe option for the magazine to use on the cover, as they know alot of people will be interested in reading about them.

Apart from Brandons face the background is nearly alomost black, which matches the frame colour of his glasses. the expression on his face is very serious which also goes with the colour black.

The rest of the text on the cover of the magazine is in NME's famous colours, Red & Yellow.

Next to the plug on The Killers, theres a list of bands expected to be playing at Reading & Leeds Festival. This will draw in a huge audience as a couple of years ago The Reading & Leeds festival was awared Number 1 U.K Festival and draws in crows of over 80,000 people every year. So a massive audience will want to read about the bands that are expected to play that year.

LIIAR Of Music Magazine Project

As I'm now starting my Music Magazine project I'm looking again at how media key concepts can be applied to produce my magazine. I'm using the acronym LIIAR - Language, Institution, Ideology, Audience & Representation.

Language - Layout, text & font. Arrangement of the masthead and the text etc. Look at what kind of language is used in the music media, Is there any slang that the readers will relate to?

Institution - The organization that are going to be producing my magazine are going to be Clubbers, DJ'S, Music reviewers and critics.
For example Mixmag readers are the opinion formers and leaders in clubbing. They spend their money on Nights out, Clothes, Music, and the latest mobile phone and MP3 Player.
72% of the readers are male and 28% are female, they don't read other magazines and watch very little television, especially on weekends.
I got my information from http://www.mixmag.net/content/reader-profile

Ideology - The ideology of the magazine will be to promote club nights and venues, give out a message of always telling people where the best club nights are and who the hottest new acts are etc.

Audience - My magazine will be aimed at Clubbers, DJ's etc. People who spent alot of money on nights out and clubbing, people who are always on the look out for new music, It will be aimed at people who like club music such as, House, Trance, Techno, Dance etc.

Representation - My magazine will represents clubbers to be out going people, always up for a laugh

Evaluation

In what ways does your Media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real Media products?

My media product uses the conventions that work well from real Media products such as use plugs on the front cover of the most interesting story’s in your magazine, because then your audience are going to be more interested. I don’t think my media product challenges conventions of real media though, I think it’s pretty much like a normal structured magazine in most ways.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product is representing college students as a social group. My media product represents college students as out going and hard working, and always looking for tips on how to improve work ect. It is also representing them as being creative, as I’ve added on my contents page the page number for ‘’college productions’’ showing that the college students have put on shows and productions.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think Any type of media institution that are involved in making media products to do with further education would distribute my magazine, because it’s inspires people to stick at college and also gives them loads of advice on how to boost their grades and use study time well, things like that I think students would be really interested in.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product would be college students, it’s entirely aimed at them, and has everything they need to give them a little bit more confidence in succeeding.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience (College students) by the front cover not being a boring typical education magazine front cover that students would never go for. I got my friend to pose for me, and she posed in quite a humours manner that adds an element of fun to the cover, and would hopefully attract students. I also used plugs on the front cover about upcoming shows in the theatre at college and the Christmas party as well as how to improve education headlines ect. So that the students know my magazine isn’t just all about the education side, it’s about the fun as well and getting involved.

What have your learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt that the simplest of things will gain your readers attention, and that not being boring will get you a long way. You need to use things that are going to grab your target audience and interest them.

Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

At the beginning I was a bit nervous and wasn’t too sure how I was going to go about it especially in terms of the picture etc, but along the way it got easier.
I have learnt that just looking at examples of other peoples work helps too, not to copy or steal their ideas but to inspire you to further your own, because at the end of the day no ones original, everyone needs inspiration from somewhere!

Final piece

Here is my final college magazine cover, I am very happy with the outcome.

I decided to use this image of my friend jumping because I thought it fitted with the headline ''AIM'' and I thought she represented a happy and outgoing student, this is what I wanted to come through in my image. I also liked the fact that she was in a mid jump because I thought it looked like she had just received good news, like good exam results!

I decided to use the title ''AIM'' because I thought it went well with the whole education theme, students are in education because they have a aim in life, a goal we're they want to end up, and coming to college and getting qualifications gives them a sturdy aim for that goal.

I used a different range of plugs on the front, some of them to do with boosting your education and some of them to do with the funner side of things.

I used ''10 EASY STEPS TO PLAN THE PERFECT ESSAY'' because I thought it's something a lot of students would be interested in, because I know from a personal point of view I struggle with essays and essay planning so if I read this on the front of a magazine I would buy it just for that fact alone!

I used ''Are you making the most out of your NUS?'' because I thought it would interest students because who doesn't like to shop, and who doesn't want to make the most out of discounts, and helping students make the most out of there NUS isn't just good for them it's good for NUS to boost their customers.

Finally, I used ''WYKE CHRISTMAS CONCERT PAGE 6....'' because we're getting closer to Christmas and every ones getting in the Christmas spirit so I thought a lot of students will go to Christmas concerts, and even more will probably go to ones that their friends are in!

Here is my final mock up of my contents page for my final college magazine.

I wanted to keep it simple, so I went with plain colours and text. I think it worked well, it's simple and too the point, easy to understand.

I used most of the plugs I'd used on the front cover to place on the contents, and added a few in explosion style boxes about College fund raiders etc!

Analysis of three Magazine covers

The masthead of the magazine is bright and eye-catching but is also covered up slightly by Jamie Lynn's head, this shows that the magazine is popular enough to have the masthead covered yet still be recognized by the buyers.
The main picture of Jamie Lynn has a dark red background, which gives the picture a dramatic tone, because we usually relate the colour red with something dramatic, e.g. love, death and passion.

Jamie Lynn is being used on the front cover to gain empathy from the readers, her expression very much represents worry and fear, and with her looking directly at us it pulls us in and makes us feel sorry for her, which therefore makes us interested in the story.

With Jamie Lynn being a teenager it will pull in a wider range of audience, you will get the teenagers wanting to buy it because she could be seen as a role model towards them, and you will get the older generation buying it, who probably have teenage children themselves because they are shocked at this story.

Directly next to Jamie Lynn's part on the front cover there is a picture of Katie Holmes with her daughter and underneath the text reads ''KATIE Mommy of the year''. This is ironic to be put next to a story of teenage pregnancy.




Again the masthead of the magazine is bright but slightly covered indicating that heat is a well known popular magazine.
Our eyes first go to the big bold bright writing saying ''Our men prefer us curvy!'' and next to it is a picture of well known actress Reese Witherspoon in her bikini, This will draw in a huge audience of women. So many women don't like their body's or consider themselves curvy so to read on the front of a magazine that famous actresses boyfriends like them curvy will definitely make them want to read the story.

Where it says ''Our men prefer us curvy!'' the background is in black so not to draw our attention away from the writing.
The fact that the two main pictures on the front of the magazines are 2 celebs in their bikinis gives it a very summer feel, and the text being in yellow makes it feel like the sun. Indicating this issue of the mag was probably out in the summer.

After we've seen the main article about the Curvy Celebs our eyes go down to another piece of text in bold saying ''I'm giving up business for modelling'' and next to it is a picture of a young male in a sailors hat and a blue top. The background of this piece is in blue, probably representing water to go with the sailor theme of the picture. Above this it also says ''Apprentice Alex models for heat'' this will draw in even more women because if they've seen him on the apprentice and fancied him, they'll want to see the photos!

Finally our eyes are lead to the top of the magazine which is bold text again saying ''BB Alex - her ONLY interview'' and next to it is a picture of Alex from Big Brother. They have emphasized the fact this is her only interview by putting the word ''only'' in bold capital letters, and underneath it says ''WARNING: IT'LL MAKE YOU VERY ANGRY!'' This is a humorous pun because Alex was well known for being extremely angry.




The masthead is big and bold, and is obviously extremely popular as they can afford to cover up a whole letter knowing that the readers probably won't even notice it's covered up because it's that well known.

After we've seen the masthead our eyes go straight to the picture of famous actress Uma Thurman, and next to the picture it says ''UMA THURMAN Facing forty with glamour'' and on the other side it says ''HOW TO GROW OLD FASHIONABLY''. This tells us that this issue of the magazine is primarily aimed at an older audience.

Using Uma Thurman on the front cover will pull in the female audience because a wide range will probably see her as a role model and style icon. Also if readers think they can remotely look like her, and get tips on her style they'll want to buy the magazine.

The background colour is a very subtle gray which almost matches Uma's top, and is very colour co-ordinated to go with her outfit, it's also very chic and classy probably to represent her personality.

Another plug on the front of the magazine is ''DUFFY This year's soul superstar'' this will be to pull in the younger audience aswell, because the rest of the plugs on the front of the magazine are primarily aimed at the older generation, they need something that will pull in the younger audience aswell.

Textual Analysis of ''Secondary Teachers Magazine'' Front Cover

Position signs: the camera and the viewer

- The focal point of the camera (lens center) is on the boys face.
- The boy is looking directly at us, so all our focus is on his face and his facial expression (which is quite a cheeky smile), then from there our eyes wander up his arm, which he has raised in the air, as you do when you want a teachers attention.
-The point of view is the boys eye line, which catches our attention and shows us his excitement and eagerness to answer the question or tell the teacher something.

Treatment signs: devices of filming and of processing

- The image is in full colour and is bright, which gives us a sense of it representing the boy being a bright pupil and very alert.
- The bright headline at the side of the boy reading ''Do boys and girls learn differently?'' stands out and is where our eyes go after noticing his raised arm.
- The bright blue colours of the text around the picture give it a very school like feel, with a lot of school uniform colours being blues and whites.
- The boy is set against a bright white background so that the image is sharp and bold and also stands out.
- The lighting is very crisp cut and bright, like the whole picture, suggesting that this pupil is very alert and bright with enthusiasm.

Content signs: objects in the picture and their placing

- The bright looking boy looks like he's eager to answer but also has a cheeky grin on his face, which asks the question if he's going to give an insincere answer, which will also make the audience want to read the article, to see if this boy is a good learner.
- The boy is wearing a school uniform which makes it obvious he is a school boy, and the boy being sat at a desk and having his pens and pencils in front of him makes it obvious he is in a school classroom.
- The boys youthful face, with no make up, and him being in school uniform so not representing a stereotype suggests a naturalness to the photo.
His arm being raised in the air and his facial expression show that he is eager to be given attention for whatever reason.

AS Media Studies - Jasmine Burdall

Producing a college magazine, Front page & contents page.

As this is the beginning of the foundation portfolio preliminary task, we looked at how the media key concepts could be applied to produce a college magazine. We used the acronym LIIAR - Language, Institution, Ideology, Audience & Representation.

Language - Layout, text & font. Arrangement of the masthead and the text etc.

Institution - Wyke College and people working for the college.

Ideology - Values, sense of belief. The Wyke college message is to promote Wyke, and to promote the power of education.

Audience - Wyke College students, ages 16-19. 64% Female, 36% Male. Around 55% are from the East Riding and the other 45% are from Hull. Also employers and university's.

Representation - Showing the best of Wyke College and making it look good, also the type of story and typeface.