Textual analysis of a music magazine cover

Textual Analysis of a College Magazine

The denotation of this music magazine billboard is a colour photo of a young female music artist in a pose with a sideways gaze straight towards camera. She’s in a pale looking pink lace dress.

The image pays attention to mise-en scene as lighting, setting, costume, Non Verbal Communication the only element of mise en scene not present is the use props. Thought has gone into anatomy of the magazine against the picture in the background. The words are placed well and complement the main image. There is the use of masthead, cover lines, date lines, barcodes and a selling line.

Firstly analysing mise en scene

The main image uses a combination low and high key lightning. The background of the image is dark and contains shadows whereas the person in the image bright and is without shadows. The photographer chose to do this so that readers pay attention to brighter part of the image which in this case is the female.

The setting seems to be a black background with red roses across it. The reason why the photographer chose this setting could be so that the image in the front stands out more. It could also be to create that smoky effect or black and white effect or to bring out the make up the female is wearing.

There is no use of props in this image and this could be because the photographer didn’t want attention to shift from the main image and purpose of the magazine.

The female in this image is wearing a lace crop top. The costume is similar to what the female artist wears in her music video so this choice of costume is a source of promotion for both the artist’s music and a source of promotion for the music magazine as they will sell more copies.

The non verbal communication like the body gesture and facial expression have a sultry feeling to them the leaning forward and eyes this suggests that this particular issue is aimed more at men but it is also aimed at women.

The anatomy of the magazine is analysed in below

The masthead reads billboard this title immediately suggest its music magazine. It’s in bold and in white which contrasts well with the black background. The masthead also has other colours in the b and d in red and yellow which primary colours and eye catching this was done to grab attention to the magazine name this could be so that it gains acknowledgement, advertising and sales. The use of colour in the b and d could also be to show uniqueness and logo. The font is written in Son serif font.

This magazine has all cover lines in a straight line on the left hand side of the main image or cover. The lines don’t obstruct the main image and the use of white again makes it stand out. Some of the cover lines are in black but are highlighted in white this so that the words written can be seen clearly.

The selling is abrupt and straight to the point but gives useful information. It also gives an idea of what the magazine’s purpose is. It is a music event being advertised.

We can tell the editors have paid attention to the main image firstly who they are going to photograph, the costume the individual is going to wear, the make up, the way the setting is going to complement these elements and this is because for music magazine it is mostly due to the main image which sells the product and then the illustration. The main image is eye-catching because of the colour present in it mostly the red.

The main cover line reads ‘the re-invention of Rihanna’ the name Rihanna is in bold and in capital letters on its own and this is done to catch the eye of the audience and the words that follow these cause curiosity and curiosity is what it seems the editor wants to use to gain sales.

 On every magazine there is a need for a barcode and dateline. The barcode is to distinguish between all other products. The barcode is also there so that during purchasing it can be scanned this shows how many copies have been bought. The dateline is essential for the readers to know the information is up to date and applies to current life.

There is a substantial use of colour mostly red and black there are also the use of yellow and white.  Black connotes power and authority which I think the photographer was trying to connote to the reader’s of billboard magazine that it has the most power compared to the other music magazines. The white represents purity and innocence and it also a colour that is often used in regards to fashion. The red is an intense colour it is said to stimulate heartbeats and fast breathing which also suggests that this issue is aimed at men.

In conclusion this magazine cover is very much specialised in gaining audience attention with it’s use of bright colours and well thought out use of mise en scene.

Introduction

This is an introduction to the music magazine coursework Iwill be writing an analysis of a music magazine and also carrying out research to create my own musicmagazine cover

College magazine contents page

College Magazine

Audience Research

Audience research

1.This question was about gender and Iaskedthis question because it is relevant to the magazine because it makes me awareof the people to aim  the magazine at. The results were that at random selection I had asked 9 males and 11 females

2.The second question was about age the reason why this question was asked is so that only those who go to collee complete it. The result were that there were 11 16yr olds, 6 17 yr olds , 2 18yr olds and 1 19 yr old.

3.The next question that I asked was it the would like a college magazine and Iasked this questionto show that there was apurpose for making a magazine in the first place.The results were all 20 people wanted a college magazine.

4.The next question I asked was about what they would want in the magazine if there was one the results

were a wide range the mostfavourable choices were sport health university applications

5.The next  question that I asked was about the amount of times it should be distributed the popularchoices were weekly and monthly the final results were monthlyand the ones that didn't get  chosen were yearly and by term.

                                

6.The next question I asked was the price most people were willing to pay for each magazine once it wasdistributed?       

7. This question was about prizesand freebies the result was that they want freebies and prizes.This was a closed question and 14 peole said yes whereas 6 people said no out of 20 people altogether.

8.The next question was about whether they would like to help with making the magazine and if so what do they prefer doing? the results were that 4 peoplewerewilling to write the articles,7 were willing to take photos,5 people were willing to do the editing,4 are willing to do advertising.

9 This question was to do with the number of pages the magazine was to have/the popular choice was 16-20 pages etc.

10.The next question I asked was to do with the colour scheme for the magazine many chose other as they felt thecolours weren't what they wanted but the next closest choice was blue and black followed by black and white.

11. This question was about whether the magazine should aim at being educational rather than entertaining the majority  vote was entertaining this would help me now what to include in the contents page as well as the content of the magaine as a whole.

Questionnaire
My name is Magdalene and I am undertaking research to conduct a college magazine please help participate by answering the questions below.
1. What gender are you?
Male
Female

2. How old are you?
16
17
18
19 +

3. Would you like a college magazine?
Yes
No

4. What section should the magazine focus on? You can tick more than box

Sports
Music
University applications
Coping with college
Fashion
Health
Art
Games
E.g. scrabble, word search
Enrichment
Advice section
Past student articles

5. How many times do you want the magazine to be distributed?
Weekly
Monthly
By term
Yearly

6. What price are you willing to pay for each magazine?

£0.00p – £0.50p
£0.51p – £1.00p
£1.00+

7. Would you like for us to include prizes or freebies?
Yes
No

8. Would you like to take part in the college magazine in any way? If yes tick the one of interest if not tick no
Writing articles
Taking photographs
Editing
Advertising
No


9. How many pages do you recommend the magazine?
10 -15
15-20
20+

10. What colour scheme do you want for the college magazine cover?
Black and white
Pink and black
Blue and black
Other

11. Would you like the magazine to be more educational or entertaining?
Educational
Entertaining

12. What size do you want the magazine to be?
A4
A5


Thank you for participating in this questionnaire

Introduction

Name - Magdalene
Age- 16
I am an enthusiastic media studies student with various interests. The purpose of this blog is to make available to interested parties coursework materials.