Textual Anaylsis - Front Cover 3

On the front cover of this NME magazine 'The Wombats being represented in a exciting and playful manner. They seem like they are childish and having fun by posing in the way they are as one is jumping around, another is messing his hair up and then another is pretending to look up at something. They are being represented in this way due to the fact that the main cover line is 'The Wombats. Why Britain's gone silly for the lords of the indie dance floor'. The idea of being childish and playful is the fact that 'Britain's gone silly' so the band are showing us this through their actions.

The colours on the that are on the front cover are all bright and happy colours which would attract the audience due to the fact that it stands out. The main cover line is in a yellow colour which connotates excitement and happiness which is also accompanied by vibrant blues that are in the other cover lines allowing the magazine cover to attract attention. The masthead is red with a white and black outline which causes to stand of the page and slightly overwhelms the image. This could be seen as both good and bad as if people generally liked NME magazine and the masthead stood out they would recognise it straight away where as if they didn't but they liked The Wombats I personally think that the masthead would draw attention away from the image. All the text and its colours signify to the audience happiness due to the fact that they are all bright colours.

The costume that The Wombats are wearing in the image are casual and informal clothes which signify to the audience that this is a very informal magazine that is friendly and chatty. It also tells us that the magazine is very likely to use friendly language that communicates to the audience in a way which they would speak to their Friends rather than how they would maybe speak to someone of high importance. The costume also represent the band in the same way as a friendly group of people that are chatty and far from being formal. This is a good way to appeal to audiences as a great deal of people use magazines as a way of getting away from the real world and they use them as stress relief.

The camera angle is also the same as it is on most music magazine front covers. It is simply a straight on medium shot which allows the audience to feel involved with the magazine as well as the band. The camera shows emphasises the band showing their childish side and their individually poses which is their way of trying to show themselves to the audience as well as assisting the main cover line.

I would personally say that the target audience of this music magazine, judging by the front cover would mainly be the older teenagers around the age of 16 - 17 both male and female. I think this because the image is what all older teenagers like doing, having fun and being with their friends and generally being rebellious and getting into trouble which is all part of their life at that age. I also think it is aimed at this specific target audience because it is very informal in its appearance as well as the text it uses. The magazine cover also contains the names of popular bands at the present time making it more appealing to the teenage target audience as all teenagers like music and like listening to it.

Textual Analysis - Front Cover 2

On this Kerrang magazine, Biffy Clyro are being represented in a thug like manner. They look like this due to the fact that the lead singer who is stood at the front has his hood up with a tattoo on his hands which is generally stereotyped as being 'thug like'. His face is also partially in shadow which could suggest he is hiding due to the fact that the background is black as well. The other two people that are set further back are both wearing black which tells the audience they are not as important as the lead singer but are still part of the band.

Kerrang are representing them in this way due to the type of music that Kerrang contains within its magazine. It is a heavy metal, rock magazine which is shown to us through the colour on the front cover of the magazine as well as the title which connotates violence which still reflects back to heavy metal and rock. The title reflects violence as it appears as if it has been slashed with a knife or a sharp object showing more of the black background through a white title. Each of these features all relate back to being rebellious and violent which is what rock and heavy metal is seen as.

The costumes that are worn in the main image are fairly plain and as said before, the lead singer has his hood up which gives of the idea of hiding along with the dark background. Which all relate back to the main cover line which says 'Biffy Clyro, unfold the puzzle of life' which connotates to us that the story is going to uncover certain things to do with them which we people didn't know or that Biffy Clyro kept from their audiences. As well as the costume, the setting also assists the main cover line as it is in a dark place where you can't see anything but Biffy Clyro giving off the idea of secrecy and hiding.

The main, dominant image is Biffy Clyro which makes sense as the main cover line is to do with them. There are also two sub images of two other bands with a cover line saying how the two sub images on the cover are available as posters in the magazine. There is also a small image of the singer Hayley out of the rock band Paramore which is accompanied by a cover line which is in red like the cover line explaining about the posters. The coverlines that accompany the sub images are prodominantly in red which connotates violence, blood, and excitement which like mentioned previously relates back to the idea of violence in the title with it looking like aknife has slashed it.

The camera is used in a straight medium shot which makes the audience feel involved with the band making it more personal to them as if they are the only people that are finding out about this band even though they know they are not.

By looking at this magazine front cover I would personally say that it is aimed at a target audience of late teens and even maybe early adults due to the fact that the image is quite dark which would also appeal to the people stereotyped as emo's, goths and moshers.

Textual Analysis - Front Cover 1

On this Q magazine front cover, Lily Allen is being represented in a promiscuous type of way. She is represented like this by standing posing in a flirtatious way with only a small amount of clothes on. She is stood with two Panthers which connotate power and fear which is backed up by the main cover line 'Lily Allen & her wicked, wicked ways ...'. This is shown to us by Q through the image they have taken and used as a front cover on a magazine. The subject is being represented in this way to attract the audience a people that like Lily Allen will buy the magazine seeing her on the front cover.

In the main cover line the word wicked is in red which connotates evil and hell. But the denotation of the word wicked is bad, which means she is telling us what bad things she has done. The non verbal structures such as the gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing and props tell us what the story may be about. Considering Lily Allen is posing in a teasing, luring way stood with panthers shows her rebellious side which also relates back to the cover line also. This is also backed up by her costume, or lack of it. The significance of the mise-en-scene/sets/setting all relate back to the main cover line or the image of the star. Having a certain setting could tell the audience what the main cover line could be without reading it. The dominant image on the magazine cover is obviously Lily Allen and the two Panthers. The Panthers are iconic to the main cover line as well as assisting the image of Lily Allen in creating the right atmosphere for the audience. The camera is placed as a direct shot capturing the full image which makes the audience feel more involved with the magazine allowing them to read about Lily Allen and what she has/hasn't done.

The language of the magazine cover is very informal and casual which invites the audience to read it and gives off a friendly vibe. If the language was formal and well written, the targeted audience would not be attracted to purchasing the magazine due to the simple fact it would look like a serious magazine and not a magazine which provides relaxation.

On the magazine cover, there are no other images on there just other cover lines. The cover lines are light colours so they stand out on the background and the fact that there is only one image suggests that it is the most important part of the magazine, the main catch to get people to buy it as Lily Allen is a well known star in the music world. The image and the cover lines also tell us that this magazine isn't specific to one genre of music and covers a vast majority of music. This would make it more popular and help target its ideal audience which I personally think doesn't have a limit as it does cover different artists within the magazine.

The masthead of the magazine stands out but doesn't divert us from the main image too much. Having the letter Q in white on a red background doesn't specifically target any type of music genre but the colour red could connotate the idea of excitement rather than violence or danger which it would usually connotate to us.

The magazine is targeted at teenagers to adults of any age as it covers various bands and music genres and it is naturally targetred at anybody that likes music and would be willing to buy the magazine which I would say is prodiminantly males. I say this because a male character would be a greta deal more attracted to this particular edition fo the magazine as it has Lily Allen on the front posing in a flirtatious and promiscuous manner. Women could potentially also purchase the magazine for the fact they like Lily Allen and her music but I would say male music lovers would be more likely to purchase the particular issue of the magazine.

Conventions Of A Music Magazine (Taken From Q Magazine)

Masthead: The masthead tends to be big and bold which usually stands out from the background of the magazine. They are all visually branded in different ways due to different colour schemes and titles. The colour of the title on the Q magazine is red and white, the red connotates excitement and also stands out on the page attracting people's attention and draws them in due to the boldness of the colour.

Dateline: Music magazines all have the month and year that they came out as well as the issue number which allows potential buyers to be able to know which issue they need and whether they have bought it or not. This never takes up a large part of the cover and is just a small informative section.

Main Image: This tends to be one big image that takes up the majority of the page usually a hit artist or a band that has made news or made a come back or even bought out a new album. The band always relates to the theme of the magazine i.e. rock, pop, r'n'b, punk, hip hop. On the Q magazine the image is of U2 which tells the audience that they are the main storyline in the magazine and could also connote a rock theme but Q magazine covers a vast range of music types so it changes with each issue.

Cover lines: Cover lines are used to inform the audience what has been covered in the magazine usually other stories apart from the anchorage. The text is usually bold and colourful but doesn't take the attention of the main headline and is used to inform people whats has been covered in the magazine which could attract them if they admire a certain person in the magazine but if they didn't like them they could also avoid the magazine.

Main Cover Line: The main cover line (or anchorage) relates back to the main image. The main cover line is the biggest story that is in the magazine which is different in every issue of the magazine. It is usually information about a music artist for example if they have released a new album or if rumours have been spreaded that they are going to split up. In the Q magazine I have looked at the Main CoverLine is "U2 ARE BACK" which would make the target audience buy it to find out what they are back from

Bar code: Every music magazine has a bar code which tends to contain the information about the date of the magazine and the price.

Selling Line: Most music magazines have a selling line such as 'Live Life Loud' which is the selling line of Kerrang. Magazines such as Q do not have selling lines.

Conventions of a Magazine (Taken from a Cosmopolitan Magazine)

Masthead: The name of the magazine displayed in the typeface in which it is designed. This is visual branding of the title and is usually done in a unique typeface to be very recognisable

Dateline: Month and year of publication, often with price. Note that a monthly magazine usually hits the news stands a month before the cover dates.

Main Image: In the case of this cover there is a single image of the model Shania. It is used in a classic way, the face id big enough to make an impact on the news-stand, with the model making full eye contact.

Model Credit: This says: 'Shania: So hot.' It is unusual for such a credit to appear on the cover.

Cover lines: Cosmopolitan uses a lot of cover lines, which are distributed around the main image without detracting from it too much.

Main Cover Line: This is very large- taking up about quarter of the cover area - and comes in three layers, each with a different colour. It promotes the use of naked male centrefolds, a feature of Cosmopolitan in the UK since its first issue. Note it is positioned against the model's shoulder so it shows up clearly

Left Third: In western countries, the left third of the cover is vital for selling the issue in shops where the magazine is not shown full frontage. The title must be recognisable in a display of dozens of competitors. The start of the masthead is important here.

Bar code: Standard bar code used by retailers.

Selling Line: Short, sharp description of the title's main marketing point ('The world's No 1 magazine for young women') or perhaps setting out its editorial philosophy.

L.I.I.A.R

Language: Media language refers to written, verbal, non verbal, aural and aesthetic communication and usually a combination of these.

Institution: Any company, organisation or studio to create a media text.

Ideology: A dominant set of ideas presenting itself as common sense or truth. Power relations are reinforced through ideology.

Audience: A collective group of people reading/watching/listening to any type of media. Every part of media also has a target audience that they have in mind which they appeal to by having certain themes or storylines that would attract the intended audience.

Representation: How the image, setting, text and themes are shown to the audience and how they see it. This is done by referring to the theme of the media text and having the images, setting and text relate back to it.

The Brief - Music Magazine

Main task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine. All images and text used must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.Presentation of your work.

The presentation of the research, planning and evaluation may take the form of any one, or combination of two or more, of the following:

• a presentation using slideshow software such as PowerPoint;
• a blog
• a podcast;