Textual analysis of double page spread

This is a double spread from a magazine. One side has an image of a person, whilst the other side is an article about the person in the image.It looks as if it is set in a studio with a white background.
From reading this article, i can tell that it belongs to a hip-hop magazine. I can tell this because the person shown is a famous rapper called GZA. The artist is talking about the hip-hop music he does. I think this is mainly aimed at young people probably between the age of 16-24yrs old. This is because many people between this ae will be familar with with his music and interested in what he has to say, also he is wearing clothing that appears to be bagy connoting that he still has a bit of youth in him even though he is quite old . Gza is wearing baggy trousers and top, an trainers. This type of clothing is what young adults/youths are wearing nowadays, so by him wearing this he is appealing to that audience so tey can realate to him.

Moreover the language used also tells us which age group this article is aimed at, asc there is certain words that young children should not know such as swear words 'shit'. Also there are certain words in this article lets us know that it is aimed at the hip-hop genre For example in hip-hop world there are certain slang phrases that people use for example he said "he ain't my boy" by this he means he is not my friend this connotes that only people that are familar with the hip=hop genre will be able to understand what is meant & be able to relate to what is being said. Also a connection may build up between Gza and the audience.

In the photo the lighting is high key which allows the audience to see ully what he is doing and what he has on.The colours used in the article matches the costume worn by GZA and are very simple, using simple colours allows it to appeal to the targeted audience as it looks a bit childish but serious at the same time. If alot of colourful and bright colours were used than the interview would not look very serious.

The image is a long shot of the artist showing us his full body, connotation is used showin that he is serious an this relates in the interview with him. He is also not smiling and facial expression appears to be dull and serious connoting that he is a serious man.GZA has one arm folded whislt the other is on his chin, this is a pose often used by artists which connotes that he determined and strong .He does not appear to have any props.

The way the double spread is laid out is, with the article on one page and the image on the other, this is good as it makes the interview look less boring and long so therefore the reader will be bothered to read it whereas if it was on two pages the reader may think it is to much to read so therefore becomes less intrested and as the image is on a whole page by itself it allows the photo to be used as a poster.

The style of writing is plain and simple allowing it to be easy to read.In the article there are parts that stand out from the rest of the article for example phrases an interestin parts, this is very effective as it becomes eye-catching and will be the first things that draws the reader attention which will make them read on. I would definatly use this for my double spread magazine as it makes it look more appealing.

Textual Analysis

Here i am analysing a music magazine, using the correct terminology and mise en scene. This is a music magazine trying to promote eminem. We can see him standing strong, facing the camera he looks very serious.

The mise en scene of this music magazine, consists of the following.

Settings

The front cover of this magazine is set in a clear white background. This connotes the importance of the image and the written followed around it. The fact that is set in a grey background allows the pictrure to look clear & ver understanding. Also it allows everything to stand out more. for example The Masthead 'Vibe' Is in red and because the background is white it emphasis the importance of the title and everything else.Denotation is used to show that it is probably in a studio, but the photo is taking infront of a clear grey backgound.

Costumes

Eminem is wearing a silver chain & black vest. His arms are visible so therefore we can see all his tatoos, this is connoting that he is high is status and has alot of money to be doing all of these tatooes, Because he is wearing only a black vest everything else seems to show more & emphasis on the importance of him. The fact that he is only wearing a vest & connotes that he does not have to wear much to show how serious he is and the impotance of him.

NVC{non verbal communication}

Eminems facial expression seems to be strong. He is not smiling this connotes that he does not need to show alot of facial to expression to show what he is all about. He looks very angry & dull and the way he folds his arms connotes that he is a very serious person, and looks like nothing can really mess him about. His whole body language looks very serious, strong and upright connoting that he is trying to seem as if he is high in authority. Eminem is looking straight into the camera.

Props

In the front page of this magazine, the only prop used is the chain that eminem is wearing, connoting that he does not have to have many things with him, to show how important he is. The chain is silver with a cross on it, this may be connotng that he takes his religion seriously & that he does not mind showing it to everyone, as this magazine does attract different kind of people.

Lighting

The lighting used is high key, connoting that the front cover image and writing is important. The editor focuses on three main colours red, black, and grey. This is so that the page does not look to fussy and that the targeted audience will be able to fully understand what is showing and happening in the magazine.These colours are very simple and matches the clothing of Eminem.

The editors of this magazine are very smart as they made all the good and intresting bits bigger and used different type of writing to represent different things, They used a very large font to show the name of the magazine, then a slightly smaller font to say who the image is of. This is very effective as this is what the targeted audience will be seeing first and if they see catchy fonts, phrases it will attract them to the magazine.

Introduction Main Task

For this task, I have been asked to produce a front cover & contents page for a music magazine, and also a double page spread.

evaluation

Foundation portfolio preliminary task written evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.
My college magazine uses the normal rules to make it recognisable to my targeted audience. I put the title of the magazine in the top & made it stand out so it does catch the attention of my audience. Having the masthead at the top of the page is a convention and I used this because I noticed the magazines with the masthead there got buyers as it is easy to catch reader’s attention. My magazine does follow the typical conventions, as it has the main title at the top, images around the page, slogans in order for the magazine to be noticeable . From my textual analysis i saw that the magazine, i analysed also put the masthead at the top & made it big and bold in order for it to stand out, that is why i decided also to do that. I used images and slogans to advertise this product because when i did my audience research a majority of people i asked said that they wounld like to see these in the mgazine,and that is what attracts them to it.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product is aimed at college studects or teachers so therefore i used as student that attends this school. I used a girl that was reading a college handout, i wanted it to look as realistic as possible so i told her to not show alot of facial expresion, so that the targeted audience would now that the magazine is serious.
I only used three main colours which were white, black and red, i did this because i wanted it to attract both genders (male&female). i knew that these colours will appeal to each gender, so therefore both genders will eqwually want to read it. When i looked at other magazines i noticed that they too, do not use alot of colours, i think they did this so that the magazine would not look to confusing & choatic.
The model for my magazine dressed in dark colours so that it would not clash with the theme of my magazine. I included props & costumes for mymagazine. I made sure that i took the pictures by red lockers as i knew that would match with theme of my college magazine.
The colours, props, costumes all appeal to college students & teachers which is why i decided to use those. I also used the same to do my cotents page so that my audience knows that everything is linked together.

How did you attract/address your audience?
I put the masthead at the top and made it stand out the most so that my targeted audience will know that, that is the title. I put slogans and catchy phrases to attract them because when i did my audience research this was one of the best ways they suested attracts them to magazines. I also used phraseds suh as 'free ballpen worth £9.99' and 'win an I-pod touch' i used this to persuade my audience as i know that they will like to get something free and seen as an i-pod ouch is one of the most wanted items for young people means that i they were to see that, then they will want to read the college magazine.
I used standard english as i wanted my magazine to attract teachers as well as pupils. I did not use street slang because not everybody will understand what is meant & that will mean that my magazine does not appeal to everybody which is not fair. By using standard english, it enables me to be more clear in attractin people and allows me to appeals to everyone.
Choosing the right kind of fonts for magazines means that it will atract the targeted market and would appeal to a certain group.It is not just about recognisability, its also about choosing the right font that communicates the right message to the everyone.
My photo used, is a student from the college, i used this to attract my audience because when i asked what attracts then to magazines some said images, so i thought that if i used somebody of the similar age it will be more appealing.

what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt that for a photograph to come out ok, the background must not have much sunlight as this will affect the way the photo will come out, as it will have shades of the ligt shining through. The bakground should also not be dark because that will make the the photo come out dull and not allow the photo to stand out.
I used photoshop to make my college magazine. I used this because it allows me change colors, hue, saturation, brightness, contrast and retouch images, airbrush people to make clearer skin and remove blemishes. By using the magnetic lasso tool it allows me to draw around my photo deleting the parts that is not need. or example my image for my contents page was taking in a classroom with people standing behind her but with this tool it allowed me to cut them out. I also used some tool to make the font stand out more and cut out unneccessary things such as the writing on the lockers in the front cover.

Audience feedback
I posted my maazine on my facebook and asked people what they thought. There were strengths and weaknesses pointed out.
Strengths Suggested

• The colours are very good as it attracts both male and females, it allows everyone to be equal.
• There are no spelling mistakes & the language used is straightforwar which means it is easy to understand
• The fact that it offers a free pen and a chance to win an i-pod attracts people to see what is inside of it.
• The front cover is not to much, there is not alot of things oing on so it does not confuse them.
• It looks very realistic
• The contents page use the same colours as the front cover which suggests that i am focusin on three main colours

Weaknesses suggested

• More images are needed on the contents page, as it looks slightly boring
• Photo needs airbrusing.

college magazine content page & front cover