Institutional Research

Bauer produces mainstream magazines such as Zoo and closer, this could show their interest is not in one particular target audience this could because they aim their magazine at most middle ages people, this is due to the fact that the magazine may have a age content for those above the age of eighteen. Niche magazines are also produced these are ‘Rail’ or ‘Ride’ Bauer produces magazines for people whom are mostly middle aged, this is due to the fact that we see magazines titles such as Zoo and Closer which both are made for people above the age of eighteen and less than fifty, even though it’s a big difference in age the magazines are made for them ages. The Bauer magazine company produces the image of adult entertainment as they have magazines such as Zoo and Closer which create the magazine company to look based for more of an adult look.

IPCMedia produce yet again mainstream magazines, but there are far more niche magazines which are also being produced, an example of a niche magazine is country life as not everyone has heard of the magazine and it is mostly sold within a rural area not a built up city place. Target audience is a very big question on the magazines being produced as mostly it is rural parts of the country due to having country side magazines produced. IPCMedia magazines are aimed for country folk, as a vast amount of their magazines are aimed for people whom live or work in the country this is due to the fact that the magazines such as ‘Country Life’ Or ‘Sporting Gun’ another big target audience is women, of any age as also a big amount of magazine are made for the enjoyment of women such as ‘Woman’s Weekly’. IPC magazine have a more country look as they have magazines which range from maintaining guns to country life, this is fairly known in the country side. The magazine also publishes webpages, a example of this is ‘Mouse Breaker’ This gaming website is widely known and is made for men to play online games.

Immediate Media produces great amount of Mainstream magazine, these are known as ‘Top gear’, ‘toy box’ and so forth. These magazines can be seen as targeted for children, this is due to the fact that the company produce a varied amount of children magazines, this could be the main target audience but other magazines such as ‘GolfMagic’ are obviously for middle aged men. Immediate magazine have a much younger target audience due to their magazines being mostly created for the entertainment of children of a young age. Another target audience is for older women, this is due to the fact that a lot of knitting magazines are being produced by the company. Immediate magazine has a very more professional feel to them as they focus their two main target audience more efficiently; this is because they maintain their ideas for magazines instead of having a wide range which they cannot really keep up with.

Finally we come to Development Hell magazine company, these produce niche such as ‘Mixmag’ and ‘Stay in’ which are fairly unknown by the magazine community. We have Development Hell whom produces the niche magazines; their target audience is fair to say around the middle aged area as their magazines are varied. Development Hell has an image which is fairly easy to maintain this is due to the fact that being a niche magazine not much has to change              

Double Page Article Analysis

Double Page Spread Analysis 

The target audience for the double page article is for fans of Muse as it shows the band as the center image indicating that they are the main focus and what is written is about them. The picture covers across both pages ending only half way through the second page. This could show the band is highly liked across this genre of music and that they are maybe going to bigger than ever. As their presence is great across both pages this shows them as almost an influence of such and makes them seen as giants of the music industry. Muse as we know are an indie rock band and have wide and great fan base, they try to direct their attention to the fans as the direct given from the band shows that they look masculine and powering from their stare. The low angle shot as well adds to this as it creates them to be almost looking down on you giving another feeling that they are overpowering and almost legendary due to it being if they were watching over you.  

The article includes a swear word, this shows how the article is meant for the target audience of 17-25 as it is most commonly used by the age group, the article mention what is going to happen and is a foreshadowing effect for what is going to happen to the magazine.  

The low key lighting across both of the pages shows the masculine feeling more, yet the multi-coloured background gives us the impression of at least a light in the darkness, maybe this is trying to show some kind of meaning of such. The colouring in the background could also give us a clue that the band is lively and may also be great upon the stage.

The text upon the center image is shown to project itself from the background as it is bold and in contrast to the image is very bright. When we come across to the main text and find the article upon the image we find that it is in a column formation and is shown to be a list this shows us that firstly it stands out and needs to be read to understand what the true meaning is of the main image.

The double page is laid out so that the main image takes over nearly the whole page, while on the right on side the text is columned out so that the

The contrast between the two is hugely different as only a fifth of the double page has text this is due to the information given in the column is very blunt just explaining what is in the background and what happens upon the stage of the new tour from the muse. This is a brief description telling us what to expect and why it is there. Band member illiterates us of what is actually going to happen and shows us what is going to be so great about their tour, he gives his brief idea of why he chose this and his brief description 

The crowed is being addressed as a close friend, or maybe an informed intelligent fan due to the language of the article, due to the informal speaking we find out that the writer of the article are trying to relate with their fans way of speech. Due to the rest of the article where the main member of the band is speaking about what is included it shows that he has trust in you as he is letting you in to hear about what the tour is going to bring.

The band is presented to the audience through the images of being masculine this is due to the fact that their wearing black jackets and are standing with their hands in their pockets, this could show how their trying to show their relaxed are very chilled.

The article matches the front cover in a couple ways in, firstly the writing is set out in the same font as it relates due to both texts being bold. The front cover is brighter than the double page article this is maybe to show that there is a darker side within? The overall message of the front cover and double page article is to show how masculine and direct the group are.

The article dose slightly require a knowledge of the band due to the fact that they do mention a couple songs which the band do sing, this could show that the article is for fans more than people simply just browsing through the magazine.

Analysis Of Q Magazine

This magazine ‘Q’ is known for publishing mainstream music, from observing the front cover I can straight away tell that the articles inside the magazines are going to be based mostly on music this is seen through the use of puffs such as mentioning the names of major artists such as the Arctic monkeys so I can infer that this magazine has articles which are primarily based on music itself. The use of direct address is shown in the central image as the leader of the Foo fighters (Dave Grohl) stares directly towards us causing a direct use of address for the reader creating the effect as if the artist is trying to create direct contact with the reader as if he wants the reader to find out more about his story.

The targeted audience for Q magazine are around the ages of eighteen and above. This is due to the fact that people whom are stereo typically known to listen to rock music on a regular basis are usually young adults to older. The target audience might be fans of the group and may want to get to know the artist/group more sufficiently.
 The title block of the magazine gives the Impression that Q magazine is professional; this is due to the design of the title as it is quite expressive that we get a feeling of professionalism from this magazines publishers. Q magazines title doesn't really give much insight into the genre of the magazine so we have to go off the main image to infer what type of music the magazine is going to be on about. The slogan of this magazine is “Discover great music” we can infer that this magazine doesn't singly focus on one particular genre of music yet on the whole concept of music. This is quite appealing as the magazine has more than a singular sole purpose of being published as it can offer many different articles and not run out of content while other magazines will begin to grow thin on material to use.
 The anchorage text mentions “This will kill me, Foo fighters Dave Grohl saves rock again” implying that the artist is of the rock background as he “Saves rock again”. The text mentions “Dave Grohl saves rock again” this could show how he is seen as a ‘superhero’ as we can relate ‘Rock’ as if it is the world. The overall message of the anchorage text implies that Dave Grohl is a superhero in the eyes of rock fans as he has ‘saved rock again’.
The band the “Arctic monkeys” is mentioned via the puffs on the front cover informing the target audience that there must be an article within the magazine on the band; this could attract more readers due to the fan base being able to see their group within the magazine allowing them to view what’s currently occurring in their icons world.
There is a single buzzword on the front cover of the magazine which is the word ‘FREE’ this has been used to attract readers as It satisfies their curiosity. The magazine uses a small amount of strategies such as a large central image and the use of buzz words in order to attract attention of the targeted audience.

Analysis of NME magazine

Analysis of a music magazines

We can firstly establish that the magazine is a music magazine due to the fact that many familiar band names are being shown upon the page; the genre of music is rock due to the main image being a famous rock band. The magazine issues will contain separate stories of the bands and will contain articles on what the reader wants to know for example ‘What they are up to next’.

The target audience for this magazine will be around middle aged men ranging from 17-25 due to the bright colours and the interest of the genre, another reason for the target audience to be at them ages is because people around that age begin to take on hobbies and interests such as reading magazines or listing to new and interesting music.

The Central image is pretty direct with the audience as the group are all huddled together are staring down the camera lens, this shows that the group are trying to engage with the reader. As the group want to engage with the reader the group want to show that they acknowledge them and that they have some kind personal relationship.

The indie rock band known as Muse are in the main image all huddled together kneeling down at the camera, this group may be on the front cover due to the fact that they are publishing their new tour ‘Welcome to our new spaceship’.

The anchorage text mentions that “The world’s most insane band unveils their most ridiculous tour ever”, this text already tells us what is to come in the article about the main image, the artist are trying to invite the reader to ‘their most ridiculous tour ever’.

The artists are trying to give the impression that they want to reader to come and watch their new tour, it is almost if their watching and waiting for something, this shows that they may be waiting for you to come with them to listen to their music. The band is also quite serious due to the fact that their facial expressions are plain and have no such emotion upon them. They are masculine men as well due to the clothing that they wear, the leather jacket often being used to show the boldest of men.

The only group which is being represented is rock due to the main stereotypes being across the page, these stereotypes are the words “Drugs and me” also the word “Insane” can also relate to the genre of rock and roll, this further adds to the stereotypes of rock and roll.

“Courtney, Kurt, Drugs & Me” this buzz word shows the stereotype further as it drags the attention to the words Drugs, as this is an indie rock magazine we get the impression that the stereotypes must be kind of real.

The title block is plain and bold, but this also engages with the main image as all of the members wear a black leather coat, the title block shows that it is very masculine due to it being bold, this will relate to the target audience as the magazine mostly is aimed at Men from the age of 17-25. The boldness may also indicate that the music is very bold as the words NME stand for New Musical Express.

The title of the magazine correlates with the image this is shown as the colour of the title is the same colour of the leather jackets which the group wears, this is because it is a masculine colour and that it is trying to show the maleness within the magazine.

The puffs of the magazine suggests that within the magazine that stories of new ambitions and reviews are to be seen as example “Spike island movie: The first review” this shows that the magazine is going to have some kind of review within it.  There is no slogan upon the magazine front cover so there is nothing to really say on the matter, but this may show that the magazine is masculine due to the fact it doesn’t need one to publish itself.

The background colour is bright and eye catching; it’s definitely made so that a potential buyer would take a longer look just to concentrate upon the magazine.  The font is made to contrast with the bright background as the white bold font stands out from the orange. The puff linking to the image is in bold white font while the rest of the writing is black, which is either contained by a white box.

The magazine uses the sense of direct contact to connect with the reader as the group muse are all staring straight towards the camera, another thing is that the magazine use the bright colours to actually catch the eyes.

Analysis of Jennifer Lopez Front Covers

1.Denotation

2.Connotation

A

B

C

D

(A) 

1.Setting – Blank page

Lighting – High Key lighting

Costume- The white and black dress.

Camera shot-  Mid shot

Props- Jewellery

2.Setting-The blank page shows a sense of cleanness

Lighting- The high key lighting makes the setting seem bright and soft.

Costume- The colours may represent the ying yang as black and white shows good and evil, this may be implied as they are the only two colours.

Camera shot- this shot type keeps you at the same level of Jennifer Lopez, this is a direct view.

Props- The Two watches indicate that she’s a very rich women and that she wants to show it, her win indicates that she’s married or engaged.

(B) 

1.Setting – Red background

Lighting – High Key lighting

Costume- The short summer dress

Camera shot-  Mid shot

2.Setting – This may show how she is trying to be ‘Hot’ as in the setting is like a summer day.

Lighting- This shows in context with the background creates a ‘heat’ for the readers as she is posing in a sexual way and the background represents the colour of the sun.

Costume – The dress is very short and is quite revealing showing a sexual nature towards the male readers

Camera shot- The shot keeps the impression of her being locked with the male readers as she is staring directly in a sexual manor.

Denotation

Connotation

(C)

1.Setting – Blue background

Lighting – High Key lighting

Costume-  Bikini

Camera shot-  Long shot

 2. Setting – The background represents a beach scene as sand and a blue background is used

Lighting- This keeps the setting for the beach look as she is made to look hot and tanned in a high key light

Costume – The bikini which Jennifer Lopez wears shows herself in a very seductive way

Camera shot- The shot shows her whole body, again this is used in a seductive way showing off her body and such. This appeals to the male readers again.

(D)

1.Setting – On a sofa in a house

Lighting – High Key lighting

Costume- In a homily gown

Camera shot-  Mid shot

 2.Setting – This has changed the complete setting as she is shown to be homily and not in a sexual way for the first time.

Lighting- The lighting is yet again high key and this time it makes the scenery seem more angelic than the other pictures. The lighting also adds a brightened effect to her eyes.

Costume – The homily gown which she wears is giving her a more of a motherly look about herself, the two babies are dressed according to the gender as one is in a light blue for a male and the other is in a dress this may show that the other is a girl.

Camera shot- The mid shot shows her from the middle up, this shows how she is keeping herself covered up unlike the rest.

Conventions of a magazine cover

I analysed a magazine cover labeling the key features, and the correct area they should be placed in. I labeled things such as the 'Slogan, Graphic Feature and Puffs'

Preliminary Task

Firstly i was asked as a task to take pictures around the school to have a main image for both my front cover and content page. After going through a couple photos i fount the best two to use. Using Photoshop i edited both of the original images and began to enhance them. Adding them into illustrator i began to layout the page in a magazine fashion, meaning the main image was made to cover the page and i added a title and puffs, i used the website http://www.1001freefonts.com to create the main text upon my front cover. Moving on i used a image of a bar code upon the bottom right of my page, i simply used the internet for this. This is how i created my front cover, and to end it i used the shapes bar to add in a graphic feature in illustrator to complete the magazine look.
The content page was fairly the same thing as all i had to do was border the text at the top of the page and add text in the center. I added a page number at the bottom right of the page.

Introduction

Why i chose media as a A-level subject.
My name is Stephen Craddock-Harrington I have chosen Media studies due to taking it as a GCSE. I also wish to develop my skills in media and overall come out with a higher grade than my original GCSE mark. This A-level media course could help me in my life as media is  a career path which i would like to take if i fail to capture my original planned career. I plan to complete all given coursework in the given time frame, i also wish to complete this work at high achieving grade.