Textual Analysis of a Double Page Spread

Textual Analysis of a Double Page Spread

The above image is a double page spread of My Chemical Romance’s recording studio.

The headline “We’re being the best MCR we can be” is in letters that seem to be crumbling, somewhat similar to the Kerrang logo. Much like the logo, the crumbling letters show a devil may care attitude. However, these letters are vastly more worn out than the letters of the Kerrang logo. I feel this connotes the struggle bands must go through to “make it”, in particularly the struggle My Chemical Romance went through to become the band they are today. The rest of the font is in Sans serif, very plain yet bold which connotes a serious sense to the article.

There is a heavy influence of the colour red. Red is commonly known to represent love, passion and anger. I feel in this case the red is used to emphasise the passion My Chemical Romance have for music. The words “We’re being” and “We can be” are in red which adds zeal to what they’re saying, they truly are being the best MCR they can be. Whilst the colours blue and green are known to be mellow and calm colours, Red is known to be a fairly heavy colour which is representative of the music. Colours such as Blue and Green would be far too calm for Rock.

The words “World exclusive” are in a red banner, all in upper case. This draws plenty of attention to it and makes the reader they would not be able to read this anywhere else. More attention is drawn to the far right of the page which lists “New MCR Tracks”. The tracks scroll down in the format of a CD which is appropriate as this is a music magazine.

The photos show the band recording music and at the bottom right of the spread there is an image of Gerrard Way singing into a microphone, giving exclusive screen shots of the band recording. These pictures would be precious to any diehard fan and persuade them to purchase the magazine.

Textual Analysis of a Music Magazine

Textual analysis of a Music Magazine

This magazine denotes a mid shot colour photograph of Oli Sykes. Oli Sykes is the singer of the popular rock band “Bring Me The Horizon”. Oli Sykes is renowned for his numerous eccentric tattoos, which are displayed and rather emphasised in this photo, particularly the skull on his left hand. The background is all grey; thus not taking any attention away from Oli Sykes. There are two puffs, one saying “The Uk’s biggest gig guide” Whilst the other says “Most revealing interview ever” The denotation of this picture is primarily coloured photographs and letters. It shows a 15% off deal for Oli Sykes’ very own clothing brand along with an image of the poster that comes complimentary with the magazine.  The Kerrang! logo is shattered and directly above the logo lay another remind of the free drop dead clothing discount card.

The shattered logo represents the heavy music along with the attitude of those who listen to the heavy music. It shows the devil may care attitude of the readers whilst connoting a sense of being hardcore. Other logos of softer music magazines have fully intact logos, and the readers dress more clean and listen to cleaner music, we presume they act in a far less rebellious manor as opposed to the readers of Kerrang!.

Oli Sykes in covered all in tattoos once again showing the carefree attitude of a rock star. His hair also conveys a feeling of rebellion as long hair on boys is not always permitted in certain cultures. Half of his face is covered by his hand, showing the audience his skull tattoo. Only a rock star would be permitted to get a tattoo on his hand, connoting that he feels he can do whatever he likes, he is his own boss. His entire NVC puts forward the idea that he does not care, whilst somewhat concealing his true self by covering half his face.

The fact that half of his hand is covered by his face supports the tagline “You don’t know me”. It represents that we only get to see half of him whilst the other half is hidden from the public. However the tagline also persuades people to buy the magazine due to Oli Sykes’ fan base there is a large amount of people who would love to get to know him in depth. The tagline suggests that there is an entirely different person inside Oli Sykes, behind all the hair and tattoos. This also connotes a feeling of misunderstand, which is something many rock lovers may face. Misunderstood people may turn to this “angry music” as refuge; it essentially plays their feelings through guitar, bass, drums and singing. The second tagline “Rock’s most controversial star bares his soul” would be enough to entice huge amounts of people. This interview is heavily hyped up all over the front cover. One of the puff’s say “Most revealing interview ever” putting more emphasis on this interview.

Further enticement would be the discount card for “Drop Dead”. If people are interested in Oli Sykes and interested in his music, the chances are they will be interested in his clothing. It is excellent marketing as there is nowhere else more suitable to advertise his clothing brand than a magazine doing a front page spread about him. Even the name “Drop Dead” connotes a care free attitude, taking death lightly. Drop dead is a saying commonly used to those one dislikes, many people who listen to this genre of music may be criticized and a saying to use their disproval may be “Drop Dead”.

The background is entirely grey, not drawing attention away from Oli Sykes. I feel the grey is used to connote a sense of uncertainty as many people who read Kerrang! and listen to the music made by bands in Kerrang! are maturing and maturity brings a sense of uncertainty. They have broken through the threshold of mainstream music in an attempt to become an individual, and are uncertain as to where to go in the future.

Further enticement is the mention of other bands. People are persuaded to buy music magazines by the bands/artists that are mentioned on the front cover. In fairly bold letters, used to draw attention, both Green Day and Rammstien are mentioned. The Green Day tour is mentioned which both persuades people to buy the magazine, and advertises the tour.

The colour scheme is fairly colourful with a great use of the colour red, which I feel is appropriate as it connotes a feeling of anger and love. Something Kerrang readers may be struggling to express. For instance, colours such as green or blue would not be suitable as those colours connote peace. Kerrang is about many things, but peace is not one of them, red helps signify the mayhem lies within Kerrang.

There appears to be a strong emphasis of identity in this cover. On the poster at the bottom right hand corner we see Marilyn Manson and to his left and to his left we see Behemoth’s Nergal. Both these artists are infamous for their use of make up; which conceals their identity. I feel this connotes the idea of not being able to show your true self, a dilemma many readers of Kerrang and listeners of Rock face. This helps identify the readers with the magazine and bands, Kerrang’s true selling point.

Moodboard

Audience Research

Audience Research

Hello, fellow students. My name is Jason Boyd and I’m doing audience research for my Media Coursework.  I’m merely asking for 2 minutes of your time. I would be most grateful if you fill in this simple questionnaire by ticking the appropriate boxes.

Question 1: How old are you?

 I asked this question in order to see if there is any correlation between the answers and the age of the participants. Eg: One age group may prefer a colourful colour scheme for the magazine; whilst another age may prefer a more professional look. It will also give me a rough idea what age my audience are, thus helping me in writing the magazine.

Out of the 20 people I asked, the majority were 16 (10). There were six seventeen year olds and 4 eighteen year olds. I ensured to ask completely randomly in different parts of the College so that my results were not affected by any factor.

Question 2: What is your gender?

Male               Female 

I asked about their gender in order to see if there was any correlation between their Gender and their answers. This is important as males could heavily agree on one aspect of the magazine, whilst females could strongly disagree. It also aids me in knowing my target audience.

Out of the 20 people I asked, there were an equal amount of males as females. I asked randomly so my results would not be affected by any factor. Moreover, my research was fair as I managed to ask an equal amount of males and females.

Question 3: Would you pay for a College magazine?

Yes               No

This question is very important as the key purpose of any Magazine is to sell, and even for free magazines they must be able to give them out. It is vital to know whether the audience are willing to pay for a College magazine as it can affect how much money we put into it. For example, if they are willing to be then we will see some of that money back; thus allowing us to spend more money on its production.

Out of the 20 people asked, a surprising 18 people said they would pay for a College magazine, only 2 people answered no.

Question 4: If you answered yes to Question 3, how much would you be willing to pay for a College Magazine?

£0-99p                £1-£1.99             £2-£3.99                £4-£5.99                 £6+

This question expands on Question 3. It was key to find out how much those who were willing to pay would pay. This question could help the magazine set up a budget as we have a rough idea how much profit we will make, if any.

Out of the 20 people asked, the majority said they would pay £0-99 (8 people). A further six people said they would pay £1-£1.99, four people said they would pay £2-£3.99 and a measly one person said they would pay £4-£5.99 and £6+. From this, we can gather that the magazine will most likely be £0-.99p.

Question 5: Would you prefer the magazine to be entertaining or educational?

Entertaining                         Educational

This question was asked to get a better perspective of the audience. If they feel the magazine should be more entertaining then I will have a better idea of the target audience. It will also depict how the magazine will be, in terms of content.

Out of the 20 people asked, 12 people said they would prefer it is the magazine was more entertaining. This indicates that the magazine will have a greater focus on entertainment; however there will still be elements of education.

Question 6: How often would you like the magazine to be published?

Weekly                      Bi-Monthly                  Monthly                Twice a term  

Once a term             

I asked this question so I could see how often the readers would like to see a new issue of the magazine. This will affect how often the people writing it will work .

Out of the 20 people asked, 12 people said they would like the magazine to be published once a term. The other answers scored very low, 4 people said twice a term, 2 people said monthly, one person said weekly and another said Bi weekly. This suggests that the magazine will almost indefinitely be published once a term.

Question 7: Would you appreciate humour in a College Magazine?

Yes                  No

I asked this question to find out whether or not my audience would like humour, it will also give me a better outline of them.

17 out of the 20 people asked replied that they would like humour in the College magazine, this relates to the fact that they want the magazine to be entertaining.

Question 8: Roughly how many pages should the magazine be?

5-10               11-15             16-20              21-25             26+

This question was asked to get a rough idea of how long the audience want the magazine.

Most people asked wanted the magazine to be 16-20 pages.

Question 9: How simple would you like the magazine to be, on a scale of 1-5, 1 being very simple and 5 being very complex?

1            2           3           4         5

I asked this question in order to understand how complex the readers would like the magazine to be. 

The most popular chice was 3, which is in the middle of being complex and simple, hence my readers would like the magazine to not be overly complex or overly simple.

Question 10: Would you like your picture to appear in the magazine?

Yes                  No

Question 11: Should the magazine release special editions for Holidays e.g for Christmas/Easter/Halloween?

Yes                  No

 

Question 12: Do you agree that the better quality the magazine, the higher the price could be?

Yes               No

Question 13: Would you prefer a professional or colourful colour scheme?

Professional                                Colourful

Question 14: Would you appreciate opportunities for enrichment in the college magazine?

Yes                   No

Thank you very much for partaking in my questionnaire. J