Music magazines analysis

Good:

The effects to get such a clear resolution in the picture

The mode of address shows the theme of "sexiness" and "danger"

The text size and colour do not draw attention away from the main image or the logo

The Sell Line is short and sweet and lets the audience know which magazine is the best choice for them

The Main headline gives little away about whats in the magazine so therefore the audience have to look inside to get a glimpse of whats going to be in there.

I chose this magazine due to the effects used to make it stand out and it gives it a more dark and deeper feeling to the magazine rather than the other magazines which feature bright and colour images and text to

make it stand out and this magazine has opted for the opposite which in turn makes it stand out more.

 

Good:

The Stand out image is good due to its him (Kanye West) with a straight face to show him in a neutral state

The colours used give off a laid back approach and a more happy upbeat tone rather than what he is usually known for which is dark colours and deeper colours

The way the text is placed around him and the way he appears before the Title of the magazine only enhances his significance

I chose this magazine due to its use of bright colours which don't dispute Kanye's masculinity but they also give him a sense of humanity with a human touch. The use of colours in the font and text make Kanye stand out, the clothing used give Kanye a more sensitive touch rather than his usual typical all black outfits and clothing.

Good:

The use of shading to produce a sinister more evil look to the main image

The use of a famous cartoon character at christmas with a reference to a man associated with being bad shows the season in use as well as not losing their serious touch

The almost secretive use of baubles give off the christmas touch as does the themed title of NME with snow along the roofing

The background is good as although dark it doesn't take any credit away from the main image and the wallpaper remains christmas themed

I chose this magazine due to its use of colour and portrayal of the christmas theme. This is different to the other magazines as he is shown as evil without the content surrounding the main image being over the top in terms of displaying the theme. They (the magazine) have mixed themes of christmas and an evil sinister type due to the character being featured is often stereotypically portrayed as a villain in society but a loveable one that people can compare to the grinch

Analysis with PowToon

Below is an analysis I have created to show how well PowToon works and how simple it is to be more creative with my blog posts.

Semiotics Theory

Semiotic theory focuses on the meaning of signs, codes and conventions in society and culture. Signs are typically consist of an image, world of an object. We all will have certain feelings and meanings towards specific signs and symbols, but certain cultures will see signs as a collective meaning whether we agree with what they represent or not. Semiotics focuses on the study of signs in three different stages:

Perception Stage- The person visually sees a sign and becomes aware of its presence

Manipulation Stage- The person reads of takes in what the sign represents and decides how to react to it

The consummation stage- The person responds to what they have decided to do and performs the action

An example of these three in the common world is seeing a stop sign (perception stage) reading it and seeing the word stop (manipulation stage) and then reacting to it via stopping (consummation stage)

Denotation: This is the literal meaning of a word such as "a car is a vehicle"

Connotation: The hidden meaning behind a word and what is represents such as "a car especially to a teenager symbolises freedom and independence"

This can be applied to music magazines because some colours and signs that have been used represent certain things, the colour of school buses especially in america can be used as a sign as the colour is interpreted quicker than any other colour, and the colour of a magazine could also be seen this way to make it stand out from the rest to the audience. the colour scheme and the images used will be more positively seen by the audience making them want to buy magazines. 

 

Powtoon Introduction!

I thought to myself while looking through my blog that it looked and felt incredibly boring so i looked at other applications that i could incorporate onto the blog and the one that seemed the most professional and fun was Powtoon the presentation below gives some insight about the application.
The following video was exported onto my Youtube channel and has been embedded into this blog post

Magazine Terminology

The following terms are often used within magazines as they are the correct media terms:


The Masthead- This the  name of the magazine such as NME or Q

Banner: This the text that is often placed on a different coloured background in order to make it stand out

Lead: The lead is text that is usually written in bold or italics and its the opening paragraph or sentence of a part of the magazine to get the reader interested which could then tempt them to buy it to read on

Strap Line: This is the associated motto of the magazine

Buzz Words: these are words that are used to draw the attention of the read such as "Big News!" or "Magazine Exclusive!"

Pugs: This the text that is typically placed in the corners of the magazine front cover, they sometimes have text within them such as "More inside" or sometimes they can just symbolise the price of the magazine

Puffs: Puffs are usually colourful words or shapes that give an indication as to what will be inside the magazine such as "Interviews!" "Posters"

House Style: This is the typical colours and display associated with the magazine or brand style such as using the colours red and blue in a logo and keeping it the same constantly and repeatedly

Caption:  A caption is just the denotation of what an image is

Headline:  This is the main feature or story of the magazine

Sell Line: Text located on the magazine front cover to make the audience more interested in the magazine an example is a simple text of "New Music Inside"

Drop Capitals- A drop capital is the Large letter or letters that are used on the opening sentence of an article

Ideology

Ideology is the messages and values within a media product that the media producers are trying to put across, people and the audience may interpreret messages differently and other than their intended use or desire. Ideology is a set of beliefs and ideas that come together to represent something.

Ideology is often labelled as common sense such as a phone represents means of communication howerver these beliefs and ideas evolve over time, the original phone was just able to make a phone call where as nowadays we can call, text, email, facetime and also use social media as well using a phone for a pass time through playing games.

Typical and well documented Ideologies are:
Family is ideal, its important to have a strong family unity
Sex outside of marriage is bad

Most if not everything has an ideology to it, alot of newspapers docment about terrorism the storyline on the right includes the headline of "ira bomb hero kills 2 kids" this headline conflicts ideologies as we associate the word hero with people who do things for good but how is he a hero if he kills 2 kids which we natually deem bad.



In the popular modernist tv show FRIENDS can you guess whats deemed important in the ideology of the tv show, Friendship of course. The clip below is from FRIENDS and shows how the ideology is portrayed within the tv show.

Many films especially childrens films always show good beating evil this connotes that being evil is not good, this is the ideology.
Tv talent shows such as The voice connote that talent leads to a celebrity status and that with that comes wealth this the ideology that atracts us to watch these shows. An example of ideology in your own life is school, you get rewarded for doing good work and punished for acting out and being naughty the ideology here being to behave and do your work.

College magazine Front Page analysis

This is a college magazine, this is different to a music magazine as its subject relates to education and not music. This magazine looks very professional and appealing to the audience as the colour scheme and house style work very well together and are also appealing. The main focus is on the main image which shows a man carrying books to relate it to education. The man looks happy this will again attract the audience as they are more likely to buy a magazine that shows happiness rather than sadness or any other emotion.

The headline is clearly visible and makes us as the audience want to read on to also understand what the subject is about. The other Sub-headlines are easily as appealing to the audience, as they show the stereotypical things that students are interested in such as Money, Fridays and Technology.

The use of the pug is very effective as it adds more colour to the magazine rather than leaving it with two colours, this makes it stand out in front of other plain magazines.

All in all this magazine is very well put together and seems to send out a strong message of professionalism and education. The house style is very well put together and everything seems to be in the correct place.

Sixth Form Magazine front page

Through my very limited use of Photoshop I thought I should have an "attempt" at creating a sixth form/college magazine front page. I took several pictures and looked at which ones would look the best and I then added text around it to make it seem realistic. Bare in mind that this task was not assigned to me I just thought that it would be relevant but my teacher has told me that we will be doing the same project later on in the year so this is just a rough copy.

The magazine layout is similar to magazines I have researched on college magazines but this magazine is clearly of a poorer standard, I hope my Photoshop skills will be more advanced by the time I make my real magazine.

The Masthead has been edited using a faded out rubber running through the C and the H which stand for Cardinal Heenan and the main title has been made on fontspace.com and then transferred over to Photoshop where it has been edited and resized to fit my page.

I added a barcode as all physical magazines contain a barcode and this makes it look realistic and the sub-headlines used are similar to those headlines that I have researched.

The Male Gaze

The male gaze theory is a theory coined by Laura Mulvey and the concept is about the way the audience views actors/ actresses on the screen.

Feminists often look at this theory in 3 ways:
How men observe women
How women see themselves
How Women observe other women

Laura Mulvey believes that in film the characters should be viewed from the opinion and view of a heterosexual female. Women are often lowered and viewed as objects and women must interpret this from the males perspective. A simple example of this for a male viewer is the following, "Watch the music video below and answer the questions below it:




Name three colours of outfits that Rihanna was wearing?

What was pointed at Rihanna when she is wearing a latex outfit eating popcorn?

What colour eyes does Rihanna have in the music video?

Name four words that appear within this music video?

Name two things Were on Rihanna's face at the end of the music video?


The reason that you may not of been able to answer all of the questions was because you were viewing the woman in the music video from the males perspective and therefore not being aware of the other mise-en-scene within the music video.
Many women claim that they enjoy being looked and gazed at as it makes them feel beautiful, this gaze can also be related to those of the same gender such as body image of clothing

Facial Expressions differ between genders for example women are typically categorised to have the facial expression of a chocolate box with their mouth wide open or an invitational expression that shows them as seductive. Men's facial expressions differ from women and they are categorised as being  more comic with their expressions and more carefree as in they don't care and are more open about their facial expression.

Jonathan Shroeder categorised "Gaze" as a psychological status or relationship of power which shows that the gazer is the more significant figure with status over that of which they gaze at.

Music Magazine Questionnaire