media coursework

Media Coursework

Kira Gibson13/04/2023 1

Task 1 – Research into

music magazines


13/04/2023 Kira Gibson 3

Kerrang! magazine Genre – Rock/Punk/Heavy MetalTarget Audience – Goth/Emo/Heavy metal fansContent – All about the different musical people out there under the genre “Rock”, “Punk” or “Metal” etc. (EG: Green Day; Paramore; Bullet For My Valentine; Foo Fighters etc.)Publishers – Bauer Media Group

I intend to produce a music magazine much like Kerrang!


Vibe magazineGenre – PopContent – All about the relevant music and artists coming under the pop category (EG: Nicki Minaj; Drake; Kanye; Beyoncé etc.)Target Audience – Teen/Chav/GangsterPublishers – Quincy Jones


Top Of The PopsGenre – Teen/Pop/R&BContent – Full of information about people and their life – much like US Weekly or OK! but about musical people instead.Target Audience – TeenPublishers – Immediate Media Company

Task 2 –Detailed analysis of

Music magazines



There aren’t many images on the cover as it is mainly of one girl (Hayley Williams; lead singer of Paramore) and how she answers your questions. This appeals to the target audience by giving off the same yellow and black colours again in the top that she is wearing and showing her hair colour to be a similar colour. There is also an image of the band “Bullet For My Valentine” to attract the audience again to show what they look like. There is again, more images of people from different bands as you look to the bottom left corner; there are posters of them now.

The majority of the typography is in “Franklin Gothic Heavy” because it is big, bold and eye catching. The bold text in the title draws you in to look at what the magazine is about. As your eyes flicker over the cover, you see that there are bold band names such as “Bullet For My Valentine” and “Foo Fighters” which draws you in further if you are a big fan of those bands.

The main colours are black and white; the colours usually used for a dark, miserable gothic scene in a movie. However there is also a lot of yellow in this issue’s cover and it connotes danger with the black as in many of the “DANGER” signs around, there are the colours black and yellow. The colours black, yellow and white are more likely to attract the target audience of the metal-heads; the Goths and the emos.

The language of the cover is very acceptable and formal due to wanting to attract more older people to read the magazine. The only slang people of language is “ON YER BIKE!”. It then clarifies underneath it by saying “Foo Fighters Taylor rides solo…”


The typography of the contents is in “Franklin Gothic Heavy” to attract the target audience. The normal typography is quite small so you would need the big bold writing in capitals to see what the articles are about.

The layout is very cluttered as there are a lot of pages to go through and in this particular issue; there is a competition on so they would want to make that bigger than the rest of the adverts or the letter from the editor. The letter from the editor is quite small compared to what it would usually be because of the competition.

The colours are quite dark and dangerous again, just like the cover. It has yellow, black, white and this time; some red. The red is to attract the Metallica fans as it is a Metallica competition. Each subheading is in yellow with black surrounding it, again giving off the danger tape effect. There is a patch of slightly different colours in the bottom right hand corner of the page advertising a subscription to Kerrang! for £15. The colours are blue, yellow and a small amount of black.

There is only 5 images on this page due to it being the contents: the vans on the competition part (both pairs); the picture of Metallica; the picture of the magazines in the advert and the messed up image of the editor. The images of the vans shoes are only there to show people what they would want.

The language is quite brief and like taking notes with a small explanation underneath. However it is formal with there being no slang and “teenage talk”.


The typography is quite small for an interview on a double page spread. However the title is very big to attract the audience and draw them into reading the article.

The layout is not like you would expect as it has 2 columns of writing and over one page is a picture or Taylor Momsen. It has a insert over the image of something she said.

The colours aren’t as dangerous looking as before. These colours are black, grey and purple. The give the effect of looking funky and “cool” to attract the audience to the page.

The only image on the double page spread is of the lead singer of the band “The Pretty Reckless”. It is a big one, again to attract the audience and people just randomly flicking through the page. It is bigger than you would expect as if you are going to have a picture over a page it would not overlap unless it is a poster.

You can’t really tell what the language is as the writing is very small. However there is a rhetorical question “Is The Pretty Reckless 17-year-old frontwoman as crazy as she seems?” in the description under the title “wild child”.

Task 3 – Brand identity and

Mode of address analysis



Analysing the latest issue of Kerrang! magazine the cover is completely different. It has more variety of colours and fonts; it isn’t all in capital letters.

Brand IdentityIt has more colour: black; blue; grey; yellow; red and orange. Kerrang! obviously wants the image on each issue to cover half of the title. This issue has got the someone from the band “Weezer” and his head covers the letters “rra” from Kerrang!. It also has red eyes signalling that the man is evil and dangerous. Kerrang! clearly wants the non readers to think that it is a dangerous and scary magazine.

House StyleKerrang!’s preferred way of presenting their written material is to practically shout it at people by putting it all in capital letters. However this issue is different by having less capitals. Kerrang! prefers to have their issue covers cluttered with writing and images; all to attract the target audience.

Mode of AddressThe way that this text speaks to the audience is that it is often eye catching with the capital letters and colours. The language is very abrupt but formal as if you were briefing a search and rescue team. The rhetorical questions keep you thinking so on this issue the question is “A Day To Remember; Will you forgive them?” and it makes you think ‘Why, what have they done wrong?’.


Analysing the contents of an issue of Kerrang! magazine. This issue is quite different as it is mainly images and the letter from the editor is at the side of the page and not at the bottom.

Brand IdentityIt has more colour and Kerrang! magazine wants people to think that there are a lot of bands that they cover and they show this by giving us lots of images to look at of these bands. In this issue it shows us Blink 182 and Paramore.

House StyleKerrang!’s way of presenting this written material is to have it in capital letters and in colours. It can be shouted at you in capitals like the cover or it can be written nicely AND shouted at you like it is here.

Mode of AddressThe way that this text speaks to the audience is that it is quite big and colourful so that the reader can see what they want to see or read the letter from the editor.


Analysing this double page spread is quite different in some ways to the first one and similar in others.

Brand IdentityThese two pages are hugely different with there being way less written text than the previous double page spread. This one has a small interview, 2 reviews of different bands and a “what did you think?” box with 3 peoples different opinions of the bands. In a way, there is more written text than before. Also there are images and I mean that there are loads! There are 8 photos of the bands whilst performing in Cardiff. Kerrang! is probably trying to clutter the page with more information to try and get more people reading the page.

House StyleThe house style is quite different to other pages and the cover. Its design is not to shout at you but to draw you in with the tonnes of information about A Day To Remember’s latest gig and the latest gig from Emily’s Army. The images also draw you in as there are not 5, 6, 7, 8 but 9 photos!

Mode of AddressThe way that this text speaks to the audience is that it is small, readable from the paper (not the computer) and it is still making you think about what A Day To Remember might have done “ADTR come back to torch Cardiff, apology accepted!” if you are not that interested in band gossip and mainly just enjoy the music.

Task 4 – Target Audience Appeal



LanguageThe language of these 3 images are all different.

This appeals the target audience by having the name of the band in big red letters and the caption underneath saying “ADTR COME BACK TO TORCH CARDIFF, APOLOGY ACCEPTED!”.

This banner has alliteration of the words “Pop-Punk Picnic” and then draws the audience in by saying that our invite to the picnic is inside the issue.

This piece has a rhetorical question on it making the reader want to know more about her and if the prediction about Taylor Momsen is true or false.

13/04/2023 Kira Gibson 16Images

This image appeals to the specific audience by having the red eyes so it says to any non-readers that it is dangerous and scary yet those who read it know it is just something to do with the band and will draw the reader in.

This image draws the audience in by showing you what Metallica look like and then causing them to look over the page as there isn’t usually a band picture on the contents unless there is a competition.

This image doesn’t really do so much for drawing the reader in; it only really shows you what the lead singer looks like.

13/04/2023 Kira Gibson 17Colour

The colours are very different to other issues and are more to do with the band this time; none of the usual colours of yellow, black and red but mainly green. This draws the reader in by it showing that the magazine is taking an interest in this band and what colours represent them.

The colours of this cover are much like the usual covers with there being colours of yellow and black, representing danger to other non-readers but normal readers know that this is normal and is just a way of showing that Hayley Williams is wearing a yellow t-shirt so they should have yellow to translate that. Also it has that sense of safety coming from the magazine and Hayley’s top saying “security”.

This issue is yet again different. There is lots of blue and red this time because Hayley’s hair is red and blue. There is the main colour of yellow again and again to any non-readers this connotes danger and to stay away from the magazine but to those readers; there is that image of those people you love and listen to on the top so it means safety to them.

Task 5 – Representati on Analysis



The magazine has represented Taylor Momsen as dark and mysterious. Her dark eyes connote danger and connect to the rock genre. Her hair related to the title “wild child” with the fact that it is messy and looks like she has been head-banging to some rock music. It represents the stereotype of Goth and Emo with what she is wearing and what she is part of. The stereotype is that most Goths and Emos wear black and dark clothing and they listen to heavy metal music.

This cover of Green Day has represented them as crazy and psychotic with their poses but with Billy-Joe Armstrong’s make-up (the middle one), it makes him look even more crazy than he would have looked without. Mike Dirnt’s (the one on the right) pose makes him look deranged yet Billy-Joe and Tre Cool (the one with the hat) look bored in this shot. The dark colours of their clothing suggest that they are gothic and scary. This all connects to the rock and metal genre that they come from with the dark colours and gothic style. However the colour green throws us off but if you are a reader you would know what it is just a pun for their name “Green Day”. This also represents the stereotype of Goth, Emo and Metalhead. Male Goths, Emos and Metalheads often wear similar things to what Billie-Joe is wearing and what he does with his make-up. It shows that most people that do things like this will most likely be in a rock band or listen to music like Green Day.

TASK 6 –SUMMARY OF RESEARCHINTO SIMILAR PRODUCTS



Front CoverOn the front cover of a Kerrang! magazine, it is typical to have colours of yellow, black and red; sometimes with blue on it. It is also typical to stereotype the different “categories” for people (Goth, Emo, Metalhead etc). The writing is all in capitals and the title is often half covered by an image of a band member. It often has one main image and then some advert on there with a competition. Most of the writing is on the left hand side of the cover and the band name is nearly always next to the picture with the exception of this issue… The band name is in the middle. It also nearly always has the competition on the top of the cover or in the corner.

Double Page SpreadOn a double page spread in Kerrang! there will be at least one image and a lot of writing because the magazine will need to get across what the people are really like if it is an interview or if it is a review, they will need to get across what the reviewer thought of the band. The stereotyping is kept to a minimum, even though the images look like they are trying to get people to look like Goths, Emos or Metalheads. They aren’t. Kerrang! is trying to get people to like the magazine and by putting up stereotypical photos, it gets the people to wonder if that is really what they are like.


Contents PagesThe contents will nearly always have an image on there of the editor and it will have a couple of photos of a band too. Depending on the issue will depend on whether the contents bit is down the bottom of the page or at the side or even smack-bang in the middle. There is always a letter from the editor and an advert for a subscription of Kerrang!

Sometimes there is a competition on the contents but sometimes it is on a different page so the contents has a different layout. There is a different layout every issue.

Task 7 –Questionnaire and results



This is my questionnaire and I asked people to answer it as it is very general and I wanted to know what sort of things people liked in the magazines. Most of the people (there was only 11 answers) answered about the rock magazines.

Task 8 & 9 –Focus Group Interview and

Summary



According to my focus group interview, people would prefer to have artists like AC/DC and Judas Priest in the magazine than other bands like Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit. The more popular article ideas were about local bands and then the advice about how they got there. They didn’t have any ideas about what to call it but they said that they would want dark colours on it.

To get this information I interviewed Corinna Gibson (my mum); Matt Hewitt (My best friend) and Alexander Knoll (My other friend).

Task 10 – Mood Board

Possible Names:

1. Shout!2. Menace3. Metal Mag4. Black Heart5. Rock Smash

Bands included ParamoreBlack Veil BridesAll Time LowEvanescenceGreen DayLinkin ParkThe Pretty RecklessA Day To RememberMetallicaFall Out BoyMotorheadDeep PurpleSystem Of A DownBring Me The HorizonScreamoDamagedMisty Jones

Images

CONTENT

How the band got thereCompetitionsGigsTicketsPostersInterviewsNew upcoming bands

13/04/2023 38Kira Gibson

Task 11


This layout if the first one I created, the blue bit along the top is the title and then you have images across the cover in red. The green is the editors column and the light blue is the advert for a subscription. Purple is the “what’s happening” part.

This layout is slightly different to the other in which the title is slanted across the top and the image (yellow) is across the entire page. The circle is how it advertises the competition and the parts at the side are the “what’s happening” columns.


These are the polls I sent out for my magazine. I have had 1/2 replies so far but I am hoping to get more. So far, people think I should use red and either it should be called black heart or rock smash. Also the fonts used should be either Goudy Stout or Kremlin.


This is the latest layout, I will be doing more to it, the more results I get the more will be done. The images aren’t the ones I will be doing but they are of the same band. My dad took these photos on the layout and to be honest, they are the only rock band I know of locally haha :)

media coursework

Education

colours black

solo13102014 kira gibson

yellow andblack colours

colours arent

main colours

black surrounding

lot of yellow

images of people