Textual Analysis - Front Cover #2

 

 

Total Film - The Fantasy Issue November 2013 Issue 212 - Front Cover

 

Title: Total Film

Price: £3.99

Frequency: Monthly

 



Masthead - "Total Film"
The word 'Total' is merged in the 'F' of 'Film'. Even though it's smaller and less descrete than the word 'Film', it's still readable so the reader knows what magazine they have picked up. 'Film' is in big, shiny silver bold capital letters to attract the audience's attention and show them it is about films so film fans will buy it - the clue's in the name. 'Total Film' suggests that this magazine is the only magazine you will need for your film fix.

Left Third
This is vital for sales in shops where the magazine is not shown fully. It's clear it's a film magazine fron the left third because Loki is shown and is instantly recognisable to be a film magazine since it has a well known film character on the front cover.
The anchorage on the left third is surrounded by a lightning circle (which goes with the Thor theme) with the same silver shiny font used in the masthead to attract the readers attention.
The actual text shows it's a film magazine with references to The Hobbit '& more' (see more in 'Cover Lines')

Main Image - Loki, Thor and Malekith
Thor in the image is in the centre and in front of Loki and Malekith which shows importance (as it is his movie that is advertised and he is the main character) Having Loki and Malekith also on the front cover shows the reader more about the movie and it's antagonists as well as protagonists.
The characters stand out against the background and text by having a small black outline around them and they are touchy-feely and 3D to make them stand out.
Thor is in a high key light to show that he is the protagonist. Loki is half in high key light and low key ('Loki') light (excuse the pun) to suggest darkness to his character. Malekith is completely in low key light to suggest complete darkness to his character. This all adds more background to the movie for the reader.

Anchorage Text
'Thor' is again in the same shiny silver colour to attract the reader to read this word first, which links to the main image and main article inside and it shows the audience further that it is a film magazine.
Having a quote from one of the main and popular actors from the movie as anchorage text is effective as it gives the reader a glimpse of the article inside and makes fans of the actor more likely to buy the magazine. "This Has To Be High Stakes" all start with capitals which shows importance and the reader will feel obliged to read it. The actual quote suggests tension and nervousness to get the movie right and please the audience. The reader will want to read further to see what lengths the filmmakers have went through to make the movie perfect and successful.
'On-Set Exclusive!' suggests that the article is only available in this issue and will make the reader buy it. The audience tends to love exclusive gossip because it sells. It's also an exclamitory sentence to suggest shock and surprise and is drawing attention by the exclamation mark and the language because it's short and to the point.
The fact that the movie is called Thor: The Dark World, 'The Drak World' is represented in this front cover with dark shades of blue and a dark looking sky in the background to suggest a darker tone in the new movie and the magazine.


Colour Scheme - Silver, White, Blue (some yellow)
These particular shades of silver, white and blue have connotations of calm and are quite similar in shade so complement each other and match- there's no clash. Silver nowadays tend to have connotations of technology and sci-fi which links to the magazine being a film magazine and the genre of the main image.
The occasional use of yellow clashes with the main calm colours used which directs the reader to look at the yellow as it stands out. Having 'Exclusive!' on a yellow background makes the audience read on even more. The pug is also in yellow which suggests importance and makes the reader read it and noticable. (read later for more on the pug)

Cover Lines
'The Fantasy Issue' is the main cover line on this magazine as it shows the reader that this particular issue is based on the genre of fantasy and will attract fantasy fans.
In the left third, it again mentions the fact that this issue is a fantasy themed one- 'the fantasy preview'. 'Preview' suggests exclusiveness and makes the reader buy the magazine as they want to read the magazine to get all the new gossip. Game of Thrones is also mentioned as a cover line which is strange because it's a film magazine but Game of Thrones is a TV programme, however it is a fantasy programme so links with the theme and the target audience but also stretches further to include TV programmes as well as films (dispite it called 'Total Film' and being a film magazine) '& more' also intregues the reader to think maybe their favourite fantasy films or TV programmes will be mentioned inside and will buy it. '+ extra Loki!' is of course going to get people to buy the magazine because the Loki fanbase is huuuuuuuuuge! The exclamation mark also shows shock and attracts attention to the reader to buy it to read more. 'extra' also suggests that this issue offers us more than the others and more exclusive features on Loki.
'Plus the hottest news & exclusives!'. Exclusive is mentioned again making the reader want to buy the magazine. 'hottest' suggests that it's 'hot off the press' and exclusive making the reader again, buy it as it's only available in this magazine and again, it's an exclamitory sentence which suggests shock and attracts the readers attention to read it. The pictures below this cover line is a range of TV programmes and films which are all very popular and have a similar target audience. Guardians of the Galaxy for example is a Marvel film and links with the main cover story of Thor: The Dark World which is also a Marvel film.

Pugs
'Cate Blanchett Talks Galadriel' attracts Lord of the Rings fans (which again has a huge fabase) and links with the fantasy theme. The fact that this is on a pug makes the reader turn it over and read more inside. It draws you in.

Slogan - 'The World's Best Movie Reviews'
This suggests that this is the only magazine you will need as it covers worldwide and everything reated to films. 'The world's best' also shows that this magazine is the best for your movie news out of all the ones on the market worldwide and again, this is the only magazine for you. 'reviews' also shows the reader which films to go and see so will impact on the film industry- they will have a knock on effect. They are intertwined.
The fact that the slogan is surrounded in stars suggests glamour and links with the fact films get ratings out of stars and links with 'reviews'. Also, the red stars is the only use of red on the cover so it attracts attention to the reader.

Price
The price is only visable where the barcode is and is in very small writing. The price is pretty expensive compared the the earlier NME magazie I analysed. They hide it because it's off putting. We tend look at the features first, and automatically buy it without looking at the price- they hook you. You buy the magazine for the features and not the price and buy it anyway dispite it being expensive.

Layout
The layout is quite formal, but there is use of shapes such as the lightning circle around the left third cover line and the stars on the slogan which could suggest an informal tone and 'shouts' to the reader. There's no angles used on the text or the pictures- it's all straight forward. The only text on an angle is the slogan which shows importance and the reader looks at it because it's different. The row at the bottom is quite formal and straight forward with extra news shown inside.

Barcode
The barcode is a legal requirement and must not be covered by any text or images.

Textual Analysis - Front Cover

NME 26/03/2011 - Front Cover

Title: NME

Price: £2.40

Frequency: Weekly

Masthead - "NME"

The words NME are in capitals and bold white writing which stands out over the red writing and the blue background. When we look at this, we automatically seem to look at the white writing as it stands out, hence why the NME is in white as it's the most important part of the magazine and we know what the magazine is.

Left Third

The method of the left third is used which complements Matthew Bellamy (Muse) on the right hand side to give the magazine an even feel. There is some writing on the right hand side but the left hand side stands out more with the red background and looks bold and important. The left third refers of Reading and Leeds and refers to the main image of Matt Bellamy (see anchorage text)

Main Image - Matthew Bellamy
The main image is a medium close up (so we can see his facial features and also his clothes) of the lead singer and guitarist of a band called Muse, pictures with his hands clenched together looking directly at the camera. This suggests a serious tone of the magazine and Matt is looking straight at you, almost telling us to buy the issue and lets be honest, who doesn't want to buy a magazine with Matt on the front? His clothes look like regular rock star clothing with a black jacket and a chain necklace which attracts rock fans.

Anchorage Text - Muse: "This will be the last chance to hear a lot of our songs"

The anchorage text links to the stern look of Matt Bellamy. The words 'Muse' and 'Last' are emphasised with a different colour of bold writing which made me read them first and made me a bit upset to be honest as I didn't go to Reading and Leeds. I still bought it, none-the-less to read more about the 'last chance' and teases the reader and gives clue to the storyline. The grim look on Matt's face looks like he isn't happy and reluctant about the topic or perhaps he just looks dark and brooding to attract fans some more because we all like a dark, brooding man in our lives.

Colour Scheme - White, Red, Black

The main colours on the front cover are white, red and black (not including the blue main image background) These are all very bold colours and instantly grab the readers attention.

Cover Lines

There are a number of cover lines including the anchorage text to link with the picture (see previous) Beneath the anchorage text, the words "Plus more Reading and Leeds exclusives and 51 new acts unveiled" which links to the left third pictures (which are also captioned to see who exactly are in the pictures and who will be in the issue).

The words 'more Reading and Leeds' and 'and 51 new acts unveiled' are in a different font colour to the rest of the writing (white) which makes you read them words first and emphasises them so they stand out against the rest. 51 is emphasised to show us that there's loads of new bands to get our teeth into and be fans of. 'more Reading and Leeds' makes us buy this issue because there's more information about the festival in this issue- could be something important.

At the very top of the front cover, '2011 Line-Up Revealed' stands out as it's in white and differs to the rest of the writing and drags our attention there and makes us buy it as one of your favourite bands could be playing this year. You'll only find out in this issue so BUY IT!!

There's a list of bands on the left hand side to further show the reader what is featured in the issue and it could be one of your favourite bands and it saves time having to flick through every page. I bought it as it has Matt on the front and on this cover line, it mentions 'My Chemical Romance'.

The bottom of the front page has various sell lines and quotes about a specific article in the magazine. The open wording and weird language of the quotes and sentences makes us question why they have said that and wants us to read more about it. For example, "The Kills versus the tabloids" could mean anything- is it good or bad? Why are the tabloids against them? What have they done? We will only find out if we purchase this issue.

"Say hello to music's odd future" uses informal and friendly language to entice the reader some more.

Hyperbolic Wording

"Plus more Reading and Leeds exclusives" is used in this magazine to show that when you buy this magazine, they're letting you into loads of hot, juicy gossip about Reading and Leeds only in this magazine ('exclusive') and not just the ones they mentioned last issue, but 'MORE' Which made me clasp my hands (rather like Matt in the picture) and squee in excitement. "Oh boy! Some hot gossip has dropped!" Gossip sells. We want to know secrets and tell everyone just to show that you knew them first.

'Last' is also used referring to Muse to shock us and question why we won't hear their songs again. Have they split? It makes us sad :(

The words 'new', 'unveiled' and 'revealed' are also used a lot in this issue to show some revelations about the music industry and particular at this time, Reading and Leeds. It sheds light onto the subject and also says what exactly is new inside. It only teases it on the front cover.

Slogan - "New Musical Express"

This is what NME stands for. 'New' suggests exclusivity in the magazine. 'Express' suggests exclusives and fast (as it is a weekly magazine and can refresh it's contents frequently)

Price - £2.40

The price is fairly cheap compared to most magazines these days which attracts people to buy it since it's cheaper than any other on the market. I's still really small to see the price but people will get a pleasant shock when buying it and seeing it will only cost them £2.40.

Layout

The layout is quite formal in its organisation There's just enough words and pictures on the page and it looks even and not too heavy on the eye and doesn't 'shout'. The pictures on the left third are on various angles to give an edgy feel and adds attention to the pictures as they are not straight and surprise us.

There are a few lines at the bottom of the front cover separating the three headlines. Three headlines are effective as the power of three is a big tool in the media business, e.g. 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' is one use of it. The power of three is punchy and memorable.

There's also a plus sigh on the right hand third. It's more effective rather than using the words 'plus' because it adds shape to the magazine and it's page furniture- there's plenty of words on the page already, any more and it would look too busy.

Barcode

The barcode is on the magazine- it has to be as it's a legal requirement and must not be covered by any text. It's how you buy the magazine.

Magazine Preliminary Task

This is my preliminary magazine task to get used to the programme I will be using for my actual magazine (InDesign). First, I started with a close up of a celebrity (Gerard Way) The image is lightly low quality because I took it from Google, so I decided to put a student on the front (see task 2) The fonts I've used for the anchorage text I like ('BIRTH OF A HERO' and 'Punk'snotdead')- may use these in my actual magazine. I put "exclusive" in a bold and underlined font ('Action of the Time New') to attract the readers attention. I'm not really keen on the actual masthead ('College Soundz') (Comica BD) font because it's not eye catching enough or bold enough so the reader can see what they are reading. I think I made the price a bit too big because people may not be willing to pay that much - maybe I should make it smaller. I also included the fact the issue has "free poster pullouts" because they will look inside to see the posters and they're free - who doesn't like a freebie?! I also mentioned some gossip about Fall Out Boy; 'new album details revealed' as if it's a secret and only this magazine will include it. I also included a Google image of a barcode because it's a legal requirement and every magazine must have one. The colours are quite eye catching to attract the readers but the pink may suggest more of a girl magazine. Might change this and ask people what colours they like in a magazine.

 

This is my second draft of 'College Soundz'. This time, I used a close up if a student rather than a celebrity. I also got the hang of the camera's this time I will be using in the actual magazine (see later for photoshoot images). The 'exclusive' is the same font but it doesn't look as effective on the white background and looks worn away which I like, but maybe not on this specific text- I want the words 'exclusive' to stand out so the reader will buy it because the article is only available in this issue. I kept the same colour scheme because since a woman is on the front cover, the pink will match. I also changed the anchorage text from Fall Out Boy to a festival guide which could include a number of bands so it could suit everyone. I like this picture of my fellow student because she's looking down on the words 'exclusive' to emphasise it's importance and I think I have the lighting right- half of her is in shadows, maybe to suggest a darker topic inside.

 

This is my contents magazine of my second draft which included some more information about what will be in the magazine and some more pictures I have taken. I think the picture of Siobhan and James are a bit overexposed and has too much light in but I think I've got the shadows spot on) I tried to include puns ('this is snow joke') to attract the reader to read further and so the reader and writer has a friendly relationship that will make them read further. I think the font I have used for the picture captions are a bit too plain but they are nice and bold ('Haettenschweiler') I think it's quite effective how Siobhan's font is the only one that's blue because it shows her importance because she is on the front cover. I like the headings on each of the 4 features ('akoom') Might use this font on my actual magazine. I included more local bands this time because I won't be likely to see and gather information from famous celebrity bands. I included page numbers on each feature so the reader can flick to that page quickly and easily. I included some lines on the contents because it looked a bit plain without them.

 

I now have a better knowledge of InDesign so I can use this for my final design of my magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photoshoot Images

Please enable full screen mode and click on 'show info' in the left hand corner for details on each picture or see below...

 

Here, the image is too under exposed and dark so I adjusted the exposure on the camera and the lighting in the room itself a bit lighter. The rule of thirds here look fine and effective.

Now the image is still too dark and under exposed and the rule of thirds has changed because of the empty space above his head.

 

Here, there is a gap above her head like the one above so the rule of thirds is not effective. The picture is also overexposed and too bright. But I really like the shadow on this one.

The shadow on this one is not the best - there are 2 shadows and I think the one I didn't want is off the spotlight. I'll move it. Apart from that, the exposure is good and balanced.

 

 

Here I tried exploring different angles. This picture is a high angle to show power. There's still a gap above her head and isn't close enough. The shadow off the spotlight is still there.

 

 

The spotlight is even more in the way now! Apart from that, it's a really good photo. But it's a bit overexposed.

I like this photo but it's still overexposed. It's a really nice close up to show all of her outfit and the shadow is effective.

Woah! This picture is terribly overexposed!! I decided to change the camera's white balance for the next picture. Apart from that, the shadow is really effective and it's a nice close up.

The white balance is a bit better but the studio lights are too bright. A nice close up and rule of thirds but the shadow isn't as effective as before.

 

 

Even though the lights are still too bright and making the photo overexposed, this was the best picture of James I have (so I put it on the contents page) The rule of thirds are present and the shadow is effective.