Textual analysis- Heat

The next magazine I chose to analysis was “Heat” magazine.

Heat is an entertainment magazine and as of 2004 it is one of the best selling magazines in the UK. Heat was launched in 1999 as a general interest entertainment magazine. It was not an immediate success, with a circulation below 100,000; however it now has a regular circulation of over half a million. It has a mix of celebrity news, gossip and fashion; it also features movie and music reviews, TV listings and celebrity interviews. Heat is primarily aimed at females, it doesn’t have a specific age range as most females like to read about gossip, fashion etc. However the women most likely to read it are probably aged 16-25, C2-E.

The front cover is very busy, this shows that there is a lot going on in the magazine. It draws peoples attention to the magazine because it is very busy and bright. The mast head is the largest text on the front cover and is in the colour red. This makes it stand out, moreover red is a warm colour and can clearly be associated with the title heat. Another thing that I notice about the mast head is that the H is written in lower case, this is incorrect grammer. Prehaps this suggests a more relaxed attitude towards the formalities of grammer, which the magazine publishers may consider to be unimportant to their readers. Whereas magazines such as Vouge pay more attention to the grammer and punctionation on their covers.

The main fature of the front cover is Big Brother, the photograph tells the readers what is going to be in the magainze. This addition of the magazine is about Alex, Big Brother’s “Wrost bully ever”. There is a headline to accompany the picture, the headline covers half the picutre therefore stands out and instantly grabs the readers attention. It is also written in capital letters as are all the other headlines on the front cover, this again avoids using grammer. The headlines that go with the picutre include words such as “new” and “exclusive” this gives the reader the feeling that they are privy to a secret, that they may or may not wish to pass on. At the top of the picture is the Big Brother symbol, this will be regocnised by Big Brother fans, and will draw them in to buy the magazine increasing circulation.

There are also some plugs at the top of the page, this gives the readers a taste of what else is to come in the magazine. It also says there is a free magazine inside, this will immediately get the readers attention as everyone likes something for nothing. The plugs also have pictures with them to acompany their headlines. Although these pictures may draw the readers attention they do not detract the attention from the main photograph as they are smaller. The plugs at the top will help attract audiences that may not watch or be interested in big brother, as they are showing that there is something else of interest inside the magazine.

Textual analysis- Vogue

After analysing secondary magazine front cover, to help us carry on our research further we had to evaluate another three different magazine covers.

Vogue is a fashion magazine; it is also a lifestyle magazine. The magazine was first founded in 1892 by Arthur Baldwin Turnure. When he died in 1909, Conde Nast, picked up the magazine and slowly began to help the magazine grow. From then on the magazine has carried on growing and is now huge. It is published in 18 countries, therefore recognised all over the world. Vogue is now published every month. The magazine is aimed at people who follow or are interested in fashion. It is aimed at middle and higher class females ageing between 18-35years.

Vogue is so well known that part of the mast head is covered up. The main picture of Drew Barrymore is covering up the G. This shows that the creators of vogue are sure that the public are familiar with the magazine so it doesn’t matter if the title is slightly covered up. The mast head is the biggest text on the front cover so it is easily seen when the audience is looking for it. It takes up approximately about a quarter of the page.

The main headline is the second biggest text on the cover, after the mast head. All of the text on the front cover is in either black or white except the main headline,which is written in red. This means the main headline stands out more as it is the only text in colour. The main headline tells the audience that the magazine is about the different shapes of women. The strapline underneath gives you more of an idea of what the article is about. “The 150+ best looks for every body” this shows that the magazine is aimed at women all shapes and sizes. It will entice audiences to buy it to see what the “150+ best looks” are.

On the left hand side of the magazine there is another headline that gives you a taster of what’s to come. The headline accompanies the picture. The picture is the main feature of the cover. It is a picture of Drew Barrymore with a lion, to represent beauty and the beast. The photo is in the style of an old fashioned portrait, the colours are very subtle. The photo gives the magazine a sense of high class, this will appeal to its target audience.

At the bottom right hand side of the magazine there are some sub headings of other articles that appear in the magazine. They are in bold to make them stand out. Also the sub headings are in black and white, this adds to the sense of high class that the magazine and institution are aiming for.

Textual analysis of "Secondary teachers"

For our Preliminary exercise we had to undertake some research and planning. For part of my research I analysed “Secondary teachers” magazine front cover. By researching magazine front covers it will help me see what different media concepts are used by different magazines. This will help me when it comes to creating my front cover for a collage magazine.

The cover of the magazine is split into two. On the left hand side there is a picture of a girl, she is looking across towards the boy. The picture on the right hand side is of a boy with his hand raised enthusiastically. He has a large smile on his face whereas the girl has a more impatient look on her face as she looks across, although she does have a slight smile starting to come through. The article is about do boys and girls learn differently, perhaps this picture is suggesting that the girl is getting wound up or distracted by the boy?

Both the pictures are medium shots, and looking straight on at the students. It is a point of view shot as if we were looking through the eyes of a teacher or someone watching the students. Watching the way they are learning, which is what the article is about. The picture is in colour which makes the cover seem bright whereas if it was in black and white it would seem plainer and more boring. The background of the picture is a bright white, this makes the writing and picture stand out more and have a sharper impact.

Both the students are dressed very smartly with the right school equipment on their desks. They are the type of students that a teacher would want to teach in their lessons. If the students had been dressed scruffily the magazine would not appeal to teachers because it would not appeal to the professional teaching audience. For this reason smart students are represented to make sure the magazine reaches the right audience, professional teaching staff.

On the right hand side, the headline of the main article “Do boys and girls learn differently?” is written in blue writing. On the left hand side it is written in pink writing. The colour blue is associated with boys and pink with girls, for this reason they have put pink writing on the left hand side and blue on the right hand side to go with the gender of the student.

The two students on the cover are also different races, one black and one white. This shows equal rights and reflects today’s society.

Along the top of the cover there are three short headlines about other articles that appear in the magazine. This will give the audience a chance to see what else appears in the magazine. If the main story doesn’t appeal to the audience one of the articles inside might appeal to them more. The headlines along the top are not as big as the main headline but clear enough to read easily.

The front cover is not too crowded; everything is very spacious and well spread out. This makes it clear and easy to read. Everything is well proportioned; the picture is in proportion with the headline and the writing surrounding it. Proportion helps to emphasis things; it makes the picture and the headline stick out without making them look like they are dominating the rest of the page too much.

Foundation Portfolio - Preliminary Task

Producing a college magazine front page and contents page.

At the beginning of the foundation portfolio preliminary task we looked at how the media concepts could be applied to a college magazine. We used the acronym LIIAR; language, institution, ideology, audience and representation.

Language.
The layout is a key part of language in a magazine it is the way everything is arranged. The font of the text, the text itself, masthead and colour, photographs and the way they fit in with the layout, also proportion. Proportion is the emphasis.

Institution.
The institution is Wyke college, it achieves the best results around Hull and the East Riding area. Therefore people travel from all of the surrounding areas of Hull to come to the college. It is an academically based college and has more females than males. However if it offered more practical courses such as joinery and brick laying it would have a larger number of males attending.

Ideology.
The ideology that is portrayed around Wyke has 4 main points, these points need to be reflected in the magazine. 1. Respect, 2. equal treatment, 3. opportunity and 4. belief in education.

Audience.
The audience of the magazine are students at Wyke College, also staff at the college. Age group of students (16-19). The collage is predominantly female, with 64% of the collage students being female. However the audience will be both female and male. Also the audience will be from Hull and the surrounding areas, as 55% of students are from the East Riding. The target audience will also be middle class.

Representation.
The college and students will be represented in the magazine. It will be promoting the college; this will be done through the photographs, stories and the lead story, and how the photograph represents the story.