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Audience Feedback 1

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Yasmine you are making some progress with the research and planning work but there are still tasks outstanding as per my last set of targets set e.g. preliminary task contents page. It is important that you make this work a priority if you are to achieve your target grade. In addition, you must add a running commentary that includes evidence of your production work in progress i.e. screen shots.

Main Article Analysis - NME

The first thing that grabs our attention from this is the floating quote which takes up half a page, it says “people think I’m an attention seeker, but I’m just honest” the typography used for this is of different sizes, each letter seems to be of a different size font. It also looks like the letters have been cut out from newspapers and stuck together suggesting she is always on the newspapers and twisting the quote as she is saying she is not a attention seeker yet she is always found on newspapers suggesting she in fact an attention seeker. The image they have used looks like an image of a rebellious girl who always seems to get her way. The way she has slightly tilted her head sideways represents her as having an attitude, her scruffy hair and the way she is posing by holding her waist also represents her having an attitude and that she has no care in the world but is rather chilled back and taking life easy. Her eye makeup looks very dark and stands out as she has used a lot of black eye liner which suggests she is a rock artist, the dark colours she is wearing also suggest this. The shirt she is wearing stands out as it is a check shirt and seems bright against the plain background although it is not very bright. They have kept the background plain so that the focus is kept on her suggesting she is very important. Lilly Allen is looking at the audience in the image which drags the audience in as it seems as though she is addressing them and getting them involved. The fact that she has very little make up and barely any jewellery on makes her stand out from other artists and look rather unique as most other artists are shown wearing tons of makeup and lots of jewellery to try and show they are wealthy whereas Lilly Allen seems to be just herself and not following the crowd as she seems to have no care in the world but herself.

From looking at the layout of the magazine we would think that the magazine is aimed at a slightly older audience between the age brackets of 17-23 as the layout seems to be quite simple and straightforward, something an older audience would look for. Although it is laid out in a rather simple way they have managed to keep it looking lively and interesting to catch the audience’s eyes. They have not used too much text as this would probably end up boring the audience as they would not want to read something that has too much text but rather something with a bit of text and gives the important information that will keep them interested. They have managed to use the space very wisely, focusing it mostly on Lilly Allen as she stands out the most. They have not used too much and made it busy but instead kept it rather straightforward with one floating quote, a large image of the artist and a short article.

Main Article Analyses - XX

The main image is of the band including two guys and a girl with the girl in the middle and the two guys at each side of her, this kind of subverts the rock group genres as usually they consist of all males (male dominated) this illustrates that women have more power than before and are seen just as equal as men. The positioning is significant; although it subverts the rock group genres it is also stereotypical in the way the three are positioned, with the two guys at each end as though protecting her this is stereotypical suggesting that women need protection and although have more power than before they are not as strong as men. They are all wearing plain black clothes with no facial expressions making them look dark, mysterious and slightly gothic. The whole image looks very enigmatic from help with the use of the shadows. The women in the middle subverts the stereotypical image of female artists as they are usually wearing a lot of make up with short dresses, revealing a lot of skin whereas the female artist here is wearing full black clothes covering her skin, has short hair and has no makeup looking very plain and simple and implies to us that she is androgynous, this suggest that they are different from other artists and that this is for a more niche audience rather than a mainstream. The fact that they are wearing full black relates with the heading ‘art of darkness’ as the colour black is dark.

The sub title is an open question, this is designed to interest readers and get them involved making them want to read on. The sub heading also says a bit about what the article will be about interesting the audience to read on.

The article is an interview with the band which is written in continuous prose with direct speech, as opposed to Q&A interview style, this suggests a journalistic style to signify the band’s importance. This suggests that this is for a more sophisticated audience those of the age bracket 18-25.

The colour scheme throughout is black grey and white which relates to the genre of rock/indie as they are usually seen as dark genres. They have used white for the heading which is typed in big bold writing making it stand out from the rest of the writing and so it is the first thing you read, this makes you a little puzzled as there are many different interpretations one could take from the heading ‘art of darkness’ which persuades the reader to read on and see what the article is really about.

Contents Page Analysis - Vibe

From looking at this contents page we immediately suggest that is aimed at an older audience between the age bracket of 18-30, a more laid back audience that are not really bothered about their magazine consisting of a lot of images and text and being eye catching, but rather a magazine that is plain, simple and straightforward that includes the important information they want. The structure of the page is very simple and straightforward which allows the audience to find the information they are looking for very easily through the use of subheading and page numbers. Other than the picture of the front cover in the bottom left corner, there is no use of colours and the background is of a black and white background with black text which suggests it is not for a younger audience as they would not find it very appealing as they would prefer a magazine with colours, images and funky bold fonts. There is also very limited text on the page only consisting of the important information and the page number so that the audience can easily access to the pages they want rather than having to look for the important information and finding out the page number. It get straight to the point without any fuss.

From looking at the background and the main image we straight away realise it is of a R&B magazine as it links with the gangster culture and seems quite ghetto, some audiences will be able to relate to this gangster culture as they too may be represented as being gangster and so they could relate to the artist. The chain he is wearing also links with the gangster culture and with the R&B genre as it connotes wealth any money. Also as it is black and white it makes it look more ghetto and links in well with the contents page as a whole. The way the guy in the main image is posing makes him look much laid-back as are the audience, he also looks chill which both connote power and confidence as though he has come far in the music industry. The tilt of the head connotes arrogance and dominance as though he is better than the audience, looking at them with a tilted head, this would appeal to his fans and audience who emulate him.

There is not much to say about this contents page as it is rather plain and simple, pretty straight forward which shows that it is more for a laid-back audience and for that reason there is not much to say about it.

Contents Page Analysis - NME

When we look at this contents page we are immediately drawn to the main image as it is in the centre of the page making it the focal point. It is the largest image on the page making it seem important and hints to us that this is what the main article is about. The artist in the main image is wearing smart clothes looking sophisticated suggesting it is not for a very young audience but for 18-25 year olds. The background is stripy making it look retro which links with the genre rock.

The layout of this magazine has a collage effect which makes it look different and allows it to stand out more. For the colour scheme they have used lots of bright vibrant colours (mainly red blue and yellow) which subverts to the stereotype of rock as rock is usually seen as dark simple and straightforward where as the use of bright colours here conveys that it is very loud and messy as though about to burst which suggests that they are challenging the stereotype to make it even more eye catching. Also by making it look so busy with lots of images makes it seem as though there is so much inside to offer and that you get a lot more than what you paid for which attracts a lot of people, this attracts the correct target audience as they like to have a lot to read about and making it busy will not confuse them as they are not young audience but young adults.

The tie-in at the bottom of the page is for a subscription deal for those who are addicted to music, telling them that they can subscribe for just 20p an issue for their first two months. This attracts a lot of the audience as most of them will of course love music as they have bought a music magazine. The way they have highlighted the 20p in white makes it stand out and seem like such a bargain that people will want to subscribe even if they are not so addicted.

The contents page has limited information which draws you in as they give you a little bit of what’s inside but leave you to find out the rest once buying the magazine, doing this makes the audience want to know the rest of the story especially if it is on an artist they listen to and admire.  An example of this is the floating quote which gives you a bit of what the main article is about, and leaves you to read the rest.

The contents page is well laid out with the listed contents and their page numbers making it easy for the audience to get to the page they are looking for. They have used sub headings to categorise the reference again making it easy for the audience to see what different references the magazine offers and all the different topics they can read about making it easy for them to get to the reference they want.

Feedback

Yasmin, you have uploaded some of the research and planning work as per the checklist. You must now ensure that you complete the remainder by Friday 11th March:
1) Upload preliminary task contents page
2) Content pages and main article analyses
3) Focus group feedback