Textual Analysis – Contents Page
Rock Sound: The layout of the contents page is spread over two columns, following the form where the contents is split over 3 or 4 columns and it’s split into multiple sections with the category headings ‘The Noise’, ‘All Your Favourite Bands’, ‘Exposure’ and ‘Reviews’. This helps to draw the reader’s attention to the different sections making it easier to follow. The colour scheme is a mix of black, red, white and yellow, denoting this is a more colourful and youthful magazine and a connotation is that the audience assumes it’s more representative of rock due to both the colour scheme and the dress codes used.
“All Time Low” is the central image and framed in relation to the heading “All Time Low”. It’s dominant and the rule of thirds appears to be obeyed. The age of the figures across the contents page looks to range from 20-30 and gender is almost entirely male, suggesting the target audience for this magazine is males. In terms of the bands some of them are Billy Talent and Good Charlotte and given the masthead as well, the dominant genre is rock.
One of the bands Good Charlotte has quite high celebrity status and the images are fairly iconic as some of them have typical band poses. Target audience for Rock Sound appears to fit with the audience that’s been targeted with the cover, people aged 16-24 and the design overall looks less enthusiastic than a contents page for a magazine like Q, so the social class is the same as for the cover, working class people and mainstreamers are the consumer characteristic. The image appears quite masculine because there are almost no females, reflecting the stereotype that females don’t have such a presence in rock.
The clothing worn by the models has a range of styles, from casual to smart and an example of the colour is white. The combination of different styles speaks to the diversity of the rock genre, as does the different colours that represent the target audience, for example one of the members of Parkway Drive wears a casual-smart chequered shirt, reflecting the 16-24 age range as this is a kind of shirt they like to wear.
Speaking about the locations and background, this ranges from studio to outdoors and communicates the versatility of the magazine, as well as the bands as it’s seen they travel to different locations, the beach where the Architects have been an example.
Some language that has been used includes slang, below “Contents” where the introduction to the editor’s letter “Hitchin’ A Ride”, also a contraction is given and a lot of puns appear throughout, connoting the appeal towards the audience as well the laidback nature of the rock music genre. There are more contractions, including “Then you definitely won’t”, highlighting the laidback nature more and aiming more towards the target audience.
In part due to the title “Rock Sound”, there’s a lot of sibilance, a couple of examples being “Sonic Boom Six” and “Motion City Soundtrack”
An example of an iconic sign would be the group shot of Parkway Drive, as they look like what they represent, a band and the images in general are iconic signs, because they are what they represent.
Some examples of an indexical sign are the expressions across the members of All Time Low, where they range from looking muted, to sombre and daft, representing seriousness, sadness and absurdity. Another example could be Jack, from All Time Low’s hairstyle, as it might be suggesting towards his attitude, considering a certain number of people have that hairstyle.
A symbolic or arbitrary sign is the world ‘album’, as the word ‘album’ has to be culturally learned.
The types of shots, which are used, are close-shots and a wide shot for the group shots.
All Time Low’s group shot is the image, which is central, as it’s in the middle and being the largest image makes it dominant. It’s partly framed in relation to the editor’s letter, along with the heading next to the page number on the image and one of the sub-headings in the “All Your Favourite Bands” section. The rule of thirds has been obeyed.
The magazine works as a whole because the style of language, which is quite casual works in relation to the images because of how they’re shot and the masthead “Rock Sound” is quite an inviting one. The content on offer too is quite inviting as an example the offer of being able to get the scoop on one of UK Rock’s most anticipate albums of 2013, and a gig guide.
Uncut: The layout of Uncut’s contents page is split over one column and organised so on one side there’s the contents side, and the other has an editor’s letter. The masthead is at the top along with the issue date and number and the page numbers, followed by first line and subline, and an image of the editor is featured, along with an image of Gene Clark. The effect this has is the layout is much simpler, so there’s less of an impressive effect.
There’s quite a simple colour scheme, mainly consisting of red for the firstlines and a boxing device at the top consisting of the “Contents” word and masthead and issue date and number. This connotes that the magazine has a simpler appeal, as the colour scheme is limited, plus the use of the colour red is old-school, so this is a hint towards the target audience appeal.
Gene Clark is the main figure featured in the contents. When Uncut interviewed him in 1977, he was 33 and used to be part of a band called The Byrds, an American rock band that indicates the overall appeal of Uncut as old-school music. The Byrds were quite an influence, initially pioneering the genre of folk rock and originating other sub-rock genres including psychedelic rock, as well as the mixture of clear harmony singing and Roger McGuinn’s jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar continuing to have an influence now.
The image of Gene Clark is iconic, because it shows him at work.
An estimation of Uncut’s target audience would be aged 35-64 because of who’s featured in the image and given the bands featured, and no clear female presence male would appear to be the target audience. The age range means the income and social class would be working, as well as upper middle, and the consumer characteristics succeeders and mainstreamers. The lack of female presence reflects the stereotype that rock is a male-dominated genre, suggesting the idea of this could be cultural.
The clothing isn’t entirely clear, but in the image of Gene Clark he’s seen wearing a formal shirt, linking to rock as this can be seen as a formal genre.
In terms of location, the image would suggest Gene is performing on a stage, communicating Gene Clark’s role in music as he did a lot of solo performing, as well as that Uncut does it’s share of covering.
Mode of address would appear formal, as devices including contractions, puns, rhetorical questions and assonance are non-existent, although a superlative is used during one of the sublines “The band’s 20 greatest songs as chosen” and there’s little repetition. Overall this indicates a more mature style of writing, and moves towards the target audience.
The shot type used is a close-up for Gene, allowing readers to potentially get an insight into what he was thinking as at the time of the photo he was in quite a fragile state.
Gene Clark is the central image and framed in relation to the letter written by the editor along with one of the headings “The Byrds”, highlighting the importance of him in the issue. The image is dominant because it’s the only relevant one and the rule of thirds is obeyed.
Uncut’s contents page works as a whole because the style of masthead is formal and looks professional and melds with use of informal language and lack of devices, which would make the language less formal. The image on offer is a callback to the past, working with the formal style as does the choice of colours.
These elements combine to communicate the genre of rock because they’re within the same style and communicate the intention of covering music in a more mature overtone.
Mojo: The layout of Mojo’s contents page spreads two pages and four columns. On the first page there’s one column of text, making it stand out against background and easy to read, capitals highlighting different bands. On the next there’s only one column of text again, giving easy reference to articles and artists. Part of the content’s spread on the first page and the rest on the second. On the first page only one image is featured, and the image is of Van Morrison and the page number for the article is displayed on an extract from him, anchoring to the article. On the second page there’s eight separate images, five of them relating to articles and they have page numbers anchored on the images, as well as on the images of the staff where it explains the page numbers of the articles they’re hosting. Near the top of the first page the dateline is displayed and above is the word “Contents”. At the bottom of each page as well the title along with page number are shown. No subscription or contact information is displayed on either page, nor is an editor’s letter or image of the front cover, suggesting this magazine breaks convention.
In respect of the colour scheme, there’s a simple colour scheme laid out, consisting of red with the lines below and above dateline and across the first column as well as on one of the columns on the second page. Another colour used is blue and the final main colour is black, all strong colours, which make them and the text stand out and catch the reader’s eye.
Van Morrison, the main image, is now 67 and the representation of him in a white gown highlights the mystique of who he is, as through the years he has a reputation for not being an easy person to interview. His genre of music varies from rock to R&B (rhythm and blues) and this indicates Mojo is a versatile magazine. Van Morrison has very high celebrity status and the image isn’t particularly iconic because it’s interpretational to what it means. On the next page the first image is of The Wallflowers, all members being male and the Wallflowers have a high celebrity status and being a rock band, this indicates more that Mojo have a preference for rock. Marvin Gaye’s the next image and his ethnicity is black, an iconic sign and the main genre he worked in was R&B, indicating that Mojo likes to cover a history of genres. Marvin had a fairly high celebrity status and his image is partly iconic because it’s the cover of one of his studio albums. The members of Tame Impala are in their 20s and all male, the dominance of male musicians in Mojo reflecting the cultural stereotype that females haven’t had such a role in music in the past. Tame Impala’s style of music is mainly psychedelic rock and this furthers the opinion that Mojo want to cover a range of genres. The celebrity status is moderate and the image is difficult to make out in terms of what it means.
The general age range Mojo looks to aim at are people aged 25-44, because the design of the contents page appears retro and a lot of the artists spread across the contents appear to have come from the past. There looks to be equal presence towards females as three are featured across the two pages, but overall male appears to have the dominance. Ethnicity is slightly varied because Marvin Gaye is African American and this is appropriate because Mojo looks to cover the history of music. Working class to skilled working class are likely to be the income classes attached because this suits the age range 25-44 and in terms of consumer characteristics, mainstreamers and succeeders are the most suitable because mainstreamers buy well established brands and seek conformity, and succeeders have climbed the ladder and are going to want to look at musicians from the past.
For clothing, Van Morrison wears a white gown that connotes his mystique and could be relevant to rock as musicians dress in a variety of things for photoshoots. The Wallflowers are dressed smart-casual that links to rock because it’s quite a laidback genre and in the photo of her, Grimes wears casual clothing that links to a variety of genres she performs in because genres such as electronic and hip-hop are known for being offbeat. The overall effect this has on me is it makes me think about the various genres, because the various clothing connotes what the genres mean.
Van Morrison’s image is set against a rural background, communicating that Mojo travels in a variety of places and it links to the extract where Van mentions “I wanted to be a vet. And I was quite good at football” meaning what he is in the image could be one of the things he wanted to be. Wallflower’s photo appears set on the rocks of a beach, emphasising the travelling part and connoting a casual side to The Wallflowers. Tame Impala’s image is set in Paris, communicating a more exotic side to the magazine as well potentially Tame Impala and the location of Grimes looks set on a stage and combined with the lighting, this represents the different genres she works in and shows a party vibe to Mojo. Overall all of this connotes the versatility of Mojo, and communicates a variety of different artists.
The tone and style look to be informal as it’s clear the personality of the journalist is shining through the sublines, as an example “A tear-arse upbringing and tragedy-shrewn adulthood”, making the mode of address appear friendly, having an effect that makes me want to read more. Devices used to draw the reader in include rhyming, featuring underneath the “Van Morrison” heading where his nickname “Van The Man” is mentioned and use of repetition is notable in the “Regulars” category when one of the sublines features the repeated use of the word “why”, gaining the reader’s curiousity. An example of a contraction is when the journalist mentions "OMD". A superlative is featured on the first page when under “ZZ TOP”, the word “gnarliest” is used.
Iconic signs are the photos of the various artists as well as for instance The Wallflowers looking like what they represent, a band. Van’s expression is indexical, which is mute and this is because it has a connection to his state of mind and is interpretational. The flower on Natasha’s ear is indexical as it can represent a variety of things, from happiness to freedom.
The types of shots used are medium and close-ups, the close-ups allowing us a glimpse into Grimes, Natasha and Marvin’s minds.
Van’s image is the central image as it’s the largest and framed in relation to one of the firstlines as well as an extract from the article. The image is dominant because of it’s size and the rule of thirds looks to be obeyed because there’s equal spacing. Van being the central image has an effect that he looks dominant because of the size of the image.
The contents page works as a whole because the style of language works to draw the reader in, being informal so relaxing the reader and the style of masthead works to create a unique impression and the selection of images work within the style of the magazine. All of it combines to communicate the variety of genres on offer such as rock and aiming to draw the intended target audience of 25-44 because of the style. (not finished)
Q: There are three columns on each side of the contents page, breaking convention there are usually three of four and there's a main image on the left, with smaller images laid amongst the rest of the contents. The masthead's at the top as well as the bottom, also featuring the page number and issue date. The layout's neatly structured overall as in the left column you have ‘Features’ and the other one includes the other features like ‘Regulars’ which has the regular contents such as subscription page. Page numbers are on the images which makes it easy for the reader to find the article they want.
The mixture of colour is mainly similar to the cover that's an overall balance of red and black, continuing the brand identity and overall it connotes a sense of style and there's a darker red split between the various categories that perhaps connotes this is a magazine that wants to be taken more seriously.
Noel Gallagher is in his early 40's as are the Manic Street Preachers and most of the members of Green Day, another band featured and it expands the target appeal of Q vaguely, as these band members are older and most of the gender is taken up of males, reflecting the cultural stereotype that a lot of musicians are male.
Speaking to the target audience, the continuation of the brand identity keeps the appeal on people aged 16-24 and the appeal of Noel Gallagher ensures a mixed gender appeal and the variety of musicians shown ensures this isn't ethnicity based and the continuation of brand identity means working and middle class are the social classes that are targeted, as well as aspirers and maisntreamers for the consumer characteristic.
The clothing looks to mainly be smart casual and has a representation of rock because of the mixed balance and linking to the cover, Noel Gallagher's jacket is dark brown which connotes the laidback nature of rock and his trousers are light black that links to rock. The overall balance of style showcases the diversity of the genre.
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A variety of backgrounds look to be on display. The reader gets an inside glimpse into the production of the magazine with the first image, one of Noel that reveals the mise-en-scene around him, communicating the craft of the magazine and Noel alike. Another image of him is set in the same background and the rest showcase a variety of backgrounds from a stage to streets, communicating that Q is a diverse magazine.
The mode of address is largely informal but has some formal sublines and devices such as superlatives (biggest and best), sibilance and mainly puns are employed throughout the contents, the use of puns highlighting the informal nature and a connotation that it's a magazine aimed at young people.
The photos are all iconic signs, as is a guitar and the use of a microphone a couple of times.
Medium and wide shots are used to show the background on offer and give a glimpse into the atmosphere and close-ups, mainly centred on Noel. A connotation for the medium and wide shots are because of what they show, this magazine aims to be diverse and the effect being satisfactory.
On the first page, the second image of Noel is central as it's the largest, making it the dominant image too and it's in the middle. It's framed in relation to the main heading and the rule of thirds appears to be obeyed because there's equal spacing.
The contents page works as a whole because the style of language, masthead, images, type of contents and an offer made too (Win £10,000 of musical gear) work in conjunction to produce an overall tone and communicate the rock genre, which is the main genre on display as they connote the versatility of it and that Q is intended to be a friendly magazine.
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NME: NME's contents page is far more basic as there are two columns, breaking convention and there are small images but no clear main image, connoting that NME ha perhaps lazily put this contents together. Page numbers are on the images but not related to any headings and the masthead isn't displayed at the top and the issue number isn't. The date is however. Subscription information is provided.
The colour scheme is very basic as well, with red and black being the main colours but not clearly set out, making the contents page lacking.
Pete Doherty is in his early 30s, whereas Dave Grohl's in his early 40s, connoting that NME wants to aim to a range of people and the main gender present is male, in addition the availability of NME in a variety of places and the main band are The Libertines and perform in Indie rock and garage rock revival, indicating rock is NME's main appeal.
The Libertines have quite a high celebrity status because they kickstarted the garage rock revival movement in the UK and the images are mainly iconic because they represent what they are.
In terms of the target audience, the age range looks to be 25-44 because of the simple layout and colour scheme and males are the main target gender and middle class would be the likely social class aim because this would be within the age range, as well as mainstreamers because of the presence of musicians such as Pete Doherty, where they seek conformity.
The clothing ranges from being casual to smart and this represents the diversity of rock, as well as being a connotation that a variety of musicians are showcased.
Referring to the location, it ranges from being set in a studio to being on stage and communicating that NME go out and do coverage in a range of places, including for example with Dave Grohl showing their craft.
The mode of address is quite informal, with a lot of puns "Pete Doherty Always Had Daz In, No Matter What" and there's use of sibilance "Silver Shellsuits", repetition "Knock-Knock" and rhyming "Cock Shock" that draws the audience in and connotes a sense of being laidback.
Shot types employed are close-ups and there's one two-shot of Brian Wilson and another musician and these help give an insight into what the musicians think and how they feel when they perform.
No image is central, breaking convention and connoting a sense of laziness.
The elements combine as a whole because the language is quite informal and the font isn't as professional as someone would normally expect and the masthead is visible albeit not in the usual position. The images are casual and the subscription offer made, along with simple colour scheme all come together to communicate the genre of rock being maybe too laidback and the intention of drawing a mainstream audience in.
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