Textual Analysis

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TEXTUAL ANALYSIS SAM GALLACHER-BRIGHT

Transcript of Textual Analysis

Page 1: Textual Analysis

TEXTUAL ANALYSISSAM GALLACHER-BRIGHT

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NMEMission Statement: To Provide up to date and new information, reviews and listings of the best new music, their slogan is "first for music news”.

Circulation: 23,924

Readership: 289,000

ABC1: 61%

Median Age: 23

Male: 66%

Female: 34%

Reader Profile: The audience are very influential in their social circles and know what is going on, they are completely obsessed by music. They rely on the editorial and ads to keep them up to date with new music and by this knowledge makes them the authority in music in their peer group.

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NME

FRONT COVER CONTENTS PAGE

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

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NME - COLOURNME’s usual colour scheme is either black, red and white or black, white, red and yellow. This issues colour scheme was black, white, pink and yellow. The colours black and white are contradicting each other, as the colour black holds connotations of power, death and evil where as white connotes innocence and purity, this contrast makes the text stand out and these colours work well together. The use of pink and yellow suggests that NME are trying to expand the amount of females that buy the magazine as the reader profile is dominated by men, by using this colours suggest that the magazine is quite feminine. Also yellow is the colour of sunshine and is associated with happiness, therefore suggesting that whoever reads this magazine will enjoy it, and will be happier if they read it.

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NME – LAYOUT & DESIGNOn the front cover, the main story is advertised about Noel Fielding being ‘In his weirdest interview yet’. These words fit in with the image very well as in the image, he is not the normal stereotypical punk as punks normally have dark eye make up and dark clothing where as he has brightly coloured make up and clothes. Therefore to look at, the image is slightly weird and not normal to look at so, being ‘In his weirdest interview yet’ explains why he is dressed in that way. Also featured on the front cover is a story about a previous solo artist coming back into the music industry, the image is of the artist standing alone, as he is a solo artist, looking very serious and determined. This suggests that he means business and wants to dominate the music industry. The head line for the double-page spread reads ‘TAKE AIM’, the font used links in very well with these words as its very jagged and rough, which is what describes and arrow.

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NME - IMAGESThe majority of the images featured in the magazine, are of stereotypical grunges, dressed in black, dark make up and black, long, scruffy hair. I think that the images reflect upon the audience, and suggest that the people in the images are going to look similar to the audience. They also show the audience who to aspire to, and I can see the people in the images being idols for the audience. As there is a lot of rock music stories featured within this magazine, the images reflect upon this as the images are of people with in the rock music industry, therefore by looking at the images, an audience would think to buy this if they had an interest in rock music.

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NME – FRAMINGThe first picture shows an artist sitting alone, his body language suggests that he is thinking about something, which grabs the readers attention as they are made to wonder what he is looking at and what he is thinking about. It is also a mid shot and manages to frame in the records and pictures in the background, this something the readers can relate to as the NME reader profile states that their readers are obsessed with music and would probably have records hanging in their room or house just like this. The second picture is mid shot and frames the artists in their natural environment which appeals to the reader as all the people in the picture are pulling funny faces or laughing, so therefore the reader wants to be involved and have a good time with them. The third picture is manipulated to suggest to the reader that Noel Fielding is a target and is having knifes thrown at him, NME have done this to promote the story line ‘Take Aim’.

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NME – WRITTEN CODES & LANGUAGEAll the straplines on the front cover are the right size and would be easy to see from a reasonable distance, the font used is plain and makes a big impact as it’s a very blocky font, therefore it is easy to read and again, would be visible from a distance. The wording used, for example, ‘INVADE’, ‘WHO THE HELL’ and ‘REBELLIOUS’ suggest to the audience that this magazine is of the rock genre, and would appeal to the audience as these words are quite feisty and snappy and would easily get the audience interested. Also a strap line that caught my eye was the one that directly addressed me, this is a good technique as this will instantly grab the audiences attention because its almost as if the magazine is speaking to you. The colours used of this strapline are black on yellow, this is also very attention grabbing as it relates to a bee, suggesting to the audience that the story is going to sting you its that amazing.

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NME - LANGUAGEFirst thing I noticed was that the double page spread was mostly focused on the main image and the actual story was merely a small box at the bottom of the page, therefore, the font size used may be too small for some people to read with bad eye sight. However, NME uses a series of questions to grab the readers attention, for example, ‘What painting would Noel Fielding live in if he could?’. I also noticed that NME used a lot of humour to attract the reader, for example ‘Who has the best nose in showbiz?’.

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NME - CONCLUSIONI found that NME’s strengths were in how they were able to relate to their readers through images and language style. Linking to the Uses and Gratifications theory by Blumler & Katz 1974, the readers will use this magazine to fulfill their needs for person identity, as they will look at all the artists and groups and relate to them through their love for music or dress sense. A number of the images created stereotypes (Branston and Stafford 2010) as they perceived particular groups and people to dress and look a certain way, for example on the front cover the image was of a stereotypical ‘punk rocker’, which suggested straight away that people who liked to listen to punk rock and dressed like the man on the front would enjoy this magazine and find it interesting but excluded people who didn't like that type of music. I think NME should have their double page spread more about the story than the actual image as I thought the image was far too big and covered up most of the page, so that people who wanted to know more about Noel Fielding would be able to. I like NME’s layout and design techniques, I like the way the front page is layed out and I can see my magazine front cover being similar.