As part of my AS media coursework I had to pick to music magazies that were of the same genre I want to use in my actual magazin, I picked VIBe and XXL because they were both based around either R&B, Hip-hop or Rap. Compared to my XXL case study the VIBe case study is more detailed because that was the first one did and I tried not to include ideas that were repeated in both magazines because I did not want to come across as copying parts from the first case study. The VIBe case study could still have things added to it such as the media kit.
XXL Magazine
Cover Page
Image
This XXL issue’s
cover page has an image of Dr. Dre and his newest project Kendrick Lamar. Dre
is in the background to the right of the cover and Kendrick is sitting down at a table in front of Dre and is more central on the cover
compared to Dre. The fact that Dre is behind Kendrick could be a sign of
importance as Dre has more experience whilst Kendrick is fresh faced and has less experience, this would relate to the clothing that they are wearing and the cover line "Dr. Dre brings us...". Dre is wearing
plain black and looks more official and serious whilst Kendrick is comfortably
wearing some kind of patterned jacket which does not match the font whereas Dr.
Dre’s choice of clothing fits in with the font colour perfectly because it makes him seem big a bold just like how his name is in bold in the cover line.
The lighting of
the image varies; on Dre the lighting is all over causing a shine on both sides
of his face but on Kendrick there is only light reflection shown on the right
and front sides of his face which could mean a single light was aimed at him at
an angle form the right hand side possibly using a bright spot light; "next big star". Even though Kendrick has a dark shadow on
the left side of his face there is still reflection of his clothing on the
table.
Within the image
there are two types of framing, Dre. Dre is a mid shot because you can only see
from him from his waist upwards because Kendrick is sitting down in front him
therefore blocking our view. Kendrick is a medium close-up because we can only
see from his shoulders/ top part of his chest upwards and he is also closer compared to Dr. Dre. This image takes up
about three quarters of the whole cover all though some of the text is
overlapped with the image.
Page Layout
The image of the
cover has been arranged so that it covers the north, east, south, and southwest
of the cover page which makes less room for text to be placed which causes the
text to be overlapped with the image. The mast head is always the same, I know
this because this is a special issue because it is the magazines 15 year
anniversary, because of this anniversary they place a picture of all the front
covers of every XXL magazine made in the past 15 years. In every XXL magazine
the masthead ‘XXL’ is placed in the top right hand corner of the cover page
usually with a red text box and white capital text although there is the odd
exception. In most issues the masthead is partially blocked although in this
issue it is not.
On the left hand
side of the cover page the cover article makes up 50% of all the text on the
page. The cover article goes down the side of the page varying in width and
text size; Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar are the biggest sized words on the page.
And on the right hand side of the page there is contents like text which tells
you about the special features for the 15 year anniversary. Below those
contents there is the barcode, month of the issue, the price and the website of
the magazine.
Overall the text
and font of the text on the cover page are the same it is only the size and
colour (black and red) that varies. The size of font and the capital letters
which are used relates the the meaning of the tile; ‘extra extra large’, which
is probably why it is so large. As I mentioned before, Dr. Dre’s outfit of
plain black matches the black and red font. The white background also makes Dre
stand out more due to the contrast in colour. Dre standing out for could relate
to him being well recognized for his music which reflects him as being an
important figure. Unlike Dre, Kendrick’s outfit is not colour coordinated and
also makes him stand out as he is different compared to Dre. When Dre’s,
Snoop’s, Eminem’s, and 50 cent’s name are written down in black which signifies
that they are old and well recognised especially Dr. Dre because his name is
much bigger larger than the rest of the artists. When it comes to Kendrick’s
name it is in red which represents difference and danger; a warning.
Language
used
The Dr. Dre and
Kendrick Lamar interview and cover story has an exciting tone to it which is
meant to get the reader interested in the story, what makes the reader more
interested is the range of font (colour and size). This range in font in the
cover line could indicate that the magazine is not the most formal magazine;
you would not expect a rap/ hip-hop magazine to be formal anyway because of the
language and presentation of artists in this particular genre.
(sorry the image is not clear but blogger will not allow me to enlarge the image or rotate the pictures I am uploading)
Contents Page
Image-the
A-side
The A side
(features) contents page contains only one image which is of Kendrick Lamar
against a dark background who features on this issues cover page. Kendrick has
his face turned at an angle to the right as he holds his chin with a cold chain
wrapped around his hand and ring on his finger.
The camera shot of
Kendrick is a medium close up because only the shoulders upwards are visible.
This type of shot provides a lot more detail in face of the person being
photographed which allows us to see face expressions clearer and find out the
purpose of this type of picture/ image and something about the artist/ person
being photographed. This picture nearly takes up the whole page; his head takes
up a central position on the page and his shoulders take up the whole south of
the page.
Unlike on the
cover page, the background of the image is black instead of white, this could
mean that more light may have been used to emphasise his features and make him
stand out more. As you can see there are bright reflections around the side of
his face and back of his head which could indicate strong lighting coming from
behind then. Then there is some kind of glow in the right side of his face with
more concentrated bright spots on his forehead and right cheek which may have
been caused by a light facing down towards the right side of his face.
The chain around
his hand which is holding his chin looks like he is showing off as you do not
wear chains on your hand; you wear them around your neck. The chain and
ring are very central in the image which may mean they are important and that
he has a lot of money. Where Kendrick doesn’t seem to be dressed for the
occasion on the cover page on this contents page he is wearing a burgundy shirt
which may seem more formal although his hair looks messy like he is not
bothered which puts him across as relaxed and careless; appearance puts across
attitude and personality.
Page
Layout-the A-side
The title of the
first contents page ‘the A side’ is in big, bold, bubble writing against a dark
background; this effect is used to get the audience’s attention the masthead is deliberately made informal by
not placing a capital letter at the start of the heading. This masthead is then
underlined by a white text box with Features wrote inside of it in red brackets
with the date 2012 at the end of the text box. Next to the text box is XXL’s
logo. Because there are two contents pages they have two different sub headings
for the first contents page it is called features which I think includes some
of the main/ important articles.
On this contents
page there is an order of importance, first there is the masthead, subtitle
etc, then the picture of Kendrick Lamar is put in front of the masthead and
subtitle partially, blocking it as it is less important that the cover story.
The majority of the text is placed over Kendrick because there is not much
space for the text to be placed around him due to the large portion of space
that he takes up. The text is again placed over the image because it is more
important that the image. If the text is not visible then there is no point of
a contest page because we do not know what the magazine includes. Something
else to do with order of importance is the list of contents. The contents are
usually put in chronological order which it has been although the cover story
has been placed at the top of the contents information and has been written
with more detail. The contents information on the cover story has also been
underlined and separated from the rest of the contents information. This
information has been place down the left hand side of the magazine where there
is more space for the information to be placed. At the bottom right of the page
there is a quote made by Dre. Dre about Kendrick and on the bottom left there
is the page number, date and website of the magazine.
Language-
the A-side
At first the tone
of writing seems informal, because of the mast head not having a capital letter
at the beginning, other than this the language is formal and punctuation is
used correctly. The type of writing used in writing the contents is different
for the cover story and the rest of the contents. The cover story is written in
more detail and the fonts used in the short piece of writing vary but like the
rest of the contents it is short and snappy as it tries to get the audience as
interested as possible.
Images-
the B-side (departments)
The second
contents page (Images- the B side (departments)) has more pictures than the
first contents page which may be because of the lack of text used to help
explain what the different features are about. Each photo contains different
angles, shot types, poses and lighting made to give different effects for
different reasons.
The first picture
which is for the eye candy section of the article shows the most attractive
parts of the body, this is done in order achieve its purpose of entertaining
the audience of the magazine. The chest and neck are especially highlighted
because they are they are the eye candy of the magazine. In each picture the
people being photographed are either wearing what makes them comfortable e.g.
Stevie Stone because the articles/ interviews are based on them. Or they are
wearing what they need to wear for the photo shoot e.g. in eye candy and the
good life. The photo for the good life has purposely taken a long shot to be
able to view what the models are wearing as that section is based on fashion.
Everything done in an image has a purpose.
Page
layout- the B-side
The page layout of
this contents page is similar in terms of the masthead of the page with the
same underling of a text box except the colour coordination has been reversed;
instead of being a white title on a black background it is a white background
with black text on top.
For most of the
contents mentioned on the second contents page the text is located in a top
corner of the image that matches the text. Each image is separated by a thing
white line. Two pieces of contents mentioned have smaller pictures because they
have to have the text written next to the image because there is not enough
space for the text to fit on the image. The fact that they have more writing
could mean they are more interesting, bigger or important articles.
Language-
the B-side
The writing on the
B-side contents page is very short and brief in comparison to the A-side
contents page, but because there is a picture to go with nearly all of the
contents listed on the page it makes it easier for the audience to know what it
is about.
Double Page Spread
This double page
spread is of the cover story with Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre. Each double page
spread of this article has a picture or advert on one side and text on the
other; this double page spread is just one of four examples in the magazine.
Image
The image on the
left page of the two pages is an image of Kendrick Lamar; a Long shot showing
the whole of his body. The shot type gives us a good view of the body language
that Kendrick is portraying. The two images on the left and right of the
central image look like different parts of him; and because e his hands are in
all directions makes it seem that his mind is everywhere as if he is confused
or lost. This is a direct link to the quote on the second page of the double
page spread which says "The people I grew up with are locked up. There’s a
built-up anger because I can't enjoy what I’m doing as much as I want because
they're not here." .this gives of a negative effect. In this picture the lighting seems to be
coming from above as there are no shadows cast behind him and his face seems lighter
and his legs darker where less light has reached his legs.
Page
Layout-
The Layout of this
double page spread is very simple. On the Left page there is just an image of
Kendrick Lamar which takes up the whole of that page; the right page consist of
3 columns with a quote (which is to do with the text and picture) going through
the 3 columns in the middle horizontally dividing the columns into sections.
Dividing the columns / sections are white lines, this is done so that it is
clear to read and understand. In the image on the left page he is only wearing
black and white; the background on the second page is black and the text is
white. The costume/ outfit that he is wearing match the layout of the text on
the right page of black and white which does not seem very exciting.
Language
The amount of
writing on this page is quite unattractive for the younger audience may not
have time to be reading something so long. The way that it is laid out makes it
seem even longer as well because there are no images limiting the amount of
text aloud on the page which would decrease the actual amount of text aloud on
the page. Also, because of the plain colour scheme of this page younger people
may be put off of it. Younger people are
attracted to more bright and interesting things where this is plain.
A lot of the text
in this articles from Kendrick about his life growing up, I also saw a lot of
opinion involve in this article e.g. "The dance between emotions and
autobiography is what makes Kendrick Lamar the most exciting, original and
captivating" this is also one examples of the many descriptions of
Kendrick, another example is "technical traditionalist and progressive
experimentalists".
This article is
more like a biography. It’s mainly made up of quotes form Kendrick Lamar but
there are breaks where the Kris Ex talks about Kendrick himself.
Audience
Unfortunately I
was unable to find XXL’s media kit/ press pack but the audience of this
magazine varies.
Firstly the
audience is for those who are 18 and above as it advertises many alcoholic
drinks and cars. Secondly, the audience is for those over 18 again presents
women who show a lot of skin and has adult advertisements in the back. Lastly
the magazine is for those who have a keen interest in rap music and may have
been following the magazine from the beginning and those who may be below the
age of 40/ 50 as rapping appeared when people of these generations were younger
and started listening to this genre of music.
Who
publishes the magazine?
- Publisher Dennis Page
I did
some research into Dennis Page and found that he is Publisher at Harris Publications;
Harris publications publish over 75 titles (e.g. SLAM, XXL, King, and Rides
& Antenna Magazines).
- Editor-in-Chief Vanessa Satten
- Managing
Editor Emily Cappiello
- Executive
Editor Jayson Rodriguez
- Photo
Director Josh Cutler
- Digital
Content Director Carl Chery
- Senior
Editor Mark Lelinwalla
- Online
Editor Jaeki Cho
- Music
Editor Adam Fleischer
- Editorial
Assistant Ralph Bristout
- Editor-at-Large Shaheem Reid
Even though XXL magazine don’t
have their own products other than the magazine I calculated that 47.5% of the
magazine was made up of adverts.
After researching
I found that other that the magazine and their website they use other forms of
media such videos and social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
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