Glossary of Key Terms for Magazine Analysis

Glossary of Key Terms for Magazine Analysis

Masthead – The name and logo of the magazine.
The Lead – the introductory paragraph of an article. Usually written in bold or capitals.
Body copy refers to the text of your written articles, which should be produced as a printed presentation to accepted industry standards, e.g. correct use of language, font size, word limits etc. Usually written in columns.
Serif font – fonts like Times New Roman, or Baskerville Old Face, which have little bars (serifs) on the end of the letters.
Sans serif font – fonts like Impact, or Agency FB, which do not have little bars (serifs) on the end of the letters.
Drop Capitals – Really big letter, which start off an article.
Cross Head – Small sub-heading used to split up a large block of text.
White Space – white parts of a page other than text or pictures.
Mode Of Address – How the magazine talks to the audience.
Sell Lines – Text on the cover that helps to sell the magazine to the audience. Kerrang!’s sell line is “life is loud”.
Banners – text, which stands out because its on a coloured background.
House Style – a magazines distinctive design that distinguishes it from its competitors.
Borders – the gaps at the edges of the page.
Gutters – the gaps between the columns of text.
Leading - the space between lines of text.
Kerning - the space between letters.
Strap Lines – a smaller headline, printed above the main headline.
By-lines - name of the person who wrote the article. Picture Credits - where did the photos come from, or who took them.
Anchorage – The way in which text helps to pin down the meaning of a picture and visa versa.

Deadlines for Foundation Portfolio work

Deadlines

Hi Yr12. Please pay attention to the following: It is very important that you stick to the deadlines posted.

Here are the deadlines for your work:

Week One: Feb 13th 2009
Preliminary task draft ideas completed and uploaded onto your blog.


Week Two: Feb 20th 2009
Final draft of preliminary task completed and uploaded to blog.
Evaluation of preliminary task completed in writing in books.
Audience research questionnaire to be created.

Week 3: Feb 27th 2009
Results of questionnaire posted onto your blog.
First draft ideas for front page/contents page completed and uploaded to your blog.


Week 4: March 6th 2009
Final drafts of front page/contents page to be completed and on blogs.
First draft evaluations of front page/contents page to be written in exercisie books.

Week 5: March 13th 2009
Drafts of double page spread to be completed.
Draft Evaluation of double page spread to be written in exercise books.

Week 6: March 20th 2009
Final drafts of double page spread to be completed and uploaded to blog.



Here is a list of tasks that should be on your blog before you upload your final practical work and final evaluation:

1) Analysis of 2 magazine front covers

2) College Magazine front cover + comments on your work

3) The Evolution of Britney Spears analysis

4) Analysis of 2 contents pages

5) Mock up of college magazine contents page + comments on your work

6) Analysis of 2 double page spreads

7) Questionnaire with results. You should also be able to upload your bar charts and graphs

DEADLINE: ALL 8 MUST BE POSTED BY FRIDAY 27th MARCH FOR ASSESSMENT! YOU WILL FAIL THE PLANNING SECTION IF YOU DO NOT MEET THE DEADLINE.
For each piece of practical work you should have at least 1 draft copy that you have commented on to show development of skills and ideas. This will be useful when you come to write the evaluation.

Happy Holidays Year 12!!!!!!!

Dear all

Just wanted to remind you of your homework: Complete the magazine front cover analysis and the contents page analysis. Post all your answers on your blogs.

Can you also be thinking of what you might do for both your preliminary idea and the main task. You can put your ideas/images, etc onto a new blog with a title like 'Ideas for coursework.' Remeber you have to have ORIGINAL images. When we come back we will begin DTP/Photoshop training and get on with producing final ideas............

Can you please try and add yourselves to my blog so I can easily click onto yours and follow your homeworks/progress, etc.

If you can bring in music magazines to have a look at, please do.

Take care and have a fantastic holiday!

love from

Miss Roussounis

X

Coursework Evaluation Questions

Coursework Evaluation Questions
Hi Yr 12,

The final part of your coursework requires you to write a 1500 words evaluation.

In the evaluation the following questions must be answered:

Working with existing forms and conventions
1 How does your school/college magazine and music magazine relate to existing examples of these media forms?

2. What conventions have you used in terms of the following:
-design
-mode of address (the language used and how appropriate it is.)
-use of imagery

Working in Media Production
Professional practice

1. How did you approach the tasks as an individual and how did you manage using the equipment and resources?

2. Can you provide any examples of creative problem solving decisions you have had to make in relation to the development of ideas/still photography/image editing/desk top publishing and trialling work?

3. How did you organise your human resources; ie the people in your production?

4. How did you manage locations for photographs and any costumes or props?
Remember that deciding not to use a particular strategy (not to use props in photos for example is also a creative decision.)

5. Reflect on the importance of design and drafting and how the final outcome related to the draft layout in each case.

6. How did you manage your time? This is important when creating a media text.

Using technology

1. Can you provide examples of the DTP technology allowing you to do things that extended your creative control?

2. Are there examples of the technology obstructing/limiting the creative process?

Thinking about the audience

1. Throughout the two activities you have been making creative decisions based on ideas you were developing about your readers.
Where did those ideas come from and how did they influence the 'micro' detail of shot composition/framing/anchorage/text layout/mode of address and register?

2. Did audience feedback confirm expectations or generate surprise?

Representing-constructing the 'real'.

1. How did your ideas and their execution amount to specific representations of school life/music and the readers of music magazines?

2. What sense of reality have you constructed in each case and who is included and excluded as a result?

SO, TO SUMMARISE, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE COVERED ALL THE POINTS ABOVE AND DOUBLE-CHECK THAT WITH THE FINAL CHECKLIST BELOW.




1.) In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing music magazines?

2.) How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?

3.) Who would be the audience for your music magazine?

4.) How did you attract/address your target audience?

5.) What kind of media institution might distribute your music magazine and why?

6.) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your music magazine?

7.) What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from creating the school magazine (preliminary task), to creating your music magazine?

Analysis of a double page spread

Use these questions to help you to analyse at least 2 magazine articles:
Put your answers on your blogs under the correct title and upload the magazine articles you have analysed (or hand them into me.)

1) How does the choice of band featured in the article suggest who the target audience will be?


2) What type of language is used in the article? Give examples of words or phrases which are specific to the style of the magazine


3) How is colour used?


4) What style of text is used? Is it similar to any other pages? What does it say about the image of the magazine and the audience?


5) How is the double page spread laid out? How much of the pages are taken up by images and how much by text? How does this reflect the audience? What do they value?


6) What tone is the magazine using when addressing the reader (as a close friend, a member of an 'in' crowd or an informed intelligent fan?) - provide evidence


7) How is the artist/band presented to the audience through the images? You may wish to carry out a textual analysis.


8) How does the style of the article match the style of the front cover?


9) Does the article demand any prior knowledge? Give examples.

The Evolution of Britney Spears Part 3

1) Why has this image been chosen? Is the use of black and white significant?

2) How has the image been cropped?

3) What type of relationship does Britney want with the audience? Is this supported by the anchorage text?

Post the answers on your blog under the title:

The Evolution of Britney Spears Part 3

The Evolution of Britney Spears Part 2

1) How has the image been framed/cropped? What type of shot has been used and why?

2) Describe Britney’s costume and pose. What type of relationship does she want with the reader?





3) What setting is used and what are the connotations of this?

4) How is lighting used?

5) What colours are used and why?

Post your answers on your blogs under the heading: The Evolution of Britney Spears Part 2.

The Evolution of Britney Spears Part 1

You can clearly see the evolution of Britney Spears on the cover of Rolling Stones magazine. How have these images been constructed to present ideas about the star?





On this cover she is only 17!


Answer the following questions and make sure that you use appropriate terminology:


1) How has the image been framed/cropped? What type of shot has been used and why? What type of magazine is this typical of (refer back to the readership statistics)

2) Describe Britney’s costume. What does it suggest about her image? Who is this appealing to?

3) Have any props been used? What messages are they conveying to the audience?

4) What setting is used and what are the connotations of this?

5) Are any intertextual references being made? What are the connotations of this?

6) What colours are used and why?

Post your answers on your blogs under the heading 'The Evolution of Britney Spears Part 1'

Analysing Contents Pages

Hi Yr12

Please find below some questions and help on completing your contents analysis.

For section A you should analyse a magazine contents page that relates to one of your front cover analysis e.g. NME/Rolling Stone cover and contents page.

Does the magazine use images?

How have these images been constructed?

How do they support your initial findings about the style of the magazine and its intended audience?

What colours and fonts are used?

Does this support the style of the front cover?
How is the information organised so that it is accessible to the audience?

What are the different sections? What does this tell you about the magazine?

Are there any promotional features?

Is the magazine logo placed anywhere on the page? How dominant is it?

Does the brand have any other franchises?

Are these promoted on the contents page?

For section B you should compare this magazine contents page to another magazine's contents page.
How does this magazine, aimed at a different audience compare with Kerrang or NME?!How would you describe the layout of its contents page? Does it remind you of anything? What does this say about the audience?

How is this different to NME/Kerrang?

Analysing Music Magazine front covers

Use these questions to analyse at least 2 magazine front covers:

What type of magazine is it?

From the front cover what kinds of issues/articles are going to be inside?

Who is the target audience for the magazine? What particular age group? What are their interests?

Look at the central image. What mode of address is the mag using?What does this tell you about the type of relationship it wants with its reader?

Who is on the front cover and why?

What does the anchorage text say? What does this imply about the artist??What overall message is the artist giving?

Are any groups being represented? How does the magazine represent them?

Are there any ‘buzz’ words? What effect does it have on the reader?

What does design of the title block tell you about the magazineWhat does the title of the magazine tell you about
1. the readership
2. its image
3. its style

What do the ‘puffs’ suggest will be inside the magazine? What does this tell you about the type of audience the magazine expects to get?

Is there a slogan? What does it tell you about the magazine? How does it help to attract readers?

What colours are used? Do you find them attractive?

What fonts are used and why?

What strategies does the magazine use to attract the audience?



Post your results, as well as the magazine covers you analysed on your blogs for me to check them.

Presentation of Research, Planning and Evaluation

This will take the form of using your own blog to record your research, planning and evaluation. It is a chance for you to be creative, original and present your ideas , plans and evaluation of your own material.

Evaluation

In the evaluation the following questions must be answered:

In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of 'real' music magazines?

How does your magazine represent particular social groups?

What kind of media institution might distribute your prduct and why?

Who would be the audience for your music magazine?

How did you attract/address your audience?

What have you learn't about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Looking back at your prelimanary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression of it to the full product?

AS Foundation Portfolio

Foundation Portfolio Brief
Hi Year 12s!


This is a summary of the coursework brief for 08/09:


Preliminary Exercise: Using DTP and Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop produce the front page for a new college magazine, featuring a student in a medium close-up plus some appropriately laid out text and a masthead. Additionally candidates must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of DTP.


Main task: the front page, contents page and double page spread for a new music magazine. All images and text must be original, produced by the candidate and there must be at least four images!