Task 3: Magazine & Audiences (Part 2)

Magazine Analysis:

Empire - October 2012

This magazine is directed mainly towards movie fanatics - people that are interested in the latest movies and who's playing who in movies that are soon to be coming out. They may choose this magazine out of all the other movie magazines they could buy like ‘Total Film’ as the selling line under the masthead states that Empire is the world’s biggest movie magazine. Empire isn't really directed towards any gender in particular as men and women alike are interested in movies, but it is intended for the target audience of teens and up.

This issue in particular is dedicated to 'Thor: The Dark World'. This would make this issue of Empire appeal more to Marvel and Thor fanatics as well as people who like Loki and/or Tom Hiddleston as he happens to be the main image. For this issue of the Empire, two types where published both with different covers, one with Loki, and the other with Thor; this was so people could pick between the two.

The main cover line for this magazine uses the phrases: ‘the brother in arms issue’ and ‘on set for the biggest ever superhero sibling smackdown.’ This is to promote the movie ‘Thor: The Dark World’ and states that they’ve had reporters on the Thor set. This would make the reader want to read on as it’s obvious that the magazine is going to have details about the movie that the reader may not know, as well as interviews with the main cast.  

The masthead uses typical bold font which is still noticeable so the target audience and anyone else can still see what the magazine is, but to emphasise the main image it’s situated in front of the masthead therefore drawing attention to the image as well as the masthead, this is so everyone can see what is the main feature of this issue which is also shown in the main cover line; not only does it do this, it also makes the magazine eye-catching, therefore catching the target audiences eye. The main image also appears to be looking directly at anyone who looks at it, therefore affecting the audience.

The extra information has been added: ‘Plus!’ Inside Marvel: Guardians Of the Galaxy and beyond.’ Which has been put in a plug at the bottom of the magazine, highlighted by a yellow strip which emphasises the black font, making the plug noticeable; ‘Plus’ has been put in italics to also draw the readers eyes towards the plug and the sentence that follows, which in its own would make the reader want to buy the magazine as the plug is there to highlight any key aspects of the magazine, the strap-line at the top of the magazine also does this, but instead of highlighting the key aspects, it summaries the main articles, both of these elements give the reader an insight into what the inside of the magazine consists of.   

The magazine has used the bright colour of yellow to highlight the most important aspects of the cover; the parts that may make the reader want to buy the magazine so they can read on. For example, the cover line which happens to on the right hand side of the magazine, instead of its usual place on the left. This cover line is titled: ‘First look!’ which is naturally going to perk the reader’s interest. ‘Icon’s reborn’ is also the title for the cover lines on the left side of the page, stating that there are going to be movies about old icons which could make the reader more curious to read more about the movies,  and maybe even so they can keep an eye out for them.  

Class Notes

• Magazines have very specific target audiences and are clearly differentiated in order to appeal to that audience. For example, it's obvious that magazines with the target audience aimed towards men are different to those aimed towards women despite sharing the same codes and conventions.
•  Magazine covers always have the following elements: price, barcode and issue number/date, a photograph directly related to the featured article, a recognisable masthead, a link between the colours used  and the month of publication, and various puffs and plugs to entice the audience to buy the magazine.
• Magazine front covers are carefully designed to attract the target audience, and be easily noticed on the newsagents sleeves. 
• Women's magazines contain many ideologies about femininity, whereas magazines for men contain many ideologies about masculinity. 
• Magazines can be put into genres: film, lifestyle, motoring, fashion, gadgets, music, parenting, etc...
• Audience is often categorised this way: age, gender, class and sexuality.

Task 3: Magazines & Audience (Part 1)

Magazine Glossary: 

Cover: The front outside of a magazine; also referred to as cover 1.

Double page spread: An article that is spread over two pages.

Gutter: Space between columns.

Cut line: A short sentence or two which describes a photograph or illustration within a page layout, also known as a caption.

  

Dateline:  Month and year of publication; usually near the price.

Byline: The authors name as it appears after the title or at the end of the article or story.

Masthead: The section of a magazine which gives details such as title, address and staff.

Puffs: A small section of text used to gain the attention of the target audience.

Plugs: Information about the contents of a magazine or newspaper given on the front cover.

Issue Date: The date a magazine is distributed to readers, usually before the cover date.

Montage: Several photographs or images arranged to form one whole piece of art.

Serif font: The small strokes at the end of the main strokes of letter forms.

San serif: A bold typeface that doesn't have any serifs.
  
Typeface: A set of characters that have a distinctive design. 
  
Pull quote: A quote extracted from the main text of an article, and printed in bold text on the cover of the newspaper. Frequently of set with ruled lines or other graphical elements.
  
Format: The look (size, shape, style and appearance) of a publication's printed page or advertisement.

Graphic: An illustrative element in a page layout such as a photograph, illustration, icon, ruled line, or any other none text element.
  
Bar Code: Strip of bars printed on the cover or back of a magazine.
  
Left Third: The part of the magazine where all the sneak peaks of what articles are in the magazine, this is so people can see what articles are in the magazine in the shops that don't show it full frontage.

Centre Spread: An advertisement spread over two pages of a magazine.

Task 2: Getting To Know Blogger

 Things you can do with Blogger:

• Customize your blog
• Create posts
• Edit templates
• Edit who your blog is available to
• Email from Microsoft Word to your blog
• Add pictures
• Add videos
• Moderate comments
• Check out other blogs
• Post comments on other blogs
• Can choose image size
• Manage layout

How I think Blogger will be useful for my coursework:

• Others can view the blog
• Easy to update
• Don’t have to carry around loads of work as it’ll all be on Blogger
• Easy to manage blog
• Won’t lose work as It’s all in one place
• Easy to use and navigate