JO-ANN GORMAN
MEDIA COURSEWORK
CONTENT ANALYSIS
GENDER
In terms of gender of the contents pages, Rocksound and Hammer are most similar as their pages are predominantly of men. Both pages consist of multiple men with either none or very few females. This could be suggested that the magazine target audience are males. It can be identified in the bottom of Metal Hammer that there is a woman wearing provocative clothing. It can be suggested that Rock Hammer sexualizes their magazine in order to capture their male audience. However both Kerrang and Big Cheese show equality in genders. Where Big Cheese shows an equal amount of both men and women, Kerrang main image is of a woman. This shows that both their target audiences are for both woman and male genders as they show equality.
COLOUR SCHEME
In terms of colour usage, all four magazines are similar in what colours are used in their magazines. For example All 4 magazines use the black and white in their contents pages. These two choices help the contents stand out as the colours contrast well making it bold and stand out. Black can also connote with the theme of darkness as well as mystery. These themes would not only attract the audience but it can also be suggested that it fits well with the genre as pop punk and alternative can be seen as a “mystery” to those who listen to mainstream artists. Another example of this is that Hammer, Big Cheese and Rocksound all use the colour red in either their backgrounds or their text. Kerrang however used it for the page numbers. Red can connote with the idea of power and leadership. This fits really well with the pop punk/alternative genre as they genre shows that they do not conform to mainstream ideas. However there are still noticeable differences between the magazines. For example, Kerrang used the colour blue in its colour scheme in which none of the other 3 contents pages use. It can be suggested that Kerrang has done this in order to stand out from the other magazines and make the audience catch attention of the magazine. It can also be suggested that blue connotes with both depth and honesty which is what the magazine is trying to portray to be. It also makes the magazine seem more upbeat and positive than the other 3 magazines.
Rocksound
COLUMNS
In terms of uses of columns and sections, all four magazines use columns in order to present their contents. I believe this has been used as it looks more professional and is also clearer to read as well. In terms of how many columns used however there are a different amount used. For example, Kerrang uses one long column whereas Rocksound uses 3 short columns. Although both layouts are clear, my opinion is that Kerrang looks more professional as the column is straight to the point as well as well as much clearer to read. However the other difference is that Rocksound includes much more information about each page whereas Kerrang who either uses little or none at all. The same applies to Big Cheese and Hammer; they have more and shorter columns however they include much more information about the pages.
COLUMNS
In terms of the use of photos on the contents page, both Metal Hammer and Rocksound use a large quantity of photos in order to present the contents of the magazine. What I also notice about their use of photos is how they lay it out. Metal Hammers presentation of photos looks “messy” as they have no real theme to it. This may be for the fact that they have to many photos trying to fit in on one page. Rocksound however places the photos on top of each other which not only makes to presentation look interesting but also much clearer. However, in contrast to this Kerrang and Big Cheese uses less photos compared to the first two. Big Cheese uses two photos both of the same size and place separately on the page. This makes the contents page looking very professional; however this can also be view as a negative theme as the professionalism look would not fit to well with the target audience which would not only be teenagers but anyone who likes the genre Pop Punk. Kerrang however uses photos similar to Rocksound only the smaller photos are placed onto of the main image. This makes the contents stand out as they have a main image that would capture the audience.
CONCLUSION
Overall from what have I learnt from this analysis, contents pages usually keep a similar theme to each other. From what I have gathered, I will use this for my own magazine. I will develop conventions from this such as a consistant colour scheme and the use of photos. However, I will also challange conventions too such as gender.
Kerrang
Metal Hammer
Big Cheese