MEDIA COURSEWORK

DENOTATION

The magazine cover consists of a coloured photograph of 4 men looking at the camera. The camera shot is a medium long shot as all 4 men are shown from head to the top of their knee caps. The four men are standing up behind a metal frame however one of the members has his arms in front of the frame. The background of the men denotes to an unknown vintage setting with the photo covering the entire page. At the top of the page in front of the band is the Masthead that says AP Alternative Press. As well as this, there are 3 cover lines in red and their kickers in white. The name of the band is in red. A bar code is shown on the bottom right of the page.

 

MASTHEAD

The masthead for Alternative Press is unique. The big letters “AP” uses a sans-serif that appears to be distorted which connotes with modern themes. The letters are stretched out wide so it stands out and fills up the page. The colour is red; however the letters are slightly transparent so the background can still be seen. The words “Alternative Press” are also in a sans-serif font which again represents modern. The writing isn’t stretched out like “AP” however it still covers the top half of the page. The writing is also in red but is not transparent like the “AP”. Both the AP and Alternative Press have a shadow effect behind words to make it stand out. The bright red helps the writing stand out over the cover as the colours in the photo are dark. The definition of Alternative means something that challenges traditional norms. The genre alternative rock (or simply alternative) tells us that the music produced is independent and different from normal. The name Alternative Press together shows that the music and news that is in it will not be considered “normal” and what we would see in other magazines making it unique.

 

CHARACTERS

The cover photographed is of the Las Vegas rock band Panic! At The Disco! From left to right the members are Spencer Smith (Drummer), Brendon Urie (Lead Singer), Ryan Ross (Guitar) and Jon Walker (Bass).

 

COMPOSITION

Smith, Ross and Walker are all behind the metal frame and are standing upright and looking very smart. Smith has his right hand holding onto the metal frame, Ross has his hands behind his back and Walker has his hands in front of him. Urie however is slouching on the metal frame with one arm hanging done in front of it and the other arm holding on his arm. 

 

PROPS

The prop used in the photo is a white metal frame with bronze metal pieces on it. The frame is in front of the band.

 

LIGHTING

The lighting is high key, it is shown to be daytime as light is shining through the window.

 

COSTUME

All of the band members are wearing very smart and vintage looking outfits. They are all wearing high quality suit jackets. Smith and Urie are both dressed in black, Ross is dressed in a dark green and Walker is dressed in burgundy. Urie is also wearing a black fedora with a red ribbon around it. The costume has been chose to not only match the setting. As well as this, the dark colours represent the band at being a post emo band which is what they were represented at the time of the article.

SETTING

The setting of the photo is set in an unknown room with black and white wallpaper with followers on it There are 3 windows in the background and all three of them have white curtains with black outlining on them. Light is shining through the windows. The setting is a vintage styled atmosphere.

 

COVER-LINES

The main cover-line that relates to the photo says: “Panic! At The Disco” with the kicker below stating “Nothings gonna change their world”. A few months before the issue was released, the band has stated that they are inspired by The Beatles. This line “Nothings gonna change their world” is a lyric to The Beatles infamous song “Across the Universe”. The heavy influence of The Beatles was the reason behind their second album that was newly released when the magazine was published. The album, Pretty Odd, was inspired by baroque pop and also a psychedelic style. This was a major contrast between their first album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out which was described as pop punk and emo pop. The band has also stated that they “find it difficult to swallow when music critics compare their new songs directly to the Fab Four”. The kicker can also link in to the fact that despite their new music genre, the band are still the same people as they were before, which they state in We’re So Starving from Pretty Odd, and that no one was going to change that.  However, there are over cover-lines on the magazine which shows that the magazine has a wider range of content. The cover-line above the barcode also says “No Fences. No Borders.” With the kicker saying “Mexican Punk Breaks Out”. The article is about how the best contemporary punk is happening in Mexico as well as talking to the bands from there. The words “No Fences. No Borders” relates to the collection of barriers that was placed on the American/Mexican border to stop illegal immigrants cross the border. The words are a protest by people against the borders. This represents that the magazine is against the border. Finally there are cover-lines at the bottom of the page which have a list of different bands that are either recommended or have reviews about their albums. This has been done to not only promote new music but also catch the buyer’s attention.

 

TARGET AUDIENCE

I believe that the target audience for this magazine is 15-30, both male and female gender. This is because the magazine is represented in a modern fashion which would relate more to the younger generation. As well as this the “alternative” genre is aimed to the younger generation as they are the ones who challenge new ideas and don’t usually conform to traditional ideas.