Task 2 – analysis of a magazine of my choiceSkyline (header) – The skyline appears at the top of the page within the top third. This is a common convention used by music magazines because it fits into the rule of thirds – which creates hot spots for the audience to look at. A skyline conventionally contains more artists names or a cover mount. In this Rock Sound magazine, it contains both – the cover mount being the 7 free black veil brides posters, and the artist name being slipknot. Cover mount – the cover mount appears in the skyline within the top third and so is a hot spot where the audience will instantly be attracted to. It offers 7 free black veil brides posters. This would attract a particular niche market who like that band because they may be interested in having the free posters and so are more likely to buy the magazine. Main cover line – the main cover line conventionally appears in the left third of the magazine. You can clearly see it is the main cover line because it is in the biggest font size on the page. Furthermore the name of the band appears in bold red typography – which is a vibrant colour and so will appeal to the target audience. The use of red on the main cover line and other cover lines on the page helps to create a colour theme / house style for the magazine as it will continue throughout the pages. The main cover line also contains a quote from the main singer from the band ‘black veil brides’ who is the main image of the cover. It talks about fighting and violence and as it is a quote it will intrigue the audience to see what else he has to say in the magazines main article. Free merchandise – with this magazine, you get a CD containing 14 free tracks from many different rock bands / artists. As they are all rock bands it gives the audience an idea as to the genre of the magazine. The magazine includes the free merchandise in order to appeal to many different niche markets who like the bands on the CD and persuade them to buy the magazine in order to get their hands on the free tracks. Therefore the bands work in synergy with the magazine in order to promote each other to the target audience. Footer – The footer of a music magazine conventionally contains names of other bands that will appear within the magazine. This is done in order to appeal to different niche markets who like different bands who are named in the footer. This would help persuade them to buy the magazine as they may like to read about their favourite artists/singers.

Masthead – the masthead of the magazine reads ‘rock sound’ . This immediately lets the reader know exactly what the sub genre is as it contains the word rock which hints as to what kind of things that will be featured in the magazine. The masthead appears within the top third of the magazine. This is done to suggest high importance and to create a hot spot for the reader to look at as it follows the rule of thirds. A dark red colour is used for the masthead. This helps create a sense of darkness and gloom which fits in to the rock/punk genre for the magazine. Furthermore the dark red colour could resemble blood which supports the main cover line of war and fighting which is stated in the quote. Mis en scene – The mis en scene is a medium long shot of the main singer from Black Veil Brides. This is done in order to appeal to a niche market and to link to the main cover line which talks about his band. He is looking directly at the audience creating a sense of direct address. Furthermore his eyes on the page follow the rule of thirds and so are a hot spot for the reader to look at. His left fist is clenched which supports the main cover line about fighting and war. His other hand is covering his arm. This could connote that he is ‘hurt’ from the fighting and wants to stop – which is supported by the quote that reads’ i was never here to fight anyone’. His facial expression portrays a sense of anger which helps connote what type of music he produces (dark heavy metal music). Furthermore his tattoos help connote that this magazine has a sub genre of rock because most members of rock bands or rock artists have tattoos and piercings which he is shown to have in the image.Other cover lines – there are two other cover lines on the contents page. The first talks about fall out boy. Their band name is in the vibrant red colour which helps to create a house style or the magazine / colour thee for the cover page. The quote under neither is coloured black which helps it stand out against the white background. The word ‘will’ in the quote is underlined. This shows that it is important and will intrigue the niche market of those who are fans of the band as they would want to read about the new album that they are producing. The other cover line appears in the foreground of the mis en scene to make it stand out. It contains the names of two bands. This further expands the target audience of the magazine as those who are fns of the two bands would want to read about them. Barcode/date/issue/price – a barcode is an essential element needed on all magazine covers in order to inform the reader and sell the product. It is generally a small box, and placed in the bottom corners of the page.

Page names and numbers- these are essential in order to provide the audience with key information about different pages, and on what pages they will appear. They appear in the left third of the second page, which makes it a hotspot for the reader to look at because it follows the rule of thirds.

Main heading/ page title – The title reads ‘in rock sound this month’. This is unconventional because the subtitle is conventionally the word contents. The magazine has done this in order to make the magazine seem unique and so stands out the target audience. The main heading is place at the top f the page in order to ensure it is the first thing the reader sees on that page.

Images – There are three images used on the second page of the contents. The three images together take up half of the a4 page. This is done so that the reader can clearly see some of the pages that will be included in the magazine, and will instantly look at them as they look interesting. The images all have boarders around them. This is done to separate the images from the text on the page, and to also make the layout look more professional and easier to read.

Subtitles – the page names and numbers are put into different categories in the subtitles (Such as news, features, albums, live etc). This is done to make it easier for the audience to find what they are looking for in the magazine. It also helps make the contents page look more professional and interesting as everything is put into categories and columns.

Credits – Credits are placed on the left third of the page. This follows the rule of thirds and so creates a hot spot for the reader to look at. Credits are used in order to thank the people who helped make the magazine and praise them for their work. It also helps those mentioned on the credits to become more recognised by more people and so they could be asked to do other magazines aswell as rock sound.

Main image – the main image is an (almost) long shot of the main singer from the band black veil brides. He is included on the contents page in order to further portray that him and his band are the main focus of this particular issue. In this image he looks happy and is looking directly at the audience. This is done to create a sense of direct address to make the reader feel involved in the magazine.

Editors letter - an editors letter is included on the first page of the contents This is done to let ‘tea rock sound’ thank the target audience for purchasing the magazine and telling them about this issue and why it is special. It also makes the reader feel special and persuade them to buy the next issue because it uses direct address to target the audience and make them feel involved in the making of the magazine.

Masthead – the masthead reads rock sound. This is the name of the magazine and is placed at the top of the page to ensure it is the first thing that the reader sees. It also helps brand the magazine as the logo becomes more recognisable to the target audience and so more people will become familiar with the magazine. The masthead appears within the top third of the magazine contents. This is done to suggest high importance and to create a hot spot for the reader to look at as it follows the rule of thirds. Furthermore by including the magazine name on the contents page it helps remind the audience what magazine they are reading so that if they like the magazine they won’t forget to buy the next issue.

E media / social media – The magazine uses social media in order to reach out to a larger target audience. It does this by using sites such as face book and twitter which have thousands of users which will help promote the magazine and expand the target audience. Furthermore the text above this reads ‘hit us up we’re listening...’. This uses direct address to make the reader feel involved and also connotes that the magazine wants to hear the target audience’s thoughts. This will therefore make the audience feel special if they get a reply and so will continue to purchase the magazine.

Mode of address – the magazine contents appears quite informal. This is because it uses colloquial language such as ‘hit us up’ – which in slang means contact us. The magazine also uses 1st person such as ‘we’ to make the reader feel involved and part of the magazine. This therefore makes the reader feel special and will persuade them to buy the next magazine issue.

Rule of thirds – this magazine contents page doesn’t follow the general convention of the rule of thirds. This is because they have used two columns rather than 3. This therefore means that there is no specific hot spot for the reader to look at – suggesting that the reader should look at the whole double page spread.

Analysis of the contents page

Mis en scene – The main image of the double page spread is a medium long shot of the black veil brides. This is done because they are the main focus of the magazine (they appear on the cover and contents page, aswell as taking up 17 pages within the magazine). The image is extremely large – taking up around 7/10ths of the page. This connotes that they are very important and significant to this issue of rock sound. They are also placed on the double page spread because the article is about them, and so they relate to the content of the magazine. Each person in the image takes up one third of the page. This therefore creates hot spots for each person in the mage because they follow the rule of thirds and so the target audience will instantly want to look at the image.

Rule of thirds - Each person in the image takes up one third of the page. This therefore creates hot spots for each person in the mage because they follow the rule of thirds and so the target audience will instantly want to look at the image. Furthermore, the text f the article is split into three columns on each page. This also follows the rule of thirds and so would make the reader want to start reading the article. Additionally the use of rule of thirds on the text makes the layout look more profession. This is because it makes it easier for the audience to read and they can also navigate around the text without losing their place during a sentence.

Large letter – A large letter at the start of an article is a common convention of music magazines. It is used so that it is clear where the reader needs to start reading from in order to read and understand the whole article. The colour of the letter is the dark red (similar to that used on the masthead of the coer and contents page). This colour is therefore used to continue the colour scheme to make a house theme or the magazine. Additionally the ‘B’ looks like it has blood dripping from it. This supports the main cover line about war and fighting and how the band wants it all to stop.

Quote – this quote is extracted from part of the article. This is a common convention used in articles as it makes it sound exaggerated and serious. Furthermore it talks about an argument which also supports the main cover line about fighting and war / violence.

Page names and numbers – the page name and number are allocated at the bottom left hand side. These page names and numbers are used in order to provide the reader with information about the content of the page and what page they are on in the magazine. This helps when it comes to reading the contents page as the reader will know exactly where to look in order to find specific articles that they are interested in.

Analysis of the double page spread of rock sound