Denotation
The magazine cover features a vibrantly coloured longshot of the band Panic at the Disco. The men from the band are posed casually on a bright crimson red sofa and are looking directly into the camera. They are not seated properly; one is sitting on the floor whilst another is lounging across another red object behind the sofa which appears to be a piano. The floor and sofa are blanketed by a variety of different flowers which we can see have been thrown by the band members as the lead vocalist, who is situated in the centre of the other men, has his arm raised and hand outstretched with flowers falling from it, and the man seated on the floor is holding a bunch of flowers. There is a red curtain that is used in theatre behind the band which is an identical colour to the sofa. The curtain and the flowers work simultaneously to illustrate that the magazine will be celebrating the success of Panic at the Disco, because it is a tradition that flowers are thrown onto theatre stages after a good performance. The lighting in the photograph is high key in order to present a positive vibe for the magazine. The Billboard masthead is located across the top of the magazine cover, the first letter is uppercase and the following ones are all lower case. The hollow parts of the letters in ‘board’ are filled in in red, yellow, blue and green. The cover lines are on the left of the magazine, they consist of a large ‘kicker’ in yellow capitals and a smaller explanatory line in white. The main cover line is also in a goldish yellow, it is also in capitals and a san serif font to give a modern appearance. The colour of the font of the cover lines also helps us to imply that Panic at the Discos success will be celebrated within the magazine as gold is associated with winning and medals and trophies. One of the cover lines is written with a yellow outline of a circle around it – which could be imitating the shape of a medal. There is also a barcode located in the bottom left corner of the magazine cover.
Masthead
The masthead for the magazine Billboard is very modern, eye-catching and fun because of its creativity -0 this also makes the magazine iconic and easily recognisable for its target audience. Billboards masthead is in a very large font which consumes approximately a fifth of the length of the page, it is also written across the entire width of the top of the page. The masthead is in a white font as this contrasts dramatically from its crimson red background, making it striking and bold. The hollow circle shaped parts of the letters in the word ‘board’ are filled in in red, yellow, blue and green to conform to the magazines tradition and make it more distinguishable for readers. It also increases the contrast between the masthead and its background. ‘Billboard’ is written in a sans serif font to illustrate that the magazine is modern and exciting, however there is an element of traditional text conformity as the first letter of the mast head is in upper case and the following letters are all lower case. The masthead is also positioned behind the image of Panic at the Disco as one of the band members heads overlaps the letters ‘o’ and ‘a’, and is in the foreground of the red curtain which creates the illusion that the name of a theatre production is being displayed. There is yellow writing in a much smaller font and capitals above the masthead which help to emphasise how Billboard is a modern magazine as it mentions the social networking sites Facebook and Myspace and other singers. This also presents how the magazine is targeted at younger audiences, particularly teenagers as these people use social media the most. ‘Experience the buzz’ is written in a very small white font right underneath the masthead with conveys even further that Billboard is up to date with the music industry and other modern day topics.
Character
The cover photograph of this issue of Billboard is of the alternative rock band Panic at the Disco, consisting of Brendon Urie (Vocalist), Dallon Weekes (Bassist), Kenneth Harris (Guitarist) and Dan Pawlovich (Drummer).
Composition
The men from Panic at the Disco are grouped quite closely together on and around a crimson red sofa that is covered with flowers. Their positioning presents them in a casual, non-serious manner as instead of posing formally, they are lounging around in different positions: including lying across the red object behind the sofa, which is most likely a piano, and sitting with their knees bent on the ground. The composition of the image also creates a fun, care free vibe, as the vocalist of the band has his arm out with an outstretched hand to show that he has just thrown the flowers that are surrounding him. The non-conformity to the traditional photo shoot poses help to create a modern image for the magazine and appeal to its target audience.
Costume
The band members are wearing psychedelic, 60’s inspired clothing, consisting of waistcoats, shirts and blazers with patterns that contain out-going colours. These clothes appear quite bizarre and unusual whilst containing a 60s vibe at the same time. The daring, striking patterns on the items of clothing present how Panic at the Disco are unique and seem as if they are an evolution in rock music. The costumes use dint he image also attracts attention from the magazines target audience, and others, as it is an intriguing style that creates a slight ambiguity about the band.
NVC
The non-verbal communication delivered by each member of Panic at the Disco conjures an image of them being down to earth and carefree people that the magazines target audience are able to relate to. Their relaxed, casual poses display them as being fairly modest about their profession and shows that they have a sense of humour; which is highlighted in the facial expression that the vocalist is pulling which is wide eyes and a pout. This helps to create a sense of openness with their target audience. They are not attempting to pose seductively to gain attention from female audiences –which is something that is common amongst all male groups- and are instead revealed as comical, interesting and fun to illuminate how Billboard is a modern magazine that aims to appeal to younger audiences. All of the men are looking directly into the camera to help connect with and draw attention from people. The singer who has just thrown some flowers also has his arm facing towards the camera, which creates the illusion that he has thrown the flowers in the readers’ direction.
Lighting
The lighting in the magazine covers photograph is high key ad very vibrant and revealing to mimic stage lights and increase the images saturation in order to connote liveliness, celebration and fun. It is also quite unusual for rock bands to be presented with bright colours as they are normally displayed with dull colours and low key lighting, however this shows us how Billboard is a unique magazine that creates its own trends and images. This is beneficial to the magazine because it helps it gain popularity, as people like to see things that they have not yet seen before.
Setting
The photograph is set with a red theatre stage curtain as the background of the cover image which makes it very striking and eye catching due to its colour. The curtain also connotes performances, which links to the theme of music; what this issue of Billboard is mainly about. There is a red sofa that the members of Panic at the Disco are positioned on and around with another red object behind it which looks as if it is a piano. The colours of the curtain, sofa and piano are all very similar in order to keep a consistent, vibrant image. We can see a brick wall showing behind the curtain, which shows us that the image was taken indoors, maybe in an actual theatre or in a studio dressed to look similar to a theatre. There are a variety of flowers scattered across the floor and sofa to present how the magazine is celebrating the success of this band because it is a tradition in theatre that people throw flowers onto the stage for the performers after a good show.
Cover lines
The main cover line of the magazine is positioned in the bottom right corner of the cover. It is written in a yellow – gold colour in capitals and a sans serif font, it is larger in size but smaller than the Billboard masthead. The use of a sans serif font gives the magazine cover a modern image whilst simultaneously featuring the bands name, Panic at the Disco, in order to attract additional attention from fans of the band and people who like rock music in general. The bright colour of the font also suggests the success of the band because gold is associated with coming first prize and winning medals and trophies. It is unusual for rock music to be associated with bright colours like this, which intrigues people as this is something different; however, some rock bands have the colour yellow in their logos, including Nirvana, one of the most renowned rock bands of all time. There is a smaller explanatory line underneath the main cover lines in white which mentions that Panic at the Disco have a new look, sound and album, which advertises the magazine as being modern and also reveals again that this is being celebrated by them.
There are two secondary cover lines on the left hand side of the cover of this Billboard magazine. These are also in yellow capitals but are in a smaller font size to the main cover line. The yellow colour of these kickers has a significant contrast to their red background. They feature information about the Grammy awards and another band. The smaller, white explanatory lines contribute to the modern image of the magazine as they reveal things that younger target audiences would be particularly interested in; although older target audiences may also find them interesting. The explanatory line for the first secondary cover line has ‘PLUS:’ Witten in yellow capitals to stand out from the rest of the text, this makes the magazine seen more interesting and full of exciting information that you shouldn’t miss out
Target Audience
Taking into account all of these elements, I have concluded that the target audience for this particular issue of Billboard is most likely people aged between 15 – 25. This is because it features the band Panic at the Disco who are quite new and popular amongst this age group. The highly saturated and warm vibrant colours, and the bright lighting also make the magazine appear exciting and modern; which again would mainly attract attention from younger target audiences. This magazine would appeal to both male and female audiences because both genders listen to this genre of music that the cover features. However there is a chance that the cover of the magazine may appeal more visually to girls considering the fact that it features a male group, who they might find attractive. This magazine may also have an appeal to older audiences as well because of the bands 60s inspired costumes. Therefore people who were from this generation might appreciate this as this type of clothing was un style during their youth.
Denotation
The magazine cover is a close-up collage of Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner, who is looking directly into the camera. The fact that it is a collage could suggest that the magazine is attempting to disguise Alex Turners identity. The collage is made from a collection of different sized and shaped fragments of other magazine’s that feature Alex Turner. Some pieces of the collage, mainly the ones on his face are in bright bold colours in order to make this eye-catching as he is the centre of the magazine. Most of the magazine scraps contain text, headlines of Arctic Monkey’s magazines, and some are even images of Alex Turner. The background continues the collage theme but mainly features pieces of magazine that are black and white in order to keep the image of the singers face a the main focus. The masthead of the magazine is situated on the covers far right corner and is in a large, white, san serif font with a black box shadow. There is a yellow, circle shape on the lower middle left side of the cover containing black text in capitals and a san serif font and underlined. There is a black stripe across the bottom of the magazine cover, which has the question ‘Who is Alex Turner?’ written on it in yellow capitals in a san serif font. This question links to the collage of Alex Turner as this is a veiled version of him and the question will be unveiled within the magazine. The question is followed by a brief answer in the same black stripe which is in white capitals and a san serif font; both question and answer and in the same size font but are different colours to signal their differences. The lighting on the cover is high key to emphasise the significance of Alex Turner and to portray how the magazine is positive, like it is celebrating the success of Alex Turner.
Masthead
The magazine NME has a fairly distinctive masthead: A bold san serif font, large in size and in capitals. It is white with a black box shadow behind the letters and a very think black outline around them in order to define them and prevent then disappearing into the background. All of the letters are capitals to give a more striking appearance, and none of the letters are joined up which works simultaneously with the san serif font to create a modern image as it appears exciting and new as opposed to looking traditional. Although it is not brightly coloured, the simplicity of the white and black contrast with the colour and patterns on the rest of the cover, making the masthead noticeable for its plainness. The text is positioned on the far right of the cover; this also illustrates the magazines originality as mastheads are commonly situated in the top centre of front covers. The masthead also overlays the image on the cover so it is not lost behind it and still gains attention. The black and white of the text hint that the magazine is about music as sheet music is also written in black and white.
Character
The magazine cover features a close-up, collage image of the lead vocalist, Alex Turner, of the successful indie rock band Arctic Monkey’s.
Composition
Turner appears to be seated and leaning forward in the photo as his face is closer to the camera than his neck and shoulders; there are also a lose stands falling forward from the front of his hair that looks slicked back.
NVC
His head is slightly titled towards the left which may be to show off his features that people finds attractive; particularly his jawline. Turner is looking directly into the camera lens which gives a more direct illusion to readers as it looks as if he is looking at them. His lips look slightly parted in order to create a casual illusion or to make it seem as if he is about to say something or smile; it could also suggest that he was caught off-guard.
Cover Lines
There is a coverline on the magazine colour written in a yellow circle which looks like a sticker, it is in capitals in a black sans serif font and is underlined. The text of the coverline says 'MUSIC' 'FILM' and 'STYLE' in order to inform us that these features are what the magazine is about. There is also a black stripe along the very bottom of the magazine cover a question and an answer, they are written in different colours to clearly illustrate their difference.
Target Audience
There is a wide range of people that this magazine would appeal to because Arctic Monkeys are a band that both people from the younger generation and middle aged people listen to. However, the magazine may attract girls more specifically due to the fact that it features a photo of a man as its main display.
After learning the main components of magazine front covers, we began to explore their purposes and how they are used to make other features more or less significant. We also learnt the features of the Mise en Scene of an image (Props, Lighting, Costume, NVC and setting) and how to describe it and explain how it helps to portray the artists style or personality.
TEXTUAL ANAYLSIS
