A) Textual Analysis.
Front cover.
Image:
Thee colour scheme (black, white and grey). The artist is dear, this colours connote that he is gone, he doesn't shine anymore so he became black and white.The image is a medium close up with a side view angle of the artist. It has a low key lighting, the background is white and the artist is in grey, his face is light grey which means the light came from the upper left of the camera.
The cover star is Tupac, he is naked as we can see, this connotes that he is being himself and that he wants to show his real self and be open with his fans. Moreover, his eyes are closed, it seems like he is praying. The cover lines also give us information to think that he is praying.
The only thing he is wearing a black hat which is a hip-hop signature nowadays. Also he is wearing chains around his neck, like the artists on the other magazine, this connotes status and power. He wears this accessories to reflect the genre of the magazine.
They kept this cover simple, there is nothing in the background so that the main focuses are on the artist. This front cover is a tribute to the artist because he died, that is why they decide to use a serious theme.
Page layout:
The masthead is behind the cover star, however we can still see the name of the magazine with clarity. This is because they want to give importance to the artist but they want to make sure their name stands out as well.
The anchorage is Tupac.
There is a skyline that says what is the article of Tupac about (Q and A).
The cover lines are aligned left and they are following the cover star's silhouette. It says 'prayer, passion, purpose' which is a key element that adds meaning to the image because it is a little spoiler of what the interview is going to be about. The cover lines are written in black and the font used is simple, this implies that the whole article is real and deep because they do not try to be fun and cool.
There is no barcode because it is a digital cover, the date is below the masthead (September 2016) and also the webpage link is there.
Language and genre:
The language used is young and trendy, although it seems like they wanted to be serous, there are some factors that stick to their style which is being cool and urban. The cover lines use 'gimme' and 'changin'. These are urban slang.
We can recognize the genre of the magazine because Tupac is a rapper, also the hat and the chains represent hip-hot and rap.
Contents page:
(I didn't have the physical magazine so I used an old contents page of vibe magazine that I found online)
There is just one contents page.
The colour scheme is white, black and orange.
On this contents page the image is of the singer Chris brown. It is a mid-long shot with a low key lighting.
Mise en scene: The artist is wearing a black suit that matches the black background. The fact that he is wearing a suit connotes that he is professional. however he is also wearing jeans which is not considered professional. This connotes that the artist is mixing both styles because he wants to challenge the impression people have of RnB artists. Most of the people think these artists are hooligans, in this case Chris Brown wants to show his professional and serious side.
It looks like he is singing and dancing which reinforces that he is a singer, also links to the magazine genre (music magazine).
Page layout:
There are nine sections, the page number is written on each section. The numbers are in orange so that they stand out, they are also in chronological order.
There are two columns, one with the sections, aligned left. The other one in smaller and it is aligned right, this one gives information about the picture such as the place and the pieces of clothing.
On the left top there is a V that represents the magazine name and also there is a barcode.
Language and genre:
The language used is simple and they use some slang which connotes how trendy they are. The music genre is represented by the star (Chris Brown) and the other artists mentioned in each section. Also the posture of Chris reinforces that he is a singer and a performer. (Opened mouth connotes that he is singing, opened arms connote that he is dancing.)
Double spread article.
(online article)
The image of this article is of Tupac, it looks similar to the one on the front cover. The picture is a medium shot, it has a low key lighting. In this shot, the artist is looking to the camera which adds up to the whole revealing and showing his truly self vibe we saw on the front cover image. He is making a connection with the audience. Also the fact that he is dead but looking 'right into our eyes' moves the audience. In this shot we can see how he is not naked. However it looks like he is getting undressed. This connotes that he wants to 'undress himself' with this I mean that he wants to be real and truthful about himself.
We can see also a tattoo, this links to the rapper identity. Most of the rappers and hip-hop artists have tattoos.
The article is about him, that is why he is the image on the page.
It has the same colour scheme that the front cover has because they are related. (black, white and grey)
The heading of the article is '20 Years Later: Tupac Is Hip-Hop's Prophet Of Rage And Revolution', it is the biggest text on this article.
The introduction is the writer's experience meeting Tupac (three years before he died), he says that he was surprised because he could see that the artists was humble and vulnerable. The writer also says what a great artist he was and will always be. Then he talks about Tupac's life and trajectory, in the conclusion he expresses how shocked everyone was when he died 20 years ago. The article was written on the 13 of September, 2016. (The date of Tupac's death.)
Later on, there is a Q and A with Tupac done before his death.
Drop caps is used at the beginning of the first paragraph of the article.
There is only one column and the same font is used throughout the article. The quote that is in the front cover is taken from this article so that the readers come to read the whole thing to find out the rest of it.
Language and genre:
The language the writer uses if formal, however the Q&A has informal parts. When Tupac answers the questions the language used is urban, includes slang and some bad words. This is to keep the article real. This makes the magazine genre clear because of the style of the artists when he talks.
Also the genre is represented by the artists that are usually on the contents page, the outfit and accessories that the stars wear project the magazine genre as well.
B) Audience and Institution.
The target audience of vibe magazine are both male and female. Although both genders read the magazine, there is a slightly higher percentage of male readers (51%).
Most of its audience are African-American and their ages are over 21 years old.
This magazine talks about rap, hip-hop and RnB, therefore their audience are those interested on these music genres.
The magazine wants to entertain and inform its readers about the music culture.
Publisher information:
Vibe's publisher is SpinMedia which is an American publisher that owns other pop culture websites such as Spin, Stereogum and Frisky. It was founded in 2005, it was first known as BuzzMedia and its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States.
No comments:
Post a Comment