Evanescence- Bring me to life

Magazine Analysis

I am going to be examining a magazine front cover and I am going to be covering all the key and main aspects that make up a magazine front cover. I am going to go through step by step all the key elements of a magazine front cover

Natasha Lyonne - GoreZone Magazine [United Kingdom] (December 2009)
 The above magazine I am going to be examining, 

The Sell line is the long line on the left side of the magazine and it is meant to draw audience in and in this magazine it used the text “Worldwide no1 horror entertainment magazine” this tries to prove to the audience that this magazine is the best choice for people who are interested in that gene as it says what is probably its own personal view that it is the no1 worldwide horror magazine, there is no 100% way to find out whether this is true and it’s a common use of self-hype in order to draw more people to buy this magazine.

The use of lots of red text makes the images stand out on the white back ground and emphasises the horror genre which is a common link with danger, which the colour red is usually associated with. The use of red also is used to represent blood as used to the image of the girl in the middle this is all related in terms of the horror genre as blood is often used if not all the time and this emphasises the gore factor.

There are puffs used (without borders scattered all around the page) in one of the puffs it mentions a bug Hollywood star this will not be just for any reason this would have been done to emphasise the magazines superiority and to show its position of power in the magazine genre.it would be highly unlikely another magazine will get a bigger Hollywood star than the one mentioned on this magazine which is Cameron Diaz, not exactly known in the horror genre although. Despite this, the main puff will only of been used to show that they can get high powered stars or celebrities to be a part of the magazine. Puffs are also recognized as pugs and they are used to give information to the audience about what the magazine is going to contain.

There are some Cover lines used underneath the puff titles this is used to give a clue about what the numerous chapters inside the magazine will contain such as, “interview with Michael Jackson…Mj discusses his new and upcoming tour”. It gives the reader a small insight as to what parts are good enough to be mentioned as is used to stand out as the audience may pick up the magazine to have a quick look as to what is in the magazine and these help gives them an idea of what will be in there.

The big masthead is the most traditional item of a magazine as it makes the magazine and gives it a name, it’s the most important thing in the whole of the magazine in my opinion as it shows the audience exactly what they are buying and can in some cases of the huge magazine company it can be worldwide known to millions of people.

The magazine front main image doesn’t use or contain the full typical conventions of a horror film it uses a white background compared to either black or red which are more often associated with horror. This was used for a purpose to make the image stand out with the splatters of blood more directly noticeable. The main image is a true key point as it is the first thing that the audience will get to see when they either choose to buy the magazine, the magazine creators will have to make an image more creative and make it stand out in order for people to notice it at first glance and even think about buying it.

Comparing the magazine to other magazines of this genre I think it is of high standard due to the simple mention of a high Hollywood star, and the conventions shown indicate that there is a high quality of knowledge taking place behind the scenes by the people working for the magazine, comparing it to the magazine above there is more special effects gone into the front main image compared to the first image, this shows that the main focus is on the image to try an draw the audience. Although there is barely any text written and surrounding the main image there  is on the first image this will be because the other magazine may contain more relevant thing inside the magazine and the first magazine may simply have better information or interviews than the second magazine etc. 

Magazine Terminology

Media Terminology of a magazine:-

I am going to explain the terminology used in media to describe magazines...

Caption-
Description of an image

Drop Capitals-
Really big latter. which start off an article

Copy-
The main text

Banner-
Text which stands out because its on a coloured background

Strap Line- Memorable phrase  that is recognisable to a brand

Anchorage Text-
The way in which a text helps to pin down the meaning of a picture and vice versa

Headline-
Main story in the magazine

Buzz words-
"wow", "Exclusive",  "Free" are all examples of this

Sell lines
" Text on the cover that helps to sell the magazine to the audience

 Lead-
The introductory paragraph of an article usually written in bold or capitals

 Pugs-
Placed at the top left and right hand corners  of the paper and are known as the 'ears' of the page. The price of the paper, the logo or a promotion are often positioned there

House Style-
A magazine is distinctive design that distinguishes it from its competitors

Masthead-
Name of the magazine

Time for my personal favourite... the word just simply makes me laugh
 Puffs-
Colourful boxes promoting features inside the magazine