NME Analysis

NME is one of the most iconic magazines in the music industry. It is clearly a well know magazine as it can afford to put the cover star partially blocking the masthead.

The cover star is the world famous Julian from The Strokes, and he is gazing directly outwards at the reader. This not only will attract people because the cover star is well known, but also because the reader is being directly looked at.

The main coverline is clearly "Julian goes solo". This is clearly the main coverline because it is in bold writing and in a very prominent place on the page. The main coverline is so prominent that it almost rival the masthead for superiority  over the page.


The masthead of the magazine is slightly bigger than the main coverline, which is unusual as the masthead is normally far larger. This said the bold red writing, and positioning of it make it impossible to miss and very attention grabbing.









Apart from the main coverline there are also other coverlines across the magazine. These are smaller in size, b ut still give the reader a good idea of what is in this edition of the magazine. And finally there is an advert on the cover to "Win a piece of signed stone roses artwork". This type of advert will really appeal to the MWE's target audience as they are interested in music.

I used my headline because I believe it would appeal to my target audience as it directly addresses them. It also uses the technique of alliteration which makes it more catchy, and memorable. The title “Lad Life” suggests that music is an essential part of the everyday lads life. 

My cover picture was used  as it depicts two teenagers who are clearly dressed in the indie style. This is the type of audience I want to appeal to, so I believe they will be able to relate to my magazine. The picture itself is two indie males, posing against a yellow background. After the picture was taken I decided to edit out the yellow background and put them on a clear blue and white background. This made them stand out more, and draws more attention to their clothing. The shot itself is a medium shot, this includes their whole body, and again highlights their dress sense, as there is no background to look at. My contents page picture is....

The costumer my cover stars are wearing give off a very specific image. The clothes worn suggest that they belong to a certain group in society, this one being the “Indie” group.  I did some research and asked people what social group they though my cover stars belonged to, and the overwhelming majority stated Indie. This is good as people will take a brief look at my magazine and see what style and genre it is, which will hopefully attract my indie target audience. During my research I came across many indie style magazines and used them as style models, and used similar clothing for my cover stars.

I used a variety of shots for the pictures in my magazine. As I said earlier I used a medium shot for my cover stars. This is in contrast to the type of shot I used for my contents page. Here I used a medium close up, as this picture was of a single indie man, and this shot was the best choice for highlighting the clothes worn. Also this type of shot made the picture fit perfectly into the space I had left for the image.

I chose the name “Lad Life” for my magazine as I believe it will appeal to my target audience. The word lad is used by in the indie social group as a compliment, and combined with my cover stars gives a very indie look to my magazine.

Initial Ideas for my Magazine

My original music magazine idea was inspired by a very indie magazine called Campus. This magazine features Indie fashion, and gaming. I wanted my magazine to be similar to this for many reasons. First and foremost I believe that the magazine has a very sleek look, and gives off a cool, yet relaxed image. By making my magazine similar to this it would make it appeal to the young, hip, teenage audience I was looking to target.  Also I like the content of the magazine, which again will appeal to my target audience. The content of the magazine varies from fashion, to gaming, to indie music, to top student cites. Having a section on top student destinations means that it will draw in students, again these are people in my target audience.

My Magazine Cover...

For my magazine cover I wanted to achieve a very indie look, for this my cover star is vital. I saw this image whilst doing research and I wish to achieve this kind of mage for my cover.

Contents Page Analysis

I have analysed two contents pages, here is one. This contents page is very eye-catching mainly because of the interesting pose that the model is doing. It is very different from the standard straight-on shot and the attention is focused on her legs as opposed to her face. This gives a clue to the target audience of the magazine as it may be more focused on appealing to males than females.

We can tell it is the contents page because it has a title near the top but again this is displayed in an unusual way which makes it very appealing to look at.

The model in the image is a famous singer which shows us that the main article in the magazine is about her. This helps gain readers who are fans of the singer.

The articles listed in the contents page are divided into to headed sections; ‘Features’ and ‘Fashion’. The articles each then have the page number, a bolded title and a short description about what you can find on that page. Also listed with each article are the names of the photographers and writers who contributed to that article.

The colours used on the contents page are very neutral, including the colours of the models clothes. This gives a very modern and fresh feel to the page which is how the magazine would want to be represented.

Campus Life Magazine

This is by far the most indie of all the magazines I have seen so far. The audience will predominantly be indie teenagers who attend university, but it has other parts that could intrest no uni goers. Also they have an offer on the front to win a smartphone, this is the type of thing teenagers would go for. The layout of the magazine is very good, with the cover star in the middle, and some sub-headings along the left side. The sub headings are the type of things that teenagers will be very interested in such as fashion " Build the Perfect Wardrobe", and gaming "Assassins Creed". The cover star is a stereotypical indie guy, he has tattoos and wears the "classic" checkered T-Shirt. The title is simple yet elegant in large bold white writing, with a nice twist in the way life is squeezed in at the end by being on its side. The font on the cover is quite plain with nothing really standing out, except one sub-heading in red.

Cover Analysis

  College magazine has a very hectic cover, it's target audience would be mos likely teens as the bright colours and young man on the front would appeal to that sort of audience. I also believe that the magazine would appeal to both sexes, as it has topics that would interest both such as "Making Money On Campus" and "Thank God It's Friday". The layout of the magazine is again quite manic. It has lots of sub heading dotted around, and the man on the front blocks some of the title. This means that the magazine is well known enough to partially block some of the title without people not knowing the magazine. The headings in the magazine cover things that are college/school related, such as the ones I have previously stated before. The cover star himself is a young man, who I would guess is late teens, this would attract teens as they can relate to this character. There is a lot of text on the page, and it in in quite small font, this gives off an almost relaxed disorganised look. Again this is what some teens would look for in a magazine. This magazine seems very hipster indie, and this is the type of teen that they wish to attract.

The next magazine I have looked at is chosenhill. This magazine is again about school life and features a head boy on the cover. I believe that this magazine is unisex, and will appeal to teens, as it is based around school. This is something teens of both sex participate in. The layout of the magazine is quite simple, with the cover star on the front and a few sub headings on the right. Other than this the magazine is quite bare. The colours of the magazine are fairly neutral as they are not too bright and a light blue is relaxed. Again the stories covered are school related, things to do with the orchestra, and the head boy. The title itself is very prominent at the top of the page is large white bold letters. It is not obstructed by the cover star, as this magazine probably doesn't already have an established audience. There is not a lot of text on the page, which gives off a simple look. This magazine also gives off an indie type look from the cover star.

Whichschool has the most unique of layouts of all the magazines I have analysed. I believe that this magazine may be aimed more predominantly at a male audience as it looks like an all boys school due to the blazers and not a single girl in the masses of people in the background. This layout is so unique as it has a very large area that is dedicated to the title, and this take up almost a third of a page, and below it is a large picture, not a cover star with a background behind them. Also it is very simple and does not have much text or sub-headings. The cover stars here are smartly dressed, and look quite posh, this makes me think that it would appeal to people who attend Private school teens. The title is also unique as it is in two colours, this is unlike any other title I have seen. The font is quite bold, and simple, this is trying to give off a clean cut, simple image.

I Have decided to do a Magazine!!!!

I have recently viewed some classmates magazines and have decided this would be a better course of action for me.

Genre

All three of the films I have analysed are in almost the exact same genre. Each one focuses on football, fighting and of course hooliganism. The casting for all three of the films is again almost identical. The main characters are Jack the lad cockney look a likes. And along with this there is a disproportionate amount of shaven headed thugs running around, popping in and out of fight scenes.

As for costume, this can vary depending on where the football team is from. Some of the football firms choose to wear nice, but still chavvy clothing such a burberry hats. Others choose full tracksuits, but the most noticeable of all attires is the main character in green street. This man wears a trench coat with a tracksuit underneath.

The setting for each film again is quite similar, set in various big cits known for football violence. All films feature London and most away games to teams such as Manchester united, set in Manchester. All the fight scenes are either in city centres, for example the opening scene to Green Street in London, deserted wasteland like in Rise of the Footsoldier after they disembark a train. And finally near pubs that the football firms use as a base of operations.

Green Street's plot is about a young American university goer who stumbles into a world of excitement, drinking, fighting and of course football. His life is transformed, and he feels alive. Matt Buckner the American student ends up being one of the top members of the Green Street Elite (the westham football firm). All is well and he loves the football and the fighting until things get serious and another football firm ambushes them and almost kills some of the GSE. This makes things real for the firm and they decide to have one last fight to end it all, in this fight the leader of the GSE is killed whilst luring the opposite firm away from Matt Buckners family who have turned up to "save" him.

Rise of the Footsoldier's plot is very interesting, and follows a young, headstrong Carlton Leach as a footsoldier in the ranks of the ICF. He eventually leaves football hooliganism but stay well within the criminal world, and going a more serious criminal gang. He works his way up through this seedy underworld and becomes one of the most feared criminals in the country.

The Football Factory follows the boring life of Tommy Johnson who hates his boring life and uses the football fighting as an escape. Tommy gets badly beaten, and starts to wonder if its all really worth it. In the end he decides that it is. Tommy gets arrested and beaten, wins some, loses some, but carries on fighting with the firm hroughout.

The music in all three films is always building up to some sort of climax. It adds to the xcitment and pinical of the fights.

Green Street

The third and final film I analysed was Green Street, this is the most popular of the three. The opening scene in this film is a group of rowdy wisecracking cockny lads walking up the stairs intoo a train station. They are cearly football fans as they are chanting, and are kicking a can around like a football. They soon bump into rival fans and exchange some heated words. This then turns quickly into a fight, with a flurry of camera movements, they are out on the street mid brawl. Props are used to make the fight more brutal such as bollards and phoneboxes. The general misse en scene of the clip leads towards a confrontation of some sort. It is a very eary place in the train station, with trains passing for creepy effect. The opening fight scene finishes at 2:25 with a man being knocked out, and the sound of sirens rapidly approaching.

 
 This image really gives a hard hitting impression of what the film is all about. Here a man has his face repeatedly smashed into a steel bollard by the side of the road.






The link below is to the analysed clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t35plA4mRRs

The Football Factory

The next film I analysed was "The Football Factory". This film believe it or not could be considered even more violent than Rise of the Footsoldier. The opening scene starts with some up tempo music, which seems to be building up to a climax, with the image of many scruffy trainers marching purposely in one direction. The next thing I noticed was the rest of the clothing worn by the gang. There is burberry and a few smart jackets, but these people are still obviously violent, and the tracksuits and trainers give away their true nature. Then the fighting breaks out firstly by a teenager being knocked unconscious, and a gas grenade being thrown into a pub. Once people begin to make for the exit the gang charge and beat, stamp and kick anyone that comes out. Camera angles are used a lot in the fighting section of the introduction to show who has the power, and dominance. This is done simply by the more powerful of the fighters looking down onto the other, with the ones being looked upon generally being on the floor.

This shot of the film really shos the true nature of what the football factory is all about. In the forefront of the picture a man is being headbutted, and tens of people are scattered in the background, stamping, kicking and punching. This image captures the carnage of the film perfectly.









Below is a link to the Scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYPbdBAbcDo

Rise Of The Footsoldier

The type of image I am trying to create in my introduction is captured perfectly by such films as Green Street, The Football Factory and Rise of the Footsoldier.

The very first image in Rise of the Footsoldier shows a dead man on a cold morgue table, this is quite startling and draws in the viewer. The camera angle in this first scene is shot from above showing that the body's are powerless.In the first two minutes of Rise of the Footsoldier one minute fifty to be precise the film jumps head on into the violence and fighting that runs throughout. This fight scene continues until two minutes fifteen seconds into the film. This is a superb introduction as it grabs the audiences attention straight off the bat. This is the type of grabbing power I would like my introduction to have.  Again the use of clever camera angles show who is in control in different areas of the fight. The use of swearing in the first two minutes also gives the viewer an idea of what the film is like, and gives a general idea of the tone. The misse en scene also gives a good idea to what the film will be about, by the props used one example of this would be a brick that is thrown at the opposing side. Another point on misse en scene is the clothes the fighters wear and the location of where the fight is. The location of the fight is in a sort of alley, which even before the fight breaks out seems ominous and slightly daunting.

Below is a link to the scene.

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8678717113165740071

Planning and research for coursework film!

The type of film I would like to make is an action packed gang culture type film. A film that captures this exactly is "Green Street" and another is "Football Factory". Football factory's opening sequence is a fight scene and is very violet. The opening immediately grabs the attention of the audience.