Fashion Magazines Textual Analysis

Textual Analysis

The mast head is large and eye-catching, which is important as it is the magazine, which is what attracts the audience. The masthead needs to be clear and easily visible for when people are looking to purchase the magazine, it should stand out.

Cara Delevingne has been used on the cover, as she is an extremely well known model which is beneficial as many in the audience will be attracted to the magazine, because she is so well known, it is likely more people will want to purchase the magazine to read it as they have an interest in her. The picture covers the whole of the page, so that it is a bold and eye-catching image, with the eyes looking directly towards the camera. This attracts the audience to the magazine as it is such a bold image.

Similarly, the masthead appears to be identical on another cover of Vogue, which represents the fact that the iconic masthead is what makes Vogue known to the audience, therefore it is crucial to use the same size font and same traditional like typeface. It is effective how the models face can cover the masthead, yet the name is still clear and visible, due to the fact the magazine has been identified in the same way for so long.

The cover lines appeal to the female population, and are used on the front cover to attract them to the magazines as the stories are relevant to women's likes, for example beauty, style and fashion.

Another well known model has been used on the cover of Vogue, purely to attract the customers by making them want to read it- the model represents the high fashion in the magazine.

The dateline has been used on the magazine cover as it shows the different covers from different months which is important, as the point of monthly magazines is that people buy the new ones monthly, therefore the date is needed.

Similarly, the masthead is large, bold and clear and positioned on the top of the cover. This attracts the audience as they look straight at either the image or masthead, as they need to look for what magazine they want. 

The colours used create juxtaposition, which again makes the masthead stand out (white over the navy background), this attracts the reader as they can easily find the magazine.

Using well known models and celebrities on the covers of magazines is important as they make an influence on the amount of people who purchase the magazine. This is because if a well known person is used, the likely-hood is that more people will purchase the magazine due to more people being interested in the certain person.

Analysing Magazine Front Covers

Vogue Magazine 

Vogue is a leading woman's fashion magazine, which is what is said to link fashion to high society and class.  The socio economic groups for Vogue would Class A, B and C1. Those in the classes A and B would not only show an interest in what is in Vogue, but also be able to afford the products advertised inside of it, whereas those in the class C1 would show an interest in what is in the magazine, but not be able to afford the designer fashion in their, however they will result to the high street products instead.

The masthead is the first thing the reader appears to look at, due to it standing out on the cover from being large, bold and plain. Although the 'G' is missing out of the masthead from being replaced with Taylor's head, the audience know the magazine is Vogue due to its iconic appearance (for example, the fact that the same font is used on every one of their magazines, as the audience we now associate the certain font with Vogue). The pink that has been used creates a juxtaposition to the pale background, which again causes the masthead to stand out, and also the use of the pink represents the female public, and the feminism aspects of Vogue that appeals to the reader. This represents that Vogue is mainly aimed at women of the general public, as they are more attracted to the cover due to the light and more feminine colours being used, it is also insinuating that what is inside of the magazine is more suited towards females over men.

Taylor Swift has been used as the main image of the cover of the magazine, which is important as the reader of the magazine has to be interested on who is on the cover as it is mainly what catches their attention and  makes them interested about the story inside. That is why it is important to think about who is going to star on the cover of a magazine as the right celebrity or model can generate more interest in the magazine, as it may appeal to a larger customer base. Taylor Swift is somebody who a wide audience can be interested in, as her music is targeted at the female population mainly. It is also significant when noting that the model/celebrity is usually always making full eye contact with the reader, as it suggests that everything the reader will want to know will be inside of the magazine, the image draws the audience to read it. Another interesting point is that Taylor isn't being sexualised on the cover of the magazine, which represents the fact that this magazine is aimed at mainly the female population, as the focus is mainly on her beauty, fashion and herself as a person (not her body). For example, Taylor could be the model on a completely different magazine, and we could tell that the audience would differ from what Vogue's is just from looking at what she is wearing, or how she is positioned. The pastel pink links to the text used, reiterating the femininity of Vogue, where as the blue outfit links with the background. The mixture of pastel colours all contribute to creating a light and feminine front cover, which appeals to the females of society as it is eye-catching and looks interesting to read. 

The cover lines reiterate the fact that Vogue is aimed at woman of the social classes A, B and C1. Headings such as 'Fizz Buys, you shouldn't but you will' link to those in the classes A and B, as the producers of the magazine are implying that those who can afford the fashion spend too much on it, however when they see what is inside of the magazine they know they will carry on making purchases, purely because the target audience can afford it. A heading such as 'Taylor Swift, a life less  ordinary' is what bring the class C1 in to the target audience of Vogue, as it is a story about Taylor Swift which of the general public may generally be interested in because they are a fan of Taylor, they don't get the magazine for the specific high end fashions. We can see as the audience that Vogue is mainly targeted at the female population from where it says on the cover line ' All Change, instant hair transformers', it is obvious that it is women who this article will appeal to as today women spend a lot of time, money and effort on their hair condition and state. As a whole, the cover lines use enticing sentences to draw the reader in, as they pick the sentences based around specific topics women will be interested in, such as hair care and 'style fixes for every figure', as the audience base for females is larger that way as it appeals to a wider majority of people.

Representations within the Media

Representations within the Media

Class- Newspaper

This representation is talking about the fact that independent education is becoming out of reach for the average family. From looking at the language used i can interpret that the representation is negative, as it is using statements such as 'forced out' and 'less affordable', which insists that the topic is negative. This is negative as it isn't talking about the specific topic as being beneficial or good it is speaking about the incident that due to the 'four-fold rise', private education is becoming "increasingly unaffordable" for the middle-classes, insisting that action has to be taken. 

Gender- TV Show

                                      

Skins was a British teen drama that followed the lives of a group of teenagers in Bristol, through the two years of sixth form. Its controversial storylines have explored issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness (such as eating disorders and bipolar disorder), adolescent sexuality, substance abuse, death and bullying.

One representation of gender in skins is the fact that there is still an impact of male dominance, the females seem to take part in many events in the society as what seems to be just so they are accepted by the opposite sex. Effy Stonem is the typical 'bad girl' in the programme, who of which we see face many social problems throughout her time of growing up. The female characters take part in many, what is classed as, negative incidents, including the over use of alcohol, drugs, bullying and another significant thing is the fact that they are seen as sexual objects in the TV Series. Due to the female anticipation in these incidents, they are shown in a negative light to the media, which has a negative representation of young women in society, for example being classed as 'whores' and 'chavs'. Effy's character enhances this in the way that her revealing clothes she wears makes it seem like it is the choice of the female to then gain male attention, as she is exposing herself by wearing the clothes she does.

Age- Film

The film 'Kidulthood' is a good way of looking at how age is represented in the social media today. This is because we look at the young people's personalities, what they wear, how they act, and what language they use, which results in creating a stereotype for many young people. For example, at the beginning of the film, the camera is filming on the playground looking at different groups at school. Many of the young male characters use colloquialism, using words such as 'blud' 'safe' and 'sket', this informal language causes them to be stereotyped as being 'less educated' and therefore part of the lower class, it also conveys that many young people do not use correct grammar which could be dependant on the media or society. This is a negative representation as the youth of society are being stereotyped in the way that people believe all teens are like that and use the same language, however it also shows that many young people are misunderstood, as even if they use informal language they aren't necessary lower class, its just a difference in personality. For example, someone may act differently when they are out with their friends in comparison to when they are at home with their parents.

Sexuality - TV Show

A negative representation of sexuality in TV shows is the recent storyline in Eastenders,which follows Johnny Carter coming out to his father in tears. His mother struggles to come to terms with her sons sexuality and is confused, which leads to Shirley calling her a bad mother and revealing his sexuality to everybody in The Vic. The negative representation comes from the fact that it is asif being Gay is seen by many people as being something that should be hidden as if there is something unacceptable with it, which is shown also by the fact that Johnny was in tears whilst trying to explain himself.

Textual Analysis Charlie XCX Break The Rules

Charlie XCX- Break the Rules

Mise-en-scene

When taking the costumes in to consideration, we can see that when we first see Charli and the girls appear on screen, their styles have been based around school girls, however we can see that they have dressed to their own choices, for example they are wearing short tennis skirts, and a variety of white t-shirts with their hair and makeup fully done. This could be a representation of how girls are beginning to care less about school regulations and are more doing their own thing- such as dress however they like, which shows one message of the video is 'not caring'. In general, the costumes make the girls appear as the more 'cool' and 'popular' school girls, which allows us to understand the meaning of the song itself as we get an inside of the characters. 

When Charli is being filmed on the top of the bus, she is wearing short clothing, sunglasses, and the colours are dark. This could be seen as a representation, as the black leather jacket and tassels make her appear fashionable and trendy, which may be representing many girls' attitudes of being more care free as she is stood on top of the bus, and that the sorts of girls who do this are the more popular ones. However the sunglasses she has on may also be a representation of disguise, that she doesn't want many people to see who she is incase it results in something bad happening- which insinuates that many teenage girls today happily act in rebellious ways yet don't want their to be consequences.

Camera angles

At the beginning of the video, the 6 girls first appear walking towards the camera (walking through their school), and jump cutting is used. For example, a long shot is used at eye-level where the girls appear far away and their whole bodies are visible, it then jumps to them getting even closer to the camera after walking further so that it is more of a medium long shot, to then cutting to a medium shot where the attention is mainly based on Charli, as the camera focuses on her still walking and the attention is taken away from the others in the group. This shows that the main spotlight is on Charli (the singer) and that she is the person who the song relates to the most as it is from her point of view. The fact that the camera angle is at eye-level shows that it is giving the audience a clear view of the girls in the video to see the main characters of the video and gives us a rough idea as to what the video is about.

At the part of the video when the girls are trying outfits on, the use of different camera angles are effective. This is because we see the 'male gaze' appear, when girls are basically being sexualised. This is because the outfits Charli tries on are all fairly revealing (out of her own choice), and when the cameras are either zoomed up close to a certain part of her body, or zoomed out so that her whole body is visible, it shows that either way people will be attracted to her and want to pay attention to her body hence why specific camera angles have been used. For example, mid shots and close-ups are only used, this could be a representation of Charli revealing herself when the camera angles jumps from a close up to a mid shot, as more of her body is being presented to the audience.

A tilted camera angle is used from a long shot at a few points in the video, and it is positioned so the camera is looking up at Charli where her whole body is visible, as are specific parts of her body as she is stood on the top of the bus. The fact of this and also the fact that the bottom half of her body is on show suggests that she wants all the attention to be on herself, as it reinforces her character that she doesn't care about being rebellious.