Detailed class analysis of

music magazine on NME

By Leeroy Magaramiri
 Denotation:
Denotation is everything we see. We see the
masthead NME on the top corner and the
main cover line that says Dizzee Rascal, the
first word is slanted. We see the model
kneeling down and his hands are spread out
wide while having a big smile on his face. We
see graffiti in the background of the location
that the character is in. There is a quote from
the artist on the bottom. We can see a puff
right underneath the masthead. There is a
tagline and the top of the page. There is a
quote from the artist at the bottom. The main
colours seem to be black, red and white.
There is graffiti in the background of the
models location. The model is wearing
sneakers with red and white writing on, jeans
with red and white writing on, a white vest
and a chain round his neck.
Connotation:
Connotation is the meaning of everything
we see. The model has his hands spread
out in the main image because it represents
his freedom and it shows his happiness
towards what he does. This will make the
audience feel as if they are being invited in
by the model and they are to let him please
them in what he does. The main cover line
word that says Dizzee is slanted in the
same direction as his hand which is pointing
upwards to show that his goal is to be at the
top. The graffiti in the background connotes
that the model can also be bad and he
breaks rules which tells us a little about
him. The quote from the artist Im
spreading joy around the world, man!
suggests that he is quite proud of what he
is doing and so this will also intrigue the
target audience.
Anchorage:
An Anchorage is how images are
referred to. Some of the cover lines
act as an anchorage towards the
main image of the model. The quote
that says Im spreading joy around
the world man! links in with the
main image because we can see his
hands spreading out and so the quote
mirrors his hand gestures that he is
spreading the joy.
Icon:
An icon is a picture or a person that is
representative of something. The model
is an icon for his genre of music because
this is shown through his costume. He is
wearing a vest with no arms to show his
muscles because hip-hop singers usually
present themselves as tough and that is
what makes him an icon. The graffiti wall
also acts as an icon because it represents
that the model is badass which the
target audience will be expecting.
Rule of thirds:
Breaking the page into thirds(both horizontally
and vertically) so that you can see where the
hotspots are and the visual points of interest.
The models face and the masthead act as a
hot spot because they are directing the
audience where to look and where to go next
which can be the title Dizzee Rascal.
Model:
The model is the person or celebrity we see
on the front cover. The model is presenting
himself as a joyful character and through his
hand gestures of wanting to get involved with
his audience, it makes them adore him even
more and they will feel welcome.
Main cover line:
The main cover line states the main story
that will be in the magazine and it will be
in a bigger font size than the rest of the
cover lines. The main cover line is the
name of the model. The way it is laid out
will be appropriate for the target
audience because the drop shadow effect
and the slanted words are informal which
describes the artists character.
Camera:
The type of shot used was a mid-long
shot(MLS) and this is because we can
see the whole of the models body but
not the hands fully. The purpose of this
was to show his body structure and to
make him fill up the page to emphasise to
the audience that he is actually
spreading the joy.
Direct address:
Direct address is when the magazine or model is
communicating directly with the audience. In this
front cover, direct address is present when the model
is looking directly to the camera and to the audience
which shows that he loves his audience and he wants
to get involved with them. The audience will feel as if
they are being appreciated by their idol because if
the model was not making any eye contact, it would
show that he does not care about the audience
because he has everything he needs.
Strap line:
The strap line can be seen at the
bottom of the front cover and next
to the barcode. It consists of
similar artists in the same genre
such as Jay-Z in which the
audience might be interested in as
well.
Colour scheme:
The main colours or the theme colours used.
The main colours used were re, white and
black. These colours seem to be consistent
through the whole of the front cover and that is
because those might be the theme colours of
the magazine and so that that will make it
easier for the audience to recognize.
Representation:
Representation is the way in which the media constructs
aspects of real life such as people, culture, ethnicity, gender
e.t.c. The model is being as a person who loves his audience
through the way he is smiling at the camera which makes
the audience adore him. The graffiti in the background and
his costume are also presenting him as a gangster because
the way he is showing off his arms and his muscles shows
that he will be doing things that will get him in trouble,
possibly things that might be illegal.

Target audience:
The target audience are people that the
magazine is aimed at. The target
audience for this magazine are people
who are into hip-hop music and this is
shown through the model who is a
famous hip-hop artist as well similar hip-
hop artists in the cover lines. Moreover,
the audience can also be people who are
big fans of Dizzee Rascal and they just
want to know more about him. This is
shown through the large font text saying
Dizzee Rascal which will stand out to
the audience.
Barcode:
A barcode is a machine-readable
code that allows the magazine to be
scanned when buying and it is
usually found at the bottom of the
magazine. The barcode can be
found on the bottom right of the
front cover and it means that this
magazine can be purchased through
scanning the barcode therefore the
audience will have no difficulty
buying it.
the idea of them thinking of trespassing
Mise-en-scene:
Mise-en-scene is everything we see in the
frame. The models costume is telling us
that he is a gangster like character
through his chain and his white vest with
no arms and this is supported by the
graffiti in the location that he is in. This
was to give the audience a bit about his
personality that he is the person who
might do things that might get him into
trouble. However the purpose of this front
cover was to show the audience that he
is spreading joy and so this suspends
and misbehaving although it might be
some of the things that he does.

Genre:
A genre is a set of characteristics.
The model is wearing a chain round
his neck and that is popular in hip-
hop music because usually in this
type of genre, the artists will be
wearing some sort of jewellery to
perhaps show their wealth. The
audience of this genre will find this
appealing because all they will
want to know is that if he is
wealthy, then he is good enough.
The graffiti wall in the background
also meets the codes &
conventions of the artists genre
because the target audience will be
assuming that he breaks rules
sometimes so that he can be seen
as cool by his audience.
Cover Lines:
Cover lines are found on the sides of the
front cover and they usually tell you who
the target audience The cover lines are
featuring similar hip-hop artists such as
Jay-Z which will intrigue the audience as
well because they will want to know more
about them as well.
Masthead:
Mode of Address:
A masthead is the name of the magazine
The mode of address is the way the
which is usually found at the top of the
magazine communicates with the
front cover. The masthead of this
audience. The audience are being
magazine has got the theme colours of
invited in by the model and they are
the front cover so that it blends in well
being told that he is the man of the
and it is not hidden so that it blends in
moment through the head line of his
well.
name and his quote therefore the
audience will gain adoration for him.
 Layout:
A layout is the way in which everything is arranged.
This contents page follows the codes and
conventions of a contents page. This consists of
having the title NME Content at the top of the
page and, it is highlighted in a black background
so that it stands out to the audience. We can see
the subheadings of the topics in the magazine Main image:
on the right hand side and they have the page The main image is the big picture. The
numbers and the description at the bottom. The main image is a low angle shot of the
index is also at the left side and it lists going model with the travel coach behind
down. her. This type of shot makes her look a
bit smaller and the coach bigger to
show how big of an event this is which
adds excitement to the audience. The
Columns: main image is not filling up a lot of the
A column is the division of a page or a text. The page is page but it has taken enough space to
divided into three parts: the index, the top story and the show the amount of its importance.
side bar with different subheadings. The purpose of this
was to tell the audience where to look first and where to
go next. As the top story is in the middle and the image
stands, they will be drawn to that first. They will then be
drawn to the side bar on the right hand side that has
subheadings of bold white text highlighted with a black
background strip which then makes it stand out. Lastly,
they will then look at the index because that way, they Mise-en-scene:
can then find a page they want to look at after they have
Mise-en-scene is everything we see in the frame. We can see
seen the recommended pages.
that the picture was taken in broad daylight and the lighting
of the sun was perfect and this makes the audience assume
that she is enjoying life in a nice weather. If the weather was
a bit dull then the picture would seem unappealing. The
coach also has the same effect on the audience because
they will think that she is enjoying her money. The model is
Page numbers:
wearing casual clothing with a necklace and a silver wrist
The page numbers are included on the index column
and they are highlighted in black where as the titles ring which shows that she dresses up to show her wealth
were in red. The purpose of this was to show that the which will make the audience envy her. The costume also
title colour was lighter than the page numbers which tells us that she does not want to show her money off too
shows that they were probably less important to look much because she is not wearing anything that is too shiny
at or they were following the house style of the or might see expensive.

Target Audience:
A target audience is the group of people that
the magazine is aimed at. The target
audience for this contents page would be
those that are big fans of her work because
they would be the ones interested in her tour.
Compare to the front cover, it might just be
those that are interested in music.
Borders:
There are borders around the image to
make it look like a photograph picture
and it looks as if it was attached to
something to make it look as if it was
hanging. The purpose of this was to make
it more creative and so the target
audience will find this satisfying.

Rule of thirds:
Breaking the page into thirds(both
horizontally and vertically) so that you can Masthead & heading:
see where the hotspots are and the visual The masthead and the heading
points of interest are. The main image also Contents are at the top of the page.
acts as a hotspot because it is something that They all include red, white and black
the audience is going to focus on as they look which are the theme colours for this
at this page. The subheadings on the right magazine. This is done not to cause
hand side might also act as hotspots because confusion because the audience would
they are directing the reader where to look. expect the house style to be
continued.
Captions in picture:
Captions in a picture could be any text that is
found in the picture. We can see a little bit of
captions on the coach that end with Anchorage:
cruiser.com. This could possibly be the An Anchorage is how images are referred
coach company or website. The fact that it is to. The title Touring Special is acting as
not shown fully suggests that it might not be anchorage of the image because it tells
that important. that she will be touring with the coach
behind her.
Mode of address:
Mode of address is the way the magazine
communicates with the reader. We can see the
model in the picture pointing a the coach and
right underneath it is written Touring Special in
which us as the audience that will assume that
she is wealthy and she can afford her own coach
to travel with. The article is starting with thank
god which is building a sense of relief towards
 Masthead & heading:
The masthead and the heading
Contents are at the top of the page.
They all include red, white and black
which are the theme colours for this
magazine. This is done not to cause
confusion because the audience would
expect the house style to be
continued.
Fonts:
The masthead and the
contents title are in a large
bold font and the top of the page.
The Touring Special title is bold
text that is fairly big and then it
is followed by the smaller font
size text description. We can also
see that the index has really
small text fonts and this was to
fit a lot of the pages in the list.
The purpose of all this was to
show the audience what is more
important and what is least
important. For example, the side
bar with the different
subheadings is in a fairly large
font size which tells that it sis
more important to look at than
the index which is in a smaller
text font.

Font size and type:
Like a news article, the head line quite
large, bold and it stands out. The
subheading is however much smaller and
the text his not as thick. The article then
follows after which is much smaller in size.
They are all listed down in that order and in
the order of importance. The purpose of
that was to tell the audience what to read
first, what to read next and what to read
last.
Column width & positioning:
The four columns of the article can quite
short and they are not spaced out too much
so that it is easier to follow the script.
Caption:
There is a caption right below the title of the
article that describes what Dizzee Rascal has
been up to. This will come in helpful to the
audience because they will have a bit of
information what he has done previously.
Overall impression:
I think the double page succeeds in what it
was trying to achieve which was making the
audience get a glimpse of how he grew up
and this was shown through the images as
well as the graffiti.
Use of space:
Everything is not squished together and
the text is quite spaced out. The radio and
the bottles at the bottom do not go over or
behind the text to show that everything is
quite organised and this was to make the
audience focus on one thing at a time.
Colour:
On the main image on the left, we can
see multiple colours of the graffiti but his
bright red jackets stands out more. There
is black text colour but there is also faint
graffiti in the background of the page.
Target audience:
The target audience for this will
already know what his life must
have been like through the picture
and so they just have to read the
article if they want to know more
about their favourite model. As
there is alcohol and graffiti
present in the image, you can tell
that this can not be suitable for
children and so probably older
teens or adults.
Design:
The text seem to look as it is dropping
and the script seems to be avoiding going
over the radio and it just goes round it
and this technique is used to build a
sense of satisfaction to the audience.
Layout:
A grid layout is the way in which the text is
arranged. There is a grid in the text
because it is divided into four columns and
this type of grid is called Manuscript. The
purpose of this might have to fit in the
headline and the images below.
Mode of Address:
We are being told that the model might be
a dangerous yet rich man. This is through
the images and the title. The image on the
left is telling us that crime is dangerous
but if you have your money, then you can
get away with it. The bottles and the radio
also communicate in the same manor
because they are telling the audience that
all this alcohol comes from the fame of
producing hip-hop music. As the article is
about how Dizzee Rascal and how he grew
up, the bottles might connote that he used
to do a lot of drinking while producing his
music or he still does.
How image and text are
integrated:
The title says from tags to riches
and riches links in with the
models leather jacket because it is
shiny and bright to show that he is
quite wealthy. The text is also not
settled because some of the letter
seem to be sort of wavy. This links
in with the image because the
model is not settled and he wants
to break the rules which makes the
audience see him as a risk taker.
Use of images:
The images are used to represent the background
of the model and what sort of things they get up to
which informs the audience of what the model is
like. For example we can see the model on the left
hand side spray painting while looking behind him
as denoted. The connotation of this is that it
represents him as a criminal because he is doing
something wrong and so he is looking out for
possibly the police which tells us that these are
the sort of things he might sing about. We can also
see bottles of bear and a radio underneath the
article as denoted. This connotes that his music
might be associated with drinking.
The theme colours of the magazine All three pages have their The fonts of the headlines in all
'red, white and black seem to be own way of communicating three pages stand out and they
used in all three pages. with the audience all have a different way of
inviting the audience in.

The models in all three

pages are doing something
They all excite the audience in a that goes with their type of
way because they keep us genre and something that
entertained and discover more their target audience might
about the topic. enjoy.