Friday 19 November 2010

LIIAR Interpretation of Kerrang magazine cover


Language - The model, named Brian Molko I'm assuming from the headline, is looking straight at the viewer, which makes them feel involved. The intensity of the stare supports this feeling profusely due to the fact that it makes you feel like he's looking straight inside you. The camera is at an extreme close-up, which gives the image a sense of intimacy, like it's just you and him alone. He's wearing quite a fair bit of makeup because, in this proximity, you'd be able to see lots of imperfections that you wouldn't spot from any further away. The makeup isn't just to cover up any imperfections; it's part of his image. Without the makeup his image would be in tatters and without an image he'd just be like any other singer - boring, ordinary and just another face in the crowd. With a little bit of makeup and some funky clothes he goes from regular nobody to singing superstar, which is what every singer wants to be. The masthead is black on a a red background, which is very striking and stands out a lot. The name of the magazine is striking in itself as it's sort of a use of onomatopoeia. The word Kerrang sounds a bit like an electric guitar sound. It sounds dynamic and exciting and makes you think of rock music.
Institution - The institution is Kerrang, which in turn part of the institution of Bauer Consumer Media. Bauer also publish Heat, Match and Yours, which are all very different to Kerrang. The fact that they publish so many varieties of magazine tells us that the company is very diverse and they cater for all types of people so as to broaden their appeal. Also, the model is obviously an unconventional character, but he's on the front of their magazine, which makes us think they don't discriminate against the strange types of people.
Ideology - The fact that the model wears makeup tells us that the magazine doesn't care about whether the person looks odd, they are more interested in the music. They don't care about what kind of morals a person has or how they look, they focus specifically on the music that person plays. That isn't to say that they don't like to make an impact because they really do. They like to choose the most shocking of people, a man wearing makeup is the definition of shocking, so as to really stand out from the other rock music based magazines. We know they like to shock people by the few headlines that read 'What's wrong with cannibalism? Murderdolls bite back!' because cannibalism is illegal and it's like they're promoting it, which would certainly shock people. Going back to the model, his look, which is quite unique, tells us that it's okay to be different and not comply with the conventions other people expect.
Audience - The target audience is any person who enjoys rock music. Those would mainly be young males, however, the magazine could appeal to anyone who's into that type of music. The price reflects the aim that it's for young people because it costs £1.80, which is fairly cheap, cheap enough for a student to buy it. It would be cheap enough for people from the E class in the social classifications to buy.
Representation - The model on the front tells us that the magazine promotes those who have an edge to them, who don't comply with the rest of the world's expectations. In reverse, this tells us that Brian Molko on the front cover promotes magazines who like unique people like him. The two aspects, the magazine and model, use each other for promotion opportunities. This is an example to synergy, where one piece of media helps another in return for help from them. The model is using the magazine to sell his tour and the magazine is using him to sell them. It's a simple cycle. The magazine presents the model as something to aspire to somebody to look up to and hope to be like one day. He wants to be a role model to people and they want somebody to use as a role model on their magazine.

No comments:

Post a Comment