NME Double Page Spread Analysis

This is an article of the popular music magazine, ‘NME’, and consists of the artist Lily Allen being the main focus to the article.

In this article there only happens to be one main image present, and it is of Lily Allen and is incredibly large, taking up a full page all to itself. This is to show and emphasise upon heavy importance to Lily Allen as the main artist, and allows the viewer not to get disorientated at all by anything else; the attention always lies on her. The image displayed shows Lily Allen with her hands to her waist, and wearing a plain shirt, with the black hair and dark make-up. These features are important to the mise-en-scene for the article, and help to create the ideal image that they are looking for within the edition of the magazine, as she is presented to be a rock star. This is conveyed due to her posture, with her hands on her waist it can be implicated that she has little care for what is going on, giving her a rebellious sense of attitude, all from one picture. This is also displayed through her costume, as the plaid shirt is often affiliated with the dress sense of a rock star/ pop rock artist and the dark make up and pitch black hair further illustrates associates her with the rock culture and views her to be disobedient, due to her being against the norm. She is not wearing a fancy, glamorous dress with bright make up but instead much the opposite, which therefore conveys her to be exactly that.

The title to the page is a floating quote, which says, “People think I’m an attention seeker, but I’m just honest”. This quote is used powerfully in this context as it actually challenges the general and stereotypical, conventional views that people may hold over an artist in this specific genre of music. Since rock music is viewed to be very loud, chaotic, exciting and ‘messy’; it would not be unlikely for somebody to view Lily Allen as indeed being an attention seeker, however she has just outright told us that this is not what she is at all. We as the reader would be interested to read more into the article, to understand the artist that is Lily Allen more, as she doesn’t seem to fit into the stereotype and is therefore unique. So there is more to her that meets the immediate eye, making us curious and wanting to learn more. The quote also however reflects the personality that she is exhibiting through the image. It actually can be seen to be very ‘in-your-face’ and confrontational, due to the impression of her seeming to tell it how it is, to the grittiest of details, without willing to smoothen around the edges. This point also being accompanied by the fact that she is the only image on the pages, and is humongous, making her appear even more ‘in-your-face’. Yet, apart from these points, it still shows how much of a down-to-earth person she is, which would make us want to know her better through reading the article.

The form of the text, through the title is very conventional, yet unique, and fitting to the stereotype of the rock scene. It is presented in an imitating state of newspaper cut outs of letters, to form the writing. This creates a more dangerous and unsafe mood as this is something that criminals normally do, due to nobody being able to trace their handwriting. This makes the artist appear very delusional, and almost psychopathic as her speech is being presented as that of a criminal’s, therefore we get to judge her as being mischievous, dangerous and crazy, fitting to the ambience of the magazine. It adds to her confrontational, rebellious persona and fits into place with the feel of the magazine on a whole.

Double Page Spread Comparisons

These are double page spreads of the hip-hop magazine, ‘RWD’; and the rock music magazine, ‘Kerrang’.

Throughout the article of ‘RWD’ there is a distinct colour scheme that flows within the pages. Gold, white and grey are the colours most present and this colour pattern is reflected within the main images of the artists in the spread. The gold highlights the richness of their talent, and the royalty and prestigious values of the group, whereas the grey could be used to symbolise the maturity, class and unpretentious originality of the group, as grey is a plain, simplistic colour formed of a mixture of black and white, two colours that can also portray a down-to-earth persona. The colours happening to match the costume of the artists also simply creates for a far more aesthetically appealing look towards the magazine, and generates a vivid pattern and theme towards the edition of the magazine. They are in front of a white, plain background in order to maintain the sense of simplicity that they may have been going for, and sometimes adding too much to he background can create a clustered effect which can be distracting and disorientating towards the reader, making them focus too much of the background and not enough on the actual main images and text. The artist Will.i.am happens to stand out specifically in lighting and gold, as he is the main lead towards the group, and therefore this conception has been effectively and efficiently pinpointed in the spread.
The article of ‘Kerrang’ also effectively uses a colour scheme through the pages, with the key colours being red, black and grey. The genre of the magazine is that of rock, therefore the red heavily connotes this, as it is often a colour to symbolise a sign of danger and urgency, which is the vibe that is often purposely portrayed throughout rock music. The black background and grey/ black and white tone to the artists also gives off a dark and mysterious façade to the double page spread, which allows it to represent the rock genre more vividly as these qualities also represent it to a high degree.

The title ‘Will he. Won’t he?’ is very effective as it is not only representative of the colour scheme that has been produced within the double page spread, but it is also very representative to the main artist within the images of the double page spread. The main artist’s name being ‘Will.i.am’, the double page spread has allowed itself to affiliate more personally with him. It is a polysemy and has a diverse meaning to it as it is playing with his name and would suggest perhaps a mystery of whether or not he will change or not, and may possibly be the main topic within the article. It is also very effective due to the use of devices present within it. The line ‘Will he.’ is shown in gold text, while the latter part of the question is shown in grey text, emphasising on the fact that the lines contradict each other strongly. The use of alliteration and repetition within the question also forms a more powerful impact to it; as it becomes easily attached and stuck in ones head, due to the rhythm and tempo in which it can be said and the recurrence of the same letter and word being used.
The title being used in the ‘Kerrang’ magazine is also very effective, showing a floating quote that reads, “We’re being the best MCR we can be!” This can hold heavy impact upon the reader and draw them in as the quote as been immediately highlighted to catch the reader’s attention, therefore making them want to read into the article and find out what else the artists had to say. This quote is very demanding and powerful, as it is already presenting the band as this due to the word “best” being used and their claim to be the best to their ability. This part of the quote is also highlighted in a bigger, bolder and white text, (compared to the smaller, red text) showing its importance and significance.

For both magazines, the range of magazines happens to show and present the artists with intense and distinguished character. The double page spread for ‘RWD’ presents the artists all in the same height level, meaning that although their may be a clear main artist to the group, illustrated by the highlighted colouring on this artist, all the artists are still equally important and significant into making the group what it is. This is also depicted by the concept of having each artists posed in their own individual way, meaning that they all have their own persona and character to bring to the group, which is what truly makes the group whole.
Although the ‘RWD’ article is clearer in showing importance and uniqueness of each artist to the band, the ‘Kerrang’ article helps to create a far more authentic vibe and temperament to the artists, and the images also have an incredible amount of character to them. None of the images shows the artists actually directly looking at the camera, making everything seem much more natural and brings a more vibrant sense of realism and immersion. It shows them in the studio and the booth producing their work, and therefore also conveys a more down-to-earth feel to the article, in assistance to the partial black and white colour scheme to the article as well.

The layouts of both texts are simple, and easy to read which is a key feature to making a successful article, as there would be no point in the article whatsoever if the person trying to read it was having massive problems reading it, or even to an extreme extent not being capable of reading it at all.

Best Photos For Other Artists.

I have decided that these images will work to the most suitable extent for the magazine, a both can strongly convey a person with compelling characteristics, both happening to seem confident in their own ways, however one more proud and passionate, conveying the magazine's genre well as this is the eeling that the music is supposed to display. The other artist appears more layed back and 'chilled', connoting the name and genre of the 'Smooth' magazine to a vivid level as well.

Although the attire works well and suits the magazine, the facial expression does not connote the character that I wan't to create for this artist, therefore I will not use it in the magazine.

I did not use these images of these artists as I either did not feel that they fitted the ideal specification of the characters I was trying to convey, or there would have been too many difficulties in terms of cropping out the picture, making it lose it's quality. Many of he photos were actually pretty good, however I believe that the ones I had chosen work best for the genre of the magazine, and the character of the sub-artists.

Photos of Other Artists

I had used these two people to be present in my contents page as other artists, to add to the authenticity and realism of it becoming an actual contents page. I also wanted to add a few younger artists which could appeal to the slightly younger target audience, (my review of the survey revealed that there is still a slight, existing fanbase for the younger audience), however they still needed to follow the theme of the mise-en-scene that will be used for the magazine so I made sure to take photos of them that followed it's pattern and stayed true to the brand identity.

The first and third images happen to be most appropriate of use as in these they happen to be the most central to the camera's attention, not be involved in distracting backgrounds, and show a distinct character that could portray both their character, difference in age and distinct persona.

The Photo Shoot

A slideshow presentation of the photoshoot.

The Photo Shoot

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Dismissed Costume And Props (Mise En Scene)

The items and clothing that didn't make it into the photoshoot.

Dismissed Costume And Props (Mise En Scene)

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Successfully Taken Photos (Ending)

Although these two pictures had sufferred from slight blur, I still believe that either could work out great for the magazine, especially the bottom one. It paints a calm and down-to-earth characteristic within this artist which I believe the target audience would be extremely fond of, as due to their higher maturity this is what they'll be seeking, not anything flashy, showy or florid as they would most likely view that to be unnecessary and distracting from the theme and brand identity.

These images will strongly be considered for use in the contents pages or the double page spread.

The second and last photos work out very well and could be suitable for use within the magazine, due to the calm postures which illustrate a strong sense of maturity within the group.

The second image, although suffering from minor blur, is an ideal picture I would like to have somewhere in my magazine, most likely in the the contents page or the double page spread, so I have decided to add it in the 'Successfully Taken Photos' category due to these reasons.

I am very fond of the second and third pictures and will put serious consideration into using them for the magazine.

The second picture has, in my opinion, the greatest lighting and shadowing out of all the other photos in my caliber. The shadowing can show her to be the mysterious lead artist, due to her being covered in the darkness, whom we as the reader would definately wan't to know more about. The shading present also displays her to have a great deal of power, and almost creates her to be somewhat of a superhero, especially when combined with the fact that she has her arms to her hips, showing her to be standing tall and proud. This all helps to connote a sense of leadership and rule to the artist that is 'Denise Greene'.

The third picture represents greatly the kind of character that 'Jamie Biggums' is supposed to be, showing a charming, humourus and fun side that he seems to possess to the greatest extent in comparison to the other characters. He is widely smiling while playing on the key prop, his instrument, which not only shows slight hilarity to the artist, but also a true passion for his work and tells us as the audience that the artists enjoy and love what they do.