Starter activity… How is this image…

i) Framed?

ii) Polysemic?

iii) an example of colour connotation?

AS Media StudiesTextual Analysis of Similar Products

Aim of session

To understood what is meant by textual analysis. To produce an analysis of a magazine front cover.

What is a media “text”?A media text refers to any media product, received in any form, which we can analyse. It does not have to include any ‘text’ at all.

Therefore – textual analysis refers to looking closely at that ‘text’ and deconstructing it for meaning…i.e. breaking it down into chunks to understand how each bit sends us a message…

Remember these terms?

ConnotationsPolysemy

10 minute task…Deconstruct this cover.

Comment on:

Mast head / typography (Brand Identity)

Colour Scheme and dominant colours.

Images and their meanings.

Applying this to music magazines

When we deconstruct music magazines, we must go one step further, and we must also analyse the ‘conventions’ of this genre.

This means looking closely at all the elements such as banner, strapline, pull quote, etc.

What do we mean by the term conventions?

Conventions The recurring elements that we associate with a particular

magazine.

This will differ depending on the genre of the magazine

Firstly - You must identify your sub genre…(give me 3 conventions you

would associate with each sub-genre)

Dance (Mix mag / DJ)

Hip Hop (Vibe / The Source)

Retro / Classic rock (Mojo / rolling stone)

Rock (Kerrang / NME)

Indie (Q / NME)

Next… You now have to annotate your magazine cover, using proper

media terminology… (identify any feature you think fits with ‘retro / classic rock sub genre’)

Next… You now have to annotate your magazine cover, using proper

media terminology…

Colour scheme – Grey, white and red. Grey has connotations of seriousness and age but the red retains the more dangerous, rebellious connotations associated with rock music.

Typography - Two examples, one hand written and one courier font. Both these have associations with tradition and class – stressing the more classic aspect designed to appeal to an older demographic.

Cover / main image – black and white – connotations of the past and retro style . Rule of thirds draws attention to shades – giving a sense of cool.

Writing a detailed Textual Analysis These are then written in essay form. Need to be at least 500

words. You turn your notes into clear paragraphs.

You must use proper technical vocabulary to analyse each element of a magazine, seeing which codes and conventions it uses, and how these create a particular meaning. Here is an example…

“The colour scheme in this particular magazine is vitally important and can be linked directly to its sub genre, Rock. Rock is a musical sub genre associated with darker subject matter – such as rebellion or subversive behaviour. The Use of red text on a black background in the mast head fits with these associations. The black could be linked to ideas of night-time, or even death, whilst the red could connote violence, passion or even satanic connections.”

Pick out any language which is media specific or you feel elevates the quality of this paragraph.

Writing a detailed Textual Analysis

“The colour scheme in this particular magazine is vitally important and can be linked directly to its sub genre, Rock. Rock is a musical sub genre associated with darker subject matter – such as rebellion or subversive behaviour. The use of red text on a black background in the mast head fits with these associations. The black could be linked to ideas of night-time, or even death, whilst the red could connote violence, passion or even satanic connections.”

How to structure… Work in a logical way. Firstly…

Introduction) – Explain which sub-genre your magazine belongs to and which genre conventions you’d expect to see from a magazine in this sub-genre.

Then: You can either deconstruct your images from top to bottom or…

Section 1) Cover image, colour scheme (back ground colour and dominant colours).

Section 2) Mast head, anchorage and typography.

Section 3) Promos, pugs, secondary images and additional information.

Conclusion – say overall which features are most important to the message / impact of the piece.

Sometimes you will need to link these ideas – but if you try to work logically in sections this way, it gives your analysis structure.

Time to start…

Choose your magazine cover and annotate it from top to bottom.

Once you have done – begin writing up your textual analysis – the quality of your written English is not vital, but it does give a strong impression if it is done well.

HW –Finish this for Monday.