Theory task 2

Theory task 2

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  THEORY TASK 2 HannahFlowers
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  CONTEXT • The productwhich I have chosen to analyse is a men’s fitness magazine. I have chosen ‘Men’s fitness’- they are many different issues for different countries, but I am analysing the British issue. ‘Men’s Health UK’ was founded in 1995 with a circulation of 203,053 (July- Dec 2013 statistics). This magazine is based in London and is the most popular men’s fitness magazine in the United Kingdom, beating GQ and Esquire. The magazines main aim is health, sex, relationships, weight loss and nutrition. The monthly magazine has a target audience of 30-50-year-old males who are looking to better their body. Most of the front covers of ’Men’s Health’ have aspirational images with bold mastheads. Sometimes with the front covers they have a celebrity on the front- this is normally a sports man who everyone knows- this gives the audience a boost to buy this product because of the reputation of the sports man.
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  FRONT COVER ANALYSIS •Technical elements- Font choice and use of masthead helps the consumer with deciding whether to buy the magazine. The bold font choice and the bright colours on the front cover grab the consumers attention. This matches with the admirable body of the model which most of the audience will admire to be. • Written elements- The informal and casual language attract the audience. Pull quotes selected to appeal to the target audience. • Symbolic elements- The ultimate symbol is the model punching the ceiling. Maybe this could show how strong the model is and that maybe the consumer could be like this. The text on the banner is ‘Mind tricks from us navy seals!’ is almost ripping down the banner to say that he's completed it. Another symbolic element is the dripping shape. It looks like fat as this is what is in the big letters in the masthead.
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  THEMES • The obviousit seems the main theme of this magazine is fitness. This is very clear as it is all you see on the front cover is fitness tips. Another theme of this magazine is numbers. There is an obsession with numbers in fitness magazines, there are at least 4 examples of numbers. One of the mastheads is “14 ways to”- this is a very low number which would entice the audience to buy the magazine because it might be something which is very easy to do.
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  CONTENT • This isa typical double page spread which you would find in a men's health magazine. This from the Men’s Health UK issue. Men’s fitness magazines contain similar articles on the same range of subjects, they are concerned with exercising, diet, clothes, women and sex. The fact that the consumers can still remain fit while eating cake from these recipes would really appeal to them. The recipe section almost represents a traditional food magazine which have a audience of mainly women. But in this double page spread it is almost as if it is not food, it is energy as well. It is as if the recipes aren’t meant to be nice, but it is good for you and gives you protein.
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  REPRESENTATION I think throughoutthe whole magazine they are a few groups which are represented. From the front cover you can see the different types of personalities which might want to buy this magazine. The masthead “14 ways to wipe your party history clean”. This can appeal to the older generation who might be dealing with ‘dad bods’. Another masthead which would attract another group would be ‘How to get away with office sex’ this is more for a younger male audience who are not settled down. I think throughout this whole magazine; the main generic group is males but with the different articles they are appealing to any age range. I also think that there is a generic social status and sexuality to this magazine, most of the men who read this will be down to earth men in their late 30+ but they will have a middle-class social status with a heterosexual sexuality. I don’t think the group should be defined by the religion, but I would say by the generic models on the front cover that most of the audience’s ethnicity will
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  LANGUAGE • The writtentext before the recipes is very persuasive. Its motivational which is something that it imperative in fitness magazines. The articles which are published need to motivate and persuade the consumer so that they will want to try this new diet. The direct mode of address serves as the reader wanting to achieve this goal – almost a challenge. The drop capital shows a natural convention of an article, the bold text and the black rectangle before the article might grab the audience’s attention.
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  MISE EN SCENEFOR FOR FRONT COVER • Costume- the way he is dressed is almost like he is one of the readers, he's not dressed in anything elaborate which the reader won’t have- instead he is topless to show the genre of the magazine. The pose of the model is showing a punching pose, this might be, so he is showing off his muscles as well as punching through that ribbon to show masculinity. The masculinity shines through this model with his tattoos. The colour of the front cover will definitely grab the reader’s attention. Red is a very vibrant colour which can be associated with power and energy. This could be a representation to what the reader wants. The blue and purple contrast with the red and make it almost seem less intense, so it doesn’t seem to scare the reader off. Clearly the black bold writing is the one that stands out, the colour matches the shorts of this model which will give an impression that this masthead has something to the model.
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  • This doublepage spread is very noticeable. I think the white background makes the images stand out as well as the bold title. The colours in this double page spread are very vibrant. The first image which I think catches your eye first is the cake, the rich colours and the size of the image. The image looks very moist and delicious. The bright blueberries also give this double page spread a flash of light. MISE EN SCENE FOR FOR DPS
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  USE OF CAMERA/EDITING WheneverI look in a magazine the first thing I notice is the images and how the camera has adapted to the surroundings and if the image is attractive to me as a reader. Throughout this men’s health magazine there are various images which look as though they have been taken to simply attract the reader. The front cover is an example of this, the angle is at a low angle which might make the reader feel as though the model is more superior, if they get fit like him then they might be on the same level. The angle of the camera makes the reader look directly at the model’s abs- this could make the reader jealous of the model’s physique. The lighting in the front cover is very bright and compliments the fitness model. The medium long shot is a great shot to show the body of the model- the main aim for a fitness magazine is to get fit, by having a fitness model who is a ‘dream body’ for other males out there and to show them in a medium long shot it gives the full idea of the fitness model. I think the editing of the photos is very minimal. I think only in certain aspects there have been edited, the double page spread might have been edited in a few ways. I think the shots have been put together to contrast with each other. The blueberries in the double page spread contrast with the brown colour of the cake- it almost shows a contrast of healthiness from
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  PHOTOGRAPHY STYLES • Ithink throughout the magazine the photography style changes, from going to a staged photoshoot in a studio to a couple on candids on the recipe double page spread. I think what also makes it unusual for the double page spread is that there isn’t normally a studio taken images, especially for a men's fitness magazine. However, I think the blueberries might have been staged to look that mouth-watering, but the images advertise the recipe and make the reader want to try this recipe. In this type of magazine, you wouldn’t see typically any paparazzi type of photography shots. You would most likely see a candid, studio or portrait image in here. I think this magazine is fun but professional this is shown through the photographs; the studio photography is professional with no blurry images. This men's magazine has 40 editions in 47 countries being one of the largest men's fitness magazine, I think the photography styles that they have chosen to have to be popular photography styles, so they look good in all of the editions.
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  TYPOGRAPHY • A frontcover is something which should attract the reader as soon as they lay eyes on it. The typography is one of the main factors which helps with the attraction. As soon as you look at a front cover the first thing you notice is the bold large text ‘get a body like this’. The fact that it is the only black text on the front cover is the main masthead, this is the thing that will attract the reader the most. The front cover is quite crammed with different mastheads, the red and blue contrast with the white background this makes the mastheads stand out. There are quite a lot of different fonts on the front cover which can be awfully confusing for the reader. For the double page spread, the text is very small compared to the front cover. The drops cap is something which is seen on most articles, but the bold font stands out- it almost makes it seem like it is a more important because of the bold font.
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  BIBLIOGRAPHY • .. (.). ..Available: http://karenhaller.co.uk/press.htm. Last accessed 12/09/2019. (front cover) • .. (.). .. Available: https://proteinpow.com/press. Last accessed 11/09/2019. • (double page spread)