Textual Analysis 3.

Magazine No.3

Denotation:

The magazine consists of a colored photograph of a woman looking directly into the camera. It is a medium long shot photo showing her knees and upwards. The background is black outlined flowers placed onto a white background. In front of the photograph are several cover lines coloured, pink, purple, black and white. The woman shown in the photograph name is placed on her right side in bold, pink writing. “Christiana Milian”.

Masthead:

Rap Up magazine’s masthead is distinguishing as it is different from other music magazine mastheads. Pink with no outline and no drop shadow. The “U” in the word “Up” has an upright arrow. The font used is san serif font modernising the magazine. The boldness of the word “Rap- Up” stresses it and gives it emphasis. It also relates to the genre “Rap” which is bold and strident.

Character:

The coloured photograph is of American recording artist, actress, dancer and model Christian Milian.

Composition:

Christiana is posed a seductive and saucy way. Her body language, pose and clothing are sexy and hot.

Costume: Her clothing is a pair of jeaned shorts with silver studs placed on the left sided pocket, a grey vest top with a piece of lace placed at the top and a purple leathered jacket with rolled up sleeves. She is accessorized with a pair of black shaded sunglasses, a pink leathered gloved, hopped gold earrings and a bangle.

NVC: Her NVC is also seductive as she stands tilted to her right side as she places her hand onto her bare skinned leg and has her finger onto her lips as she looks directly into the camera.

Lighting: The lighting is high keyed as it focuses on her face and body bringing notice to her.

Setting: There is little setting other than a white with black outlined flowers.

Cover lines

The main cover line is the cover line that is related to Christian Milian “‘Shh! Christiana Milian ‘My secret is...’ “This links to the message shown through her NVC in the photograph. The way she is positioned with her finger on her lips connotes secrecy and this also means the onomatopoeia “Shh” that is part of the main cover line. The other cover lines include artists such as Plies, Brandy, Robin Thicke, T.I., John Legend, Soulja Boy, Shontelle etc. The cover line show us that the magazines concentration is of the genre R&B and Hip-hop and it not all about music but also fashion “ It’s a buyer’s market: 18 essentials to keep your swagger on lock!” The font of the cover lines is of san serif which connotes the magazine being up to date, up to date, with its gossip, fashion and music.

Target Audience

The target audience would be male and female mainly females due to the feminine colours used for the colour scheme of the magazine and the gossip the magazine contains. Females are usually the gender to be associated with gossip. The age range is from the age of 18 and above.