Analysis of a magazine front cover

Research

Rihanna is presented as a seductive, confident person but her style of clothing seems to imply she's a sexual object. The mise-en-scene is important in constructing these representations. For example her clothing is see-through and extremely low cut with a lot of skin showing which suggests she is going for a sultry look. Her dress is mainly coloured grey with splashes of red; however the red blends in with the rest of the dress and her light brown skin. There is also a look of sophistication with her. As I've mentioned before, she seems confident with herself which compliments the sophisticated nature of her dress. Her hair and make-up reinforce the alluring look, with both her lipstick and her hair being bright red which, rather than blending in with her skin tone, appear to ask for attention as they stand out compared to the rest of her look. The shade of red used is extremely bright and manages to steal your attention as they are distinctively different compared to the otherwise soft colours used. The colour red is also often associated with sexual temptation, and Rihanna wearing this red lipstick also puts an emphasis on her representation as a sexual object. It also highlights the fact that she is a confident and seductive being.

The background shows an ocean with a sunset in the distance. Rihanna seems to be on a ship or perhaps a balcony.  When the magazine using this setting they also seem to be selling this type of luxurious lifestyle, so the audience is more inclined to purchase this magazine because of their unspoken desires to be in that position and by buying the magazine you could say they feel closer to it.

When mise-en-scene is combines with the camerawork these features are broadened even more. A low angled log-shot was used here, showing the majority of her body. The low angle makes her seem more desirable because it draws attention to her body figure, most specifically her curves. Rihanna's posture is also a topic of discussion here. Her chest seems to be thrust forwards and because her body is tilted to the left her waist also seems very small.

Planning

From this magazine cover analysis I've gained an understanding on how camerawork can put an emphasis on how a person's look and status is represented to the audience. Because of the clear aim here to present Rihanna as sexy, looking at the cover using mise-en-scene and analysing the camerawork made that objective clearer to see, and easier to present in my research. This has also highlighted to me the stereotype used to present black women to society as objects used for intercourse, with no unique personality shown through her looks or posture in this cover.

Analysing the front cover of a magazine

The image depicts David Beckham in a red Adidas fleece. Adidas is a sports brand, and David Beckham is a male ex-athlete so both of these features attract the target audience of sporty men because many people idolise him as an elite footballer and Adidas is a worldwide famous brand that is trendy for athletic men in terms of fashion therefore men who are conscious of how fit their body is will be more inclined to purchase it. David Beckham is also looking directly into the camera lens so he seems to be staring straight at the audience which draws in the customer and makes them feel like Beckham is targeting his gaze to them and since his image is also overlapping the title he looks like he’s in front of the text on the cover which emphasises the fact that he is standing out to the reader directly.

The title says “Men’s Health” so it again naturally appeals to males in general because most males are concerned for their health. The title is orange, which is a similar colour to the red Adidas fleece. Because of these blend of colours, the front seems more pleasing to the eye. There are no extravagant colours to distract the reader; instead there is a simple layout that isn’t complicated.

The coverlines seems to target the audience’s ego. They use women as an incentive to buy the magazine and mention various ways in which to look great. The coverlines seem to not talk about health but rather fashion and what is attractive for a guy to look in. “101 Ways To Look Great”. 101 is printed in the same shade of red as his Adidas which again corresponds to the readers eyes as a matching colour.

The title says “Men’s Health” so it again naturally appeals to males in general because most males are concerned for their health. The title is orange, which is a similar colour to the red Adidas fleece. Because of these blend of colours, the front seems more pleasing to the eye. There are no extravagant colours to distract the reader; instead there is a simple layout that isn’t complicated.

The coverlines seems to target the audience’s ego. They use women as an incentive to buy the magazine and mention various ways in which to look great. The coverlines seem to not talk about health but rather fashion and what is attractive for a guy to look in. “101 Ways To Look Great”. “101” is in the same shade of red as his Adidas which again corresponds to the reader’s eyes as a matching colour.

                                         

“101 Ways To Look Great” is the clearly the main coverline on the magazine. It automatically appeals to the social belief that we should be attractive and so most who read that slogan will be intrigued about how they can achieve that. Additionally, everyone wants to look good regardless of society’s beliefs.  It’s positioned next to David Beckham’s head as the first article and the numbers are in a broad red which sticks out in comparison to the black font that is used for the rest of the title.

The tagline is “Style with Muscle”, a catchy slogan which again appeals to the reader’s responsiveness of the word “Muscle”. Again, men’s stereotypically known beauty standard is muscly so men who possess that feature will want to know how to show off those muscles or style clothes to highlight them which is what the slogan is made to aim at.

Grey, black, red and orange are all used in the writing of the magazine cover. The grey is insignificant in comparison to the other, much broader colours. Black is the most used colour for coverlines with the lower cases in the quiet grey. Both complement each other as they are next to each other on the colour scheme. As are orange and red. Orange is used for the headline of the magazine and a little string of words which also stick out because they are next to the black letters. Black and orange aren’t near each other on the colour scheme so with the grey whitewashed background they are even more noticeable. The words are “All-Star Style” which again appeals to men’s wants of wanting to be the best. These colours are simple and go in pairs with each other and so the layout of the cover page is also simple which makes it easy to read as there is no complicated colour scheme used.

The language is Standard English, but not completely formal as there is a friendly tone used. Again it is easy to understand so it follows the theme of simple style so as to not overwhelm the reader’s mind. Socially, men are not known to enjoy detail and excessive words, and the magazine has used that stereotype to map out this magazine.