Textual Analysis

Content Codes.

The colour scheme of 'Kerrang' magazine is mainly black, white and red. These colours are appealing to the typical type of reader of 'Kerrang' magazine. The colours would mainly appeal to boys, however dark colours would also appeal to girls who are into this genre of music. The cover models are 'Bring Me The Horizon' who are an all male rock group. The band appear to be in their early to mid twenties. Class is hard to determine from this picture but they are dressed smartly and all look tidy and well presented. They are white-british. The lead singer of the band is showing his fist which could be to show power and control. The fact that he is showing the tattoo on his hand could also be a sign of power. The band are not pulling happy expressions but they don't look aggressive either. They are pulling average, carefree expressions. All of the band are using a subjective gaze which helps to draw in the reader and make the band appear friendly and interesting to read about.

Technical Code.

The shot distance of the main image is a medium close up. The camera angle is just a normal eye level which means the band are directly facing the reader. The main camera focus is on the lead singer of the band because he is the most well-known and looked-out for. This is a good idea because it means that people will recognise the band straight away and want to read the magazine. The image is smooth and in colour however there isnt much colour on the actual image. The band are dressed in black suits so the only colour on the actual photograph is the eye colours, hair colours and tie colours. There is no use of shadow on this image. I think the lighting appears natural but also quite bright and high key. The main cover line is the name of the name because it draws people to the magazine who have heard of or like this band. It is written over the image which works well because it's matching the name with the image almost like a caption. This not only looks good on the front cover but it is also advertising the band. The colour of this main cover line is white and bold and fairly big writing which again draws in the reader. All of the fonts on the front cover appear to be bold and either white, red or black.

Language Codes.

There aren't many words used on the front cover however the words that are used are not complex or confusing. Most of the words are simply names of bands. On the front page it says 'Metallica storm the UK.' This type of language shows us that the magazine is not serious but it's also not a complete joke. I think the language is trying to make the reader feel like part of the rock scene themselves. Posters and interviews about stars might influence young musicians to try and pursue a career as a recording artist. Words such as 'storm' sound quite harsh and relate quite well to the rock scene. This again links back to when I said that I think this magazine is fairly male orientated. On this front cover there is no use of rhetorical devies and there aren't really any cover lines except the main cover line introducing the main band of that particular edition. I think the reason for this lack of information and words is because Kerrang is a music magazine and a lot of the content is pictures and short interviews and facts rather than lots of writing.

Overall I think that the producers preferred reading it that it's a unique magazine and it doesn't follow all the conventions. Most magazines have gripping cover lines to draw you in whereas 'Kerrang' seems to prefer using pictures and names of bands which people will recognise. This is a different but still successful technique because either way the reader is being drawn in. I think the magazine is also supposed to be seen as jokey and aspirational because, as I previously mentioned, a lot of young teenagers will buy this magazine regularly because they themselves want to be a rockstar.