Article Analysis 3

Magazine article analysis: XXL #2
This final article I will be analysing is a filmography type article; it contains a written timeline of what the singers /rappers have done in film/ television. It is a detailed summary of how they got into acting and how music linked in with it. This article is useful for analysing as it links in with the genre of music magazine I will be creating in my final piece.
Layout and Organization
The layout of this single page article is very neat and formal, much like the other article I analysed from this magazine; the main text of the article is at the bottom half of the half of the page with the main image, mast head and smaller images at the top half of the page. There is also a small summary of the artist’s filmography in the bottom right hand corner. The masthead covers the right corner of the main picture without obscuring the artist; it uses a bold and block capital text and it is next to the running black line which goes down the whole right hand side of the page. This is used purely for the layout and to link it with the other articles in this section (special Hollywood pages) as they all have this line down the page. Underneath the masthead there is a sub heading and an arrow pointing to the main picture, however this arrow is not that bold so the article still holds its formal and organized look. The two small pictures only cover a small corner of the main picture so that the focus is still on this photo, they have sharp square edges and this stops it looking messy and informal.
The main text is in four columns like a newspaper; it uses black simple text and has occasional words in bold that are wanted to be highlighted. In the small filmography in the bottom corner there is a heading that uses the same font as the masthead as it wants to be bold and eye-catching. The text underneath is in blue font to make it stand out from the main text and is separated once again by bold text.
The main picture depicts the rapper ‘Ice Cube’ sitting in a chair not looking directly into the camera, giving the feeling of superiority above the audience, he also looks relaxed and effortlessly ‘cool’. The picture is black and white which matches the colour-scheme of mainly black and a white background; it also makes the photo look professional and sophisticated. This is perhaps how he wants to be perceived and it stands out from the smaller coloured pictures giving it emphasis.
The colour-scheme is black and white with occasional blue text that is meant to stand out and be separated from the other parts. The blue also stops the article form looking boring and makes it more eye-catching.

Maintaining Interest
The audience maintains interest throughout the article because of it’s easy to read layout and formal and sophisticated look. Firstly the overall layout grabs the reader’s attention without ‘shouting’ at them; this is done by the bold black colours used all over the page and the professional black and white looking photo which stands out against all the coloured photos in the magazine giving it an individual and subtle change. The bold words capture the audience’s attention as they highlight the names of singers/ relevant info and the way in which the text has incorporated quotes into it. It is a very conversational style article which makes it flow and easy to read.

Language/layout used for target audience
The target audience I feel for this magazine is a male audience in their twenties, I also believe after studying this magazine deeper that the magazine is aimed at mainly a black audience as all of the artists featured are of this race and the adverts are the same. Also in this particular article this is mentioned: ‘...institutionalized racism against Black people’ which is made to stand as an important moment in musical history in this magazine. This audience is a very cultured audience making it a very individual and not at all mainstream magazine.
-Layout
The layout of this article appeals to the target audience because of its formal and sophisticated organization. After all the genre of music is all about style and relaxed and subtle ‘coolness’, unlike rock music it isn’t about shouting out and standing out to attract attention. All the colours; black white and blue are key masculine colours and these appeal to the target audience. The whole organization of the magazine is very simple, it isn’t complicated looking; there is the text and images placed separately on the top half and the bottom half of the page so that it is easily readable.
-Language
The language used occasionally relates to the way in which the audience would talk to each other when speaking about music, it is conversational and informal and is straight to the point. The mast head of the article is the name of the artist it is about, which is simple but is obviously enough to catch the audience’s attention; it is again keeping straight to the point. There is use of colloquial and conversational style language on the brief introduction: ‘PC Gangsta’ which is a term that is linked with this genre of music and gives an idea of what this artist is being represented as.
The first line is a short simple sentence ‘It’s funny.’ which is seriously informal and is usually recognised in a conversation between two people; this makes the reader yet again feel as though they are listening into the conversation. The whole article is like a timeline, giving the historical backgrounds on the films Ice Cube has starred in and name dropping the films and some quotes from these films: ‘You got knocked the f**k out!’ which happens to be a very violent based humour with swearing, this keeps the audience interested as they may reminisce to the film if they have watched it in the past. There is alliteration used which speeds up the flow of the article and makes it more readable and interesting: ‘groundbreaking gangsta group’ and this appeals to all audiences as an article with no description wouldn’t be interesting.
There is a vast quantity of swearing in this article as it is obviously a common way of speaking in this culture of music and occasionally the language used is slightly complex... However the text is still simple but the odd complex word shows an intellectual and sensible side of the genre of music: ‘hugely lucrative sequels-establishing Cube’s production company’ this gives the magazine a more serious side.
At the end of the article there is a small biography of Ice Cube which summarises his luck with stardom and how successful he has been in the film industry. It is a positive end to the article and leaves the audience feeling satisfied that they have recognized the stars achievements.