Deconstructions for a music magazine

In this piece of coursework I tried to deconstruct two middle pages of NME magazine in as much detail as possible.

Deconstruction of a music magazine

Article 1: Amorphuous Androgynous.

This magazine article is an interview with the band the amorphous androgynous. This is a feature that has been published inside of music magazine NME.

Masthead:
The title of this particular magazine is simply the name of the band ‘Amorphous Androgynous’. Also there is a quote above it.
The name of the band is in san serif letters making it easier to read, it is in capital letters and in red meaning that it is the main title. The writing that it is in is interesting font, it looks like a font you would have seen in the 60’s, and it is comparison to the ‘hippy’ text that you would have seen during this time. This matches the style that the band is brandishing in the photo below.
Above the title is the quote ‘Hey! Come on! Take a trip with’ and then the name of the band. This line is there to make the reader feel that they are directly involved with the story and the band that it is talking about. This is also in capital letters and in black.

Main image:
The main image of the story is the band. It is based in a field and has natural surroundings like a horse to give the band a natural feel. The whiteness of the horse gives a tranquil, spacious feeling. The different members of the band are all looking directly at the camera and are all looking happy. The cloths as they are wearing as I mentioned before look like they date from the sixties and the hippy style of the clothing that they are wearing could also tell us about the music that they sing. As well as this the cloths all are very colourful and welcoming. You get the feeling that the band is a friendly, happy band because of the colour and the expressions that they are wearing. The sheer mass of greenery in the background also shows nature and health. The images that are on the opposite page are quite strange and the method that I think the editors are trying to tell us is that we have to read the article to fully understand what the pictures are telling us. These pictures differ from black and white to colour.

Writing style and layout:
From the writing style I believe that this particular article is trying to appeal more to the adult readers. I think this because there is a lot of writing, to much for a child or teenager to be interested in. Also the band is not that well known today and so the topics would not interest the reader as much as it would if it was a modern day band.
The subheading for the article is quite strange it dubs the band ‘a bunch of ex 90s rave heads’ this is not the normal method of advertising using the word ex tells us that they are has been and that for some reason they are not around anymore. The way that they make this a article that people will want to read is by introducing names like Noel Gallagher who is still very well known today. Also it includes the name Cobain we relate this instantly to Kurt Cobain. The second page of the magazine is nearly completely writing with four pictures and a quote.
The writing is also in a small font but it is a serif form of writing. It is set in columns, reading through the magazine it is quite hard to understand what has been written as it jumps from one thing to another. This backs up the idea that the article was made for adults. The colour of the font is black; this is a serious and professional colour and so shows the professionalism of the article.


Article 2: The year underage grew up.

Masthead:
The title for this article is ‘The year underage grew up’, straight away from this we know that this article will be talking about singing that has become famous at an early age. The title is written in large, black capital letters. They have used the large writing and the capitals letters to draw attention to the title and grab the reader’s attention. The ‘grew up’ part of the title is larger then the rest of the title because it is the main feature in the article, it is talking about growing up. The reason that it is in black is because it gives a professional and important feel to it. The subtitle or the writing that is below the title gives a brief explanation of what inside, this is just a taster to get the reader hooked and encourage them to read the rest of the article. There is evidence in this statement to depict the age that should be reading the magazine as it mentions the under 18 scene.

Main image:
There is no main image to this article, but there are eight images that show musicians before and after. The before images are all in black and white, this does not necessarily mean that they are old, but just highlights that these are the older forms of the singers. I can tell this because when we see a black and white image we relate it to a older time when media items like camera and television all showed black and white images. All of these black and white images are all telephoto and so taken without the starts knowing, this could mean that there former selves were oblivious to what they would later become. All of these shots are close ups and show them in a band situation for example with microphones or with instruments in the background. The after images are all in colour to show a fresh new musician. All of the images are close ups and all are looking directly at the camera which makes the reader directly involved as it looks like they are looking at them. It also shows that where before they had to work for the popularity they got they do not have to do as much of it now. These images have been made to look good and attract people to the bands or the singers. The colours have all been made to fit in with each other like in the first image the musician is wearing black and white and the background is white, in the second the band is wearing black and the background is red. It puts the musician in black or white in every image, these colours are very professional and important; they are the colours you would see a person wearing if they went to an important event and in a way are very spacious. As I said before the new pictures do not show the musicians with any form of musical equipment but in the last two pictures it shows the bands with other props that are not related to music in anyway, it is showing that nowadays we do not necessarily need to show them as image is now more important. It is important that these images are up to date because by putting them in the magazine they are also advertising them. In between the two images is a two-way arrow, the colour of this arrow is light blue which is a unisex image and therefore telling the reader that it is both for males and for females. The white writing that they have put on to it shows up great against the background. This writing is in white and capital letters, white shows up good against a blue background and gives a calming feeling as it is like the sky with the white clouds against the blue background. It is capital letters because it is important as the magazine is advertising the band.

Writing style and layout:
This writing unlike the last is much easier to understand, the language is more simply and it uses quotes that include things like ‘Beth Dittos bra and Alex Turners hair’ this backs up the claim that it is more for the younger generation as it uses language that will appeal more to children and teenagers. There is a lot of writing so I think that it probably more for teenagers. It does not only focus on the people in the pictures but a range of different bands and events. The writing is in a small font and like many other articles written in a serif font. It starts, also like many other articles with a large, bold letter that represents the first letter of the first word and that is purposefully put in to grab the reader’s attention. It is very easy to understand and has a layout in the style of columns that make it easier on the eye, rather then being dotted around everywhere. On the right hand side of the magazine is a fame and shame column which is something else that you would see in a teen mag. Once again they use the same light blue background and the white writing on it.
As well as this though they have also used black writing to highlight the important parts like the names of the musician and the fame and shame.