How far do MOJO and RNR use different media languages to create different connotations?
Look Carefully at the front covers of MOJO and RNR magazines.
QUESTION: How far do MOJO and RNR use different media language to create different connotations? (CONNOTATION meaning: an idea or quality that a word makes you think about in addition to its meaning.)
Answer on your blog. This is a high-value question and should take all lesson to answer. You can use the class blog search engine for more examples of how to analyse music magazines.
In your answer you should have 2 paragraphs:
analyse the media language in MOJO and RNR magazine. 'Media language' includes the placement of the main image, the type of photography, lighting, colours, fonts, how busy or restrained the cover is, the layout (such as alignment to the margins), how serious or playful
make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the media language is used differently in both extracts to create different connotations. Are there similarities in both covers? What sorts of audiences are they targeting? You could think about MOJO's rock aesthetic of living loud and dangerously compared to RNR's folk, rock, blues vibe.
Class Notes:
Take the biggest thing from each magazine, contrast, and compare.
Always Discuss MOJO first
Answer in threes
Most Mojo magazine covers often appear very visually busy but are still organised to some extent, it can be considered organised chaos. The front cover of this edition of Mojo music magazine features the rock band Foo Fighters and their frontman Dave Grohl. The centre of visual interest is a photo (taken at eye level) of Dave Grohl who is lit from the top very harshly in a colder light tone. This harsh lighting reveals every detail on his face and in his hair including wrinkles, making it seem as if he has suffered to get to the position he is in. His aggressive facial expression is composed of a wide grin almost as if he is snarling and wide eyes with frowning eyebrows makes it come across as if he is not afraid to fight and maybe an individual who does not see eye to eye with the law and authority, this may make the audience feel as if he is impetuous and gallant. His open arms with the claw-like pose of his hands make it seem as if he is grabbing onto something, his feet are planted widely grounding him within the world of the magazine cover making it seem as if he is dominating and in charge of the situation. Additionally, his grabbing pose has been positioned such that it appears he is holding the text "Foo Fighters" making him seem possessive over it, an accurate portrayal of reality as he has been the frontman and lead singer for years. The "Foo Fighters" are the rock band whose takeaway characteristics are described by the image of Dave Grohl but also accentuated by the white and red colouring of the font which makes it bright and punchy, allowing it to stand out even on a very busy (but organised) magazine cover such as Mojo. This allows audiences to easily see what the feature article is about and even entice them into reading the magazine in the first place if they know of the Foo Fighters. Furthermore, the drop shadow effect used on Foo Fighters text integrates it as part of the scene and as if it is ahead of the rest of the visual imagery like it were popping out of the magazine page and into real life. This would not only emphasise that the Foo Fighters are a radical band but maybe even unorthodox but also possibly allow somewhat visually impaired people to distinguish what the text says from the equally bright and busy background, while this may be an unintended side effect it nonetheless broadens the possible audience capable of enjoying this magazine cover and its content. The pull quote for the feature article states "We've been to funerals, we've been to jail..." which is placed at the same level as Dave Grohl's shoulders are indicating that it is not as important as his identity but is heavily linked to him and his band, this insinuation of importance draws more attention to the quote. The audience is notified of the fact this is a quote by the punctuation being used, quotation marks allow the reader to easily understand that is a quote and not written by a journalist or editor and its placement alongside Dave Grohl's shoulder shows that the quote is from him. This text, similar to almost all text on this front cover has a drop shadow to separate it from the background. The use of vocabulary such as "funerals" and "jail" create an image of the Foo Fighters as a rough and tumble collective of individuals with the fact that they visit "funerals" alluding to the fact that the field they work in is dangerous and they are seeing those close to them dying often ('often' implied by the fact "funerals" is plural). This diehard demeanour is sensational and tantalising to the average reader. The band also seems reckless due to the fact they have "been to jail" which shows they are possibly dangerous and certainly not law-abiding. The vibrant covermount has a green circular pattern that connects with the background of the rest of the cover's background stands out while not feeling out of place, this visual imagery of a skeleton playing the guitar not only relates to the pull quote about funerals but also is a visually stimulating image as it has illustrated scribbles come off of this that attract attention to it. The covermount runs directly to the edge of the page with no bleed unlike the cover lines and pull quote which is justified to a respective side of the screen with some spaced for a gutter. The cover lines are arranged in an organised manner and each line features the name of an artist and below it in a grey font (as opposed to a white font) a brief description of what the article is about, this is a convention of Mojo's magazine and how most covers are styled forming a solid connection with the audience. The RNR magazine cover is overall a lot more muted in colour and reserved in its styling making it feel docile and weary, it features Christy Moore as the centre of visual interest who has been lit from the side and had his photo taken at eye level with him. The lighting is warm and is not afraid to highlight his wrinkles, showing that he is old as he presents himself as an older individual. This warmer lighting allows the reader to feel more comfortable with the scene as the toning makes one feel at peace and relaxed. The fact he comes across as old adds to the tranquillity as older people are known for living simpler, more peaceful lives. Christy Moore is smiling and has a rather docile expression on his face with peaceful eyes staring into the camera inviting readers to explore the article with his jolly demeanour. The pull quote placed alongside his face emphasising the relation between his expression and what he has said further increases the relaxing tone of the magazine cover, the quote "These days it's yoga, camomile tea and three Our Fathers" demonstrates the activities Christy Moore gets up to in his old age and also represents the Christian religious group he is a part of, a relative majority compared to other religions in Britain and its diverse populous. The text itself has a drop shadow and is white in colour. The background colour is similar to that of the covermount which creates an overall theming to this magazine cover, the brown colour is almost sedating to the reader. The covermount includes a pun comprising of a Zebra in the bottom right-hand corner and the title of the covermount being "UN-herd" a play on words as a group of Zebra is called a herd but there is only one on the cover making it not a herd and the fact that the covermount is allowing readers to hear the unheard music of the artist, as "UN-herd" and unheard are homophones a pun is formed providing a bit of humour entertaining them and encouraging them to give the covermount a listen. The covermount is positioned in the bottom left corner of the magazine outside of the gutter, leaving a border between it and the edge of the page. The cover lines are justified to the right of the magazine cover along the margin but outside of the gutter. These cover lines very clearly list the artists featured in the additional articles informing the reader of what else they receive by reading the magazine, this in corroboration with the text in the bottom right above the barcode listing the qualities of the review section makes the reader feel as if they are getting their fill of content in a subtle and unobtrusive way.
In conclusion, I draw the conclusion that the RNR magazine cover and Mojo magazine cover have similarities in the fact that they are very busy and chock full of information, this is likely to utilise their front cover real estate as much as possible while still conforming to the style of the magazine they present themselves as. They also keep their covers organised despite having very different colour schemes and visual theming. RNR keeps a very muted colour scheme that feels reserved and respectful, this element of calm is vastly different from Mojo which has extremely bright and punchy visual imagery, many different colours, patterns and powerful font styles due to its appeal to rock fans and a more intense music style as a whole make it almost the complete opposite of RNR. This cover style may be considered disrespectful to the artists on the cover by audiences such as that of RNR who prefer a very respectful and muted magazine, which is what RNR provides. This view is likely because Mojo's magazine cover could be seen to be attention-grabbing and sensationalist which while it may not be RNR's audiences' cup of tea it certainly does appeal to Mojo's audience. The disparity between audiences is further accentuated by the cover lines of each cover, Mojo features artists such as Jarvis Crocker and Margo Price who would entice fans of these artists to read Mojo whilst RNR boasts musicians such as Peter Knight and Andy White, artists of entirely different genres connoting that each magazine appeals to different types of listeners. I find that the covers' differences are best exhibited in their covermounts. RNR has a covermount justified within the border of the cover whereas Mojo has a covermount justified to the edge of the page, this portrays how seriously each magazine prioritises its presentation, Mojo wants to fit as much content in as possible to captivate as many people as possible not caring how desperate they seem for an audience whilst RNR cares more about their elegance and style, staying in standing with those wishing for a carefully curated and sought out experience, these two audiences are unlikely to be enticed by the others' preferred magazine. This is further supported by the difference in the colour of the two covermounts, the Mojo covermount features a kaleidoscopic, visually stimulating background with a skeleton playing an electric guitar on it, the rock genre enjoying audience would be greatly appealed by this as it has a popular instrument used by rock artists and the skeleton's smart attire paired with a comic and absurdist sombrero is an unusual combination reminiscent of rock bands' "out there" stylings, this imagery would encourage many readers to want to listen to such a covermount. The RNR covermount, however, follows a set format for each publication and has a muted background colour similar to that of the overall background, this rigidity (except for special edition publications) appeals to readers that have a set expectation of quality and curation of content, every time a new edition is released there is always a singular zebra in the bottom right accompanied by the text "UN-herd" in the top left followed by the contents in the bottom left. This set format is very appealing to an older audience, similar in age to Christy Moore, the artist who is shown here. The representation of his demographic of that of a younger person of colour or someone similar to David Grohl shows that RNR is attempting to appeal to an older, Christian audience using their covermount (and front cover as a whole) whilst Mojo's representation of David Grohl shows an affinity to represent a middle-aged, rock-loving musician, similar to the middle-aged, rock-loving readership they are attempting to connect with using their covermount (and front cover as a whole).
