Language: One main article for 2 pages. The emphasis is placed on the model; whom the article is about. Features lots of images (6 in total) with various shots such as Close-ups, Medium close-ups, and a medium shot for the main image. The angles, however, are all pretty much the same, as they are low-angled shots portraying the model as powerful. The images placed around the article are all edited to be black & white, which is used, usually, to portray the model as old, or that the image was shot in the past. However, this article seems to be going against conventions of usual magazine double page spreads as they conventionally feature coloured images and lots of writing. The main image; the only coloured one, has a gret background, allowing the coloured image to blend in seaminglessly with the other images, yet allowing the model to stand out. Another way this double page spread betrays conventions is the poses of the model. On the black & white images, he titlts his head, pulls funny faces and also sticks out his tongue on one of the images. This connotes that he's playful and care-free. However, the main thing that stands out is the dominating, coloured image. This image features the model; Alex Gaskarth, pulling a smug, self-righteous face; with one eyebrow raised. His boxers are also showing, along with his belly, connoting that he's a bit of a care-free person, as I previously stated, and that he's a bit of a punk. This persona is further emphasised with his stance. He has his hands placed behind his head which makes him look relaxed (along with his eyes, helping) but this stance is an icon of being arrested by the police, as the stance represents that he's being handcuffed. Along with this pose, and the raised eyebrow, it connotes that he's thinking "Yeah? You gotta problem?" or something along the lines of this. The costume he's wearing is alos iconic of alternative bands and style; with the chequered shirt being worn by lots of "indies". However, one other thing that stood out most with his costume is his t-shirt that is worn underneath (another iconic part of the "indie look") his chequered shirt. The T-shirt states "Where's the beef?" as a logo. This connotates what he's thinking... Which is what I stated beforehand; that he's wondering if you have a problem with him. Most of what I just said will also fall under 'representation' as the way he's represented reflects on the article and his personality. I have actually read this issue, and what took me by surprise was the contrast between the pictures and the written content of the article. I say this due to the fact that the article is about how he's portayed as "a dickhead" (in Kerrang!s words) and how he's not really like that. Therefore, the images are feeding on what the audience think, and are contrasting his arguement, and the whole point of the article. The headline is also conveniently situated on his costume (t-shirt), with the black text slightly contrasting the yellow t-shirt. This connotates that he's got two sides to him; he can be nice and friendly, but he can also be evil and dark (connoted by the dark text). Also, the use of Red text on a black background has the connotational meaning of danger, or in a different context - love, except that is the incorrect context to this article. This connotes that Alex Gaskarth is an "emo/mosher" type of person, as these two colours are almost often used to connotate "emo" and "goth". This is because the colour black connotates evil, whereas the colour red is the colour of danger and the colour of blood, and emo's stereotypically self-harm. Although this often isnt the case, Kerrang! seems to follow stereotypes and emphasise them (i've always said that stereotypes are fueled by the media) and in this sense, It's quite immature and less-proffesional.Institution: The Kerrang! logo is situated on the bottom left of the double page spread to give the article a sense of identity. The only other thing I can possibly say about institution, that has anything to do with this double page spread, is that the institution is most likely the one behind the appearance and representation of the model. I say this because the institution is the one in charge, and are aiming to attract a large audience, so put content in to the magazine which the audience are familiar with and what they would want to see. This would also fall under the 'audience' section, but just goes to show how much influence the institution has over the articles. I'm sure Alex Gaskarth's arguement would be more understood better if the images where of him posing as a nice, friendly and 'un-punky' person, but this is not what the audience would expect and therefore the institution represented him with his usual look.
Ideology: The ideology of this double page spread is that Alex Gaskwarth is cool and sexy. I say sexy because the showing of his boxers connotates his sexuality and that he's sexually active. This showing of sex is accepted in our society; commonly spoken about in the young generation, and therefore is accepted amongst the target audience. However, this article would not be suitable in the christian society, for example, as they are mainly extremely strict christians. Christians have beliefs such as no sex before marriage. The main photo of Alex Gaskarth betrays this convention as he is clearly not married, uner the age of 25 and is showing his sexuality in public. The point I am trying to convey is that you wouldn't find this in a weekly parish magazine, but is accepted in our pop-culture.
Audience: The audience of this article will be the usual Kerrang! magazine readers, but most likely, big fans of the band 'All Time Low' as he is the lead singer of the band. The audience will most likely be female as they would most probably be attracted to him, but males, like myself, will think he's 'cool' and like the band. The age criteria, excluding regular Kerrang! readers, will be between 12-21 I reckon, but most likely male/females who are at high school, college or even university. Because Kerrang! is a British magazine (ignoring the german conglomerate as they have no say in the production) the audience will be of the British nationality. Without sounding too racist, I believe that the audience will be mostly white, British people, even though it will most likely be aimed at people from lots of ethnic backgrounds due to political correctness, the main target audience will be that of white people. I say this to prove a point that there aren't many 'black bands' out there and therefore are not often used in music magazines such as Kerrang! and people with different ethnicity will most likely listen to R&B or Rap; stereotypically. Because it's stereotypical to say that, the audience is not restricted to 'white people only'.
Representation: The model is represented, as previously stated, as a punky, rebellious person die to his stance and camera angle (with it being a low angled shot - portraying him as powerful). However, one thing that I havent gone in depth with is the sexual connotations of the main image. The showing of his boxers suggests that he's 'sexually active' and "up for it", and connotates that he's a bit of a "man whore". This is decieving as he's in a happy relationship (which he states in the article) but is used to attract teenage girls in the masses to buy the magazine issue. This is basically a marketing ploy as it contrasts what he's saying and goes with his 'image'. His image is, of course, a young, rebellious, sexy male who is extremely talented, and is someone in which can be said as an idol; and inspiration to young boys. This is because he's represented as a care-free person who 'lives for the weekend' (partying), so to speak, and is still succesful. This contrasts the usual saying of if you mess around at school, you wont become succesful, yet he carries the inspiration of a rebel and yet is still succesful. This, however, is just his image; his persona in the spotlight, and how he's represented as he did, in fact, graduate with good grades.
