Task Two: Double Page Spread Analysis - Mixmag

This is one of the double page spreads in mixmag.

Conventions of page layout:
There is no masthead. However the title of the article is in a huge font size and is in bold. This shows us what the main topic of the article is. The rest of the article is in small font and this is to show all the information but the beginning of the article is in bold which is unusual. Under the title "NWA", there is a teaser/snippet briefly concluding what the DPS is about and it is underlined which can drag the readers attention and make them want to read on further. This creates a relationship between the text and the images being presented on the page. Unlike, the other pages I have analysed; these pages have columns,which are important in writing articles since this helps us to read in order and not jumble sentences. There is no drop caps or pull quotes and there doesn't seem to be a margin however the checkered border around the article acts like a margin since everything is kept in place and the black and white seems to be the theme on the pages.

Image:
On the first page of the DPS, there is a group picture of members from the NWA. Even though the picture seems to look like it's in colour, in reality the picture is in black and white. NWA was a group from years ago and you can see that all the members look young and somewhat dangerous. The photographer has used a mid/long-shot since you can see Dre's full body however you can only see half of the other members' bodies and you can see the background. This could suggest that Dre was the leader of the group.

Everyone in the picture are wearing caps and big jumpers/jackets, this shows that they are indeed gangsters and this links to there songs that they have made. NWA was also made as a film and it has came out recently so this article would be very popular since there are a lot of NWA fans and fans of the movie. The guys are the main focus of the photograph however you can clearly see that they are in Brixton. Brixton could have been used as the setting because there was a scene of riots from 1981 with high crime and unemployment, it was a quite a dangerous place. Using a dangerous place as their background could show that they have power and not scared. Also, majority of black people lived in Brixton and that is majority of the population there.

Even though, the picture is in black and white you can still tell that the picture has high key lighting since you can see the sun shining on their caps and they haven't used artificial lighting.
The other two images are an image of their album cover an an image of Ice Cube. The album cover isn't as big as the other images but it links to to the text. The picture of Ice Cube is also in black and white and the photographer has again used a mid shot to show his body language and face expression. By his face expression you can tell that he looks angry and unimpressed and by his body language you can see that he is clenching his hands together which could suggest that he is going to have a fight. He looks like he has been PhotoShopped in since he stands out the most but you can see a lot of people standing behind him.

Genre & Language:
The article has been structured well and the tone seems chill but aggressive since swear words are included which is unusual since most dance music do not include profanity. This article is a contrast to the actual magazine genre, because it is a dance music magazine however they have included an article about a popular Hip Hop group from the 1980's. This could be because some readers listen to a wide range of music and not just dance music so this can create a relationship between the reader and the writer, also it creates a sense of familiarity and acceptance since the magazine includes a variety of different things and doesn't just concentrate on one.

The pictures represents black men as intimidating and aggressive since they are wearing dark clothing and have a stone expression on their face, however if you read the article, it says otherwise. Obviously, this meaning isn't intended for the audience since the article is supposed to make the readers understand what was going on and what was going though their minds at the time. Reading the article, it talks about how Ice Cube and the others came up with NWA, how it all started and their reasons for it, how the police didn't seem to understand them. It literally shows that they started from the bottom and they got somewhere and the things they wrote and rapped about then are still relevant now and will always be.