Kerrang!
The band chosen to feature in this Kerrang! Article is Slayer, an American Thrash Metal Band. Formed in 1981, this tells us Slayer is an older generation band, so we can assume the target audience of this particular article is based for people in their 20’s and upwards and possibly the odd group of teenagers.
The language used in this article is very informal yet important to the magazine’s image. The introduction to the interview is fairly formally and well written by Ryan Bird on Kerrang!’s behalf. However, the interview consists of questions from Slayer’s fans, ranging from the age of 12 to the age of 35 – some slang is used in the questioning such as the word ‘beef’ meaning fight or argument. Tom Araya and Kerry King use a lot of blasphemy in their answers which go with their hardcore image and the mentioning of Satan adds to both Slayer and Kerrang!’s style. A rebellion against the conformist society.
The colours Kerrang! has used in this article are White, Green and Black. The background is White which will make any colour stand out; it also contrasts with the Black text and sets a professional quality to the magazine. Culturally, Green has broad and sometimes contradictory meanings. In some cultures, green symbolizes hope and growth, while in others; it is associated with death, sickness, envy or the devil – I think this associates with Slayers’ style. Black commonly represents: lack, evil, darkness, bad luck, crime, mystery, silence, concealment, elegance, execution, end, chaos, death, and secrecy. This also associates with Slayers’ image.
Simple text styles are used throughout Kerrang!’s magazine article such as Arial and Times New Roman, this is due to the legibility of the fonts – making it easy for any age group to read. Also these fonts hold a professional style to them. The larger text such as ‘Scarier’ still uses a simple font style, however, the word is distorted and has a grunge affect to it… the lettering looks scratched and ruined, giving the word an edge to it which emphasises on Slayer’s image and the brand of the magazine.
The double page spread is laid out simply but effectively; a black & white image of Tom Arays and Kerry King from Slayer covers the left-hand page, there is a green borderline above this image running across the top of the double page spread, in this border above the image of Tom Arays and Kerry King on the left-hand side is the heading ‘Slayer’ – running across to the right hand side of the double page spread is the heading ‘Words: Ryan Bird Photo: Paul Harries’, this tells us who wrote the article on Kerrang!’s behalf and who the photographer of the article was. The right-hand side page holds the actual article, the interview with two of Slayer’s band members; the interview starts with an introduction to the setting of the interview, ‘one of west London’s swankiest hotels’ and recalls what the two rock stars are doing – sipping tea from china cups as they gaze at an enormous television screen that occupy’s on of the walls… as the interview gets started the questions are written in black text, highlighted in green and set as sub-headings with the person who asked the question underlined underneath, as the two rock stars answer their fans questions Tom and Kerry is written in green and highlighted in black. This is an automatic contrast to make the different texts stand out from the rest of the article. In conclusion to the layout of the double page spread the left-hand side is taken up by an image while the right-hand side is taken up by text.
The tone of the magazine used when addressing the reader is that of an informed intelligent fan and possibly that of a friend. Friendship is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more people. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, and affection and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of altruism. Their tastes will usually be similar and may converge, and they will share enjoyable activities. They will also engage in mutually helping behavior, such as exchange of advice and the sharing of hardship. A friend is someone who may often demonstrate reciprocating and reflective behaviors. Yet for many, friendship is nothing more than the trust that someone or something will not harm them. Fans hold a peculiar type of friendship; they give support to the band just as they would give support to a friend, they hold knowledge of the band and its members, they show their loyalty and affection by attending gigs and purchasing merchandise… there is an obvious relationship between any band and its fan base, to an extent it can be classed as a form of friendship.
The image of Slayer’s Tom and Kerry is presented to the audience in black and white. Black and white photography doesn’t attract an audience with its play of colours; it attracts an audience on its ability to communicate rather than its appealing visual presentation. Composition, lighting, perspective and the context it is shot in are what’s important. Black and white photographs offer an abstraction that allows the photographer to interpret the negative and make an expressive print just like artists express emotions in depth with lyrics and musical notes. Even though Slayer’s lyrics are dark, they have a depth and meaning behind them and I think that presenting Tom and Kerry in a black and white image compliments that depth.
The style of the article matches the style of the front cover of the magazine as it obviously has to correspond with one another.
Upon first glance of the article I cannot see any demand of prior knowledge for the article, obviously the audience reading the article must know who Slayer is and what type of music they endure, however, during the interview, the questioning stage - information of Slayer’s past is demanded. The question: ‘Kerry, What was your beef with Robb Flynn about?’ demands the knowledge of and argument between the two members, Kerry King from Slayer and Machine Head’s Robb Flynn. ‘Kerry King’s fallout with Dave Lombardo is universally known among fans. With Paul Bostaphs on-off departure, what happened to make Dave Lombardo return to the throne?’ This demands prior knowledge when reading the article.
The language used in this article is very informal yet important to the magazine’s image. The introduction to the interview is fairly formally and well written by Ryan Bird on Kerrang!’s behalf. However, the interview consists of questions from Slayer’s fans, ranging from the age of 12 to the age of 35 – some slang is used in the questioning such as the word ‘beef’ meaning fight or argument. Tom Araya and Kerry King use a lot of blasphemy in their answers which go with their hardcore image and the mentioning of Satan adds to both Slayer and Kerrang!’s style. A rebellion against the conformist society.
The colours Kerrang! has used in this article are White, Green and Black. The background is White which will make any colour stand out; it also contrasts with the Black text and sets a professional quality to the magazine. Culturally, Green has broad and sometimes contradictory meanings. In some cultures, green symbolizes hope and growth, while in others; it is associated with death, sickness, envy or the devil – I think this associates with Slayers’ style. Black commonly represents: lack, evil, darkness, bad luck, crime, mystery, silence, concealment, elegance, execution, end, chaos, death, and secrecy. This also associates with Slayers’ image.
Simple text styles are used throughout Kerrang!’s magazine article such as Arial and Times New Roman, this is due to the legibility of the fonts – making it easy for any age group to read. Also these fonts hold a professional style to them. The larger text such as ‘Scarier’ still uses a simple font style, however, the word is distorted and has a grunge affect to it… the lettering looks scratched and ruined, giving the word an edge to it which emphasises on Slayer’s image and the brand of the magazine.
The double page spread is laid out simply but effectively; a black & white image of Tom Arays and Kerry King from Slayer covers the left-hand page, there is a green borderline above this image running across the top of the double page spread, in this border above the image of Tom Arays and Kerry King on the left-hand side is the heading ‘Slayer’ – running across to the right hand side of the double page spread is the heading ‘Words: Ryan Bird Photo: Paul Harries’, this tells us who wrote the article on Kerrang!’s behalf and who the photographer of the article was. The right-hand side page holds the actual article, the interview with two of Slayer’s band members; the interview starts with an introduction to the setting of the interview, ‘one of west London’s swankiest hotels’ and recalls what the two rock stars are doing – sipping tea from china cups as they gaze at an enormous television screen that occupy’s on of the walls… as the interview gets started the questions are written in black text, highlighted in green and set as sub-headings with the person who asked the question underlined underneath, as the two rock stars answer their fans questions Tom and Kerry is written in green and highlighted in black. This is an automatic contrast to make the different texts stand out from the rest of the article. In conclusion to the layout of the double page spread the left-hand side is taken up by an image while the right-hand side is taken up by text.
The tone of the magazine used when addressing the reader is that of an informed intelligent fan and possibly that of a friend. Friendship is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more people. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, and affection and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of altruism. Their tastes will usually be similar and may converge, and they will share enjoyable activities. They will also engage in mutually helping behavior, such as exchange of advice and the sharing of hardship. A friend is someone who may often demonstrate reciprocating and reflective behaviors. Yet for many, friendship is nothing more than the trust that someone or something will not harm them. Fans hold a peculiar type of friendship; they give support to the band just as they would give support to a friend, they hold knowledge of the band and its members, they show their loyalty and affection by attending gigs and purchasing merchandise… there is an obvious relationship between any band and its fan base, to an extent it can be classed as a form of friendship.
The image of Slayer’s Tom and Kerry is presented to the audience in black and white. Black and white photography doesn’t attract an audience with its play of colours; it attracts an audience on its ability to communicate rather than its appealing visual presentation. Composition, lighting, perspective and the context it is shot in are what’s important. Black and white photographs offer an abstraction that allows the photographer to interpret the negative and make an expressive print just like artists express emotions in depth with lyrics and musical notes. Even though Slayer’s lyrics are dark, they have a depth and meaning behind them and I think that presenting Tom and Kerry in a black and white image compliments that depth.
The style of the article matches the style of the front cover of the magazine as it obviously has to correspond with one another.
Upon first glance of the article I cannot see any demand of prior knowledge for the article, obviously the audience reading the article must know who Slayer is and what type of music they endure, however, during the interview, the questioning stage - information of Slayer’s past is demanded. The question: ‘Kerry, What was your beef with Robb Flynn about?’ demands the knowledge of and argument between the two members, Kerry King from Slayer and Machine Head’s Robb Flynn. ‘Kerry King’s fallout with Dave Lombardo is universally known among fans. With Paul Bostaphs on-off departure, what happened to make Dave Lombardo return to the throne?’ This demands prior knowledge when reading the article.
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