DPS analysis 2

This DPS is from Q magazine June 2014.

The DPS begins on page 46 of the magazine. This article is around 300 words. This appeals to a younger target audience (15-25 year olds) as it looks rebellious.

Mulvey suggests that there is the 'male gaze' that females in the media try to attract. This article both agrees and disagrees with that. Lily Allen is wearing full black whilst on a motorcycle, which suggests the idea that she is a strong independent female however her red heels can be found as being 'sexy' and attempting to appeal more to men.

The writing in in one column aligned to the left with a large headline taking up nearly half of the page in bold print, with the stand first then filling the page to around 2/3. There is a drop capital at the beginning of the main body of text taking up even more space.

The DPS is one continuous image with the main feature of Lily Allen taking up one whole page, and then the helmet taking up 1/6 of the next page. Lily Allen is a alternative pop/rock artist and is portrayed as quite mysterious with smoke over the photo wearing all black. This is also shown by her expression; she isn't smiling but has her mouth slightly open and has her face tilted backwards and up, but is looking slightly down at the camera with her eyes. Such features suggest that she is more of a rock artist. She is looking directly into camera which follows conventions.

It is a studio shot, with a plain background which brings the attention to Lily Allen on the motorcycle as well as the bold writing on the right. This plain background and dark clothing is synergetic with the front cover of the magazine.

Her posture is quite powerful in the way she is looking down at the camera, and how she is leaning forward could be seen as confrontational and intimidating.
The fact it is a studio shot supports Dyer who said 'a star is an image, not a real person'. The shot is quite obviously not natural as motorcycles are not usually inside.

She is dressed as a stereotypical rock artist, with black and leathers, with an aggressive pose. This implies she is feisty and is appealing to a more rebellious audience.

Her black clothing creates synergy with the text. The font is sans serif script in block capitals, with the white speech marks being a bigger font size to the text and a different colour to make the black stand out even more. The bold letters create quite a modern look.

How this affects my planning and research

I like the integration of the outfit and the text. I also really like the bold font of the headline, and how it sits in relation to the rest of the spread.