Analysis of Film Magazine Front Covers

By Emma Matthew

I will be analysing these three magazine front covers. The magazine genres I have chosen are two film and one pop music magazine. I will then look at

the similarities and differences in each to show I know the difference when it comes to making my

own film magazine front cover.

Masthead & Selling line- The masthead is located at the top of the magazine underneath a selling line, this has been done to make it look important and to make it recognisable for their target audience. The font is very bold to stand out and it links in with the film on the front they are trying to promote. They use the background the film is associated with and put it inside the lines the title has created in order to make their name. They put the ‘total’ of the masthead name inside the ‘film’ making it very effective because it makes it look like this magazine is associated with every film and not just one genre. Above the masthead is the selling line, ‘the mind-blowing issue’. This selling line suggest to the target audience that this magazine is the best magazine you can purchase and no other will blow your mind which is quite strong connotation. This selling line is also linked to the film they are promoting because its all about a mind game and it has secrets within secrets which are very difficult to understand and you have to follow the storyline very carefully. This selling line is written in bold to make it stand out and make the readers believe its mind blowing by convincing themselves. Its written in red to fit in with the colour scheme where a selection of important eye catching things are highlighted by using this red colour.

Pug – The pug on the front cover draws attention to itself by looking like a sticker that has been stuck onto the magazine. The colour of the sticker is silver, to look like metal to fit in with the overall colour scheme and effect of machinery. There is a black inner ring to fit in with the bold black writing inside. The texts influences the reader to buy their magazine by saying, ‘everything you need to know.’ This influences readers because people want to know everything to by in with their social group and this magazine is promoting that they have all the knowledge which will help to draw in readers. The pug has red text as well to highlight the name of the product they calm to know all about which is another film they are promoting that is not out, connoting they have the inside scoop. The pug has been placed to the side of the magazine to not take attention away from the main features on the front cover.

Barcode - The barcode is placed at the bottom of the magazine in the right hand corner. This is common in all magazines as the barcode is not the most important part of the magazine, it frees up more space for the features that sell the magazine and it does not distract the reader away from the content of the magazine.

Main Cover Line – The main cover line is written across the main image to look eye catching and promote their main selling feature. It has been written in bold silver to comply with the colour scheme and look metallic to fit in with the theme of the film. The silver makes the main cover line stands out against the main image because he is dressed in dark black and the silver is quite bright. The main cover line reads ‘Inception’ which is the title of the film they are trying to promote and the target audience will have heard of the film and make connections that this is the main feature. The main cover line ‘inside the ultimate head trip’ intrigues the audience because they want to know more about the film, how it could be confusing and it complies with the overall mise en scene of the mind and an intellectual journey.

Cover Line - Along the right hand side, the left hand side and underneath the main cover line is other cover lines which state what content they have in the magazine to attract more attention and give off the impression that they have lots of great information. Underneath the main cover line is the word ‘plus’ with the word ‘and’ underneath in san serif italic font these have been placed here to make the reader think there is lots more important information to look at which will persuade them to buy this magazine. They have put the words ‘mind blowing’ and ‘first look’ in red because they are very eye catching words that make the reader think that this magazine has all new information that other magazine can not offer. The word ‘mind blowing’ also fits in with the film they are trying to promote which shows the rest of the magazine is as mind blowing as the film will be, convincing the reader to go watch it.

Main Image & Background - The main image is of the main character in the film ‘Inception.’ He is the main image because he is a well known actor with many films and the audience will easily recognise him. He is positioned in the centre column within the rule of thirds, this has been done because he is the main focus for the magazine front cover. Him being the main selling point of this magazine is also done by making his head go over the masthead of the magazine showing he is the most important convention on the magazine. The main image is a long shot to show his cautious pose to make the audience wonder what is happening around him for him to be cautious. This long shot has also been done do get the mise en scene effect, especially because he is wearing a suit which makes people suspicious of what is he doing in formal wear and where is he going. This suit creates conflict because the background of the magazine is a normal street with foggy mist surrounding it, gives the audience more questions and only by seeing the film they will get answers. The actors facial expression looks like he is horrified by something that is happening in front of his eyes, he has a slight confused look at the same time which with direct mode of address makes the audience want to know what he’s looking at because they feel uncomfortable with him looking at them with such a mysterious facial expression. The misty glow seems to becoming from behind him telling us that something is happening to him and makes him look as though he is walking out of the front cover which is even more entrancing to the target audience.

Price, Website & Issue number: The issue number and price are placed on the left hand side underneath the title this is to not take attention away from the main features because they are not as important. Other magazines way promote their prices through pugs but this magazine has other main features which are much more important. The website is on the right hand side and is slightly bigger than the issue number and price this is so that the magazine gets recognised by a young target audience because they are stereotypically always online.

Masthead- The masthead has been written in a bright red sans serif font across the top of the magazine. They have chosen this colour font because it stands out against all the white and silver but also it stands out from the black background. The typography they used is formal which appeals to the teen/young adult target audience. The typography is bold, capitalized and big giving it a dominant effect over the front cover. The theme of dominance is enforced by the masthead itself ‘Empire’ this connotes a very powerful and strong meaning which leaks onto the main image which is of a very powerful strong man. The masthead name sounds very important and shows the target audience that this magazine is more powerful than any other and it is the best. Above the masthead is the selling line ‘amazing 2013 superhero preview’. This selling line links in with the film on the front cover because its about an amazing superhero, this could draw in the target audience because they would want to know more about other superheroes the magazine knows about that no other magazine has. The colour of the typography is white to stand out against the red masthead and the black background and to also fit in with the overall colour scheme. The word ‘superhero’ is in silver instead of white to again link back to the film and its title.

Main Image & Background - The main image is of the protagonist within the film ‘Man of Steel’ otherwise known as Superman. The actor is the main image because he is mainly associated with the film which will help the target audience recognise him. He is posed within the rule of thirds, in the center column to make him the main focus of the magazine. The idea of him being the main focus is enforced by the fact he goes over the masthead which is normally a main focal point for other magazines. This picture is a long shot of the actor facing side ways with a very serious pose. This allows the audience to see the mise en scene the costume creates as it shows immediately to the target audience the genre of the film because he is a superhero that most audiences would know because of the ‘S’ on his costume. The actors facial expression is very serious which shows he is ready to go into a battle full of action, thus relating back to the genre of the film. The character has direct mode of address which makes the readers feel as though he is looking directly at them and they feel engaged with the magazine and it would entice them to buy it. The background of the magazine cover is plain black with hints of grey to look like metal, in order for the readers to link it back to the title of the film. This background has been used to make sure it does not take attention away from the main image and make other features of the magazine stand out. The grey effect is surrounding the main image like a shadow, this is to highlight the main image which is the main selling point of the magazine. The black can also connote danger and they grey around the actor connotes that he is the binary opposition to darkness which is light showing he is the hero in the film. This also is relating back to the genre of action where good battles evil.

Main Cover Line – The main cover line is written across the main image in order for it to be eye catching to the target audience. The main cover line reads the film titles name ‘Man of Steel’ which is written in silver to look metallic because the title includes the word ‘steel’ which had a metallic look again the colour scheme is complying with the film. Above this is the word ‘exclusive’ to show only this magazine has the scoop on this hot new film, this typography is in red to show up against the dark costumer to actor is wearing but to also stand out from the white and silver. The main cover line is linking this film to another popular superman hero complying with the whole superhero theme of the magazine front cover. This typography is white to match the overall colour scheme but also to not take away the metallic look of the film title. The main cover line talks about batman ‘dark knight’ and links it to man of steel ‘superman’. Their target audience would have watched this film and would understand what they are talking about and if they liked that film which was very popular they would like this film because its similar.

Barcode - The barcode is placed at the bottom of the magazine in the left hand corner. This is common in all magazines to free up space for more important features in the magazine that can help sell to the target audience. They also do not want the barcode distracting the reader.

Price, Date, Issue Number & Website – These conventions have all been placed carefully to follow the shape of the ‘m’ in the masthead. This will let the magazine front cover have a very organized and professional look. The date and issue number are together to help the reader co-ordinate which issue they are reading and which ones they have missed on which date if they are not subscribed to the magazine. The price is written in a small font as it is not the magazine’s main selling point unlike other magazines that advertise it largely over the front cover of their magazines. The website has been placed with these other conventions because they all are not the magazines main selling point and can be glanced over.

Cover Line - Along the right and left hand side of the magazine are the cover lines which state what other content is in the magazine. The cover line’s do not interfere with the main image which is the selling point of the magazine, yet either just touch the main image or go underneath. The cover lines are different superhero films this fits in with the overall superhero mise en scene of the magazine. The other films are in all different typographies but they all are in the colour white to fit in with the colour scheme, they can be in different typographies to make them look more interesting because the layout is very simplistic. Different film names shows the reader that this magazine has a lot to offer in terms of superheroes and their films which will attract the reader and persuade them to buy this particular magazine.

Masthead – The masthead is located at the top of the magazine and is in a large bold font which takes up the width of the front cover at the top of the magazine. The bubble typography has been chosen to show off the genre of this magazine which is pop music, it also targets its audience by having this type of typography it will attract young teenagers. The bright pink also complies with this theory that they are trying to target a young teenager audience but it also shows that they are trying to target girls who are stereotypically linked to the colour pink. The magazine ‘Bliss’ is not a big well known brand because there are many different music magazines this is why they put their masthead over the main image even though the artist on the front is very important. The ‘i’ is dotted in a unique way showing the magazine innovativeness and how they are trying to get their name noticed. The website address is inside the ‘B’ of ‘Bliss’ this is to try and get more readers to know the web address and get social network recognition.

Main Image & Background– The main image is in the center of the rule of thirds which is commonly used in main magazines to show that the main image is the main selling/focus point. She has a boyish pose because she is grabbing her bow tie which is commonly wore by men, yet her smile enforces the Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory as it is quite flirty and cheeky. Her outfit fits in with the colour scheme of the typography and background but her cloths have a very tomboy look about them yet the colours are very girly and her hair enforces the girly idea because its very big and curly which stereotypically shows femininity. This fits in with one of her quotes from her story ‘I’m not a glamour model’ this shows she is not a stereotypical pop star showing the magazine has different sides to it. The background is plain white so that the magazine can have bright colours on top of a plain background which will highlight the genre instead of a background. This plain background will also not take any attention away from the main image where she is wearing a white shirt.

Cover line– The cover lines are placed all down the right and left hand side of the magazine, some are written over the main image showing that the stories are very important because the singer may not be as well known as other famous people. The cover lines overlapping the main image also draw your focus to her face which is very cheeky and quirky which a young target audience would enjoy. The typography is sans serif in various sizes and boldness which is appeal to a young target audience because its very friendly which pop music is related to. The main colours are bright blue, black and light pink which comply with the overall colour scheme but also are very fun colours which are related back to the pop music stereotype so the genre of the magazine is coming through the colours that are chosen. The brightness of the colours also makes the magazine stand out and is eye catching to the target audience. The bright colours are also stereotypically linked with the female gender which is the main target audience for pop music.

Price, Date, Issue Number & Barcode – These conventions have all been placed underneath the masthead at the top of the magazine and are quite small. This is so that the date and issue number do not take attention away from the main selling points of the magazine. This is alike the price which is very small in the order whereas other magazines may have this price advertised in a sticker because of their target audience. The pop genre wants their target audience to focus on the main image and cover lines because these conventions are not as important. This is why the barcode is printed in the top right hand corner and its quite small so that the bottom of the magazine had more space for cover lines.

Competition– There is a competition on the magazine it is displayed by the word ‘win’ in capitals with an exclamation mark next to it. This competition highlights the fact this magazine is a young teen magazine because more sophisticated magazines would not have to use competitions in order to get interest.

Pug– There is a pug on the magazine in the left hand corner. Pugs are used to attract attention because they look as though they have been stuck onto the magazine and can be pealed off. In this pug summer clothes are being displayed that are brightly coloured which fits in with the overall colour scheme.

Similarities & DifferencesAfter analysing 3 different magazines I can see many similarities and differences that will help me when making my own film magazine front cover.

Similarities: All three magazine front covers have a bold capitalized masthead at the top of the magazine. All the magazines do this to attract the readers attention and make their brand name well known. All the magazine front covers had a main image which took up most of the space on the front cover. The front cover always has a colour scheme to make it look professional and organised. The colour scheme also tells the target audience what genre the magazine is and what age group they are targeting. An example of this would be ‘Bliss’ that uses a very feminine/girl colour scheme to attract young female teens, they use light pinks and light blues. All magazines has a date, price, issue number and barcode which is small and out of the way because they have more important features on the magazine that would help selling the magazine more than the price would. Pugs are very common in many different magazines because they capture the readers attention by looking as though you could peal them off.

Differences: The two film magazines have similar layouts but if you compare it to the music magazine they have very different styles. On the film magazines the mastheads are behind the main image whereas on the music magazine the masthead is in front of the main image to get more recognition of the magazine brand. This is because the film magazines are well known whereas the pop magazine is not a massive brand which is commonly seen in music magazines. There is a main cover line on both film magazines whereas the main cover line is not obvious on the music magazine because it has all different comments on the magazine as has her name as the main attraction. The cover lines on the music magazine go over the main image to attract attention to her face which is very cheeky in order to attract the young teenage audience. This is compared to the film magazines that have the main image very bold and no other cover lines go over the top apart from the main.

Inspiration for my film magazine front cover

I will be using ‘Total Film’ as inspiration when it comes to creating my film magazine front cover. I thought this magazine was great for inspiration because they make the film the main feature of the magazine by creating a background that fits in with the films theme. The magazine always looks very professional because of the quality of their main images and the organised colour scheme which fits in with the film they are promoting. The film they promote is always the main feature of the magazine and everything revolved around the main image. The colour scheme always fits the genre and I think this magazine is very professional therefore I will be using it as inspiration when it comes to creating my own.