FILM MAGAZINE OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTION: All of the eight film magazine covers presented above both celebrate and promote films, mostly within the action/adventure genre. I have decided to analyse action/adventure magazine front covers as they always feature either the protagonist or antagonist of the film they are promoting, who appears at the centre of the frame. For example, in the ‘Robin Hood’ magazine front cover, we see the three heroes of well­known action/adventure film, with a dominant and intimidating stance. This technique is commonly used within film magazine front covers which is very effective and draws the audience in. For our own magazine front cover, we wish to feature the protagonist at the centre of the frame, to replicate and fit in with well­known and existing film magazines to maintain originality.

By looking at the eight magazine front covers, we can see that the most dominant, central image is of the main character(s) of the film being celebrated. For example, in ‘THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN’ front cover, we are able to identify that the character presented is portrayed as ‘Spiderman’. We can tell this by his costume which, at the back, features a large spider. Another clear example is the second front magazine cover which portrays Johnny Depp as ‘Willy Wonka’ from ‘Charlie and The Chocolate Factory’. Furthermore, we see the actors as their characters they play in the film which is effective as we are able to differentiate between them and see the actors in their characters role.

GENERAL CONVENTIONS: As we can see above, all of the front cover magazines displayed feature a large masthead which is the largest, boldest piece of text in the frame. Seven out of the eight front covers feature a headline, giving a snippet of the magazines contents. For example, in the ‘MAN OF STEEL’ issue, written across the top of the frame is ‘THE HEROES AND VILLAINS ISSUE’. Above this piece of text are featured­article photos of ‘superheroes’ and ‘villains’, reflecting the text. Although this is not seen as a typical convention of film magazines, it shows how unique the film front covers are from one another and what type of film and film magazine is being promoted. In the ‘TOTAL FILM’ magazine cover, for example, most of them include featured­article photos, as oppose to ‘Entertainment Weekly’ and ‘Empire’ who tend to not use them.

In each front cover presented above, with the exception of the second , presents and places the main image of the leading character above the masthead. This is to highlight the importance of the character being portrayed and to make them appear more dominant. All of the eight film covers, excluding the ‘HARRY POTTER 7’ one show the leading character filling the whole frame, further luring the audience in. Furthermore, in most of the eight magazine covers, the film title surrounds the leading character which hints to the audience that this play a key part in the magazine and shows how significant they both are. Seven of the eight front covers

feature a barcode, placed either at the bottom or side of the front cover, which is a general convention of magazines and also includes the pug as well, which the audience are able to identify. The audience would be able to establish the common conventions found within film magazines and would be able to find a common link between them.

MAIN IMAGE: The masthead is the most predominant part of the frame and is one of the features use to capture and grab the audience. Through looking at the front covers, we can see that the camera shots used are mainly medium/medium long shots. I believe that the use of these shots are particularly important and effective in bringing in the audience as they allow the us to see the leading character in a dominant, assertive way, but not showing their full figure, which makes it even more intriguing for us. I especially like the ‘THOR’ front cover as it really grasps the dominant, heroic character. I love how we are able to his full robe and his statue reveals to the audience what type of film is being promoted; an action film.

I also really like the ‘Willy Wonka’ front cover of Johnny Depp’s character, as his facial expression is very appealing and dominant. He also makes direct address with the audience allowing them to feel more intimate and closer to the character , therefore, the audience would be more attracted to the front cover and persuaded into purchasing the magazine front cover.

Most of the images presented on the front cover, however, show the main character in a slanted position, which could show the fact that they are untouchable and undefeated. In ‘THE HUNGER GAMES’ front cover, Jennifer Lawrence’s character gives us a slanted posture. In contrast, in the ‘Spiderman’ magazine front cover, he turns his back to the audience, showing that he’s ready for a fight and also ready to seek revenge. The images used are those that feature within the film(s), for example, the ‘ROBIN HOOD’ front cover, featuring three protagonists of different action movies, and therefore the audience are able to spot a link between them which is brilliant!

In the majority of the film magazine covers, the character(s) make direct address with us to gain our full attention and to tell us that they play a leading part in the magazine issue, once again promoting the film. We can also see that most of the film magazine front covers contain a ‘puff’ to further draw the audience in. the use of a puff gives further snippets of the film presented on the front cover and makes the audience aware that this is a ‘must­read’ section. Each and every one of the eight front covers, features the character(s) in a serious and ‘ready for battle’ mode which is again very effective for the audience. It shows that they are the central and main focus of the film and that they are what make the film.

THE MASTHEAD:

As we can see, all of the eight front covers above feature a masthead, allowing the audience to see the name of the magazine and to remind them of it. There are three different magazine front covers above:’ TOTAL FILM’, Entertainment WEEKLY’ and ‘EMPIRE’. Each of these magazines has its own style and creativeness, which allows the audience to differentiate between them. All, apart from ‘Entertainment WEEKLY’ are presented in bold, capital letters, to highlight its importance in the frame and to catch the audiences’ eye. They all maintain a symbiotic link across a range of issues belonging to the same magazine brand. Each ‘TOTAL FILM’ magazine cover, features to word ‘TOTAL’ inside the letter ‘F’ and the rest of the text is in a very thick, heavy, bold white font. We are able to see that the letter ‘M’ in both the ‘TOTAL FILM’ and ‘EMPIRE’ magazine are presented in the same way, adding emphasis to the masthead.

In addition, the masthead presented in the ‘Entertainment WEEKLY’ magazine is quite similar to the ‘TOTAL FILM’ one as part of the masthead is placed inside part of the text which adds more of an effect to the text as well as originality. Each one of the masthead is filled across the top of the page, indicating how significant it is and to allow the audience to remember which magazine they are reading and to allow them to familiarize themselves with the magazine brand..

HEADLINES:

Almost every magazine front cover features a ‘headline’ on the top of the frame, before the masthead to further draw the audience in. the use of headlines gives the audience a clue about the type of magazine being presented: ‘FROM BATMAN TO STAR WARS: THE 50 MUST­SEE MOVIES FOR SUMMER!’ Although these headlines are not as significantly shown as the masthead itself, it still plays a major role in the creation and promotion of the magazine. The majority of the mastheads are displayed in a white font. The use of adding a white font makes the text more eye­catching for the audience. Each headline is displayed in dominating capital letters which allows the audience to seethis effectively.

COVER/SELL LINES:

The cover/sell lines are presented around the main image which allows the audience to focus clearly on both the image and sell lines effectively. The sell lines give an insight of what the film magazines involves. An example would be in the ‘HARRY POTTER 7’ magazine which reads ‘No school. No rules. Hermione faces her darkest demons’. Another example is in the first front cover of ‘Sherlock Homes’: ‘EXTRA! The Matrix decoded and ‘The fantastic Ms Fox.’ The sell line ‘TOTAL EXCLUSIVE THOR…Meet the new supergod.’ Invites the audience in and makes them feel special which again draws them in and may further draw them into watching the actual film. Furthermore, the word ‘EXCLUSIVE’ means that it must be seen and that

it is the latest, so the audience feel that they are getting a little extra! The cover/lines are placed neatly underneath each other which make it more clearer for the audience to see.

MISE­EN­SCENE: Mise­en­scene elements including costume, setting and props come really well together in creating a very professional, attractive looking magazine for the audience. The mise­en­scene shown in both the ‘HARRY POTTER 7’ and ‘ROBIN HOOD’ magazine are incredible and definitely eye­grabbing. The wizardry effects and lighting behind Hermione adds emphasis to ‘HARRY POTTER’ and shows that she may be in the location of the film. In a similar way, in the other magazine cover, we see a bright sky backdrop, showing the characters in their positions and the fact that there is a ray of light shining one side of the frame reflect the edition of the magazine which is a summer­themed backdrop.

COLOUR SCHEME: Some of the front covers feature bright, bold and colours which really grab our attention such as ‘Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and ‘The Hunger games’ one. This allows the cover to appear more attractive and engaging for the audience and further hints to film genre being promoted. Through looking at all the above front covers, it is clear to see that they all feature the colour ‘white’ in part of their text, showing how dominant the colour is and grabbing the audience's’ attention once again. Overall, the colour used within each of the eight front covers, complement each film being presented and may also give a clue as to who the target audience may be. For instance, in both the ‘Spiderman’ and ‘THOR’ front cover, we can identity that it is targeted at a male audience as oppose to a female one.

COMPOSITION: The use of composition such as the positioning of text and images are very effective in creating a very appealing and attractive­looking magazine front cover. In the ‘Hermione’ front cover it looks as though she is stepping over the words ‘HARRY POTTER 7’ which reinforces the fact that her character is fearless and powerful. The fact that she is standing tall further shows this and allows the audience to see that she plays a key role in the magazine. She is placed in the exact middle of the page surrounded by texts which allows the use to identify that she is our central focus. The audience would be able to focus on each feature of the frame clearly and effectively , without any distraction.

CONCLUSION: To conclude, each and every one of the eight film posters are really exciting and intriguing for the audience and are successful in making the audience purchase the magazine to see what more is inside. My favourite magazine front covers are the ‘HARRY POTTER 7’ and ‘SPIDERMAN’ one as they are very unique and visual but effective in their own way and are also very original­looking and colourful, allowing the audience the establish the type of film the magazine celebrates.

Within our own magazine front cover, my partner and I wish to use bold, attractive colours, which hint the film’s genre and also attract our audience as well. For example the use of red ,white and black as our dominant colours will hopefully allow our audience to establish that the type of magazine being promoted is of the horror genre.