MAGAZINE COVER

RESEARCH

• Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media and the first Empire issue was published in July 1989. It is the biggest selling film magazine in the United Kingdom and is published internationally. Empire organises the annual Empire Awards which is voted for by readers of the magazine.

• Empire is populist in both approach and coverage as it reviews mainstream films and art films.

• The regular Top 10 feature lists Empire's choice of the top ten examples of something film-related. For example, 10 Best Chase Scenes or 10 Best Movie Gags in The Simpsons.

Empire is promoting ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008) which is a Superhero film directed and produced by Christopher Nolan. With an all star cast and an extremely large budget, magazines will endeavour to have stars feature in their magazine. ‘The Dark Knight’ is a Blockbuster so fans all over the world want to know more about the film and the actors; that is why it featured in such a popular magazine.

The Image• The ‘Joker’ from ‘The Dark Knight’ is

featured because he is one of the main faces of the movie. He is looking directly at the camera to create suspense and intensity which maintains his character persona from the movie which entices ‘Dark Knight’ fans. As he is in character, his clothing is similar in the movie. The colour green is encompassed in his costume which the magazine has also incorporated in the colour of their text; the colour green is used to represent ‘The Joker’ because it conveys a sense of envy.

• On the poster that I am creating to promote my ‘Memorandum’ film, the protagonist is staring directly to the camera which demonstrates that they are watching the viewer.

Anchorage

Above the masthead, ‘The Dark Knight World Exclusive’ is written in large letters. The choice of words for the anchorage is important as ‘World’ implies that the magazine is read internationally and it also highlights the popularity and significance of the movie as people across the globe aim to see it.

The Tagline

• ‘Meet the Joker’ is very intimate and personal for the reader as they feel ‘The Joker’s’ feature is entirely for them. The choice of font for the tagline is effective because it is graffiti like which provides a sense of vandalism and destruction which sums up ‘The Joker’ character. ‘One-On-One’ is a clever way of showing that the magazine ‘Empire’ has the power to meet the Joker and ask them what they want.

• I intend to use this feature in my magazine cover and use words such as ‘Exclusive’ to display that no other magazine can compete.

Cover Lines• The cover lines promote

other movies that were released at the time of ‘The Dark Knight’; ‘The Mummy’ and ‘Sweeny Todd’ but was not as popular and in demand as ‘The Dark Knight’. ‘And world-first looks at’ is also an important phrase as ‘Empire’ suggests that they get the first look at the film.

The Puff• The Puff is also included on

the cover to promote more features involved in the magazine. The Puff is in green to coincide with the tagline and ‘The Joker’s’ outfit because even though ‘Empire’ is promoting other movies but carries on the theme of ‘The Dark Knight’. The Puff is vague making the reader want to read more.

• I will include this feature in my magazine cover because it is a great way of advertising.