Popular film magazine overview.

1. Magazine Front Cover Overview
The six magazine frontcovershave beendesignedtosuccessfullypromotedifferenttypesof films.
Throughcarrying outan investigationof themandbycomparingthemto each other,itis possible to
identifyshared featuresanddifferenceswithin themandtoestablishrepeatedpatterns.
All six magazine frontcoverfeature typical magazine conventions.We see expectedgeneral
conventionsinall magazinessuchasa mainimage,masthead,skyline,general layoutandsymbiotic
linktothe filmsbeingpromoted.
The mastheadpresentedinall six magazine frontcovers,are all positionedatthe topof the page
justunderthe skyline.Thissimilarityshowsthatmagazinesstayconsistentwiththe positionof their
name as it istheirbrand andin orderfor theiraudience torecognise theirbrandtheymustkeepit
consistent.Forexample,Empire hasshowntodothisby keepingnotonlytheirpositionandname

2. the same but alsotheyhave keptthe fontthe same.Inaddition,by usinganame suchas ‘Empire’
thiswill allowthe audience torecognise the superiorityof thismagazine asitonlytailorstothe
biggestblockbusterfilmsi.e.the skylinereads‘The DarkNightReturns...’The magazine hascleverly
usedfilmsfrombothInceptionandBatmanto describe the mastermindbehindcreatingthese
characters andfilms,byreferringthe directorChristopherNolanasthe ‘DarkNight’insteadof
actuallyreferringtothe character. The coloursusedinthe mastheadsof ‘Empire’are the onlythings
that differastheychange on the circumstancesof the filmbeingpromotedtocreate asymbioticlink
betweenthe filmandthe magazine.The colourusedinone of themisa fire redcolourwhichis
linkedtothe mainsell line ‘Inception’this showsthatthe filmiswhat’s‘hot’rightnow anditis in
contrast withthe blue inthe backgrounddue to the sci-fi effect.The colourusedinthe second
‘Empire’magazine isblackwithabrightlime colouronthe edgesof each letter.Thisgoeswiththe
character of the jokerashe has greenhairwhichisthe symbioticlink.
In termsof ‘Total Films’and‘Fangoria’the mastheadsare alsopositionedinthe same place
consistentlyatthe topcentre of the page.‘Total films’magazinehave used the name todistinguish
the fact theycovera broadrange of filmsgivingthe audienceof a‘total’.The Mastheaddoesstay
consistentwithfont,size andposition.However,the coloursare alsodifferentinordertofitwiththe
filmsbeingpromotedsuchasthe greyand white theme signifyingitisa classicfilm, andthattotal
filmscanbringthisclassicbecause of theirhouseholdname.The secondfrontcovershowsaslightly
differentlayoutasishas an outline of the number‘50’overlayeredbythe mastheadsuggestingits
50th
anniversaryof success.Thistellsthe audience of whatthe magazine hasachievedandsowill be
more willingtospendtheirmoneyon.The coloursusedinthismagazine ismainlyof blackandred
colourswhichhas a symbioticlinktothe mainimage whichisa sci-fi/horrorfilm.
Finally‘Fangoria’alsohaskeptthe mastheadthe same positionandcolourthroughouttheir
publishing.The onlydifference betweenthe twoisthe size asone isslightlystretchedoutinwidth
than the otherwhichisonlyto fitmore contenton the front.The colourhas stayedconsistentdue
to the brand identityitcarries,the factthat theydonot take professionalphotosforthe magazine
suggeststhattheyconcentrate ontheirownbrand image as itneedsmore recognitionbefore
creatingsymbioticlinkswiththe filmsbeingpromoted.The use of redin‘Fangoria’relatestohorror
films,the use of ‘Fang’remindsusof vampiresandbloodwhichisthe reasonthe redmay be used.
Whenit comesto the mainimage all magazineshave one.Itusuallyencompassesa male main
character of the filmbeingpromotedorasignificantmostmemorable male character. The main
image ispresentedusuallytopromote the filmanditsgenre inorderfortarget audiencesto
recognise it.Forexample,withthe ‘Empire’magazine frontcoverimage isof ablue backgroundand
a tall man in a blacksuitwitha gun whoisn’tfacingthe camera we can tell thatthe manrepresents
actionand the backgroundresemblesthe genre of sci-fi.We know thisbyusingiconographysuchas
the gun whichisa conventioninactionandblue/silverimageryisasignof the future.Similarly,this
issharedwith‘Total Film’magazine,astheyusedametal silver/blue robotwhichimmediately
indicatestothe audience thattheyare viewingasci-fi genre magazinefrontcover.However,the red
eyesused onthisfrontcovershowsconventionsof horrorbecause redisassociatedwithevil
therefore,itcouldbe arguedthatthe mainimage showsa hybrid of genressci-fi andhorror.
Withinthe mainimagesof all the frontcover imagesmostof the time the protagonistisplacedon
the front cover.However,notall the time suchas in‘Inception’and‘StarTrek’inthese casesit’s
because the filmdoesn’trevolvethe traditional heroandvillainnarrative.Forexample, ‘Empire’
magazine showsthe Inceptionhavingthe heroonthe frontcover because the narrative revolves
aroundhimfightinghisfearstobecome a betterversionof himself. Within,imageslike thesethe
camera angle isusuallyshownata lowangle,thisisbecause theyare the hero’sthatusuallywinin

3. the endand defeatwhatevertheyhave beenfacedwith.The low angle showstheirpowerand
statusin the film.The factthat the magazine isallowedtoshow thisgivesthe audience anideaof
the film’sgenre andnarrative.Incontrast,inalmostall the othermagazinesthe mainimage isof the
protagonistof the filmbeingpromoted.We know thisbecause of the conventional characteristicsa
protagonisthas.For example,‘Empire’magazine promotingthe darknighthasplacedanimage of
the jokeron the frontcoverand similarlyplacedinthe same positionandfacial expressionisfrom
‘Fangoria’magazine,‘The Shinning’.Bothcharactersare protagonists.We know thisdue to their
facial expressionwhichshowsaggressionandangeraswell as‘the evil stare’.A close-upshothas
beenusedfor‘The Joker’whereasamediumshotwastakenforthe Jack Torrance. However,alow
angle wasusedfor bothfrontcover images toshow theirfacesinan intimidatingway,infactthat
theyare fearedpeopleforareasonthat are shownthroughtheiractions.The coloursusedwithin
boththese imagessuchas redhave beenusedasanotherindicatorof theircharacter, a killerwho
takespleasure inseeingblood.Thissuggeststhe genre of the filmsandwhothe characters are inthe
filmswhichcomestoslasherhorror/action.
Whenit comesto layout,all six magazineshave keptconsistentwithintheiridentity.Keepingtheir
masthead,font,informationinsimilarplaces.Forexample,in‘Total Film’magazinesbothhave kept
the positionof the mainsell line inthe bottomcentre,alsothe name of the filmsbeingpromoted
are bothin biggerfontsi.e.‘STARTREK’and‘TERMINATOR SALVATION’.Thisisdone tocatch the
audience’seye inordertobuythe magazine. Similarlyto‘Total Film’ the magazine ‘Fangoria’places
itsmastheadinfrontof the mainimage.Thissuggeststhatbecause the magazine maynotbe well
established,placingthe mastheadconsistentlyoverthe mainimage meansthatthe magazine needs
more recognitionfromitstargetaudience.However,magazine suchas‘Empire’donotneedto do
thisbecause theyare the leadingfilmmagazineandthe mostrecognise therefore,even thoughthey
may notchange theirlayoutinorderto keepbrandidentity,the canhowever,place the masthead
behindthe mainimage tofullypromote afilm.Whichisanotherreasonwhybigblockbusterfilms
wantto place theirfilmsonthe frontpage of ‘Empire’due tothe status given.
Sell linesare alsokepttothe same standardin eachmagazine company,dependingonthe statusof
the magazine the more sell linesare included.Forexample,well establishedmagazinesdonotneed
manysell lines,becausetheirmainimage of atopblockbusterfilmisenoughfortheirtarget
audience torecognise the successandultimatelybuyitandfindoutmore in whatthe magazine
containswithconfidence.However,if thiswasthe case witha magazine suchas ‘Fangoria’whichisa
veryniche magazine consumerswouldbe more reluctanttopickitup. Thisis the reasonwhy
‘Fangoria’ hasmuch more informationonthe frontof theirmagazine cover.Inaddition,unlike the
otherfilmmagazines‘Fangporia’presentspicturesof contentswithinthe magazine.The only
magazine thatisin similaritywiththisis‘Total Films’wheretheyshow apicture of inhouse
advertisingof theirothermagazine issues.
In termsof all the filmmagazine beinganalysed,there isone trendthatdoes standoutwhichisthe
promotionof otherfilmsbeingreferredto.Thisiscommonbecause afilmmagazine willonlysatisfy
theirtargetaudience bygivingthemmore of whattheyneed.Thiswaytheyare likelytobecome
more loyal to the brand.BiggerfilmmagazinessuchasEmpire have mentionedotherbig
blockbusterfilmssuchas‘Batman 2’ and ‘Thor’.Usuallytheywouldtryto referfilmsthatare of a
similargenre asthe filmbeingpromotedonthe fontcover.Then,thiswouldgive the target
audience more reasontobuythe magazine.
The coloursusedwithinthe magazine frontcoversalwayshave asymbiotic linktothe film, genre
and targetaudience.Forexample,‘Total Film’ and‘Empire’usinghe films‘Inception’and
‘TerminatorSalvation’bothuse the colourreddominantly,thissuggeststhe filmsbothare actioned

4. basedand involve violence whichthengoestogetherwiththe linkwiththe charactersgunin
inceptionandthe redeyesof the robotin terminatorssalvation.Also,these colourshave been used
to mainlyattract the male audience astheystereotypicallyare attractedtothese colours,thismeans
whenthe do see these colourstheywillthe properlyappreciateandbecome intriguedinwhatthe
magazine hasto offerandwhat the filmisabout.
The target audience of eachmagazine islargely male asthe mastheadsappearvery boldandina
way masculine throughthe coloursalso.Forexample,Total FilmandEmpire featureaplainand
simple uppercase sanserif fontthat looksprofessional.Whereas, Fangoria’smastheadreflectsthe
amateurand horror specificstyle of the magazine.Thisisreflectedinthe waysome of the letters are
at a slightangle andthe white outline around the letters. Eachof the mastheads helptoreflectthe
type of audience the magazinesare aimedatandreflectsthe contentof the magazine. The different
stylesof filmmagazinesare furtherreflectedbythe characterschosenineachfilm,astheyare all
aggressive maleswholookpowerful whichisstereotypicallymore appealingtomen. Havingcarried
out thisoverview,itisclearthat Empire,Total FilmandFangoria eachhave theirownbrand identity
and signature lookthatcan be easilyrecognizedbyitstarget audience.Thisismaintainedthrough
the repetitionof stylisticfeaturesfromissue toissue andisagreat wayof helping the magazine
succeedandmaintaina loyal fanbase.However,theyeachfollow similarlayoutconventions that
allow forthe successful promotionof the filmof the coverandshare keyconventionsof Film
Magazine Front Covers.