comparison of empire magazine and trailer

1. Case Studies Guidance Notes
Comparison
1: Purposes of the Products (Uses and
Gratifications)
The main purpose of Guardians of the Galaxy is to provide
entertainment to as many people as possible. Guardians of the
Galaxy is a fictional Sci-Fi story featuring superheroes on a mission to
conquer evil forces. Space is a prominent location in this film. Other
purposes include: highlighting social issues (presence of diversity),
attracting a new audience by bringing a completely different
franchise into the Marvel Universe, etc.
The key purpose of Empire Magazine is to
communicate with the customerby providing a voice
for a particular subject, to educate by providing
analysis of the subject, and to inform by providing
important information. This magazine was also made
to entertain the customer using a commentary, to
persuade the customer to view the subject, and also to
promote the subject.
Each one of these products bears similar purposes. The only purpose present in
both areas is entertainment, proving that these two products do well to fulfil a
certain purpose. This intended purpose of the producers is a vital way to attract an
audience, because if people aren’t entertained by a product, it will be a lot
complicated to intrigue them with different methods. Guardians of the Galaxy
entertains the audience through uses of light humourand strong Sci-Fi themes.
Empire Magazine entertains the customers using a light hearted commentary for a
product. Empire Magazine seems to have a greater amount of purposes than
Guardians of the Galaxy itself. This is possibly because most magazines tend to aim
for a much bigger group of people to view theirsubjects, and so explore a range of
methods to intrigue an audience. The film itself, on the other hand, doesn’t need a
lot of aspects to convince audiences to view it.
Guardians of the Galaxy and Empire Magazine are successful in achieving their
purposes with the audience, but not while using the same methods. Guardians of
the Galaxy achieves its purposes easily because it is a blockbuster film. It is much
simpler for the audience to interact with a movie than a magazine. Empire
Magazine achieves its purposes because it features engaging quotes and articles
along with images which intrigue the customer. Such magazines could even change
the opinions of the customer and encourage the customer to view the film.

2. 2: Content of the Products
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy is a film; a fictional
type of product. The story follows PeterQuill,
who was abducted from Earth after his
mother’s death. He steals a mysterious orb
coveted by the villain known as Ronan and
becomes the quarry of relentless bounty
hunters, subsequently being forced intoan
uneasy alliance with four disparate misfits to
save the galaxy.
Guardians of the Galaxy has a linear narrative
structure. Its storyline has a clear and consistent pattern, with a beginning, middle,
and an ending in the same order without jumping about in its own timeline. This
linear structure ensures there is no confusion within the audience or toomuch
difficulty in following the plot.
There are some narrative devices in the story which are relevant toplot. These
include backstory, flashback, and foreshadowing. The opening sequence of the film
shows the death of Peter Quill’s mother on Earth, due to terminalcancer, before
Peter is abducted. The audience is reminded of the events of Peter’s mother’s
death during the final fight with Ronan as there is a flashback of his mother. This
scene also highlights Peter’s long lasting regret
for not taking his mother’s hand as she died.
There is also foreshadowing which takes place
between the characters Rocket and Groot. The
latter is constantly ridiculed for his stupidity
by his companion throughout the course of
the film, and this foreshadows the manner of
Groot’s death as the character proves he isn’t
feeble-minded at all.
This film contains characteristics of the Sci-Fi genre. Some scenes are set in outer
space and on various planets; these locations are common in films from the same
genre e.g. Star Wars/Doctor Who. Aliens, spaceships, and travellers are key
themes from Guardians of the Galaxy, which are also present in other Sci-Fi films.
Other characteristics of Sci-Fi include: standoffs, shootouts, and complications
which appear in Guardians of the Galaxy. There is also presence of high stakes as
many planets are at risk.
The main characters in Guardians of the Galaxy consist of a leading male character
(Peter Quill), a deuteragonist woman (Gamora), and other characters that are
ethnically diverse (Drax, Rocket, and Groot). These characters can be easily

3. compared to the characters from Star Wars. The leading male character is Luke
Skywalker, the secondary female character is Leia, and the other ethnically diverse
characters are Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The main themes, messages, and values in the film concern family, friendship, and
society as a whole. The key theme of family is explored particularly in PeterQuill
and Drax, who have lost loved ones. This also applies to Gamora, who was adopted
and is forced to fight her own sister. The message this film is attempting to
communicate is that family is an important thing and that nothing can replace it.
The film explores the values of family; for example, Drax is willing to desert his
companions so he can avenge the death of his wife and daughterat the hands of
Ronan and it is shown that Peter is deeply affected by his mother’s death.
The theme of friendship is also explored throughout the course of the film. The key
message is that strong individuals come togetherto form a single fighting force,
and that if someone needs help, friends will do whatever it takes. The death of
Groot is a good example. He sacrifices himself to save the rest of the group,
because they are his friends. The values of friendship are explored throughout the
film; at the climax of the final battle, the Guardians (minus
Groot) share the immeasurable power of the Infinity Stone
and destroy Ronan together. This shows that working as a
group is more successful than working individually.
The film also explores society as a whole by communicating
how important it is to care about others. In the film, Ronan
aims to destroy whole civilisations with the Infinity Stone
and the Guardians are determined to stop him. The values of
society are shown as the Guardians are concerned for the
innocent people around them.
Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine is a factual type of
product; it is non-fictional. The
product includes various articles
which feature discussions on the
Guardians of the Galaxy. There is a
great deal of information on the film,
as well as reports and reviews by the
actors and the director. Empire
Magazine also reports fact on
Guardians of the Galaxy in a
professional manner and provides
opinions from the actors on the film
e.g. Vin Diesel really enjoyed his role
as Groot.
Empire Magazine may also feature
bias which comes mainly from the selection of actors e.g. the way they sound/look

4. because many actors were refused a role in Guardians of the Galaxy for unfair
reasons; some were unsuccessful in hitting all of the buttons.
Empire Magazine also interviews actors from the film in a positive way and
provides reviews on Guardians of the Galaxy itself. Empire Magazine features
quotes from the director, James Gunn, and also from the actors regarding their
backgrounds and time on set. The magazine also uses pull quotes to intrigue the
reader “Visually it’s the biggest movie Marvel has ever made” and tends to use
persuasive language in its articles to address not just the film and the customer,
but the actors and the production directly. Information is structured in a clean
manner, making it easy for the customer to absorb it easier than if it were
cluttered. There is a headline which is positioned above the text in bold black
lettering so it is easy to spot. This larger font emphasises the importance of the
headline to attract the customer’s attention. Information also follows a certain
order: explaining each and every main character and their actors in detail without
changing the subject.
Comparing Content of the Products
Both products differ from each other greatly. First
of all, Guardians of the Galaxy consists of moving
images and Empire Magazine features still images.
The content that is present in both seems to just
be structure. This refers to the structure of the film
(linear, non-linear etc.) and the way information is
structured in a magazine. Genre characteristics
also seems to be present in both products, as
Empire Magazine would have highlighted specific
content of the film which ties to the Sci-Fi genre.
Both products also communicate messages to the
audience, with Guardians of the Galaxy
communicating the importance of family,
comradery etc. and Empire Magazine helping to
communicate these messages to those who haven’t
viewed the film in its articles. Any content that was
present in the film would have been highlighted in
Empire Magazine.
In both products, images are used differently.
Empire Magazine uses images to create meaning and perhaps remind the customer
about the elements of the film and to represent and reinforce messages e.g. the
graphics of the film are astounding. Guardians of the Galaxy has a wide range of
visual graphic elements which can communicate with the viewer instantly. These
elements create meaning because they show how much time and effort the
producers put into the film.
When it comes to using content in a more effective way, Empire Magazine is the
winner. This magazine appeals to its target audience because it uses persuasive
language in its articles, features opinions from different individuals, uses pull

5. quotes to intrigue the audience, and provides facts on certain films. It is Empire
Magazine which is more effective than the films it reviews. The reason for this is
because the magazine promotes these films and discusses them without spoiling
the storylines for the customers and it may even convince the customers to view
the film if they haven’t already watched it.