front cover overview of film magazines

1. Front Cover Overview

5. The six magazine front covers presented above are all from three well known, successful and admirable brands; Total
Film, Empire and Fangoria. Despite Fangoria being a specialised magazine, attracting a specific target audience of just
horror fans, however, it still successful promotes the feature film as does Total Film and Empire. Both Total Film and
Empire have a more generalised target audience, but like Fangoria they still successful promote the featured film.
Generally, by analysing these six front covers I will be able to discover common conventions between them all,
suggesting what conventions enable these brands to be as successful as they are.
A general layout is used within all six of the front covers, they all consist of a main image that dominates the frame, a
masthead which is written in the brand's signature font and is the largest text on the page, a main sell line that relates
to the main image and sell lines that further entice the audience the audience to purchase the magazine as they will
have a more in depth understanding of the content within the particular edition. In some cases like Fangoria feature
article photo’s are used in order to further entice the audience to purchase the magazine. They break up the front cover
more, and give the audience both visual are worded information.
Total Film and Empire are leading film magazines renowned for their success over the years. This is evident through
the professional and sophisticated style of their magazines . It is evident that they know how to please their audience
and keep to a layout that is familiar and comfortable. Because they are both general film magazines, it is important
they adjust the style of the magazine to fit the film and the theme of the film. For example, if you compare the front
cover that has Chris Pine on the front (Star Trek) it has a black and white theme - this could represent the idea that
Star Trek is an old classic movie, despite it becoming a franchise it will always be seen as classic. In comparison to the
other front cover which is promoting ‘Alice in Wonderland’ whereby the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is used as the main
image, which is more colourful using a purple background and yellow fonts, which are vibrant colours we would expect
to see in the movie therefore adapting the layout of the magazine to the theme of the movie. This overall makes the
magazine feel more personalised to that film, enticing the audience further.

6. As opposed to Total Film and Empire I believed that Fangoria has a more amateur look about it. Potentially, this could be
because it has a specific target audience and aims to attract just there attention and bases the layout and the general
mise-en-scene towards horror fanatics. However, if you place the magazine next to Total Film it looks really old
fashioned and outdated.
On each of the front covers I have chosen, the main image focusing on a male protagonist - who are also the main
characters within the films that are being featured. By featuring the main characters of a film, it enables instant
recognition so the audience will be more than likely to know which film is being promoted without looking at the main
sell line. On both Total Film front covers, the main image includes the actor giving direct address, this will draw the
audience in and entice them to purchase the magazine. The other four front covers include a still image front the film
this helps to further promote the film as the magazine is promoting the film rather than the actor.
The masthead on each of the six magazine front covers dominates the top half of the frame. Fangoria is the most
consistent, on both front covers presented (as well as all the other front covers that have also been created) have
maintained the same masthead across all. This creates a symbiosis across all Fangoria’s magazines, maintaining its
brand identity allowing for the audience to become familiar with it, enabling them to recognise the magazine from a
distance. Additionally to this, the masthead reveals the content of the magazine, ‘gore’ suggests that is a magazine
specialising in the horror genre. In comparison to this, the Empire masthead changes on different editions, the font
maintains the same, however the colour may be altered in order to fit the featured film, for example on the film poster for
inception, the title is written in red, Empire have retained this on their front cover for the main sell line, but also adjusted
the masthead to comply with this. The same happens in the other front cover I featured regarding the colour gold. This
makes each edition different, making the audience wonder what could be coming next therefore keeping them
interested. The masthead itself could suggest dominance within the film industry which reflects on the brand itself being
a leading film magazine seller.

7. Total Film is classic and keeps the same masthead, written in white. The colour white can suggest new and exclusive
films, as does the word total. It gives of an impression that if the audience purchase the magazine they are going to be
presented with a variety of different movies from a variety of different genres, therefore catering for all.
Red, white and black are all primarily used across four of the front covers (other than the Hobbit (Empire) and Alice in
Wonderland (Total Film)). These are three colours renowned for being associated to the horror genre. These colours are
further amplified on the Fangoria cover, in comparison to Empire and Total Film, merely because it is a magazine
specialising in the horror genre therefore further impact needs to be applied in order for it to be successful.
Furthermore, it is adamant that iconography is used to Fangoria’s advantage in order to portray the genre it is trying to
promote.
In addition to this, different fonts help to suggest different genres. Sans serif fonts are used widely across Fangoria’s
front cover, the sharp edges will remind the audience of the sharp edge of a knife, therefore reflecting the genre of the
magazine. Whereas on Empire and Total Film, display fonts are used for the mastheads, suggesting that the films they
will be featuring will be big blockbuster movies.
From carrying out this overview it is evident that brand identity is important within film magazines as it allows that
audience be able to recognise certain magazines instantly. By constantly using the same layout and stylistic features,
it maintain consistency allowing the audience to feel comfortable and will retain they as a continuous, loyal customer
of the product.