front cover overview

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 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. These colours will often help to create a symbiosis with other promotional material, such as posters. For example, the ‘Inception’
addition, on the Inception promotional poster similar blue colours are present as our the setting on the building blocks in the background.

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. It is also worth noting that across all of these film magazines, all the mastheads are
written in capital letters. This adds emphasis to the magazine and tries to promote it further by putting such a high emphasis on the title. It
also makes it bolder and therefore clearer to see so it will help individual magazines stand out next to one another.
Across the six magazine front covers, a variety of different films are being promoted that vary in genre. Examples being, Toy Story 3, Harry
Potter, Taken 2 and Batman 3. Although they are different genres, they have one thing in common, they are all popular franchise. Due to this
popularity, people will be more inclined to purchase the likes of Total Film and Empire, based on the glimpse of excitement of a new franchise
film coming out. This would enable the audience to have an insight towards the potential plot and what stars will be filming in it. However,
Fangoria only promotes horror films at is is a horror based magazine and will therefore attract horror crazed fans.
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.

8. In both editions of Total Film the mode of address is similar, creating symbiosis for the audience allowing them to become familiar with
the magazine, therefore expecting the same each edition. Specifically on the ‘Star Trek’ edition, colloquial language is used such as “f**k
the recession”, this portrays and reflects the audience themselves to be of a higher age bracket based on the exposure to swear words.
Despite the fact it isn’t written out in full, it would still not be appropriate for anyone 16 or under. On the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ edition the
audience is greeted “Welcome to Wonderland!”, which is greeting the audience in a warming, friendly way, making the audience feel
comfortable and will provide them with escapism (Blumer and Katz) as the audience will be indulged, as if they are talking to a friend. On
the contrary, Empire is less colloquial and is more informative. This suggests that Empire’s audience are more interested in the context
side of the magazine as oppose to the more friendly, gossip side. On the first Fangoria front cover presented, two rhetorical questions are
asked in the main sell line. This will attract the audience's attention and make them want to purchase the magazine to find out.
On both Total Film and Empire front covers the barcode is presented in different locations, suggesting that there is no clear, direct layout
challenging the convention that the barcode (pug) is usually presented in the bottom right hand corner so it does not distract or overpower
the more important information presented to the audience. However, it could also be because the barcode needs to fit around the particular
theme of the edition. An example being in the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ edition of Total Film there is a sell line presented at the bottom of the
page, leaving there no place in the bottom left hand corner, which is conventional or magazines, so it had to be repositioned. Unlike Total
Film and Empire, Fangoria’s barcode is presented in the same location of both front covers provided. This indicates a certain and particular
stylistic layout that audiences will be familiar with.
Fangoria sticks to similar colours each edition, the masthead is always red in colour, and red is a dominant feature colour across the whole
page, relating to the idea that it is a horror genre film magazine. Empire’s edition on Star Trek is predominately black and white. This is
unusual because Star Trek is within the sci-fi genre so audiences would expect some blue to be used. These blue’s and more bright colours
would also represent idea’s of the future, which this edition is lacking. The Alice in Wonderland edition contains bright exotic colours, just
like in the film therefore meeting audiences expectations. Additionally, iconography is presented through the use of the rabbit,
representing the ‘mad hatter’ in the film.

9. The colours used on Empire’s edition of Inception, are similar to those used in the promotional package for the film itself, this creates a symbiosis
and therefore will allow the audiences to recognise the film straight away. This is the same with The Hobbit edition, suggesting that this is a
layout feature of Empire; to make it as relatable to the film as possible.
Across the skylines in each magazine, different content tends to be covered, suggesting that all three magazines do not have a specific layout they
stick to regarding this. In the Star Trek edition of Total Film the skyline consists of a list of different films, including “up” and “potter 6” - a
colloquial shortened version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Whereas on a different edition, the audience are offered a “free giant iron
man poster” suggesting that the context of the skyline is to further enhance and attract customers to want to read the magazine, or receive the
covermount they offer. This is juxtaposed by Empire whereby the skyline presented are in relation to a feature film, for example “when gollum
meets biblo”, relating to the feature film The Hobbit. However, on the Inception edition, the skyline reads “The Dark Knight Returns”, however, this
is not relation to Inception itself, but one of the other main sell lines regarding Batman 3. Fangoria uses a more enticing approach by giving away
features within the film for example “texas chainsaw massacre remake”, as this is one of the most famous slasher films, fans will then be excited
and want to purchase the magazine in prosperity that a remake is being made.
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.