3. FILM MAGAZINE OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION: All of the eight film magazine covers presented above both
celebrate and promote films, mostly within the action/adventure genre. I have
decided to analyse action/adventure magazine front covers as they always feature
either the protagonist or antagonist of the film they are promoting, who appears at
the centre of the frame. For example, in the ‘Robin Hood’ magazine front cover, we
see the three heroes of well-known action/adventure film, with a dominant and
intimidating stance. This technique is commonly used within film magazine front
covers which is very effective and draws the audience in. For our own magazine
front cover, we wish to feature the protagonist at the centre of the frame, to replicate
and fit in with well-known and existing film magazines to maintain originality.
By looking at the eight magazine front covers, we can see that the most dominant,
central image is of the main character(s) of the film being celebrated. For example, in
‘THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN’ front cover, we are able to identify that the character
presented is portrayed as ‘Spiderman’. We can tell this by his costume which, at the
back, features a large spider. Another clear example is the second front magazine
cover which portrays Johnny Depp as ‘Willy Wonka’ from ‘Charlie and The Chocolate
Factory’. Furthermore, we see the actors as their characters they play in the film
which is effective as we are able to differentiate between them and see the actors in
their characters role.
GENERAL CONVENTIONS: As we can see above, all of the front cover magazines
displayed feature a large masthead which is the largest, boldest piece of text in the
frame. Seven out of the eight front covers feature a headline, giving a snippet of the
magazines contents. For example, in the ‘MAN OF STEEL’ issue, written across the
top of the frame is ‘THE HEROES AND VILLAINS ISSUE’. Above this piece of text
are featured-article photos of ‘superheroes’ and ‘villains’, reflecting the text. Although
this is not seen as a typical convention of film magazines, it shows how unique the
film front covers are from one another and what type of film and film magazine is
being promoted. In the ‘TOTAL FILM’ magazine cover, for example, most of them
include featured-article photos, as oppose to ‘Entertainment Weekly’ and ‘Empire’
who tend to not use them.
In each front cover presented above, with the exception of the second , presents and
places the main image of the leading character above the masthead. This is to
highlight the importance of the character being portrayed and to make them appear
more dominant. All of the eight film covers, excluding the ‘HARRY POTTER 7’ one
show the leading character filling the whole frame, further luring the audience in.
Furthermore, in most of the eight magazine covers, the film title surrounds the
leading character which hints to the audience that this play a key part in the
magazine and shows how significant they both are. Seven of the eight front covers
feature a barcode, placed either at the bottom or side of the front cover, which is a
general convention of magazines and also includes the pug as well, which the

4. audience are able to identify. The audience would be able to establish the common
conventions found within film magazines and would be able to find a common link
between them.
MAIN IMAGE: The masthead is the most predominant part of the frame and is one
of the features use to capture and grab the audience. Through looking at the front
covers, we can see that the camera shots used are mainly medium/medium long
shots. I believe that the use of these shots are particularly important and effective in
bringing in the audience as they allow the us to see the leading character in a
dominant, assertive way, but not showing their full figure, which makes it even more
intriguing for us. I especially like the ‘THOR’ front cover as it really grasps the
dominant, heroic character. I love how we are able to his full robe and his statue
reveals to the audience what type of film is being promoted; an action film.
I also really like the ‘Willy Wonka’ front cover of Johnny Depp’s character, as his
facial expression is very appealing and dominant. He also makes direct address
with the audience allowing them to feel more intimate and closer to the character ,
therefore, the audience would be more attracted to the front cover and persuaded
into purchasing the magazine front cover.
Most of the images presented on the front cover, however, show the main character
in a slanted position, which could show the fact that they are untouchable and
undefeated. In ‘THE HUNGER GAMES’ front cover, Jennifer Lawrence’s character
gives us a slanted posture. In contrast, in the ‘Spiderman’ magazine front cover, he
turns his back to the audience, showing that he’s ready for a fight and also ready to
seek revenge. The images used are those that feature within the film(s), for example,
the ‘ROBIN HOOD’ front cover, featuring three protagonists of different action
movies, and therefore the audience are able to spot a link between them which is
brilliant!
In the majority of the film magazine covers, the character(s) make direct address
with us to gain our full attention and to tell us that they play a leading part in the
magazine issue, once again promoting the film. We can also see that most of the film
magazine front covers contain a ‘puff’ to further draw the audience in. the use of a
puff gives further snippets of the film presented on the front cover and makes the
audience aware that this is a ‘must-read’ section. Each and every one of the eight
front covers, features the character(s) in a serious and ‘ready for battle’ mode which
is again very effective for the audience. It shows that they are the central and main
focus of the film and that they are what make the film.
THE MASTHEAD:
As we can see, all of the eight front covers above feature a masthead, allowing the
audience to see the name of the magazine and to remind them of it. There are three
different magazine front covers above:’ TOTAL FILM’, Entertainment WEEKLY’ and
‘EMPIRE’. Each of these magazines has its own style and creativeness, which

5. allows the audience to differentiate between them. All, apart from ‘Entertainment
WEEKLY’ are presented in bold, capital letters, to highlight its importance in the
frame and to catch the audiences’ eye. They all maintain a symbiotic link across a
range of issues belonging to the same magazine brand. Each ‘TOTAL FILM’
magazine cover, features to word ‘TOTAL’ inside the letter ‘F’ and the rest of the text
is in a very thick, heavy, bold white font. We are able to see that the letter ‘M’ in both
the ‘TOTAL FILM’ and ‘EMPIRE’ magazine are presented in the same way, adding
emphasis to the masthead.
In addition, the masthead presented in the ‘Entertainment WEEKLY’ magazine is
quite similar to the ‘TOTAL FILM’ one as part of the masthead is placed inside part of
the text which adds more of an effect to the text as well as originality. Each one of
the masthead is filled across the top of the page, indicating how significant it is and
to allow the audience to remember which magazine they are reading and to allow
them to familiarize themselves with the magazine brand..
HEADLINES:
Almost every magazine front cover features a ‘headline’ on the top of the frame,
before the masthead to further draw the audience in. the use of headlines gives the
audience a clue about the type of magazine being presented: ‘FROM BATMAN TO
STAR WARS: THE 50 MUST-SEE MOVIES FOR SUMMER!’ Although these
headlines are not as significantly shown as the masthead itself, it still plays a major
role in the creation and promotion of the magazine. The majority of the mastheads
are displayed in a white font. The use of adding a white font makes the text more
eye-catching for the audience. Each headline is displayed in dominating capital
letters which allows the audience to seethis effectively.
COVER/SELL LINES:
The cover/sell lines are presented around the main image which allows the audience
to focus clearly on both the image and sell lines effectively. The sell lines give an
insight of what the film magazines involves. An example would be in the ‘HARRY
POTTER 7’ magazine which reads ‘No school. No rules. Hermione faces her darkest
demons’. Another example is in the first front cover of ‘Sherlock Homes’: ‘EXTRA!
The Matrix decoded and ‘The fantastic Ms Fox.’ The sell line ‘TOTAL EXCLUSIVE
THOR…Meet the new supergod.’ Invites the audience in and makes them feel
special which again draws them in and may further draw them into watching the
actual film. Furthermore, the word ‘EXCLUSIVE’ means that it must be seen and that
it is the latest, so the audience feel that they are getting a little extra! The cover/lines
are placed neatly underneath each other which make it more clearer for the
audience to see.
MISE-EN-SCENE: Mise-en-scene elements including costume, setting and props
come really well together in creating a very professional, attractive looking magazine

6. for the audience. The mise-en-scene shown in both the ‘HARRY POTTER 7’ and
‘ROBIN HOOD’ magazine are incredible and definitely eye-grabbing. The wizardry
effects and lighting behind Hermione adds emphasis to ‘HARRY POTTER’ and
shows that she may be in the location of the film. In a similar way, in the other
magazine cover, we see a bright sky backdrop, showing the characters in their
positions and the fact that there is a ray of light shining one side of the frame reflect
the edition of the magazine which is a summer-themed backdrop.
COLOUR SCHEME: Some of the front covers feature bright, bold and colours which
really grab our attention such as ‘Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and ‘The
Hunger games’ one. This allows the cover to appear more attractive and engaging
for the audience and further hints to film genre being promoted. Through looking at
all the above front covers, it is clear to see that they all feature the colour ‘white’ in
part of their text, showing how dominant the colour is and grabbing the audience's’
attention once again. Overall, the colour used within each of the eight front covers,
complement each film being presented and may also give a clue as to who the target
audience may be. For instance, in both the ‘Spiderman’ and ‘THOR’ front cover, we
can identity that it is targeted at a male audience as oppose to a female one.
COMPOSITION: The use of composition such as the positioning of text and images
are very effective in creating a very appealing and attractive-looking magazine front
cover. In the ‘Hermione’ front cover it looks as though she is stepping over the words
‘HARRY POTTER 7’ which reinforces the fact that her character is fearless and
powerful. The fact that she is standing tall further shows this and allows the audience
to see that she plays a key role in the magazine. She is placed in the exact middle of
the page surrounded by texts which allows the use to identify that she is our central
focus. The audience would be able to focus on each feature of the frame clearly and
effectively , without any distraction.
CONCLUSION: To conclude, each and every one of the eight film posters are really
exciting and intriguing for the audience and are successful in making the audience
purchase the magazine to see what more is inside. My favourite magazine front
covers are the ‘HARRY POTTER 7’ and ‘SPIDERMAN’ one as they are very unique
and visual but effective in their own way and are also very original-looking and
colourful, allowing the audience the establish the type of film the magazine
celebrates.
Within our own magazine front cover, my partner and I wish to use bold, attractive
colours, which hint the film’s genre and also attract our audience as well. For
example the use of red ,white and black as our dominant colours will hopefully allow
our audience to establish that the type of magazine being promoted is of the horror
genre.