This is my first magazine analysis for a2 media studies.

1. Magazine Analysis

2. For my first magazine analysis, I’m going to analyse an issue of ‘Fangoria’, a
movie magazine that focuses on just horror movies. This issue features ‘The
Shining’ as its main image and main film, a psychological horror. Analysing this
will help me in the production of my own magazine, because I’ll understand
conventions more, and know what should be included in my magazine, for
example, I’ll know where to add mode of address, and how my magazine should
be laid out.
This magazine would lure in the target audience of horror fans, by creating the
whole magazine about horror; this is effective because they won’t be spending
money on something general - it’s personal to only horror films. Also, it gives
them a slight insight into the magazine by having ‘monsters, aliens and bizarre
creatures’ written underneath the masthead. This tells the audience that there’s a
variety of different things in the magazine, persuading them to buy it. The front
cover is used as a promotional tool that will encourage people to watch the films
on the front. Because of the large text for the main sell-line and the eye contact
Jack makes, fear is created in the audience, and they’re convinced to watch it.
The main image on this magazine is a picture of ‘Jack’ from ‘The Shining’. We
see him hunched over holding his jacket closed, with a snowy setting in the
background. Jack’s head is tilted, with his mouth snarling at the audience while
he makes eye contact with them. This eye contact would pull the audience in,
making them want to buy the magazine to find out more about this character. The
main sell-line is the name of the film and the name of the actor who plays the
character we see; this links the image with the sell-line as Nicholson fans would
be immediately interested. It also tells the audience the name of the film, making
them intrigued to find out more about the film. The image tells the audience that
Jack is the antagonist, through the look on his face. This reveals a large part of
the film to the audience, although they’re still unsure of the narrative. Audiences
would know straight away that this is a horror film, and because of the fact that
Jack is showing his face, not wearing a mask, they may also know that the sub-
genre is psychological.
The image on the left is the film poster for the
shining. A symbiotic link is established between the
two, because in both images, we see Jack with an
angry, murderous expression on his face, telling the
audience he’s the antagonist. The name of the film is
also written in the same font on both pieces,
maintaining this symbiotic link. In both images, we
also see Jack’s hair being messy; this shows that he
doesn’t care about his looks, as he’s more focused
on killing Wendy.
On the magazine image, a slight high angle shot is
used as we can see the top of Jack’s head. This
shows that he’s looked down upon, because of all
the bad things he tries to do in the movie. The

3. camera shot is a medium-close up, allowing us to see his facial expression, and
his body language; he’s hunched over, emphasizing the cold we can see from
the background. This compares to the image in the poster where we’re presented
with a close up of Jack, allowing us to just see his face. However, the poster also
shows us Wendy, revealing more about the film. Because the poster is released
before the magazine, the fans would already know about Wendy, meaning its not
crucial information for the magazine. Dark side lighting is used for the magazine
front cover in order to create a shadow on half of Jack’s face. This scares the
audience and makes them intrigued to find out what he’s hiding.
The masthead of this magazine is ‘Fangoria’; the name of the magazine. ‘Fangs’
link to the horror genre and the A’s are shaped to look like fangs, immediately
telling the audience what film genre magazine is promoting. The masthead is
above the image, showing it’s not a well-established brand, and people may not
know the magazine. The masthead is written in sans-serif, showing that it’s more
casual and informal, not a magazine that’s going to be talking about serious
issues. The masthead is the largest piece of text on the magazine, showing it’s
the most important thing and it’s made to stand out and attract the audience from
magazine stands in shops, for example. Following conventions, the masthead is
coloured red, showing connotations of blood, anger and danger, reminding the
audience that it’s a horror magazine. Red also stands out, and brings text to the
foreground, making the magazine noticeable from afar. White is used around the
masthead to outline it, again, making it more noticeable, while showing the thin
line there is between good and evil. The masthead would appeal to the target
audience because it’s easily noticeable, simple and reflects their favourite genre,
horror. In order to maintain brand identity, all issues of Fangoria use the same
font, and they usually use the colour red. This is a successful way of promoting
themselves, as regular buyers would notice it without having to look for it,
meaning they’re more likely to buy it.
In the left hand third of the magazine, there is a section for ‘special summer
previews’, attracting the audience to look at this section. Sell lines, ‘THE
TERROR FACTOR’, ‘SAVINI strikes back – MANIAC!’, and ‘Alien creatures of
GALAXINA’. All of these relate to the image above it, giving them an insight to
what the article is going to be about. The sell lines would reflect the interests of
the target audience by giving them the fear factor, for example, words like ‘terror’
and ‘maniac’ are used to pull them in. The use of exclamation marks also draws
the audience in, as they’d be excited by the sell-line, making them want to buy
the magazine to find out more. Capital letters are also used for the most
attractive part of the sell-line. This would ensure that the audience read the sell-
lines, convincing them that the magazine is full of interesting content. In order to
keep symbiosis, sans-serif font is also used here. The sell-lines are written
smaller, in order to not distract attention from the main sell line. The main-sell line
is written in bold, capital letters in red. We see a scared face in the main-sell line,
attracting audiences, showing them that it’s scary. Dull yellow is used for the sell-
lines, having connotations of caution, decay, sickness and jealousy, all themes
running throughout the horror genre.

4. Above the masthead, we see a skyline introducing the audience to ‘Vincent
Price’, a huge film actor. Film fans would be likely to know who he is, attracting
them to find out more about him. ‘HAMMER HORROR & MORE!’ is also written
on the skyline, telling the audience that the magazine is filled with information
about everything to do with horror, and more. The use of the exclamation mark
excites them, making them want to find out what the ‘more’ is, making them buy
the magazine. We also see a banner saying ‘The HITCHCOCK Legacy’. This
would be a main selling point for their magazine because Alfred Hitchcock was a
massive director in the horror industry, intriguing fans to find out more about what
he left behind.
Yellow, red and white dominate this poster, along with dark lighting used for the
image. These are used to create meaning because of their connotations: blood,
death and danger for red; jealousy, decay and sickness for yellow; purity and
innocence for white. These are all themes that link to the horror genre, creating
effect for the audience to want to find out more. The colours reflect the narrative
of ‘The Shining’ as Wendy is innocent, yet she’s the victim of Jack; this scares
the audience into thinking they could be a victim, even when they’ve done
nothing wrong. The shining also features scenes of blood and murder, linking to
the horror genre as a whole. These colours also lure in the target audience, as
they’re bright and bold, attracting them to the magazine, and reminding them that
it’s a horror magazine.
This magazine is image dominated, meaning that potential buyers won’t be put
off by large amounts of text. This is also successful as through image, we can get
a better insight into the movie. The layout of the front cover is used for effect as
in the left hand third, we see the feature article photographs and the sell-lines in
a camera roll. This ensures the audience will look there before making their way
over to the main image of the Jack from the shining. Conventions are followed in
this magazine poster as the masthead is at the top, with the main sell-line placed
at the bottom centre of the magazine.
Overall, I think this magazine is effective in promoting ‘The Shining’ because it
follows conventions and uses eye contact with the image of Jack to pull the
audience in. By following a strict brand identity, they also ensure that fans would
recognise the magazine from far away, making it certain that they buy the
magazine, increasing their revenue.