AS Media Studies Horror

1. MAGAZINE COVER
OVERVIEW
By Rebecca Dahl

2. The main image on this magazine cover features a
hell like character positioned in the centre of the
page, which is used to grab the audiences attention.
The red colouring makes it appear bold, and links
with the connotations that hell goes with the colour
red. The two wooden circles in his head add to the
fear factor which comes with this magazine as it is
quite a gruesome thing to see, and would therefore
make the audience interested to find out more about
the movie. The use of direct address from the
character is an effective way of drawing the
audience in.
The masthead is ever changing on Empire in
order to keep the audience interested and
entertained. The masthead also links with the
main image of the devilish character, as the text
is flaming red. This continues the red colour
scheme which is featured, making the cover look
organised and well arranged. The fire coming off
the text captures the reader’s attention as it is a
unique choice and is well edited onto the text
making it look highly realistic, therefore showing
the magazines professional side.
Sell lines are used to entice and interest the
reader further by showing them what else will
be featured inside the magazine. The use of
exclamation points makes the sell lines look
more exciting, therefore generating more
interest, and the white writing used makes the
text stand out and be easily read against the
background.
The colour scheme for this magazine
colour is prominently black and red,
linking with the feature article being
on the movie ‘Hellboy’, as these colours
reflect the colours of hell. The text has
been written in a white font in order to
allow it to be easily red and visible
among the other colours. Overall this
colour scheme has been effective in
displaying the information and looking
well presented.
Layout:
The character is positioned in front of the masthead in
order to draw more attention to it and emphasise the fact
that he is an important character in the movie. Most of the
sell lines are placed on the left hand side which makes the
magazine cover look less busy and well structured. The
magazine’s website, issue date and price are all shown
around the masthead which prevents the audience’s
attention from being distracted from the image, and adding
to the organised theme.
EMPIRE COVER
ANALYSIS

3. FANGORIA COVER ANALYSIS
The masthead for ‘Fangoria’, like
Empire, links with the main image.
The font is written in red, linking with
her red lips and eyes. The font itself is
written in a Dracula-like fashion, and
demonstrates the fact that the
magazine is aimed particularly at
horror enthusiasts. The masthead is
placed over the main image, making it
one of the most bold and eye catching
parts of the cover, which is similar to
some of the older editions of Empire.
The main image on the cover of this
magazine features the villain from the
movie ‘Black Swan’. Her red eyes give
the character a devilish feel along
with her very pale skin. The blank
expression on her face indicates that
she is almost proud of her evil side. T
The layout for this magazine cover has
been designed to draw most of the
audience’s attention to the middle
section of the cover. The left hand third
and right hand third have less
information which makes the page
appear less cluttered and more orderly,
and also emphasises the fact that the
two main parts of this magazine are the
masthead and the images (this means
the ones added to the bottom as well),
making this cover very visual.
The sell lines used for this magazine are
fairly simple and basic, allowing most of the
readers attention to be drawn to the main
image. They each name a different horror
film or celebrity involved with the horror
genre which has been done to create
excitement among horror enthusiasts, as
they will instantly recognise and be
interested in these names.
The colour scheme used runs
around the character’s
makeup, for example the red
eyes and lips link with the
masthead and the film title
‘Black Swan’. In addition to
this, the makeup used on her
eyes is reflected through the
sell lines.

4. TOTAL FILM ANALYSIS
The masthead for this magazine, like
Empire, has been placed behind the main
image. It has been written in a red font,
making it bold and obvious in contrast to
the other text on the page. The first word
in the magazine name ‘Total’ has been
placed inside the second word ‘Film’ which
is a unique and creative way of
professionally presenting the masthead.
The main image used for this
magazine is of the antagonist.
It is not immediately obvious
that she is an antagonist as
she appears to look fairly
normal, but it is only when
you notice the blood on her
hands that you notice she is
in fact the villain. Antagonists
are usually the characters to
be featured on film magazine
covers as they generate the
most excitement and
speculation among viewers.
The sell lines for this cover have been
placed on both sides of the magazine in
a grey font in order to make the text less
overpowering. They have used quotes
and some parts have been written in
bold to show that they are exclusive.
Exclamation points are also used to
emphasise other points as well.
The colour scheme for this
cover has been focused
around the colours of her
cheerleading costume
which goes with the theme
of this movie being centred
around a high school.
The layout used on this cover has a
lot more text than the previous two
magazines, making the page look full
of content indicating the inside
contains the same. The subtle use of
red shows that the movie will
probably contain gore, indicating the
genre. The use of text is placed
around the outline of the character
and there is less text towards the
bottom so that the page isn’t
completely full of writing.

5. FANGORIA ANALYSIS
The main image for this cover displays
the ghostly antagonist from the movie
‘Insidious’. The characters eyes have
been mostly blacked out displaying
how she has no soul, and her skin is
very pale and lifeless. Using this
character as the main image will scare
the audience, therefore appealing to
horror fans.
The masthead has been shown in
white and red linking with the
alternating colours of the sell lines.
The ‘fang’ like font used clearly
indicates the genre of magazine as it
has sharp edges, along with the name
‘Fangoria’ itself which sounds like the
word ‘gore’ , continuing this
representation of the horror genre.
Sell lines used are again to advertise
celebrities and new movies which
have been released as these will
quickly and effectively allow the
reader to know more about the
content of the magazine.
The layout for this Fangoria
magazine cover shares a similar
layout to the other addition of
Fangoria. There is a collection of
movie images placed at the bottom,
and the main image is featuring the
antagonist from the featured movie.
The name of the film is placed
underneath the character’s face
making a clear indication where it is
from and the sell lines are displayed
in alternating colours.
The colour scheme used here is
predominantly black, white and
red. These three colours being
used together all link with the
movie being about possession, as
the white used represents the
innocence of the characters prior
to the possession, the black
represents the evil which goes
alongside the good and the red
indicates the gore and shocks
which will be within the movie.

6. EMPIRE ANALYSIS
The masthead for this older edition of
Empire magazine, like Fangoria, has
been placed in front of the main image,
making it one of the boldest parts of
the page. The font colour for this
masthead is red which makes it stand
out against the background and makes
it clear that it’s the most important
piece of text on the page. The white
outline of the text gives it a more
interesting design.
This main image, along with the
other magazine’s main images has
been placed in the middle of the
page, with the character using direct
address to draw the reader in. His
orangey-brown eyes link to the role
he plays in the movie where he plays
someone who appears to human but
really isn’t. It also adds mystery to
this dark character which would add
to the reader’s interest in the movie.
The sell lines on this magazine
cover like many other
magazine covers are displaying
other films and actors. They
use key words such as a bold
film title to grab the readers
attention and easily show
them the content.
The layout for this magazine
cover shows two main texts
(the masthead and the feature
article text) at the top and
bottom of the page in bright,
eye catching colours. There is
text surrounding the main
image on both sides making
the page appear full of
information.
The colour scheme here is mainly
brown and other earthy colours such
as green and black, linking to how
the movie is mainly filmed in a
forest setting.

7. TOTAL FILM ANALYSIS
The masthead of this edition of
‘Total Film’ magazine has been
placed over the main image, as
opposed to the previous one. It has
been displayed in a white, bold font
with a cut out of the word ‘total’ cut
out. The design of this masthead
goes well with the colour scheme of
the magazine and adds to the older
look.
The sell lines here all link to the
genre of the magazine being a film
magazine. In addition to this, the
‘world exclusive’ written about the
name of the feature film is displayed
in red font, adding emphasis on how
unique it is.
The colour scheme for this
magazine is in black and
white, again which is a unique
design choice as usually lots of
different colours are used to
draw people in but here the
only other colours used are red
on some of the text, though it
is effective in making the
magazine look professional
and well structured.
The main image is displayed in
black and white which is a
unique design choice for a
magazine, but works well with
the close up of the well known
actor’s face who would be easily
recognised by film fans. By using
a close up and direct address it
makes the magazine feel more
personal.
The layout of this magazine cover
is mainly focused on the actors
face, though there are different
pieces of text surrounding him
which breaks the page up a bit. By
using buzz words such as ‘boldest’
and ‘coolest’ is another way this
magazine has drawn the reader in.
This layout is very similar to the
‘Fangoria’ cover with the dark
swan on it.

8. EMPIRE ANALYSIS
The masthead of this magazine cover
has been displayed in a bold font
which is larger than the other pieces
of text on the page, making it the
most prominent. The text has a green
outline to it which links to the main
image character having green hair,
and also adding to the overall theme
of the cover.
The sell lines used continue the green
theme to the cover. Each of the sell
lines at the bottom begins with the
film name then follows with what
part of the film the article will be
focused on which gives the reader a
clear indication of what they will find
inside.
The main image shows the villain
from the movie ‘Dark Knight’,
which is what all of the other
magazine covers have done except
for the one featuring Twilight as
that character is both a hero and a
villain. The direct address from the
character with his head tilting
slightly down shows how he has an
evil and villainous side.
This colour scheme is focused
around the character on the
main image which is what all
of the previous film covers have
done, as it emphasises the
movie being featured and
makes the cover appear well
structured. The main colours
used are green (linking with
the character’s hair) and black
(linking to the character’s eyes)
which present him as being
twisted due to the weird
colouring of his hair.
The layout of this cover is
slightly different to the others
as the film title has been
written above character, when
it is usually written beneath
the character’s face. The fact
that the film title is placed so
close to the masthead
indicates that the magazine
will be focusing a lot on this
movie in particular.