The document analyzes and summarizes three different magazine covers. The first magazine features the character Hellboy and uses fire imagery relating to his name. The second magazine focuses on horror films and uses a dripping red masthead and image of a demonic girl to convey danger. The third magazine uses shattered imagery in its masthead to represent action films, and features Angelina Jolie holding a gun to promote the action film SALT.

1. By Josh Baugh

2. The first magazine I chose to analyse is the one you
can see to the left.
I chose this one as the main image caught my eye – it
features the character of Hellboy, from the film
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. We can see this as the
text that appears across his chest and shows
relevance to the name (hell – red)
The menacing red figure that stands prominent in
the centre of the page made the cover stand out as
the colour red is one of the most popular colours
found on magazine covers.
What also stood out for me was the enflamed text
that dictates “EMPIRE” from the positioning and it’s
prominence, we can see that this is the masthead of
the magazine. As fire also links with hell and the
colour red, we can see that Hellboy has an important
presence in the magazine.
The pug is placed nicely to the right of the main
image and doesn’t obstruct anything. This prevents
our attention from being diverted from the main
image or the pug itself.
The pull quotes are also placed neatly and
conventionally to the left of the main image and they
also prevent obstruction of image and text.

3. This magazine is more relevant to my project as it
focuses on the horror genre.
It’s masthead, ‘SCREAM’ reflects on a classic
convention in horror films, screams and shrieks of
terror. It also possesses a red colour which suggests
danger and is also a popular colour for magazine
covers. The dripping effect on the lettering
resembles blood and, ultimately, death that is
featured throughout the horror genre.
The main image isn’t as prominent as the previous,
but it surely does stand out on the page. It features a
demonic looking female that peers from what looks
like a trap door. The image obviously focuses on the
character of the girl, rather than the actor. We can
see this because of the make up – the scars and flesh
wounds show the gore of the situation and the
menacing yellow eyes show how evil she is.
The splash reads ‘EVIL DEAD’ which we assume is the
name of the film that the girl is featured. This is
because of it’s layout, being significantly close to the
image.
This magazine cover also features subsidiary images
– showing actors and characters that feature in
similar films. For example, the middle image shows
an evil axe wielding figure that relates to the Silent
Hill Revelation movie.

4. The masthead of this magazine cover, ‘Total Film’
appears to be shattering and the shards look like
they’re falling down the page. This effect reflects on
the action genre that is featured throughout the
cover.
The main image features Angelina Jolie starring as
SALT which is also the name of the movie. From the
image, accompanied with her facial expression and
the prop of the hand gun – suggests that ‘SALT’ is an
action film and she is described as a ‘super spy.’
The pull quotes are cleverly placed, preventing any
obstruction of the main image. They are also clear
and easy to read. This is due to the colour scheme
and how it doesn’t clash with any other colours on
the page.
The pugs found towards the top of the page are
slightly obstructed, but it is intentional – the one to
the left reading ‘comic book heroes!’ is obstructed by
the shattered masthead but is still readable. The one
to the right of the page that reads ‘the world’s best
movie reviews’ is also covered up by the mast head
and we are left to assume what the word says. This
can prevent people from understanding this but I
feel it’s done intentionally to show the importance of
the masthead and, ultimately, the brand Total Film.