This document analyzes magazine front covers that promote horror films. It finds that they generally feature the antagonist/villain prominently using close-ups with direct eye contact. They also feature the title as the largest text over ominous images in red, black and white colors associated with horror. The covers target either hardcore horror fans or a broader audience, with those aimed at fans emphasizing gore and scares while others focus on attractiveness or intrigue. Analyzing differences in covers promoting the same film provides insights into targeting specific audiences.

1. Magazine Front Cover Overview
These magazine front covers promote horror films:

2. These seven magazine front covers have been designed to successfully
promote films within the horror genre. Through carrying out an
investigation, it is possible to find similarities between them as they share
features and conventions which lead to creating a successful front cover.
The front covers feature general conventions such as the title being the
largest and most noticeable text and the image dominates the frame and
suggests something about the film’s narrative. The target audience for
“Scream”, “Fangoria” and “Gorezone” is mostly made up of horror
enthusiasts. This is suggested by the font, colours and images used as they
look scarier and present more gory details. However, “Total Film”, “Empire”
and “Entertainment Weekly” are open to a larger audience who may not
necessarily be horror fans. Therefore, they are creating a professional look
which will appeal to a vaster audience, not just horror fans.
The “Total Film” magazine front cover and the “Fangoria” front cover both
promote the horror film “Jennifer’s Body” and feature Megan Fox, the main
character. Here we can see the difference between the two magazines and
their audiences. “Total Film” focuses the audience’s attention on Megan
Fox’s physical attractiveness, giving away only one hint that suggests she is
going to feature in a horror film (the blood). This does not give the audience
any clues about the film itself. The sell-line “The Deathly Megan Fox” also
shows that they are more likely to focus on the actress rather than the
character. Meanwhile, “Fangoria” portrays the same character in a less
attractive way, showing the audience that she is going to be the antagonist
and gives them an insight. The sell-line “Megan Fox will eat you alive”
stands out and links with the image.
All seven magazine front covers feature the antagonist. This can be due to
the fact that the audience may be more attracted to finding out more about
the villain’s role. This also suggests the genre that is promoted, making it
clear that the film is a horror. Six of these posters use a close up of the
character and six of seven characters make direct eye contact with the
audience. “Total Film” uses a long shot in order to centre the audience’s
attention on Megan Fox’s physique, whereas the others want to highlight
facial expressions and gory details. The main colours used are red, black
and white. The colours are often used when promoting pieces of media
belonging to the horror genre, as red suggests passion and blood, black
suggests darkness and evil and white suggests innocence and purity.
“Fangoria” and “Scream” use images taken from the movie, suggesting that
they are perhaps less professional or known than “Empire” and “Total Film”
who use exclusive images. The setting is the same for every front cover, a
plain background which matches the image and the film.
These magazine front covers have used similar conventions which lead to
effectiveness. When developing my ideas and carrying out my practical work,

3. I will look at them for inspiration and follow these conventions in order to
obtain a successful magazine front cover.