1. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
MAGAZINE COVER ANALYSIS
By Angus McCabe

2. FONTS
The sans-serif font used for the masthead of the
magazine will boldly stand out to the audience as it
is the largest word and the most eye-catching colour.
It is conventional for the title of the magazine to be
the largest most acknowledgeable font on the cover.
This would then appeal to the target audience of film
fans who would acknowledge this as the font of
Empire, a major world-class movie magazine and
then be encouraged to view the rest.
Another bold sans-serif font is used for
the title of the film featured on the
magazine cover. The colour and
distorted style is frequently seen on
fonts for psychological thrillers and is
therefore conventional for the genre of
film being promoted. The font on this
cover is one of the key elements in
revealing to the audience the nature of
the film being promoted and therefore
attracting the target audience.
This sans-serif font is less conventional, both for the magazine form and the psychological thriller
genre. However it catches the reader’s attention. It also creates the effect that the font is
handwritten which adds a sense of immersion with the film’s themes.

3. COLOUR
•
There is a wide range of colours used on the magazine cover, some conventional and
others not. The black and grey colour films used on the image on the page connote the
darkness and violence of the film, however they are contrasted by the bright colours used
all over the text on the page. These are less conventional for a psychological thriller
however the movie magazine is promoting a range of other films etc. meaning the
different use of colours in the coverlines would encourage the audience to read about the
different range of films discussed in the magazine and therefore broadening the potential
target audience of the magazine. Different colours have been used for different parts of
the magazine that are based on different topics meaning the audience would associate a
particular colour theme with a particular section of the magazine. This is conventional for
a magazine when discussing different items.

4. IMAGE
•
There is one main image on the magazine cover which is a two
shot of the main protagonist’s from the film the magazine is based
on. The use of mise-en-scene in the image is conventional of a
psychological thriller such as the dark costumes worn by both
characters which adds a sense of sincerity to it. This is
emphasised by the use of make-up on the female character which
gives her a gothic appearance; this reflects the dark nature that is
common occurrence of psychological thrillers. The shot is also
taken from a low-angle looking up on the characters which
connotes dominance and creates an intimidating feel for the
magazine cover that would appeal to psychological thriller fans.
The setting of the shot is also conventional as it reveals an empty
room with rough and decaying walls which is a type of setting
expected in psychological thrillers and also allows emphasis on
the two characters. Because there is only one image on the
magazine cover it puts the majority of the readers attention on this
film which could lead to more people viewing the film. It is
conventional that there is one primary image on the page however
some magazine covers would include a smaller secondary image
promoting a different item.

5. LAYOUT
The layout of this magazine roughly follows
the route of the eye which reveals the
important information in promoting the product
such as the magazine name and the picture
followed by the title of the film and then the
coverlines. This method is a common
convention of the form and ensures the
audience are able to pick up information on
the magazine and the film from a quick glance
at the cover. The layout of the magazine could
be considered overly cluttered but this creates
the impression that the reader will have a lot
to see and be entertained by. It also follows
other conventional aspects of layout such as
the masthead being at the top of the page,
the image placed in a central location showing
its importance and then coverlines on either
side of the page which are all typical features
for most magazine covers.