showing different conventions of magazines for same film

1. COMPRISON OF DIFFERENT
MAGAZINE FILM COVERS
MAGAZINE COVER RESEARCH

2. Different types of film magazines

3. Comprison of the conventions used in
different film magazine covers
• All film magazine covers have almost the same conventions
such as title, subheadings, famous people, additional
information etc. However, we also need to look at the
different conventions of different magazines which is why I
used three different magazines film covers to show the
different conventions that best suit the genre.

4. Empire
Title: which is the name of the magazine is written on the top of the magazine
which is easily seen by readers.
Famous character from the film: Jennifer Lawrence is shown to be posing for the
picture which suggests a photoshoot was carried out for the magazine cover as
the character is looking straight into the camera. Also, the use of long shot makes
her look strong and powerful because of the way she is standing and holding the
bone and arrow shows she is ready to fight which makes her look confident.
Name of the film: the name of the film is written in grey with bold writing to grab
readers’ attention. It also matches the background (fire and smoke in the
background blends in with the colour grey which could be hard to read. However,
use of Bold writing makes it visible enough to read).
Additional information/graphics: to grab reader’s attention to read the magazine,
it has information about how to win a competition and win £1,500. the use of
exclamation marks draws in attention. ‘THIS TIME IT’S WAR!’ gives the film hype
and makes the audience feel excited for the film to come out.
Colouring scheme: the use of black, grey, white and red matches the film’s genre
conventions because the movie uses constant violence, there is also use of fire
and things that happen to characters are bad which is why black and grey is used.

5. Entertainment
Title: the name of the magazine is entertainment weekly which is hidden behind the
magazine cover picture making it hard for readers’ to see which is not attention grabbing
at all.
Name of the film: many magazine covers put the name of the magazine on the top and
then the name of the film somewhere in the middle. However, this magazine cover has the
name of the film on the top which is written in white with bold writing drawing readers’
attention.
Graphics: the use of the work ‘exclusive!’ grabs attention making the audience read it. It is
written in white bold writing however, Jennifer Lawrence is written in orange colour
matching the title of the magazine which makes it stand out from other texts.
Famous character: Jennifer Lawrence is looking towards the camera indicating a
photoshoot was carried out to produce this. As it is a middle shot, it covers the page which
is why additional information is written in very small font making it hard to read.
No barcode or price: usually magazine covers have price, date and barcode together in one
place but this magazine cover only has the date which is written on the top of the title very
tiny, again making it hard to read.
Background: it looks like she is in a forest making it relate to the narrative and the movie as
the location of the movie is in a forest.

6. Total Film
Title: name of the magazine is written above the picture, Jennifer Lawrence’s picture is
kind of hiding it but from looking at it, you can read the name of the magazine.
Critics opinion: where the title is written there is a picture showing there is critics
opinion on the film inside the magazine. This persuades the audience to buy the
magazine so they will be able to find out if the movie is worth watching.
Main character: image of Jennifer attracts the readers by showing them straight away
on which movie the magazine concentration is on.
Other pictures/information: there is no any description related to other pictures such as
the Spiderman which may attract the audience to buy the magazine to find out if there
is something about the other pictures inside the magazine.
Graphics: use of words such as ‘EXCLUSIVE’ or ‘DEATH’ makes the audience buy the
magazine and check out the magazine as there maybe something exciting and give them
a lot of information.
Messy: every text is written in bold with big fonts, use of loads of pictures including the
front picture makes the magazine looks messy and not neat. However, despite of being
messy, it makes the audience learn how to interact with the magazine in a different way
than just looking at the pictures but reading it as well. This makes it different to other
magazines because not many magazine covers are messy like this.

7. To conclude:
• Looking at the different conventions used by different magazine for the
same character and film suggests that not all magazine covers use the
same conventions.
• I really liked the conventions used by empire because it looks very neat, the
picture of the main character attracts the readers as it is a long shot and
there is not much information to distract the readers. Also, the colouring
scheme is very nice as it goes with the background and the clothes of the
actor. However, entertainment and total film have used medium shots
which hides the title of the magazine making it hard for readers to see
what magazine it is. Also, use of loads of information distracts the audience
from the picture which is not attention grabbing.