Film Magazine Front Cover Analysis #1

In order to make a professional film magazine myself, I need to analyse a variety of film magazines to see what makes them successful and hopefully gain inspiration from them. The first magazine i chose to analyse is 'Empire'.

‘Empire’ is said to be one of the most successful film magazines in the UK.  To be one of the most successful magazines in the UK means that the magazine is outstanding in providing their target audience with fantastic articles on new and old movies and with gripping interviews with the popular actors and directors.

The biggest feature on a magazine that will lure in the target audience is the main image. In this edition of ‘Empire’ the main image is of the protagonist in ‘Hell Boy’ which is anchored by the main sell line ‘Hell Boy 2’. The most immediate aspect the target audience will be able to notice is that the protagonist does not appear to be human, and has a devilish appearance as he has shaven horns and an unusual size fist. This will indicate to the audience that the genre of the movie is sci-fi. Furthermore the protagonist is giving a fierce look into the camera and his fist is cupped by his hand, giving the impression of violence and so also indicating that this sci-fi movie has elements of action and violence and so the audience can conclude that the genre of the movie is sci-fi action. The front cover uses a medium close-up shot so that the audience can clearly see the characters facial expressions but also so that they can see the big muscular body. The male target audience for ‘empire’ respect a well-developed body and also it reminds them of the characters strength and so relates back to the narrative of the movie. Another element of the image which connotes strength are the rubbed down horns of Hell boy's forehead. These horns conjure up images of a bull in the target audience's mind. Bulls are commonly associated with fighting and so emphasises the narrative of the movie. When examining the mice-en-scene, we can see that the character ‘Hellboy’ is wearing a bracelet of the cross on his wrist; this is ironic as his look and name all relate back to hell. This could imply to the audience that even though he is portrayed with an evil and devilish look, he may not be what he seems and so would encourage the audience to watch the movie to find out some answers. Hard lighting is used on the main image to create a hard, crisp and sharp look which ensures that it will capture the target audience’s eye.

Below is the poster for the movie ‘Hellboy 2’ and it is interesting to see that ‘Empire’ magazine created a symbiotic link between the poster and the front cover to ensure the audience recognises the movie. In both the front cover and the poster, the protagonist’s large fist is emphasised. This may be because it is important to the narrative of the movie and also because it may be how the audience recognise the character. Another way the symbiotic link is created between the poster and the front cover is that violence is portrayed through the protagonist’s body language and expressions. However despite the symbiotic link, there is a difference in the type of image used; the shot presented on the film poster would not look right on a magazine front cover because it is not a close enough range. This serves to show that I must adapt my image for the type of media form I am working within. 

The largest text in the frame is the masthead. Usually the masthead is in capitals letters, in a display font and in a bright red colour. Red is a primary colour which will catch the male target audience’s attention. Also the colour red has connotations of power and dominance, just the sort of characteristics the target audience themselves would possess. The masthead keeps the same aesthetics every issue- unless it is a special edition-to obtain brand identity. Following the theme of dominance, the word ‘empire’ conjures up imagery of roman kings who had empires and lots of power. This again reflects the audience’s personality traits. Below are two examples of the typical ‘Empire’ masthead and as you can see on both examples the main image sits on top of the masthead to show that it is of more significance; ‘Empire’ magazine can afford to do this because is well known and extremely successful and this is carried out in every issue to maintain brand identity.

Looking at this issue’s masthead below, it follows the magazine’s tradition and maintains brand identity by keeping the colour red and in this case the colour red reflects the feel of the 'Hell boy' franchise too, however it has a distinctive feature that links with the movie being promoted. The masthead looks as if it is on fire because it is trying to reflect the narrative of the movie and anchor the main image of ‘Hellboy’ as fire has connotations of hell, fury and danger. The fiery masthead reflects how 'Empire' will often adapt its stylistic feature to reflect the film featured on the front. This will appeal to the target audience as it reflects the sub-genre of the movie which is action and sci-fi; these are genres which they would spend their spare time watching and so they will buy the magazine to find out more.

The main sell line ‘you and whose golden army? Hellboy 2 Guillermo Del Toro Goes Epic’ anchors the main image as it refers back to the movie being promoted. The sell line is accompanied by a ‘First look!’ which makes the article seems exclusive and so luring the target audience in to buy the magazine as they won’t be able to read it elsewhere. Another technique used to capture the target audience is the use of the director’s name. The fans of the director will be inclined to buy the magazine along with the usual ‘Empire’ fans; this will broaden the magazines readership. Usually on magazines, the main sell line is placed on the left hand third as this is where the human eye goes first, however film magazines have their own conventions and so the main sell line is placed at the bottom of the page but in the middle so that it can attract the most attention. To maintain a professional finish the font is the same as the masthead.

Another convention for film magazines is that they do not have many sell lines so that audience can focus on the main image. This edition follows this convention and only has 4 sell lines (excluding the main sell line) on the left hand third of the magazine. Similarly to the main sell line, these too are in the same font and typeface. The first sell line ‘Indy IV’ is promising an article which will reveal ‘secrets’ for new and upcoming movies. The audience will love reading this because it will built up their anticipation and knowing secrets will make them feel included and as if they are part of a special club. Being the hard-core film fans that they are, the target audience would have seen all the classic films such as ‘godfather’ and ‘lord of the rings’ and so an article about ‘the hobbit’ will fulfil their basic film needs. The magazine realises that the audience does have other interests and so includes an article featuring the hottest holly-wood actress; ‘Natalie Portman vs. Scarlett Johansson. Well who would you choose?’ The rhetorical question implies a sexual innuendo which the audience would love because after all they are cheeky men! The last article, ‘there will be blood’ will provide the audience with advice and guidance about new movies. This advice would be given by people who are similar to the target audience and who the target audience respect. As the target audience are young males the mode of address is colloquial and direct address is used to make the audience feel comfortable and for example, words like ‘epic’ and ‘pics’ are used because this is the vocabulary they would use when talking to their friends. This makes the overall tone of the magazine relaxed, just like the target audience are.

The colours for this front cover are all primary, bold colours which are used purely to grab the reader’s eye. As discussed earlier the masthead is always red following the brand identity of the magazine and this then matches the colour red in the main image and so successfully achieving the look of hell and promoting the movie. The sell lines are in white to contrast with the dark background because these are the convincing factors for the audience to buy the magazine. The description underneath the sell lines are gold to give the magazine quite a luxurious, expensive look. Any promotional feature on the magazine such as the ‘first look!’ and the puff are also in gold to make them stand out significantly from the rest of the text.

This edition of the magazine has a puff placed in the top right hand corner which is the conventional placement for a puff. The puff combines two of the target audience’s main interest, sex and films; ’40 films that will get you sex!’ The number  ‘40’ and the word ‘sex’ are in a bold typeface as these are the parts of the promotion that the readers will interested in the most. Being a healthy male, sex is something which the reader enjoys and so this article will appeal to him greatly.

Other features of the magazine are the barcode, date, price and website. The barcode is placed on the bottom left hand corner, out of the reader’s eye line as it is of no significance to them. The website is underneath the masthead in a small sized typeface, this is a conventional position for all magazines. The date and price are also usually placed underneath the masthead alongside the website, however empire invert conventions and places them above the ‘M’ in the masthead. This could be a technique to try and achieve originality and this is repeated every edition to maintain brand identity.

 Overall this magazine front cover follows most of the important codes and conventions and is successful in promoting the movie ‘Hellboy 2’. The magazine also takes into consideration the target audience’s other interest and combines them with their love of film and so satisfying them greatly.