Film Magazine Front Cover Analysis #3

For my last analysis, I have chosen to look again at ‘Empire’ magazine as I personally like the style and look of the magazine. I am looking at ‘Empire’ front covers for inspiration and so I thought it would be better to analyse the magazine front covers in more depth.

Let us begin with the main image as it is the most dominant feature on the page. The image is of the protagonist in the ‘Iron Man’ movie franchises and it is anchored by the main sell line which reads ‘Iron Man 2’. The medium shot displays a powerful and dominant superhero and so this instantly indicates that the genre of the movie is sci-fi action. This is a favourable genre of the target audience and the marvel heroes are beloved characters for the readers; they would have read the marvel comics in their past and some readers may even collect them. To the target audience the marvel movies are ‘classics’. The protagonist is giving a menacing look of terror into the camera which shows the audience that he means action! This aggressive tone is emphasised by his iron body wear which represents his strength, power and masculinity. If we look at the film poster for the ‘Iron Man 2’ movie below we can clearly see a symbiotic link between the two media texts. The film poster shows the protagonist without his mask on but still looking into the camera with the same sinister glare. Also a very similar camera shot is used to ensure that ‘Iron man’s’ iconic light source is in the frame as this is the feature which will allow audiences to recognise the movie.  It is also interesting to note that the backgrounds for both texts are the same too. Both backgrounds appear to look as if there is a storm brewing which could mirror the action and drama which is about to take place in the movie. It creates excitement and anticipation amongst the target audience. 

The lighting is ambient backlighting, as it comes from behind and is generated by the lightening. Lightening is a powerful force with a dominant presence, just like the character of 'Iron Man'. The light emanating from the character is artificial to create an intensely powerful look.

The masthead is in the usual typeface-to maintain brand identity- however the aesthetics have changed to match the main image.  It appears to be illumines and looks similar to the protagonists light source. The lightening coming off the masthead adds to the idea of a storm brewing and continues to build up anticipation within the audience as they wonder what could cause the ‘Iron Man’ to be so angry. 

The main sell line is promoting the movie ‘Iron Man 2’ and anchors the main image. As mentioned earlier, marvel superheroes are extremely popular amongst the hard-core film fans and so this is why ‘empire’ magazine have chosen to include it in their magazine. The colour of the sell line is the same as the light source but it is not illumines so that it is easily readable for the target audience. The literary technique of a rule of three is used to create a short, snappy and luring description for the main sell line; ‘New suit, new enemies, same attitude.’ This will make the audience ponder what the new features of the suit are and what will ponder is the enemies from the comics will feature in the movie. Furthermore by stating ‘Iron Man’ has the ‘same attitude’ provides the audience with re-assurance that the beloved character which they know and love is returning in the sequel. By knowing that the essence of the character hasn’t changed, they will go to see the movie.

This promotional feature is placed on the left hand third of the magazine and is used to reinforce the main sell line. The description reads ‘All Hail the King of 2010’, by using the word ‘king’ it emphasises the important role of the protagonist and also emphasises the importance of the main sell line for the magazine. 

As this is a special edition front cover, there are no other sell lines around the main image so that it remains the main focus of the frame.  One feature use to promote other articles inside the magazine is the banner which runs along the bottom of the page. The banner discusses ‘three amazing exclusives’ which are all movies that the audience would be interested in. 

The other feature used to promote articles inside the magazine is a strapline placed above the masthead-a conventional placement for this feature. The strapline informs the readers that a review on the ‘Oscars’ and ‘the lovely bones’ will be inside the magazine. Being film fanatics they would be keen to know about the gossip at the ‘Oscars’ and also reviews on films are giving by people just like them so they receive advice from a trusted source. Also they have stated that ‘The Clooney’ will also be inside the magazine, this is a big name Hollywood star and so the readers will be excited to read the article.

In the top right hand corner is the puff which is going to give the readers ‘the ultimate review of 2009’. The readers would have seen most of the blockbuster hits in 2009 and so hearing how they were interpreted would be greatly interesting to them. The mode of address is colloquial because of the use of the word 'ultimate'. It also emphasises the definitive quality of the review. 

The date, price, website and barcode are the features which the target audience are least interested in and so they are placed in unnoticeable areas. The barcode is placed on the bottom right hand corner which is the place where the human eye goes last.

The date and price are placed in the ‘M’ of the masthead and this is the same for every edition to maintain brand identity. This is a usual feature which the magazine uses to obtain originality. 

All the text on the frame is in a blue grey or white colour. This is so that they match the aesthetics of the main image. The strapline above the magazine uses all three colours to contrast the texts with each other, making the strapline stand out. The promotional features such as the ‘First look’, ‘Plus’ and puff are all in a bright blue which is highlighted against the dark background and catches the reader eye as these are the deciding factors for the readers in whether they want to buy the magazine.

I find this is the most effective film magazine front cover that I have come across during my research. The image and magazine complement each other extremely well, and I find that it builds up exciting in the audience and so urges them to go and see the movie.