Magazine Research..

For our coursework, we also have to make a film magazine front cover for our film. We decided to research different film magazines to get an idea of how to make our magazine cover stand out and effective. Most film magazines tend to have a similar layout which makes it easier for the audience to recognise the magazine in a shop and also for the front cover to catch their eye. This is done by make the headlines/subtitles bright and bold so they stand out onto of a relevant image.

Empire
Empire is a famous film magazine which includes lots of features and reviews of upcoming/newly released films. Their front covers keep to the continuity rule by always having the same layout and format. This consists of the magazine title always being bold, bright and eye catching. Unlike the film posters, the titles of magazines are always at the top, this helps the buyer to recognise it in a shop with lots of other magazines. The main character of the latest film is on the front of the magazine, sometimes covering part of the title. As the audience know the title very well there is no need to have it all showing as they know what it says. This causes the image to be bolder and more elaborate which brings more focus to the main character. The colours of each issue are usually based on schemes, so all the colours match each other, as if the colours were to clash, it would seem unappealing and messy. This magazine appeals to its target audience as it is bright and eye catching, the image is also of a famous actor that is very well known and would attract a wider audience too.

 

Total Film

Total Film magazine is similar to Empire considering they have used the same layout and kept the continuity throughout the piece. The magazine title is also as the top and the subtitles are usually all to one side, so it is unusual for the main film title to be centred for the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory film cover. The images are also of very popular actors, especially the Twilight themed cover, even if people didn't usually buy film magazines, they are likely to buy this as it is a franchise and could become a collectors item, which I think is a good way to sell their products. This magazine also covers the title with the image, as it is a major film magazine, the audience would already know the magazine cover well and are able to get away with it.  

Looking at these magazine covers has given me and insight into what is expected of a film magazine. We will need to take into account all the conventions we will need to stick to, like the large image, a good title which is often covered by the image, subtitles to the side of the cover. We will also need to remember the little details to make it authentic like the bar code, date and price. We must always keep in mind our target audience and make sure that our cover is always relevant to them.