ANALYSIS OF THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF A FILM MAGAZINE COVER

I have chosen to analyse a film magazine cover from Empires edition featuring the film ‘Star wars - Rogue one’ which was released in 2016. The cover I have chosen has been released 6 different times, with the only difference being the main focal image changing. I have gathered 3 of the 6 covers released to discuss their traditional, conventional features which follow a pattern often seen on over magazine covers. These features often relate to the film itself aiding the promotion of the product.

The masthead is placed at the top of the page behind the main focal photo, in bold white capital letters. The 3 different photos represent different characters within the film, each character has potentially been used to attract a variety of readers. All shots used are medium, close ups which reveal the character's whole identity including their costume and any other props they may be holding. The main focal image slightly overlaps the masthead, ‘Empire’ may have chosen to do this because their brand name is more recognisable than the characters in ‘Star wars; Rogue one’ meaning it needs less promotion or recognition compared to the film.

‘Empire’ may have chosen to vary the main focal photo to attract a wider range of audiences, the first magazine cover reveals a female character looking fearless and independent. She is probably around the age of twenty and may have been selected for the front cover to attract male attention alongside feminists or appeal to a female audience. As often sci-fi films are traditionally viewed by a more male audience. On the second cover ‘Empire’ have chosen to use a young male actor, his body language of his arms folded may represent he is rebellious and outgoing. This may appeal to a young male audience who are adrenaline junkies and potentially a female audience who find this character attractive. On the third cover ‘Empire’ have chosen to present a older male character holding a weapon. He may have been chosen to appeal to a older audience as they might look up to this character and admire what he is doing for his age in the film. By appealing to a wider range of audiences the more likely the magazine will be bought and the more likely the film will be watched.

All three front covers feature a puff to the right hand side of the main focal photo, offering an exclusive read on ‘Star wars’. It is a bright yellow colour and in a shape of a circle, this is because it is easily recognisable and often the first thing the reader may see. ‘Empire’ have chosen to place the puff alongside the photo as the reader is automatically drawn to the image so anything around it in a bold colour will be read. A skyline features along the top of the cover and reads ‘What a year! Our huge review of 2016’ this written code is particularly engaging to a reader as it informs them that inside the magazine it will sum up the year of 2016 film successes. The written codes alternate between a yellow or white colour, potentially to stand out more. The colour yellow in particular connotes energy and happiness reflecting what the film may entail.

The background of the cover reveals some sort of intergalactic satellite, the image is enhanced using CGI and appears larger than what it would normally look like. This technical code, alongside the mise-en-scene of the characters spacesuit costumes and hi tech props confirms the sci-fi genre. This technical code also stands out to readers who will tend to watch sci-fi/ action films.

Overall I believe this magazine will interest a wider range of readers due to their clever ability to present the magazine a number of times with different characters, each aiming to attract a contrasting reader.           

ANALYSIS OF THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF A FILM MAGAZINE COVER

I have chosen to analyse a film magazine cover from Empires edition featuring the film ‘Suicide Squad’. This was a popular film of the year 2016, and the magazine cover featured a number of conventions related to the film used to promote the product.

The masthead is placed at the top of the page behind the main focal photo which shows the actor Jared Leto dressed as his character the joker in ‘Suicide squad’. This layout is recognisable by regular readers as it follows a pattern of the focal image being overlapped by the masthead.

The photograph takes up a large section of the cover, which features a number of contrasting colours. The camera angle is slightly lower than the audience, this intimidates the audience as it looks like the joker is directly staring at them. The joker is primarily a bland white and black colour, except his hair, eyes and hand tattoo which are a vibrant, green, blue and red. The photograph reveals some information about the villain, the fact he is covering his mouth could mean he is deceitful and sneaky. His gold chains and jewellery reveal he may have power and wealth. Alongside his green hair, which could symbolise his greed and envy. The colours used compliment both the joker and the contradicting background. The background uses a mixture of vibrant pinks, purples and oranges as if a smoke bomb had gone off, relating to events that happen in the film. Similar colours are also used on other promotional products for suicide squad, such as the film poster. This similarity helps make the brand become more distinguishable amongst other products. The different texts alternate between either pink or white and are all written in capital letters, this helps them to be read more clearly and works nicely with the other colours used.

Below the photograph the coverline is shown to be the title of the film which is shown in white, bold capital letters indicating to potential buyers that this film would be the main focus of the article. Below the coverline is a short, detailed description of what would feature within the magazine. The magazine's tagline is placed below the title of the film and reads 'Plus the 50 greatest villains of all time ' this piece of information relates to the main image which shows a potential villain that could feature in that list. This is an enticing bit of information which encourages the audience to read more. The magazine also has a skyline which runs above the masthead 'Empire', it is a bit of information which calls out to readers about some special exclusive reading of 'Wonder Woman and Kong; skull island' only found within that magazine. Once again influencing the audience to read further. The typography of the text is all bold and is in capital letters mixing between a white and pink colour. The visual codes of the pink colour is used when the magazine is offering something eg. ‘Plus’ / ‘Exclusive first looks’ compared to the white colour which is used to inform the audience what the offer is eg. ‘The 50 greatest villains of all time’.  

A puff features in the shape of a paint splash from a dart gun on the magazine cover, this links with the weapons used within the film and the overall design and theme of the magazine. Puffs are conventionally used to promote a competition or exclusive article, which is what the Empire magazine has done. It is attempting to promote the ‘fantastic beasts’ and their behind the scenes filming. By placing the puff alongside the main image and text means that it is another promotion which could be read at first glance.

The target audience is any film fanatics who would be willing to buy a magazines about films, anyone interested in films which contain superheroes/ villains or are into the sci/fi, fantasy genre. Or finally in viewing the film suicide squad itself, this is because the magazine tries to capture their interests by showing a number of exciting exclusive readings from similar films within the same genre and offering a list of 50 characters believed to be the greatest villains. I also believe due to the vibrant colours any child may pick up the magazine mistaking it for one from their age range.  

ANALYSIS OF THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF A FILM MAGAZINE COVER

I have chosen to analyse a film magazine cover from Total films edition featuring the film ‘Avatar’. This film was released in 2009, and the cover features a number of conventions which are often repeatedly seen on other magazine covers. The features often relate to the film itself aiding promotion of the product.

The masthead is placed at the top of the page slightly behind the main focal photo which shows the character ‘Jake Sully’ who occupies an avatar of the species ‘Na’vi’ in the film. The masthead is cleverly designed as it places one word from magazines title within the other, this layout is more interesting and unique compared to a plain masthead. Similar to ‘Empires’ layout, they have chosen to place the focal image overlapping the masthead as it is recognisable by regular readers and follows a pattern.

The image is placed centrally and takes up the majority of the cover, the camera angle is a medium close up revealing the whole identity of the character. The character has a human upper body but an animalistic face, in particular its ears, nose and eyes could be similar to a cat's facial features. This is fascinating as it appears to the reader that the character could be physically alien like but still have human emotions. It is predominantly a blue colour and is equipped with weapons potential used during medieval times. The background is a similar shade of blue as the main focal image, the colour blue usually connotes strength, wisdom and peace, potential characteristics of this character. The focal image may have involved some sort of photoshop which enhances the mythological and unrealistic features of the character. This computer generated image may strike a potential reader's eyes amongst any other magazine.

The colour scheme is mainly a mixture of dark and light shades of blue combined with white and grey colours. I believe these 3 colours have been chosen as they represent out of the ordinary things such as space or planets. This could coincide with the film ‘Star wars’ which is another sci-fi genre film, follow this sort galaxy/ space layout pattern.   

Below and around the main focal image a number of coverline’s reveal features within the magazine, they are usually placed there as they are easily accessible to read by anyone passing. One coverline in particular reads ‘A decade in the making’, this piece of information is significant as it reveals that avatar may have taken around 10 years to make, informing the audience that they took a lot of time and effort to perfect the film. A skyline runs along the top of the article and calls out additional information to the reader; this particular cover reveals the article may include information about other films. This edition doesn't really feature a puff but does still offer exclusive offers around the main focal image. The typography used for the masthead, the title of the film and the skyline are all the same, using white, bold capital letters. These three pieces of information are the largest and boldest because they are probably the most necessary information at first glance.

There could be a number of potential buyers or readers that may be film fanatics who are willing to buy a magazine about films or anyone interested in films. A more specific target audience would be anyone wanting to watch the film Avatar or anyone who enjoys films that follow the sci-fi/fantasy/action genre.