Magazine AnalysisEmma Collins, COWA

I wanted to look at two Film magazines in preparation for my ancillary product. I have

looked at Scream, a film magazine designed specially for the horror genre. And Empire, a

film magazine which covers a wide rage of genres (Mainly all of them!)

Em

ma

Collin

s, CO

WA

Masthead- The masthead starts on

the left, which follows the route of

eye. It uses a big and bold

typography, in a bright red. This

attracts the audiences attention

immediately. It tells the audience the

genre the magazine focuses on

immediately (Horror), due to the

name ‘Scream’ and the blood dripping

effect on the font.

Main image- The main image is

located more to the right of the

cover, this leaves room for the plugs

on the left of the page. The main

image is a dark image clearly a shot

from the featured film. It will draw

in fans of the genre immediately as

it is a scary and shocking image.

This dark image allows the

masthead ,anchorage title and sell

lines to stand out.

Other images- The other images

used consist of shots from films or of

the actors in the films. These are

located on the left of the cover , and

are accompanied by a sell line.

Colour scheme- The magazine has a

house-style of about four colours,

this includes Red, black, white and

yellow. White and yellow are the

main colours , they are used for the

anchorage title and sell lines on the

magazine. Black is used on the

skyline and background. Red is

used only on the masthead to stand

out, it is also used to create a blood

effect around the sell lines/plugs on

the left of the cover.

Cover/sell lines- These are located

mainly at the left side of the

magazine. This is because the route

of the eye usually goes from left to

right , and they want the reader to

see this information. They also

place sell lines at the bottom of the

cover. This packs the cover in

information to draw in audiences

who aren’t interested in the main

feature. The Cover line is bold and

stands out to the audience as it

follows the films own typography

drawing in fans of the particular

film.

Conventions- The cover uses a bold and

shocking image, which is a horror

convention. It also uses bold typography

with effects, such as the dripping blood.

Em

ma

Collin

s, CO

WA

Masthead- The masthead goes across

the top of the cover, It uses a big and

bold typography, in a bright red. This

combined draws the audience in as it

stands out. The masthead is above

the main image, showing that they

want the audience to recognise the

magazine.

Main image- The main image fills up the whole cover, the reader has no choice

but to look at the image. It consists of three terrified looking faces, who look

directly at the reader. This connotes horror immediately. The image is quiet

bright but it also consists a lot of black, connotation danger and isolation. This

also helps to make the sell line and masthead stand out.

Cover/Sell Lines- The cover lines

are located above the main image,

the anchorage title is bold and

stands out to the audience, it

simply announces the title of the

film. This makes the readers want

to know more about the film. The

sell line also does this as it says

‘Keep telling yourself it’s only a

movie’ which sounds like the tag

line for the film. The cover has

other sell lines to the right of the

cover, includes a skyline and a

banner at the bottom of the page

promoting other films. As they are

smaller it suggest that the

magazine wants the readers

attention to be on the main feature.

Colours- The magazine cover has

four colours on its cover to make up

it’s house-style. White, red, black

and yellow. Red is the main colour

used, it is used to make text stand

out. It is used on the masthead,

plug , skyline and various pieces of

text. Black is used mainly for text

and a banner, as it white. Yellow is

the main colour used for the main

feature sell lines, this differentiates

it from the other pieces of text on

the cover, making it stand out.

Conventions- The main image is

bold and leaves the audience

wondering what the film is

about. The sell lines also help to

create this. Adjectives such as

‘Terrified’ hint towards the

horror genre.

Em

ma

Collin

s, CO

WA