Analysis of Magazine covers

As part of the ansillary task, I have decided to design a Film magazine cover. In order to research the conventions of magazine covers and gain ideas doe my own, i have decided to deconstruct various covers. (Although, I did find it difficult to find covers relating to horror movies)

Film magazine Cover 1
The first thing that I notice about this 'Entertainment Weekly' cover is the colour scheme. It features white, blue and red. I think that this scheme has been used because of the type of character that is featured in the background. Due to the pale skin, grey background and dark under eye makeup, i presume that he is meant to be a ghost or something like a vampire. In addition to this the colours have connotations of cold and negativity, and this links to the characters facial expression. I have also noticed that the red writing (even though in a small font) is used to attract your attention and perhaps 'guide your eyes' eround the page. When I first look at the page i notice the red writing at the top and the "39 new films" caption, I then progress down the page to notice "Johnny Depp".

There is a smaller proportion of captions and 'call outs' than I thought on the page. The creater has obviously kept it simple in order to ensure that the reader is not overwhelmed and so that their attentions is ensured to be where the writer wants it to be.

The photo itself  features a mid shot of the main character, there are no other characters featured. Again this makes me think that the writer wants to keep things simple. In addition to this, the characters gaze is shown so that it meets the eyes of the audience. Making the reader feel as though they are being looked at directly. This could work well for my films genre as it could be used as a way of indimidating the reader and drawing them in. The costume that the character is in isn't overpowering, it doesnt distract the viewer from the face and it fits with the colour scheme used.

For this particular magazine cover, i think that the use of well known actors names is employed as a means of attracting the audience. Some thing that may be an idea for me to do on my own magazine cover.
Film magazine cover 2

I feel that this second cover i have chosen completely juztaposes the other. In terms of composition and white space they are the opposite. This cover is packed with as much information as possible, and the words are the focus of the text rather than the image of the actors.

The cover includes stereotypical and necessary features inluding; a barcode,data,issue number and price.

I have noticed that Laura Mulveys theory can be applied to this text. The young and attractive woman appears scared and helpless. She is seeking the help of a man to 'protect her'. She appears defenseless and vulnerable and typical stereotype of a woman in the film industry. This type of application however, will not apply to my film. I want the reader to see the cover and feel fearsome rather that pitty or attraction.

In my opinion,the layout of this cover doesn't work as well. When my is first drawn to the text, I notice the bright yellow caption 'KING KONG' and then i found my self getting confused on what to read next, as i anticipated to read from left to right. In addition to this, I feel that there is too much information on the page i find it a little indimating and that it over powers the picture. This is something that would not work well for my type of film genre as I aim to shock and intrigue the reader. However, I do feel that a smaller 'pop' of colour would work well with my cover.


Film magazine cover 3

There is an extremely simple colour scheme used on this cover. (white and red) Although it does attract the readers eye to the centre of the page which features the character I feel that maybe another colour could have been used. Font size seems to be a common method of attracting attention to certain parts of the texts. I have also noticed that when the write wishes to convey a larger amount of information, they use a smaller, non-emboldened font (or sometimes a different font alltogether).
Again the characters eyes are meeting the audiences, this seems to be a common feature. I also like how the image size is much larger than the rest, so that there is less 'white space'.
In addition to this, i also think that the captions written down the sides of the text work well. This is because my eye follows them naturally in a chronological order. I think that this is because the captions on the left are placed at a higher angle than those on the right.

Finally, i notice that an additional image has been placed on the cover. This is used as a method of enticing the audience with 'freebies' to buy the magazine.