Research into Similar Products: Ancillary Products: Film Magazine Covers

As I am doing a film trailer I also have to create two ancillary products. A film poster for my original film and a magazine cover. I have already briefly looked at a few posters created for films and looked at what makes them successful and the common traits of a poster. However I am yet to look at film magazines cover. Today I will be looking at Empire Magazine. Empire is the biggest selling film magazine in the United Kingdom. Empire features reviews on mainstream and art films, appealing to a wide audience of film lovers. I will analyse their cover to see what they usually feature and the codes and conventions used. However I will also look at other film magazines to see if there are any differences between the film magazines.

From initially viewing these covers I noticed that immediately they have one thing in common. Each magazine cover, depending on film, is tailored to fit the ethos of the film. For example The 'Skyfall' cover uses bullet holes to an a aesthetically good looking cover that related to the film. I like this idea very much as it means that there is a potential to play around with certain elements of the magazine cover to create a good looking and appealing cover that has more related to the cover film then just a main image. 

- The masthead for Empire magazine is consistent in the way that it is always the same typography, however the typography’s design and colour changes according to the main film feature of the magazine. In the above covers the masthead the masthead colour has changed in two of them. in  'Interstellar' the masthead has also had a 3-D effect added to it. it is a Sci-Fi film set in space.Within the Masthead stars and constellations can be seen which suits the films ethos. For the 'Suicide Squad' cover white is used for the Masthead to accompany the green and purple colour scheme. The colours are the stereotypical colours of the Joker and having a red Masthead would look out of place. The white masthead compliments both these colours and makes the Masthead bolder and eye catching. Both 'Skyfall' and 'Inception' have action and danger in that's why the normal red Masthead was used to create that sense of danger.

- the cover lines also can support the ethos of the film through there positioning and typography. there is a difference in the size and positioning so they do not block the main image yet draw the readers attention. These cover lines manage to stand out whilst also blending in, linking to the main image/colour scheme, and not being more eye-catching than the masthead.

- The main image makes eye contact with the magazines audience. The cover image is very attractive, eye catching and significant, eg. James bond standing in the centre of the cover emphasises his confidence and power. The front cover usually frames the image so that the protagonist of the specified film is central, giving them power and creating the image for the film.

- The colour schemes for Empire magazine are always adjusted to suit the main feature. For example the "Interstellar"  magazine issue is white, black and blue. the blue and white work well together and make the cover stand out.

- Empire magazine uses pugs to also attract attention to its magazine. The barcode for Empire magazine has been placed in a convenient way as it doesn’t take the main focus of the magazine away, making room for more important features such as the image and text which the audience are most interested in. The barcode is placed in the most conventional method, at the bottom on either side of the page.