Primary Research - Analysis of Film magazine covers

Above shows a magazine cover from "Total Film". I have shown a totally different film genres magazine  cover to show the layout. The image on the cover is a medium close up of a character from the film that is being promoted on the front cover of the magazine. The position of the image has been aligned to the right hand side in order for the writing to be around the picture. There is a sense of space around the image in order to fit the text that is crucial. The layout of the magazine is vertical and portrait. The lighting in the image looks high key and looks like it has been taken in a studio. The masthead of the cover has been made bold and big and the colour also compliments the text on the page aswell. The designer of the cover has used colours to compliment the image so that it looks attractive to the audience. They have used a female on the front cover who is meant to attract males and females for the sex appeal and for the huge status she has in the film for fashion and fame. Notice that the model on the cover is looking directly at the camera which is a huge way to attract a passing customer. Giving eye contact is a major way that appeals to the audience because it looks as if the model is look at you no matter where your looking from. As we can see the models head in covering the masthead which is purposely done, this is because the magazines title is very easy to remember and because of the consistency of the layout its remembered very well and is easy to now recognise.

Above shows another film magazine cover from "Total Film". The use of the image on this magazine is a close up showing the features and detail of the character from a film thats being promoted on the cover. This image has been put up as the background of the cover which shows us that theres not much empty space for the writing to be put around the image so they have overlapped the writing making the cover more busy. The image itself is already very bright and bold attracting the targeted audience, so the colours of the text that has been put on top of the image is very plain and dull - sticking to the whites and off white colours. The typography of the text on the image is very bold and adds the sense of attention to the magazine cover. Notice that the model on the cover is looking directly at the camera which is a huge way to attract a passing customer. Giving eye contact is a major way that appeals to the audience because it looks as if the model is look at you no matter where your looking from. The magazine cover and text is vertical and portrait and also in a central position which draws more attention to the cover.

Above shows another magazine cover from another film publishing company called "Entertainment weekly". This magazine cover actually has less text making it look a little more empty - creating a sense of space in certain areas. The image is a portrait close up of a character from the film that is being promoted on the cover. Notice that the model on the cover is looking directly at the camera which is a huge way to attract a passing customer. Giving eye contact is a major way that appeals to the audience because it looks as if the model is look at you no matter where your looking from. The typography on this magazine cover is actually pretty consistent and simple making it a little boring. The colours used in this are dull but compliment the image as the image itself is captured with a dull effect.