Magazine Cover Analysis

I've had a look at some film magazine covers to make sure that my designs are going to look authentic. Here's what I gathered from each.

This issue of film magazine Empire is focused on Megan Fox – or, rather, Megan Fox’s sexuality. Everything in relation to her, as a main feature, is sexualised, and this makes it clear that Empire designers kept the expression ‘sex sells’ in mind when they thought this cover up. A number of phrases on the page connote sexuality and all of them are next to the model to anchor the image. These phrases include: “THE HOT ISSUE”, “One-on-one”, and “FOX”. Although this is her surname, it’s the largest text (aside from the masthead) on the page and has extreme sexual connotations. Fox is also wearing nothing except leather trousers, and these, combined with the tattoos and the inviting expression caused by the illusion of eye-contact, create a very “HOT” image to entice male readers. She has been placed covering the masthead because she is the most important part of the issue and, as the tagline says, Empire is “the world’s biggest movie magazine”. Most people would be able to read the iconic red title even with a lady’s head in the way.

The only other main theme of the magazine aside from Megan Fox is blue. This comes from the glowing blue “TRON” on a black banner across the top right of the banner. This black matches the small text, Fox’s black trousers, and the black banner on the bottom left of the cover. The glowing blue creates something similar to the “TRON” logo n the corner and is used as a theme for the rest of the poster – in the bright blue banner behind the “TRANSFORMERS 2’S” text next to the model, and in the “3 SIZZLING EXCLUSIVES” sell line across the banner at the bottom. The word “SIZZLING”, in white so it is visible, matches the “HOT” theme of the issue. These three exclusives are advertised with the main characters of the three films to attract anybody who isn’t too interested in Megan Fox. The background of the whole cover is white, making the magazine seem much more simple than it is. It means that lots of colours can be used and they are less likely to clash.

Finally, the rest of the information about the magazine is squeezed in between the ‘v’ of the ‘M’ in “EMPIRE”, including the date of the issue and the price in two currencies – meaning this issue was aimed across the USA and the UK. The small “empireonline.com” keeps younger audiences in contact and expands viewership.

This cover is for the same magazine as the last – Empire – but is very different in style. The background is white, just like the last, except in this issue the rest of the cover is just as plain as the background. The image is black and white and advertising the new James Bond film, Skyfall. The James Bond part is obvious from the iconic suit and pistol. The monochrome image of Daniel Craig brings a sort of old-fashioned tone back to the image of the modern James Bond, which could be reflective of how Skyfall explores Bond’s past and is more home-based for the protagonist. The actual title of the film, Skyfall, is very small and in a simple black font. This matches the image so audiences know it’s there to anchor it and is in relation to it. Even though it’s small it’s very visible and the relations are clear because there is hardly any other text on the cover.

The Empire masthead of the magazine is in a subtle peachy gold colour that is obvious enough to stand out but not bright enough to detract from the main image. Also in peach is the text below “SKYFALL” letting the reader know that this cover is a limited edition cover for subscribers only, which explains why the cover is so different to a usual cover from Empire magazine.

Again, the date of the issue and the price in two currencies shows how widespread their audience is and the empireonline.com link is there to give audiences the information that isn’t on the cover and any other details they may need that aren’t in the magazine.

These two magazines are more in the sort of style that I’m aiming for with my cover. The close-ups of the actors’ faces are exactly what I’d like to go for with mine instead of advertising the particular film or characters. Both covers have plain backgrounds, just like mine (hopefully) will. The only thing that I’m not interested in is the number of headings that both covers have. I feel that they overpower the reader and take attention away from the key focus of the cover: the actor. I am, however, keen on the colour scheme of Moving Pictures. As my cover will at least partially be focusing on the ‘sex sells’ phrase, I will be employing lots of reds and pinks to connote flirtatiousness and attract a more feminine market.

Film Poster: Photography

I went to the park bright and early with our protagonist to get a photoshoot done for my film poster. I chose a park because, with its paths and benches, it's still reminiscent of a city and the right setting for the film. It's also December right now so all of the leaves are turning a bright orange - this is the exact splash of colour I needed to bring my poster to life. Here is my review of the morning's work.

These three shots were the best examples of the reason why it was so easy for me to pick my best ones. It took me a few tries to get used to the camera and get the angle right. In the first, the focus is all out. The protagonist is blurred, so the picture is of no use to me. After I’d gotten myself into a better relationship with the camera I managed to get the focus more on the character than on the background, which was what I wanted. I had the idea to go for a low-angle shot in the second picture in order to try and make things more interesting and highlight how important the character was, but I realised this wouldn’t work with the idea I had for the shadow overtaking the picture, so it had to be scrapped. For the third picture I was very close to getting what I needed. My protagonist had to stand further away and the camera had to be straight on – but he had to be in the right third of the shot so the figure wouldn’t cover him. I was close with this last one, but he was so far away you couldn’t really make a lot of him out, so this one was useless, too. Luckily I did get some good ones after this.

These two pictures were, by far, the best from the collection I gathered. The focus is right, the angles are right, and I’ve used the rule of thirds to keep them interesting. Unsurprisingly, the actor who was supposed to be my protagonist for the morning came over with an unfortunate case of bone-in-his-leg-itis and couldn’t make the photoshoot, so I was forced to use the same model, but I’m planning on doing some cropping, editing, and layering to put the pictures together and make them look like different people. I’ll also tint the photo to bring out the bright orange and green colours in the background and bring some life to the poster later on.

Audience Research: Questionnaire Analysis

So that I fully understand who my audience is most likely to be and what sort of things they want to see, I'm going to analyse the results of our questionnaire.

Here are questions 1 to 3 of our questionnaire, asking the sex and age of our responders. We only had 22 people answer our survey but this was enough for us to gain some ground of insight into who watches what sort of films. For example, seeing as 15 of our 22 responders were male, 6 were ages 21-25, and 14 said they'd watched a police/crime thriller film recently, we can infer that most of these responders were adult males. This confirms what we predicted about having a primarily male audience.

Questions 5 and 6 asked audiences what they think made the film they saw interesting and unique, and a lot of them spoke about different focuses for the plots of their films, such as the main characters being magicians or how factual or relatable it was. A lot of people said they liked the films that had unexpected endings or plot twists.

Finally, questions 7 and 8 asked audiences about the content of the film and which parts they enjoyed the most. A large majority of the responders said that they experience excitement during good police/crime thriller films, so our trailer will have to be very exciting, but very equal answers were given to question 8 which asked what themes the viewers preferred when watching police/crime thrillers. We will have to sit down as a group and decide which theme to focus on in order to get a clear answer for that.

Case Study 2: The Dark Knight

This case study is about The Dark Knight - a film where the police/crime thriller genre meets superheroes as the Batman works with the police to save the city.

Judging by the size of this first poster, it’s probably been designed for a billboard. Cars often drive straight past billboards without much time to look properly, so the lack of information also implies that it’s design is for people who don’t have much opportunity to see it. Because of this, as much information about the film has to be put into the poster as possible. The person featured on the poster is big enough for anybody to see from any distance, and the bleak colours and generally mussed look makes it obvious that he is the villain. No name is in sight so it’s likely that these posters are directed at those who have read the comics and recognise the character immediately. Nevertheless, the Batman logo is behind the title of the film so that even those who don’t recognise the villain are still aware of what branding the film had.

The only clearly written information we get is the actors’ names and the release date. The actors names work to advertise the film, and the exact release date implies that it was a poster distributed very soon to when the film was due to be released.  All the text is in white so it is very visible against the dark backdrop of the Joker’s coat. The rest of the text is in a shade of grey down in the bottom right corner, and this informs the viewer of the distributors, classification, and website where they can get information of the directors and producers.

The colour scheme of the poster stays in the theme of the Joker in that it is in the same dark, clouded tones of his makeup. The cloudiness behind him, however, is smoke, and, coupled with the spray of debris and the splash of orange fire along the bottom, implies explosions and action. This introduces the action theme of the film. Underneath his chin is the city setting, over the top of which is the translucent “HAHA”, designed to look like the scrawls of a madman. This links in with the Joker-themed poster. Finally, the Batman logo behind the name of the film is a silhouette. Having the light bursting out from behind the shape, fighting against the black, implies a sense of hope of light overcoming dark, or good overcoming evil. 

 This poster, despite the picture of Batman, is clearly Joker-centred just like the last. There is very little text on the poster, the only clear digital writing being the title towards the bottom. The copyright information is written in very small writing on a black banner along the bottom of the poster. All of this text, like the text in the last poster, is white so it is visible against the black backdrop. The other writing is part of the image: the scratched words over the main character’s person. All of the phrases are memorable lines that the antagonist has in the film, and the viewer gets the idea that they’ve been written by the antagonist because they look messy, desperate, and disorganised. The fact that there is no other information but lots of powerful graphic design draws attention from the audience – it’s definitely a unique poster.

The fact that the Batman is on the poster in the first place lets the audience know that it’s a superhero film. This picture of him is made up of joker cards from a deck – in fact, everything about this poster in reminiscent of the Joker. The cards are taped together to form the image of the Batman, and a blood red smile has been spread over the bottom of his face, just like the Joker’s. Next to this is a blood-spattered scalpel, and viewers familiar with the villain and his backstory will know the significance of the scalpel is reflected in the smile. Other droplets and smears of blood around the cards speak of general horror and gore. The cards themselves look damp and dirty meaning they’re not properly cared for or have been kept in a dank place for a while, such as the villain’s lair.

Finally, the Batman logo does make an appearance in this poster if very subtly. The scratched out writing over the face of the Batman also comes in behind the title of the film, and the obsessive “HAHA” makes up the Batman logo, with the big ‘H’ at the top making the ears and the upside down ‘A’ at the bottom making the tail.

This poster is quite plain, though powerful, in comparison to the other two I’ve chosen. It’s long and has a vague release date down the bottom, meaning that this poster’s probably a cinema poster put up in the year of release to let people know that the film is coming.

The general colour scheme of the poster is dark and clouded, similar to the first except that the smoky texture in front of these images doesn’t look so much like smoke as it does steamed glass.

This steam effect obscured the character from direct view, but he’s still recognisable through his iconic bloody smile as the Joker.

The smile isn’t straight on his face, but, in order to make it more obvious, being smeared onto the glass in front of him. Above this is his most famous catchphrase, “Why so serious?” This looks like it’s written in blood, too, suggesting this stranger as the villain for the film for those that haven’t heard of him. The red stands out very clearly against the other darker and clouded colours and is also included underneath the website at the bottom of the poster in the same scratched writing as featured in the other two posters, except this writing, as well as being tiny, isn’t legible. All of the rest of the writing is white and done in digital text so that it matches the colour scheme and is still visible against the dark background. This is inclusive of the distributor logos and the website, so people know where to go to get to the credits that aren’t included, meaning the director and producers.

Also visible in the background, behind the cloudiness, is the setting of the film: the city of Gotham. The Batman logo, also in cloudy grey, is behind the title of the film again. This is part of the film logo and lets people know what genre and universe the film is set in. It’s also implying that although all three posters are based on the Joker and his views, Batman is still present.

Film Poster Analysis

I've done some more poster analysis to get a wider range of ideas for my own poster. I have analysed a poster for a film of my genre (a Sherlock Holmes poster) and a poster for a film not of my genre (a Thor film) in order to get some well-rounded points.

This poster is for the second of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes film adaptations: A Game of Shadows. It is a character poster for one of the two protagonists, John Watson.  The full Sherlock Holmes and the character’s first name, John, are both excluded from this poster, meaning it’s mostly likely been designed for use in the UK: where viewers are more likely to know the film and characters well enough from the famous book series not to need the full details. The name ‘WATSON’ is also in a cool silver font that looks a lot like steel. The metallic tones, shadows and texture put together make the name look like the letters of a printing press. This is a reference to the period the film is set in: the Victorian era. Other hints to the time period are the costume Watson is in, with his gentleman’s suit and coachman’s hat, the lack of modern buildings in the London (also hinting at a UK poster) cityscape background, and the big, heavy gun he’s sporting. The gun is made of metal and heavy bolts, and, complementing the time period, looks very old-fashioned.

This gun also begins to hint at the genre of the film. The gun suggests fighting and action. Ass the Sherlock Holmes series are about mysteries and detectives who work with the police, making this film also a crime thriller. This is evident, too, from the smoke billowing out over the Houses of Parliament. These clouds are large and so we can tell the danger is of massive proportions and it will be a big challenge for the main characters. The protagonist isn’t facing the camera, but is side-on, frowning intently at an unseen enemy on the same side of the poster as the smoke. Said smoke also matches the bleak, grey colour scheme. This blandness suggests dark tones and themes, obvious from the darkness creeping in from all four corners. The dark lighting is used over one side of the character’s face, obscuring it nearly completely, but the outline on his other side is still visible. This suggests that he has a good side, and, as he’s still in view and not wholly in shadow, that he is merely facing the bad side of the story as opposed to being it himself.

This film poster has no credits besides the simple ‘JUDE LAW’ above the character’s name. This is there to attract more of an audience. The distributor logos are in the bottom corners, however, perhaps to let viewers know that, despite the lack of information, it is a quality film. The only other piece of information the audience gets is the bright red release date, suggesting that the poster was shown close to the release of the film. This is in bright red to attract the audience’s attention against the blue undertones of the poster. Finally, the reference to Sherlock Holmes in the website, very tiny and underneath the release date, to give fans a place to go to find out more about the film. 

This poster, judging by the size and style, is likely to have been first brought out as a poster for public areas such as bus stops. There are the four names of the four main actors running along the top to attract wider audiences with their fans – especially the very famous Anthony Hopkins with his very important character’s name, Odin, next to his own. These names are in plain black so that they stand out properly against the white-yellow sky background. Down at the bottoms, where the colours get darker, the text gets lighter. The name of the film, ‘THOR’, is the largest text on the poster, and the letters are decorated with the same pattern that adorns the main character’s iconic hammer. The golden outline to the letters suggests royalty, riches, or maybe a sort of ‘silver lining’ as the subtitle ‘THE DARK WORLD’ underneath it is also in gold. This title is smaller, perhaps because audiences will be much more aware of the Thor part than the second part. This second part is in light colours as the poster fades to black. In contrast to the actors’ names in black along the top, the credits and release date are in white. This is so they are noticeable but obviously not part of the film or in the theme of the film. Included just below this text is a tiny link to the film’s Facebook page. This could be small because they expect the audience to be older and have read the comics. Although the release date is vague, the audience get a real feel for the film from everything going on in the poster through the chaos.

The ‘MARVEL’ logo is included twice – once above the film title, in colour, and once below the credits, in white. The first is give the audience reassurance, and acts as a kind of mark of quality along with the actors’ names. It also lets the audience know the genre of the film: superheroes and action. This action theme is also obvious from the debris flying across the screen (but not obstructing the view of the main characters) seemingly from an explosion. This explosion is more likely when reconsidering the colour of the sky in the background. Against these firey colours is an alien ship, dark against the pale colouring and so obviously of the enemy. The colour scheme changes from blindingly bright to dark and dim halfway down the poster, meaning lots of different colours are used, but this is hardly noticeable as they are all fairly washed out – all except for Thor’s iconic red cape. The costumes themselves suggest a historic time period in contrast to the modern scene of the City of London that is seen in the background. This major city is a popular location and, seeing as the first film was set in New Mexico, draws attention and curiosity from the audience.