Film Magazine Cover: Proposed Cover

Finally, an almost finished version of my film magazine cover! I'll see if my teacher has anything to say about it after Christmas, and if not... well, then. Onwards!

Film Magazine Cover: Construction

Here's a guide as to how I created my magazine cover.


If this file won't play, try an online viewing.

Playing Judas: Final Film Poster

After a comment from my teacher advising me to increase the size of the actors' names, I've completed my final film poster for Playing Judas.

Film Magazine Cover: Masthead Construction

It took me a long time to design the masthead for my magazine, mostly because I went in there with absolutely no idea of what I wanted other than the Milford Black font and the colour red. I opened my masthead in Photoshop in the hopes that inspiration would come, and some did. I made the masthead a dark red, because I was taking inspiration from the famous Empire masthead but not copying (and I, personally, preferred the darker red anyway). After this I made it a bit bigger - and ended up sharpening the edges a little, too - and then used the 'burn' and 'dodge' tools to create light and dark sides and blur them into shading. This gave my font the subtle implication of being 3D bubble writing.

Playing Judas: Proposed Film Poster

Here is my final film poster for my group's police/crime thriller film, Playing Judas.

Film Poster: Construction

Online viewing

Film Poster: Font Testing

My group and I went through a lot of argument about which font we were using. It took us far too long to settle on one design for all of us to have, but, in the end, I think we chose a good one.
First of all, I went through a load of stamp-like fonts because I wanted a grungy feel to my own font.

My group, however, weren't too keen on the shapes and styles of any of these. We decided to keep a plain font and download some grunge brushes to use on Photoshop. In the end, we decided that this font - Coolvetica - was the only one that suited all of our styles.

For my poster, as I said, I wanted some more grunge to imply the dark side of the proceedings in our film.

I had some trouble with the grunge as I found that either the brush was too big or too small, so it took me a few tries to get it right, but in the end I managed to settle for something I was comfortable with and ended up with this piece of art:

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.

Film Poster: Colour Scheme

I was recommended COLOURlovers to use in order to test out how well colours work together. I had originally intended to use Pinterest and create a new board of different shades, but COLOURlovers allowed me to mix whatever shades I wanted as opposed to hunting down the exact colour I wanted. These were the four ideas I came up with:

The orange/green/yellow colours featured in these schemes are mostly reflective of the colours included in the base image of the poster, as the leaves in the park they will be taken in are all these colours. The black is reminiscent of the shadowy figure I've planned to include in the foreground, and the white and grey are the colours I'm thinking of having the title of the film in so that they stand out against the black. The blue is a colour that naturally reminds people of police and government and is conventionally featured in many police/crime thriller film posters, so I've planned to include that colour, too, possibly in the release date or the credits.

Film Magazine Cover: Masthead Font

I've decided to have a look at some ideas for the fonts I could use for my masthead. I've chosen to go with the name 'REEL' for my film magazine as it refers directly to a crucial part of film's history and is a reference that everybody will know.

I collected these samples online from a font download website. After putting them all together for clear viewing, I asked my sister which one looked the most professional and she said, "The one on the bottom right." After having another look over, I mentioned to her that this looked a lot like the font that the company Rimmel use for their make-up so some uneducated commonfolk may assume that this is a fashion magazine. She then suggested, very enthusiastically, "The bottom left, then." I told her that I felt it was perhaps too childish to have such bold letting and that, even though I want the masthead to stand out, I don't want it to overpower the features of the cover themselves.

She got tired of my arguments and, in the end, agreed with me in picking the Milford Black (Version 1.00) (on the middle-right) as the little dent in the tail of the 'R' makes it look unique but still clear and professional. I may colour it red once I get my issue together to stick more with the theme of my magazine.