Film Magazine Covers Research

I have found out that Film Magazine covers tend to have a picture of the main protagonist from the featured film article mostly with buzz words and cover lines to other articles.

Looking at the meaning behind it –

The title of the film is often more prominent than the name of the magazine.

·         The skyline puts the titles of upcoming films/actors along the top which is likely to stand out on the shelf even if the main image is covered by other magazines.

·         The puff (which on this magazine is on the left upper third of the magazine,) has more information in it often with words that will attract an audience like, “inside” or “everything you need to know!”

·         The main image is always in the middle of the cover which will be the protagonist who will be famous, -often with other images behind it like the one above-

·         Buzz words are used on nearly all covers, things like “exclusive information” and “mind blowing”

·         Additional information like the barcode are always along the bottom or side also the price of the magazine will be here too.

·         The strapline is used to advertise the main feature and sort of caption the main image, on this one it says “Darker, smarter and relevant”

·         Colour scheme for different covers change for example a horror cover would have a lot of blacks and reds whereas a sci—fi would have more blue colours.

·         Cover lines are placed around the outside of the cover to attract the audience and have information about what’s inside the magazine.

·         Symbols and iconography are used on some covers, things like a plus sign instead of just using the word plus.

·         Target audience can be seen through the colour scheme and word groups such as on the Empire Pirates of the Caribbean cover they use simpler words and brighter colours to attract a younger audience.