Overview of movie magazine front covers

These movie magazines vary in film genre, from horror, to action to comedy. These magazines are mainly aimed at men. It s obvious that these magazines are aimed at men for various reasons, such as the lack of text over the page, and the image heavy layout. This is an indication to a male audience because men respond better tho visuals rather then text. The language used on the front covers are also very basic, again relating to the fact that these magazines are aimed at men. All of the magazines have a bold masthead which means it is easy to recognise, this is a typical convention of any magazine, for brand identity. The mastheads are all typed in upper case letters, which makes them bold and allow them to stand out to the audience/ All of the mastheads, expect Total Film are in red, which is a colour that is eye grabbing, also white and red are primary colours and again, these colours are easily digested by men. All of these movie magazines have a main image, which features the main actor of the film it is advertising. The main image is a convention of a movie magazine, and with movie magazines, the main actor is important because they appeal the most to the audience, this is why most magazines use this convention. Only two of the magazines have puffs, but puffs are often used to grab the readers attention, which is something we are considering to use on our magazine front cover. Sell lines were not used on every front cover, but this may be because magazines such as Total Film and Empire are aimed dominantly at men, and men respond better to visuals rather then text, therefore if the page was bombarded with sell lines, this would not appeal to the target audience. Where there are sell lines, they are usually referencing to different movies within the magazine, and the mode of address used for these sell lines are very exaggerated which will encourage the reader to open the magazine. I feel that typical conventions of movie magazines also include using primary and basic colours such as red, yellows and blues, this is because simplicity is key when appealing to a male target audience. The colours used on the majority of film magazines reflect the film advertised on the front of the magazine, which again makes the front cover more eye catching. The images used on the front covers are mainly the main character from the film being advertised, which is appealing because the main character is usually a very famous actor. The genre is established instantly because on all of these magazines, the movie advertised is a well known movie, therefore frequent readers would be familiar with the genre. The camera shots used are usually medium long shots of the main character on the front which allows the audience to see who is starring in the film and recognise them instantly. The layout is similar on all of the magazines i have over looked, with the main image taking up the whole page, and the main sell line in the middle, with other sell lines placed around. This layout is simple, which is reflective of the male target audience, and the sell lines are easy to read. Each magazine has its own brand identity, and i feel the most obvious use of brand identity is the masthead, it is always the same on each issue of the magazine which makes it easy for the target audience to recognise it.