Ancillary task magazine research

Ancillary task

The two ancillary tasks that we must make to be put together with our main coursework task includes us to make a film poster advertising our trailer, and a magazine front cover featuring our film.

The magazine front cover must include some sort of feature, perhaps an interview with a cast member or a review ect.

The magazine must also have all of the other magazine conventions, including a masthead, images, sell lines, ect.

Empire magazine

Empire magazine aims to provide readers with film coverage and reviews from both mainstream and art films. They also provide film news, previews, and a ‘classic scene’ which is a transcript from a notable film scene.

Empire was first published in July of 1989 and now publishes one copy a month reaching a circulation of 145,117.

Analysis MASTHEAD

Empire’s masthead is distinctively original to Empire. It features, most of the time, the word Empire in capital letters and in the colour red, with a edgy font which is very mascluline. The size of the masthead is large and takes up almost ¼ of the page. Empire most of the time will always feature a red masthead unless the magazine is a special edition or a premiere of one particular film (James Bond). If they do change the colour of the title to white or gold ect, they will also contrast the rest of the colours within the page. The Tom Cruise edition features a white masthead but then a red theme that surrounds the other sell lines and magazine previews.

AnalysisMAIN IMAGE

Empire’s main images are predominately masculine. They feature a male on the cover for most of the issues and the colour schemes and backgrounds are also very harsh. Twilight which has a mainly female audience does not feature a necessarily feminine approach with the picture of Robert Patttinson as Edward Cullen. His facial features are very cold and the colours are dark, which wouldn’t give us an idea about the underlying love story that the film features. Jacob and Bella are also featured but small pictures of them are at the bottom right. Empire could be trying to sell Twilight to its mainly male readers through this approach. The image of Quorra from the Tron Legacy does feature a female of course, however the character does not follow the usual conventions of a feminine woman. The image of Quorra shows us her futuristic style featuring her black hair and black eye make up, along with the muted facial expression this gives her an over all cold appearance much like the image of Edward. The background also gives us a sci-fi feeling as we can see blue rays of light behind her which are matched with her eye colour and the name Tron Legacy. Overall I think that these covers are all very appealing to a male audicece.

The images on the cover will also frequently overlap the masthead, this is because Empire is a popular magazine, which is well known, so this shouldn’t be a problem as it is still recognisable.

Analysis SELL LINES

Generally Empire’s sell lines will be limited to four or five sell lines per cover. If the magazine is a special edition which features a busy image and a lot of surrounding text then the sell lines will be grouped together and will be directed to by a large plus (+) sign. This is a fast way to indicate what the magazine also includes in a way that is easy to read. This particular Cowboys and Aliens cover features five sell lines which surround the main image. Four of the sell lines feature the same white writing and font for the title of the film it is referring to, and then the same red smaller writing and font for further information. The first two sell lines which are to the left and right of the main image have a black divider underneath which gives the front page order. The last sell line is in the form of a puff and it includes information more magazine content.Empire tends to use plain, clear text and organisation of its sell lines which may be because of the popular busy main images and larger headlines.

AnalysisLEAD ARTICLE AND STRAP LINE

The lead article which goes with the main image will always include a headline which names the film the image is referring to, and then a strap line which is something extra about what the magazine will include on this topic. In this instance, MAN OF STEEL appears underneath an exclusive text which then follows by ‘Superman gets the Dark Knight treatment’. This strap line is very short and not all revealing which is the usual convention of a strap line. Empire always follow this convention. The headline and strap line will also sometimes be themed on the film, for example Man of steel is printed in a grey colour which is supposed to be metal steel.

AnalysisSKYLINE

Empire will sometimes feature a skyline which will be promoting the magazine to gravitate more readers. In this instance the skyline says ‘Meet the new action A-list!’, in other issues it has been ‘Our most action packed issue ever!’. These skylines will generally be very loud and snappy, and will include an exclamation mark for effect. They can also include a highlighted area to draw attention to some particular words.The skylines are always in the same classic Empire font and the colour does change however the colour always stays within the Empire theme of white or gold.

Analysis BARCODE AND PRICE

The barcode is always towards the bottom of the page. It will either be right at the bottom underneath the sell lines, or to the left or right of the main image if there is no room for the barcode at the bottom. It is also sometimes rotated to make sure that it does not cover too much of the main image. The pricing of the magazine is not shown next to the barcode which many other magazines will do. It is mostly at the top above the M or around that area and it features the month and year and then the price in three currency's. The price of Empire magazine is £3.99, however for special editions this may increase.

Short evaluation Generally Empire magazine will feature very masculine themes

on the front cover, this is because Empire’s target audience is males and films are not necessarily a feminine interest.

The images they use will be of the actor/actress in character, so in their costume. This will make the magazine and the content more authentic. This is a positive attribute as complaints towards the media most of the time include that too many features are on celebrities and their lifestyles. Which is also not a male interest.

Empire have also created a very distinctive look for themselves as they stay within a red to white colour theme. This will help their readers find the magazine on the shelf, and will also create an eye catching and memorable front cover.

Creating my own magazine cover- initial ideas After analysing Empire’s magazine covers and keeping in mind my own synopsis and ideas, it is clear that most film

magazines are aimed towards males and feature action films. My film is a horror film and therefore does not really include many feminine themes. However it is aimed at teenagers and young adults so Empire’s hard hitting and edgy theme will be considered when I’m creating mine as this is what I think I should include. However I will also need to appeal to a female audience so I could do this by including sell line which would appeal to women.

I have decided that I will feature my film using one main interview from one of my main characters. I will also feature a sell line which will be part of the lead articles strap line which will feature additional interviews from other cast members. The main image will feature the characters in their costumes as Empire does because this gives authenticity to the features.

The name of my magazine will be FILM. Reasons for this choice include that during further research I have found that simplistic and obvious magazine names are memorable and popular, such as Empire or Total Film. I also believe that film fanatics will only be searching for good hard film content and this title makes that very clear that this is what Film magazine will include.

After understanding that film magazines are only bought by a niche few I have made my target audience primarily females aged 15-30 and then males 15-30. The target aging is similar to my target age for my film trailer as I want to be able to include similar content.

To appeal primarily to females I will need to slightly differ my magazine conventions and content from the predominantly male themes examples I have looked at. I will make sure to pick sell line content which will suit both genders and all ages but more towards females as this is my target audience. I understand that I will have to create both articles appealing to younger audiences and then older.

My aim is to create a magazine that is going to be popular with a younger audience who are interested in films and other film related themes. This may be difficult as this is not the general film magazine base however I think that with the right articles, main image and main sell line that this has the potential to be successful.

Planning Masthead: FILM. This will appear in white writing which will be

in thick edgy lettering much like Empire and Total Film magazine. I think that this is a simple yet iconic design.

Skyline: usually for this type of film, which is a horror genre, many magazines will create an all round horror exclusive. I will not be doing this so my skyline which would usually announce this will be saying ‘Read it here first’.

Main image: This will be an image of both Matilda and Morgan who are actors in my trailer.

Sell lines: These will include features from all different genres.