By Kodi Coggins

Empire Magazine

Introduction to Empire Magazine

Empire Magazine is a UK film magazine. It is a subsidiary of the Bauer Media Group. The magazine was first released to the British public in July 1989, with the first issue cover the film, ‘The Ladykillers’. The magazine has since then become one of the UK’s most popular film magazine.

The magazine in owned by the Bauer Media Group. The company was founded in 1875 in Germany. The Bauer Media Group is also responsible for magazines such as, Take a Break, and TVChoice. The company has also been the creator of the Kerrang! Magazine. The company is worth about €2.4 billion and is one of the most successful magazine publishers in Europe.

The magazine also has its own annual award ceremony to celebrate the best films of the past year. They have awarded such films and people as:

• Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game

• Sandra Bullock – Gravity• 12 Years a Slave• Dawn of the Planet of the

ApesAnd many more. The award

ceremony has been going on since 1996.

The magazine has even won an award of its own, at the PPA’s

GenreThis magazine is sent out

monthly, it is an A4 sized magazine. It is also a special interest magazine, which mainly means it only sold in certain shops, or is sent out monthly from a subscription, the special interest is film and TV. The magazine is only based on current films, meaning that it would only appeal to people who like going to see new films, this is why it is a mainly subscription based magazine.

Target AudienceThe target audience for Empire would be film

enthusiasts, because it is a magazine based around films. The main readership of the magazine is 15 – 24 year olds, around 34% of readers were between this age range, the second largest age range of readers, 26.7% are between 25 - 34. They are also mainly all males, 77% of the readers of the magazine are males, and 23% of the readers of this magazine are females.

The circulation of this magazine in 2013 from July - December was 145, 117. Meaning roughly 29023.4 magazines in circulation a month. The magazine is distributed all over Europe, meaning it reaches a larger audience than most other magazines of it genre, however it’s main two countries of distribution are Russia and England. Although the magazine is mainly distributed and read in Britain.

ContentThe Empire Magazine

includes film reviews, upcoming films and a few top ten lists such as, 10 Best Movie Gags in The Simpsons. However the magazine focuses mainly on the film reviews. The magazine also includes 1-2 pages on a popular TV show, however it depends on how popular the TV show is

The magazine will also occasionally do a special edition for an upcoming film, the special edition issues are mainly all based around an exclusive that the magazine managed to get about a certain film. For example in 2010 Empire did an exclusive, special edition issue on Tron Legacy. The issue including several posters and multiple reviews and interviews from the cast and crew.

The contents page in Empire is set out over 2 pages and is designed to show the stories that the readers are most likely to find most interesting. The contents is organised so that the articles that the audience would find most interesting at the beginning of the contents page, meaning that the articles based on bigger films and TV shows would be on the first contents page. Whereas reviews and art pieces would be found near the end of the contents page.

Front Cover

Empire Magazine’s front covers usually have a large image of a character from a film in the centre, the character usually covers the title of the magazine. This is done so that the audience is drawn to the content, rather than the name of the magazine.

Release date for this issue. This allows the reader to know what time the magazine was released to the general public, it also gives an indication of what month the magazine will be covering.

The web address for the website is used on the front page so that the reader will be able to go to the website and see any updates or any new articles that may not be in this issue. Also the website allows the reader to leave comments on articles and it allows them to get other contact information.

The title or Masthead of the magazine is bold and in front of the main image so that people remember the name so if they enjoy the magazine they get another.

The tagline is normally used as it is here, to tell people how popular the magazine is, so it tempts people into buying it.

The main image is very large here, this has been done so that the audience will know what this issue of the magazine will be about.

The menu is used to inform people what other articles are inside, this is used to try and pull in a larger audience

Article/Feature

The articles in the magazine that I did are mostly interviews, however they have been structured in a way in which they are still formal. The article I analysed fits into this issue of the magazine because it directly linked to the main image on the front cover.

The image used on this 2 page spread is very elegant and is neutral, by this I mean it is very brown and beige. They have done this so that it links to the title of this article, The Brains. As in modern culture brainy people are stereotyped into being very dull. However it also shows how mature the actress in the image is. As most other young stars her age would be in bright and colourful images.

The article is quite formal in the way it is structured. However this article is mainly all quotes from interviews that the writer has done, this being said the two interviewees are very formal in the way they have responded to the writer. The font and the colour used for the text goes with the rest of the page as it is all very simplistic.

AdvertisingEmpire Magazine doesn’t

do much commercial advertising. The advertising in the magazine are the articles in the magazine. It advertises the films that it is about. Although the adverts in the magazine are for DVD’s or for their app. This is because they make most their money from their sales and subscriptions

The advertisement is on a whole page, most of the adverts in Empire are indeed whole page adverts, and they are all multi-media products

The name of the product is in the front of the image of the magazine. It is also in the middle of the page as to draw attention to it.

The image and colours used in the advert are the same as the image and colours used on the album cover. This is to make it easy to recognise.

The date of release and the use of the word ‘new’ is in bold and bigger than the rest of the text on the advert to make it stay in the readers mind.

The reviews on the advert is to inform readers on other people’s opinions of the album and whether they should buy it.

The production companies logo and name is at the bottom of the advert to inform people of other products they have produced

The End