Miami Vice Magazine Analysis

Katie Charman

The Main Image

The main image of this cover is of the two main actors of the film, Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx.They are both quite large in proportion to the rest of the magazine, however as Jamie Foxx is closer to the front it may suggest that he has a bigger part within the film.

There are no words in the middle of the magazine, they are all aligned to the side of the cover which allows the reader to see more of the actors faces and so they are the unique selling point of the whole film.

The Masthead

The Masthead for this magazine is its name ‘Entertainment’.The style of writing is slightly unique as although it is in block sans serif letters, the edges of the ‘t’ ‘e’ ‘r’ and ‘a’ are curved round and flick upwards like serif lettering.Not all of the Masthead is shown as the end letters ‘ment’ are covered up by one of the actors heads.The colouring is dark blue which fits in with the rest of the blue colour scheme.

The Lead Article

The lead article for this cover is for the film ‘Miami Vice’. Its in block sans serif font and is again in the same colour scheme of blue which makes it fit in with the whole magazine. However, as it is a light blue it does stand out against the black of the male actors top.

The lead article is in the second largest font within the cover, this shows that it has the most importance compared to the other flashes on the page. There is smaller writing around it explaining who the actors are and descriptions of the film but the title is still the most important aspect.

The Flash

There are five flashes on this magazine cover. They all let the reader know about other articles within the magazine and so there are more reasons to buy this issue.

The use of the ‘+’ sign is a good way of signalling to the audience that there is more to read inside the magazine. This is probably more effective than actually writing out the word ‘PLUS’.

The Image

The image of this poster is purely of the two actors, Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx. It is a medium shot used, and it has Colin slightly further back than Jamie, perhaps suggesting his part is smaller. Colin is shown leaning against a wall with his arm crossed, this gives a lot about his character away as we can see he is laid back. Whereas, Jamie Foxx is looking intently at something and looks as though he is ready to run. This helps the reader see what genre the film is as he may be running away from a crime or trying to stop someone else committing a crime.

Their names are also shown on the magazine at the top next to Colin’s face.It gives away the actors names and which characters they will be playing, but as the font is so small and in italics, it could be that they are more recognisable from their faces than by their names.

The Cover Line

The cover line for this magazine cover falls under the lead article heading ‘Miami Vice’.It states four short sentences:- Two high voltage stars.- One tough Director.- And a real life shootout.- Remaking a TV show can be hell.

The use of the short sentences gives the reader an idea about what the article inside is going to be about. ‘A real life shootout’ gives examples of what happens in the film and thus would make the audience want to go and view the film.