Points drawn from film magazine

analysis

After analysing three film magazine front covers I am able to pinpoint what makes a magazine front cover appeal to its audience and how. Similarly to the horror film trailer research, I will use my conducted magazine cover research in order to make creative decisions during the production process for the front cover to appeal to my chosen target audience. Below are the main aspects I took note of:

Generally I found Film magazines all followed a house style layout just like other typical magazines, allowing readers to read text in the 'Z' formation (left to right) this enables a magazine to be clearer to read and interpret by consumers.

Similarly the layout of the front cover is conventionally consistent for every issue no matter the magazine. This is to establish brand identity and to fulfill the target audiences expectations of familiarity. The masthead generally appears in the top third of the page in a typeface style which reflects the tone and mode of address of the magazine.

Additionally the magazines seem to follow a colour scheme in order to enhance the brand image and the look of the magazine for it to appeal to specific consumer groups. The use of a colour scheme also demonstrates the professional aspect of the magazine itself, creating audience expectations.

There is always a main image in order for the magazine to appeal to audiences. Normally of whom the main cover story is about within the magazine. The main image should also reflect the type of audience specific to the magazine. The image is generally a mid or long shot enabling audiences to have good view of the character and their surroundings. The mise-en-scene should also adhere to the genre of the magazine or advertised film.

Magazines tend to vary through a minimum of 3 fonts to keep consumers engaged with the different story’s and storylines. They vary in size, fonts and colour however always stay within the colour scheme.