Total Film MagazineI chose to analyse some magazine covers from Total Film magazine which is the main competitor to Empire. After my research on the codes and conventions of magazines and their layout, structure and contents.
In the April 2009 issue of Total film some of these conventions are clearly shown. Firstly, the image which has been chosen is a close up shot of a mans face looking out directly towards the audience immediately having the effect of making the connection between the front cover of the magazine and the target audience as it is almost as if the man is staring at the purchaser of the magazine. The man has a determined and serious look on his face giving the audience the impression that the man is focused and is showing no fear or intimidation as he is staring straight ahead confronting the audience head on without turning his face away.
There is a limited amount of colour on the front cover which goes against the typical conventions expected of movie magazine front covers. The main dominating colours are black, white and grey. In the image of the mans face therefore, the audience's attention is attracted to the bright white of the mans eyes which stand out and almost pierce through the dull background. this gives the effect that the man is staring directly at the audience and is almost intimidating, however this sparks the audiences interest in the image and results in them picking up the magazine and looking more intently at the front cover, therefore the magazine has achieved it's purpose with the use of this image in the way that it has provoked the audiences interest and influenced them into picking up their magazine front shelves of many different magazines as their front cover stands out and is appealing. It was important for the magazine to add some element to this cover in order for them to achieve this as the lack of colour gives the cover a dull image, which alternatively could be the look that the magazine was trying to achieve, however after my research i discovered that magazines main selling points is their front covers which tend to be bright and bold and eye-catching in order to draw their audeinces attention in.
The use of the greyscale colours gives the front cover a metallic look and creates an imagery of sci-fi futeristic spaceships and technology, which suggests to the audience that the character is involved in some sci-fi futeristic world. The black and white could also possibly be a reference as to how old the series of Star Trek is, however this is the modern day remake of Star Trek but in the form of a film. Due to the black and white colour choices the man almost doesnt look real and almost looks plastic and shiny again this could be referncing that these men arent normal human beings. Another reason for this colour choice could be a direct link with the heading 'THE BOLDEST AND COOLEST FILM OF 2009' As the image due to it being black and white is bold and and dark and emphasises the characters facial features whilst the dull colours could also provide the image with a cool, good-looking, hard man image.
This issue of Total Film has also challenged the typical conventions in the way that they have positioned their main feature headline towards the bottom of the magazine. Typically the titles for the magazines main feature are accompanied closely alongside the main image of the magazine, having the effect that the audience can make the connection between the two, also the title of the article is one of the main elements of the magazine front cover that the audience see, therefore it generally is placed in the centre of the magazine in order for the audiences eyes to be attracted straight to it. However in this case Total Film have made the decision to place the title of the feature at the very bottom of the magazine where it could be possibly hidden away when the magazines end up being stacked behind other magazines on shelves. Also due to it been quite far away, then normal from the magazines main image, it looks as if the two are not connected and that the title is to do with something else. However the text itself typically follows the standard conventions by being big and bold and bright in order for it to stand out against the dark background, resulting in the audiences attention being grabbed by the text. As Star Trek is an old series which is well-known and quite popular the magazine are obviously relying on this being the text which lures the audience in, as there is no other reference to Star Trek other than this piece of text, and the image itself doesnt provide any information as to the genre of film or any indications to the audiences of a storyline. This is an unusual idea again as most images contained in film magazines tend to have things such as props within the images themselves in order to help the audience to make the connection as to what type of film it is and possibly an indication into the characters lives and the storyline. However the magazine has followed the conventions in the way that they have placed the main title 'STAR TREK' in a bigger and bolder font in order for it to be eye-catching to the audience, and then placing the other piece of text 'THE BOLDEST AND COOLEST FILM OF 2009' In a smaller font as this is not as important as the main text this is just supporting and promoting the main text above and therefore the magazine dont want this to take the audiences focus away from this.
Again the magazine has challenged the conventions in the way that they have placed the text 'World Exclusive', in a really small and red font, although the red stands out against the dull and colourless background the text is unusually small. Text like World Exclusive and Total Access etc creates an excitement in the audience and makes them feel as though they are getting information before others and encourages them to purchase the magazine as they want to read the exclusive information about the new blockbuster film due to be released.
The magazine has followed the convention seen in Empire magazine and in other magazines with the way in which they have decided to place more articles about their features included in this issue around the magazine. in doing so they are providing their audience with some more influential devices to encourage them to purchase the magazine as they can view what else is featured and some of the stories may appeal to them, it is also highlighting the wide range of features included in this issue to the audiences. They have also opted for the same technique as found in most magazines by the way in which the magazine prints a bigger and bolder title of the feature before including a brief snippet of information underneath in a smaller and plainer font providing the audience with a brief insight as to what the features are about. The magazine has made the decision to place the name of three films across the very top of their front cover. 'UP.SHERLOCK HOLMES. POTTER 5', This is produced in a bright red font and is bold and stands out against the bland and colourless background making it eye-catching to the audience advertising yet more blockbuster films are included in this issue of the magazine. The film relies on the knowledge that their audience are film fans and recognise these titles, however things such as Potter 5 is targeting a wider audience as many people know the harry potter series and therefore by placing well-known and hugely popular films like Harry potter at the top of the magazine where it is clearly visible and attracts the audiences attention, again this could be one of the influential selling points of the magazine as the Harry Potter films have a huge fan base and so total film is using this knowledge to help sell their magazine by covering the well loved film in the knowledge that their audience will be encouraged to purchase it.
The magazine also includes an advertisement of 4 amazing covers, here the magazine has created four different front covers for their magazine in relation with the Star Trek film in order for the audience to be able to collect all four of the covers. This lets the audience think that they have to collect the other three front covers that have been designed in order for them to collect them all, which has the effect of the audience purchasing the magazine again and again to collect the different front covers which have been produced which means an increase in magazine sales which results in more profit for the company who are selling virtually the same magazine but just with a different cover.
The magazines title is creative in the way that some of the title is within the title. As 'Total' is printed within the 'F' of Film, again the title of the magazine is bold and in a bright white font making it stand out against the background of the magazine. The title is eye-catching and big which a title needs to be and catches the audiences attention, making it not only attractive for new potential buyers, but also for regular buyers who just search through the magazines for the iconic title which is always the same in every issue.
The magazine again typically uses the common elements such as the barcode, which again after my research i discovered doesnt have a set place on the magazine front cover and it is moved around in order to fit in with the structure of the front cover. It is generally however tucked away in a corner as it is not really important for the audience to see. The magazine also has opted to follow Empires idea of placing their magazine price, issue number and date in the gap of the 'M' in their title 'Film', this is the same technique used by Empire where their details are positioned in the gap of the 'M' in their title.
In this issue of Total Film magazine, which is a recent issue from January 2010 is a perfect example of some of the conventions which are common in most magazines.In this issue there isnt any text placed anywhere around the magazine informing the audience on other features included in the magazine, resulting in the magazine looking naturally less cluttered, this stops the audiences attention being distracted from the other elements and lets them draw their attention to the cover which is dominated by the magazines main image and title which the magazine relies on in order to catch their audiences attention and encourage them to pick up and purchase their magazine.
The magazines main image is a mid-shot of an alien like human figure. Straight away this provokes interest in the audience and makes them want to know more about the image. The main figure on the front is staring out of the magazine directly towards the audience giving the figure an image of not being intimidated or scared and is looking head on. Again, as i have discovered with most images contained on the front covers of these film magazines is that the characters in the images always have determined and serious looking expressions intended to excite and interest the audience in the images. The figure in this image has orange marks in his face giving the image of war paint indicating that the figure is some sort of warrior, the figure also has the look of a stereotypical warrior with long braided hair, the chains around the figures neck have a look of native indians and tribal again suggesting tribal warriors and indicating that this figure is a warrior. The figure is also fairly muscley again suggesting to the audience that the character is a fighter and he is the heroic figure of the film. However features such as the bright green eyes of the character which stand out against the blue dominated background, the bright green eyes pierce through the blue background and are eye-catching to the audience immediately indicating that this figure is not human, the pink insides of the figures ear also have the effect of standing out against the blue and dark coloured background, drawing the audiences attention to the fact that the characters ears again arent human, reinforcing to the audience that this character is not human, possibly suggesting that the genre of the film is sci-fi. The image is powerful and bold, whilst also being interesting prompting the audience into wanting to look further at the magazine as their attention is attracted to it. The use of the colour blue for the magazines background again is bright, sharp and colourful and would have the effect of standing out against the other magazine front covers, singling itself out from the rest to draw the audiences attention away from the other magazines and towards theirs.
The blue/turqoise background creates imagery of the sea and gives the front cover a feeling of cool and calmness suggesting to the audience that this figure is cool and is going to be the heroic male stereotype who wins the battle, however it also contrasts with the warrior imagery of the figure as the blue colour suggests a feeling of calm suggesting that the figure is a character of peace and calmness. The blue could also be an indication of water, which is a feature in the magazine as the Avatar's are contained in tanks of blue water, the colour also suggests a eery and mysterious feel to the image and almost has a fantasy and mythical imagery to it.
The magazine has chosen to produce the title in a bright white and bold font in order for it to stand out against the dark blue background. This has the effect of making the title eye-catching and the magazine has made the decision on just including the main image and the title 'AVATAR' as they are relying on the knowledge that Avatar has been recieving a lot of hype during the lead up to it's release and it is also ready making the record books as being the most expensive films produced and the audience where eagerly awaiting its ten year production release in 3d. The magazine is relying on this knowledge that their target audience will already know a great deal about the Avatar film and therefore they will have knowledge of the films storyline and characters and therefore the magazine doesn't need to include a lot of this information. Instead they can just include the instantly recognisable blue face of the Avatar and right the title Avatar and their target audience will instantly already know the film they are talking about and due to the hype surrounding this film, this image will be the magazines main selling point as people want to read more about this eagerly anticipated film. However again this magazine issue has challenged the typical magazine conventions in the way that they have again chosen to place the title of the film at the bottom of the cover, meaning that the other magazines which are possibly going to be stacked in front of their magazine meaning that the title will not be seen so therefore the magazine have to rely on the main image which is the well-known figure of the Avatar to attract readers to their magazine and tempt them to pick up the magazine. Again the magazine has chosen to add more text underneath the main title 'A DECADE IN THE MAKING', Here the magazine are playing on the audiences knowledge of the fact that the film has taken ten years to produce, therefore they are playing on the fact that the audiences expectations are high and stating that the film is finally here and that their magazine is going to give the audiences what they want, thus making the audience feel as though they are finally getting a more in depth insight into Avatar and feel as though the magazine is in some way providing them a service by getting them the information as soon as they get the information.
Again this issue of the magazine has used the same iconic title of 'Total Film' which is always the same with every issue, having the effect that the audience can see this title and easily spot it out in a stack of magazines for regular readers of the magazine to spot whilst also being bright and bold and standing out against the cover to catch potential buyers attention. Again the magazine has also chosen to add the price, issue number and date in the same place where it is always situated in the middle of the 'M' in the title.
This magazine has also included a small piece of text in the very bottom right hand corner saying EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBERS EDITION. This has the effects of making scubscribers of the magazine feel as though they are special and recieving a special edition of the magazine which is therefore making them feel special which results in them purchasing more editions of the magazine and carry on subscribing which results in the magazine having a regular audience purchasing each issue of their magazine.
Again this is another recent issue from April 2010. At first glance i believe that this magazine has included most of the conventions that the audiences expect to see when purchasing a magazine.Firstly the image of this magaine includes two figures with the male figure standing in a dominant stance in front of the female straight away indicating that he is protective of her and is standing in front of her to shield her from the danger, straight away suggesting to the audience that these two characters could be involved in a relationship i.e man or wife, or lovers.
The male figure has been made to look like a stereotypical heroic male warrior, this is seen by; firstly the way in which the man is dressed. He is dressed in metal armour plates across his chest and a bandana type material wrapped around his waist which is iconographic with the era in which the film is set, which instantly tells the audience the period when the film is set. The metal armour on the mans chest suggests that he is some kind of warrior who is involved with fighting and battles again suggesting that he is a fighter, a man who shows no fear and is prepared to fight to the death for what he believes in. The man is holding two swords with no shield suggesting to the audience that the man is not bothered about protection highlighting the characters bravery and fearless attitude, or it could also suggest that the character doesn't believe he needs a shield as he is too skilled and an advanced fighter. It however could indicate the characters brutal and violent nature in battle as he unleashes on his enemy. The characters long black hair blowing in the wind creates a dramatic effect on the characters face, also the moustache and the beard creates a manly image suggesting he is a testosterone fueled, strong and good-looking male which is generally the stereotypical heroic figure.
The woman standing behind him is also created to the stereotypes. The woman has got quite a babyish face which suggests youth and vulnerability highlighting possibly why the male is protecting her. This is also seen by the clothing which the woman is wearing. Her dress is also iconographic of the era reinforcing the time period which the film is set along with the old weapons of the swords. The womans pink dress again has the effect of creating her in an image that makes her look like a 'girlie' girl which again suggests her innocence and vulnerability and highlights why the dominant male figure is standing in front of her to protect her from the looming danger. The male is also standing up straight, pushing his chest out with his shoulders back emphasising his size and masculinity trying to exert his manliness and strength. The man is also shown to be bigger than the woman showing him to be the protective male of the small and vulnerable women.
The background image of this front cover again suggests the time period for this film showing ancient style palaces and pyramids situated somewhere out in the desert with soldiers on horses charging forward in the background. All of these features indicate to the audience that the film is set a long time ago whilst also giving a hint to the location where the action of the film is situated. Out of all of the main images from the magazine front covers, i feel this one conveys the most information to the audiences and is an interesting and creative cover which would encourage the audience to focus their attention on it and influence them to purchase the magazine.
The titles main heading has been produced in a gold and bold font with gold swirls emerging from the middle of the title giving it an ancient feel which fits in with the whole image of the rest of the magazine. The magazine is unusually for this magazine, placed almost central on the front cover laying directly on top of the male character possibly making the connection that this man is the 'prince of persia'. The title is again creative and fits in with the general image and style which has been created. This style is again reinforced in the text running along the top of the magazine stating 'THE EPIC ADVENTURE ISSUE.' which has been created again in the golden font which again suggests wealth and the overall colours from the period such as the deserts and the mans golden armour. The EPIC ADVENTURE ISSUE text being in bold catches the audiences attention and immediately tells the audience what to expect in this issue and infroms them on what this issue is going to be focusing on whilst also advertising to not only fans of this particular genre but also by promoting the Epic issue regular readers or films fans will be excited by the prospect of an epic issue which suggests a lot of good feature stories and possibly a bigger paged issue which excites the audience and influences them to purchase the magazine.
The magazine also uses many more spaces on the cover to place more features that are going to be included in this issue of the magazine, whilst also including a PLUS section running along the bottom highlighting yet more features to be included in this issue. Again this issue of the magazine does this in the same way as it has done in previous issues as well as Empire magazine also do too, in the way that they include headings of the features in this case in a bold white font in a red boxed background so that the text stands out and the audiences attention is immediately drawn to it. This issue relies on the audiences previous film knowledge for example by having one words headings such as 'TITANS', 'HEROES' and 'WARRIORS', again all of these three suggest warriors and fighters and reinforces to the audience that this issue is an adventure issue featuring clash of the titans warriors the prince of persia warriors etc. Underneath these headings the magazine complies with the standard conventions by giving the audience a brief insight into what the features are going to be about in an attempt to influence them to purchase the magazine. After researching and analysing many magazines i discovered that most of the features on the front covers included; well-known feature films, well known film stars, freebies, and other features such as the best films of 2010 and the best music of 2010 in an attempt to cover topics which include a wide variety of people in order to encourage potential purchasers of the magazine that this magazine offers something for everyone. This magazine obviously features more on the cover than usual as it is an Epic issue and so there is obviously going to be more features included in this issue.
The maazine also includes an advertisement saying '3 FEARLESS WORLD EXCLUSIVES' this is relating to the three main features on the front cover of prince of persia, the titans and the Warriors, the adjective fearless again reinforces to the audience that these figure are fearless warriors. The number 3 is produced in the same gold periodic font which has been used a lot on this front cover to show to the audience that this advertisement is linked in with the prince of persia featured on the front cover and the epic adventure issue.
The magazine again includes the iconic title 'Total Film', in this issue the characters heads in the image go over the title, highlighting that this is a well-known and established magazine as the magazine isnt bothered that part of their title is hidden away, this shows that Total Film feel comfortable that people know and like their magazine and feel as if they can place things over the title as the audience will still recognise it as Total Film magazine.
The magazine also features the common features such as the magazines barcode which i have discovered is always placed on the front cover so that it is presumably easier to find and scan when audiences are purchasing the magazines, the magazines issue number, date and price are again placed in the same position in the gap in the letter 'M' of their title, the same idea is used in Empire magazine, suggesting that one of the magazines lifted this idea and decided to interpret it in their design.
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