Studio Magazine Cover Analysis

Studio is a film magazine which is aimed at women. The font alone suggests this as it has a softer, curvier feel. The slogan alone (Britain's First Women's Film Magazine) shows the viewer that its a women's magazine. The main coverline is 'Women in Hollywood' and most of the other cover lines reference women with words like 'sister' and 'queen'. The dominant central image is also of a female actress in a pose.

Total Film Magazine Cover Analysis

Total Film is a British monthly film magazine which focuses on Hollywood films. Its thick white (generally white) font masthead captures the eyes of the viewer as is stands out from the rest of the cleanly laid out cover. It generally has a well known character on the cover and the coverlines are normally big Hollywood productions. The issue below displays the 'swagger' of James Bond and it is stated that this is 'The Cool Issue'. The other coverlines and images show the top 10 'coolest movies' right now such as 'Django Unchained' and 'Jack Reacher'. The Hollywood theme really stands out with other big actors names being listed like 'Hugh Jacman' and 'Ben Affleck'.

Magazine Front Cover Conventions

As I researched magazine front cover, I noticed that the same basic conventions continually appear. These are:

Masthead

Web Address

Dominant Central Image

Barcode

Slogan

Main Cover Line

Banners

Cover Lines

Other Images

Issue Number

Date and Price

Magazine Cover Analysis Conclusion

As I've previously displayed, there are currently many different film publications. Some aim for the mass Hollywood market, while some focus on independent films and attract a more niche audience. Once I decide on a genre, I will have to decide what type of magazine to produce a front cover for. Most magazine front covers display the same basic conventions, but the layout of them varies massively between different types of magazines.

When you look at the conventions of the posters above, you can roughly see what type of magazine it is. For example, look at the cover lines of Studio and Filmmaker. It is very clear that Filmmaker focuses on independent films while Studio focuses on Hollywood. From the slogan on Studio, it is apparent that it is a women's magazine. Cinefex is a weird cover as it barely has any of the standard conventions on it. This is to keep the front cover 'clean' as the magazine focuses on graphics. There is barely a distraction from the image. 

When I make my magazine front cover, I will include content which is related to the type of genre/film that I choose. I will also decide which audience to aim at.

Magazine Cover Analysis 2 (Sight & Sound)

The second magazine cover I analysed is Sight & Sound. This is a British magazine, produced by the BFI and focuses on independent films.

Although the two magazine front cover I analysed were aimed at two completely different types of people, they both shared many of the same conventions. These were: masthead, dominant image, barcode, slogan, main cover line, cover lines, and the date, price and issue number.

When I make a magazine front cover for my film, regardless of who I will be aiming it at, these conventions will be included to give the magazine an authentic feel.

Magazine Cover Analysis 1 (Empire)

The first magazine cover I analysed was Empire. Empire is a British based magazine which focuses on mainstream Hollywod films.

Magazine Cover Analysis Introduction

In order to understand the conventions for different types of magazine publications, I will be analysing 2 magazine front covers. One is a mainstream Hollywood magazine (Empire) and the other is an Independent film magazine (Sight & Sound).

Below are the two posters I will be analysing.