Magazine Cover Analysis

Fangoria

This is a front cover of ‘Fangoria’ magazine featuring ‘Insidious’. The main image is of one of the characters from the film, which also relates to the main sell line right below the main image. It is of an old lady dressed in a black dress and a black veil over her head whilst holding a candle in from of her. She has a kind of smile that makes her shadowy face look ‘insidious’, which can refer to both the main sell-line and the title of the film.

The image makes it look like the candle is being enveloped by the darkness of the woman. This could signify that that the narrative of the film will feature something pure and innocent (the light from the candle) will be surrounded by darkness and evil.

The veil and darkness could also mean that there is some kind of secret or mystery hidden behind the narrative.

When compared to the film poster, we can see that these two pieces of media text are linked because of the dark shadows surrounding the main character and the main colour in both being dark blue. The title of the poster also has the letters ‘s’ and ‘i’ in red, whilst the rest of the title is in  white. The ‘Insidious’ sell-line applies the same colours and style of font. This creates a strong symbiotic link between the poster and the magazine cover.

The image is a close up-shot, which is usually used so that we can get a detailed look at the character’s facial expression. However, because the only source of light in the image is the spot light, this creates a lot of shadows which makes the face almost unreadable. But we still try to read the face, so we end up being drawn into the image. This attracts the target audience because they want to find out why this woman’s face can’t be seen clearly, and the mystery of the image peaks their interests to find out more about what role this strange character might play in the narrative or just the plot of the film in general.

The magazine is called ‘Fangoria’. This name looks like it is a mash-up of the words ‘fang’ or ‘fan’ and ‘goria’. It could mean that this magazine celebrates traditional horror, or that this magazine is for fans of gore and blood. Either way, the title makes it clear that this magazine is for a horror fan and that this magazine’s focus is on the horror genre. The masthead, like on all magazine covers, is the largest text on the frame. It is in poster bold font that has been stylized so that the first and last letters create spikes that remind you of vampire fangs. The letters are white with a red outline, possibly to resemble bloodstained vampire fangs and maybe even refer to the pun ‘sink your teeth into’, which could be saying the magazine is a must read. This theme also makes the masthead suitable for a horror film magazine.

The target audience is mostly men and are described as “horror loving weirdoes”, and they would find the masthead appealing, because when you read it, you know straight away that the aim of the magazine is to promote horror films. However, the masthead doesn’t reflect the target audience very well, besides from the fact that both the masthead and the fans are quite unusual. But even though it is a quite clever masthead, its bright colours almost make it look like it doesn’t belong in the frame and it a bit cheesy. The masthead almost makes the cover look like a comic, so it would only attract a very specific niche of people.

The sell-lines aren’t very clear in what they are meant to be promoting, and the font they are written in is not very clear, making it hard to distinguish certain letters. The main sell-line makes it clears the ‘Insidious’ will be the focus of the current issue, having the largest sell-line text and being placed rite below the main image. The sell-line at the top uses a lot of exclamation marks, which makes it look a bit childish and gives it a feeling of over exaggeration.

The content of the sell-lines indicate that the target audience like finding out about new horror films, horror directors and horrors actors, and comparing horror from different parts of the world.

The target audience is lured in by the sell-lines, because they don’t give very much away. They only mention the name of the film e.g. ‘Scream 4’ and the name of an actress e.g. ‘Sybil Danning’, but not whether there will be an article about them, an interview or a review. If the target audience want to find out more, they would have to buy the magazine. There is also a puff shaped like a blood stain, which draws the target audience in by giving them cover mount, e.g. “Giant fold out poster inside!”

Because the sell-lines give hardly any information and are so direct, little can be said about the mode of address, except that the target audience may like it when the sell-lines go straight to the point and like them, are direct when it comes to information. The colours of the sell-lines mimic the colours of the main sell-line (title of ‘Insidious’) with having red text in between white text. This may lead the audience to thinking that the sell-lines all have something to do with the main feature, so they have to read all the other sell-lines. In turn they find out about the other features in the issue. The red text scattered throughout the frame, along with the puff, makes it look like scattered blood. This makes you think of slashers more than supernatural horrors, so in context of the cover, it is not doing a very good job of informing the audience of what genre of horror it is promoting. The rest of the cover is quite dark, except for the masthead and the images at the bottom. Colours are introduced in unusual ways, like the yellows, which might attract the target audience to look at the cover more closely; however it makes the entire piece look less professional.

The text to image ratio on this cover is about 1:1. Both text and image take up a similar amount of space. The layout is set up in a way that moves all the text out of the centre, so that when the target audience look at the cover, the first thing they will look at is the old woman’s face. The main sell-line is also placed in a similar position as in the poster, so there could be a symbiotic link between the two pieces. The smaller images were placed at bottom and have a line separating them from the main image in order to make it look like a film reel. However, the images are so different in style and genre, they seem to lose their intended purpose and appear to be randomly placed there as space fillers. I would say the layout of the cover, even though it follows magazine cover conventions, looks very distracting. The smaller images look very out of place and the white text and masthead appear too bright for the darker main image.

In conclusion, I think this magazine does okay in trying to promote the film, however it does so in a very tacky manner. The whole cover looks very amateurish. All of the conventions were used, yet it makes the cover look a bit overcrowded. Overall, this is not the best example of a film magazine featuring horror, but there are not many examples to choose from, so maybe it is this lack of such covers that leads to poorer examples.

Empire

This is a cover for ‘Empire’ magazine which features films of all genre. It’s featuring ‘Batman: The Dark Knight’ and even though it is not a horror film, both the film and the magazine cover feature elements of a horror film.

The main image of this cover is of the main villain in the film, ‘The Joker’. This way it directly relates to the main sell-line below the masthead as the core antagonist. This image clearly shows us that this character will be a massive part of the narrative. This image does not really inform of the film’s genre, it does however hint that the narrative might have darkness and will leave the audience feeling disturbed. This can be seen in the way the camera closes-up on the character’s face, revealing the sinister looking smirk. All the makeup on the person’s face has been smudged and is cracking, possibly like the person’s mental state. The red makeup on his mouth also kind of looks like blood, so we can assume that this person is unstable and that he is capable of harm. The green hair just adds to the character’s craziness and matches the colours of the sell-lines. This film has a few posters, and this character appears on half of them by himself, demonstrating his importance and linking the cover to the film posters and film. We can see that he is wearing what looks like a purple suit, which could be indicating that he thinks highly of himself like some sort of authority figure. Compared to his face, his clothes look quite normal, which just emphasises the contrast between the two. Like someone who was once normal had gone mad.

Most of his clothes are hidden in shadow, which makes the white makeup on his face become even brighter. The black patches on his eye therefore look even darker, like giant holes in a mask. And as in slashers, where most villains are masked, it is done to make them appear less human. The makeup therefore, is his mask, which helps him look less human and makes his facial expressions harder to read.

The name of the magazine is ‘Empire’, which could suggest that the magazine is itself an empire. Empires are always created by having the best of everything, which means that the magazines it realises are worthy of becoming part of this empire.

The masthead uses bold san-serif font, which is the largest text on the cover. Sometimes the masthead’s text is customised in order to suit the main image on the cover. As shown on this cover, the black text is surrounded by a green outline to match the character’s green hair. These colours make the masthead look like it is surrounded by the evil miasma coming from the character.

This masthead reflects the target audience because just like the magazine, the readers will want the best and this magazine is able to provide them with it. The word “empire” makes the magazine sound more professional and as thought is a reliable source of information, which tells us that the target audience will not buy just any magazine and like the information to be reliable. This masthead remains in the same style on all issues, with occasional tweaking for special occasions. This constant style creates a brand identity and a familiarity for the target audience.

The sell-lines are placed in a quite unusual way on this cover. The main sell-line has the biggest text and is placed right under the masthead, to indicate this issue has a special emphasis on the film is it promoting. The main sell-line just states the name of the film, but since the featured villain is so well known, more information about what the feature will include is not necessary because of the famous franchise. The second main sell-line is placed in the middle left because the western human eye reads from left to right.

The last few sell-lines are placed at the bottom of the frame and include information on what else the magazine has in this issue. This way, the reader would have had to have read the main sell-lines in order to reach the others.

The sell-lines mention ‘Clint Eastwood’, which is an older actor from the 1960’s. This shows that the target audience likes new and fresh material, but at the same time enjoy retuning to the past and revisiting iconic actors and films. One of the sell-lines says, “The real Jaws onboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis”, which could show that even though the target audience enjoys make-believe, they also like to find out about the truth behind the creation of the narrative. Or how the issue states it is a collectable can show the reader enjoys reading these magazines often enough to build up collections.

The fact that the cover is a collectable can entice the audience to buy the next issue to complete their collection, even if the material inside might not interest them as much. Another big way the magazine tries to lure in its target audience is with the last three sell-lines at the bottom. They mention things like Will Smith who is a well known actor with a phenomenal film career and his fans will want to read the piece on him. The sell-lines also mention ‘The Hobbit’, which is a long awaited film trilogy by the massive ‘Lord of The Rings’ fan-base, so people who enjoy this franchise will want to find out more about what the article has to offer. These sell-lines appeal to a wide range of film fans, so this would attract a wider target audience.

All of the sell-lines use the same font as the masthead which emphasises its name, because an empire will branch out, just like it did with its font. All the sell-lines feature the green colour of the character’s hair; that could imply that this malicious looking character is trying to re-create the cover to his liking.

All of the colours of the text, return to the fact that there are imitating the character’s green hair. This creates a feeling as though this character has taken over the cover and made it his own. The colour green can have the connotation of being safe, however when you look at the creepy image, it is as though the green was there to lure you in, make you drop your guard and fall into a trap. Green can also sometimes be thought of as the colour of being ill, so perhaps it is pointing out that the narrative might have some kind of “sick” plot or twist. There is a green shape in the bottom left-hand corner. Its purpose it not quite clear, however, it provides a nice way of separating the other sell-lines. Or perhaps it could look like a gun’s shooting target, as though someone is perusing this character and wants him dead. This could interest the target audience in finding out more about this character which will lead to a purchase.

There is about a fifty-fifty amount of image and text. The cover does well in positioning the sell-lines in a way that they all get read and leave plenty of space for the main image.  The same goes for the price which is placed in the dent of the masthead’s “M”. The most distinctive thing about the layout is that the main sell-line is placed in such a way that it looks like it is part of the title. But I think this just helps the cover to promote the film. Besides from this, the cover follows the other conventions of a magazine from cover.

I think that this cover does well in promoting the film and implementing the codes and conventions. It looks professional and achieves in creating tenseness when the reader looks at the character’s dark eyes.

Total Film

This is the cover for ‘Total Film’ magazine, featuring ‘Shutter Island’. The main image is the film’s main character emerging from fog clutching a gun. The main sell-line is stating the name of the film and has the largest sell-line font. It is also the only sell-line that appears to move over the main image. It’s because of this we know that this sell-line and the main image are related. That image suggests that the narrative will involve mystery and dark secrets. We know this because the main character it surrounded by fog. The fog could be the things that is hiding the truth or referring to the expression of having a foggy mind and not being able to think clearly. We also know that mystery will feature heavily in the narrative because of the main character’s facial expression. His face is covered in many dark shadows, and shadows can be associated with darkness and the unknown. So in a way it makes him look like he himself looks and feels in the dark. He has an expression that can be described as intense, as though he is deep in thought. This expression also makes him look like he is concentration and fighting some kind of inner battle with himself. This adds to the mystery as we now want to find out what is troubling him so much that he has to focus so much. Behind him, we can see what looks like an island surrounded by fog. This refers back to the title of the film and the image is probably showing the main location of the film. In the top right corner of the frame, we can see a lighthouse that is connected to the main island. This sets even more mystery because while the rest of the island looks to be almost abandoned, the lighthouse is turned on, which implies that someone inside and could be acting at a beacon of light for the confused character who is shrouded in the dark.

Even though this film is not of a horror genre, it still features elements of horror like jumpy moments. The cover also helps to show the chilling side of the film by covering much of the image in either fog or shadows. It is this mysteriousness that can lead the audience to have fear of the unknown.

When compared to the film’s poster, you can clearly see there is a link between it and the cover. The film title on the poster and the magazine are both in bold red san-serif font and have a similar scratched style to them. Both of the pieces have the same character on them with both of their faces being half covered in profile lighting, as well as the island where the film is set. All of these images help to create a connection between the two pieces of media.

The character is holding a gun and has a police badge on his belt. This shows that he is a figure with authority and power, however, his facial expression looks at though he doubts his own judgement  Him being an officer means that there is something that needs solving and that he’s not sure if he will be able to find the truth, or if he wants to find it at all.

The name of the magazine is ‘Total Film’. The magazine is suggesting that it places all of its focus in promoting and providing information on all sorts of films. The masthead uses quite simple bold white poster san-serif font. However, it is laid out in a very strange manner. The ‘Total’ is placed inside the ‘F’ of ‘Film’ and is the same colour at the background of the main image. The magazine dose this for most of its cover. This is stating that whatever the magazine is focusing on, it pulls out all the stops and finds out the complete “total” of information about the topic. The masthead is white, but is placed behind the main image so that it doesn't take away from the mysterious mood it is trying to create. It is also common for more successful magazines to cover up parts of its masthead because devoted readers will still be able to tell it’s their favourite magazine. People will immediately know it is a film magazine because it has the word “film” in the masthead.

I think that this masthead does okay in reflecting its target audience. Just like the reader, the magazine gets to the point, which might also be why it appeals to the audience. The word “Film” is the largest word on the frame, as though it is showing off its film knowledge or to perhaps show it is for all film fans i.e. the target audience.

The masthead helps to establish the magazine’s brand identity by nearly always being in white letters and having the word total in the same space inside the ‘F’ of ‘Film’.

The sell lines tend to flow towards the left side of the page. This is because western eyes read from left to right. That is why the bottom right corner is empty, because our eyes would look at that section last. The sell-lines use about 4 types of font and are either in red or white throughout. The sell-lines not only mention different kinds of films but also reviews and behind the scenes bonuses e.g. “Greatest move art ever”. This tells us that the target audience enjoy finding out about upcoming films and their details, but they also like to get information about the production side of the films and the ideas and concepts that lead to their favourite films.

The sell-lines attract the audience by mentioning many eagerly awaited films e.g. ‘Avatar’, ‘Transformers 3’, ‘Iron Man 2’. The audience will see that this magazine will have a feature on all of the films they could be interested in whist another magazine might not include them all. The sell-line “Top film makers show us their sketchbooks” will lure in readers because they might want to compare how much the concept designs were different from the final product or just sea how the directors envisioned their films. The final sell-line mentions at the end “…And Are you a robot?”. Since this is the last piece of text on the frame and is such a vague statement, the audience will want to find out what does it mean by it, so will be tempted to purchase the magazine out of curiosity.

Some of the sell-lines are red or encased in red boxes. The red looks like it has been scratched and smudged, which could suggest that the issue might feature more horror or that horror features heavily in the main feature of the issue. The other sell-lines use serif font which could be to show a bit more professionalism or someone’s opinions. The different fonts could be trying to be as diverse as the films the magazine might feature, or have certain parts emphasized e.g. ‘Iron Man 2’. This will attract audience’s eyes to certain parts where the magazine wants them to look and get enticed by the information it gives which will hopefully result in them buying the magazine. The word ‘exclusive’ is also used which makes it sound like what this magazine has to offer no other magazine can, so it will result in another purchase.

The mode or address is quite friendly and informal. It addresses its audience in a casual way like a friend.  This way the magazine becomes part of the audience’s life and they will continue to buy the magazine. It uses exclamation marks as thought the magazine is excited and question marks as though the magazine is trying to have a conversation with the reader.

The main colours used for the cover are blues and reds. Blue is quite a cold colour and can be thought of as a cold person with no emotion, whilst the red can be a connotation of blood which can mean the film being promotes might involve the detached person harming or killing someone. However, the lighthouse has a sort o green light coming from it, where green may be thought of as something right and safe. These colours and their meanings follow the narrative of the film, so they can be a premonition of what is to come for the readers.

The blues are quite dull, which makes the red stand out and the thing that stands out the most is the title of the film. ‘Shutter Island’ is an interesting title, so when the audience reads it, they would want to find out more about the film. The dark blues which help to create this chilling feeling will help to attract the target audience because horror fans seek to be scared, and if the cover looks chilling enough, the correct target audience will notice the magazine.

There is about the same amount of text are there are images. The layout is set up in a way the moves the text to the left to let the reader real all the sell-lines conveniently, and the image is allowed to take up the entire middle of the cover from top to bottom. This let’s us see all of the fog in the background, which would not have worked if it was a close up shot. The cover follows the conventions of magazine front cover and does well in promoting the film as a mystery thriller with aspects of horror.