Research: Magazine Cover Research

Magazine

1. Main character usually takes up most of the page, and they tend to be full bleed covers, showing the main article featured in the magazine.

2. Title of magazine and movie title both in recognisable and distinctive fonts.

3. Sub articles are shown in the smaller part of the magazine (seen at the bottom of the below magazine cover).

4. A caption usually displayed along side the picture, giving brief outline of the exciting new features of the movie.

5. Price, barcode and date of issue shown on front cover.

6. Captions of other articles included in the magazine are shown on the front page.

Conventions of Iron Man 2 Empire magazine:

Empire magazine, shows through one big full bleed photo that the main article featured in this issue is Ironman 2 (Jon Favreau 2010). The bright and vibrant colours of the ironman suit already draw our attention to the picture, as well as the electrifying title. These are very effective as the background is dark and plain therefore the pictures and titles stand out very well. The electrifying title compliments the picture of the ironman suit as it is the same colour as the centre piece of the suit. The title font and colour also conveys that this issue will include movies such as Ironman that are fast paced and intense. The glowing eyes on Ironman also look directly at the audience, giving the character authority and power which suits the genre of the movie itself as an energetic, action packed production. The picture perfectly represents the movie because as a comic hero and a sequel, most of the audience this movie was aimed at would know that character. It would also be well known as the first movie was a success grossing $585,174,222 and had the fourth biggest superhero opening ever. The white title for the article, is bold, simple and it stands out therefore people will know that there is an Ironman sequel and this produces excitement of fans as a result. There is also a caption below the article title which although short, it gives a big impact of whats to come in the new movie "New Suit. New Enemies. Same Attitude.". The full stop effect also creates excitement within the fans as it doesn't give away too much but gives enough to exhilarate the reader. The caption is in a smaller font of the opposite colour in a grey box, but still stands out as the font is black and stands out well. There are also smaller more minor articles within this magazine that are depicted as smaller article titles and pictures, therefore contrasting to the bigger event within this magazine, Ironman 2. 

Conventions of Inception Total Film magazine:

Here we can see FILM magazine, which although does not have as bigger picture that the Ironman 2 one above, is the only image on the front cover, showing again that Inception will be the main article within this magazine. As a psychological thriller the FILM title is filled with pictures of buildings from an aerial view, which makes the audience start to ask questions like what is this movie about. Also above the title of the magazine, a caption is shown saying "The Mind-Blowing Issue" literally making a pun of the psychological movie shown here. Another caption is shown below the "Inception" title saying "Inside The Ultimate Head trip" yet again showing this psychological movie will get in your head. The movie title on the front cover is not the ideal standing out colour but however, if you were to look at it in bright red, it wouldn't look stylish and therefore not very appealing to the audience. The background is effective when making Leonardo DiCaprio stand out to the audience, which is effective as Leonardo DiCaprio is already a very successful actor, so therefore the audience would know this and think it must be a good movie. Apart from making Leonardo DiCaprio stand out the rest of the smaller fonts above the picture just to the right when it says "Re Boot of the year?", these fonts are not very clear and this prevents the reader from capturing what the other articles are about.

Conventions of Star Trek Total Film magazine:

This FILM poster is very simple but very effective. The plain black and white image is a full bleed photo and there is no other main image displayed on the front cover, so that the audience will be able to spot the main article within this issue. The character is looking straight at the reader with an intimidating look, showing his authority and confidence. Although he looks serious, he has a very slight smirk, conveying to the audience that this will be a serious film but will also have a lot of funny and enjoyable moments. The background is plain so that there is no other part of the magazine that you can be distracted by. Another reason it is black and white is so that the bold and big "STAR TREK" title can stand out, and as Star Trek is already a very established and both a successful film and TV series, many people would immediately recognise it. Also in a smaller red coloured font the words "World Exclusive" are shown, therefore creating excitement that this is the first magazine with different information than any other magazine in the world, making fans of the franchise want to read about it. The caption shown below it "The Boldest And Coolest Film Of 2009" and as "coolest" is underlined, it shows that there may be a change in the typical associations with this movie which are that it's only for Sci Fi fans, it also is a big statement coming from a well established magazine such as FILM therefore it must be good. There is plenty of different pieces of text some in red and some in white. They are both effective as they stand out well and clear to the audience so that they can recognise other movies featured within this issue. There is also a mini picture with the caption "4 amazing covers", giving the audience another reason to buy the magazine.