Analysing Magazine Covers

This is two covers from Empire magazine covering the two main characters of the film, the antagonist and the protagonist. They have made these two covers collectors edition, this makes a general hype of the film. The information on the cover is minimal and identical for the two magazines, the only difference is colour theme and the image. This is different to the other covers i have looked at as there is no other imagery on this cover and the text is so small that there is nothing detracting the audiences eyes from the image. Both images are of the character looking directly into the camera lens, with the Batman cover he has white spots in his eyes, and in the one of the Joker- he doesn't. This makes the Joker appear more sinister and alien in behaviour. Both facial expressions are intimidating and serious, leaving the audience to speculate is either the 'goody'. As the image is almost exactly the same for each character it leads the audience to believe that their is possibly no difference in character between the two roles. By looking directly down the camera lens it engages the audience with the magazine, although this is often difficult to create as the tendency is for the audience to gaze back at the cover with out actually engaging with them. The difference in colour leads the audience to believe that there are striking differences between the two characters. The blue used for Batman makes him appear to be calm and collective, this is contrasted well with the black. The use of the green makes the Joker appear alien like and different, his make up reinforces this idea, and his red lips make you think that it possibly could be red with blood, this is also the colour that he wears throughout the film, and can connote jealousy.

This film poster focuses on the main character from the film, Johnny Depp is clearly the USP of the film, as his name is referenced on the the cover. The end of the gun meets at Johnny Depp's face, this centres the focus of the shot and draws the eyes to his face, this is done intentionally as he is the USP for the film and therefore the designers are. The shot looks like it could possible be a still that has been taken from the film. This helps to portray the action genre as it looks as if he is in mid battle with someone and gives the image movement rather than it being static or posed. They haven't used any other large or striking props or characters again reflecting that he is the key focus of the film. They have also mentioned the co-writer and director of the film- reflecting that this is another selling point for the film. The image of Johnny Depp makes him to appear sinister and shady as he is looking away from the camera. It is a very clean cut image, his whole appearance is sharp and striking making it an impacting image. It reflects this aspect of Johnny Depp's character. The image fades to smoke at the bottom reflects mysterious aspect of his character and the genre action. Through mise en scene- costume and props it sets the era in which the film was set (1930's), this automatically will draw in fans of this genre instantly. The use of red connotes danger or blood, areas of importance are highlighted in red to make them stand out from the grey, white and black. This is also reinforced by the gun as it reflects danger, death and violence. relying on the audience recognising who he is. The company 'Empire' are clearly confident in the audience recognising the title of the magazine, as the have put the image over the top of the title. They have used captions such as 'First Look', 'Exclusive' and 'Inside' to reflect the exclusivity of this magazine and to compete with other magazines for the best stories. They have included a website URL, linking the other forms of media relating to Empire together and so that they sell each other. Within in the web page the audience can become interactively involved with the selling of films and participate in quizzes and view blogs, reviews, videos and track the latest news. This shows the the mass media institutes are becoming aware that audiences are becoming more technologically aware, and that slowly everything is moving to the Internet. They have chosen images from other action films, this relates all images chosen back together and as they will have captured the attention of a specific audience who likes action through the largest image of Johnny Depp, and continue to sell films that may appeal to them as they fit into that genre. Initially I felt that it was unusual for the title of the film to not be in red seeing as this is the emphasising colour of the cover, but I then realised that this would have detracted from the magazines own title. This is a clear difference between creating a film poster and then creating a film magazine cover- that you have to share the attention of the audience with another media institution.

This image of Megan Fox focuses on the sexuality of the actress. This is the key selling point for this male orientated film. The audience for this film know the storyline and therefore are relying on the actors or some other aspect to draw the audience in. The film follows a male gaze and often focus's on her body. The fact she is topless makes the image raunchy and will instantly draw the attention of men with a male gaze. She is making eye contact with the camera lens and is therefore drawing in the attention of the audience and making the look back at her. Again there is minimal other information on the front, and therefore they are relying on the image of Megan to draw their audiences in. Women will be attracted as they want to aspire to be her, and males will be attracted due to her sexuality. The name of the film is highlighted but the name of the actress is larger than the name of the film, clearly showing that Megan Fox is the unique selling point of them film. They have used words such as 'hot' and 'sizzeling' which reinforce the images sexual nature. The other films that have featured on the cover are ones that are of a similar genre, or have a similar audience, for example Star Trek and Wolverine. Both these films are generally teen movies, based upon action but with an alien like aspect to them. The colour palette for the writing that goes around Megan is really simplistic, this leaves the focus on the image. The text that stands out the most is 'Empire', so therefore the two standing out features are the title and the image of Megan. The text goes around her as she is the focus of the magazine cover.