EMPIRE Magazine Cover Analysis - March 2001

Total Film - October 2009 Magazine Cover Analysis

I found a magazine cover that is perfect to use as a source for inspiration, and I therefore decided to analyse it in detail through a PowerPoint presentation.

Empire - 'Man of Steel' Cover Analysis

  After producing a magazine for last years course, I have quite a bit of background knowledge of the codes and conventions of magazine covers, purely because of the extensive research that I undertook last year. However I am going to briefly look at a few film magazines as last years project was music magazines, and I am interested to see if there are many differences.
  Recently, superhero movies have dominated the film industry. This issue of film magazine Empire features a main story about Zack Snyder's latest creation, 'Man of Steel,' the newest Superman movie.
  This cover would appeal to a mainstream audience, with superhero movies becoming the latest hype. Therefore, most cinephiles would be interested, along with comic book fans. The main image of Henry Cavill as the 'new' Superman promotes the new adaptation and generation, and his classic style would attract fans of the comic book series. His stance emphasises the typical, alpha-male, superhero physique, clearly identifying the genre but perhaps also targeting the female audience (some of which may be comic book fans or others may like looking at him).

  The main Empire masthead is striking. It is in upper case, conventional with other magazines, and the bold red colour not only acts as a trademark for the magazine but also emphasises the title, making it more eye-catching. This style font also appears to be popular within film magazines, which I will keep in mind when creating my own.

  The main tagline, "Man of Steel - Superman gets The Dark Knight treatment," references the film title, which is also a description of Superman, as well as putting emphasis on the fact that the film was produced by Christopher Nolan, the director of The Dark Knight series. This is a hugely popular comic book film series, and this tagline would attract a huge audience. The, 'Exclusive,' above also suggests that is is exclusive just to Empire magazine, which acts again as a promotional push for fans to buy the magazine. The grey, steel font suits the text, stands out from the main image and also goes with the colour scheme of black, red, white and silver.

  The banner line is another popular feature on magazines, and like music magazines, a banner line on a film magazine follows a similar purpose, that usually sums up the magazine or the issue itself; in this case, a Superhero preview issue. I will definitely note this feature, as it is conventional for a magazine, and will hopefully make my own project look more professional.

  The cover also features other cover lines, which basically list other, new movies, which are presumably featured in the issue. The fonts differ to add variety, although some follow the official design of the film title/logo. They are in white, following the colour scheme, and are positioned around the character in the main image. I like this composition, and although being quite simple, it gets straight to the point and the audience immediately know what they will find in the magazine. It is also interesting to add that all of the films listed, bar, 'The Lone Ranger,' are all superhero films!

The cover also includes a small, 'Plus,' section, that is extremely common and conventional on film magazines. Here it reads, 'First Look! Pegg & Frost at the World's End,' obviously implying that Empire is first to look at their newest film, but also plays on the films actual title, 'The World's End.' The bar code is also located here, conventionally at the bottom corner of the magazine.

There is also a pug featured at the bottom right of the cover, that reads, 'Discovered in Poland! DAVID LYNCH! The complete films! The final interview?' This relates to filmmaker and director David Lynch, that would attract the audience that are fans of his work, and his unique, 'Lynchian,' style.