Annotate in detail the front cover of a film magazine

Inception magazine front cover





 

 



The colour scheme and layout of this magazine is very similar to the colours used throughout the film inception and the 3D background that creates a futuristic look to it is very much used for the DVD cover of this film. This is a good selling point for an audience as they will recognise the DVD cover from the film magazine Empire who has used similar layouts, backgrounds and colours to what the film has.

 

 

The masthead is placed at the top of the magazine cover, a few inches above where the main character is. Empire is a well -established magazine and uses the film ‘Inception’ as the main selling point of this issue. The bold lettering of the masthead ‘The dark knight returns’ is presented at the top of the page, this is an advertisement of the Batman films and by putting this as the title it would influence more people to read the magazine.

 

 

The main character is the first thing that will catch people’s attention. This is because the magazine company have positioned him so that he is in front of the 3D background and titles. He also stands out because of what he is wearing and like most male actors, he is wearing a suit and holding a gun close beside him. The way in which this character is presented on this magazine is very stereotypical.

 

 

The directors name ‘Christopher Nolan’s’ is positioned in the centre of the main character and just above the title Inception. This connotes that he directed the film and this is a selling point because the audience might be influenced by other films this director might have produced.
Another selling point would be the main actor who takes up more than half of the magazine cover. Leonardo DiCaprio, his name doesn’t need to be added to the cover as he is a recognisable actor who has starred in many films such as; The Titanic, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street.



The comparison of the Matrix film and 007 Bond films of other genres markets their films to different audiences.

The barcode is located in the bottom right hand corner of the magazine and is on small scale in comparison to everything g else on the cover. This is probably the last thing that you will notice when looking at the front of any film magazine.  Film magazines will also display the price near the bar code and this is the final element that the audience will look at before buying .

 

The text that is written either side of the main character is displayed in a way as though the still picture is moving. This effect not only advertises the other films that are promoted in this magazine but it creates a mysterious feel for the film Inception.
The gun in this shot is iconography for an action/thriller/ sci-fi films and indicates that the film will be in fast past to connote the tension in the film.

 

Small print of the magazine company’s website empireonline.com is provided for those who want to find out more about the releases of films that are promoted in this magazine.