Movie Magazine Front Cover Analysis #2: Transformers

The February 2007 edition of Empire magazine (issue 212) focused an a Transformers preview and also contained information about Pirate Of The Caribbean 3, The Simpson's Movie, Grindhouse, Bourne 3, Blood Diamond, Harry Potter 5 and Spiderman 3. The magazine also contained interviews with Will Smith and Beyonce.

The masthead at the top of the image is a the same masthead that is used on every issue of Empire, this is an example of brand loyalty because if people were to start buying the magazine regularly then they will start to notice the masthead and automatically make it their first choice of magazine. The masthead is made up of just the word 'EMPIRE' in large, bold capital letters and on this edition is in the colour red which matched in with the colour scheme on the rest of the page. The date and price are place between the dip in the M of Empire in the masthead.

Also at the top of the page their is a small strip of text which relates to the background image and the words 'World Exclusive!" are shown which gives connotations of never seen before information that the reader will only find in this magazine. The use of the words 'World Exclusive' and are done purposefully as they are buzz words that are likely to attract the viewer attention in the hope that they will want to find out more and buy the magazine.

The colour scheme of the page is strictly red white and blue which matches with the background image that is made up of medium shot of a Transformer. The red, white and blue are very patriotic colour of the American flag which relate to the movies story of the Transformers protecting America.

Placed over the background image is the main anchorage text which relates to the background picture and lets the reader know that their is a preview of the new Transformers movie inside. The anchorage, however, feels very messy. The small text above and below the man 'Transformers' title has been rotated slightly which makes the whole middle section seem unsymmetrical and odd. The text below which says '2007' and 'preview' are in different font styles and in italics which, again, makes the anchorage as a whole look like a big mess of different text styles that do not fit together very well.

To the bottom of the main anchorage text there there is a small 'Also staring' section which lists more of the contents of the magazine in the same red/white colour scheme.

There is a small puff placed in in the upper left of the front cover. It used the words 'Optimus Prime Arrives' and this relates to the main image on the page which is of the character Optimum Prime. This use of Star Theory attracts the reader attention as the name might be a character that they already know and may be interested in.

At the very bottom of the page there is a bar code on the left hand side which is usual for most movie magazines and there is a small banner that runs along the bottom with names like Will Smith and Beyonce which uses star theory by using celebrity names to attract the readers attention.

I feel that this along with the main and sub anchorage text means that there is a large amount of informtion on the page and the page and the way that it is arranged it makes the whole page look very messy and makes the magazine seem amateurish compared to a more stylised magazine like TotalFilm (see Shutter Island magazine analysis) which has about the same amount of information on but seems much cleaner and generally more professional.  I will take this into account when designing my magazine front cover.

Poster Analysis #3: Hard Candy

Hard Candy is an independent thriller film which was directed by David Slade and stars Patrick Wilson and Ellen Page. The film focuses on a confrontation between a sexual predator and a 14-year-old girl he attempts to seduce.

The poster for the film is made up of several different elements. The main image of the poster in the middle and shows a young girl in a red hooded top. This is clearly a throw back to little red riding hood, and connotes innocence of the small child which then highly contrasts by the dark, grungy design of the bear trap which she is standing on which conveys that the girl is likely to be in some sort of danger. This lets the viewer know that the film is much darker than might be first apparent from the title.

The background of the image is a very simple textured gradient which helps to draw the viewer’s eyes to the centre image. The colours of the gradient background start off at the top with an off-white/yellowish colour which has the girl in the foreground, which convey the child’s innocence but it fades down into a much duller grey colour with the bear trap in the foreground.

The use of colour along with the striking image of the girl standing on the bear trap helps grab the viewers attention by using shock tactics which will, in turn, make them more interested into finding out what the film is about. The bear traps helps to show the viewer that the film is likely to be in the thriller/horror genre.

The other elements of the poster are the movie title and the quote from an ‘expert witness’. The movie title is done in a very simple, grey, all capitals font which isn’t very distracting and makes this poster a more visual poster rather than a verbal poster, with a lot more emphasis on the image rather than the text of the poster. There is also one quote from an expert witness at the very top of the poster which is also not very distracting at all, keeping the main image as the main focal point for the poster.

Overall I believe this is a good poster as the use of shock tactics with the main image of the poster help interest the viewer in the film and hopefully makes them want to find out more about it/go and see it. I believe it communicates with the audience successfully as it simply and effective portrays the themes of child vulnerability with the use of the image and gets the point across without having to throw too much information at the viewer.

Trailer Analysis #2: Inception

Inception is an upcoming American science fiction film written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, along with Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy,Tom Berenger and Michael Caine.  The film follows an agent named Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) who can drug up tycoons and enter their minds to find out their secrets and strategies. Cobb then uses the secrets to sell to the highest competing bidder. However, the mind is a volatile place, where places can rearrange and people can have power much stronger than in reality, and the complications of the mind can create dreamscapes that can end in mere seconds, trapping the agents with them.



As with Shutter Island, it is apparent from the first viewing of this trailer which genre it fits into.  The dramatic music which slowly builds up to a climax at the end paired with the slow scenes to start and then short scenes to end show that this film is a thriller.  The slow scenes at the start, with the voice-over, help to explain the basic plot of the film, but it it not explained thoroughly, presumably to give the viewer a taste of what the film is like with the hope that they will want to see more.  The film is officially categorised as a sci-fi thriller and the sci-fi elements show through in several strange scenes in which physics is seemingly defied, such as the scene where the ground starts to lift up and flip over like a wave:

And when the water in the glass moves:

The characters in the film are also briefly shown.  Leonardo DiCaprio is the main actor in the film (again, as with Shutter Island, he is used to draw in potential viewers who would be happy to see a film just because he is in it) and is shown to to be the protagonist who is trying to steal an 'idea'.  

DiCapro's name is clearly shown on one of the title screen. The director Christopher Nolan, who is popular because of his success with The Dark Night, is also mentioned.  As is the fact that he directed The Dark Night.  This is another case of star theory where people will be draw to see the film because he is the director and they have enjoyed his past work.

The music used in the trailer is a dramatic score in which booming sound effect happen when the scenes change.  The score really helps to show the genre of the film and sets the mood well.  The trailer ends with the stylised title screen which is then followed by a billing block:

Poster Analysis #2: Requiem For A Dream

Requiem For A Dream is 2005 film directed by Darren Aronofsky.  The film is based on a novel Hubert Selby, Jr and was adapted into a screenplay by Selby and Aronofsky.  It was produced by Eric Watson, Palmer West and Scott Vogel and the main actors in the film are Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans and Christopher McDonald.

The film itself exposes four individuals and shows the effects of their addiction to heroin, cocaine and diet pills (speed).  It takes place in Brooklyn where drugs are easily obtainable, which in turn keep each main character in their own cycle of dependence.  The protagonist, Harry Goldfarb, is your typical heroin junky with an ambitious plan of getting 'getting a pound of pure' with help from his two friends; this cocaine crazed girlfriend Marion and his long time friend Tyrone.  Meanwhile, his widowed mother is obsessed with the glamor of television and eventually find her way to dietitian who pushes her into the cycle of drug induced enslavement herself.

The poster for Requiem For A Dream is shown to the left.  The poster is made up of two images split up by a horizontal bar.  The top image is a close up of an eye which is blood shot with a dilated pupil.  This shows drug use and referes to the technique of quick cuts of the drug taking process that is used a lot in the movie to show when drugs are being used.  To the top of the image is four actors names which is used for star theory in the hope that a viewer of the poster may have prior knowledge of the actors work and they may become interested in seeing this movie.  Above the image the is a small, thin black banner containing the text "From the director of pie".  This use of other films can also interest viewers in the same way star theory can, if the viewer has seen and liked the film pie then they might consider seeing this film because it is by the same director.

The horizontal bar in the middle of the page contains the film title and another mention of the director of the film, this time with his name used.  This required viewers of the poster to have prior knowledge of Darren Aronofsky's work for it to be successful but if they do, they may be more interested in seeing the film because of him.

The image below is from one of the dream sequences in the movie and trailer.  The image is perfectly symetrical with pier being centred in the frame and the woman in the red dress being placed in the middle of the pier.  This goes against the rule of thirds, but the image remains interesting to the eye because of it.  To the bottom of the bottom image there is the billing block.  It contains different information about the film from the writers, producers and actors to the companies that produced the film.

Compared to the Shutter Island poster, this poster is much more simplified and less stylised but the use of the two images, especially the close-up of the eye, keep the poster interesting to the eye the the several uses of star theory help to draw viewers of the poster to see the movie.

Movie Magazine Front Cover Analysis #1: Shutter Island

Shutter Island is a 2010 film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Production started in March 2008. Shutter Island was originally slated to be released on October 2, 2009, but Paramount pushed the release date to February 19, 2010.

The film is set in 1954 where two U.S. marshals investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane on an island in Massachusetts. They run into trouble when they are deceived by the hospital's chief administrator, a hurricane hits, and an inmate riot traps them on the island.

Total film magazine is published by Future Publishing and is the UK's best-selling film magazine.  It offers film and DVD new, reviews, and features.  It was launched in 1997 and is published monthly.

The background of the cover is an image of mist surrounding an island with a lighthouse on.  The image is tinted blue giving the cover a predominately blue background colour.

The cover conforms to most aspects of a regular movie magazine.  It has a masthead containing the magazine title, which is used similarly to a logo (even though it just made up of text) as it is kept the same for each edition of the magazine and helps to define the house style of the magazine which makes each edition instantly recognisable the regular viewers.  The masthead is very simple, but it is because of this (and the layout choice for the rest of the pages) the the magazine looks very professional and classy.  To the right of the masthead the lighthouse of the background overlaps to give it a more dominate position on the page.  The lighthouse has a bright yellow light which contrasts greatly against the rest of the colour on the page which could be used to catch the viewer eye but also could been seen as a beacon of hope in the film (as on the movie poster). The yellow on the lighthouse image also matches with the small picture in the top left of the page.

Below the masthead on the left is the text for the main article of the front cover, the Shutter Island article.  DeCaprio's name is mentioned twice for star theory, it is done in the hope that reader will have prior knowledge of DeCaprio's work so may be interesting in his new film.  Two different fonts are used for this puff.  A bold, red font for the main title, 'Shutter Island'.  The red of the font connotes horror, danger and possibly death, this helps to show the genre of the movie to the reader.  The edges of the font are smudged to make the letters look like they are covered in blood, again helping to show the nature of the movie.  The red font also contrasts the blue background fairly heavily which will help to catch the reader eye.  The other font that is used is a plain white font which is used for the catchy headlines for the article.  The use of the name 'Marty' is in relation to the director of the film Martin Scorsese and requires the reader to have prior knowledge of his work in order to be interested by the mention of his name.

The main image of the page is of the star of Shutter Island, Leonardo DeCaprio.  The picture is tinted blue which matches with the background colour (which helps to assimilate the colours of the character to the colours of the background) and the other blue elements on the page.  The image is a sinister character picture with his facial expression and his smart but untidy clothing helping to show this.  The picture is clearly superimposed over the background which helps to give the image a strange angle which confused the viewers eyes slightly and makes the cover more interesting.

To the right of the main image there is another small puff which a picture and quote from the article on the film Avatar from inside the magazine.  The red and blue colour scheme is kept to on this puff which keeps the look of the magazine consistent and professional.  Buzzwords are used again here with the quote stating 'It's got everything'.  This helps to get the reader interested in what is inside the magazine and may persuade them to buy it.

Above the masthead there is banner which relates to one of the articles that is in the magazine.  The title of the banner also used buzzwords such as greatest, ever and top.  There is a small picture to on the left hand side of the banner that is predominately yellow, this matches with the yellow of the light of the lighthouse to the right of the masthead and keeps the colour scheme consistent.  This, along with the reds and blue I have already mentioned, show that the colour scheme for the front cover has been carefully considered and crafted artistically to look good to the eye.  The red, white and blue colour scheme could also be seen as a hint that it is an American film, with those three colour being the colours of the American flag.

Related articles

• Shutter Island Review (pastemagazine.com)
• Leonardo DiCaprio: 'No Control What People Think' About 'Shutter Island' (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Review: Shutter Island (cbc.ca)