Analysis:
“Empire magazine is a British magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media.”
And is also one of the biggest selling film magazine company in Britain, without fail outselling its nearest market rival Total Film which is also published in many countries such as Turkey, Russia, Serbia, Croatia, Indonesia, and others. Empire is also responsible for organizing the Empire awards, which was previously sponsored by Sony Ericsson until 2009 and is now sponsored by Jameson. Readers of the magazine vote for the awards. I chose Empire magazines front cover to review because they are the leading Film magazine in Britain which means they have strong conventions when making they’re magazines therefore I think it would be advantageous to analyze and consequently identify how and why the magazines a effectively put together. In addition understand the communication between the audience and the magazine.
The denotation of this magazine is a colour half-length picture of Daniel ‘Jacob’ Radcliffe character ‘Harry Potter’ from the book & film series Harry Potter written J.K Rowling. This picture Harry Potter is the main picture graphic on magazine cover as he is the main character of the newest film of series, which is expected to be the summer blockbuster of this year due to the success of the pervious films from the series. Harry Potter looks to be half way in mid air with his wand pointed towards the camera lens connoting that he is in battle in a Medium Long Shot (MLS). He is surrounded by broken glass also connoting the battle theory with three broken slabs of glass containing reflection type images all in Close Up shots, two consisting of his only best friends from the movie Emma Watson character ‘Hermione Granger’ and Rupert Grint character ‘Ron Weasley’ both looking directly into the camera lens. This arrangement along with the Bold Yellow text saying ‘Friendships shatter’ and broken glass connotes that the friends are falling apart. The other slab of broken glass contains a reflection image of Ralph Fiennes character ‘Lord Voldemort’ who however is not looking in the camera lens, is looking up towards Harry Potter connoting that he is engaging in battle against Harry Potter. All character looks fierce and angry.
The lighting in all photos is used effectively to show the extent to all facial expressions and detail on their faces along with make up. Harry Potter has a few scuffs, cuts, and dirt on his face and is holding a wand almost over the camera. Along with actor Hermione Granger maybe connoting out of the three friends they will be involved in battle the most and maybe losing to the rivalry as Lord Voldemort does not look as if he has cuts/bruises on his face maybe connoting that he will not be losing or be directly involved in the battle going on in the movie perhaps he has built a army and they are fighting for him therefore he is a leader of battle. The sky in the background is Black and blue, dark and gloomy connoting and also associated with downtempo, sad and miserable feelings. Therefore the movie is not going to be blissful and in addition is going to be fiercer than the last films. Harry Potter is dressed in a suit maybe to connote to the audience that Harry Potter is now more mature.
The main colours are Red, Yellow, Blue, Grey with white text and a semi-signature red Empire masthead. The colour scheme is used professionally and successfully and is pleasing to the consumer’s eye. The grey bold writing adds to the gloomy feel while the Yellow writing ‘pops’ out to highlight the important headlines.
The font of the Masthead is similar to MS Reference Sans Serif font. The font is almost signature to the magazine as is a ordinary choice unless the font is thoughtfully changed to complement the feature on the font of the magazine. The Masthead is Red, which is a common masthead colour for the magazine, but also supports the Harry Potter theme of blood and anguish. The ‘I’ and the ‘R’ in ‘EMPIRE’ are not visible as Harry Potters head is over the letters which is a conventional technique of magazines in general, predominantly a popular one where the name of the magazine is noticeable to the reader even if parts of it are hidden. Above the masthead is ‘Our best preview issue ever!’ Displayed in bold Front similar to the ‘Empire’ font, with ‘Preview Issue’ in Yellow highlighting to the reader that it is a Preview Issue edition and statues they believe it’s the ‘best Preview edition ever!’. Then under ‘Empire’ in small writing is the sub name of the film but in small writing. The date the magazine was released has been placed in between the ‘M’ of ‘EMPIRE’ along the price in two different currencies. The magazine has been released a month before the planned release date strategically to develop momentum of the films release. ‘POTTER 7’ which is written in the middle of the magazines cover is ridicule as ‘Potter’ is what Lord Voldemort calls Harry Potter in the film. However sums up what the front cover is about as the audience that know about the film will recognize what the theme is about and is simply one of the selling lines along with ‘our best preview issue ever!’.
‘Evil unites’ and ‘the end begins’ both contrast one another as they connote two things you would not expect to happen, also can be seen as a Selling Line. The Barcode can seen as disruptive and covers parts of the glass putting it at a Landscape angle could have resolves. At the bottom is a Grey border advertising another section of the magazine this gives the magazine finished Magazine feel as an alternative of a Film Poster. ‘Plus’ is in an Yellow italic type writing with a grey rectangular behind same colour grey as the Border at the bottom of the magazine. ‘HEROES’ and ‘LEGENDS’ are both written in the same bold and coloured writing as ‘OUR BEST….EVER!’. Underneath these sub sections are a names written in the same writing as ‘Friendships shatter. Evil Unites.’. all representing the contrast and conventions of the Empire magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment