Conventions of Film Magazine- Research

As part of our coursework, we will be creating a Magazine cover of our film and fitting towards the the conventions of magazine features and cover. Although we will be only creating the front page of our coursework consisting of the image of the movie and included features in the magazine. We will be researching through the magazine to understand why a film magazine is important to promote a film and how it essentially effects the way a target market will perceive the way a movie will turn out and the effectiveness of it. Often there are certain magazines for new releases of films. These are for film fanatics or those who want to be updates on new films and can access information that cannot be viewed on the internet. These are often sold in cinemas or other shops that a target audience could have easy access too. Often a film magazine will consist of new releases on films, feedback from Target audience and their opinion of the film, ratings on a new film which will allow a target audience to understand how good the film is and whether they should watch it and often the main feature, consisting of individual or group interview with the main actor and actress of the film that they are featuring on. For our research we will be comparing different Movie magazines and the contrast towards them or how a genre can be depicted in a magazine and how the layout can allow us to see that it is a different genre.

Inception Magazine Cover

Salt Magazine Cover

Both the magazine have a similar theme when comparing it to each other, they both have a long shot of the main character in the films. Instead of just having the actor as himself they wanted to portray the character that is shown in the film. For example; the magazine on the left depicts an agent which portrays the genre as action due to the gun she is holding in her hand. The actress Angelina Jolie, is dressed up as her character to bring the film fanatics in and market the film that she will be starring in. Whilst Leonardo DiCaprio is dressed up as the business man from his movie the Inception. The title for the film is the main feature for the magazine this is why the title is larger, bolder and a different font then all the subheadings in the picture. This allows the target audience to capture the magazine and reel in them in so they can know more about the image. The focus of the magazine are the actors and actresses from the movies that are famous, they are the middle ground whilst the font is the foreground. As we can see the background is not busy and is often just a subtle colour so we can just focus on the model however we can see small images of the scenes within the movie but nothing too much so it gives it away. The total Film title often refers to the movie whilst the salt magazine looks broken and has been shot the inception title looks electronic and sci-fi like the movie itself.

Avatar Movie Magazine

Jennifer's Body Film magazine

These movies do not have the same genre but are very fictional in different way. When comparing these magazine we can see the editors and publishers that created this had different ideas for both movies. For the avatar image we can see that they have opted for the close up picture image of the character, this goes straight for the audience gaze so the magazine is eye catching literally to the people that are going to buy. The background is minimalists but the same colour as the avatar himself. Being the foreground means that the avatar seems as if it is coming towards you. Instead of just using the main character as himself the producers had decided to go through a fanatical theme to capture their target market. The Name of the movie is larger than the all the subheadings as it is the main feature.  However the Jennifer's Body magazine cover differs from the avatar magazine. With a plain white background, the subject matter, Megan Fox playing Jennifer, is the focal point of the image. Unlike the Avatar magazine, the Jennifer's Body magazine is organised and clear with different subheadings. Often the movies or subheading are in different colours so the colour co ordinates with each other. The Megan Fox appeals to both female and male, Laura Mulveys male gaze applies to this theory as Megan Fox is a pretty character that they are willing to see and females would want to see it, However we can see that Jennifer's Body is fictional too due to the blood that is dripping down her hand on the blood on the floor. Both the film magazine have the same logo to represent that they are from the same company and have the same conventions of the magazine.

TOTAL FILM ANALYSIS ON MAGAZINE

                                     

• Total Film (Company Logo) at the top of the character but often under the main feature of the magazine or different features within the magazine.
• Main Actor of film as his character right in the middle of the magazine.
• Often a mid shot or a close shot but not long shot as much, allows us to see the close up of the actor and create a target audience gaze.
• Background is minimal, just colours or blurred out scene from the movie.
• Website and date in the corner- information on website allows the target audience to access more information on the company or the film.
• Title of movie bigger than the other feature and is often in the middle with the character with it slogan a little smaller.
• Often a review from other people to create positive feedback so the target audience will assume that other people like the movie.
• Subheadings in different colours that is relatable to the theme with other features and sneak peaks in the magazine.

My Magazine

The research that I have found on the film magazine will be applied to our film magazine that we will create for our trailer. As a group we have decided to use the company 'Total Film' instead of 'Empire' as most of our research had been looking into Film magazine all together. Total film magazine is also a magazine that looks more into the movie than the actors that Empire often do. We will make sure that we will apply the logo and barcode so our target audience are aware that it is a film magazine poster that they are aware of. According to statistics from 'Total Film', the film magazine poster had been a popular choice for younger target market than the Empire  again. The magazines that we have researched have shown the characters of the movies as a focal point in the magazine, this is why we have decided to incorporate this into our design of the magazine. In order to capture the audience attention of our film we have decided that the focal point of our magazine will be the characters, in their own clothing seen in the trailer. Keeping it simplistic and in their character will allow the cover not to give too much information away about our trailer and movie but enough information that our target market would want to look inside the magazine, which 'total magazine' would often like to do. The title of our movie will be bigger than the subheadings as it will allow our target audience to

There is some detailed analysis here Rebecca. Consider the following things:
- you need to link your observations and comments to any or all ideas that you have for your own.
- make sure you spot and comment on the use of puns, iconic phrases like 'feel the force' on the Avatar one to show your knowledge of films.
- check spellings and sentence structure.