Magazine Cover deconstructions

 

To enable us to create a magazine cover, as individuals we needed to research current magazine covers and as a group we needed discuss ideas. For research purposes i have decided to deconstruct a horror,thriller and comedy magazine cover.

Shock Horror:

 This magazine cover has an overall colour scale of black, white and green.

The main selling points of the cover are in large block capitals. The title and the main features in the magazine are in large green text, this makes them stand out to the audience. The grey scale of the large picture brings another dimension to the cover. The expression on his face with those big black eyes draws the audience in making them wonder, why is his expression like that and what is he looking at. His name is in bold writing with a black surrounding making the text stand out from the green shapes in the background.

The cover also has two smaller images that are less obvious but are in great contrast with the rest of the magazine.

It also has a few tag lines that give a taste of what is inside the magazine, this opens the magazine out to a wider audience.

Empire (The Dark Knight):

This cover has a green,red,black,white and purple colour scale. The colour of the magazine seems to be coordinated with the main image on the cover. This title Empire in large red capitals is covered by the image but this magazine is so well known the producers feel that they can do this and the public will instantly know what magazine this is.

Again the name of the person/character in the image is in large bold text that stands out on top of the image. This magazine cover also has smaller text explaining the main features in the magazine, to entice the audience. The black surroundings of the image give the cover a dark,scary feeling this could be giving away the genre of the film featured. It also gives away the personality of the character. It has language like 'world exclusive' and 'PLUS!' this entices the audience to buy the magazine and is crucial for marketing and advertising.

Entertainment (Hangover 2):

This magazine also has the same features but because it is advertising a comedy it has a bright, light background and the title of the magazine is in a bright yellow. Like the magazine Empire because Entertainment weekly is so well known and popular they feel that the title isn't as important. The title of the film is surrounded by a red highlight so it stands out in contrast against the blue background. It gives away what may be in the film through the text under the title. It also has small text on the left revealing what is featured in the magazine.

The image is of the 3 main characters in the films, these are very famous actors, being seen in a different light, the actors are well known so the names of them are not shown. Although some of there characteristics are coming through the image and the way they are behaving. This cover has less text and does not feature any tag lines or competitions to sell the magazine. It entirely focuses on the image and the film on hand.  

The magazine covers that i have deconstructed have very similar characteristics, they all contain large titles, give aways on the main features, bar codes, marketing marterial and large images.

After we all completed our magazine deconstructions we had a group meeting about what we had found. We thought that bringing a little bit of each main feature in the magazine covers will result in a realistic, marketable magazine cover for our film.