By Josh De Meyer (wattaguy008)

Movie Magazine Conventions

The Cover Image/feature filmMost, if not, all film magazine covers usually have one image denoting the feature film, these examples below show this clearly, one magazine denoting a film for ‘Harry Potter’, One for ‘Twilight: New Moon’ and one for ‘Shutter Island’. I like the fact that they only use one image, as that is the feature film and should be the main focus for the target audience.

The fonts of film magazine covers are rather large, bold and are made to attract the eye of the audience. Also the font of the title of the magazine is also edited to fit the genre of the film that it is advertising, for example, the magazine cover for ‘Twilight: New Moon’, the title of the magazine is in white, and has a white faded effect, I like how the title of the magazine goes with the genre of the magazines feature film. I might use this effect, so to portray to the audience exactly what the feature films genre is.

With this magazine cover, there is a theme of colours used, for example the white colour for the anchorage text and headline of the feature film is in white, and the film that this magazine is advertising is called ‘New Moon’, so the white font links in with the film.

Fonts

The image is usually a close up or a medium shot of the main antagonist, or antagonists, of the feature film. This is a good feature that I will want to use as it will allow the audience to know exactly who will be featuring in the film and it determines whether if they want to go see the film if the actor is well know or very popular.

This magazine cover portrays Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter for the ‘Harry Potter’ film being advertised. It makes sense that the main antagonist would be used to advertise the film as they are the main character and they ideally will be the main focus of the film to the audience.

The Image

Other features of a film magazine cover worth mentioning is the sell lines and the skylines have rather bold fonts, but they don’t take away the main focus from the headline and the Image of the feature film. The colours used usually tie in with the overall theme of the magazine cover and this emphasises the genre of the feature film, so maybe colours like red or black can resemble danger or horror, and this can make it clear to the audience exactly what the genre of the feature film is.

Other Cover Features