Film Magazine Cover

This is the magazine cover, we designed it on paper, then using Photoshop we used several of the unique effects available to add a menacing effect to the front cover, the audience would feel threatened by a faceless antagonist, this doesn't allow the audience to feel for the antagonist they don't get to relate to him and in this way we feel frightened by his presence, the red colour in the title links to blood which in our trailer is threatened but not shown. The faceless antagonist anchors the text title stalker and is the main selling point of this issue of Empire. The bright colours used in the other articles helps show the audience what else is in the article as well as advertising other films. The text used is big and bold with certain words emboldened to make certain words standout. The barcode and price are both located in areas where they can be seen and are commonly found.

The skyline and main magazine title are both big and bold at the top of the page the 'exclusive preview' suggests to the audience the magazine will have articles and information that no other magazine will have and this would attract more readers, as the audience we are constantly looking for something that gives us more information especially if its about something we really enjoy like films. The main title 'Empire' is a major magazine company with a large readership of about 800000 people, this means films featured on the magazine are likely to be popular, the magazine is also well respected making film reviews important. The puffs shown on the front cover are shown big, they offer free things, this attracts a younger audience, and its bright colours draws the eye especially on a dark background. The smaller articles along the right-hand side of the cover are from recent films Nightcrawler and Gone Girl these films are both psychological thrillers which links to our film as we kind of wanted this feel to our trailer, there is a clear thriller film genre in this months issue of Empire. The 'exclusive interview' at the bottom of the magazine draws the audience to read further into the magazine as two of the movies stars are being asked questions, the audience would want to know more about these actors, so they can get to know them better and it humanizes the otherwise big actors.

Evaluation Activity 1: In What ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our magazine cover is conventional when compared to other magazine covers that we have seen from our analysis earlier in the year. The font for example is largely big, bold and contrasts against the background, however the font used on the main article 'Stalker' could be considered unconventional as unlike other fonts from other magazines this one is not bold, it is written in the same font as it is on the trailer, linking the trailer to the magazine cover, it stands out because the letters are so spaced apart. Also the title itself 'Stalker' is an enigma, as the audience has no idea who the main image is of, were conventionally they would normally show the face of a character, mostly the protagonist, on our magazine cover we haven't gone with that and decided it adds mystery as well as menace to the character as the main title would suggest a threat exists and the curiosity of the audience would draw them in as they would want to learn more about the film and what it is about.

The Layout for the magazine is conventional, when compared with other magazine covers such as the Skyfall and Captain America's Empire Magazine covers. The layout consists of several pictures or articles surrounding a close up of a films main character, in the centre, there would also be bright colours as well as puffs and exciting language used such as 'exclusive', these puffs are conventional and would attract the reader to purchase the magazine, coverlines emphasise the theme of the magazine cover which in this case would be thrillers. The picture in the centre of the cover is unconventional compared to the other covers I have looked at as the background is dark and cloudy and there are several enigma's that could intrigue the audience. As a whole I believe that our magazine cover is conventional when compared to other covers, it generally doesn't change the main features you would expect to see and in a way it draws the audience further in as the unknown image and the effect of 'Stalker' adds fear to the cover but also intrigue.