Film magazine analysis - Total film

I have decided to analysis front covers of film magazines so I get a good idea of how one is created before I create my own. I decided to analysis the film magazine Total Film as it has the target audience of teenagers which I can relate too. The masthead of this film magazine again sticks to common conventions as it is at the top of the page and takes up 1/8 of the page. The masthead on this magazine is white and stands out as it’s bold however the piece of the title that said ‘Total’ doesn’t stand out and is quite hard to read. The masthead has buildings in it which relates to the film which it is promoting on the front cover. The colour of the masthead suits both genders making it unisex. The tag line above the masthead is in red which could be seen as a femlae colour as it sometimes connotes to love. This like the Empire magazine could subvert Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze turning it into female lust after the lead character in Inception. The tag line helps the audience remember the magazine and could even make them want to read it as they say its mind blowing.

The image is a medium shot of the star vehicle of the film that the magazine is promoting. The space around the character is very well light however on his face it’s quite dark on one side and light on the other, this could connote to the audience that he has two sides. The image hides his identity well from the audience and may lead the audience to believe that they can find out more about his character inside the magazine. The sticker is another piece of advertisement, real or not it’s still telling the audience more information about what’s inside the magazine. Many stickers tell the audience they have the chance to win something however this magazine has gone down a different route just telling the audience what else is inside the magazine. The mist around the character also connotes that he is hiding his identity being misterious. The bar code in the bottom right corner is also a common convention.

On the front cover ‘mind blowing’ is mentioned twice and both times it is it’s in red making it stand out to the target audience and feeding the audience information. The other text is all around the image making the lay out a bit confusing. The main text is in the middle with a bit of colour and boldness, whereas the other text is smaller and harder for the audience to read around the outside of the magazine. The magazine uses mainly just three colours red, silver and white which are mainly unisex colours linking the film magazine to both sexes. Inception is the second biggest text on the front cover telling the audience that this magazine is mainly about the film Inception. However underneath this title it said about 27 most mind blowing movies which tells the audience that there is something in this magazine for every one. Magazines are mainly used for entertainment which links to the uses and gradification theory. This magazine also sticks to common conventions.