Sight & Sound / Empire (Front Cover Magazine Analysis)

Front Cover Magazine Analysis

Sight and Sound is published by the BFI and is a British Magazine which is produce every month, this type of magazine is unique and individual that focuses on in-depth analysis on film cultures, house movies, commentary and criticism on films that being released. Empires audiences are varied in comparison to Sight and Sound, their target audience is mostly aimed at a older audience and students who are have very analytical interests in the films. Also the audience gender is mainly more of males rather than women, age ranges 15-40. On the magazine. On the magazine the boldness of the font and colours really complements each other to create this independent house styles, that can be easily distinguished between other magazine front covers. The grey scale or black and white image of the model suggests that the magazine is aimed at the older audience and his facial expression in the shot, implies that the magazine is more serious. Inside the magazine they often feature close-ups and medium shots of the characters that are starred in the film, showing the important actors that the audience can be familiar with and more likely to read more about it. You can tell that the magazine has there own way of being independent by having their logo taking up a quarter of the page as well as the special signature with the BFI logo, which looks like a sticker making it easier to recognise and remember because its always on top left side of the magazine in all issues. Not only does it create a house style but also promotes the BFI to reinforce the belief that the logo of Sight and Sound is powerful and memorable. In addition there sell lines are always on the left side leaving space for the model to be placed on the right hand side, this makes the magazine organised helping the read from left to right first rather than the other way. These sell lines contain different types of actors that are featured in the released films, so when the audience are looking at the interesting topics can give a insight of what things are being put in the magazine.

Front Cover Magazine Analysis

The masthead “Empire” is placed on the top of the magazine in big, bold Sans Serif font, this because the first thing the audience see is the name of the magazine. Also in front of the masthead is the model “Tony Stark” which is the main character of his film, in his costume he shown to be powerful and undefeatable straight away. By having Robert featuring on the front cover is effective in attracting the audience because he is a well respected actor in Hollywood, therefore the audience are more likely to know him to and be interested in reading more. In addition he is looking straight directly into the audience eyes thus will engage the audience right away and make them feel included in the magazine. Moreover he’s body posture is upright showing he is a leader but also the special effects around him, gives a 3D feel like he is going to out of the magazine drawing the audience with him. This shows that the magazine and the actor is connecting with the audience making them feel involved. The colour scheme white, red, blue, red and gold all complement each other creating a natural feel towards the audience, the colour gold connotes royalty and red importance reinforcing the point that the character should be respected. There are also sells lines that are situated on the left hand side with the big caption “Iron Man 3”, already promoting the film he is involved with. Also there are more sell lines at the bottom which included other pages with issues on other films and criticisms, that the audience may want to read about or interested in. On the magazine there little details like the date, how much it is sold at and their website which make the magazine more personal while informing them if it is or isn’t free and how they can find more about films.

Comparison

Similarities:

- They both have their masthead placed on the top of the magazine which can be easily seen for the audience.

- They both have sell lines that are situated around the model or mostly on the left hand side so that it makes it easier to read.

- They both have the models eyes directly looking at the audience.

- Have both created a unique house style and colour palettes.

Differences

- Sight & Sound magazine have their models behind their masthead to show that their brand is more important than the models.

- Empire magazines have their models in front of their masthead to show that their models is more important and the main focus.

- Have different house styles and colours.