Magazine cover analysis

The title of the magazine, "Total Film", makes it obvious what the magazine is about. In the masthead, the word "Film" is shown in large white block capitals, plus there appears to be a bevel effect and taking up roughly a quarter of the page, to make it stand out, with the part of the title less significant to the genre, "Total", made smaller and put inside the letter of the other word. It's put in a red colour to make it stand out also, but the tone is quite dark so as not to take away attention from the perhaps more important elements.

The picture relates to the main story about "King Kong" with the two main stars of the film, although it doesn't mention their names, possibly implying they're not big enough stars to be used as a means of drawing readers and selling the magazine.

The picture itself uses a direct mode of address, with both the actors looking straight at the audience, and their costumes, hairstyles and poses give them a somewhat "classic" film look, perhaps suitable for the remake of a 1930s film that could draw fans of old films or the original King Kong in.

The grey background image is fairly simple, kept grey with some textural markings, but it could be seen as the King Kong creature itself, implying a picture of what it will look like in the film may be inside the magazine, drawing the audience into reading it.

The text "King Kong" gives the name of a well-known film, both the original and newer versions, and is made almost as large as the name of the magazine, highlighting its importance, while the yellow colour draws attention and connotes intelligence, a positive for the magazine.

The article on King Kong is, however, just part of a preview, although the buzzword "ultimate" makes this preview sound highly impressive, with several of the other films listed afterwards. These plugs would appear to be less impressive, as they are shown in a small font and kept in the bottom left corner. However, the use of "starring" to introduce the list implies film knowledge from the magazine and "and many more!" makes the preview sound more impressive.

The teasers down the right side also give a look at some of the alternative articles in the magazine, using big name stars like "Tarantino" and humour such as "sex with an octopus?" to attract readers. There are also several plugs across the top of the cover with star graphics separating them, simply using the names of films to attract more readers.
The title of the magazine, "Empire", does not make it that obvious what the magazine is about, so the slogan "the world's biggest movie magazine" put in a small red font below the masthead does that instead. However, the use of red colour to grab attention and none of the text being covered by the main image like on the "Total Film" cover would imply that the "Empire" name is well known as a film magazine, especially if it is the "world's biggest" as the slogan says, and does not necessarily need to point it out.

Unlike the "Total Film" cover, the "massive preview special" is advertised as the main selling point of the issue, with two buzzwords used, and the film from the image used is just used in a list of plugs below, albeit emboldened and given an asterisk to a separate teaser on the right side. There is also some text below "massive preview special" that uses buzzwords like "new" and imperatives like "you need to know about" to want the audience want to read.

The image is a close-up with contrasting amounts of light on his face. The side with the most text on has most light and vice versa. The actor uses a direct mode of address, looking straight at the reader, and is covered in dirt and blood, making them look dangerous to go with the simple dark smoky background image. There is also a smaller image, featuring some of the better known characters from the listed films, such as James Bond and Wolverine, appealing to a different audience to "Harry Potter".

There are several graphic features added to make the cover look more interesting. The aforementioned asterisks are used to link separate parts of the cover together; there is an arrow pointing towards the centre of the main story "massive preview special", drawing attention towards it; and there are caution sign style stripes running down the side and bottom of the cover to draw attention to it.

The 3 main colours of yellow, white and blue can be used to connote a representation of the magazine as intelligent, while the large red title is eye-catching and makes it look exciting too, as is the clash between blue and yellow.
The title of the magazine, "Premiere", is film-related but doesn't directly say it is about film. However, the text above the masthead, "2007 must-see movie preview", in quite large font makes it clear what the magazine is about, thanks to "movie", and also makes the issue of the magazine appear to be special.

The picture is a mid-shot using a direct mode of address and clearly relates to the main story, "the secrets of Spiderman 3", not just in the use of the main star, whose name, "Tobey Macquire", is also put in quite small font in the bottom left along with the director's (Sam Rami), but also by using an iconic logo of the spider on his costume, appealing to fans of the franchise. Maquire's face is also very serious, making it appear that, despite being a comic book film, they are taking it seriously, which is more likely to appeal to the magazine's audience, as a child is unlikely to read it.

Although it's a film magazine, the appeal of it seems to be celebrities rather than film. The names of actors are used as plugs rather than films down the left hand side and, on the right, relationships between actors are used. Other than the main story, the only other feature involving film is the smallest plug, "10 best movies of the year".

The three main colours of grey, black and blue aren't particularly eye-catching, but they do have connotations of intelligence and elegance, a positive for the magazine.