Analysis of Empire Magazone cover

Colours and Meaning: The prominent colours used are white, green and purple. Green is usually associated with nature and safety. Green is used to introduce the character on the magazine, as a background colour for a flash button. This could be, because it allows the audience to feel more comfortable with new ideas and actors put on the front cover. Purple is used as a line in the background, which looks a lot like spray paint. Purple usually represents nobility and spirituality. This can compliment green as green represents peace and purple represents spirituality. White is used to write the rest of the cover lines which contrasts against the dark background. This maybe because white makes the writing stand out more clearly against a darker background. This is significant as the audience can read the writing more clearly and then will be able to see what types of features are inside the magazine. Also the man on the front cover is wearing green, the writing on the magazine that written in green maybe written in that colour to match the clothes on the man.

The masthead: The masthead is written in a straight, sharp sort of font. This is because horror movies are usually serious, terrifying and are suppose to build tension. By using a sharp edged font, this helps create those conventions of horror. Also the masthead is covered by the image in from of it. This could be, because the magazine is that well known, that the masthead doesn’t need to be seen clearly. Also it could be because the image is more significant and needs to be seen more clearly than the masthead as well. However it is written in red. This colour represents powerful emotions of anger and passion. This is important as this colour enables the masthead to alert people of what the magazine company is.

Representation: The photograph portrays a man sitting down looking downwards towards the camera. This portrays the man’s power due to the idea that even though he is sitting down, he still has the power to look down at the audience. Usually the representation of men is quite dominant and they may an instrumental role as a breadwinner. This is significant as this is exactly what is represented in the photograph. Also the man’s clothes are quite smart representing a smart, businesslike man. However this is contradicted with his face which is painted with makeup which represents femininity and gives an idea that he’s a fictional character in the film.

The Layout: The layout is quite chaotic as there are a lot of flash buttons, cover lines spread across the page. One main image is put on the front cover that is also placed on top of the masthead. This could be due to the significance of how the image relates to the cover lines, the movie that is featured in this magazine and also the fact that it’s a main character that’s in the movie. This is significant as a particular audience maybe attracted to this magazine due to their favourite actor is featured on the magazine.
‘Meet the Joker’ is placed on the left hand side as a cover line. This could be due to the fact that people usually read from left to right, so immediately we read this first before we read any other cover line. This is significant as the actual cover line is representing the image on the page. Other cover lines are put on the right. This maybe to show that there is a lot in the magazine. It could also be done to show how different the magazine is, so they don’t use the conventional layout of everything being read from the left.

Connotation and Denotation : On the magazine, right at the top there is a sentence that immediately states that the magazine is exclusive and introduces the film as well in which the character on the front cover plays a part in. This is so that the audience knows exactly what the magazine has as its main feature and why there is an actor on the front cover of this magazine. The masthead is written in red and is put behind the image that is below it. The reason for the masthead put in red, could be because the masthead is suppose to look different from all the other writing on the magazine. Also red usually suggests alertness. This is significant as this alerts readers about what magazine they are reading. Then the image being put behind the photograph demonstrates how well known the magazine is, to the extent that the title doesn’t need to be seen that clearly. Also, it could be, because the image represents the biggest feature on the magazine, therefore the size of the photo symbolises this. The photograph is of one of the main characters in the film which is stated write at the top .i.e. ’The Dark Knight’. The photograph shows a man sitting down looking downwards towards the camera. This portrays the man’s strength, power and dominance due to the idea that even though he is sitting down, he still has the ability to look down at the audience. Men usually play an instrumental role as a breadwinner. This is significant as this is exactly what is represented in the photograph. Also the man’s clothes are quite smart representing a smart, businesslike man. Again this adds to the usual assumption of the man being the breadwinner. However this is contradicted with his face which is painted with makeup which represents femininity and gives an idea that he’s a fictional character in the film. However his character is the joker and he has to wear makeup as it is apart of his costume and characters identity. The only cover line that is written on the left hand side is the cover line that explains the feature of the film. This could be because people usually read from the left to right. Also this is the main feature therefore it’s the only cover line that’s written there to show its significance. The rest of the cover lines are written on the right hanside, this maybe because they are other features in the magazine which are not as significant as the main feature. The cover line that is written on the left is written there to explain the image behind it as well, so it’s placed more above as opposed to the other cover lines that are written towards the bottom. Also the barcode, price and the date is put on the bottom left. The barcode may have been put on the left, so that when paying for the magazine, it’s easier for the sales person to find the barcode. Also the price and the date maybe put on the left, because these are details that vital when a consumer would need, when purchasing something.