When considering magazines, I thought I'd better look at the biggest film magazine in the UK - Empire. Empire always feature their biggest story in each issue on the front cover and in their October 2002 edition, they featured the new film Red Dragon (2002).
Red Dragon is the third instalment of the series of films based on Thomas Harris' novels that revolve around the cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter. In this front cover, we simply have Anthony Hopkins' face doused in a red light, with a dark background. Anthony Hopkins has played Dr Lecter in the previous films of the series, so audiences will recognise this character almost immediately. The red light indicates 'danger' to the audience and the dark background adds to the fear that is created. This is because most people have had a fear of the dark in their childhood and the fear of the unknown in the dark fuels most horror films - so we associate these colours with danger and fear (the most appropriate feelings for a horror film). This shade of red also reminds people of blood and pain - something else that is key for most horror films, this one in particular centres around blood because of Dr Lecter's iconic cannibalistic traits.
The shot used is a big close up on his face and so we explicitly see the intensity in his eyes and his facial expressions. This type of shot makes the audience feel closer to the character - in this case he is quite menacing and so we don't want to be close to him, meaning that the picture is even more unsettling. The camera is also focussed on Hopkins' face, making sure that none of his facial features are left to the imagination - adding to the intensity of the picture. The text 'Hannibal' is much bigger than any other piece of text, this is because fans of the series will recognise Dr Lecter's first name more than the film's title - 'Red Dragon'. This means that fans of the series are drawn to the cover and his name first, then they read the rest and find out the name of the new film in the series.
The red light is being used to light up Hopkins' face, and it is the colour that represents blood and pain; because of this, the rest of the text is either red or white. Red text is more important than the white text and so stands out (e.g. titles, name of the magazine). The text is also bigger when it is more important and needs to be seen by the audience first - the other focus of this issue was the new information of the 'Harry Potter' sequel, but that isn't as big of a focus as 'Red Dragon', so is in white, but bigger than most of the other text.
Hopkins' face takes up most of the cover because it is quite overwhelming and makes him seem that little bit more scary. But around the edge of the picture is all the information that is needed on the front cover. The text has been situated so that it doesn't cover any of the main focus of the picture, but takes up enough room to be easily readable at a distance. Also, all of the bigger news is situated to the left - the 'Red Dragon world exclusive' and the 'Signs' review. The 2nd biggest story is situated in a banner at the bottom of the cover and takes up the entire bottom.
The title of the film that is featured is 'Red Dragon'. However, the editors of the magazine have chosen to take the name 'Hannibal' and make this much bigger. This is due to the fact that fans of the series know the name Hannibal Lecter, but may not necessarily know the prequel title 'Red Dragon'. This draws their eyes to the name that they know and then makes them want to find out more about the article. The fact that the text is very big and red also makes the fans notice it more - the only bigger text on the front cover is the Magazine's name. This means that the public will see the magazine name first, then the featured article on the front cover.
"Anthony Hopkins is back for one last bite as... Hannibal" - this line makes the viewer once again fear Hopkins' character, as in the previous films he is a cannibal. The line reminds the viewer of the character's crimes in the previous films by using the word 'bite', as this is linked with eating and therefore his character eating other humans.
There is a small section to the right of the cover that reads "Win a part in a movie!" This will be attractive for some readers that like to enter competitions - it is aimed at film fans that maybe would like to start a film acting career, or simply be in a film for a little while. It also opens the magazine up to a slightly wider audience, as people that may buy the magazine on occasion (but not every issue) ma want to enter the competition.
The text is in a sans serif style and so keeps this style throughout the magazine issues - so the audience will identify the text with Empire magazine more than other magazines.
Underneath the title of the magazine, there is the line "The UK's No.1 movie magazine" - this is a very impressive fact and so people that may be unfamiliar with the magazine will now know that they are going to buy 'the best movie magazine' for a UK audience member. This is a very attractive thought and immediately will generate a lot of interest for potential buyers.
The target audience for this magazine are fans of movies. I think this because there are multiple articles tat cover a range of topics just on the front cover. The main focus of this issue is the horror film 'Red Dragon', however there is also a big article on 'Harry Potter 2' for younger readers, readers with children, or even just fans of the Harry Potter series in general. This magazine's target audience is very wide and covers a lot - which is probably why they are considered "The UK's No.1 movie magazine".
