Film Magazine Article Analysis

Production Research

I studied film magazines such as Empire and Total Film in order to help decide how I wanted to create a double page spread for my own film posters.

Empire tends to choose image over article. In their double page spreads, the main image usually dominates the article. 

Space is filled using small banners containing facts and/or other little pieces of information. In other articles, the image is large enough to have the article take up the rest of the space left. Some articles also included a bold introduction paragraph. The image is also a still from the movie rather than the cover, which is something I will note. This layout appears more professional as there are less images that need to be used as enigma codes, only one needs to be used to draw in an reader. This gives the spread a less crowded look and appears more formal and official.

Magazines like Total Film use a selection of images in their double page spreads that take up the majority of the page. Much like Empire, the main image seems to spread most of the ay across both pages and the article is organised into clear columns.

Both spreads contain captions for the photographs and stills from the movies. 

Total Film contains quotes from actors that have been interviewed and enlarges them. This acts as an enigma code to draw the reader in. There is also the name of the section in the magazine in the top corner, in Total Film this is the top left and is the 'Buzz' section, and in Empire this is 'The Slate' section. There is also page dividers such as the black lines along the top and the side of the pages. The page numbers are indicated at the bottom.

The magazines have chosen the stills rom the movies because they have certain connotations. For example, the still from The Hobbit shows an image of the main character Bilbo Baggins looking frightened in a huge pile of golden coins. This has connotations of fantasy, danger and adventure which connects to the context of the film as it is a fantasy/adventure film.

The next film is Heartless, and the article describes that the character depicted is a 'demonic youth'. This image used connotes the idea of evil because he looks menacing and has an obvious physical deficiency, which is often a feature of villains in movies. 

The placement of the photos resembles a photo album. This gives the spread a more casual and informal layout as the images are oread out and scattered. The use of speech bubbles also gives a more informal aesthetic to the piece as speech bubbles are considered chatty and casual.

Using this, I will ensure that I include these typical features of the magazine articles in my own double page spread in order to meet the conventions of film magazines.