Magazine Covers to compare to

In terms of my final magazine cover I have taken elements and conventions from a range of different magazine covers from pre-existing film magazines that have been used to promote a range of successful films. I have attempted to follow the main conventions of a film magazine cover and make them specific to the romance genre as far as possible, to link in with my film. 

This magazine cover uses a location from the main film being promoting as its background. I have followed this convention for my poster and have used a shot of the main female character in the hut location where the two protagonists were drinking together. This is so that the target audience will link the focal image and surrounding background with the shots from the film and these elements will link together and potentially make the audience more interested and will make them less likely to forget the film. This magazine cover is a prime example of the magazines can conventionally use a location from the film specific to that issue, as the background for the front cover. In this specific example, it is a spooky looking wooded area, to link to the narrative. In my cover it is a hut/field location on a sunny day, the hut has graffiti so it is stereotyped with teenagers who are the key target audience for my film. This magazine issue has used buzzwords as have I in my cover, buzzwords are conventional of magazines of pretty much all genres, because they are exciting and are intended to catch people's attention and draw them in to encourage them to want to read more. Similarly to this issue, I have used the buzzword "Plus!" as a way of appealing to my target audience, this word makes the cover seem interesting and implies that the magazine is full of interesting articles and exclusives that the audience would want to read, and potentially couldn't read elsewhere.

The majority of magazine covers, of all genres, follow the rule of thirds, where the magazine is split into 3 different sections and different information on articles etc appear in the different thirds. Mainly, the title goes across all of the thirds, because it is very important and is intended to be memorable. Also, sometimes magazine covers have banners at the top or the bottom of the page that cut across the thirds completely as well, this is usually because these contain important messages about articles or exclusive stories that the magazine thinks the audience will be interested by. The focal image of the character/actor from the film usually appears in the middle third on the page and sometimes extends into the other thirds depending on how large the image is. This is stereotypical of all magazines as the main image is one of the main elements of the cover and therefore it appears in the centre so when people see the cover, they automatically look directly at the image. I have followed this convention for my cover and have intended it that the image of the female actress is central and cannot be avoided. The barcode for this specific issue of Empire is positioned in the same place that I have placed mine for the covers layout. I think this is a good place to position it, as the barcode needs to be included on the front cover, but it isn't a key aspect of the cover and therefore putting it in the bottom corner ensures that it is visible, but it doesn't draw attention away from the main elements that are intended to excite the audience.                                  

I've followed the layout shown by this one in the way that my magazine cover also involves the title appearing in front of the focal image and not behind it, many magazines use the reverse of this layout. However, I felt this was more appropriate as the focal image was still clearly displayed and eye catching, and it meant that the audience could read the whole of the title and recognise the magazine.  The focal image involves a direct mode of address with the camera from the actress, this is often used on magazine covers and posters promoting films as it is intended to make the audience think the character is looking at them and directly targeting them. This is because from pretty much every angle that you look at it, the actresses eyes follow you so you are drawn in and it feels personal.  I have used an image involving direct mode of address on my magazine cover, this is due to the reasons mentioned above and because I think that it is a successful way of drawing an audience in and making them look more closely at the magazine. The price and date of the issue are included at the top of the cover, I have followed this convention with my magazine cover, however the price and date appear separately at and in different thirds, this may subvert the conventions slightly, however it was easier to read and appeared more boldly when I separated them.