Total Film (2010) Magazine analysis

At first glance it looks like a typical TOTAL FILM magazine cover, with the title shown at the top of the frame. However, despite the font being the same, the fill and appearance of title makes it seem unique in the sense that it directly represents the film. Thus encouraging the audience to think that this magazine will be something new .  The inclusion of the tagline  THE MIND-BLOWING ISSUE, once again suggesting this will be the best magazine they have ever read. The title stands out in a bold and overwhelming red font, whilst still maintaining the colour scheme of the magazine, with the blue and red being the most dominant colours overall. These colours are also deliberately chosen as they excite the audience and encourage them to pick up the magazine because of its vibrancy.But also, they connote specific attributes that target a particular audience. For example stereotypically speaking, male viewers often watch thrillers and action movies, therefore, by including a red font, the male audience may assume that the film being advertised contains death and action.

The lighting itself is rather dark with the left hand side of the magazine being lighter than the other. This creates an effect that almost deliberately targets an audience, this being that some film viewers arguably those who watch more diverse films might tend to look into the darker side of the magazine, perhaps for a sense of escapism whereas others may look to the lighter side to seek comfort. Bearing this in mind, the designers placement of taglines is greatly effected , looking at this example the tagline is on the left (the lighter side)  with the contents of the object being directly contrasting, in order to catch your attention- and this is also why the font colour differs from grey to red.

Furthermore, taking into consideration the framing of the front cover, it is obvious that the main character from the film is the central image, also with the character being Leonardo Di Caprio (a USP within himself) its to no surprise the designers are making it clear that he is in the film. Additionally the ratio of text to photography is reasonably high, in terms of there being a fair amount of text (its key to note that not all of which is relevant to the film- something I will consider), and as for the photography, it is somewhere inbetween a mid- long shot of the character- which allows us to see his full appearance (suited and looking prepared / in control, whilst the lighting implicates that he has a potential dark side).

Overall I like the incorporation specific details in the main title, for example looking at the metallic effect, it really contributes well to the appearance and is aesthetically nice to look at. It also  conforms to the genre whilst representing a unique style of film- therefore appealing to a broader audience.