Horror Magazine Analysis - Empire

This is the front cover of Empire film magazine which covers all the big Hollywood movies. Horror and thriller films are included in this as the magazine has a wide audience and cater for all there demands. The magazine uses the colours white, green and purple. This colour theme has been adopted from the Joker, who is one villain in Batman. The main image is of Heath Ledger (who plays the Joker) sitting on what appears to be a bench in a prison cell. The reason why the joker is the only enemy on the front cover is because he is batman’s arch enemy. As the Joker is the arch enemy of batman this would grab the audience’s attention making them want to read the article about the new film ‘The Dark Knight’.  This means that the USP (unique selling point) of the magazine will be the figure of the joker in the middle.

The masthead ‘Empire’ is the same style font every issue and is the company’s brand identity. With the masthead the same front every issue when they see the masthead they will associate it with the magazine. With the masthead in capital letters it appears more eye catching to the audience. The masthead is positioned at the top of the cover which follows convention.

The main shot of Heath Ledger who plays the Joker, focuses on him by having a blacked out boarder around the left and right side of the image. This therefore draws the attention of the reader’s eyes towards Joker, where he is staring directly into the camera which subconsciously involves the audience. Where the joker is staring into the camera it also gives off intimidating and almost scary look, which is also shown through his open body language (his legs and feet turned out). The image is a full body image of the Joker sitting down with his has on his legs and his finger pointing towards the camera.

The main cover line ‘Meet The Joker’ is in the colours of the Joker purple and green. The font of the cover line is a different font on the cover to any other font. It almost in a way looks like playing cards; this could also represent the character the Joker because in certain games of card the ‘joker’ is the miscellaneous card and can cause trouble or mischief in the card game. The main cover line is also positioned on the left hand side of the magazine which is more noticeable when on the shelf and follows convention. It also appears to be a splatter effect which can relate to the Jokers makeup being messy and uneven.

There is just one puff on the front cover below the masthead. A puff is used to draw attention to the reader by highlighting the cover line. The colours of the puff are green (background) and white and black text. By using these colours it continues using the theme of the Joker and allows the text to stand out on the dark image.

Overall the magazine cover has been created around the Joker to promote the new batman film. The magazine follows conventions and creates an air of mystery and intimidating look. The magazine had the typical conventions most magazines consist of.