Final Film Magazine Cover

Improvements to earlier versions:

- Initially the background to my photograph exposed dark, autumnal scenery and prevented me from adhering to the convention of using a single photograph overlaid with text on the cover.  I have erased the background on photo shop using the magic wand tool to create a better quality image and final product.
- Intertextuality with other products improved through: the insertion of the tennis ball on the title of the film being promoted in the magazine; the colour association of pink; focus on the female target audience across all 3 products; all 3 products produced by the Sports Flick Film Company as denoted by the appearance of the logo.

Conventional Features 

- The masthead is situated towards the top of the magazine leaving just enough room for a a tagline promoting a special offer.

- The choice of font (Pussycat) used for the title of the magazine is very distinctive, feminine looking and could easily be picked out from a range of magazines on a shelf.  The font choice gives the magazine a modern and trendy look.

- The colour of the font used on the title is white so that it stands out on the shelf and contrasts with the blue background.

- The title used is a single word (unlike earlier versions) so that it can be the largest font size on the cover.  Bold uppercase lettering which is easy to read was used.

- The genre of the magazine is made explicit with a ticket like text box in the top right corner highlighting the quality and popularity of the magazine to a specific target audience.

- The composition and framing of the photograph provide the reader with an indication of the genre of the film. The back to back positioning, facial expressions and use of props by the main characters suggests the bitter rivalry and oppositional nature of the relationship between them that drives the narrative.

- Website addresses are included as a kind of extra service to allow readers ongoing access to the contents of the magazine and to develop customer loyalty.

- Sensational summery language is used to spice up stories eg hottest, sizzling.

- The tennis theme of the film is evident through the photograph but also in the tennis related language used to promote the film eg "smashes into our" and "off court antics."

- The reader is given a taste of other stories inside to raise interest.

- Special offers are promoted in an eye catching sun like "bubble" to interest and involve the reader.

- Important information is shown in red font. Text relating to the film is predominantly pink to provide colour association with other products particularly the film poster.

- Standard features are used such as: special offers; free gifts; barcode; website; edition number; price in various countries.

- A limited range of summery colours and fonts are used for the background, headings and sub headings to reflect the summer edition of the magazine.  This ensures that the reader browsing the shelves knows that this is a contemporary edition of the magazine.

Magazine cover Improved

After editing on Photoshop I have now improved my Magazine cover.  I have used a single full page image, with the background erased using the magic wand tool, in order to comply with conventional features of magazine covers.  The image is now overlaid with text to give a more professional look.

Film Magazine Cover Version 2

Film Magazine Cover Version 1

Film Magazine Cover First Draft

This is the first draft of what I want my Magazine cover to look like, I drew it myself.

Magazine cover initial ideas

Magazine Cover - My initial ideas


After the analysis of magazine covers from Total Film and Empire I have come to a few conclusions of what I want from my own production:


General features will include:

- the magazines name will be clearly displayed
- The cover will be noticeable to the audience
- The key image of the female actors will be used as a focal point to attract the teenage audience
- Graphics and colours will be used to create a summery, feminine mood for the magazine
- Font size, shape and colour will be used to create a clear attractive cover
- Several cover lines will be dotted around the page indicating a good content inside
- Promotional offers, such as free posters, and competitions will be promoted
- Price, edition date and bar code will be displayed.

In addition, specific features relevant to my own production I would like to incorporate are as follows:

Firstly, I want only one actress from the film to be on it, this naturally would have to be the main character. After looking at the other film magazine covers I discovered that they don't tend to have more that one actress in them. I also need the actress or actor to be posing in a pose that gives a good indication of what the film is about for advertisement purposes. The actress needs to be in a costume that she wears in the film and give a quote about the film to advertise it also. 

Secondly, I want the release date of the film to be made clear on the front cover of the magazine so that I can promote the opening to the readers. I want the actress to give a full page interview of which the page number should be made clear on the front cover of the magazine. A quote from an recognisable source should also be on the front cover of the magazine, for example a newspaper critic in order to provide an unbiased opinion of the film. 

Thirdly, the colour scheme needs to on the magazine should also provide colour association with the other products are relate to the key theme of tennis. For my own cover I want green/white/black to give the impression of a film that’s about tennis. I would like the film poster to be included inside the magazine with images of the film, the page number of which these are based at should be on the front cover of the magazine. The title needs to be big and the actresses name included in the front cover of the magazine. 

I want my magazine cover to show what the film is about and when it is released without over doing the amount of information given on the front cover. The best way to advertise a film is to keep it simple, to give the audience the page numbers of where they can find the information, to tell them when the film is released as soon as they look at it and to give them an idea of what the film is about without them having to read a page. This can be displayed through large text, colour schemes, and pictures etc.