Analysis of Film Magazine Covers

Empire

• This cover includes a quotation from a predecessor in the franchise. This is effective because it pays homage to the original Star Wars trilogy, and therefore attracts buyers who are already fans. Also the quotation is bridging that gap between the old and new trilogies, as this film is going to complete the story.
• At the bottom of the magazine cover it says "2 TO COLLECT!". This is linking to a mainstream audience who like to collect the magazines, and who are also interested in offers. The capitalization and the exclamation mark  grabs the viewer's attention, however it may distract from the focus which is the new Star Wars film. A more traditional magazine such as Sight and Sound would not include advertising like this because they are more elitist and aimed towards students of film and critics, who are unlikely to be as interested in promotion as the readers of Empire. 
• The predominant color of this magazine is red, both in the color of the title, and the film. The word "SITH" is larger than the rest of the title, drawing attention to the fact that this movie will take a darker turn than the previous five films. 
• Every sub title in the cover has an exclamation mark, although this grabs the reader's attention this does become quite ineffective and cliched.  

Total Film

• The title of the magazine "Total Film" is not at the top of the magazine cover, instead we are presented with pictures of iconic movie characters Loki, Kick Ass, Darth Vader, Batman, and the Mandarin. Below the photo, there's a tagline which says "THE HEROES AND VILLAINS ISSUE". This links to the 5 pictures above because a variety of heroes and villains from iconic blockbuster franchises are shown. The tagline is also in capital letters which draws the attention to the viewers who are fans of those particular characters. Combined with the main feature, this edition is directed towards fans of the superhero subgenre, but bold headlines on the right of the page attract readers who are interested in other films.
• The left side of the magazine has a flash which says "100 GREATEST HEROES AND VILLAINS EVER!" This links to the title at the top, confirming that the focus of the whole issue will be about heroes and villains from iconic films. 
• At the middle of the poster, there's a title which says "It's time for a change" MAN OF STEEL. This suggests that there will be an interview with a cast member about the film, rather than it just being an opinion of Total Film itself. The quotation is reinforced by the central image of the two characters because his outfit is darker, and he has a more straight face which addresses a change of tone for the franchise. They couple almost completely fill the page and cover over the title, which lends support that the film is going to be big, bold, and ambitious. 
• On the bottom of the cover, it says "THE WOLVERINE FIGHT! FIGHT ! FIGHT!". Here and in general Total Film is using informal and flashy language to sell the magazine to the audience, and grab their attention. This is unlike more serious film magazines such as Sight and Sound whose language is less clearly about grabbing the reader's attention, and more about indicating the features and interviews of the edition.
• The designer of this magazine are filling in any free space on the front cover, with bold, capitalised names of famous Hollywood actors, in order to attract viewers who are already fans of these people.
• Both Empire, and Total Film have similar approaches to the design of their magazine covers, and their ways of attracting readers.  Both use bold writing and have the magazine title overlap with an image of an iconic movie character. Sight and Sound however focus on feature interviews in their magazine with a director, or an actor.
• Total Film magazine's price and edition information is found about the arch of the 'M', which may be an attempt to copy Empire's style.

Sight and Sound

• Like the two previous magazines I spoke about, it has the title of the magazine on top. However, the formatting of the title, Sight & Sound, is different to Total Film and Empire, the title is not capitalised compared to the others, which are aimed towards a more popular audience. 
• On top of the magazine as a tagline which says "THE INTERNATIONAL FILM MAGAZINE". Although this is capitalised, it is small, minimalist, and is not there to grab the reader's attention. Instead, this title wants to attract an international audience and to suggest that it is not simply focused on big British and American film companies such as Warner Bros or Disney.
• On the top left handed corner, the BFI logo is present to inform the reader that it is produced by the British Film Institute, a respected British company. The logo however, does not stand out because it's not there to draw the reader's attention similar to the tagline.
• Near the bottom of the magazine, the name of director David Fincher is put up in bold writing. This is the only form of text that they use to make it stand out compared to the rest of the cover. This is different from Total Film and Empire because these magazines usually feature the names of films, and put in a pun, this time they have put in a real life celebrities name as the USP. 
• The film title is put on top of the actors name. "THE 'GONE GIRL' INTERVIEW"