Magazine Cover Analysis: Total Film

This is a popular magazine dedicated to all genres of film as opposed to just horror. The film magazine stands out because of the professional, more classy look it has when compared to gossip magazines. Although the genre of film on the front cover may vary, there are still aspects of the cover that suggest this magazine is dedicated to film therefore reaching its target audience of cinema-goers.

The sci-fi, special effect background of the magazine cover is one feature that implies this is dedicated to film or something to do with technology and digital experiences. The blue colours connote sincerity which suggests the sincere and solid dedication the magazine has to film/ Blue is also used to suggest precision when promoting / selling / advertising high-tech products. Although the concept of film isn’t high tech, the continuous development of standards in film is causing these productions to be more and more fancy and high-tech. The colours blue, red and yellow are said to represent power and heroism which explains why this is the colour scheme for the edition that contains a superhero on the front of it. The effect that the blue background has is that it makes Spiderman appear to be more powerful. His stance and glare also suggest this.

The geometric, sharp fonts work better with magazines such as this as opposed to an art or gossip magazine. The fonts grab the attention of the more likely audience (male – the blue colours attract them and film magazines tend to have more male consumers than female; Total Film have a 75% male audience). The white font allows the text to stand out amongst the background and the main image but by covering the masthead with Spiderman’s figure the image isn’t lost.

By having the main image as a character from a popular, highly anticipated new movie the magazine attracts a wide range of readers; from this cover, Total Film magazine will most likely attract Spiderman / superhero / comic book lovers, cinema-goers, their regular audience, Andrew Garfield fans etc. The image is the key aspect as it is the main attention-drawer and is what determines whether a person walks past the magazine or picks it up and buys it.

The square layout of the magazine could have some links to the fact that this magazine is dedicated to film. Had the magazine had contained tilted fonts and cut-out / art style images then the target audience would not be attracted to the magazine. The precise layout reflects the company’s set determination and admiration for film and the contents of their magazine showing that they don’t mess around or contain diluted facts.