Evaluating my Research of Film Magazines

I have now looked at a range of film magazine to gain a better idea of how they are represented and the similarities and differences between film magazines and magazines from any other genre. I have found that they share some common codes and conventions found in every magazine. For example the masthead being at the top of the page, and having the barcode in the same position on every issue.

What I found interesting about film magazines is that most magazines show the same ideology and representation in every issue, whereas in film magazines they can portray something different every time depending on what film is being featured on the front cover. I found that when a horror film is being featured the ideology of the front cover is dark and spooky whereas when a rom com is being featured the ideology is happy and fun. This is a code and convention I will use for my own magazine because we are featuring a thriller film so we will match the ideology of the film with the front cover on the magazine.

Every film magazine I looked at used a colour scheme. I will also use this technique for my magazine because I think it gives a more professional look. Most magazines also included a tagline and so will I because it gives the viewer a better insight into what the genre of the magazine is. The main images used are all photos of characters from the featured film which means there will have to be a photo of me on the cover. Most of the photos were medium shots to close ups with the character looking directly into the camera. We will use this technique because it makes the cover more eye catching.

We will know start to create a layout to follow when creating our film magazine and start brainstorming ideas together in order to create a professional looking, successful front cover.