Empire is a movie magazine that in this March issue is advertising Captain America. 'Captain America - The First Avenger’ was released in 2011, directed by Joe Johnston and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is a cross genre of action, adventure
and sci-fi. This provides the magazine with many elements of genres to work with when it came to designing a magazine cover
to advertise it.
Colour
There is a colour scheme consisting of blue, red and white. Yellow, dark green, grey and black can also be seen but they are less
important in terms of conveying the appropriate images and themes. The main theme is the American theme which the consumer can see as soon as they
look at the cover as there is an overwhelming display of the American colours, flag and symbols through the feature article photograph, the masthead and the background. The background is the American flag
consisting of blue, white and red. There are also a lot of greys and blacks (especially near the bottom of the
background) which make the flag look as though it is worn out and quite
dirty. This could be foreshadowing
how Captain America is going to
go through a lot in the film (battles.. etc.) If you look closely
at the flag it looks as though it is made of wood, implying that the flag is
made out of a sturdy material which suggests that America is a strong country and that Captain America is a strong protagonist. This all brings the consumer back to the idea of patriotism. American fans will find themselves feeling incredibly patriotic and more likely
to buy the magazine
Feature Article Photograph
The
main image is a medium long shot of the protagonist Captain America
himself. He is dressed in an updated version of his
iconic costume that dates back to old marvel magazines. This costume uses blue, white, green, red and brown . The white star (which is the character icon) can be seen on the chest
of his costume and on his shield. This updated version
allows fans to see Captain America
in a more polished way while still keeping clear his identity, his mise en scene
and the things that he is recognized by (eg the star shield).
Text
The text is mainly in the colours white and
yellow. These stand out over Captain America and the background. The masthead and title of the film is in white while most of the other text is in yellow. The exception to this is the banner at the
bottom of the cover which uses the colours black, grey and white in order to
advertise a 4+ page special inside the magazine. To have colours like these that do not entirely conform to the theme of colours
but go well with the colours is typical as it lets the audience
know that the information is not directly related to the main image but is worth knowing if the consumer is interested in buying the magazine. The choice of colours has worked
very well as for example, near the top
of the magazine where the issue date and price is shown the text is in the colour white this stands out well against the
blue background and could have been much less effective if it was
a red font against a blue background. The genres in Captain America are a mixture of action and adventure. The use of bright colours heavily suggest
that the film will involve action. Adventure is hinted at through Captain America’s costume and stance as he looks
as though he’s ready to either battle someone or go (on an adventure) to find
someone. I believe this genre is
best portrayed through the flag looking as though it has been through a lot (and
has a grey dust over it). The consumer is
likely to infer that this was caused by some kind of supernatural being which could then make them think of the sci-fi genre.
Target Audience
I believe the
target audience for this film is mainly based around the fan base from the franchise that is 'Marvel’ - stereotypically males (from 11-18). Sci-fi related themes are stereotypically
something males enjoy more than females, as as this theme's very obvious from just looking at the cover it heavily suggests males are targeted more.
In addition to this blue and red are typically colours that males prefer (instead
of typically female colours like pink and purple.) This demographic are attracted with the use
of Captain America as the main image in his typical
costume. Along with this the text ‘how summer’s biggest superhero went to war’ is a line that will attract a lot
of people as they will want to buy the magazine to see how he
did. Due to the incredibly successful Marvel franchise I definitely think a lot of females could be attracted by this cover and want to buy it (especially from seeing the actor Chris Evans, as Captain America.) The suggested genres and colours seen on the magazine cover could also
appeal to some females.
Titles, Plugs and Puff
The use of titles, plugs and a puff all contribute to the format greatly. They occupy what would
otherwise be ‘negative space’ on the cover and give the consumer another
place for them to focus on. Above the masthead there is a puff which advertises the magazine itself rather than the film as a brand but
this still adds to the format. All of the other text relates to either Captain America or other content inside the
magazine. These have all been carefully selected
to give the audience a little bit of information but not too much to
overwhelm them or make them think that they do not need to buy the magazine.
Layout
The main image on this cover is Captain America himself and this is placed
directly in the centre of the magazine occupying a lot of space and making it
easily the focal point for the whole cover.
A 3D effect is provided by laying some
of the content behind him and some in front. He is clearly in front of the background flag image but by also placing the
masthead behind him makes him stand out even more. The banner at the bottom of the cover is in the foreground and therefore in front of Captain America. However, his shield
and satchel are positioned so that the lowest part of them go over the top
of the banner, this overall creates a great visual effect and adds a real depth to the cover. The masthead is conventionally at the top of the
magazine with a puff above it. The additional information about the issue date and pricing is in a text that is a lot smaller and is placed
above the M in Empire. This is a good
place in terms of layout as it allows it to obviously be seen (as it is so
close to the masthead) but also not take up too much space, which can be used for taglines and
plugs to persuade the audience to buy the magazine.
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