Magazine analysis

2. Image
The image is of the main character from the film Hellboy 2. Fans of the film and fans of movies in
general will know this because firstly he is a well known character in the fiction novels and second
of all it is the sequel to the first successful movie. The main sell line conventionally relates to the
image of the magazine due it usually being the title of the film. If the audience wasn’t familiar with
this character they would know that the main sell line is linked with the main image because the
main sell line anchors the image. Furthermore the image suggests that this film could possibly be an
action/horror film due to the image being of a character that is from hell. In addition to this he is has
aggressive and serious facial features that suggest that the film has a lot of violence and fighting in
which would lead to it being more action that horror. The image has a symbiotic link with the movie
as it is the main character from it and the audience will be able to relate and understand that this is
the main character. The image also shows Hellboy with a rosary around his wrist, which gives the
audience a possible narrative to the film and also this contradicts the whole hell aspect to the movie
and makes Hellboy seem as if he is the antagonist instead of the antagonist due to the title of the
film being Hellboy, stereotypically hell is bad.
The costume represents the character well with the use of broken horns which represents Devil like
horns and links with the title of the film. Furthermore his whole body is red, the colour red is
conventionally linked with the fiery depths of hell. The dark background could possibly represent
hell is a dark place and he is coming from hell, linking with the horror/action genre. These genres
are often linked with colours like red and black.
The conventions of magazine front covers have been followed by the use of image and the way it
acts as its own background is highly featured through all kinds of magazine, not just movie.

3. Masthead
Empire is a well-known film magazine. This will allow the masthead to be placed behind the image as audiences will still know that
this is an Empire magazine even though it is not fully visible. In this issue of the magazine, Empire have broken its usual common
conventions of its mastheads, this is so they can have a direct link with the title of the film. As hell is stereotypically known for being
red and on fire, Empire have created a masthead which has such things to entice the audience of the film to read their magazine. Also
this will let the audience know that they are heavily featuring this movie and therefore the audience should understand that there is a
lot of information about this movie inside. The fire around the masthead also represents the genre of this movie, also by having fire
this represents that this movie will be filled with action and war as it symbolises not only hell but chaos and war. The masthead
shows that this movie is within the horror/action genre and not comedy or romance. It also has fire because it is the film is
titled ‘Hellboy' with hell being represented as a evil, fire filled place where no body would want to be. This masthead is also very
distinctive as it has been slightly edited to match the theme of the movie they are trying to promote. This will add a new life to the
magazine and attract more audience but also keeping their typical target audience enticed by placing having the text the same size
and position it is in all other issues.
The masthead always has the same font to allow the brand identity to continue, however for big issues featuring blockbuster films,
Empire will adapt their masthead to link with the genre and film they are promoting. This masthead has been changed by using
Photoshop to add a fire feature. The connotation of fire is stereotypically linked with the idea of hell, and this is how Empire have
adapted their masthead to have a symbiotic link with the film Hell Boy 2.

4. Sell-lines
The sell-lines are conventional, they are placed on the left side of the page because the
magazine are going by the rule of thirds which means that the audience (after looking at the
image and main sell line) will read from left to right. They are in colours that contrast the
background which will allow the text to be eye catching and more enticing over the other
magazines on the shelf.
Furthermore the sell-lines are there to entice the movie crazed audience to read the
magazine so Empire have placed big new movie titles such as ‘The Hobbit’ and famous
actresses to catch the big movie fans and entice them to read the magazine.
In addition to this, a puff is used to further entice the audience and stands out from the rest
of the page conventionally, like this one does. This magazine is targeted towards the male
audience, we can tell this purely through the sell lines. The puff states ‘40 movies that will
get you sex’ this will encourage the male audience to get the magazine because
stereotypically men chase women and using sell-lines such as asking the audience who they
would prefer out of two hot actresses will entice the male audience by using direct address.
But also the main movie being promoted here is Hellboy which is known for being
predominately for the male audience.
Colours
The colours used on this magazine front cover are very masculine because, as I said before,
this is to entice the male audience as it is an action film and conventionally men prefer these
types of movies. Moreover the colours flow and don’t clash with each other which makes
reading the text easier. Additionally the magazine uses a black background which will stand
out tremendously due to most magazines conventionally having a white background.