This magazine cover features Leonardo DiCaprio to promote the film Inception. DiCaprio's image takes up most of the cover and uses lighting and angle to make him seem dominant. Smaller text promotes additional articles inside the magazine. The cover uses a color scheme and layout that matches the film's themes and draws readers in to learn more. The headline compares the film to The Matrix and James Bond, hinting it will combine and enhance elements from those franchises.

1. Inception Magazine Cover
Analysis
Hannah Burgess, Katie Charman and
Lauren Hill

2. The Magazine Cover:

3. The Main Image:
The main image of the magazine
cover is of Leonardo DiCaprio who
is the main character of the film.
As the writing is slanted inwards
and the magazines name ‘Empire’
is behind his head give a 3D effect
to the image.
The image of Leonardo DiCaprio
has a backlighting which combined
with the low angle makes him
seem dominant. The lighting adds
impact making the outline of him
seem very sharp.
The background image is of a
birds-eye view of the city, this
makes DiCaprio appear
disconnected from the rest of the
world and also enforces the
fantasy element that is present
throughout this film.

4. The Banner:
The banner for this magazine is hard to
read but it says the month it was
released “July 2010” and it also gives the
price “£3.99”.
As it is in white font it fits in with the
colour scheme and it is in sans serif font
which makes it easy to see and stand
out for a reader.

5. The Masthead:
The Masthead for this magazine is “EMPIRE”. A good Masthead is determined
on whether it can be recognised from a far. As Empire is a well known
magazine, it is known for its title being the colour red.
Leonardo’s head covers part of the writing, however it is still easily
recognisable due to its sans serif font. The font is slightly blocked, but the
edges have been cut as a slant which makes it unique to that particular
magazine.
In proportion to the rest of the cover, the Masthead comes near to the
top, this way if it is stacked on a shelf, the magazines name will still be visible.

6. Lead Article:
The lead article of the magazine
cover is for Inception as it is
promoting the release of the new
film.
The title of the film ‘Inception’ is
in the second largest font on the
whole cover which shows that
this is the main article.
The font of ‘inception’ is in sans
serif, however it does not match
the same style as the Masthead
‘Empire’ as it needs to follow the
movies theme which uses bold
block letters.

7. The Flash:
There are various flashes used on this magazine cover which allow the reader to
see which other articles will be promoted within the magazine.
As Empire is a film magazine, the articles within are all films, the titles are in
bold sans serif writing and then in a less bold font is a caption explaining the
article. In total there are 7 different articles being promoted and as they are in a
smaller font this allows there to be so many.

8. The Image The washed out colours and the blue colour
scheme of the images matches the colour
schemes used in the film trailer and the film
poster. The blue colour scheme also reflects the
idea of water being a recurring motif in the film
trailer.
The dark suite with the black tie would usually
signify a funeral as this would be appropriate
attire, however the gun in the protagonists hand
suggest that he is either a figure of high authority
or a high class criminal. However as the gun is
subtly placed in the image it shows that it the
violence is not a main part of the narrative.
The layout of the magazine is interesting as the
words on the side are slanting inwards, this gives
the look that they are being sucked into the
magazine and therefore adds to the narrative of
the film as the characters get sucked into the
dreams.

9. Cover line
The main cover line is smaller than the masthead but are
larger and bolder than other cover lines or ‘puffs.’
They’re used to be eye-catching.
This cover line is in the same font and colour as the
magazine title and this insures that it will be clearly
visible.

10. Anchorage
THE MATRIX
MEETS 007
“ON
STEROIDS!”
The anchorage is used to add meaning to the image on the
cover.
The anchorage for Inception suggests that the film combines
ideas, themes and/or concepts from two vastly different, yet
extremely successful films and has enhanced them to make
them even better. This suggests that the film is a must see and
will encourage the audience to go and see it in the cinema.
This anchorage is also effective as it doesn’t give anything
away about the films narrative which tempts the audience to
buy the magazine to find out more and to also watch the film.