Final Magazine

AF

Magazine Construction

I had a very strong idea of what I wanted my magazine to look like, primarily through looking at a wide range of Empire and Total Film covers. Because of this I also gained a large grasp of the conventions of a main stream magazine and how it should look. As you can see it my draft below, I liked the idea of the bar going across the screen, I felt this would fill up the screen and make it visually appealing.

My central image that I took of Robbie.

First I felt that it was important for me to just get all the parts of the magazine on the page, so that I could get a better idea of what needs to be done.  I used a still from our trailer as the background image, I thought that this image was strong and sinister enough to work. I liked the orginal look of the bars however at this stage the angle was far too large.

I decided on the title of 'CINEMATIC' as it felt that this felt powerful and would grab passer byers attention similar to 'EMPIRE'. I also put in the first of the pictures, this one being from my opening last year, minus the white text on the title, this colour scheme is similar to how I imagined it, a lot of red/white/gold.

In this edit, I added on the tagline at the top, this tag line sounded extremely professional and I really liked it. I had huge difficulties finding a font and I'm still not happy with it, I didn't realise how long it took to find a good font. I also changed the puff from red to blue in order to make it stand out more, the WIN being larger also helps.  I also gave Robbie and small haircut this was because his hair was standing out on the background due to some parts of the image I cut him from still being there, this change isn't noticeable at all, which I am rather proud of.

In order to get all elements in the banner at the correct angle, I decided to make it separately and then transport it in.

I used a clipping mask on all the gold text in order to give it shine, due to the image having a slight gradient. This immediately made the magazine look a million times better and far more professional.

In order to make the text at the top stand out, it needed a background, I liked the idea of using a gold bar, and again used a clipping mask on it to make it look more professional. I couldn't however decide what to do with the below text as you can see in the images below.

I couldn't decide whether to have the text be in front of his leg, have the banner go over the whole page or have it all behind. I wasn't particularly happy with any design however I asked some of my target audience and they all liked the 1st one best (the one with the banner going across the whole screen). I'm going to hold off on this decision for the moment as I'm not sure.

The background and Robbie were both far too pale so I edited the saturation and colour levels of both images in order to make them look better overall and less 'student-ish'

There is a fairly substantial jump between these two edits, I changed the font as it looked too un-professional before and added a small outline to CAPTURE in order to make it easier to read. I also added a slight gradient behind the puff in order to make it stand out more. It was also noted that the gab between the A and the T in the title was unusually large and therefore I edited that. I then added in the additional elements such as the bar code and date/price which can be seen in the last C. The major change however is the bottom text, as I didn't like any of the options I attempted something else. By looking at Empire and Total Film covers I noticed how many different films they refer to on the cover and this was something which mine was perhaps lacking. Changing up the colours between rows also makes it each row easier to read.

This edit is very close to the final product now. I slightly enlarged the film titles at the bottom as they are more important than the directors name and therefore should be larger. I also made the puff larger and at a slight angle to make it stand out better and I changed the size of the top text. I added the white bars, which again have a small gradient in order to look more professional and not just a flat colour, because without them there was a large amount of empty space which wasn't being used, this felt un-natural and off putting. I also wasn't happy with the wasted space in the bottom right corner and therefore I also added in a printing cross, similar to Empire. The one element which I feel needs slightly more work is the puff, as the WIN! needs to be slightly larger and perhaps in a different font

Above you can see the final poster, I have increased the size of the WIN along with changing the font to give a more blocky and bold effect meaning that it stands out better and catches your eye. The last change that I made was editing the banner, as through some audience feedback someone pointed out that the left most image 'High Trees' looked off compared to the other ones. This was due to the other images being closeups and at a higher saturation, making High Tress appear too grey and insignificant. In order to correct this I enlarged the photo making the main character larger and more central along with altered the vibrance and saturation making the colours pop and removing the grey nature of the photo. Although this photo was a screen-grab and therefore by doing so I may be mis-informing the audience of the style of the film, I feel it was worth it for creative decisions as the three images fit together far better.

AF

Empire Magazine Cover Analysis - Hunger Games

AF

Sight and Sound Analysis

EJ

Magazine Cover Analysis - Little White Lies

One of the key themes within Little White Lies magazine covers is the use of a strong central image created in a style of an illustration. The colours generally carry connotations of the style and tone seen within the film, here the orange and yellow creating a sense of the colours used within the film. A mother defining factor is the use of very little or no text, often only the title of the film is seen, allowing for a minimalistic them and style which follows the overall artistic feel of the cover. The title being in a recreation of a puff style works really well, allowing for the strong central image to be the main focus, while all other text and details needed are viewable but not complicatedly distracting away from the image. The floral image with the outline image over the top works really well, being clear well still artistic and abstract. Another common feature in the way in which the magazine world is through the use of the illustration itself, where commonly the magazine will employ someone to create an illustration for the cover, which is something I may do myself, possibly drawing it on paper and then developing this on the computer suing Adobe illustrator as well as Adobe Photoshop. In terms of how other Little White Lies covers compare, this is definitely one of my personal favourites, as the colour, mixed with the black as well as the contrasting white for the title draws the viewers eye on and works around the page. There is little detail, but is just enough, and slightly abstract to keep the cover interesting and attention grabbing.     

EL

Empire Magazine Cover Analysis - Sherlock

I produced this booklet using simplebooklet.com simplebooklet.com

 AF

Little White Lies Magazine Research

For my magazine, I have been largely interested in the more arty, minimalist style such as Little White Lies or Sight and Sound, with the simple titles and clean layout of text. I particularly like the Little White Lies covers, which employ simplistic style through the illustration on the cover, and minimal text to create the overall minimalist style. The commonly employ an illustrator to create the covers, which is a concept I really like. The title itself sits in an variation of a Puff, with the white standing off the background making the title clear. The only text commonly viewable on the cover is the title of the featured movie, as seen above to be Attack the Block, and Drive. My favourite cover out of all three is the far right drive cover, and is something I will work closely with. The Sight and Sound magazines are not my favourite, however they employ a great technique allowing the text to sit on the page without being to distracting. The main central images are clear, and idea I might use in my cover, however I am thinking about merging the two styles to create an illustrated cover like Little White Lies, and laying minimalist, non varied colour text over the top in the style of Sight and Sound. In particular I like the Shame cover, where the text is all right alined and uses bold fonts and non bold fonts to create a form of sub headings and main text. This is something I want to use within my own cover. Noticeable things about all covers are that the title of the magazine is commonly at the top, a trope my magazine will conform to. As well as this, the title of the film the cover shows is at the bottom, something I will also follow. The text is commonly placed around the central image and rarely over it, which is again something I will do. As for the main image, the Little White Lies covers normally use colour and vary in colour, which is something I will use to help my cover stand out.

EL

Empire Magazine Research

As I'm targeting a mass market in my magazine, I researched Total Film and Empire. These two magazines are very similar in style and I will aim to adhere to these conventions. You can see many different conventions which are used throughout, notably the large title behind the central image and a tag line above the title. In these magazines, a lot of action is going on in the cover with a lot of different parts, given a cluttered but specific feel.

I extremely like the use of a bar to showcase other films, this gives the cover a professional feel that I hope to replicate. The title of the film is also shown centrally, and covers the whole page. I also hope to include a puff to showcase another film along with a bar at the bottom, giving a brief teaser to what's inside the magazine. 

AF

Sight and Sound Magazine Research

When researching into current magazines, I found the ways in which they present their content to the audience greatly varied. Magazines such as Empire and Total Film cater for a mass audience, making content easily visible on the front cover so the potential consumer is aware of the best features. Magazines such as these, vastly advertise their content, selling the magazine on the content rather than the name. Despite this, it could be suggested that film fanatics are also interested in these mainstream magazines, as the advertisement content at the back includes fan paraphernalia. 

In contrast, magazines such as Clash and Little White Lies aim at a niche audience, primarily featuring arthouse and indie films. As people buy these types of magazines for the name and reputation, minimal advertising is present on the front cover giving it a very professional and minimalist feel. Sight and Sound magazine strikes a contrast between mass audience and indie magazines, showing interest in both areas. For my own work, even though I prefer the design of magazines such as Clash, I want to create a cross between Sight and Sound and Empire. I believe that this will strike a balance between stylised design and practicality, testing my abilities to  produce a convincing magazine.

EJ 

Institutional Analysis - Empire

AF

Institutional Analysis - Little White Lies

EL

Institutional Analysis - Empire

EJ