RESEARCH : MAGAZINE ANALYSIS - SCREAM

I am now going to analyse a magazine front cover within the horror genre/community, this is to understand the conventions used in film magazine front covers, in the hopes to develop and use them when I go about constructing my own magazine cover later in the unit.

 

 

 

This is a front cover for a magazine, its genre is horror films. There are a few ways to tell that this is clearly for a horror audience. The first is that the title of the magazine is “SCREAM”, and screaming is a common convention in horror films, as it expresses true fear and pain. The typography is white, which contrasts with the typical conventional red font used in horror media, because red has connotations of evil, blood and death. In this case, the white is used presumably because it contrasts well with the backgrounded focal-point photograph. The typography is dripping as if it is blood, which is another horror convention. Blood is a common trope in horror films as it conveys someone being attacked, which is often the central plot to any slasher film. This title alone tells the audience what genre of content they should be expecting.

The horror genre is reinforced by the main picture, which is a woman engaging in direct address with the camera, which has connotations of power and confidence. She appears to be holding a bunch of small balls to her mouth, as if she’s about to eat them, they are reminiscent of frog spawn. This shows that she is supernatural, or at the very least, mentally deranged, which in itself is a good horror film character. One of her eyes is bright azure and the other is a dark brown, this shows a lack of balance/structure, and conveys her as a dangerous, unpredictable character.

There is a large headline saying “bite” in a broken, splattered typography which has connotations of blood, danger and uncertainty. This correlates to the picture of the girl in the centre, as that is the film she is from, and that is the film being promoted.

In the bottom right is a picture of Daniel Radcliffe, in character as Victor Frankenstein. This will encourage passers-by to read the magazine, because Daniel Radcliffe is a star, and the character he is playing is from a well-known story, therefore people will associate with the content and want to read more. The inclusion of Victor Frankenstein further reinforces the horror genre.

In the top right is the pricing and issue number. These are yellow on a splattered blood-red background clip-art, which is contrasting and bold. Above these is the strap line “THE HORROR MAGAZINE”, which tells the audience exactly what this magazine is about, what the content inside is, and that it is made for fans of the horror genre.

The website is linked at the very top of the page, in upper case white lettering. This promotes exchange as it allows the audience to interact with the magazine online, and to become more involved with everything.