This magazine cover is from the magazine 'Total Film' this is a well known film magazine. The first thing I notice about this magazine cover is the Master Head, this is the name of the magazine. The 'Total' part of the title is placed in purple, slightly smaller and positioned in the top of of the F of the word 'Film'. The word 'Film' is then placed in white bold across the top half of the magazine cover and takes up about a quarter of the page. This makes it extremely eye catching and makes it standout more against everything else on the cover. The magazine is already popular and well known and people already know the name, which allows the designer to place part of the photograph over the title. The white colour stands out against the dark-ish purple background. This makes it extremely eye catching. If people are regular readers of the magazine the masterhead will be a selling point for the magazine. The white is also a neutral colour, as this is a magazine aimed at both men and women instead of one gender.
Above the masterhead is another piece of text saying "Free Giant Iron Man Poster!". This is also placed in bold, but in a yellowy gold text and is far smaller than the masterhead. The title contains the word "Free" - this is a buzzword which draws the audiences attention as they believe that by purchasing this magazine they are getting something free. Giving out free things is something which is commonly used within magazines in general, free posters/ discounted cinema tickets or cinema food vouchers are often included in film magazines as they give the audience more motivation to buy the magazine as they feel as if they are gaining something other than a magazine.
Along the left side of the magazine is a lot more text, at the top of this section is black bold text in a gold square which says the words "WORLD EXCLUSIVE!" this again contains the buzzword "exclusive". This suggests to the audience that this magazine has information about the film which no other magazine would have. The fact that it is also a worldwide exclusive, makes it seem like by purchasing this magazine and readings its contents you are finding out something which is otherwise unknown and that you have extra information and knowledge that other people do not have. This makes it obvious that to make a successful magazine cover I will need to include a variety of buzz words to make it stand out for the audience and make it individual from competition magazines.
The next piece of the text placed here says "Welcome to Wonderland! Johnny Depp heads up out" and then placed in a much larger text of the same font and white colour, but placed in capitals "MASSIVE 2010 PREVIEW". The word massive is exaggerated even more by the fact that the text is literally massive. Another element which makes this bit of text stand out is the use of the actors name "Johnny Depp". Johnny Depp is a very well known Hollywood actor, he himself has a very large following and therefore when he is leading something like a preview means that his fans will want to view this preview. People who have watched and enjoyed any of Johnny Depp's previous movies will therefore want to watch his new one.
Johnny Depp is also the main image on the magazine cover. Dressed as his character 'The Mad Hatter' from his latest film 'Alice in Wonderland'. This gives the viewer an insight into what the film is like. The fact that the image is separated from its background allows the text to overlap and integrate the image. This creates more of an aesthetically pleasing cover for the viewer. The image consists of a mid front facing shot of the character, looking directly at the camera. The direct eye contact of the actor and the audience looking at the image creates a relationship between the character and the audience, making them interested in the character and therefore want to watch this film. The use of a mid shot makes sure we see enough of his costume to understand part of his character but not a long enough shot to make the character appear distant.
The mise en scene, of the costume is exactly that of his character within the film. His jacket is purple and so goes with the background of the magazine cover. This helps the image to look as if it is part of the magazine but doesn't make it completely blend in. The image has had its vibrancy increased, for example, the orange hair is very vibrant to make it stand out against the background and therefore make the image stand out more.
At the bottom of the magazine cover is another advertisment for something which is inside the magazine, it states "Plus Daniel Day-Lewis / Mel Gibson / Blu-Ray Special". This is in bold text and fairly large, this makes it stand out on the poster without detracting from the image.
Above the 'M' in the word 'Film' is information such as the date the magazine was released, the price and issue number. In this example it also contains the magazine's website. This information is placed in a viewable place but not in a large text so that it could detract from the image.
The last noticeable thing on this magazine cover, is the use of a barcode being positioned on the front of the cover. Barcodes are almost always placed on the front of the cover because normally on the back of any type of magazine there is an advertisement. When creating our magazine cover we will make sure we place the barcode on the front cover, although it can often appear as if it is ruining the cover, if it is placed in a less noticeable place, such as on the bottom of the page or on the side it detracts less from the image.
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