Preliminary Task: Front Cover Textual Analysis

Denotation:
The front cover for this magazine consists of a colourful image, background and text, the image being a famous character from a film. The picture is shot as a medium long shot only showing his head, arms and waist. He is holding a gun, very visible to the audience. The background seems to look very tropical, and dominated by blue. The photograph dominates the whole front cover for the magazine. Behind the main figure is the Empire masthead, with 5 different cover lines in white, yellow and black. The first cover-line on the right hand side relates to the image itself in bold yellow letters, and a barcode is also visible in the bottom right hand corner. To the left of the figures hand is also a circle, containing information regarding that figure.

Masthead:
Unlike other magazine masthead’s, the Empire used very simple front with a bold colour, red. The font used for this magazine cover is Sans Serif. Giving the magazine more of a modern look. Appealing to a younger audience. The word Empire can be seen as a very strong word, connoting power, and strength.

Character:
The cover photograph is of the famous actor Johnny Depp, in his character of ‘Captain Jack Sparrow’ famously known in the film ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.

Composition
He is posed in what seems as a very stiff position, holding the gun up showing he may not be all that friendly. Suggest as being slightly aggressive as well as brave.

Costume:
His clothing is very much related to the character himself, wearing tattered clothing, worn down with lots of holes as well as loads of accessories like rings, bandanas, and items around his waist. This shows the characters pirate like state. Appealing to the audience of similar to the film itself. The gun completes the look of ‘pirate’.

NVC:
His Non verbal communication suggests he isn’t afraid of many a thing. Including people. The posture and body language in which he is standing connotes he may not be phased by things easily. Looking directly at the camera is another way of showing this.

Lighting:
The lighting is set to high key to show the bright daytime background.

Setting:
With the figure image taking up most of the magazine cover, what can be seen, shows to be a tropical aspect in the background. The sea, bright blue skies and what looks like to be a beach in the far distance.

Cover-Lines:
The main cover-line for this image appears to be: “Essential 2011 Preview”. Showing the audience all in all what the magazine has to offer in terms of movies. Allowing the audience to understand that the magazine may have a lot of information that could interest you. The various different cover-lines that the magazine has to offer, shows that the magazine doesn’t just focus on one recent film, it has many different altercations with other films, drawing more of an audience in. However the cover-lines do tell us that the magazine is focused on movies completely, without showing to have any aspects of other news within. Other films mentioned on the front cover include: Captain America, Sherlock Holmes 2, Transformers 3, Cowboys & Aliens, and Green Lantern. The magazine clearly shows its love for movies and inside knowledge about them. Therefore allowing the readers to fully understand what’s expected to be contained within the magazine.

Target Audience:
The target audience for this cover appears to be ages 14+ including both men and women. This is because of the genres and types of films mentioned on the cover, giving a wide range of people that could possibly be interested. The audience are extremely likely to be interested in all the inside knowledge for the latest films, about the actors, behind the scenes and general information about the films.