Magazine Cover

When it came to creating the front cover for the magazine I again chose to use Photoshop as I was familiar with the tools and I would be able to do it quickly and efficiently. Originally I tried to start the magazine on PowerPoint but this turned out to be more difficult than necessary. My first step towards creating the magazine cover was thinking of a title for it, we chose to make our own magazine as we would then have more freedom when it came to fonts, layout and colour schemes etc. I chose the title 'Enigma' as it means an inexplicable occurrence or situation it could also represent a puzzling or contradictory character therefore I think it falls in well with the genre of our film and also reflects the main character really well. Like our film poster I wanted to keep the colour scheme limited as these are the typical conventions of a magazine, therefore I stuck with the colours black, white and red. As I wanted to ensure I got everything perfect on the magazine I kept referring back to the previous magazine research I did on the empire magazine as it was really detailed and turned out to be a great help.

  I wanted the theme to represent a sinister mood therefore I chose two similar shades of colour, grey and black, for the background and made them descend in colour. I chose for the master head of the magazine to be bold and black, my reasoning for this is because it keeps the consistent sinister theme going and also draws immediate attention. The centre of the master head is partially covered by the image of our main character 'Tony Milano' yet it is still readable.

 I chose to use this picture of Jimmy as I liked the way he was holding the shovel which links in well with the connotations of our film title. Originally the picture was of all the boys together but i used the lasso tool on Photoshop to cut Jimmy out. I then feathered the cutout of Jimmy, like I did on the poster, by again changing the pixel radius to 1. I then had to adjust the lighting levels as the original picture was really bright. Once I pasted it onto the magazine cover I then had to use the clone tool to edit around the outline of Jimmy to ensure there was no white spots and so he blended in well.

From my research I realised that a large majority of Empire Magazines, which I was using as a reference, tend to use close up mid shots of the main characters on the front cover of the magazine. But after researching a little more and using my own magazine master head I realised I didn't have to conform to the typical conventions. Also by using a long shot of Jimmy the consumer is able to get a full view of the costume and props. As our aim for the magazine is obviously that it appeals to the public and gets sold the picture used on the front is vital. We decided that Jimmy should be in character and this emphasises our title and theme further. As I previously did research on 'The Gaze' I chose this picture because 'Tony Milano' looks carefree yet practical which injects a smug effect which not only portrays but foreshadows his attributes and role in the film, Grow Your Own. We also chose to use a direct address (or extra-diegetic) as it comes across as being almost intimidating to reflect our genre and make it look effective. Milano's facial expression shows that he is ready for action as it looks as if he is about to start some kind of confrontation and the shovel in his hands represents a weapon but plays on the title 'Grow Your Own' which stands as an euphemism.

  At the very top of the magazine I used the selling line 'Limited Edition British Special' I did this so it made our theme, British Gangster, stand out even more and only added images and actors/actresses names which were British in order for this specific element to stand out. I chose to use red for 'British Special' as it emphasised the semantic field of British films and highlighted the central focus being our film 'Grow Your Own'. The date, price, and website of the magazine\film are located underneath the title and are in very small font yet they still fit in with the consistency of the colour scheme. Both bits of information are perfectly clear yet are in small font as it isn't the most important detail on the front cover. The other typical conventions include the issue date, the issue number and bar code, I added these on as I researched into this and it makes the magazine look more realistic. I was really pleased with the colour scheme as I kept it relatively simple yet all the colours our symbolic in relation to our film. For example red can be related to passion, love and violence and black has connotations of mystery and deciet. I chose to keep the same style for for all the text on the magazine as I thought this looked a lot more professional and as i kept referring back to other magazines I realised this was also the conventional things to do. As I was using the same font consistantly I had to ensure the magazine remained eye-catching , I did this by varying the font size for example 'Top 20 must see movies'. I chose to make the 'Top 20' a larger font than 'must see movies' as this would catch the readers eye and draw them in, it also emphasises what the is in the contense on the magazine. On the top left hand side of the magazine I added a list of rcent films which will also be advertised inside the magazine, I kept to the colour scheme by using white and red fonts to show the seperate films, this would be eyecatching for the consumer as they would be interested in the newly released films, which would then draw their attention to the film we are trying to advertise. I used the tag line 'Jimmy Gore Steals Spring!' as he is the main character in our film as well as the character on our front cover. Not only does this advertise who is starring in the film but the verb 'steals' injects enthusiasm making the consumer want to go and see the film. This is a technique i learnt whilst deconstructing other magazines during my research.