Banner/ cover lines:
Masthead:
The masthead is in white, sans serif typography, the same colour
as the antagonist’s infamous mask. The black and white binary
opposites of the white ‘entertainment’ and the black ‘weekly’
again ties in with main image colours. The white draws attention
to the masthead just like the white draws attention to the mask
causing a loyal reader to see the masthead more easily. Loyal
readers would be more tempted to pick up and buy the
magazine if they recognise the masthead.
Main image:
The close up image of the ‘antagonist’ takes up the majority of
the page causing the reads eyes to solely focus on the image.
The use of the binary opposite, black and white acts as a heavy
contrast and makes the image of the antagonist‘s face stand out
against the blood red background almost as though the face is
coming off the page. The vignette effect helps to emphasise this.
This is because most of the light is directed onto the face of the
antagonist almost like a suspect in police questioning. This
causes the reader’s eyes to be drawn into to the image especially
as it’s central in alignment with the middle third. The antagonist
is a killer who wears a mask as can be seen in the main image.
Masks are typical within slasher horror films appearing in other
successful, well known franchises’ like Friday the 13th and
Halloween. The mask acts as something for the killer to hide
behind so they can continue to kill unrecognised. The mask the
killer on the magazine cover wears seems to represent The Grim
Reaper (death) which is possibly why they appear to be dressed
in black which is symbolic of death. This is dramatic irony
considering they cause deaths just like The Grim Reaper. The
shape of the mask is unnatural almost implying there’s
something inhumane about them like the fact they’re a
murderous killer. The eyes are blacked out. Eyes are supposedly
meant to represent the windows to the soul. The fact the reader
can’t see the antagonist’s eyes highlights how the antagonist has
no soul hence why they murder and don’t care about the
victims.
Colour scheme:
The colour scheme mainly consists of red, black and white with
the exception of the light blue. This colour scheme makes it fairly
obvious that the main feature film included in this issue is a
horror film due to the typical connotations of the colours. Red
typically has connotations of blood and anger both of which play
important roles and follow conventions for a slasher, horror film.
Black typically has connotations of death and darkness both of
which the antagonist represents as well as directly acting as a
contrast to the use of white which connotes purity in which the
antagonist does not have.
The cover lines have been placed in the banner at the top of the page
meaning it will be one of the first things the eyes will see. The cover
lines imply this particular magazine ‘Entertainment Weekly’ isn’t
solely a horror magazine as it doesn’t specifically focus on films but
rather entertainment in other forms as well such as books and music.
The cover lines have been split up by minimalistic dotted lines in
order to make the cover look less cluttered and professional. The
lines make the cover more symmetrical as they adhere to the ‘rule of
thirds.’ The mixture of typography, serif and sans serif, makes the
cover lines look more prominent and modern. The bold, sans-serif
font appears to be quite modern looking and will appeal to modern
audiences whereas the serif font adds a professional serious appeal.
Date of issue & issue number
Extra information such as the date and issue number is useful to
know. It’s small so doesn’t take any attention away from more
important text such as the masthead and the film title. Also, it’s
aesthetically placed above the masthead in the right third
conforming to typical magazine conventions in terms of the date and
issue number placement. Despite the issue number and date being
small, it can still be easily read against the red background because
of the bright white colouring of the typography.
Main cover line:
The film title is the second largest word on the page despite being
compacted into the corner of the right third where you would
typically find a pug i.e. the barcode etc. The fact the title is so large
highlights how the magazine wants to draw attention and emphasize
it as the main selling point of this issue. This is so it can be reiterated
into the reader’s mind hopefully causing them to be more likely to go
and see the film. ‘Returns!’ is one of the only words that is in the
specific light blue colour signifying how they also want to draw
emphasis on the fact the highly popular Scream franchise is making
another sequel for the fourth time enticing audience members and
fans of the franchise. ‘Bloody battle’ implies the use of blood and
gore, a typical convention of horror films, in particular, the sub-genre
slasher, which is what the Scream franchise comes under. Credits are
included below the light blue ‘plus’ (again adding emphasis to notify
the viewer), that these actors/actresses will be featured in the
magazine. The credits of these actors and actresses are slightly larger
making it easier to see their inclusion in this issue. Fans of these
actors and actresses could potentially want to purchase the
magazine in order to find out more on them. In addition, fans of the
Scream franchise will know that these actors were part of the
original cast; so, will possibly be reflecting on the highly successful,
original Scream. This point is reinforced by the use of ‘look back.’ The
main cover line text is all bold, sans serif and white. This makes the
typography stand out on the page especially as it’s partially against
the black costume of the antagonist and white acts as a direct
contrast to that. This makes it clear and easily readable to most
people. It again is separated by lines to maintain continuity and a
professional look.