Group magazine cover de-construction - Iron Man

Our group magazine deconstruction is from the magazine 'Empire' which is a very famous magazine. It is seen officially as the most successful magazine in Britain above Total Film and we as a group felt that we had to take inspiration from a magazine that is so popular with British films. Also the fact that the front cover broadcasts action film genre, which is our chosen genre for our trailer, makes it obvious to us to want to use it as a basis and inspiration for what we want to do in our film magazine cover. The main feature of the magazine cover which jumps out is the picture of the main protagonist Robert Downey Jr as the 'Iron Man'. The use of costume attracts the audience as it is shows off his strong physique. This is typical of a main protagonist in an action film as he is strong and fierce. Also his stance of clenching his fists and frowning shows power and this is a big feature of a magazine cover. The character also appears to have a head in his hand and a bright device on his body. This is very common of action films as the audience will want to know what the thing is on his body and what and why he is holding something in his hand. The fact that the name next to the picture (Robert Downey Jr) is so famous, this makes the audience think that it is going to be a really good film as it can attract a top film star. There is also a small phrase next to the picture which says: "Attitude? You damn betcha!." This is effective as a lot of main characters in all films have an iconic catchphrase which represents their character personalities; with this one showing his dominance and attitude. The use of colour is also a strong part of this magazine cover. The use of red in the main magazine title represents danger and suspense, which is what an action film genre is strong at producing if successfully made. The fact that most of the other colours used in the rest of the cover are lighter or more faded than the title makes it stand out more; and therefore the audience are drawn to this along with the title. Both of these things are what the producers want. The use of a grey faded background is effective for this cover because it gives off the idea of somebody walking through it. This leaves the audience on the edge of their seats and they are wondering what is through the murky mist. The only other colour used apart from those already mentioned is white. This is an effective colour as it is the perfect colour to mix in with red and grey. It is very bright and stands out over the text which is in smaller print. The use of the sub-title also escalates the magazine and makes the audience want to read more into the magazine. 'Meet the new action A-list!' is very cleverly included as the audience will not know who the 'a-list' are. They will then want to know and buy the magazine. The use of the exclamation mark also gives off the tone of excitement and shock which is what they want their audience to feel when reading this statement. To the right-hand side of this magazine cover, there is the use of images from other films with famous actors which the audience will recognise. This improves the magazine as there is more for them to find out about, rather than just the film used as the main attraction in the centre of the magazine. For example, the top picture shows Shia LeBeouf, who is one of the most successful actors of recent times. The audience will want to know about his film as well, as it is similar in many ways to Iron Man. Also the use of additional features which show what else in the magazine, shows the depth and quality of the magazine. The fact they have squeezed in the information at the bottom shows how much the magazine has to offer to its audience, and it also is of very high quality and the audience will know and want to read about them as well. Overall, they get a lot of quality for money when reading, which is what we want to do for our magazine cover. This has proved to the group through careful and concise research why this is one of the most successful magazines out there. The features of this magazine are very strong and we will aim to use these, challenge them and develop them as best as we can. We know that if we can get it near to the standard of this magazine, we will have produced a top-notch magazine cover.