




Empire is a British Film Magazine published monthly by Bauer Media (Q,
The Box)
Biggest selling film magazine in Britain, consistently outselling its rivals
including Total Film.
Organises yearly awards for different categories. Offers readers chance at
voting for the winners.
Empire has some unique regular features, such as a regular Top 10 feature
lists Empire's choice of the top ten examples of something film-related.
For example 10 Best Chase Scenes. Readers are encouraged to write in if
they disagree with the choices made.
Empire relates to popular culture in both approach and coverage unlike
less irreverent and more 'serious' magazines such as Sight & Sound. It
reviews both mainstream films and art films, but feature articles
concentrate mainly on mainstream films.





Total Film is a British publication published every once a month every
year.
Launched in 1997, Total Film offers DVD and Blu- Ray news, reviews and
features.
Is one of the largest circulation English-speaking film magazines in the
world.
Each month, Total Film provides a range of features, from full-length
interviews and photo shoots with established and up-and-coming actors
and directors.
The magazine is made up of six different key features, which all serve
different purposes. They either set out to involve and interact with the
audience, give “sneak peeks” at different films or provide “behind the
scenes” stills of films. (Dialogue, Buzz, Agenda, Screen, Lounge and The
Total Film Quiz)
Magazine Front Cover Analysis :
Empire and Total Film
Main Image
•The main image of both of these front covers is
inevitably going to vary, as the publishers look to
cater for different needs. The Empire edition gives a
close up of the characters (Batman) face. This could
be used to not only show that he is a protagonist
Masthead
within his film, but also the emotion which he
•The Masthead of each of these magazine front covers is shows. The audience also gets to direct access to
the characters eyes, as they are conveniently placed
clearly visible to the audience. They both also seems to
within the golden section of the picture. The
take on the form of a selected colour scheme, with
character also has an intimidating facial expression,
empire choosing black and blue, which creates a
silhouette around the Masthead. While Total Film, have while wearing black clothing, which may go with the
strep line “Dark Knight”. On the other hand, in the
chosen to use a bold white colour, which is able to
Total Film issue, the character is standing with is
attract consumers. Total Film, have also used blue in
their colour scheme, but is a subtle shade of blue, which hands in his pocket, and looking attentively. The
character has a more relaxed facial expression, but
is able to blend into the background. On the Empire
still manages to retain a sense of seriousness. He is
edition, the Masthead is visible and falls in front of the
wearing what seems to look like a long over coat,
main picture, which may add to its attraction to
consumers. However the Masthead within the Total Film which may connote wealth or a level of social
edition, is overlapped by the main picture. This seems to importance. The background in which he is meant
to be standing in, has been blurred which creates
suggest the importance of the person in the picture, to
not only the magazine, but also the film they are starring an eerie atmosphere and makes him the sole
character visible, further reinforcing the idea that
in.
he is important.
Strap line:
The strap line featured in these magazine
front covers, inevitably relate to the main
pictures. Within the Empire issue, the
strap line is “Batman vs. The JokerSummer Just Gut Serious”. The
consumer can see the relation between
the strap line and main image, as not
only is Batman the focal point for the
main image, but also has a “serious”
facial expression which ties in with the
strap line. The text “The Dark Knight”
can mean two things, as being a knight is
usually related with being a hero, while
he is referred to as “Dark” which would
go hand in hand which the attire and
overall mise-en scene.
Magazine Front Cover Analysis :
Empire and Total Film Ctd.
Sell Lines:
Strap line ctd:
The strap line featured within the Total Film
magazine, shows a clear relation to the
Masthead but also shows links to the overall
colour scheme. Before the headline, there is a
sub line that says “All The Elements Are
Coming Together!”. The audience may be able
to see the relation between this sub line and
the name, but also the sub line that is under
the head line which says “On set! Cracking the
case of the Worlds Greatest Detective”
reinforces this idea. This all goes together with
the main picture where the character has his
hands in his pockets and in front of a shadowy
background. These ideas all add to the eeriness
of the front cover, which add to the
compounding effect this front cover may have
on consumers.
The sell lines within both posters convey a range of
conventions that is usually consistent on film
magazines. Having said that, Empire uses less use of
pictures or anything that will be able to detract
attention from the main focus, which is Batman.
However they have put a sell line directly next to the
grimacing face of Batman, which will inevitably catch
the consumers, as not only is it in a bright colour
outlay, which also complements the colour scheme,
but it involves a big film star in Clint Eastwood. The
other sell lines, remain at the bottom of the picture,
so as to not spoil the main idea of this front cover
being a “tribute” to The Dark Knight film. On the
other hand, Total Film, have used a more
conventional approach to their sell lines. The sell
lines are either side of the main focus, so that they
remain potential points of interests to consumers.
The main sell lines start of with CAPITAL letters, to
give a brief idea of what else is going to feature
within the magazine. There are then brief
descriptions of each feature. There is also a picture
clipping based element, which seems to aim to “sell”
the magazine further with its use of aesthetic
technique. The words “10 COOLEST MOVIES BEING
MADE RIGHT NOW!” also feature next to these
pictures which further enhance the consumers
interest. The colour scheme of the front cover is also
consistent within the sell lines, which may add to the
effect of being contemporary yet eerie.
Mise-en-scene/ Colour Scheme
The mise-en-scene of both covers is inevitable to be
varied. However they do follow a similar colour
scheme to one another. The mise-en-scen featured
in the Empire is a full scale black background, while
the character himself is also wearing black, which ties
in with the ideals set by the strap line of Batman
being the “Dark Knight”. The colour scheme used is a
bright blue, which almost seems like a neon blue,
which is reflected in the out line of the masthead.
The blue used for the sell lines remain bright, but
with the intention of attracting consumers. The miseen-scene within Total Film, seems to have the
intention of setting semi-distopian scenario, where
Holmes stands out from the crowd. This idea could
be reinforced, when there is nothing but what looks
to be shadows in the background, while Holmes
remains in the foreground. His peakcoat, could be
seen as a symbol of a detective, which would make
the strap line more authentic.The colour scheme is
also a bright blue, which in comparison to the
Empire, remains consistent, which also ties in with
the shadowy eerie effect.