Entertainment Weekly

I have chosen this specific magazine (Entertainment Weekly) to use as a mock for my movie magazine. Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by Meredith Corporation, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books and popular culture. I have chosen this because although Inside is a British film, American films tend to do better when advertised correctly. Therefore I hope that sales in America will incline as a result. 

The style is generally simple, including a typical masthead which follows the conventions of being placed at the top of the page. I also noticed that in each cover, there are not very many cover lines as the celebrities in the main image are prestige in their industry and therefore cover lines might draw attention away from them. There is however, a large cover line stating the name of the film being released or that has been released, followed by a subheading to inform readers of what the article is about or what might hook the readers into not only reading the magazine but also watching the film. 

Here, in the Sherlock Holmes edition, we can see clearly who the main story is about, as well as perhaps what genre the movie is by his facial expressions. He has a stern look on his face which rules out comedies as general conventions would show a person laughing or may use brighter lighting. It also does not look like a Rom-com as there is only one person featured, and finally, his collar is turned upright which is a common stereotype for detectives in crime films or TV series. Therefore from this analysis, we as an audience can depict the genre of being a crime/ thriller. 

In this Star Wars edition, we can see the same sort of set up whereby the photo is the main attraction followed by the anchor of the film name rather than the actor/ models name that you might expect to see in a fashion or music magazine. The majority of magazines that I have researched do not try to fit the main image around the masthead, but rather overlap it. this may be because Entertainment Weekly is such an established and well-known brand of magazine that readers are aware of the style and font therefore they can automatically guess what magazine it is. This issue also follows a pattern whereby the image is shown from the stomach upwards. I am going to take this into consideration when crafting my own cover as I realise that this is because there is no real significance to anything below this and therefore the rest is simply wasting space. Unless the costume of the character is the main focus point. In this issue the main focus point is the actor's face as well as his prop that he is holding in his hand which presents connotations to the film. 

This is a True Blood edition yet it still leaves the masthead in the same position, although the colour has been edited to fit the genre of the film. The colour is dark red which could give connotations of danger or blood. It could also connote love and passion, however as it is paired with an actor dressed in special effect makeup to portray a vampire, this denotes the character he plays. There is a pug directly in the middle as this is a focus point in this issue where the face and the cover line fall. The pug is there to attract readers and to make them think that they are receiving value for money by buying this edition. 

I was surprised by this Divergent edition as it features two people on the cover which, for Entertainment, is unusual. Also, this edition breaks stereotypes as well as conventions whereby the female is sat above the male, implying that she has more power over him. Usually, the female is sat and the male is standing and this height difference shows the difference in authority. "PLUS" is a plug and shows the reader there is extra material inside. I will use this in my magazine as I believe that it is a key way in marketing a product. The background of this edition could suggest the genre as being an action movie as they are clearly climbing something, perhaps to escape something else. Their facial expressions again are emotionless suggesting they are on a mission. This is not a common feature you as a reader would find in a comedy edition.