Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince magazine cover

I analysed the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince magazine front cover which is on film magzine Empire. The front cover meets conventions of magazine front covers as it has a cover line giving the reader a little bit of information about the main article. However, it is not a usual cover line because although it is about the major article it only has a classic quote from Harry Potter ‘bloody hell!’, writing in a large font saying ‘massive preview special’ and then a short sentence about Harry, which leaves the readers wondering what information the article will contain. This front cover also meets the conventions of magazine front covers because it has a left-hand third, which is something a majority of magazines have. Harry potter is also mentioned in the left hand third which means everywhere you look on the page you see writing about Harry Potter. The magazine cover also has a masthead which is on a typical magazine cover. The colour of the masthead is red, which is the same colour as Harry’s jacket. This has been done so the front cover looks simple and attractive, and it could also be because red has connotations of blood, and the film is presented as being dark. At the bottom of the magazine is a plug, which is another convention of magazine front covers. This is to give the magazine variety so people who are not interested in Harry Potter might still buy the magazine because they are interested in who else is in the magazine, shown by the Plug. The plug is white and yellow, which contrasts from the main picture of Harry on the front. This also gives the magazine variety and shows it is about different things, not just the main article. The magazine front cover also has a puff underneath the masthead. ‘The world’s biggest movie magazine.’ This is used to boost the status of the magazine so people want to buy it more, and the colour of the puff being red makes it bright and stand out, and it also goes with the simple colour scheme. The text is yellow, red and white which all stand out against the dark picture. The biggest text such as the masthead and puff are in red, so they stand out more than the white and yellow. The colour of the text adds to the simple colour scheme, which makes the picture stand out more. There is a variety of fonts on the page so the magazine does not look boring, but instead looks interesting and readable. The main article has big text in white to show that that is the main feature in the magazine. The date, price and barcode and all small on the magazine front cover. The barcode stands out because it is white against a dark background, but the price and date are in a small font so they are not noticeable when somebody is glancing at a magazine. The main image on the front cover is a medium close up of Harry’s face. It is quite a dark image due to the dark background and Harry’s facial expression, although there is a light shining on his face which portrays him as the hero. The close up image gives detail of his face, this gives an insight into what the movie is going to be like. The image on the left is not noticeable when you glance at the magazine, as the other image is so much larger. The image on the left side of the page shows who else is in the magazine, so people who are not Harry Potter fans have other articles to read. The target audience for Empire magazine is people who like films, and as this is a big, highly anticipated film it is going to be interesting to people like films. There are other big films mentioned in the left-hand third, so if people are not interested in Harry Potter, there is a wide selection of other films for them to read about. The magazine front cover links to the trailer and poster because the poster also a picture of Harry in a red jacket, which shows his main costume in the film. He also has serious facial expressions in both the magazine front cover and the poster, which shows it is a serious film. In the trailer Harry is also wearing the red jacket, and the trailer is serious and dark, which is like the magazine cover is. The colours in the trailer are very dark, and shows the film to be dark. The background on the magazine cover is also dark, which shows overall it is being presented as a dark film. I have drawn the conclusion that different fonts are good on magazine covers, as it adds variety. I have also drawn the conclusion that a simple, close up image is good for a thriller or a horror film. Having a simple yet effective colour scheme is also a good idea as it stops the magazine from looking over-crowded. I also think having a background that matches the movie genre is important as the background behind Harry Potter shown instantly what type of film it is.