Research Into Existing Magazines

The first magazine cover I have chosen to look into is called Total film, advertising the film Max Payne. The target audience of this film would be older teenage males and men, I think this because I believe they may be attracted to the image of the star character Mark Wahlerg as he is holding two guns and this connotes him to having confidence, being brave and having power. Males are usually attracted to images of males characterised in films due to them being able to relate to them, whereas girls are related to chick flick films for the same reason. The cover of the magazine is dull, the time of day is night time and the character is dressed in black clothes, this shows a negative effect on the behaviour being displayed. The denotation displayed on the front of the magazine cover would be the sub titles, these titles catch the audiences eye, and give a reason for them to buy the magazine. The conotation of the magazine however would be the main character Mark Wahlerg, this is because he is the main story for the magazine issue, and is one way of advertising the film Max Payne along with the enlarge title in white. There are many conventions used on the front of the cover such as, the bolder black image of the two guns, with one being placed in front of the other to show aggressiveness from the male holding the gun, also the headlines and darkness of the cover overall.

The image on the left shows how the two guns dominate the main image of the male actor, this is shown by the guns being pointed towards the eye of the camera and held high and in front of the character. With the guns being placed high and in front this suggests how much power the main character has. This is a symbol of masculinity, (his man hood). Many teenage males would be fasinated by the image on the front cover of this magazine and are likely to be comfortable to see this film.

This film would have been released on a positive note, knowing a large scale of male teenage boys will pay alot of interest in buying magazines, going to the cinemas to watch it and also talk about it with their friends, and encourage others to watch the film themselves. This will then make the film more successful.