Empire Magazine Research

Thomas Allison 0051

My first piece of research is about Empire Magazine. Empire is a British film magazine which started in 1989. It is the biggest selling film magazine in Britain. I have decided to research into this magazine because it a British based magazine which I have focused on within my media lessons. Its main rivals are Total Film which seems to be no competition as Empire outsells them every time. Empire essentially focuses on mainstream films which are well known which may be an answer to why they are more popular compared to the likes of Sight and Sound who focus on more independent films.

The first Empire Magazine which I will be looking at is the Harry Potter 6 August 2008 edition. To begin with the Title/Logo of Empire is always the in the same style of lettering which is used to make it recognisable to the magazines target audience. This style is block thin block capitals with sharp edges; this is especially shown on the “M”. Another common trait which I have noticed upon the magazines I will be looking at is where the date and price is found. Within the slope of the “M” it is printed centrally with the Date first then the price. When looking at these Empire magazines the date and price are also printed in an extremely small font and for a lot of people to read glasses would be needed. This is because Empire wants their consumers to look at the price last and be attracted to the magazine by its other features first. Also within this Harry Potter Magazine is a little slogan which is common with all magazines, it says “The World’s Biggest Movie Magazine”. This is important to show on the cover of their magazines as it states how popular and important they are to a lot of film fans in the world; If I was to pick it up and read this slogan I would feel impressed and want to be a part of this magazine and therefore buy it. This slogan is presented just under the magazine title in a smaller font but in the same colour. Underneath the letter “E” of the title is the website. This enables consumers to gain more information about Empire and enjoy other widgets such as videos, blogs, and even subscribe to more magazines; this is presented in the same size font as the slogan. On all Empire magazines there is a main theme which takes up the entire background of each Empire Magazine, usually relating the main article within the magazine or a newly released film. On my first case study (Harry Potter) Harry Potter himself is the main picture. The picture of him is his chest upwards, he is standing slightly to the right at an angle. His facial expressions are serious and he looks very scruffy, he has broken glasses and blood coming down the side of his face. This shows the codes and conventions of the film, promoting the film to the target audience. Within this magazine Harry’s head goes behind the title, however this is not the same in all cases. The background is a dark gray background with like a foggy smoky affect as if something is hiding behind him creating an enigma to attract the audience to want to read the article or watch the film. The articles around Harry on the front cover of this Empire magazine advertise what is within the magazine and why the target audience will want to buy it. This picture and the articles combined with the recognisable title and slogan all act as micro elements creating a macro element creating the diegesis of the magazine giving it shelf impact. The main article which is in block capitals and in a larger font to the rest relates to the main image and focus of this magazine which is the Harry Potter stating “Massive Preview Special” which is a big factor which help sell this magazine. Other articles include “Films You need to know about” with a smaller image relating to other new films such as James Bond and Wolverine.

My second case study I am using to compare to the first magazine to see if there are any patterns that continue on throughout the magazines. This case study is a more recent than the other, Wolverine January 2009 edition. To begin with likewise with the first case study I looked at this Empire magazine has a main theme. The theme within this magazine is Wolverine the newest release of January 2009. This is a common occurrence with Empire magazines as I mentioned above due to them focusing on mainstream media. The main image within this is Wolverine himself, the main character, is positioned centrally in the page posing with his claws, this will help grab the attention of potential consumers and attempt to try and get them to buy it. The Title “Empire” is in the same font in the same size, with the same colour as the other magazine positioned in the same position at the top of the page. This is a recognisable logo which will help sell the magazine due to familiarity. The only difference with the title this time is that the main protagonist overlaps the title so you can see the letter “P”. The background of the magazine is of a wasteland landscape with the majority of it being gloomy clouds. This aspect allows the colours to show the codes and conventions of a thriller. However it also makes Wolverine look dominant as if the camera was looking up to him. Like with my first case study there are many article headlines surrounding the picture. Another common theme as before is that the biggest article in the largest Font relates to the main theme of Wolverine. All these articles seem to be used to tempt the target audience in to read and buy the magazine. Other common essentials on this magazine include the barcode and once again the date and price are in the same sized font in the same place as before; in the gap of the letter “M” of Empire.

My third and final case study for magazine research into Empire looks at January 2010 edition. To begin with once again there is a main theme to the magazine which is Iron Man 2. As with the other 2 case studies this magazine company is looking at big budgeted mainstream media. The main image is of Iron Man pulling a pose with his head slightly tilted, making him look angry and powerful. As with the magazine above the Empire Title is overlapped by the main image. The Title “Empire” is in the same font but is in a lightening blue colour with electricity extracting to and from it. This title is still recognisable and stands out on the dark gloomy smoke effect background. Once again the Date and price are in a small sized font in the gap of the letter “M” and the barcode is presented in the bottom right corner as with the other magazines. The difference from this magazine compared to the other magazines is the presentation of articles. There are far less articles on this magazine and it is presented neater. The same main article relating the magazine theme is there in the largest font. But fewer articles are shown on the front page. On this magazine there is a strip of pictures running along the bottom centre of the magazine showing other new mainstream films which are also coming out.

Overall there are a lot of reoccurring themes with Empire magazines which would seem to make it recognisable to their target audience and give it shelf selling impact. I have learned a lot from these magazines and I have many new ideas for my own idea which I will relate to.