GENERIC RESEARCH - CASE STUDIES - EMPIRE

 A collection of case studies from three different magazine brands were built up to identify codes and conventions within the brands that I may want to replicate in my magazine. Here are three case studies from the empire magazine. 

I like how Empire has made two front covers of the same movie because it plays on the readers thoughts in terms of what this film has to offer. The Left shot is a close up of an avatar filled with aggression as though in a battle. The right side shows another avatar swimming contently amongst fish in the ocean. By empire offering two perspectives of this film, it sells Avatar to a wider range of audience, those who like peace, violence or a bit of both.

The colour palette of the the magazine consists of a spectrum of blues and flashes of black to give the audience a sense of the story, which relates to water. This is very on brand with, and conventional of an empire magazine, as it aims to convey the essence of a movie to the reader without giving away too much, whilst still maintaining its branding through its masthead

Although two different covers are shown, one of them is a subscriber exclusive cover, so whilst you can buy magazines as a guest, more avid fans of films pay for subscription to see magazines that the normal audience would not see. This is an idea I could use in my own magazine to implement the codes and conventions of empire.

Reference at the bottom to films such as she Hulk, Andor and the sand man may encourage audiences who are not familiar with avatar and are otherwise fans of the alternative films to still read the magazine, as exclusives for these films will be offered too

Back to the video store with Quentin Tarantino is an example of the exclusivity that empire offers its readers, giving them access to A-list directors, and making them feel special and deserving of high quality content

          Masthead - The mastheads on the shots are in black and red which could indicate danger and action. typical of marvel superhero films. They have been partially covered by the images but not to a high extent so that the brand will still be recognised. The same font is consistent throughout all empire magazines, so it becomes more familiar to the audience, and a part of the magazines house style.

Big spoiler special appeals to the audience, because it gives them insight into information about this trending movie that they would not have had. This is marked in a Bold sans serif font, which is red to highlight how significant the spoiler is as part of the magazine. Right Under it states that the Russo Bros will answer audiences "burning questions". This is another tactic that encourages the audience to read this magazine, because Empire magazine, by using celebrities to respond to questions audiences have, help the audience to feel connected to these celebrities they watch. It feels up close and personal, and they feel heard and listened to

Again the theme of being close with the audience and personal is repeated here with words used such as "exclusive" and "personal movie archives" of people in the industry. This is a technique I can use to make my magazine reflect the conventions of a Bauer magazine

Both covers are really graphical and vibrant, staying true to the themes of the movies. The Falcon winter soldier consists of an American themed colour palette with a close up of characters in the film, so it almost resembles what an ideal front cover of the film would look like. This is conventional of empire magazines, which would then surround the cover with teasers for the magazine to draw the readers' attention

 Again we see the empire magazine colour palette has been centres around the film and the shots taken of the characters. The empire masthead is large and bold, not entirely hidden by the front cover so the audience can recognise the brand and the font is consistent. The top strap gives a sense of mystery for the audience who would like to know how world renowned actor Daniel Radcliffe gets weird, and this is the content features in the magazines that appeals to the audience.

An enigma code is hinted at as the Black Panther's face is covered in this magazine, the shot capturing him in an attacking position, with a sci-fi background but not giving away too much to the reader. The cover lines are filled with associating movies from the MCU as well as characters and this technique of mentioning other successful films has been noted in other Empire covers. Film magazines may do this to ensure that the audience can recognise other films and still read the magazine if they have not yet familiarised themselves with black panther

The strap at the bottom reads the emotional story behind the impossible film. This taps into the context of the film at the time, which is that Chadwick Boseman the main character of Black Panther, suffered from cancer and died. Not only was this a tumultuous moment for the franchise in terms of how to continue the Black Panther legacy, But it was a mournful period for those who were huge fans or family members of Chadwick