Magazine Front Cover: Ideas and Planning

TYPOGRAPHY
I had three ideas for the name of my magazine: 1) 'Impression' 2) 'Climax' 3) 'Footage'. Out of the three I liked 'Impression' the most. I loosely based the house style of Impression on 'Little White Lies'. It comprises of impartial reviews that give the audience a thorough insight of the writer's film experience. The magazine consists of honest, personal and objective reviews that clearly communicates the writer's impression of the film. 


On the left are the different styles of typography I picked out from www.dafont.com that appealed to me. From the magazine case studies I carried out, I noticed that two out of the three mastheads were sans-serif typeface.

Although all six of them stood out to me, I  thought fonts 2, 4 and 6 were the most appropriate for my magazine cover. I liked the second font aka 'Kenteken' most because some of the letters have pieces missing as if a slice was cut out which I linked to editing because a lot of material gets cut during production. 

PHOTOGRAPHY 
The concept of my front cover revolves around the theme of power and status. I wanted to explore different physical levels to show the different levels in status whilst the film plot remained ambiguous. This image from the Godfather franchise inspired me to use the chair as a prop because the arm rests and the stance of Michael Corleone resemble a king sitting on his throne. I particularly liked the lighting of this image because it illuminates the model; his surroundings are quite dark and there are little props therefore all the focus remains on him. Michael Corleone has his hair slicked back with gel, a full black suit and has a stern yet melancholy expression on his face. In terms of body language, his hands are relaxed on the armrest to suggest comfort and ownership whilst his legs are crossed over each other portraying confidence and skepticism. 

I need to include a renowned symbol of a gangster film i.e. a weapon so that the audience can establish the genre of our film. The person holding a gun to the male model's head creates ambiguity because their identity is hidden. It also creates tension because it looks as if he is about to be executed; a common theme in gangster films is dying with dignity. 

To create juxtaposition and to increase tension, I want a female model to sit on a chair and look responsible for arranging the execution.This will attract more customers to view the magazine as they will want to know who the attacker is and the significance of the characters. Although the male model is standing behind the chair and appears to have some authority, evidently the female model sitting on the chair looks more powerful because she dominates the front cover in the foreground. The costume adheres to the typical gangster costume: tailored black suit, white shirt to emphasise his wealth. The female model is wearing a kimono which links in to our cultural theme and is symbolic of her wealth because kimonos are quite expensive. The background will be kept minimalistic but it will appear lavish and adorned in oriental style furniture.