Research of existing film magazines

It is important for me to gather as much information as I can from existing film magazines so as to help me create the best magazine cover I can. The target audience for my magazine must be the same as for the film it will feature, so the age group must range from 15yrs plus and be suitable for both genders. I have decided to create a magazine for all film and not just suited to one genre simplyt because this reflects my own interests and I think that is important.
The magazines I will look at are Empire, Film&Festivals and Total Film.
I have chosen these because they are some of the most popular magazines in the film genre in the UK and specifically Film&Festivals has a strong online presence, which again suits the target market of my product and embraces new technology and interests of the users.

Empire  
Empire is a monthy magazine which is the most popular magazine in the UK.

These three covers show how Empire has kept their designs consistant but also how they have changed over time. I have noticed that the shots used for the cover of Empire are not stills from the movie or photos taken at the time of filming, but studio set-up images taken in costume and make-up of the character, but the focus really is on the actor. This is an interesting perspective that I could use of my magazine cover, by using an image of the actor in character but almost 100% referring them to as the actor. This could also be a problem as my trailer does not feature well-known actors and these covers are star-driven but i think that aspects of this concept could work well.
Visit Empire Magazine Online

Film & Festivals
Film&Festivals magazine is based online in the format of a downloadable PDF file, e-book or alternatively a print version can be ordered. This is obviously key to their marketing strategy and represents the market they are targeting. I think it also shows that they have a key audience who buy and download their magazines and know where to find them, rather than picking one off of a shelf. This relates directly to the cover design, as it would not have to be eye-catching and compete with all other similar magazines on the market, The covers therefore can afford to be slighly more plain and not have to feature bold test, bright colours and catchy slogans etc.

These three examples of Film&Festival covers are all different in colour scheme but do all feature only one person in a mid-shot with focus on their face.
Visit Film&Festivals Magazine Online

Total Film
These covers