Research and Planning: Magazine Analysis 'Empire'

Empire: The Hobbit Cover

Genre

From the image we have been given, there are a few genres that spring to mind. The first is quite obviously fantasy, which we can tell by the CGI of 'Gollum' who is a fantastical creature made from the novel by J.R.R Tolkein. We can also see Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, another made up character from the novel who is what we call a 'Hobbit'. We can see from the costumes of the two characters that it is not normal, Bilbo's outfit is bizarre, but the dark maroon colour gives off a feeling of royalty in which I think ties in nicely with the golden font that Empire have used. I think we can also get a feel of the genre being fantasy by the prop that Bilbo is holding which is a long sword, which we only see in films of such genre. Another genre that comes into mind is that of horror or thriller, I think that this is because of the facial expression that we can see Gollum pulling. Much like the Magazine Draft that I created with the girl in the front and the clown in the back, I think that this is a good way to see what it would look like.

Representation

The first thing that we notice as an audience is the fact that the two characters in the image are both male (or male creature) which suggests to the audience that it might be a male gendered film. Also suggesting that the film might be for men. The main character Bilbo who we see here at the forefront of the magazine looks quite like an un-stereotypical male 'damsel in distress'. His facial expression seems distressed, much like a damsel would be, and he looks quite scared. This could be showing the audience that he goes through some kind of trauma which makes it interesting and might also draw in a more female audience as they might feel pathos for the scared Bilbo. He is also dressed in a very regal manner, which gives off the representation that he is an important character to the film, and I also do like the way it ties in with the gold font. The representation of Gollum is that of a negative nature as we see he is in the background of the image and is pulling a sinister expression, suggesting to the audience that he is a 'bad' character, or the rival of the protagonist. He also seems to blend in with the pale blue colour that they have used which could be showing us that he is a shadowy character and not to be trusted.

Narrative

The film 'The Hobbit' is set in an old fantasy land in which the main character Bilbo goes on a quest with a wizard called Gandalf and a group of dwarves. I think that the magazine does well to create synergy around the film. The first thing we see is the large bold golden letters of 'the Hobbit' which is in a Times New Roman font which can sometimes be seen as quite posh and proper. Because the film is connected to the previous series of 'the Lord of the Rings' I think that the magazine does well to show that this film is very much connected and will be what the audience have been waiting for. The props used, Bilbo's sword, suggest to the audience the time period in which the film is set as we do not see these swords being used in modern day. The tagline 'an Unexpected Journey' gives the audience an idea on what the film is about and shows through the genre of Fantasy and Adventure, which will appeal to many audiences.

Audience

The first thing that we know as an audience which is quite obvious is that the Hobbit is connected to the film series Lord of the Rings, which is a very famous fantasy series created from a novel by J.R.R Tolkein. This in itself has already created an audience and a synergy surrounding the film as the audience from the previous films will have been waiting for this new series to come out. I think considering the front image that Empire have used, it could be suggesting to the audience that it is more of a male audience. However I believe that because the films are such a massive franchise there is quite a large audience including quite young children, taking into consideration that the first film's certificate is also PG which means that basically anyone can watch it.

Media Language

I think that the layout of the magazine is very structured and it doesn't look too busy. I think that this is because the magazine is doing a special edition considering the Hobbit. The Masthead is the same font that the magazine uses on every issue, creating a similar atmosphere and making sure that the audience knows it is the same magazine. I think that by making the Masthead's font the same golden colour as the rest of the titles and subtitles ties in nicely with the 'three colour rule' as magazines try to stick to some kind of structure to make sure that it does not look too busy and mismatched. We can see that the magazine is doing a special for the Hobbit by the positioning statement which on this issue is 'The Shire's Biggest Movie Magazine' which is ironic and amusing to the Hobbit's audience. The Shire is the land in which the Hobbits live, and it could be seen as ironic because the Shire is set in an old period and will not have Movie Magazines, I think that this is a clever device by the magazine to make it look funny, and it will show the audience that they know what they are talking about because they know some of the place names from the film.