Textual Analysis

The magazine I am analysing is called Empire. Empire is a British film magazine published monthly and it is the biggest selling film magazine in Britain, consistently outselling its nearest market rivals. As well as being published in Britain, it is also published in Australia, Turkey and Russia. The main purpose of a "film magazine" is to inform the target audience of the latest film releases in the cinema as well as on DVD. It will also entertain its audience by providing interesting information on the production of films as well as interviews from the stars.

• The masthead is shown in large black capital letters at the top of the magazine front cover, which stand out from the rest of the cover. The masthead has been placed behind the superimposed picture of The Joker, who is shown in a full body shot covering approximately 70% of the front cover. Having the masthead behind gives the illusion that the picture is almost jumping out from the page and makes the picture look more realistic to the reader.
• The feature article photograph is an action shot taken from the film "The Dark Knight". The Joker is shown slightly henched over staring straight at the camera. The whole background is taken up by a dark image of the city behind The Joker, where chaos has clearly taken place. There are sparks of fire and debris chaotically flying around behind The Joker giving the impression that a bomb has taken off in the city which we immediately assume is the work of the The Joker, this makes the reader feel as if they are actually part of The Dark Knight movie.
• The Joker is dressed in a long purple coat on top of a matching suit, his hair is scattered across his face which has been painted in the way of clown/joker. His eyes have been painted black, making them appear evil and deceptive and he has a smudge of red paint across his mouth, given the illusion of a distorted smile. In his right hand he is holding a gun, which is an immediate signifier that suggests he is a villain who has been killing people. His left hand is clenched in a tight fist position which is an obvious enigma code which suggest he is ready to fight.