Empire Magazine is one of the world’s biggest film magazines. This instalment is the December 2015 issue and features the film ‘Suicide Squad’ as the cover image. Suicide Squad is an upcoming comic book adaption and would fit into the action/thriller genre. My film isn't very similar to Suicide Squad - however, I chose to look at this cover as it is a similar style to the one that I would like to create. I also like the idea of having ‘multi-covers’ which feature different characters which entries readers to buy them all - this may be an idea I decide to go with for my magazine. The magazine features ‘World First’ which is also something I would like to include - the magazine would be a ‘World First’ look at my film. I like how the colour scheme reflects the appearance of the character - the blue and pink filters match the colour of the characters hair. For my magazine, I would like the colours that I use to compliment the image that I have as well. The colour pink connotes playfulness and femininity which suggests the traits of the character. This ‘feminine’ tone isn't usually used on covers for Empire Magazine as their audience are mainly males. This shows that the magazine is willing to break convention for a film that they believe will have strong sales. This is similar to the idea that Empire rarely have thrillers or horrors as their cover film - they may choose to break convention if it brings exclusivity and more sales. The colour blue connotes strength and importance which also suggests that these may be traits of the character. I really like how this cover uses colours that don’t just compliment each other but relate to the character that is featured. I also like that the background image is like a setting from the film/where the character would be located - I am thinking of including something similar for my magazine. For example, if I was to use to killer as my cover star, I would have them standing in a dark alley which would be a suitable location. This particular magazine breaks typical codes and conventions of magazines - usually, the barcode is on the right just underneath the masthead. Empire have likely broke this convention for this issue so the image is not disrupted. Even though this issue is heavily about ‘Suicide Squad’, it does feature on the cover other movies - this is something that I do not want to do - my magazine will only feature sell-lines about the film and no others. I believe this will make it even more like your typical ‘special’ and will put all of the readers attention on my film. An example of a similar cover which doesn't mention any other films is shown below. The other films that are featured are all very different to Suicide Squad - it has become a belief that comic book adaptions are predictable, cheesy and of an ‘ok quality’ - they’re not groundbreaking. However, by putting Suicide Squad on the cover of an issue where the ‘Oscars Preview’ is mentioned - it suggests that the quality of the film may be higher and there may be something different about it. This contrast helps both the film and the magazine - the film because people may believe it as an awards contender as it is the cover of the ‘Oscars Preview’ and the magazine because it targets a wider audience - both fans of comic book movies and fans of high quality, acclaimed films. Even though I originally thought that I would rather produce a magazine that only features my film, the issue and film may be more successful if other films are mentioned. This may benefit a film in the horror/thriller genre as they also don’t have the best reputation so associating it with awards contenders may make people think more fondly of the film and may be more likely to pay the money for a ticket and give it a go. This issue of Empire was released as 4 different issues with 4 different cover stars. In this particular cover, the cover star is Margot Robbie who hasn’t really had any big roles so to most readers, she would be unknown to them. My film does not feature any big name talent so the emphasis will be on character and story rather than the actor. Robbie is posed in quite a flirtatious, cheeky and playful way. This may attract male readers to this franchise and make them overcome the generally feminine theme (the pink colouring). Within the main image, weapons are used - a gun and baseball bat. This creates a theme of violence and connotes that the character could be from an action or thriller type film. However, for my magazine, I will not be including weapons on the front cover so this isn't a feature I will be using. The character’s top says ‘Daddy’s Monster’ which suggests that she is under the power of another character (similar to Frankenstein and his monster). Empire Magazine also uses numerous different fonts throughout the cover - the company logo, the main headline and the skyline. The Empire logo is always in the same style for each issue which creates a house style - audiences can easily recognise the Empire brand. The 3 different font types help to differentiate the different topics.