Magazine Cover - Composition Planning

MAGAZINE COVER COMPOSITION PLANS:

To prepare for the Magazine cover which I need to create, I thought I'd create some rough drawings to outline what the magazine may look like and help me understand better how the photographs should be taken. I will be the one posing in the photograph for the cover.

I Decided to call my Magazine 'ECHO'. There was no particular reason for this name, I just thought I shouldn't spend a long time thinking about something such as this, and besides, the word echo has relevant connotations as it implies notions of 'Rumour' 'Unreleased Information' and 'Leaks', which is what this magazine would be, since it is along side a teaser trailer. This would come out very early on, perhaps at the start of a 6-month marketing campaign.

Composition Plan 1:

What I like about this set-up is the Medium Close Up, it shows us who the character is, and therefore Actor, who for now will be Dubbed 'James Craig' - Star of the Movie.

Also I think the title 'REQUIEM' should be used in the actual Font of the franchise, with the glowing 'Q' and spaced out lettering in 'Simplified Arabic' Font.

From studying the Magazine Sources by 'Total Film' I thought the logo for the Magazine, 'ECHO' in this case, makes the magazine look more professional if it is placed behind the head of the character. I will try to do this when I make the magazine.








Composition Plan 2:

This Magazine is very similar to the first one in terms of layout - the 'ECHO' logo placed behind the head of the character. However, I wanted this to be in Medium Shot of the protagonist so as to give more chance to show something happening in the background, which is why it shows the 'SHARDS' of the alien craft breaking up in the sky behind him. Also he has a helmet and a rifle.

The problem with this is that I felt it showed too much about the world and I wanted to keep it vaguer since it is only a teaser reveal.

I took inspiration from the 'Total Film' Magazines and some separate 'Empire' Magazines which led me to add the circular label on the cover which informs the reader there is an exclusive look at the films Concept Art. I chose this as the alternative to an interview with cast or crew members because I have am actually working on some real concept art which I may use as the poster for the film.



Composition 3:

This composition was meant to look more minimalist in comparison to the previous one however it didn't turn out that way. Again it shows the shards falling through the sky except instead has a reflection in a pool with ripples in beneath the 'REQUIEM' title showing the 'AFTER' state of the world as opposed to the day the disaster happened. In the bottom half the place is a wasteland and the wrecks of the shards scatter the landscape.

I think I will keep the phrase 'Angus Bentham's Requiem' on the magazine because it is short and catchy, like for 'James Cameron's Avatar'. Also the title has the signature font and glowing 'Q'.

The long-shot looks good in this, however I think that Close-Ups of faces are more powerful on Magazine Covers as opposed to Landscapes.





Composition Plan 4:

This cover has been more developed than the others. It is similar to the first one except tha the character is looking into the lens, and therefore at 'you'. He again has the ammo belt and the dagger, two props which are shown in an earlier post. I think this would look good if photographed with high contrast lighting and heavy shadows over the eyes - making it look more enigmatic. The background, would have a repeating pattern on, most likely of interlocking hexagons, these would not be brightly coloured and would instead act as part of the background, if the colour of the background is too vibrant it may push the character into the background which would not look as effective as if he seemed to be the closer feature on the cover.

Again, this design has the circular 'EXCLUSIVE' sticker on and also a logo for 'Midnight Pictures' a logo which I really like the look of. Lastly, I will  have small paragraphs of text strategically placed on the cover in areas which seem too blank.