How is Star Image Used

Today I have looked at how important the image of the star is on a magazine cover in the means of promoting a film. This means, how influential is a picture of a big film star on the front of a magazine such as 'Total Film' when promoting a film. For example below you can see magazine covers, one with Megan Fox and one with Chris Pine.

Personally, I would say that Megan Fox is more widely known than Chris Pine. This means when people see her on the cover of a magazine they will be interested in what she has been involed in; less so to do with Chris Pine. However, this does not mean that they cannot be interested in a magazine with a relatively low key star on the front. People are attracted to these things in different ways. For example if a guy sees a good looking girl on a cover and he doesn't know her name, it wont stop him from being interested in the magazine.

Magazines tend to use either good looking people or very well known people on their covers. This is because if there is an actor that is relatively new to the screens and they are good looking then they can be placed on the front of the magazine as a 'New Talent' article promotion. If they are well known then people will see them on the cover and be interested in what their latest project is, regardless of how kind they are to the eye.

When we do our front cover I think that the most important thing that we need to focus on is getting the person to have the right facial expression to give across the mood that the film is trying to deliver. For example if the person is smiling but the film is a horror then the mood that you are delivering to your audience doesn't match the intentions of the film.

Here are 2 covers of Total Film magazine that display just how important setting the mood is.

This cover for inception is obviously a dark and serious film. It is helped by the effect on the title as it is complex looking and with the different shading on the title it adds to the depth of it. Using an actor that has previously done dark complicated projects adds to the mystery and interest.

This cover promoting 'Valkerie' shows a very well known actor with a very well known military suit, giving the audience an idea of what its about. Also it comes across as a very smart, crisp military film. This is helped by the title font being simple and clear.