Atonement Magazine Analysis

 

This magazine is portraying one of my chosen drama films is a very erotic way.  The main image is not a capture from the film so is suggesting and alternative sultry tone in contrast to the traditional World War romance which is depicted in the trailer and poster.  Keira Knightly’s bare back and wet hair with James McAvoy’s arm around her waist conforms to Laure Mulvey’s theory of the Male Gaze- where women are objectified for sex. This appeals to a more adult and male audience rather than an audience who want to watch a World War 2 based period drama.   This links to the tagline ‘Atonement Is Heating Up the Race’ emphasising the theme of sex in the film. The main image covers the majority of the masthead to make it stand out and make a large impression on the reader.

The dark, green and white colour scheme compliments Keira Knightly’s famous emerald green dress and dark hair. This makes her very desirable and as she is directly looking into the camera the readers’ eyes are instantly drawn to her beauty.  This means for this magazine cover the main selling point of this film is Keira Knightly and her passionate relationship instead of the war or the pivotal character ‘Bryony’. Thus again this attracts a male audience who may have not been interested with the period drama aspect, heavily focussing on the physical side of the couples love.

This edition of Entertainment Weekly is focussing on the Oscars. The main cover line ‘Will The Oscars Happen?’ and ‘Oscar Preview’ flash adopt a gossip spin on the film event. The rhetorical question grabs an audience’s attention as a cancellation of the Oscars would have very negative impacts on the Hollywood film Industry.  The main cover line and tagline underneath build the anticipation for the Oscars. The language in the tagline ‘Atonement is Heating up the Race’ intrigues a potential audience to want to go and watch the film as the language is very effective in marketing the film as a very big deal.   The Oscars awards films of a mainstream nature so the reader is instantly informed the origin of the films featured in the magazine are large conglomerates. This is supported by the smaller cover lines in the left third e.g. ‘Terminator’ and ‘Tom Cruise.’

By not having any smaller graphics or puffs the main pull factors of this edition is evidently the ‘Oscars’ and ‘Atonement’ as these are two major events that would have large coverage on each. 

 

 

 

Similarly this article markets the film with Keira Knightly as the focal selling point. The tone for this article is much more sophisticated than the Entertainment Weekly but it still displays Knightly in a very desirable and attractive way. This shows that most media texts advertising this film use the star members of cast to promote the film rather than the directors or more minor characters like alternative film magazines.  The two dramatic film captures used as the images encompass eerie mist or crystal clear reflections to give it more of a professional cinematic experience. The article is kept very simplistic with straight edges and limited headings such as ‘the costumes’ in lower case to compliment the stylish impression of the magazine. This means the reader is drawn to the stunning pictures and attracts a reader who is more interested in the production of a film rather than the physical relationship that becomes a turning point in the plot of the film.