Textual Analysis of a Film Magazine

Above is the front page of the film magazine, Empire, featuring a far shot of Heath Ledger as the popular Batman series icon the Joker, sitting on a bench in what seems to be a cell. He has an evil, yet smug, expression on his face. Aside from the logo, the magazine is mostly dominated by the colour scheme green and pink, which is similar to the colour scheme of Joker’s clothing, and this helps support the fact that he has taken over this edition of the Empire magazine.

There are connotations that lie beneath the colours used for this edition of Empire. The colour green works well to express the character of the Joker, as in this case it could connote sickness – reflecting his sadistic nature, and mold – reflecting everything he touches as disgusting. This strongly contrasts the colour pink as, although the colours work well visually, pink commonly connotes femininity, affection and tends to be non-threatening. This could be the reason why the colour green overtakes pink, as it is more noticeable on the magazine cover. Nevertheless, both these colours clash with the subtle colour scheme of red, black and white that is present as a result of the magazine masthead, cover lines and the background.

The main coverline of the magazine reads: ‘Meet The Joker’, which works as an introduction to the character. It has quite a punk-like grungy font, and is a combination of both serif and sans serif, possibly expressing both the jokey and the serious side of the Joker – the overall colour of the text being green summarises him as being sick. Underneath this reads: ‘One-on-one with Batman’s new nemesis!’, which suggests maybe an interview featured in the magazine. This being in the regular white italic font that Empire uses may be representing the fact that the magazine is entering Joker’s world, as it is surrounded by paint and irregular text.

There’s also text running across him in a scratched, trash-like font, reading: ‘He’s a cold blooded, mass murdering clown!’. The paint in the background, which has a pink colour, opposes the negative description of Joker.

The title for the magazine, Empire, could suggest that they are the leading magazine for all film news and updates. It could also be an anagram for premiere, suggesting they are the first to go to for the latest in the film industry.