Inception (directed by Christopher Nolan) was, no doubt, the most
successful psychological thriller film of 2010. An entire $100 was spent on
marketing the film before its release, and it appeared on various magazine
covers.
These two magazine
covers have lots of similarities and differences. Both of them have a very
similar layout, in that the masthead is located at the top (behind the head of
the lead character), the barcode in the bottom right hand corner, the
protagonist in the centre of the page with text on both sides and the way in
which this character appears to us. Although many of the features are
incredibly similar, the effect these different techniques have is quite
different. There is much more shadow being cast across Leonardo DiCaprio's
character on the Total Film cover, creating a deeper sense of mystery and
secrecy. This low key lighting suggests sadness, and although there are
elements of this on the Empire cover, Total Film have made this one of their
main selling points. The background of this cover is a darker blue, meaning the
whole mise-en-scene is quite dark, whereas the background of the Empire
magazine is a much lighter blue, which makes the shadowed character stand out
more.
Leonardo
DiCaprio's character is wearing a dark suit in both images, which is
stereotypical of the genre. It is very conventional for thriller/action films
to have a white male as the protagonist, so using this character to advertise,
it attracts people who are interested in this genre of film (as well as the
pre-determined audience already established by the mentioning of Christopher
Nolan). The suit is worn by this character to represent who he is - suits are
associated with business, intelligence and importance. This suggests that
whatever is happening in the film is this character's job, and that he takes it
seriously (from the expression on his face). Although both covers show a medium
long shot, the angle from which the photo for Empire has been taken from is
much lower, representing the protagonist as powerful and dominant. In the Total
Film cover, the photo has been taken from a much higher angle, which is
actually looking down on him and makes him seem weak/in danger.
Empire has
marketed Inception as "the new Christopher Nolan film", and Total
Film have marketed it as a psychological thriller. Both covers feature Leonardo
DiCaprio on in role as the character he plays in the film (rather than being an
interview with him as himself), though neither mentions the fact that he
stars in it nor use that fact to sell it. Both covers create a sense of mystery
and intrigue the readers.
