Magazine analysis - Clash Of The Titans

This is a double page film review of Action, Adventure fantasy film Clash of the Titans by Empire magazine, who I have already established as one of the biggest and most popular British film magazine publishers. Clash Of The Titans is a film based on Greek mythology about the son of Zeus who must save the world by battling epic monsters and travelling far (fairly generic stuff for a fantasy film).

The film is based of ancient Greek mythology as such the spread is themed in an epic style with a fantasy look to it. The first part that stands out is the title of this review "Gods and Monsters" although this is not the title of the film the phrase sums up the narrative of the film, God and monsters being the two main aspects in the film. The typography it's styled in has a "Gothic" look to it, mixed in with a dark bronze colour which all links in with the fantasy genre and conventions. This style of text is also seen in the initial starting the paragraphs adding to the Gothic look of the review. Interestingly the word "God" is presented over the gloomy dark background, whilst the word "Monster" is presented over a clean white background, both words are incorporated with backgrounds that juxtapose their meanings. This might link to the narrative.

The picture of the left presents the main protagonist show at a long shot in which his mise en scene is very typical for something you'd expect to see in a mythological style fantasy action film. His costume consists of ancient antiquity battle armor with the muscle shaped torso and leg guards and vambraces, all things commonly associated with a Greek mythological hero. However the dark colours of it subvert this stereotype, you'd expect a "hero" figure to be wearing bright gilded colours to represent his heroism and good intentions, the dark of this man's armor present him as a different type of hero. He has two props, firstly a full sack. This is shown in the film poster to add a hint of mystery as the audience will question what it's contents are. In the other hand he's gripping an odd sort of scaly shield that would excite a fantasy fan as it associates with mythical beings like dragons.

There is a second image presented in the center of the spread, unlike the primary image this one is a still from the film and it hints to the audience a bit more of the narrative. In it you can see the protagonist sneaking around with a rather abnormal looking robed figure towering over him. The scene chosen creates more questions then answers for the audience and would encourage them to see the film. In the corner of the image there is a small description that reveals a piece of the narrative to tempt the audience.