This issue of Total Film has a particularly interesting 'Inception' front cover, mainly because of the interesting backdrop behind the protagonist. The background is particularly interesting due to the juxtaposition between the active, exciting backdrop and the calm, still protagonist. Although some people would consider the stillness of the protagonist to be a negative attribute as it doesn't show off the action of the film, I think that in this case it is a very strong choice because the juxtaposition makes the character look a lot more suave. It makes the character look more at home in his surrounding and this creates an enigma as to in what world the film is based and who the character is. Of course part of the appeal of the character is that he is Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the most famous actors of the modern age, who is notorious for making good films. DiCaprio has been very careful with his film choice, and it is now well known that films with DiCaprio in are likely to be good films, not just because he's a good actor, but because he picks good films. In the marketing of 'Inception' the film could have easily run the risk of seeming like an unintelligent, manufactured Hollywood blockbuster with a lack of plot and an overdose of action. However just by having DiCaprio in the film all of these worries are put away, as he is never seen in films like those. In a way DiCaprio acts as the audience's good film guarentee. The director of the film - Christopher Nolan - could equally have sold the film with his name, as he is well known for making very good action films such as the 'Dark Knight Trilogy'. He has also proved himself as an intelligent filmmaker through 'Memento' and 'The Prestige'. Although these earlier films have for the most part been forgotten, they still serve as good advertisement to the select few who have seen them. It is mostly through the 'Dark Knight Trilogy' that Nolan has met significant fame and acclaim as they were widely watched and positively reviewed. This leads me to wonder why the front cover doesn't advertise the film with Nolan's name - his name isn't even mentioned on the poster. This is especially odd, as the readers of Total Film are exactly the sort of people who would ahve heard of his earlier works such as 'Memento', and the name 'Christopher Nolan' would sell even better in a film buff community. I think that this is one of the big problems of this poster; they seem to have missed a very powerful advertising asset.
Much of the font on the front cover is red to stand out from the rest of the font. On the right hand side there is a red plus sign, which is one of the conventions of the Total Film magazine to show the readers all the extras that the reader gets inside the issue. Just by having extras the magazine has a selling point, as it shows it is more than just an average magazine, but has more to offer. By making this sign red the magazine cover draws the attention of the viewer to the fact that there are extras to be had inside the magazine. This is what the red font does across the front cover - it almost takes the viewer on a tour of the front cover, dragging their eyes from one place to another to make sure that the viewer sees all the aspects the magazine has to offer. On the left hand side of the magazine, in this red font is written 'First Looks!', which makes the magazine look more prestigious as it is getting the first insight into all of the film business. In a way it is almost claiming to be the first to have the 'first looks', but in reality it simly means that first looks have been released and this issue of 'Total Film' investigates them. This is a very clever way of advertising - through telling half-truths - it doesn't ever tell a lie, but it exaggerates the truth and words it in different ways. At the top of the magazine is the line 'The Mind-Blowing Issue' and underneath the picture the words 'Mind-Blowing' are repeated again, and both times the font is in red. The magazine seems very keen to advertise the 'mind-blowing' aspect of the issue, and to show that this is a key part of what Inception is like. In the whole 'Inception' advertising campaign, the film was marketed as being a mind twister. Although in reality the film wasn't as complicated as it was made out to be, the advertising campaign still made many people come out of the cinemas saying that they found it confusing because they'd got it into their heads that it was. This then boosted all the reviews of the film, and heightened the prestige of Christopher Nolan as a clever director. All that comes back to the simple advertising as seen on this magazine front cover. The last piece of red font on this front cover is advertising the film 'Tron', and this is probably to show that the whole issue isn't solely about 'Inception', but there is a lot more to it. Even if people don't like 'Inception', they may still buy the magazine because it has information about 'Tron'.
In conclusion this is a very powerful magazine front cover, but then this can be expected as the film is relatively easy to sell simply through using Leonardo Dicaprio. The red font also sells the magazine well, as it draws the viewers' attention to parts of the magazine that the viewer may not have noticed before, but are all very good reasons why they should buy the magazine. In this analysis I haven't even got onto analysing the title of the magazine, which has been edited to look metallic and science-fiction-esque. The background to the protagonist is exciting and the juxtaposition between the actor and his backdrop make the front cover stand out.