Constructing a Magazine Film Review

There is a specific way to construct and layout a successful film magazine review page with certain technical conventions they have to meet. A good film magazine review must contain thefollowing conventions

• Section Title - This tells the audience the section of the magazine the review is in so they know where to refer back to if they want to revisit the review or find reviews of films monthly/weekly
• Headline - This is the large, main title of the article which grabs the readers attention and gives them an idea of what the article is about. This tends to be the name of the film or a catchy headline relating to the films genre or themes
• Strap Lines - The strap Line is the sub title of the article which comes under the headline and gives even more information on the film
• Subheadings/breakout paragraphs - This is in the centre of the article and is a short quote from the main text giving the reader a quick glance of a significant point of the article
• Columns - This is the way the article is layed out which is nice and presentably neat
• Pictures - This makes the article more interesting and attractive to the reader and tends to be a snapshot from a clip of the film
• Graphics and Logos - This is any extra images that has nothing to do with the film but more with the magazine
• Font and Typography - This is when the font and size of the text changes for a reason eg italics or a heading
• Breakout boxes - There at the side of an article and provides extra information on the film eg facts about the stars or other films that are like the one the article is on
• Call To Action - This is information given to the reader telling them where they can refer to for more information on the film and more movie reviews
• Byline - This is who wrote the article and tends to be at the beginning of an article in bold depending on how well known the journalist is
• Issue Info - this is the page number of the review

All of the different areas such as headline, subheading, introductions and main text differentiates from each-other by the way they are spaced out, the font and typography, the style and what it says. The images are selected and placed normally above the article or in the middle of the article so it grabs the readers attention and shows them a feel of what the film is like and the genre it takes. The images tend to be very big and clear with small ones at the side and also tend to be of the main stars in the film or a very significant and shocking scene. The house style is..... .

The mode of address is the relation between the reader and the article eg it could be formal, informal, academic, detailed, simple, funny etc and the review is based on the magazine it is in and the audience it has. All magazines have a variety of film reviews but they are all written and addressed to the target market audience of the magazine helping them to relate to the film and be attracted to it.

An example of a detailed magazine film review would be in the following order...

1. Introduces the film
2. Full synopsis
3. Discussion of Narrative Structure and Style
4. Academic References
5. Contextual Information
6. 'Summing Up'/Closure

This type of film review would be targeted at someone very intelligent and academic that looks at films as not a pleasure but as a form of art. Below is an example of a magazine film review with all of this conventions labeled