A2R

1. Codes and conventions
Review magazines

2. Photo
A common convention of film review magazines is
to have a still of the film involving one of more
characters (that doesn’t give away the plot) which
takes up a third to a half of the total review space.
This is done primarily to grab the viewers
attention and draw them in when looking through
the magazine. The picture is always situated at
the top of the page. This photo stereotypically
uses Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ where by the audience
are forced to see the world as men see the world.
The women are seen as objects and violence is a
everyday thing.

3. Examples

4. Title
Another convention is to have the film title on
the picture itself, usually in white text. We saw
before white text was used in the posters as it
stands out. The title may also help to aid
drawing the viewer in as the title is normally
intriguing and is placed there to emphasise
the importance of the title and film itself.

5. Examples

6. Quotes and lines
Another convention is that within the block of text
there is a quote. It is usually larger than the rest of the
text in a different colour and is interesting. Therefore
this sudden dose of large colour draws the viewers
eye straight to it when turning to the page, so this
piece of text is crucial to enticing the audience and to
encourage them to read the whole article. (red)
As well as quotes to break up the main body of text,
the magazines also use coloured lines to make the
overall aesthetic of the page more appealing instead
of just having a monochromatic presentation. (blue)

7. Examples

8. Star Rating And Branding
Two things we have found almost mandatory within
the film review pages of a magazine is; the star
rating, out of five, as well as the magazine branding.
The star rating can be used for a quick check to see if
the film is worth watching without needing to read the
whole review and to see the critics final opinion. This
makes the page worth looking at to anyone possibly
interested with the film. (red)
The magazine branding is, practically always, found
in the top left or right of the page in a small block of
colour. A piece of the magazine style on every page,
a consistent marking to keep the magazine together.
(blue)

9. Examples

10. Content
We found that the review should describe
the story, characters and some of the
action - without spoiling the plot or giving
too much away (otherwise there would be
not point in seeing the film). It should,
however, give the writers own opinion of
the film and whether they recommend for
the audience to watch.

11. Language
The language of a film review magazine is
based upon the magazine itself. If the
magazine is targeted at film buffs, it will use
more formal language and terminology
associated with the film industry. Where as if
the magazine is targeted more towards the
general public to inform; the language will be
less formal and written to create a rapport
with the reader. Usually the reviewer adds
their own style and wit to make the read more
fun and make their review stand out more.

12. Examples (Taken from the internet for easier
reading)
It's a rare moment of visual
imagination in a film that
generates most of its humour
from sex and bathroom jokes.
-Slant Magazine
Where that film positioned Poehler
as the goofball to Fey’s more
tightly wound protagonist, “Sisters”
puts its leading ladies on a more
equal footing, with several
narrative reversals cannily shifting
the script’s zanier comic demands
between them.
-Variety Magazine
Its most colourful trappings are its
two stars: long time comedy
collaborators, friends, awards co-
hosts and book buddies, Amy
Poehler and Tina Fey. The first
ladies of US sketch comedy have
established a finely-calibrated
chemistry that causes quibbles
with the architectural strength of
Sisters to shrink in significance
-Little White Lies
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have
almost definitely had stronger
showcases on Saturday Night
Live, not to mention their
respective brilliance on 30
Rock and Parks and Recreation.
And we’ve seen the Watch-this-
party-get-out-of-control! plotline
at the mulitplex many times
before
-Entertainment Weekly
Sisters is the kind of broad
feelgood comedy that’s made
to look easy by Poehler and
Fey, who breeze through the
funny test and the Bechdel
test and show that the
female-female dynamic, so
recently considered almost
gravitationally impossible in
comedy, works very well.
-The Guardian
Much of the humour here
(ornaments stuck up rectums,
jokes about defecation and
masturbation) is very base,
indeed. What makes Sisters
seem so fresh and funny, in spite
of its recycling of old gross-out
gags, is the sly wit of Paula Pell’s
screenplay.
-The Independent
All reviews are for the
film, ‘Sisters’
(Hyperlink to Wikipedia)

13. Columns
The number of columns used in the review
page of the magazine depends on the rest
of the magazine; and will follow that
conventions. It seems the most common
conventions of columns is 4. This allows
one column for information of the film;
such as actors, a synopsis and other basic
information. This leaves three other
columns for the review.

14. Examples