The purpose of a film reviewIs to criticize the film. It helps by letting the audience know what points were good or bad about the film, and whether or not it is worth spending time or money to watch. Within film reviews it also has a secondary purpose of entertaining its audience. Therefore there is a layout to make it look visually appealing for the audience to read and the review itself can often contain comic aspects to keep the reader entertained.

For my second ancillary product have chosen to create a film review, based on my short film I have created. Therefore here I am analyzing double page spread that consist of a film review that will help me create my own my understanding the codes and conventions used to help create it.

The picture has connotations of conflict in the image presented by the emotions of the characters. The mise-en-scene element of costume give narrative clues of the genre of film being about pirates. Once again the use of Jonny Depp being placed closer to the camera it emphases that he is the protagonist character. The emotions of the character emphases the genre of the film been an action.

Headline of film, introducing the article.

Star rating choices of film

Tagline – that follows a house style of the colours of black and yellow

Feature headline – bold lettering emphasizes that is the the most important aspect that the audience should notice when they first read the article

Fact file of film incorporation of more images

“Movie of the month” image – use of red, another colours used to contrast the housestyle

Black text box and yellow text – separation within article

Graphs incorporated to show statistics

Horizontal integration – website

Large full page photograph

Star rating of film (3 stars)

For the title of the article the font used has connotations of the genre of the film being a mystery/drama

The image as well as the title helps create the genre of the film to the reader. The use of this character been strapped up has connotations of restriction and the emotion of the character emphasis his fear. The colour white is symbolic as it emphasis innocence which gives an idea to the reader that this character is the victim of the thriller.

The house style on this double page spread review consists of mainly black and white which are iconic colours for the themes in the film. These colours help portray the mystery and the dark elements.

There is use of drop capitals which helps the audience understand where the begin of the article is, making it more apparent compared to the rest of the text.

The image taking up the largest amount of space on the page helps he audience understand the narrative of the film. This specific image will probably be a still from the film that is associated with the climax.

The layout of the film only consists of a small amount of writing, however all the writing it broken apart. As well as having the main body of text on the right hand side of the page there is only a pull quote in bold. The use of the pull quote would be something the audience would be interested in as it is directly from cast/crew from the film. Also within the layout of the film there is page numbers and the magazine title.

There is also one other image beside the main one, also a still from the film (Kiera Knightly). Her position in the photo suggest she is one of the main characters in the film, as she is positioned further forward then the male. The use of this image could also be a way of advertising the film as Kiera Knightly is a Hollywood film star.

Rectro PageVerso Page

Pull Quote

Page number/Magazine Title

Gutters in between paragraphs of writing

Release information

Title of film

Feature headline Caption on the

photograph – anchorage

Photo still from the film

Main body of text – san serif font

First few words bolder then the other

Star rating

There is a consistent house style presented all the way through – the colours black, white and red.

The picture has connotations of conflict in the image presented by the emotions of the characters. By the male character being positioned further forward and taking up most of the frame it is obvious that he is the protagonist character. The use of mise-en-scene element of the costumes (boxing gloves) he is presented as masculine and strong.

The use of this photograph taking up the entirety of the page emphasises his importance within the film. It suggests that he is the protagonist character. As it is also captioned with ‘steely Dan’ there are narrative clues to what may happen or what this character is like and portrayed throughout the film. The use of him using a direct gaze creates a personal boundary with the reader of the article.

The other use of images within the article give connotations of the film been an action. Also the use of the actor ‘Daniel Craig’ been a stereotypical actor for action films helps the target audience of the film make their own judgment of whether to watch it.

The house style within the article is mainly the colours black and white. This would be associated with an action film as it is present within the images that the mise-en-scene element of costume is him wearing a suit, which are also the same colours. The minute use of red is used on the important sections on the magazine that are wanted to be seen from a distance.

There is the use of a drop capital to indicate the beginning of the article. It is apparent even from a distance that the majority of the article is an interview due to the paragraphing and bold lettering at the beginning of each paragraph. The use of Daniel Craig predominantly in all the images suggests that the interview is with him.

The colours used on this article are bland, with mainly the use of black and white. The use of the red button on the page makes it appear very prominent due to the lack of bright colours on the rest of the article.

The title of the film along with the rating to clarify to the target audience

There is a clear separation of the body of text to help break it down into section, there is the release information in it’s own paragraph and then below is the plot of the film. The main article takes up the majority of the left hand side of the page, with a pull quote directly in the middle, in bold, large black lettering. The pull quote is often a quote from an interview with the cast members or a review quote on the film. In this case it is a review on the film. This would be useful for the target audience reading this as it is a positive quote, which would attract them into watching the film.

The colours on the page consist of black, red, blue and white. The specific colours of black and red are colours associated with thriller films which helps to reinforces the genre of the film. The colours white and blue help to contrast these colours the stick with the house style of the magazine.

Though the setting of the image is in daylight the empty place connotes isolation. The connotations help the audience to understand the genre of the film been a thriller. Along with the female character placed on the floor and the dull colours it helps to reinforces the genre of the film. The female character is taking the role of the ‘damzel in distress’ being the victim in the film with is stereotypical in thrillers for blonde females.

The caption includes humor for the reader“Billy and Kate’s ride through the tunnel of love didn’t end well.” and is anchorage for the image.

At the top of the article page is the word ‘Screen’ which is a word associated with the ‘cinema’ letting the audience reading this aware that it is a film review. Underneath is the rating statistics of how they rate the films. Therefore the verdict at the bottom of the page displays that it is a film worth watching.