Deconstruction of review page

This page is from the review section from empire entitled “In Cinemas” which is situated in the top left corner of the page. However even though this is the first thing that the audience will see it is not entirely clear that this is a review page. The film title is in a bold black font so it is clear to the audience that this is the title. I think it is important that the title is the headline rather than a pun or a play on words making the topic of the text very clear. This means that anyone who is interested in seeing the film  or finding out more about the film will read this page

 The use of red’s is key in Empire as it also links to the front page. Red has become a recognizable feature of Empire’s house style and creates both continuity and a brand signature. This is effective in delivering key information in a eye-catching way so audiences do not have to read the whole review. 

Also there is a lot of use of bold fonts, in the strap line and the key quote from the review.  The strap line is effective as it references “Rogen and Franco”. This naming of the actors will help to draw in more readers as blockbuster actors are almost like institutions and just the mention of their name is enough to create interest amongst fans. The naming of famous actors can also be seen as a grantee of quality as they are implicitly associated with other successful and popular films.

The  bold quote is also interesting as the reviewer says that the film is: “extremely silly, yet the leads make it ring true”. This is a balanced point that shows the reviewer is looking at both its strengths and weaknesses. This is important as it tells the reader the reviewer is being fair and their feedback can therefore be trusted.

The bold writing also makes it easier to read and delivers information to the audience on the sections of the piece. Sections are also identified in this piece by the use of red lines, this creates continuity with the theme of red seen throughout the piece and is effective in showing the key parts in the article. 

The large picture used on the right is a dramatic way to deliver information on the film to the audience, especially how the characters gaze appears to be to the article itself. 

One of the main conventions of a review page is that the picture is the biggest thing on the page and the image is normally a still from the film rather than a posed publicity shot. I plan to use both of these conventions when creating my own review page as images are an effective way of communicating information about narrative, plot and characterization. The use of stills also better helps the reader picture what the actual film being reviewed is like.

The article starts with key information about the film that the audience would be interested in, e.g. institutions like cast and director. The “look closer” section situated in the lower right corner of the article delivers to the audience trivia information about the film that the audience may be interested in to persuade them to watch the film. These institutions and this trivia makes it clear that this review is aimed at serious film fans who follow directors and genres, rather than just passing film viewers who may be happy to read much less detailed reviews in magazines and newspapers.  

The “verdict” section at the bottom being in bold delivers to the audience that this is the key section in the article how it stands out against the other font. The star rating is a common convention in all review pages and acts as a simple and effective way to deliver the journalists view on the film without having to read the whole article. 

I had wanted to look closely at the review page of an art house film magazine but I have found it hard to find a art house film magazine. Despite this, this deconstruction has given me lots of ideas about some of the conventions of this style of page that can be used when I create my actual review page. I will use a theme of bold black and red fonts to make sure there is a flow of continuity throughout both of my magazine products. The use of “In cinemas” as the title of the articles I believe is an ineffective way of delivering the information to the audience, they may believe that it is a feature article not a review, so when considering a name for my article I would choice something clearer such as “Review.” I like the “Look closer” section because I believe this could be a way to get the readers to buy issues because they want to find out more information like this about the film. The large picture is a key convention that is seen in many review pages and definitely something I would have to include. I would definitely follow the 5 star review system as this is a key convention seen in review pages.