Research into magazine articles - film review

For this research task I have looked at several reviews from magazines and also from the Empire website to get an idea of the conventions of a film review and to see the typical layout of the page.

Empire
I have looked on the Empire website to look at recent reviews to help me create my own.

This is the link:
Film review for "Hanna"
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137215

The style of the Empire's review is that it mainly talks about the action within the film and making comparisons to other films that the director has produced as well as other films by other directors.

Empire starts off by giving a brief summary of the plot and then goes on to the review followed by the verdict and giving it a star rating.

I like the way that the review opens with the plot which immediately tells the reader about the film if they do not already know about it which is a feature I would like to include in my article as it immediately engages the film with the reader. I also like the way that in the "Review" section of the review, Empire has focused on explaining the character.

An aspect of the review that I do not like, is the section named "Review" as the main focus is of the story line and the action involved which is just amplification of the plot. Despite, Empire giving the film four stars, they do not critise the film enough and only include one paragraph (7th out of 8th paragraph) about how the camera shots fit the purpose and amply the subject matter.

Overall, I believe that it is a shame that the plot is the main focus of the review and that it would become a better review if more of the focus was on how the film was filmed and any improvements that could be made.

Layout
- The page is divided into three sections: Plot, Review and Verdict.
- The page contains a box with facts about the film in.
- The page contains one image of the main character.


Total Film 50
I have also looked at the "Total Film 50" magazine (issue 150, Date January 2009) to get inspiration as to how the articles are layed out and what features articles they have written include.

- On each of the reviews featured in the opening line of the text is the date that the film will be out. This is a good point to include as it is important to let the reader know when the film will be released.

Slumdog Millionaire
I have looked at the review for Slumdog Millionaire which got a four star review. The text begins with the release date for the film followed by a question which draws the reader into the review. The review then goes on to the explaining the plot and comparing it to other films. The review then ends by summing up the genre of the film and has a final paragraph named "In short" which summarises the opinion of the person that had written the review.

Summary:
- Each of the reviews has a box which states the raw facts of the film which is a convention I would like to follow.

- Each review has a star rating beneath the title.

- Underneath the title of the film reviewed, there is a tag line.

- The review is not critical towards the film which is a feature I would expect to see as the film only got a four star rating.

Layout
- This review is not a feature review and covers half an A4 page.
- The review shows the title, one picture, the rating of the film and a tag line.
- There is a box which contains facts about the film.
- The review is followed by the name of the person reviewing the film.

DVD and Blu-ray review
I have also looked at the "DVD and Blu-ray review" magazine (issue 148, December 2010 ) to get a better understanding of how a different magazine writes their reviews.

Toy Story 3
This review is the best review I have read so far as its main focus is not on the plot. The review mentions the history behind the film and talks about the plot but does not give a lot of attention to the individual events that make up the plot which I believe is important as it doesn't spoil the film for the reader. The review also critsises the film against the previous ones and also compares the technology (the quality of picture). The review then ends with the "Final word" which sums up the review.

Layout
The page is laid out with the title and the star rating of the film. The double page spread also contains many brightly coloured pictures which is very appealing.

Evaluation of task
Although the film reviews that I have looked at have not been of the same genre as my film, the conventions of the reviews will be the same. An improvement to the research of articles would be to look into a greater selection of reviews and look at films that have a similar genre to the film I will be making.

What have I learnt from this and what I would want to include in my own article?
By looking at these reviews, I have got an idea of how to structure the article ie starting with a summary of the plot, followed by the review then the verdict at the end to sum up the review which is a convention (seen in Empire and Total Film 50) that I would like to include in my own article. I also like that the website contains a box on the left hand side with the film details in which is good as it gives raw facts at just a glance (such as Directors name, running time, the cast, the certificate, the screenplay and the distributor - list found in Total Film 50).

I have also decided that I would like to focus more on how the film was made rather than the storyline within it. By not going in depth into the plot, I believe I would not be revealing too much information the reader who would want to go and see the film as I would not want to spoil it for them.