We designed the film review as to relate to the style of Moviescope magazine, I attempted to re-create the contemporary layout and modernistic approach that Moviescope inspire. Our text was written to represent the style of Moviescope's texts, complex and detailed but expressionist and passionate as well as opinionated
and balanced. Both presenting the positives and the negatives with no biased approach.
Film review analysis from Moviescope magazine
These reviews are taken from the media magazine, Moviescope. In comparison to empire magazine the layout is far more contemporary. I think it makes the magazine look a lot more professional and easier to follow. Though the bolder text and star reviews aren't as obvious as in the empire reviews, they are still moderately obvious, though subtle I think the star rating at the bottom of the page gives the review an overall professional quality.
Another element to the design of the page is the large font at the top saying 'theatrical'. I think drawing the audiences attention to the top at first instances works well because then the eye is led to working down the page, in a linear fashion. In addition I think the use of the word theatrical instead of film adds to the professionalism of the piece.
A like to the empire pieces all Moviescope reviews have a generalised summary of the production in
question. Discussing things such as stars, budget, directors and dates etc. where I said the summary is helpful in Empire magazines its even more helpful in Moviescope reviews as the text is in a lot greater detail and a lot more focused on the complexity of the Lexis. In relation to the Lexis and in comparison to Empire texts, the Moviescope reviews have a lot more passion in the writing style, it feels like the author has actually considered certain elements such as why a specific angle was used for a shot etc.
As the audience its obvious the reviewer has paid a lot more attention to detail, rather than feeling like its a discussion with a friend it is noticeable that it is a professional whom is talking and a professional whom is offering their opinion. Another aspect to consider within the review is how much opinion is subjected to the audience, in Empire reviews the opinion of the reviewer really doesn't seem to be apparent however due to the passion in the text Moviescope pieces present a lot of opinion. There doesn't appear to be any sort of tone to the text, just a lot of the time its more appreciation. It seems there isn't much in the way of criticism, the line between a bad film and a good film in Moviescope's eyes is limited, its incredibly apparent through the text when they think a film is bad and vice versa. Good film reviews in Moviescope are written poetically and passionately, expressing opinions on every detail and balancing out the right with the blunders but with no spiteful tone more just a logical voice.
Additional film review analysis from Empire magazine
This film review is also taken from empire magazine, in comparison to the review below its apparent the use of graphology has been focused on a lot more in this review. This image and tag line draw attention almost instantly somewhat drawing attention away from the text. The title and tag line stand out as they are layered on top of the image and in bold white writing. Further down into the text there is a quotation taken from the text itself. This quotation, in a way, summarises the reviews theme and opinions.
The review still has the small summary above the main review text alike to the one below which I think is effective because it allows the reader to gather an initial opinion about what the film is about and other particular facts that dont particularly relate to the text in a reviewers sense, it makes the text somewhat separated from the general topic of the text.
Again the actual language and tone used by the reviewer takes on a satirical form, mocking elements and slip ups rather than focusing on the actual plot and giving a useful view to the film. In this review the focus is a lot on the fact the film stars Mel Gibson a like to the film below of Due date where the reviewer focused on the fact the film starred Robert Downeyjr. and Zach Galifianakis.
If I was to read this review to decide if I was interested in the film Edge of Darkness I would, in all honesty, be slightly bored within the first paragraph. The reviewer doesn't really discuss anything like the directors input, or impressive camera shots, or any kind of crucial information at all. Again, a like to the lower review the reviewers actual opinion doesn't seem to be relevant if present at all, the text is more just like a basic plot outline and an opinion of acting skill rather than an actual film review or analysis.
Film review analysis from Empire magazine
This film review is for Due date and various others taken from the magazine Empire. Graphically its clear the layout had a lot of focus to it, the page as a whole relies a lot on the images, bold font and star logos for ratings to catch the eye, its almost as if they have designed the page so that the crucial part of the review, the text, was secondary to the overall ratings and imagery.
I think the summary just below each film title is a clever idea as it gives the reader crucial information about the film without having to read the whole section if preferred. I also like the way there is one main film review accompanied by other, smaller, film reviews below. This almost signifies how the top film is likely to be more popular than the bottom, its like a subtle way of suggesting the lower films have less significance.
This could relate to such factors as actors, directors, budget etc. for example due date might be top here due to the fact its main characters are played by two rather big stars.
The plot summary paragraph for the main review is clever because it subtly hints that's all the audience really needs to read, however the following text is more like additional information and of course opinion from the writer of the text.
It appears the writing style in a lot of empire reviews suggests a satirical tone, making jokes about cast of certain scenes that might not have flowed so well in the film. In addition the writers of the empire pieces seem to focus a lot more on the cast and factual information, it would seem their opinion tends to be either a small paragraph to conclude on in little bits throughout the text. The piece written about due date presents a rather straight forward approach, there is little humorous context simply a structure of, discuss plot, discuss actors, mock plot, mock actors, add quick opinion. In a way I myself, when reading the empire reviews felt like I was talking to a friend about the film rather than a critic who know what their talking about. I felt no real connection to the opinions of the reviewer and didn't really like they were as passionate about films as I as there was no real balance between positives and negatives. There was simply suggestion that the reviewer felt they, had, to suggest positives as not to come across to biased.
