Codes and Conventions:Ancillary Task 2

Total Film and Empire Magazine Review Pages

TOTAL FILM

This image is a ‘first look’ still from the film that is being

reviewed, Sisters, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The image takes up three quarters of the page, due to the A-List celebrities featured in the film. In addition to this, it displays the two comedians looking glamorous and wearing low cut dresses, attracting Mulvey’s theory of ‘The Male Gaze’. The image alone allows the audience to understand that the film will be a light hearted comedy (which the duo are known for) as one of the pair is smiling surrounded by a group of people (implying they’re at a party), whereas the other female lead stands holding shot glasses and in front of a table littered with alcohol. This fulfills the audiences cognitive needs, as they are aware of the genre and mood of the film through the image.

IMAGE

Among the brief article there is a short

summary of the film describing it in approx. 45 words. This is useful to the reader who doesn’t want to read an essay on the film and just wants to skim read the magazine. This can fulfill the readers integrative needs as they can socially and briefly tell their friends/family information on the film.

FILM SUMMARY

The main text consists of a quote at the beginning of

the article from one of the leading ladies. It describes how they are opening their movies alongside the hotly anticipated new Star Wars film. The rest of the text gives descriptions of the film and the actresses filmography and award wins. It also discusses the writers history. The article is written professionally, however includes a quote from Poehler swearing, so this possibly infers a younger target audience (which the film is probably based at anyway). Finally the article is seen to be pleasing the audiences cognitive and integrative needs.

MAIN TEXT

This article is a short review of a film, however

this creates convenience to the reader who just wants to quickly read things. Much like Empire Magazine it displays frequent short reviews, making it easier for the audience to read, however not conforming to some peoples full cognitive needs. In comparison it satisfies the readers integrative needs.

SHORT REVIEWS

The layout of Total Film’s reviews have

recurring themes of short reviews, headlining the image, either taking up three quarters of a double page spread (left image) or having a page of five short concise, reviews of independent low budget films. From the examples that I have used in this presentation slide, it seems that both Total Film and Empire have a higher ratio of pictures to text, and it seems that as a result in A-list stars, the text is evidently explaining the photos. Total Film has a specific house style that is consistent through out. It is colorful and subtle, without being considered distracting or in-your-face. It seems clear that with Total Film, the company would rather have an unbalanced level of information for the film in the form of less text and more photography.

LAYOUT

EMPIRE

Similarly to Total Film, this image is a still from the film, which unlike

Total Film’s article is out in cinemas. The image displays what looks to be a late-teenage girl, modeling a confused expression on her face as she holds a strange object. The object, which is completely in focus, whereas she is out of focus, possibly symbolizing her confusion and the films mystery. The image is a double page spread that takes over three quarters of the page. The colour scheme of the image is gold, yellow and blues (due to the surrounding barley/wheat fields and the sky), which coincidentally match the colours of the object, which is the focal point of the image. There is also two extra photographs on the back of the double spread page, one of which featuring A-list actor George Clooney (who will attract a lot of the female audience. The initial image, allows the audience to understand that the film isn’t a conventional horror but that due to the brightly lit, warm colour scheme and the teenage lead, that it will be a family film. This therefore partially fulfills some of the audiences cognitive and integrative needs.

IMAGE

This supply of film summary information is far better than

that of Total Films. At the start of the article, there is a 16 word plot for the audience members who do not want to read the whole article. This fulfills their integrative needs for social interaction. However for some of the audiences cognitive needs, there is a few paragraphs that describe the storyline of the film in brief detail. The plot story continues onto the back of the page, and runs down half of the page. There is information which allows the reader to understand when the film is out in cinemas, what the certificate is (12A) and how long the film is (130 MINS), which overall is very useful and satisfies the readers cognitive needs.

FILM SUMMARY

In Empire Magazine’s article for Tomorrowland: A World

Beyond, there is a substantial amount of text when compared with Total Film. It discusses key themes in the film, as well as the directors filmography. However the actual text isn’t anymore professional than Total Film’s article. The information is parallel as both journalists discuss the basic plots and directorial extra information. However in Empire, the journalist includes their own verdict of the film, as they describe it as “something funny, surprising and packed full of wonder.” Finally, due to the easier structure and useful extra information, I will base my film review on Empire Magazine.

MAIN TEXT

Empire Magazine have a fairly clear rating

structure, whereby the award stars, five being deemed as ‘UNMISSABLE’ and one being ‘TRAGIC’. They awarded Tomorrowland: A World Beyond a four star rating (‘EXCELLENT’), this is something that Total Film fails to do. However, when comparing the review lengths, Total Film produces much concise shorter reviews, whereas Empire features a double page spread with a dominating picture, but makes up for the reviews extra information on the back of the page.

SHORT REVIEWS

The layout of Empire’s reviews have recurring themes of

dominating images, headlining the image, by taking up three quarters of a double page spread and having a very lengthy article reviewing the film. From the examples that I have used in this presentation slide, it seems that both Total Film and Empire have a higher ratio of pictures to text, and it seems that as a result in A-list stars, the text is evidently explaining the photos. Empire has a specific house style that is consistent through out. The house style is fun and modern, with almost a colloquial yet professional feel to the text (possibly to appeal to its target audience). It seems clear that with Empire, the company would rather have an equal level of information for the film in the form of text and photography.

LAYOUT

To conclude, I think that we would rather base

our film review on a magazine such as Empire as it seems to be better structured and seems to be preferred more by our target audience and focus group. We have taken on board various techniques and useful features that Total Film used, however we felt that Empire is much more the style that we want to review our short horror film.

CONCLUSION