VOLCANIC PRODUCTIONS | Magazine Review Deconstruction

General Design and Composition:

Most magazine film reviews are set in a portrait orientation; this often occurring with less popular films because those that are big, well known movies tend to have a double page spread. This magazine review follows the portrait orientation because it is a single page spread. Because of this general layout of the typical magazine review, the image is often presented at the top of the page, drawing in the viewer with one glance. This means that the image must be big, interesting, clear and perfectly composed because it is the first thing that the reader of the magazine will see as they flick through the page. HOWEVER, the image must be interesting enough to capture the reader’s interest but not reveal too much about the film’s plot – which is exactly what the image above does. The reader is shown 2 characters from the film ‘Love, Caution’ which they can only assume is at least one main character, and can then make an assumption that they are possibly lovers. To find out more the reader will then read the magazine review to find out if any of their suspicions are answered or if it will just ignite their interest even more.

Furthermore the body copy (body text) is split into 4 columns. This breaks up the immense amount of text that is in this review, which makes it less daunting for the reader. Although the text just appears like a load of words, it must be just as interesting as the design of the magazine review – there is no point spending so much time making it look pretty if nobody will read it because the boy text is really boring. This magazine review follows the correct conventions of a magazine review – all of the text is consistent

Headline

Running

head

Body Copy

(Body text) Pull Quote

Folio

VOLCANIC PRODUCTIONS | Magazine Review Deconstruction

throughout however anything that wants to stand out to the reader is altered according to importance.

This magazine reviews colour scheme is a mixture of dark reds, oranges and black, which is part of the magazine’s house style. Often magazine reviews follow this convention and follow the magazine’s house style – very few come up with a random colour scheme that has no connection to the film or style. Text Elements

The next element of the magazine review the reader will notice is the film’s title. This must be bold and in the reader’s face as to make sure they do not miss it and no instantly what the film is called. By the film’s name alone, the reader can make many assumptions on the storyline and the genre of the film – which could then lead to an interest being further ignited and wanting them to read on. Not all film magazine review’s headings have effects on them – they are often either plain black like the one on the magazine review above, or are a full block colour with a border around them to make them stand out more from the text and image. Either way, the design must link with the house style of the magazine and/or link in with the film itself. The pull quote is normally pulled directly from the body text and is something that really sells the film to the audience – often a comment made by somebody who really liked the film. In this magazine review the pull quote has been put near the bottom of the page instead of floating in the centre, which is normally where it is often placed however it is placed near the beginning of the main text, so it one of the first things the reader will read. It has also been put in a bigger font size and been put in black bold writing to really bring the attention of the reader to it. After they have read it they may well carry on reading the text to find out more. At the side of the image there is a ‘Look Closer’ box which talks about three brief facts about the film or the write/director that are used to just draw in the reader ever so slightly. If a particular shot took only one take to shoot and had a famous actor in it – then this may be one fact that would go into the ‘Look Closer’ box because it invokes an interest in the reader. Images

There is only one image used within this magazine review and that is the large photo at the top of the page which depicts a man, possibly the main protagonist, holding a woman in his lap. We can assume from their position that they could be husband and wife because they are not trying to get away from each other but are positioned close and looking into each other’s faces in what could be devotion. The man is shown to be holding the woman close to him – which again represents that this woman is special to him. This all captures the reader’s interest and straight away depicts the genre as definitely having romance within it. The image chosen to represent the film MUST be the best it can be – meaning there is no point putting a picture of two people holding hands if the film is about murders; it just doesn’t represent the right genre and the film’s storyline in the correct way or at all.

The reader can further assume that these two cast members in the photo are in fact famous actors and could potentially know them from another film. This will help draw in audience members who like those particular actors/actresses.

The photo appears untouched by any special effects or anything, which is quite normal for magazine review images from the magazines I have been looking at,

VOLCANIC PRODUCTIONS | Magazine Review Deconstruction

Graphical Furniture As I mentioned early, the magazine above follows the magazine’s house style so the graphical furniture – like the colours and fonts – have been used to exactly match the house style and make the magazine review look presentable and neat instead of a mismatch of colours that make no sense. The ‘In Cinemas’ running head at the top left of the magazine review allows the reader to see exactly which magazine the review is in and it is part of the magazine’s style, as well as being a conventional element throughout magazine reviews. The page numbers and folio at the bottom of the page are placed on the outside corners of the page, which looks much better than centred and is much more noticeable in my opinion. The 4 star-rating at the bottom of the page is a trait shared with other magazine reviews. They act as a visual representation of the rating that the magazine has given the film and helps give the reader a quick final verdict on the film without them having to read all of the text, however it could also have the opposite effect and make them read on if it was the stars they were looking for to begin with.