Magazine Spread: Research

For the other ancillary product I have chosen to create is a two page magazine review on my short film. For my initial research I decided to create a mood board of different two page spreads to development my understanding of the media product: 

While researching magazine reviews I included film reviews from other genres that weren't just coming of age and for short films, this is because there aren't many film reviews that fit into both those specifications, therefore so I didn't limit my research I included review from any type of film or genre. 

One key characteristic I found when creating my mood board was that many of them include one main image from the film which generally takes up at to around half or three thirds of the double page spread. This immediately catches the audiences attention and gives a brief insight into the plot of the film. For example Twilight, a romance film, displays an image of the two love interests dancing romantically where as the image for Alice In Wonderland gives an insight into the interesting and unique world the film is set in. It is quite rare to feature just the protagonist as the main image of the magazine, as throughout my research generally there are multiple characters displayed. 

The purpose of a magazine review:

The primary purpose of a magazine is to promote and advertise the chosen film. The review can often include a short synopsis of the film providing the reader with an insight into the plot. Positive reviews can help generate a wider audience for the film and therefore generate more profit once it is released. A magazine can also help attract the films target audience as different magazines have a different average reader profile therefore they can directly address their chosen audience. 

Conventions of a magazine review:

• The films tagline, proving an insight into the narrative of the film.
• A star rating or percentage rating, this is to suggest how entertaining the film was to the reviewer. 
• A short summary and synopsis of the plot of the film, introduces the genre and tone of the film. 
• A large image will be shown to display the main characters and often demonstrate the tone of the film to intrigue the audience. 
• The article itself may begin with a quote to catch the readers attention. 
• Increased font size for the first letter of the paragraph. 
• The review will focus on the protagonist and give the reader a sense of their character and personality within the film.