Creating the magazine review page

Within my group, I was in charge of creating the actual review of 'Flight' to be placed within a film magazine. I used the program 'OpenOffice Writer' to create the text which would then be put into the template that Hannah designed. I wrote the key pieces of information towards the beginning of the review in bold, so that the reader would be immediately drawn to the importance of the creators. As you can see from the image below, I segmented the review into different areas. These included the Synopsis, the Review itself, the Release Date, and the Credits. I decided to use different sections upon creating the review page as it would mean that it would conform to what Sight And Sound's (our chosen magazine) reviews look like, and that it would be easier for the reader to locate specific segments of informations at a quick glance. This ensured that the information given was clear, precise, and informative. 

Holding all of the necessary information was extremely important to the success of creating the magazine review page. From exploring real media products - particularly those within 'Sight And Sound' magazines, it was a reoccurring theme that the basic information about the film was given at the beginning of the review page. I thought that this would be necessary to include within creating my own media product, so I ensured that this information was given at the beginning of the review. As you can see from the image below, I ensured that the information given was what audience's would expect and need to read in order to gain an insight into the short film. Showing the audience the certificate of the film within the beginning of the review meant that they would be able to immediately know who the film was targeted at, and that there may be some darker themes which reside within the production. The release date was also an important piece of information to be delivered to readers. This is because we plan for the review of the short film to be placed in the magazine before it has been released to the general public. This would increase the reader's anticipation about the film, and will mean that they are more likely to go and see it for themselves to gain an insight into the themes that the review draws upon. Below you can see the comparison between the introductory segment of the review for Karma in 'Sight And Sound' magazine, and the introduction of the review for my own production 'Flight'.

The next stage of creating the magazine review page was writing the beginning paragraph of the review itself. The first paragraph of the review is arguably the most important, as it allows the reader to gain an immediately insight into what the film is actually about. If the reader's attention is lost within this paragraph, then they are likely to not continue to read the rest of the review, meaning that engaging with the reader was crucial. I continued to explored the review of 'Karma' to see how I should begin writing my own review. It was clear that this review wrote about the director, the name of the film and some of the narrative themes. I thought that this was effective, so I decided to use it upon creating my own review.

I continued to compare my review to Karma's, to ensure that the review itself was on the right tracks, and that it held all of the information necessary for the reader to engage with the review. I ensured that I covered mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound to create an effective review page. Overall, I am pleased with how the magazine review page turned up, as it looks both visually appealing and holds the relevant information.

Below is a creation stage of Hannah putting the information together (including an image from the film itself). This image ensured that it captured the essence and theme of the overall production, and that it allowed readers to see one of the most pivotal sequences within the whole film.