Ancillary Task: Short Film Magazine Review

Final Magazine Review

Ancillary Task: Magazine Review Text

The text for the magazine review is as follows:

After last years miserable attempt of a film "10 Year Reunion", Nafeesah Ali is back. But is she just back for a laugh?

Refreshed, renewed, reformed. Young up and coming director Nafeesah seems to have taken on board a whole new style with the release of her new short film "Stastics".

Set in Copleston High School, full of your stereotypical school teenagers, watch and learn how the simple minded Maia Rogers, who has an IQ of 93, evolves into the smartest kid in class.

Filled to the brim with comical one-liners and catchy, melodical music, Statistics is the perfect light entertainment film for all the family. But this short film should not be taken too lightly, for there is a deep underlying moral to this little firecracker.

"When there's a will, there's a way - this proverb is what drove me to write this short film" said director Nafeesah Ali. Hoping to spread the message that in hand with hard work definitely comes success, Statistics conveys this idea in a rather unrealistic way. But without doubt, it works.

At times, there are small trip-ups with the raw acting talents of the recycled cast from her previous film 10 Year Reunion, and the debut of child actor Maia Rogers, but what does this matter? It doesn't.

Nafeesah Ali's second attempt as director and editor is by far, much better than the jumpy, serious, school-teen horror that was 10 Year Reunion. And who knows, perhaps we'll see more of this young, flourishing director in the years to come. Hopefully with a better camera too. Fingers crossed.

Anticipation: If you don't find yourself laughing, there's something wrong with you. (4)
Enjoyment: Classical, every time. (4)
In retrospect: Could do with a bit of brushing up in the acting but humour is clearly more important here. (4)

Ancillary Task: Magazine Reviews on the Internet

When analysing magazine reviews, there was a problem in the sense that since there are different types, it was difficult to understand which was to be used for my ancillary task; one can get magazine reviews from an actual magazine itself, or online magazine websites. There is a major difference in a graphological aspect in the sense that compared to print magazines where the layout has clearly been designed for the context of the reviews production, with magazines online, the layout is less complex and layout is not so much an issue. Take for example the following three magazine reviews found online from websites http://www.empireonline.com/, http://www.totalfilm.com/, and http://www.bfi.org.uk/ respectively:

Another difference between magazine film reviews and internet film reviews is the style of writing in the discourse. Since these reviews are online, it means the audience would be much more vast compared to printed texts therefore the writer (whom may or may not) take this into account and therefore not uphold as much of a formal register as opposed to magazines which, although contain a high frequency of colloquial lexis, are in a way still formal through the tone conveyed. To further support the idea that internet reviews are more informal is the fact that as it is online, this medium is taken into account and so hyperlinks are, sometimes, integrated either in or around the text whereby the reader can click for further information. An example of this is in the Empire magazine reviewing the latest Harry Potter film where under the image in the review, there is a "view image gallery" which one would not find in a magazine review.

Ancillary Task: Magazine Review Draft

For the layout of my magazine review ancillary task, I have tried to take into account the coventions and features of an ordinary film review I had formed whilst analysing that of past film reviews seen in already existing film magazines. The style of this particular draft is based around that similar to the Little White Lies discourse and graphology as, after analysing the LWL magazine, I decided that the context in which my own magazine review would be published would be in an edition of the LWL magazines. The reasons for this choice have already been covered during my magazine review analysis section, which can be seen here - http://ryokeichi.blogspot.com/2011/03/ancillary-task-magazine-review-analysis.html.

In this design, it can be seen clearly how I have adhered my design to the LWL magazine since firstly, the layout of the page is extremely similar:
-it consists of a large picture taken from the film itself
-there is a subsection where the important details about the film go (director, running time, title)
-the text layout is in columns
-the text is on a plain white background
-there are subsections at the end of the review acting as the verdict
-star ratings have been given
-the overall layout looks extremely similar to the LWL film reviews which I analysed in my research

Of course, since this is but just a draft of how I intend to lay out my magazine review, there is still a likeliness of the final design being slightly different from that which is displayed in the above image.

Ancillary Task: Magazine Review; Analysis

In the above, I have analysed and annotated magazine film reviews from two different magazines which revolve solely around films. The two I have looked at are "Empire" and "Little White Lies". From doing so, I have managed to create myself a clear picture as to the conventions of film reviews in terms of both graphology (pictures, text and layout) and discourse (the text and how it is structured). The running trend which I have spotted is that both film magazines contain features which seem to me, although are obvious, are the basis of what makes a film review; they create the skeleton of the page. These features include:

- a still image from the film being reviewed
- a clear bold headline stating the title of the film
- background information about the film (director, cast, release date)
- bold text at the beginning of the review (a single letter/ whole line)
- the text is structured into columns, much like a newspaper, for formality
- within the review, the narrative is commented on
- different aspects of the film is reviewed upon (mise-en-scene/ acting/ directing)
- the writer's name is given at the end
- an overall opinionated conclusion is given at the end
- the film is rated out of 5
- the actual review itself is only a third of the page (the image overrules)

Looking at this, it shows that these are all features which I must include myself when it comes to creating my own magazine film review for my short film, which still has yet a title to come. By integrating these into my ancillary product, it will show my film review page successfully adheres to the conventions of a real magazine film review, thus seeming realistic.

The structure of the actual text where the film is reviewed is also of high importance and must not be ignored. As I read through the film reviews from both magazines, I realised that the tones of writing between "Empire" and "Little White Lies" were completely different. And this, I believe, is due to two things; the purpose of the text, and the target audience. These are both two factors which heavily affect the context of production of the text since they are, essentially, the deciding factors on what structures the text itself.

"Empire" magazine is, predominately, a magazine dedicated to blockbuster type films; those which are bound to profit greatly. For example, films such as these which have featured in this magazine are those such as "Harry Potter", "Batman: The Dark Knight", and the "Pirates of the Carribean" trilogy. Considering these genres of film, there is no doubt that this magazine is aimed more towards the male gender where the age group most likely lands within the 16-30 range. The readers of "Empire" are also probably from the mainstream market since this magazine contains film reviews and interviews from films which the majority of the population have seen or heard of. Furthermore, "Empire" magazine is a highly established company due to it being a part of the Bauer Consumer Media Group, renowned for a number of other well-known magazines such as "Closer", "Kerrang", "heat", "more!" and "MATCH!" thus showing that "Empire" is not only a very successful magazine, but also one with a wide audience group and customer consumer base.

"Little White Lies" magazine on the other hand, compared to "Empire", is aimed more towards a much narrower audience group. It is devoted to those who are highly interested in films; avid readers. And all of the older audience group to - it's not for children. Since it is an independent magazine, this ensures that all opinion and reviews are honest, unbiased, and only that of the opinion of the writers. Another important comparison to make against that of "Empire" is also the fact that not only does it similarly review mainstream films, but also brings in and and introduces other various films to its audience, which are most likely less well known; it enjoys reviewing and advertising foreign films besides that of its home country. "Little White Lies" magazine is also more of an artistic magazine which prefers style, art and design as a means to appear unique and different to the standard market-magazine.

In retrospect, I have decided that after analysing "Empire" and "Little White Lies", I would rather create my film review fit to be published in "Little White Lies" magazine. This is because my short film is not to be created with the intention of matching that of the blockbuster standards; it is more about the underlying message which is to be created rather than the use of CGI, special effects and A-list actors. Furthermore, this also means that when it comes to writing the body of text for my film review, there are would be no strings attached to what I write since I would have freedom in publishing what I want to say without having to satisfy the name of the company the magazine is under; I can be as critical and truthful about my film as I wish. Also, as "Little White Lies" covers lesser known films, I believe this to be one of the main points as to my justification for choosing it as the magazine where my film review will be published and publicised. To me, I also prefer the aesthetical appearance of this particular magazine as opposed to "Empire" since the layout is much clearer, easier to read, and I believe the structure appears to be much more accessible.