Sight and Sound Background
Sight and Sound is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute. It was first published in 1932 and in 1934 management was handed over to the BFI. The magazine is currently edited by Nick James. The magazine reviews all film releases each month, including films with a limited (art house) release, as opposed to most film magazines which concentrate on films with a saturated release. This would be perfect for our short film because it is an experimental, art house film. It also offers the full cast an crew list on each reviewed film, and as new directors to the film world, we would need the promotion through this cast/crew list.
Before creating our review page, I wanted to break down the structure of a Sight and Sound article to find what conventions I needed to follow when creating our review page. We felt that we did not need to challenge these conventions because readers of a monthly magazine expect a certain standard each month they purchase the magazine.
I have created a diagram beneath showing the break down of a Sight and Sound review page....
1) Image – usually introduces new talent or the main character of a film. In our film, because we do not have linear characters, we need to suggest the bokeh technique and the genre of our film.
2) Title - Isn't usually the title of the film in Sight and Sound. Writer creates a slogan that sums up the genre of the film
3) Image description - lets the audience know whose in the image. Usually has either a positive/negative thing to say about the actor/actress playing the role
4) Main text - I was quite surprised to see that the text was not justified. I thought that magazine articles were usually justified so that they looked more professional. When creating our review page I will justify the text because it is easier for readers to read and it will look professional and slick. I will use the same font as I used in the poster and film title, so that all our products are visually linked.
5) Film information - here the article has placed film information such as certificate, director name and all the different features.
6) Article sub-heading - introduces the tone of the article, whether it be positive, negative or mocking. Audiences know what tone of writing the author will have from this heading.
7) Banner at the top of page - audiences know which section of the magazine the film comes under from this section. Our film will come under "Short Film".
8) Article type - audience know whether this review is a feature from this title - the title given to this review is "close-up" this implies that more information will be given to the audience about the film.
When creating our review page I followed all of these conventions.
Review Analysis
Sight & Sound Review Analysis
I decided to look at the reviews in Sight and Sound. Above is an example of one of their reviews.
Starting with the colour scheme, they have decided to use only three colours within their layout - red, black and white. This simplistic colour scheme does not draw attention away from the text or from the image, and is easy and clear for the reader.
When reading the review I was surprised to find that the writer wasn't impressed with the film and he portrayed this through his language. Personally, before reading this review, I thought writers had to be positive about the films they were reviewing. The writer constantly implies that 50-cent has been lazy during the production, and compares him to the hard work of Eminem. The language is also very professional, and his writing is like that of an industry professional.
From the simple layout, and the critical and intellectual language used, we can tell that this review is for students and people who are experienced within the film industry. Although he is very critical of the film, within his first sentence he sums up the theme and genre of the film he is reviewing, explains his opinions of the film and efforts of productions and then concludes with his overall strongest opinion.
I like the simplistic choices of the layout of the review. The choice not to use too many colours and different fonts makes it easy for the audience to read the review, and focus on what is being said. The image used is a screenshot showing the two main characters within the film and the characters that the review mentions.
The FilmMaker
If we were to distribute our film online, it would be easier to link our film using hyperlinks or embedding. When researching magazine reviews, I also found this online review page. It is called the "FilmMaker" and it focuses on independent films. Because our film will be distributed online through vimeo and youtube, an online review would be perfect for our audience. This is because a hyperlink would be easier for our audience to access our film. This system would be much quicker and cheaper for audiences to find and watch our film.
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