My Review Page

Planning the review page

After doing a detailed deconstruction of an Empire, review page I decided to use some of the typical conventions they used to construct a simpler version, suited for a school magazine. In my plan I used the block squares to frame my review and separate some the text, to give it a clearer structure. I also used the same layout Empire used for their film information section, except that I situated my information next to my main image, as opposed to underneath, as I wanted to separate it from the main body of my text.

After which, I created a style sheet in photoshop with 'x's to represent my text and used a production shot I hads in mind to see how the design would work. I liked the overall effect the layout and felt that it was quite clear and consice, except that I found that the spacing was very limited in places, whilst other places were left with huge ammounts of white spacing. Therefore I had to re-work the layout and spacing, as I realised I had a lot less text than shown in this plan.

Composing my review page

Firstly I added text and a main image to my review page then I was suggested to make the title fit the whole width of the page, as my teacher felt that it was lost in the composition; where I'd put it originally.

However I didn't like this as I felt it didn't look proffessional and it swamped my tag line. Furthermore I was still facing problems with a lot of white space in the right hand corner and my main image and film information felt cramped.

Therefore in order to eliminate these problems I made the main image bigger so that it dominated the left hand side of the double page. Then used the empty space in the right hand side to spread out my film information and make my title and tag line clearer. Moreover in order to get rid the problems I was having with the white spacing, without adding a highly detiled and expensive print background, I filled it with a light blue.

Empire Review Page

I liked Empire's review page as the simple house style of 3 contrasting colours was stylish and something I could easily incorporate into my own school magazine review of my own short film. The bold blue, capitalised heading was centered at the top left-hand corner of each of the reviews, whilst the main photo took up the rest of the space beside it; on the right had side. This provides a simple connection and allowed a nice space for other anchorage I would need to incorporate into my own review. However i didn't like the way that the white edging around the title intruded the main photograph on this page. Never the less i did like the italicised text overlay caption on the image, as this time it was centered in a darker space of the image and didn't feel as intrusive. Moreover the same font was also used for the header also provided a simple and effective cohesion within the article. The simple and effective style also borrowed into the plain dot border to separate the breaks in text to allow the readers eye to follow the structure of the layout. Moreover block sections of colour were also use to separate and border the text to give a simple and bold layout that seemed easy enough to be used on a school magazine. Furthermore i liked how the different colour boxes worked within the contrasting colour scheme to work together and highlight different sections of the text. For instance the mustard yellow block worked well to sign post important film information:

• the release date
• certificate
• director
  
• cast
  
• running time

Furthermore this then also helped indent the 'Plot' heading to add a subtle separation whilst also keeping the text very tight. I also though that including a brief plot was a very successful way of drawing an audience in and create interest.

However as this was only a half - page review I'd have to consider the implications of using a similar layout on a larger scale for my own review, as when I looked at the larger empire reviews most of them contained large images which would not show a great deal of digital excellence.

Magazine Review Deconstructions

In order to get a brief idea of what we would need to do for our magazine review page I did a brief overview of four different magazine review in class.

Time is a commercial magazine sold weekly, therefore I'd have to be careful as to what elements I could incorporate into my own magazine when thinking realistically about budget and audience.

Audience - Casual, general film interest but most films aimed at an adult audience.

Quantity/ Range of film coverage - Lots of little reviews, with a main focus on 'Another Year' and 'Let Me In'.

Film Review Page - The reviews contained the same basic format, with the main picture to the left, a box with their rating and relevant information (e.g. director, running time, certificate). The writing was columned with a use of bold font to make quotes stand out and as for the larger reviews the quotes were separate and considerably larger within pictured quotation marks.

Little White Lies is an independent magazine issued by the 'Church of London', which was a better model for my magazine review page as it was slightly less budgeted.

Audience - Varied sense of audience but less mainstream films suggested specialist film taste and a predominantly adult audience.

Quantity/ Range of film coverage - Main films contained 'The Illusionist', 'The Secret in the Eyes', 'Beautiful Kate' and 'Frontier blues'. I'd never heard of these films before as they aren't mainstream but seemed very varied in genre.

Film Review Page - Simplistic design with the main photo centralised at the top of the page, the writing was laid out in columns with small colour boxes of information to the side, along with bolding and numbering.

Total Film is a commerical magazine owned by a mainstream publisher and a large corporation, which is something I'd to take into account given the limitations of my budget and design.

Audience - "The modern guide to films" quite young audience but seems to have a general interest throughout.

Quantity/ Range of Film Coverage - Had about 10 detailed reviews and offered a wide range of mini reviews as well. The lead was 'Due Date' which has quite an open audience, also as it reviews films monthly it leaves a wide range of audience interest.

Film Review Page - Has one main photograph, usually a production shot, with an amusing caption. There's also the title next to the photo with the release date and a mini synopsis underneath. The first letter is larger than the rest to indicate the start of the review, whilst the rest of the writing is in columns. Certain quotes were made larger and seperated from the text. Subheading and a boxes were also used to sign post a 'talking point' and 'predicated interest curve' to engage with the reader.

Empire was another commerical magazine, owned by a mainstream publisher and big buisness, which I took into account when deconstructing.

Audience - The reviews started with quite childish films, aimed at a younger audience, but as you went through more adult films appeared implying a parent demographic.

Quantity/ Range of Film Coverage - 'Lemony Snicket', 'The Incredibles' and 'Shark Tale' were at the front but the main coverage was of Johnny Depp's 'Finding Neverland' suggestion a family audience, attracting women because of the focus on Johnny Depp. a timeline of that months films and their date with picture references thats size depended on their coverage within the magazine. At the end there was 'Predator' and 'The Exorcist' which are very adult in comparison to the other reviews, very varied audience demographic.

Film Review Page - 'Intermission' was a section allocated to lots of little reviews. Then as for the actual reviews the main phot was centralised with an information box as well as opinons and the magazines rating. The main article was in columns and bold lettering was used to make certian parts stand out.

Health and Safety

As part of our research we had to look at health and safety risks to both the actors, crew members and pieces of equipment whilst filming. In class we talked about the risks of:

• theft - in public places


• weather - rain and cold conditions could effect the equipment


• damage - if not in a controlled area (e.g. wind or free falling objects) damage could be done to any equipment


• Filming children under 16 - when filming in public spaces there is a risk of accidentally filming children under the age of 16, which we would need consent for
  


• Permission - some areas (e.g. train, bus and public buildings) require written permission to film there and even insurance fees.

After which I went through each of my shooting schedules and analyzed the individual risks involved.

Hampstead Heath:

1. Weather conditions - if it was raining or cold it could damage the camera or affect the quality of footage, or people could slip and damage the camera.



2. Splashes of water from the ponds - as I was jumping into the pond I'd have to be careful of splash back.



3. Sickness - as its winter I'd have to be careful of being wet for too long in the cold weather for risk of hypothermia.



4. Theft - Hampstead Heath can be busy at certain times and therefore I would have to be wary of thieves.



5. Transporting - I'd be using public transport to get to the location and so would need to be wary of damage and thieves again.



6. Damage - wind could disrupt equipment or causing free falling objects to damage it.



7. Animals - it's an outside location so would need to keep and eye out for any animals that could knock equipment.



8. Public - as I couldn't be sure as to who would be there at the time of filming then I'd need to accommodate any unwanted attention.

Train and Train Stations:

1. Public - as I couldn't be sure as to who would be there at the time of filming then I'd need to accommodate any unwanted attention or noise.


2. Young Children - Children under the age of 16 need written consent from either a parent of guardian before being filmed, therefore as they are public property then I'd need to make sure that I didn't accidentally film anyone under the age of 16.


3. Permission - I had to be wary of where on the underground and train station I filmed as I would need permission from the station to film certain parts.


4. Damage - Busy crowded areas would make it very easy for equipment to be damaged.

Home:

1. Pets - As I have to cats I had to make sure that they wouldn't any of the equipment or get into the shots so as not to damage the equipment or disrupt the footage.
2. Noise - I have a large house that can often be quite busy and therefore would need to manage people whilst filming.
3. Free-falling objects - I would have to manage general clutter around the house to make sure that it wouldn't disrupt the shoot.

Cafe:

1. Public - As I couldn't be sure who would be there at the time of filming then I'd need to accommodate any unwanted attention or noise.
2. Theft - as it was a public space I would have to look out for potential thieves.
3. Damage - If the cafe was busy I'd have to be sure that no damage could come to the equipment.
4. Transportation - Luckily the cafe I chose was only across the road from me, however I would still have to take it across a main road.

Shooting schedules

In order to be completely organized on the days I was filming I created shooting schedules with itinerary of equipment, contact details, a timetable, locations and props required. Then I highlighted the individual sections required of each of my cast and crew.

Storyboard

This is collection of small images I drew and scanned into powerpoint to create a digital storyboard.

Storyboard

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Unfortunately after I made this and started filming the 'Pond' scene I realised that it was far too difficult to film in winter in an outside pond, for health and saftey reasons as well as quality of filming. Therefore I created an alternative scene to suit the narrative that was more accomodating to film.

storyboard2

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