Magazine Analysis - Comparison of Review Pages

Comparison of Three Double Page Review Spreads

Double Page Spread From   BFI Sight and Sound
Issue - 26/10

-    Review of The Girl With The Gifts

Main Text
The main body to text is actually quite explicit when it comes to the narrative of the piece and does not hold back on spoilers for a large amount of the narrative. The focus of the piece is also far broader than usual reviews rather than just focusing on performances of the key stars of the piece as a more mainstream product would do. Instead the focus of the reviews focus varies from the general plot of the film to the actors performances to the technical background of the film such as the director who headed up the film. compared to other double page spreads there is significantly more text than usual

The piece also approaches the text in a similar way to a piece of literature as shown through the large picked out quote of "This is not a zombie movie in the traditional sense, but visceral, intelligent horror inspired by our own increasingly fragile grip on the world" which clearly shows the piece taking a wider view on the impact of a piece like this.
Images
They are fairly large and focus on the primary members of the cast a give a very good impression of the artistic direction of the film and the general tone that the piece takes. The are placed at different points on the page and are of different sizes one is quite small and so requires more attention in a similar way to the smaller text size of the main body of text.

Ratings
The lack of any kind of ratings scale is unusual for a fairly mainstream production and this has the impact of making the reader focus on the review page as a whole rather than just skim reading the score section. This suggests that their fanbase is more engaged with film as a medium and is more willing to engage with it.

Other
Instead of a regular score section this production instead uses this space to include a credits and synopsis section again showing the magazines more technical focus.

Double Page Spread From Little White Lies
Issue - 65
Review of Everybody Wants Some


Main Text

Images
They take up one whole page of the two page spread and are principally character shots of the actors in the scenes. They effectively convey the era in which the film takes place which is important in understanding the film being reviewed

Ratings
Uses Three Different sections: Anticipation, Enjoyment, In Retrospect. Each section is marked out of five and a brief description is given to justify the score for each section. This is often better than the standard single rating as it allows for more granularity in the review which is useful

In addition to this the magazine makes use of a "seal of approval" to highlight specific films that they would definitely recommend.

Other

Small section of credits which suggests a focus on the actors and directors rather than the surrounding technology or production 

Double Page Spread From Total Film
Issue - 163
Review of Up in the Air


Main Text
Focuses principally of the actor which indicates a focus on celebrity but this is fairly understandable considering the type of film.

Focus on the action little bit of direction

Images
Large single picture takes up half the spread with focus on Clooney

Ratings
Prominent in top third of piece which draws audience attention this rating scale is explained as this is the first review in the section but also suggests a more casual audience who do not religiously follow the magazine.

Simple start system is decent but lacks detail

This is backed up by the in short section which suggests that the readers often read this magazine rather quickly and do not often read the entire article

Other

fun little graphic of enjoyment

the see this if you liked section suggests an audience of avid film watchers but one that focuses on more mainstream films