Magazine Review Research

Do people read film magazines and reviews?

EMPIRE VS SIGHT & SOUND:

ALL ABOUT EMPIRE:

Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. The first issue was published in July 1989. It is the biggest selling film magazine in the United Kingdom and is published in the United States, Australia, Turkey, Russia, and Portugal. Empire organises the annual Empire Awards who give awards that are voted for by readers of the magazine.

ALL ABOUT SIGHT & SOUND:

Sight & Sound is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute.

Sight & Sound was first published in 1932 and in 1934 management of the magazine was handed to the nascent BFI, which still publishes the magazine today. It is currently edited by Nick James. The magazine reviews all film releases each month, including those with a limited (art house) release, as opposed to most film magazines like Empire which only review and feature those films with a general release like feature films. Sight & Sound features a full cast and crew credit list for each reviewed film.

My Audience Survey:

I asked my audience what they would expect to see in a magazine review and their habits in reviewing films and magazine:

Here is the survey:

http://freeonlinesurveys.com/s.asp?sid=ppt1vcp7754po0y605399

Here is the responses & my feedback:

ARTICLE COMPARISON:

Hot Tub Time Machine

 

 

Sight & Sound Magazine:

This review of Hot Tub Time Machine is by Sight & Sound magazine. As you can see the layout is much more strict with clear banded columns of text which seems and reads very descriptively. The review has a few facts, acting/producing credits and a synopsis. There is only one main picture which seems like a still from the actual film. The placing of this image is very central to the text and all elements fit centrally and align with each other.















Here is a full page picture which shows more distinguishable features of the columnar layout.















Empire:

As you can see the Empire magazine review of Hot Tub Time Machine is a lot bolder and stands out. The article consist of one background image with the characters. Around the page there are eye catching quotes from the actors in bold white text and red highlighting to make them stand out. The page features a very bold and eye catching title with simple but descriptive text to wet the appetite of the reader. The picture is more photo-shoot style and all text is fitted around the bodies of the actors. You can easily see that the more important text is either in a different colour like red or yellow or larger size to stand out more. The review is more simplistic but still has a well written analysis of the film but in a more informal style.

You can clearly see that Empire magazine has used a much more visually pleasing and eye catching layout with more skim reading techniques to draw in the attention of the reader. Whereas Sight & Sound have used a much more simplistic layout and don't use eye catching techniques as the reader will only read the article if they are interested in it. They do not make it boring as they still use pictures to have a mixture between text and images.



EMPIRE VS. Sight & Sound:


EMPIRE:
Features: Large images, clever layering and clear distinguishing between text and images.
Design: Large main image to catch the readers eyes and appealing colour combinations.
Colour: Use of contrasting colours, yellow and blue to stand out against each other and catch the eyes of the reader. I'm going to take this into consideration when creating my poster and have the idea of using contrasting colours from the colour wheel. See this post on my blog.
Complexity: Fairly complex with clever layering and composition of quotes and star rating which do not distract the reader from the main article. The 'Look Closer' section is well placed to stand out on the page and helps to draw the attention of the reader when they are reading the main text body. I hope to use this idea in my own article but perhaps with a quote or image.
Textual Content: The text quality is very good but not as strict as the Sight & Sound article. The writers voice seems more relaxed and not as strict which helps to relay the information simpler and can be easier for a reader to understand.
Overall Rating:★★★★★



Sight & Sound:
Features: Columns of text which are in line with suitable images. A very large title which jumps out on the page alongside the start of the text being larger to lead into the article. These are good techniques and one I will adopt in my own magazine.
Design: Columnar which is very easy to read and simple formatting on the page. Its easier to follow and best suited to very long articles such as this one.
Colour:  Very simple, only use of red and black to show a more sophisticated look which gives a sign that the film could also be more professional.
Complexity: The actual layout is very simple keeping all text and images in line to give a simple yet professional look. The title is very large to attract the audience and colours used are sophisticated. Another hint to this sophistication is the use of the word "ones" in the title giving an insight to the quality of the film to help the reader determine straight away if its a film they would be attracted/interested in.
Textual Content: Very in-depth quality of wording with long sentence structure and clearly a written format which is much more strict for a deeper read.
Overall Rating:★★★★