Magazine film review conventionsWe had to create a film review for Little white lies magazine, in order to do this we had to do an immense amount of research on the different elements of the reviews in the magazine in order for us to have a clear understanding of how we are to present our own review about our short film. We had to do research on sections such as the writing styles, the fonts, images used etc. This was a long process but allowed us to have a clear understanding of Little white lies presentation of their reviews.

Images

From researching Little white lies magazine I identifies that they present their images towards the top of the page, therefore leaving the bottom half of the page for the text. Little white lies also use images that suit the genre and text presented. For example, in their review of the film Lawless, Little white lies used dark images in order for the review to suit the films genre which is crime fiction. In order for the picture to represent the genre they used dark colours such as presenting the picture in black and white which shows the films seriousness and how it is vintage. Not only this but the images used relate to what the text is explaining in order for the reader to be able to visualize what is being said. In order for my film review to match the style of Little white lies I had to use these conventions in my film review as I also used a dark picture presented in black and white to show the seriousness within my film and to portray its heritage and genre and I also use an image that would allow the reader to visualize the characters within the film as in my review the characters in the film were explained in a great amount of detail.

Text/LayoutThe typical conventions of the text in a Little White Lies magazine is that the writer tends to use puns and remarks in order to create some humour for the audience. There is also an indepth explanation of the film and also the films strengths and weaknesses. The text is also located at the bottom of the page just under the image which is at the top of the page. Also in the information presented the writer describes the previous successes of the actors/director. The writer also uses quotes from the actors/director or from the film itself in a very creative way in order to get their point across. Although the writer is typically very judgmental of the film the writer do not lack in providing the reader with a thorough review that will answer all questions they have about the film. I personally tried to include all of these conventions into my work in order for my review to suit the Little White Lies writing style that is used in their reviews. Although this was challenging at times as I had to analyse the writing style of their writers and the language they used I began to understand how they write and the language they used and when to correctly use it. For example, puns and remarks, if I was to use a pun or a remark I would check the reviews in the Magazine and would check to see if I have used them correctly and they way Little White Lies writers would use them. Not only this bus the language I used had to be short and snappy which is how the writers of Little White Lies present their information as their reviews are not long and boring, they are short and jammed packed with facts and information in order for the reader to stay entertained and interested in the review. Following this convention was hard as I had to grasp the writing technique they used and had to focus on making sure that I included a great amount of information but did without making my review too long. In the bottom right hand corner there was a score out of five given to the film about the anticipation, enjoyment and in retrospect of the film with a short comment added to it. I also included this in my review so that my review would be visually the same as the other reviews in the magazine.

Colours/Fonts

The typical conventions of the fonts in a Little White Lies magazine is that the title of the film relates to the film, for example our film is from the noir genre so we used a title that suited the films genre. Not only this but the font of the information presented is very basis, this is to portray the seriousness of the magazine. Me and my group used this convention as for our title we used a font that would portray the noir genre but the font that my information was presented in was all the same so that my review would be identicale to the reviews In the Little White lies magazine. Also in the reviews the minimum size of the fonts is size 8, I also used this in my review as having a size 8 font allowed me to fit all my information into the text box and the writing was large enough for the reader to easily see. The colours used in the the reviews of the magazine can contrast at times as at points dull colours such as grey would be used where as at points bright colours would be used. This depend on the film that the review was written about as a comedy would have bright colours used with it to present the happiness around the film whereas in a thriller dark colours would be used to show the films seriousness. In my review I used dark colours to portray the seriousness of my film, I also used dark colours so they they would match the mood within my film.