Magazine Review Deconstruction (Twilight):4. Main Body3. Caption5. By Line6. Verdict/Rating8. The Plug2. Art/Image7. Pull Quote1. Running Head (Banner)9. Headline

1. Running Heading:

The running heading is there for navigational purposes really. In this case it is showing the reader films that are in cinemas now. This part of the magazine as you can see is usually brightly coloured and in some way follows the general house style of the whole magazine. In this case its Empire magazine so the colours are bold oranges and blacks.

As you can see in the larger image, this element of the magazine review bleeds over into the trim of the page. This really is so that the reader can see the brightly coloured running heading even when the magazine is closed. These arent always on every page as it would get pretty tedious with the IN CINEMAS across all the relevant pages and so is usually only used at the start of a new section just to inform the reader of a new magazine section.

2. Art/Image:

The arts can refer to a photo, graphic or illustration. This magazine feature in this case is a still from the film that is being reviewed and is a single image which the rest of the review is built around. This is a clever reader friendly strategy as well as giving the audience an insight into the film with a still frame, usually from a key point in the film.The image usually has a credit for whoever is responsible for collecting or creating the image. However in this image, no one has been credited, maybe due to it being a still from the actual film.

3. Caption:

With most images in magazine reviews comes a caption. Its alright having a lovely piece of art on the review but its probably not going to mean much to the reader without a caption to put it into context. The image caption is usually placed in a spot where the main feature within the image is not. It would be really bad if the caption is placed in the middle of the image where someone featured in the film is. The caption can be placed underneath the image but as you can see in this review, it can also be placed on top of the image.

So for the actual layout of the caption, it can be done in one of two ways, but in this image it is presented on several lines with hyphenation style turned off. If it was left on it would end up starting a word and then ending it on another line which would look pretty bad. The text size as you can see is of a similar size to the main body of the text which is typical for an image caption and usually in sans-serif which basically means it doesnt have fancy flicks and decorative endings to letters. Sans-serif is conventional basically because its easier to read when placed on top of an image compared to fancy serif text that would probably leave your reader squinting to see what the text says.

These caption can also be pull quotes and so in larger writing but more often than not, as this review shows, the conventions mentioned about are traditional for captions.

4. Main Body/ Body text:

So this is this is usually the largest part of the review often written in a single font size. The design elements of the rest of the review wont be able to recover a review if the actual text is rubbish. It needs to be just as gripping as the design and style of the actual review page otherwise your reader is off somewhere else without finishing the review.

So features relating to the main body are:

Gutter- The gutter is the gap between the columns in the main body. This separates the paragraphs and columns to enable the reader to follow the review. If the text had no gutter between it, how would they be able to know how the body reads. Theyd probably just read across rather than across and down meaning the review would make no sense at all. The gutter needs to be big enough to show the reader how the main body reads, defining the different columns clearly as you can see in this film review.

Columns- This is just the way in which the main body is set out with bodies of text lined up like a typical review or even a general article. As you can see in the twilight review, columns are used rather than reading text straight across the spread.

Caps and small caps- At the beginning of the review in the opening paragraph, it begins with the first few words being in caps then continuing with small caps. This shows the reader where the article begins so its a navigational system for the reader. It also draws the reader in so in this case the opening line is LETS ASSUME THAT YOURE. This caps beginning addresses the reader in a friendly manner, personalizing the review in a way and drawing their attention to the opening paragraph in hope that they dont stop reading. Indent- In most of the paragraphs for this review, an indent also known as an auto lead is used. Its a way of showing a new paragraph and giving the reader the heads up that a new element of the film is going to be spoken about or reviewed. Its like your English teacher teaches you really always begin with an indent to show youre starting a new paragraph. Its drilled into you that much you cant forget it. So this is a common convention for the main body text.

Sans serif and Serif- So these are two types of text style. Serif is your fancy end of letter flicks that is more artistic and bold whereas sans serif is just plain and cuts off at the end of the letters. Like this:

So the beginning of the paragraph in the twilight review begins with fancy serif font style but then moves to san serif when the main body continues and properly begins. Again this shows the navigational system of where the review text begins.

5. By Line and Credits:

To be honest this says what it does on the tin real. This basically tells you who wrote the review. In this film review, it tells you who wrote the review at the end of the main body, giving them the recognition for their work.

You can also get credits which do the same thing really but are usually at the side of the review (gutter credits) or at the end. The credits and by lines arent just for review content but as said earlier, credit is given to the photographer illustrator for the main art on the page.

The by line or credits are usually just a bit bigger in font size compared to the main body, just to stand out from the rest of the text. In this review for twilight, the by line is in a different text colour as well as being in capital letters which gives the recognition of the writer, standing out from the work they wrote.

6. Verdict/Rating:

The verdict/ rating is there to give the audience a critical opinion on the film. This summaries the view of the author of the review. In this case the review gives both sides to the story but ultimately they decide that the film isnt really for them. At the end it also gives the typical rating out of 5 stars. Again this is only their opinion, however, it does often sway the audience but all are entitled to their own opinion. As you can see there is a subheading for the phrase verdict which is slightly larger and bolder than the actual verdict text body. This section has also been separated from the main body so in a way it is classed as a side bar (even though it isnt really at the side). Its relevant to the review however its a separate section really.

7. Pull Quote:

A pull quote in a magazine review is a sentence or phrase said within the main body of the text often there to break up the large amount of text. So this pull quote is placed at the bottom of the page to break up a group of paragraphs over the two columns.

These quotes are often taken directly from the main body but in some cases they can be a summary of a specific section but in this version its an actual quote taken from the text.

As you can see its a juicy quote filled with gossip which is what the reader wants to attract their attention and ensure they do actually read the review to get the full story and in some places gossip.

The idea of the pull quote which as you can see from the twilight review pulls the reader straight to it. This is done by making it a different font size, in this case colour too so it definitely attracts the reader however it isnt bigger than the main heading which is something you just dont do. There are many other things that can be done to emphasis the quote like HUGE quotation marks, shapes around the outside of it etc.

In this example its just a larger text size sans serif text and a different colour. Oh and not forgetting the matching line that just highlights the quote in a different colour to the pull quote itself.

8. The Plug:

The plug is a feature that gives the reader the Box office details that you would see on a cinema website before deciding to go and see the film. This is just the brief information about the film letting the audience know when it is release. It also name drops as people go and see films because specific people are in the film or because someone directed the film so the main cast and crew involved within the film are named. As you can see it follows the house style of the magazine as well as giving the audience a brief plot line but leaving it open to ensure the reader continues on to the review to find out more about the film hoping to find spoilers. Or the just decide the film isnt for them and find a new article (which we hope isnt the case)

9. Headline:

Well the headline does what it says really. It gives audience a summary of what this review is about, the 2nd twilight film in this case. It attracts the reader with its bold font style, after all its the biggest text on the spread. This is probably the second most important element on the page as theyll probably be drawn to the image first but this is always the case.

The headline is usually placed at the top of the review however as you can see it is placed underneath the image but it does come above the rest of the review elements. The size of the headline also matters greatly as it really needs to stand out from the main body text otherwise the reader probably isnt going to notice it. Theyll end up moving on to another review which we dont really want.

This title also uses different colours as well as a caps and in a way having a tagline underneath it that reveals a little about the film context but really is making a pun out of an existing song by Duran Duran well thats what we think anyway!