Empire Hard copy: Layout

Empire Hard copy: Layout

Opening page: In Cinemas

Title: The opening page consists of the title, slanted on the side of the page. This draws attention to the opening image, a striking shot summerising the movie in one image. In this example, DiCaprio stands defiant as he battles for survial in a long shot, which enforces the battles he is about to encur in the narrative. the titled angle of the shot gives the audiernce an inishgt in the dominance of the character and the role DiCaprio will play in the film. By doing so, EMPIRE give important infomation to the reader in order to help them make a well informed choice at the cinema.

My Magazine: I plan to have a page spread similar to this house style, using the image to summarize to the reader what my film embodies in terms of themes and style. The title 'In cinema' is interesting and I hope to experiment with this in my later drawings

Borders: Three lines separate the font, giving the house style a retro take on art deco. I liked this choice of art because it combines with the 'In Cinema' font, which I will use in my final review print, enforcing the House style of my magazine.

My Magazine: A house style that uses a cool colour palette would suit my style better, as it allows the eye to be drawn onto the image and see the visual clearly:
Page Numbers: the numbers match the colours of the red house style, which is plan to emulate in my designs.

Above: the Splash for EMPIRE

Star rating: The rating gives the viewer an idea of the review at a glance, allowing them to decide whether to invest their time into the material. This is an interesting use of the splash as it allows the browsing reader to judge the look of the review before investing in it, giving them a sense of achievement for showing it.

My Magazine: I plan to use this star rating to draw the audience in, using the

Brief information: Underneath the stars the text gives information on the release date/ certificate number/ run time (minutes). This gives the reader the impression of the film and the audience it is aiming at, for example, Spotlight is aimed at a mature audience (15 cert.), letting the reader know of it's serious subject matter.

Director and Cast: This source of information is valuable for the niche of EMPIRE readers, as it gives the magazine change to reel in its audience with the attraction of an all star cast or an award winning entourage. 

My Magazine: I want to take influence from this theme because my audience would read a magazine similar to this layout. However I am using unknown stars for my film, so I will experiment with the placement of this information, say, at the side of the article rather than before it, due to the lack of audience engagement in this particular category. 

Plot: I like the use of a turquoise colour for the font since it clearly defines it from the following text. The font is simple enough to read and does not distract from the message of the film.
My Magazine: As mentioned above, the use of colour is effective in catching the readers attention, and I plan to do this in order to draw my audience into the new material. I am aware my narrative is not a mainstream blockbuster, but I plan to have the audience not drawn in by the celebrities but the idea of a stereotypical narrative (the Underdog) being told in a new perspective (a Female Footballer)

Above: Added Details

Bold Font: A simple bold font with a side rectangle plays on the art deco theme of the piece as well as defining the text from the other sources of information. 

My Magazine: I plan to use the bold font in my spread, allowing the audience to define the difference between my spread and the review.

Distance: The distance between each set of texts prevents the eye from being cluttered from a glance. This gives the layout a sleek first impression that is organised and planned.

My Magazine: I plan to use the spacing to give my magazine a sense of order and structure, possibly using breaks in between the stanzas rather than clunks of text. I shall experiment with this in Photoshop during the creative process.

Above: EMPIRE ending

Writer: The writer is placed at the end of the text, acting like a punctuation mark for the end of the text. I liked the placement of this because it allows for the hours colours to be reinforced once again, but also acknowledges the writer, allowing the consumer to judge the work and be attracted to the authors next spread because of the themes in their text.

Page Number: A simple number at the side of the page. This prevents distraction from the page and allows the reader to focus on the important details of the image.

Logo: Inspecting closely, the EMPIRE logo can be seen in the margins of the grey background, This gives a professional look to the magazine that I intend to emulate, giving the impression of a long time running magazine that can be trusted in its resources. 

My magazine:  I intend to use this to give my magazine. The 'March 2016' is a good touch to add to the magazine, as it gives the impression of a house style that is constantly changing with the times and gives the user gratification that they have chosen the correct product. 

EMPIRE vs. Sight and Sound: Internet Edition

EMPIRE vs. Sight and Sound

Whilst drafting a poster for my final product, I am researching into different house styles that I can take inspiration for my poster.

language styles (what do they think is more important than one another?)

Opening Page- Banner and Splash

The name of the film that is being reviewed is written inside a red box, linking it into Empire’s house style. The social media buttons are easy to access, with simple details  for the social media logos of Twitter, Face Book and Pinterest. These are all visual social media sites that allow the large images to be prominent in the house style.

The top of the article has a moving image, detailing the main characters and theme of the film. This gives the reader the ability to glance over the review and decide whether to read it or not, with the article giving the reader enough information to make that judgement.

The colour naturally draws the eye to ‘Spotlight Review’ and gets the reader to start reading the black bold font below. The text is straight to the point and gives a reverting summary of what the reader can expect from the film. A splash of stars connotes the importance of being able to access visuals quickly and if the article is worth reading. By having these ratings the readers is more connected to the writer, as their venting of the disappointing performance can gain a response from the reader, and increase the popularity of the magazine.

Sight and Sound, on the other hand is a lot more humble in appearance. Dressed in a grey background, its main target is to bring in regular customers. The BFI Logo are the brightest part of the screen, which draws in the readers eye. This is a seal of quality, and the customer can be assured that the reviews in this magazine are to the best quality.

Quote and Red House Style

The thin red line divides the statement eloquently, allowing the layout to look professional and well organised. There is linking of the red colour palette again, allowing the red white and black colour palette to blend in with the various films the reviewer may cover. This allows there to be definition between the fix of font sizes

A bold comment defines the article with a certain style, giving an insight into the tone of the film. I like the idea of using this in my house and possibly using a signature colour to implement the audience my magazine is aiming for. Instead of Red, I could use another bright colour, such as a blue or green, depending on the tone I want to go for in my film.

Trailer Link 

One of the major differences between Sight and Sound and Empire is Empire's decision to use a video at the end of their review. This is a media format that is more commercial and allows the spread of a scene or trailer to be passed among social media websites, such as FaceBook or Twitter.

Sight and Sound may not have such a presence in social media formats, but its theory and analytical works make up for its social media differences. Clearly there is a difference in audience here, with Empire aiming for a more mainstream audience, whereas BFI'S Sight and Sound having a more sophisticated presentation.

Down below there are links to other reviews as well as a quick summary of other links to other films. I like the idea of this being at the bottom of my review, as I can link to other films and give the impression of a running magazine.

Sight and Sound did not have any links at the bottom of their page but did have a visuals that showed the viewer a sneak peak into the magazine edition of the review. Although the words are too small to read, Sight and Sounds main impression is to convey it's rich visuals which balance it's in depth analysis.