Traditionally, film reviews have been seen as a way to assess the artistic merit and public appeal of a movie. Film goers use reviews to help them decide whether to purchase a ticket to a particular film. As the number of film fans following the advise of reviewer grew, film companies saw profits diminish across a broader number of films. In order to counter this development, film studios increased marketing budgets and avenues of marketing to create more interest in a movie prior to the opening. Sight & Sound is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute. Sight & Sound has a more highbrow reputation than other film magazines.It says it reviews all film releases each month, including those with a narrow art house release, as opposed to the more mainstream focus of its competitors. Sight and Sound also currently features a full cast and crew credit list for each reviewed film.
As well as industry magazines, a lot of other institutions produce film reviews, for example, Newspapers such as The Independent and The Guardian. Both theses newspapers recently reviewed 'The Kings Speech'. In contrast to the film reviews i had read from Sight&Sound The Independent took a different spin on reviewing a film altogether. The language was less technical and thus easier to read, the overall feel was less formal and it contained humor as well analysing the film in question. As with the Sight&Sound review the article displayed a picture of the main actor, in the case Colin Firth, he is the unique selling point of this film and thus it seems vital to display an image of him on the review page. Overall the review was very positive, 'The Kings Speech' prides itself on being a heritage film and we can see this from the style of written communication and images we see on the page, and to some extent that's why the Independent ranked it so highly. Finally, The Independent mention Colin Firths previous success as well as motioning the BAFTA nominations he has received for this film, this in its self would attract a large audience and i feel that's exactly what the newspaper want to do. Finally i contrast to industry magazines, i feel newspapers are biased towards certain films, and thus the review my not be so much of fact, but opinion.
The Guardian also reviewed 'The Kings Speech'. This review was similar in format to that of The Independent, this review was again easier to read than that of the industry reviews using informal language, it uses a play on words in various parts and again has a humorous feel to it. Reviews such as this overall are easier to read and don't just apply to film lovers, but the majority of the general public. The overall structure of the review gives a lot away about the films plot. The Guardians review includes all of the technical details of the film without intimidating the reader and i feel this is a good balance. Both newspaper reviews praise the film highlt and both play on the fact that it is a british heratige film. However when producing my film review i'm going to follow in the footsteps of Sight&Sound to create a really proffesional finish.
Conventions Of A Film Review
After looking at these various film reviews the conventions, in my opinion, become somewhat obvious, they are as follows...
-A dominant image of the unique selling point of the film, this is usually the actor. The image will be shown at the top of the page.
-The actors that are staring in the film, if they are a unique selling point there name will be in bold to make sure the readers know whos staring in the film.
-The review will comment on other films of a similar genre and make comparisons.
-Certain words and phrases are used in order to sell the film to the reader, for exaple refering to the BAFTA nomination that The Kings Speech recieved, The Gaurdian mentioned this and this automatically seccurs an audience beacuse they believe if the film is good enough to be nominated for a BAFTA then its worth watching.
My Film Review
From analysing and looking at various types of film reviews i have decided to follow in the footsteps of Sight&Sound. I feel this review is the most professional review out of the ones i have analysed and it goes into great detail and this is an aspect that i personally felt effective. Within the review page i shall include a picture of the main character Jonathan, a film synopsis and the review. As well as this i will have a cast list and the name of the writer and director. I will also included the performances i thought stood out and particular scenes that i felt to be particularly effective. When i produce this review i shall not just present it in written form but will also display it as a web page.
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