Research (Ancillary Products): Magazine Review 2

Background Information (Magazine Publisher)

This is a double page film review of Action, Adventure fantasy film Clash of the Titans by Empire* magazine, who I have already established as one of the biggest and most popular British film magazine publishers previously in my other blog post. Clash Of The Titans is a film based on Greek mythology about the son of Zeus who must save the world by battling epic monsters and travelling far (fairly generic stuff for a fantasy film. 

*(Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media of Hamburg based Bauer Media Group. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008. It is the biggest selling film magazine in the United Kingdom and is also published in the United States, Australia, Turkey, Russia, Italy and Portugal. Empire organises the annual Empire Awards which were sponsored by Sony Ericsson, and from 2009 sponsored by Jameson.)

Plot

In ancient times, after defeating their predecessors, the Titans, the Gods divided the Universe among themselves. Zeus took the skies, Poseidon took the seas, and Hades was left with the Underworld upon being tricked by Zeus. The gods created the mortals, whose faith and prayers fuelled the gods' immortality. As time passed, however, mortals began to question and soon resist their creators, angering the Olympians.

Main Image(s)

image on the left of the two page spread

I took this pictures from the magazine review page itself so therefore could get a better understanding. The picture of the left presents the main protagonist show at a long shot in which his mis en scene is very typical for something you'd expect to see in a mythological style fantasy action film; including his stance, and posture on his approach to the camera. His costume consists of ancient antiquity battle armour with the muscle shaped torso and leg guards and vambraces, all things commonly associated with a Greek mythological hero. The fact that his skin appears to be dirty, follows on to the fact that he likes to partake in battles. Very strong and masculine figure presented. The size of the image being half of the double spread indicates its undeniably strong presence.

Featuring colours however, the dark colours of it subvert this stereotype, you'd expect a "hero" figure to be wearing bright gilded colours to represent his heroism and good intentions, such as Spiderman previously. The dark of this man's armour present him as a different type of hero. He has two props, firstly a full sack. This is shown in the film poster to add a hint of mystery as the audience will question what it's contents are within it. In the other hand he's gripping an odd sort of scaly shield that would excite a fantasy fan as it associates with mythical beings like dragons. Maybe showing that he defeated a dragon to obtain the shield, again, showing strength.

Additionally, there is a second image presented in the centre of the spread, unlike the primary image this one is a still from the film and it hints to the audience a bit more of the narrative, however, slightly smaller. In it you can see the protagonist sneaking around with a rather abnormal looking robed figure towering over him. The scene chosen creates more questions then answers for the audience and would encourage them to see the film. In the corner of the image there is a small description that reveals a piece of the narrative to tempt the audience to read it. Ultimately this picture is used to add more action to draw in the audience into reading the magazine review.

Title

The first part that stands out is the title of this review "Gods and Monsters" although this is not the title of the film the phrase sums up the narrative of the film, God and monsters being the two main aspects in the film. The typography it's styled in has a "Gothic" look to it, mixed in with a dark bronze colour which all links in with the fantasy genre and conventions. As well as the gold armour colour as well being hinted in it. This style of text is also seen in the initial starting the paragraphs adding to the Gothic look of the review. The 'Stand-First' technique is used therefore, gaining the attention of the reader to begin the paragraph. Interestingly the word "God" is presented over the gloomy dark background, whilst the word "Monster" is presented over a clean white background, both words are incorporated with backgrounds that juxtapose their meanings. This might link to the narrative. 

Layout

I really like the layout of this film review as I think it looks very professional and is divided well so it does not look overwhelming with text. The picture on one of the sides of the double spread gains a lot of tension from the reader, and the act of putting a big picture on one of the pages is necessary.  The ratings and titles are clear and bold which makes it easy for the reader to comprehend, therefore gaining valuable information without really having to exceed past skimming on this review page. If anything, this is the sort of review page that I hope mine will come out like as well as the Spiderman one as well.

Review

The introductory paragraph is beneath the title and gives the reader a glance into the film and its production. This part is really just trying advertise how good the film is going to by mentioning what films the actors have been in and how the effects will be truly amazing. This section also talks about the story its relation to the original film. So therefore provides some information for the audience before watching the film and may even engage them to watch the film themselves.