ANCILLARY- DPS Codes & Conventions

With film reviews on double page spreads, there's not a massive variation when comparing reviews on different film genres. They also don't differ too much from a typical double page spread article. The aim of the double page spread is to share the writer's personal opinion of the film, giving the reader an insight as to the narrative and general enjoyability and effectiveness of the cinematic piece. Although it is down to personal opinion, many people rely on reviews to determine whether or not a film is worth investing the time into watching.

All double page spreads will have a stand out title and with film reviews this will obviously be the title of the film, and is usually made bigger than a title of a normal double page spread. This is to make it very easy to see what film is being reviewed upon a quick glance. Typically a similar or the same font is used as the one for the actual film and/or poster for a sense of continuity. 

All double page spreads have a main image specifically chosen to attract the attention of the reader. With a film review this image will be a screenshot from the film and can either depict the main character(s) or be the most visually appealing and interesting to look at screenshot from the film. With the former this is used when the star vehicles of the film are big Hollywood names, meaning they're an effective tool for promotional material. Sometimes it can be a mixture of both. With short films it's usually the latter as they don't tend to have big names starring their film. 

In terms of secondary images on double page spreads, a slight variation can occur. Some only have one image, some have other screenshots from the film and others will be behind the scenes on the film set. By using other screenshots from the film it gives the magazine the opportunity to show off other characters and scenes in the film, so will use a complete mix of screenshots from the film to make it more interesting and give the audience more of a complete picture of what the film looks like. Behind the scenes images can be very enticing for a reader as it gives them a special insight into the makings of the film. As most film review double page spreads are in film magazines dedicated to reviews they have a very specific audience of people passionate about the industry. I for one know that being able to see behind the scenes is very appealing as I want a career in the film industry. 

A lot of double page spreads will also have a specific quote in large text, and this quote will often be a very strong and occasionally controversial opinion or general statement about the topic. With film reviews it will be a strong opinion about one aspect of the film, typically the ability of a cast or crew member behind the film. As it's in big font it's one of the first things likely to catch a reader's eye, meaning it has to be a strong opinion to make the reader interested so as to make them read the article to find out why the writer has that specific opinion. A lot of film reviews I came across, online and in magazines, also came with a direct verdict on the film- a rating. Most used the 5 star rating system. This final verdict is usually in larger text that the article meaning the reader will most likely see it before the reading the article, ensuring that they straight away know the writer's opinion on the film.

The article itself aims to inform the reader of the film narrative whilst also giving readers the writer's opinion of the film. It can be very personal and often contains quite strong opinions as film critics are supposed to be very opinionated when writing about a film. Not only does this make for a more interesting read but a review with no real judgement made destroys the purpose of a review- to give an opinion. It comments on all aspects of the film from the mise-en-scene, to the acting, to the cinematography. This helps create a full picture for the reader. 

With all double page spread film reviews the colour palette tends to follow the same theme of the film and other promotional material such as the film poster. With crime dramas this will of course be the expected red and blue to make the link with a police siren.

Other things that are necessary to include in a double page spread include the page number, name of the magazine and date the magazine was printed.