The choices I made for my review page...

I chose to roughly base my film review page on Empire magazine. I am aware that it would not seem plausible for my short film to be featured in such a commercial film magazine and so I decided that the best way of making this believable, is by saying that my film won the Virgin Media Shorts award 2010, and that Empire magazine wanted to show its readers some of the best shorts of the year.

I had to make many vital choices while designing my review page- I wanted it to follow the main codes and conventions of music magazines, while also highlighting digital excellence.
I chose to have a header on my spread and I noticed that this was common in most film magazines as well as Empire. My footer, 'short reviewed' gives the reader knowledge of what the page consists of before they even read the review. It also included the date and the issue number; again, another common feature used by Empire.
I chose to add the title of the film, '(mis)match.com' in bright pink letters for a number of reasons; one, it links to the film poster thus connecting the two products, two, it connotes femininity and three, it attracts my intended female target audience. I bolded the word '(mis)' to further highlight that the film explored the bitter disappointments of online dating. I used a block font to make the title easy and clear to read, and to connect the film more explicitly with the internet.

The standfirst tells readers a brief description of what the review will be about without giving too much away. I changed the font to Times New Roman and made the colour dark grey so as to differentiate from the title as well as making sure the standfirst did not overpower the rest of the review.
The block light pink lines frames the film information and acts as a barrier from the title and the body of the review.
I used a drop cap as this showed digital excellence while also conforming to the codes and convetions of many music magazine review pages. My review was written in the ragged right format so it is easier to read.
I used two images on my review page- one main image of Tina sitting on the park bench alone; this was a vital shot as it summed up the whole film in one picture. The other smaller image is of Alan, the 'good' date which I feel is also a significant shot in the movie.
The use of the pull quote was a means of enticing readers and making them aware of what the review talks about- it also presents the film in a good light!

These are the priliminary choices I have made for my review page. The other parts on this first draft will soon be altered accordingly.