The film If I Stay Empire Magazine review, analysed and annotated.

2. The image shownhere isa midshot of a girl ina liftwithotherpeoplewhoare ina hospital.Thisshotcouldhave beenuse d
to showmostof the characters body,allowingthe audience tosee theircostume,positioningandfacial expressionswell.This
couldalsohave beenusedtoshowmajorityof the girl whoseemstobe the main character,as she is centrallypositionedand
focusedoninthe image.Thiskindof shotmay have alsobeenusedtorepresentthe settingtoemphasise the smallspace of
the hospital lift.Showinghowthe girl mayfeel trappedandpanickedinthe environmentshe’sin,whichseemstobe
conveyedthroughherexpression.Withinthe shotwe alsosee hospital staff thatare talkingtoeach otherovera hospital
bed.Due to theirfacial expressionswe seethatthe manand womanare laughingwitheachother.Thiscouldhave acontrast
of meaningandjuxtapose the situationthereseemstobe inthe image.Aswe see a hospital bedanda younggirl looking
afraidwe understandasad meaning isbeingconveyed.Howeverhavingthe hospital staff laughingshowshowthiscreatesa
lightheartedandhumorousmeaningwhichisthe binaryoppositeof the overall meaning.Thiscouldbe usedtorepresent
howthe main character isthe onlyone whois deeplyaffectedbywhat’sgoingon.Andhow the hospital staff aren’tas
involvedwiththe storyandare seentobe calm and positive.Additionally,we cansee the girl at the frontof the image and in
frontof the hospital bedbythe shotused.Representing how she maybe protective overwho’dinthe hospitalbedandisthe
mostsignificantcharacterinthe narrative.The angle of the shot isa straighton and central angle,whichcouldhave been
usedto representastate of shock that the character isin throughthe camera workas well asher expression.The shot,angle
and framingof thisimage couldrepresentthe filmasaquite seriousandfastpacedfilm, asthisimage conveysthisand
makesthe audience thinkwhyit’sbeenchoseninthe review. Furthermore,the costumesof the people show thatthe people
inthe backgroundhave scrubsand doctorcoats on. Thishighlightshow theyare mostlikelydoctorsandnurses,conveying
that the settingisina hospital.We alsosee the hospital bedwithIV dripsand the stainlesssteel elevatorinthe image.This
alsotellsusthe settingisa hospital andthe shotallowsreaderstosee the small space the people have tofitinto.Also the girl
isseento weara dresswitha cardigan and slightlycurledhair.Portrayingherinnocenceandpuritymaybe andthatshe is
relativelyyoungbyhowshe’sagedwithlittlemakeuponher.Thisrepresentshow the filmcouldfocusonherinnocence and
vulnerabilityandsignifieshowthe hospital settingcouldmake herfeelthatway. Lastly,brightlightingisusedtomaybe show
a surgical and hygienicenvironmentof the hospital,withmainlypale coloursusedtosignifybleaknessandharshness.
At the top of the information box the company Empire magazine has icons
for their social networking sites of Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. These
when clicked on are hyperlinks to their sites, giving readers more detail into
their company and other things they offer as a company. By having these
icons with the sites logo creates a cultural allusion for readers who know of,
have accounts and use these social networking sites. As they will
understand what they mean when they see these icons, and could be drawn
to click on them to find out more. The information box on the side of the
review incudes additional information about the film such as the director,
release date, certificate, running time and the title of the film. This is to give
extra background knowledge of the filmbefore people have watched the
film. Or even people afterwards that didn’t know some of the information.
The font size is smaller than the main review font, showing how it’s
additional information and not the dominant part of the review. The font is
also bold showing how it’s a heading, with the information below which
isn’t bold.

3. In the first paragraph the readers are given a brief summary of the film, with some information on the actors and
actresses who play the characters in the film. Uses adjectives to create a image of the character and what their
like in the film. Uses punctuation of commas to separate the long, complex sentence and create an easy reading
flow for readers. In brackets the actors or actresses names are included, but shows a low level of formality as
their surnames seemto be only included. Syntax is commonly an adjective or a few words to describe the
character, with the actors name in brackets. The order of the story is briefly explained as the most significant
characters are introduced. By having ‘Moretz’ the actresses name and the character in the first few words of the
reviews opening. Highlights how she is the main character in the film and is the most significant due to the
syntax. The words used such as ‘journey’, ‘past love’ and ‘handsome’ could have been selected to attract the
audience to watch the film. It could also have been included to appeal to its target audience which would
probably be female teenagers aged 14-18 as it’s a female main character with a love story narrative.
Cleveruse of the words‘false notes’as
the film’stheme isof musicandlinks
to Mia as she playsthe cello.The
wordsalsohas several meaningsas
whenputin thiscontextitconveys
that ‘false notes’are badpointsinthe
film.Andtheyall addup bythe use of
the words‘too many’and become too
much.Using the word‘lite’implies
that the filmisa cheaperor not as
goodversionof a NicholasSparksfilm.
Createsanothercultural allusionfor
people whowatchNicholasSparks
films,astheywill understandwhatis
meantby it.Obviouslyusedtocreate
humor,while conveyingthe films
genre bysaying‘teenromance’.
By usingthe word‘prodigy’emphasizes
how Mia isa verygood cellistandhas
strongabilitieswithit.Creatinga
positive image of the characterandwhat
she enjoystodo.Allowingthe audience
to create an image of the main
character. By usingthe word‘hurled’
exaggeratesthe carcrash using
hyperbole effectivelytoattract readers
to go and see the filmanthe car crash.
Cultural allusioniscreatedwhenauthors
such as ‘Gayle Forman’are includedin
the review,meaningpeople whohave
readthese bookswill have abetter
understandingof the personal meanings
of the writerthroughout.Longsentence
usedto brieflyexplainthe mainaspect
of the film.Explainshow Miaisout of
herbody watchingothersformostof
the film.Declarative sentencesused
throughouttostate thingsinthe film,
but alsohas personal meaningstothem
as it’sthe writerspointof view,for
example ‘There’ssomethingnice about
teenstalkingreal stuff’.Negative
impressioncreatedinthe lastsentence,
talkingaboutmainactressesactingskills
infilm.
Discourse/layout
The ideasof the review are clearlyorganizedwithanopening,mainreview
and conclusiongivingathoroughbackgroundof the filmtothe audience,
and an effective review of the film.The language andregisterof the whole
review isinformal anduseshumorouslanguageandhyperbole tobuildupan
image of something.There are noheadingsforeachsectionaseach different
part of the review issplitupintoparagraphs.Throughoutthere are
cataphoriccohesive linksintermsof the discourse.Asthe reviewanalyses
the filmas a whole,while summinguppartsof the filminthe main
paragraph.I notice that the openingisa shortintroductiontothe characters,
actors and ideaof the film.Meaningthatreaderscan decide whetherthey
wantto read the rest of the review,orwatchthe film.The beginningalsohas
the Empire Magazine star ratingfor the film, whichistwostars outof five.
Thisis relativelylow meaningthatthe filmisreviewedbadly.Thiscouldput
off people towatchthe film, asit’snot reviewedwell.Thisiscleverlydone
by Empire Magazine andallowsthe audience tomake aquickdecisionon
whethertoreadthe review orwatchthe film.The endingof the reviewisa
simple sentence showinghow the review isaltogetherbrieftherefore
doesn’tneedaconclusionassuchat the end.