Analysing the sight and Sound

1. Analysing the Sight & Sound Magazine Film Review
Sight & Sound is a monthly film magazine that is published by the British Film
Industry (BFI). The magazine features international, independent and art house
films. It caters for an intellectual audience who possess an analytical interest,
subsequently as they tend to view films as a art form.
Form and Style
The layout of a film review within the Sight & Sound magazine is extremely
basic, but intellectual. There are four individual featured areas for each film,
which consist of:
 A picture
 A critical and academic film review
 Column structured credits
 Short synopsis
Codes and Conventions
Picture - The featured picture is usually a still frame image from the film or an
original photograph of the protagonist or the protagonist with another main
character. The size of the picture varies, but it is always a quadrilateral –square
or rectangle.
Film Review - Written in formal language and will almost certainly include
references and comparisons to directors other work. Many reviews have
referenced and compared the work of a director to the works of others from
within or outside of the same genre. The review can make direct or indirect
references to the genre and reference to a wider media context. The author
may implement references to festivals, where the film has been exhibited and
to the awards it may have received. Furthermore, there are always references
to the casting.

2. The author of the review will explore the narrative to identify
interpretation relating to the plot, characterisations and stylistic elements.
Furthermore, references to key areas of representation help to establish the
key themes and issues that are present within the film. The review will also
comment on the quality of the films, directing and performances.
The length of a review will vary, but it is presented in the form of
indented paragraphs with no line space between each paragraph. The font size
of the text is approximately 12 and the style of the font, I believe it to be is
Sans Serif.
Film Synopsis – Small detailed synopsis that contains a clearly structured
beginning, middle and an end. The narrative is written from a third person
perceptive, with simple, but effective language. Each sentence drives the
narrative forward and adjectives are used to clarify the information about the
nouns. The opening describes the location and initial time, followed by the
introduction of a protagonist. Other main characters are introduced and their
relationship to the protagonist is then established. The middle of the synopsis
identifies the problems/conflicts, whilst also producing a solution and the
resolution is always at the end.
Conventionally, the style of the synopsis is blocked typography that is
positioned onto a pale grey background. The size of the font is smaller, but
bolder than that of the film review.
Credits - These are organised into neat columns and displayed on a light grey
background. The crediting titles are in a bold format, whilst the names of
recognition are not. The size of the text is smaller than that of the film review
and synopsis. The title ‘Cast’ in the credit list has been given a different format.
It is displayed in a larger, bold font to the other titles and its identification
colour is a darker hue of grey to that of its background. The credit list follows a
particular structure, commencing with the producer and finalising with the
distributor.