NEA Task 12 : Research into film magazine contents page

What comments can you make about these contents pages? Think about things such as:

• are they single or double pages?
• the layout of the different elements on the page
• the different sections of the magazine that are shown in the contents pages
• the actual content - what can be found inside the magazine?
• the use of typography - font, size, use capitalisation/lower case, text direction, etc
• the use of images
• the use of page numbers

Analysis of the contents page:

In terms of contents pages, little white lies and sight and sound use a single page whereas film stories have used a double page spread.

Sight and sound follows a simplistic layout with the information sparse but composed in clear sections with numbers and headings in a large and bold font, making it easier for it to be read and navigated by an audience. The black print on a white background mimics the layout of a conventional newspaper, giving it a traditional feel. There are a range of sections within the magazine (June 2022, 104 Howard hawks, reviews and contributors) which feature anything from opening scenes and endings too television, DVD and Blu-ray. Next to every section is the page number in which you will find this specific content. The majority of the text is written in sans-serif font with the use of italics for films such as 'filmfarsi' and 'duke Ellington in Isfahan' this has been used to draw attention and focus to the title of the films, standing out from the surrounding sentence. Each page features three black and white images of the contributors, drawing attention to their work and putting a 'face to the name' of these people. This is significant as Sight and Sound focus predominantly on the production and work of camera, which their audience also share an interest in. 

The contents page of little white lies follows a layout conventional to the magazine as it has a simplistic and minimalistic composition with just the issue number in the top left hand side of the page and the page numbers with their following topics in the centre. There is lots of empty space around the text with no images or different sections, differing from that of Sight and Sound. This copy of little white lies focuses on all things 'pink flamingos' and its 50 year anniversary. Inside the magazine you can find the lead review and other articles based on the film including a behind the scenes from John Walters, the film director and producer of the film. The font size is small with the page numbers even smaller than the main text, written in a sans-serif font appearing neat and modern. The text is written in the colour yellow, which contrasts the dark grey background. this contents page is significantly different to that of sight and sound.

Film Stories contents page is spread over a double page with four coloured images and their captions located in the centre with the rest of the information about its content positioned in columns either side. Within the contents page Daniel Radcliffe is featured with references to his character as Weird AL in the film Weird; The AL Yankovic Story. it also references a range of topics typically discussed in films such as fashion, cinema prices, recommendations and reviews including humour when referencing 'the important people' and 'less important people'. the text is small and written in a black sans-serif font with headings that contrast with bright colours like blue and pink. the page numbers are in a bold white inside a brightly coloured box which further contrasts this and matches the colour palette of the page.