http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/love_rosie/
Rotten Tomatoes is an interactive website dedicated to the reviewing of films and everything associated to the film industry, e.g. news and showtimes. There is a strong relationship between the distributors and the audience/readers as they have the opportunity to share and discuss their own thoughts and opinions.
The film 'Love, Rosie' is categorised as a romantic comedy and although this genre is very contrasting to that of my own product, I thought it would be beneficial to explore whether there was a difference in layout and colour scheme. At the top of the review is the video trailer of the film with the thumbnail capturing the main character, Rosie, the title and the year of release (2015). Instantly the reader is given the opportunity to watch a preview of the film itself, offering an insight into the tone and overall narrative of the film.
Beneath this is the official film poster and the 'tomatometer'; the tomatometer shows both a critic rating and an audience rating based on an average score percentage given by both parties. I find this very important as the critic views often differ from the audience views quite dramatically, e.g. the critic rating for this film is 27% whereas the audience rating is 62%. This is effective as the reader may relate more to the audience through enjoyment/entertainment purposes rather than the more technical judgement of the professional critics; this extra feedback may provide the reader with the second opinion that they need in order to decide whether or not they feel that the film is worth watching. The critics also give a small consensus in which sums up the overall opinion and provides the reader with a general explanation of such. The reader is then given the option to write a review themselves and add their own rating; if the reader hasn't yet seen the film they can state whether they would like to or whether they have no interest in watching it.
On the left hand side of the frame is a box filled with numerous different film titles and their ratings of satisfaction. This can be seen as an example of self promotion as it tempts the reader into clicking multiple film reviews and staying on the website for longer; however, this also diverts attention away from the original review as it may appeal more to the reader to read a review of a more highly rated film.
As you scroll down the page there is a section called 'tickets and showtimes' that allows the reader to enter their postal/zip code in order to do an advanced internet search resulting in the next available showtimes and theatre appearances. I think that this is influential in persuading the reader to watch the film as the website is providing them with the necessary information to ensure convenience and accessibility.
As you go further down the page there is a gallery of photos, video clips and trailers featured within the film; this furthers the readers insight into the film but also creates a sense of familiarity between the characters- the genre is truly captured within these images as we can see elements of intimacy and closeness.
Beneath this is a section called 'movie info' which contains a small paragraph of a synopsis summarising the general storyline and plot of the film, the rating, the genre, the director, the writer, the date of release and the screen time.
Readers are then given the option to 'watch it now' as the website provides them with direct links to sites such as Amazon, iTunes and Flixter in which they can purchase one screening of the film for a small fee. Not only does this advertise the product but it also promotes the companies themselves (Amazon etc.).
There is also a section called 'people who like this movie also like...'; this can be seen as a source of recommendation as readers can find films of a similar genre/narrative- not only this but readers may find certain sets of codes and conventions enjoyable (as mentioned within the uses and gratifications theory) and set out to find various media texts that will satisfy these needs/expectations.
The reader can then find out more information about the actors/actresses featured via the 'cast' section as each performer will have their own celebrity profile; this profile will state both their highest and lowest rated film, some background information on them and their filmography. This can be very beneficial as I found out via a survey last year that many viewers make film choices based around popular actors/actresses rather than the film itself.
Other available features include 'news and interviews' and 'friend ratings'- although the news and interviews would be accessible elsewhere on the internet, Rotten Tomatoes is including all of the content on one page to increase accessibility and convenience rates. Friend ratings may also be very influential on the reader when choosing a film, this may be due to having similar taste or reliance on their opinions and feedback; in order to have 'friends' on the website, the reader must sign up and create an account with the website- this is a way of engrossing the curiosity of users and increasing their consumer statistics.
At the very bottom of the page the reader can find numerous critic reviews and the reviews of other readers (audience reviews). This allows the reader to explore the given outlook in more depth and detail, therefore helping them to develop an understanding of all criticism and praise given. Regardless of whether or not the reader agrees/disagrees with the give viewpoint, there is a 'discussion forum' in which all opinions can be justified and debated in terms of a constructive exchange with other users.
Lastly, there is a tab that followed my movements all the way down the right hand side of the screen; the more I scrolled, the lower the tab moved. This tab provided the html links for me to publicly share the review online via social networking therefore advertising both the product and the website through topic focus.
No comments:
Post a Comment