19 Dec Lights, Camera, Action for FilmDebate Website Design
The RONIN design team has just finished an exciting website project for up-and-coming film reviewer and journalist, Adam Snowden, and his blog, FilmDebate.
Adam requested a slick, uncluttered site in a dark colour scheme for a professional, contemporary look, and user-friendly features. The new website, a customised WordPress theme, combines all this and comes complete with content-managed back office.
Adam began reviewing films for fun whilst studying at university, but what started as a hobby has turned into a fledgling career, as Adam has seen his blog grow in popularity. The next step was clear: to set up his very own website and continue producing high quality entertainment articles on a professional platform, complete with interactive content to provoke conversation, reflecting the blog’s title, FilmDebate.
“I’m absolutely delighted with the website,” says Adam, who has been able to recruit a team of contributors as a result of the expansion of his blog; a submission form built into the site allows potential film critics to contact him easily. “I wanted to build a personal community on the site and this makes it easy for people to get involved.”
The interactive aspect of the site creates a great, collaborative feel, as visitors are invited to provide their own star ratings for the films reviewed, and YouTube clips and links to the various FilmDebate social media accounts provide lots of chances to get in touch and get involved in the debate.
“I wanted to focus on three different areas of film journalism; Reviews, Debates and Articles,” explains Adam; on the website, each area has its own mini-site, complete with a topic-specific sidebar of top rated articles. “This makes it easy to navigate and provides lots of information for the readers.”
The resulting FilmDebate website features a classic monochrome colour scheme, evoking the black and white films of vintage Hollywood, whilst innovative interactive details reference the technology of the modern film industry; iconic characters such as Frodo and Superman adorn the homepage and provide an engaging backdrop to FilmDebate’s white logo, which incorporates the instantly recognisable arrow-shaped Play icon, whilst a Carousel slider displaying movie posters provides quick links to reviews of the latest blockbusters.