FILM REVIEW
TITLE:
... and not just the title of the film and ‘a review’ – be imaginative
HOOK:
* A strong lead sentence which signals your approach to the film. * You can also set up an idea and then undermine it in your second paragraph, i.e. “rave, rave, brilliant, rah, rah. This is not one of those films…”
DESCRIPTION/SYNOPSIS:
* Description or Synopsis * DO NOT REVEAL PLOT POINTS EVER. * If you want to discuss a plot point, write WARNING: SPOILER ALERT.
PLOT
* Instead of saying what happens, write about the film’s themes or the characters. * What kind of plot is it? Memento, Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, Inception…
GENRE
* What is the director trying to achieve? Skyfall wants us to sit on the edge of our seats, or wants us to be adrenalized, Dodgeball wants us to laugh... * The Dark Knight Rises wants us to run screaming into a hardware store so we can drill a hole in our heads to erase the memory.
AUDIENCE
* How does the film make the audience feel? This is why it is important that your review be a public screening? Did everyone get the jokes in a comedy (anecdotal examples: Scary Movie, Braveheart).
READERSHIP
* Where will the review be published? This should affect the way you relate the film’s audience to your audience as a writer.
ANALYSIS
* Analysis: The film’s style, structure, narrative, genre etc.) * Evaluation: strengths and weaknesses. * What makes this film the kind of film people should watch? Stars, special effects, story? * Conclusion: try and make this stylish, and not “I recommend that you go and see this film.”
LAYOUT
* Two examples of innovative layout when it comes to print reviewing: Total Film and Sight and Sound. * Consider also the difference in style between the two magazines: one more popular and journalistic, the other more academic.