how to write a film review

HowtoWriteaFilmReviewWhattoWriteabout?•Afilmreviewistypically250to500words.Itservesto•Sumupthefilm•introducethemesandissuesthatyouhaveidentifiedinthefilm.•showyourownreflections(思考)andinterpretationsofthemespresentedinthefilm.TheGeneralStructure?•Agoodfilmreviewusuallyhavethefollowingparts:•1.title•2.synopsis•3.youropinion•4.conclusionTheGeneralStructure?•TitleThetitlegivesaverybriefideaofthenatureofthefilmandprovidesastartingpointforthereadertofocuson.Yourtitleneedstobeimaginative.TheGeneralStructure?•Synopsis梗要orsummaryoftheplot:Makesurethatyoursummarymakessensetoareaderwhodoesnotknowthemovie.Youmightalsoincludethefollowingitems,butnotasdifferentparts(theymaybeincludedinyourdescriptionofthestory):Placeandtime:Where/Whendoestheactiontakeplace?Background:society,country,kindofpeople(age,culturesocialclass...),historicaltime...Genre:horror,comedy,drama,adventurefilm,thriller...TheGeneralStructure?•YourOpinion•Inthispartofyourreview,gointodetailaboutwhatyouthinkofthefilm.Thinkandwriteaboutthefollowing:1.Whatmessageisbeingtold?Whatwasthedirector'spurposeorintentionorthethemeofthefilm?2.Comparewithotherrealitiesyouknow(yourcountry,historicalfactorevent,otherfilmfromthesamedirectororgenre…)3.What'syouropinion?TheGeneralStructure?•Conclusion•Youcouldstateyourearlyopinionsinthesynopsispart,butheredon’tgivetoomuchawaytoosoon.Youraimistomaketheaudiencewanttofinishthearticle.•Eventhoughyourarticleshouldshowfromthestartwhatyouropinionsare,attheendofthepieceyoushouldgiveaconclusionthatstatesstronglywhatyouthink.Steps•1.Reviewthefilmthoroughly.Onyourfirstviewing,enjoy.Goodfilmscannotbeproperlyappreciatediftheyareonlyviewedbecausecompulsoryforyourcourse.Thedifferencebetweenagoodfilmreviewarticleandanexcellentoneoftendependsontheauthor’sabilitytounderstandtheunderlyingthemesandemotionswoven（交织）intothetext.So,thinkaboutit,paintpicturesofthecharactersinyourmind,andtrytoappreciatewhatitoffersyouasaviewer.Steps•2.Identifymainthemes.Whenyouhavecompletedtheinitialviewing,takeoutapieceofpaperandbrainstormthemainthemesandkeycharactersandconceptsofthefilm.Don’tbeafraidofwritingdowntrivial(琐碎的)points---thesecouldbemoreimportantthanyouthink!Simplyscribbledowneverythingthatcomestomindwithoutreserve（无保留的）-savetheanalysisforlater.Atthisstageitisalsoagoodideatobrieflywriteasynopsisorsummaryofthefilm.Thesenoteswillprovideyouwitheasyaccesstothebasicconceptsandthemesofthefilmasyoucontinuetoplanyourreview.Steps•3.Viewthefilmagain.Thistime,viewthefilmanalytically（以分析的眼光）,payingcloseattentiontosomeofthedeeperthemesandconceptsthatemergeduponyourinitialviewing.Asyoucomeacrossscenesthatcatchyourattention,notethem.Itisagoodideatohavetranscriptofthefilm.Asyouviewthefilm,writedownanyotherthemesandconceptsyoumighthavemissedintheinitialviewing,asthesecouldbeimportantwhenyoubegintoscriptthereview.Forwritinggoodfilmreviewsyouneedtodothefollowing:Getfamiliarwithitscontext.Beforeyouevenseethemovie,gettoknowalittleaboutit.Whathavetheactorsanddirectorworkedonbefore?Maybecheckoutsomeoftheirpastwork.AretheyOscarwinners?Aretheyknownforacertainstyle?Isthemoviebasedonabookoranhistoricalevent?Isitaremakeorasequel?Lookintothosekindofthings.Allofthisinformationwillhelpyouunderstandthemoviebetter.You‘llpickupon（熟悉）details,allusions,trademarksoftheactorordirector,andprobablyhavemoreinsightintoimportantstoryelements.You'llbeabletotellreadershowitliveduptotheoriginal,say,orthebook.Thesearethethingsthathelpacriticwriteasolidmoviereviewthatisofinteresttothefan.Forwritinggoodfilmreviewsyouneedtodothefollowing:•Formulateaspecificopinioninonesentence.Yourjobasmovierevieweristogiveanopinionofthemovie.Ultimately,thismaycomedowntoathumbsuporthreestarsoutoffive.Butyouwanttohaveaspecificthesistodriveyourcritique.Forexample,Ididn'tlikethiscomedybecomesThestoryhadfunnymomentsbutitwentontoolong.Thishorrormovie•isgoodbecomesThishorrormovieworksbecauseitbuildssuspenserightupuntiltheend.So,trytofindthatveryspecificopinionthatwillbethefoundationofyourreview.Forwritinggoodfilmreviewsyouneedtodothefollowing•Avoidplayingthespoilsport.Writingmoviereviewsdoesnotmeanyoumusttellthewholemovieandleavenothingforthereadertosee.Youropiniondoesn'tgiveyoutherighttorobanotherperson'sinterestofthemovie.Soyoushouldwritethebasicpremise,andtellthemhowthestorybuilds,butdon'tgiveawaykeymoments,especiallynottheending!Andkeepitbrief.Thengettoreviewing.Forwritinggoodfilmreviewsyouneedtodothefollowing•Makecriticalanalysis.•Peoplewillclamour(大声要求)toreadyourreviewsonlyifyouknowhowtoanalyzeafilm.Youmuststrivetobreakdownthethemesinthemovieandrelatethemtotheplot,thecharacters,etc.Agoodreviewwillexaminetheideaswhichthemovieattemptedtodepictandhowsuccessfulwasthemovieinexecuting（体现）thoseideasandthemes.Forwritinggoodfilmreviewsyouneedtodothefollowing•Backupyourmainopinionwithspecifics.Thereadersnowknowyouthink“Thiscomedyhadfunnymomentsbutwentontoolong.”It‘stimeforyoutoproveit.Writeabouthowtheteenactorshadgoodtimingliketheydidinthatothermovie.Writeabouthowthewritersdidagreatparody（模仿）ofthatfamousfilm.Butthenaddthatthe