7 Tips for Writing a Film Review

7 Tips for Writing a Film Review 7 Tips for Writing a Film Review 7 Tips for Writing a Film Review By Mark Nichol When I wrote for my college newspaper, one of the assignments I enjoyed most was writing film reviews. And I was terrible at it, as I soon realized. Why? I was writing the equivalent of book reports: movie reports. Fortunately, I came to my senses and realized that evaluating films and plays and the like (and, yes, books) is more complicated, yet more satisfying, that that. Here are some tips not necessarily in the order in which they would be applied in your writing for crafting movie reviews (which are more or less applicable for reviewing other types of composition, or even products like software or gadgets): 1. If circumstances permit, view the film more than once. It’s easy to miss key elements, or even the whole point, after just a single viewing. 2. Express your opinion of the film, but support your criticism. If you are offended or disappointed or embarrassed, provide a valid reason, even if you think it is obvious. A film review that comes across as a personal attack on an actor, director, or screenwriter or a diatribe about a genre is a failed review. 3. Adjust the style of your review for the readership. If you’re pitching reviews to a traditional publication, you’re expected to be fairly evenhanded (though even mainstream film critics are permitted nay, expected to gently mock particularly inept filmmaking). If your target audience is fanboys (and fangirls) on a movie-geek Web site, though, feel free to take the gloves off. Either way, though, support your criticism with valid observations; hurling invective is not the same thing as evaluation. 4. Avoid spoilers. One of the most pernicious fairly recent developments in the review genre is the careless, thoughtless revelation of key plot points. It’s a sign of professionalism to refrain from giving such information away. Exception: Reviews of previously released films don’t necessarily adhere to this rule, though it’s still considered sporting to warn readers or site visitors to skip to the next paragraph if they don’t want to read something. Some classy sites actually code spoilers to be invisible unless the visitor scrolls over the blank area to highlight that passage in the review. 5. Judge the story. Are the character’s actions justified, and are their motives plausible? Is there an internal consistency to the way each person behaves, or do some words, thoughts, or actions ring false? Does the plot make sense? Is the story line logical? Is the narrative arc well shaped, with an economy of form, or is it flabby or drawn out, with time-killing pointlessness? 6. Rate the actors. Do they meet the expectations dictated by the plot and other story elements? If not, is it their own thespian shortcomings, are they hampered by a poor script, or is there something about their performances that makes you believe the director is at fault? What could the performers, the screenwriters, or the filmmaker have done differently to make the movie work better? 7. Evaluate the technical elements. How do the cinematography, editing, lighting, sound, and other components support or detract from the film? Is music appropriate and effectively employed? You needn’t know film-technology jargon to share your thoughts about how these elements contributed to or detracted from the whole. Writing film reviews is in one way a thankless task: Often, readers will disagree with you, and many people will go to see movies without your wise guidance. How to avoid frustration? Writing about movies, like writing about just about anything else, should be primarily an exercise in enjoyment: You do it because you like doing it. If anybody else out there enjoys the result of your exercise in self-entertainment, so much the better but you’re your own primary audience (and your worst critic). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Spelling Test 1Top 11 Writing Apps for iOS (iPhone and iPad)Threw and Through

3 Lessons Freelancers Learn from... Bears

3 Lessons Freelancers Learn from... Bears Things that are great about being a bear: You get a diet rich in fish, you’re big enough that most predators don’t bother you, you don’t have to have a LinkedIn Profile, and when you want to go sleep in cave for weeks at a time, nobody thinks it’s weird. Fortunately we’re not just doomed to a life as sad hairless bear-wannabes. There are things freelancers can learn from bears when it comes to managing our work-life, as assembled by Chris over at Rags to Reasonable.Lesson 1: Hibernation ModeUnless you’ve landed a really plum long-term contract or three, odds are your workstream ebbs and flows (or sometimes even dries up entirely). This means you have to know how to match your variable expenses to your variable income- make sure you know how to get your operating costs low and manageable enough to allow even your â€Å"hibernation wages† to last you until your next big paycheck.Lesson 2: Go Where the Food IsThis lesson is both obvious a nd frustrating when you’re starting out and taking every single job that comes your way. Some of them may not be as lucrative as you wanted or as relevant to your overall goals as you hoped. Still,  you take them and accept what the market has to offer since you don’t know if there will be food (i.e. work) if you hold out for something closer to your experience.Lesson 3: Filling Your Fat StoresA positive and negative of freelancing is that when it rains it pours, if you’re paid by the project and not hourly. This means you may work for a while in obscurity and then (sometimes months later!) are  rewarded with a significant check for a large portion of your work.The most valuable tip I took away from Chris’ bear-advice was to remember that check is  not disposable income; it’s not leftover, it’s not actually a reliable, regular paycheck. Make it last as long as possible by being savvy with your spending and strategic with your saving.If You’re Freelancing, Have a Plan For Your â€Å"Hibernation† SeasonIf You’re Freelancing, Have a Plan For Your â€Å"Hibernation† Season  Read More at Rags to Reasonable