November 21 - Natalia Brownstein

Today in class we went over how to create a review for a movie. Below is a list of points to be made during our analysis. We will be able to choose our own movie individually and review it like a movie critic. 

JOURNALISTIC structure of a review

ALWAYS CONSIDER AUDIENCE

1. Deliberately titling the article - How well the title relates to the movie
1. Title is the first introduction to the tone/argument/purpose of your review
2. Probably the LAST thing that you write. What do we learn from these exemplars?
3. Make it so it doesn't give away the story but makes it so what they want to focus on in the movie
1. I.e          'Fantastic Beasts' - J.K. Rowling's Magic on Old New York (the title shows that the movie is fiction and will be about beasts but not in a scary way, as a way of something magical and wonderful)
2. Credit Relevant Artists - How credited the movie is
1. WHO is important?
1. Director? Actors? Screenwriters? Original authors?
2. Credit EXPLICITLY - naming artists within your sentences/paragraphs
3. Credit PARENTHETICALLY - did you mention a character - you don't want to spend the whole review on them (you don't want to get into every detail they did in the movie - just a short blurb of their role and significance)
3. Provide necessary context - What kind of background is the movie talking about and the type of allusions they refer to
1. What do we NEED to know about this film/its production?
1. Can it turn into a series?
2. Does it reflect a certain current event/trend in the real world?
2. What is happening OUTSIDE the film (or as part of the films PRODUCTION)
4. Summarize the plot
1. AVOID SPOILERS
2. Premise - the main basis/conflict for the film
1. One sentence premise: you should be able to explain the main focus of the narrative in a single sentence that is both specific and clear
2. I.e        'GET OUT' centers around Chris's metaphorical and literal horrors of meeting his girlfriend's white family
5. Evaluate context
1. BULK of your review is specific paragraphs
1. Remember that this is not an academic essay PARAGRAPHS MAY BE SHORT
2. SPECIFIC paragraphs about SPECIFIC cause and effect  relationships
6. Evaluate meaning and theme
1. Consider the test as a WHOLE
1. What does it ASSERT? (what does it declare or believe in confidently)
2. Zooming back out at the end or as a way to zoom in at the beginning
1. At the end - distancing the person from what really happened at the end and telling the audience what the theme of the movie is
2. Beginning - what the audience should be focusing  on in the topic
3. You want to jump around the plot's spoilers
7. Conclude
1. BRIEF and SPECIFIC
1. In 1-3 sentences, you should be able to answer "So what?"