FILM REVIEW
A film review is a critical appraisal of a film published in a newspaper, magazine or online. It analyses a film and its components. It provides some basic information about the film, which includes the film’s name,year, director, story line, major actors, some special features etc. It evaluates the film based on its strong and weak points, sometimes ending with a recommendation or a dismissal.
Steps before actually writing a film review :
Step I : Before watching the movie.
1) Note the relavance of the title.
2) Note the year of release, if it is not a new movie.
3) Find the names of the writer, director, actors, music director etc. If they are new to you, do some research on them.
4) Find the genre of the film (the type of film : fantasy, a thriller, a romance, comedy etc.)
Step II : While watching the movie
1) Writing a film review often requires multiple viewings of the film. Plan to watch the film two or even three times.
2) The first time, watch the complete movie without any distractions, without taking down any notes (or as few as possible), as this may make you miss some vital parts of the movie, or lose out on continuity.
3) During your second or third viewing, make notes about the events, scenes, plot, locations,
Characterizations, acting etc.
Step III : After watching the movie
1) Make an outline based on your notes. Your review should have an introduction, body and conclusion.
2) Decide the format for writing the review. Although there is no set formula to follow when writing a film review, there are certain common elements that most film reviews include,like genre, title and year, names of the major actors, name of the director, title of the book(if it was based on a book), story line, special features, if any etc.
3) Organise the notes that you have taken down, according to their importance.
4) Write / type the actual report and present it / send it to the relevant person / periodical /newspaper, using suitable language and vocabulary. Avoid writing lengthy sentences. Use idiomatic language and code mixing wherever necessary.
Format of the Review :
Although there is flexibility and no fixed formula to follow when writing a film review, there are certain common elements that most film reviews include.
They are :
1) Introduction - At the start, provide some basic information about the film. This may include film’s name, year, director and major actors.
2) Plot summary - Keep this brief. Remember that most readers of the review have not yet seen the film.
Do not give away the ending or any secrets, and spoil the viewing for your readers. Keep the reader curious.
3) Analysis - Analyse the cinematography, lighting, music and sound, direction, characterization, acting,dialogues, setting etc. in brief. The review should not be too long.
4) Conclusion / Evaluation - The conclusion of your film review should give the reader your general thoughts and impression of the film. This may include your personal impression of what the film looks,feels and sounds like. In other words, what stands out in your mind when you think about this particular film ? You may also state implicity or explicity whether you recommend the film or not. Make sure to remind the reader of why the film is or is not worth seeing.
Give stars on scale of 1 to 5, (*****) (1 being very poor)
Explanation and use of terms in film reviews :
1) The Genre : ‘Genre’is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or entertainment, e.g. music, films, paintings etc. It basically means the ‘type’of film. The ‘genre’can be action, adventure, comedy, fantasy, historical, musical, sci-fi, drama, horror, crime, romance etc.
2) Plot analysis : Give a brief summary of the plot / story. While doing this, identify the main characters, describe the setting briefly, but do not give away too much, especially if it is a thriller or a murder mystery. Give an idea of the central conflict in the movie. While you can give the plot summary, keep this brief and avoid specific details that would spoil the viewing for others.
3) Characterization : Characterization means how the characters are described or portrayed. It is a representation of person / other beings in the movie. This may be done through a commentary or more often from the characters’ actions, dialogues, the way they speak, appearance,behaviour etc. The reviewer has to understand the subtle distinctions in the characters.
4) Cinematography : This is the art of photography and camerawork in film-making. Here you write about the lighting, the special effects, the action scenes, the close-up shots, special location, the CGI, (Computer Generated Image) Photorealism, etc. and how they are relevant to the particular scenes.
5) Music and Sound : Discuss the music and sound effects of the movie in brief. Sound can be used in a variety of ways for dramatic effect. A director can employ music, sound effects or even the lack of sound altogether to produce an effect on the viewer. If the movie is a musical, or a horror movie, more importance should be given to the music. Was the music up to expectations ? Was it repetitive ? Were the sound effects impressive ?
6) Direction : The direction means directing each member of the cast and crew while shooting a shot / film . It is the crucial part of a film. It is ultimately the director’s responsibility to communicate what he or she wants. It is the director’s job to make sure that everything falls into place and to know when to make any necessary changes.
(7) Acting : The actors are obviously a very important part of the film. It is the job of the actor to make sure that his / her performance is consistent with whatever the goal of the film is. Acting is probably the easiest thing to judge when watching a film critically. What is the character’s goal ? What is his or her character development ? Have the goals been achieved successfully ? Why / Why not ?
(8) Script Writer : The script is the words / dialogues of the film. Evaluate the script,including dialogue and characterization. Did you feel like the plot was original and unpredictable, or boring and weak ? Were the dialogues powerful and interesting ? Was there clarity ?
Sample Film Review one (01)
Name of the film: TITANIC
Director: - Steven Spielberg, of Jurassic Park fame
Theme: The film is a real life tragic drama, enacted more than one hundred and fifty years ago, on the luxurious and invincide ship ‘Titanic’, that struck in an iceberg. It sank in the pacific ocean, with more than one thousand and five hundred people on board. The director ingeniously weaves a love story against the backdrop of this tragedy.
Plot:It is the story of a poor girl‘Rose’ who falls in love with a young lad “Jack” emigrating to America for work. Rose’s mother, an ambitious woman, wants her to marry a wealthy young man, travelling aboard the shop. The drama has the usual twists and turns, with the wealthy man conspiring and accusing Jack of stealling a diamond necklace. ‘The Heart of the ocean’. At this juncture, the ship collides with an iceberg, and starts to sink gradually. There is a wild scramble, as people behave like animals for their own self-preservation, fighting for life jackets and lifeboats. The young & couple on the other hand risk their lives to save each other. The hero finally succumbing to the icy waters, to save his beloved.
Casting, acting: It goes to the credit of the director who has been able to extract a stellar performance from Kate Winslet, “Rose” and Leonardo Di caprio “Jack”, in their debut performance
Camera work: The film has good cinematography with excellent camera work Sound effects making some scenes like the sinking of the ship, look real and breathtaking. The digital stereophonic sound effects give a ‘true to life’ experience. So mush so, that one can actually feel the emotions of the people struck by the calamity.
Dialogues, settings: The smooth screenplay and effective dialogue delivery is costumes engrossing. The elaborate costumes, make-up and props, truly reflects the period of the tragedy.
Stars/Ratings:
**** 4½ Excellent
Sample Film Review Two (02)
Name of the film: GANDHI
Written by John Briley, Produced and directed by Richard Attenborough
Plot: In 1893, the 23 years old Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is thrown off a south African train for being on Indian sitting in a first-class carriage despite having a first-class ticket. He realised that the laws are biased against Indians. He decided to start a non-violent protest compaign for the right of all Indians in South Africa. In 1915 as a result of his victory in South Africa. Gandhi is invited back to India. He is urged to take up the fight for India’s independence (Swaraj, Quit India) from the British Empire. The 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre is also depicted in the film.
Cast, acting :The lead role is played by Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi. Rohini Hattangadi played the role of Kasturba Gandhi. The other characters like Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhai Patel were played by Roshan Seth and Saeed Jaffrey,Ben Kingsley as Gandhi is simply outstanding.
Settings / Dialogues: More filming took place at the Aga Khan palace, Pune Nagar Highway, Pune. It is now designated as Gnadhi memorial. It is an epic historical drama. Bhanu Athaiya, The costume designer of Richard Attenborough’s 1982 classic done a fantastic job of costume designing. The dialogues are best suited for the occasions and thought provoking.
Stars / Rating: *****Excellent movie.
Marking scheme for Review
Presentation of the theme – 02
Novel Aspects – 01
Overall Presentation – 01 =
Total – 04 Marks
Exercise:
1) Write a review of a film that you have recently seen based on any Four points given below.
* Names of the characters (Main / lead and supporting roles)
* About the sotry / theme of the film.
* Why did you like / not like the firm ?
* Special features / novalties / novel ideas
* Music / Dance / Songs / Action / Direction
* Should others watch this film / would you recommend your friends to enjoy / watch
this film ? Why ?
2) Write a review of a short film that you have seen recently based on the following points.
* Story line
* Producer / Director / Music Director
* Characters (Lead Roles / Supporting roles etc)
* Setting / Location
* Conflict / Social message etc.
3) Write a review of a Documentary film that you have watched recently. You can make use of the following points to wrie film. Review.
* Title / Director / Producer / Year of Release.
* Plot of the film / story outline.
* Casting / Acting.
* Cinematography, musical sound effects.
* Overall review of the film.
* Critics rating.
4) Write a review of a film that you have seen recently. You can make use of the following points to write film
review.
* Plot and plausibility.
* Theme / settings
* Acting / Characters
* Dialogues / Cinematography
* Music / Background score / songs
5) Write a review of a short film which you have watched recently with the help of the following points.
* Title / screenwriter / Director / Year of Release.
* Direction
* Cinematography
