In class we looked at the film industry magazine Sight & Sound. Although we will be writing a film review on our short film "Synchronicity", Sight & Sound focuses on more long feature films. But it was still a great example to get ideas and apply them to our own short film review. The film review that we read over and used as an example was a film called Frozen. Frozen was a film released in 2004 and was directed by Juliet Mckeon. Juliet Mckeon went on to feature films after previous success with short films.
Posted below is the film review on the film Frozen we were looking at:
Reading it through we broke the film review article down paragraph by paragraph and in groups we talked about the key points and conventions the film review had.
- We started with the overall layout of the film review. We noted that it had a clear synopsis of the film and was layed out into paragraphs with the key information about the film posted at the top. The article also had a picture of the main actor to give the review some visual context.
- It also talked about the casting and how good the actors were. one of the main points that it said about the actors was that the overall storyline was not the best butt the casting allowed it to be a enjoyable watch and talk about how Shirley Henderson brought it around.
- Also the film review used exciting phrases and words in order to attract to the reader to want to carry on reading it. such as "magical, impassive and cinematic".
- Also it compares Frozen to other films.
After we had read Frozen and analysed it we was set some independant study to go off and read some other short film reviews to get ideas to help us with ours.
I looked at two different film reviews on The Kings Speech which is a British Film tipped to be big this year. I read through The Guardian's interpretation of the film and then The Independants.
The Guardian:
The Guardian differs hugley to Sight & Sound. This is because The Guardian is a newspaper. Therefore readers of The Guardian would not only be reading The Guardian for film reviews but also for general news and devlopments in there everyday life. Where as Sight & Sound is a formal film magazine so therefore readers to this magazine will only be intrested in reading it for reading about film reviews. When reading through the film review there was a clear diffrence in language between the two different styles of reviews.
Overall I found The Guardian's review of the Kings Speech written by Peter Bradshaw a very enjoyable read. I feel that this it the type of film review that I would prefer to read as when I read the Sight & Sound one of Frozen the language was a lot harder to understand.
Below I have pointed out some of the key coneventions and points about the film review:
- The overall layout of the review allows it to be very visual and easy on the eye for the reader. You have a picture for good visuals. It also has a information about the film half way down on the left giving information about the film certificate, running time, cast and director. This I feel is very interesting as it gives readers the key information they need about The Kings Speech.
- The Guardians review of The Kings Speech also keeps readers entertained throughout with comical phrases and words. Example being "and who pronounces the word "promise" as "plwomise"
- It also talks about the main cast and how fantastic they are, along with supporting cast and how they gave a crucial supporting role
- Peter Bradshaw also talks about the main storyline throughout The Kings Speech this gives readers a burning edge to want to watch The Kings Speech. This is one role a film review is crucial to supporting a film.
The Independent
The Independent's film review on The Kings Speech was written by Nicholas Barber. Comparing it to The Guardians review it was a lot less heavier to the reader. This is because the film review was a lot less in formal. Using more common language and slang for the less educated reader.
Below I have pointed out some of the key coneventions and points about the film review:
- It gives the film great reviews and speaks about The Kings Speech is in encouraging manner. It begins by saying The Kings Speech is a definite for UK's best hopes of an Oscar. This gives it a powerful opening to the review as it talks about it positively straight away.
- Similar to most other film reviews it has a picture of the main actor. This gives readers good comfort with visuals as they can familiarise there selves to the actors before going to watch the film.
No comments:
Post a Comment