Writing a Review
TASK: Think about a film you have watched recently or a book you have read. Brainstorm your ideas about why you want to write a review of it - was it really excellent or utterly awful? The power of extremes is good in review writing. Using the following guidance, write a review of 250-300 words.
Here are some pointers, from the BBC Bitesize website, about how to write a review:
Purpose and Audience:
- To inform. The review
needs to tell people who is in the film, who it is by and where or when
people can see it.
- To describe. The review
should describe the story, characters and some of the action - without
spoiling the plot or giving too much away!
- To analyse. A good
review gives an opinion on whether the film is good or not and why.
- To advise. Finally, the
review should tell the reader whether or not to go and see the film
How to structure your review:
- Introduction: this gives
an overview of who is in the film and what it's about. It also sums up the
reviewer's conclusion about the film (so readers can form an opinion
without reading the whole of the review). Start your review in an interesting way, you could use a rhetorical question or a triple emphasis for effect.
- Paragraph 2: start to describe the plot and the action, while informing
the reader which actor plays which role.
- Paragraph 3: then analyse the film in more detail, talking about the director and
then the actors´ performances, looking at good things as well as bad things.
- Finally: sum up your ideas, advise the reader if they should watch this film or not.
Useful Language
It´s important to use
the right language for discussing films. Make sure you comment on some of the
following:
- Performance: how the film
is acted.
- Direction: how the story
is told.
- Editing: how the
parts of the film or action are put together.
- Cinematography: how the film
looks (how it is photographed).
- Music and sound effects: how the
music works with or against the pictures.
- Special effects: how the film
uses unusual techniques such as computer-generated imagery (CGI).
- Camera angles: how the film
creates mood by manipulating the camera, eg:
- Close-up and extreme
close up
- Mid-shot
- Long-shot
- Panning shot: the camera
is fixed but the lens moves across a scene, eg a landscape
Sentence Starters and Devices:
Remember that style
is important when writing a review. You need to think about who will be reading
it and tailor your writing style for them. As a review is based on your
personal opinion, it is useful to
use rhetorical devices (P.E.R.F.E.C.T) to engage your reader.
P Personal Language
(I, You, Me, We,
Our...you are talking to your reader about what you think and giving them
advice)
E Exaggeration
(Use of exclamation
marks ! to emphasise points and exaggerate
your opinion)
R Rhetorical Questions
(How would you feel
if...? Have you ever thought about...? Ever wondered what would happen if...?
Rhetorical questions make your reader think
about what you are saying and feel that you are talking directly to them)
F Facts and Figures
(Numbers, dates,
statistics: in 2015 100% of students
wrote excellent reviews. They get 5
stars!)
E Emotive Language
(A heart-breaking
story of love and loss... If you want to be crying with laughing all day, make sure
you watch this film!... The only film to make you think about your life and
question your own mortality... Wow! I never felt so scared in my whole life!)
C Commands
(Go and watch this
film right now!... You need this book in your life. Read it!... If you only buy
one thing this year, make sure it´s an iPhone!)
T Triple Emphasis
(Thrilling, gripping and
utterly terrifying... Shocking, stunning, superb!)
Helpful
Websites:
