film review conventions

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Conventions of a Film Review Jaymelouise Hudspith

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Short film codes and conventions

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Page 1: Film Review Conventions

Conventions of a Film ReviewJaymelouise Hudspith

Page 2: Film Review Conventions

Where are They Found?

Typically a film reviews were found in Newspapers such as The Sun and The Guardian; official magazines such as Sight and Sound; aggregate sites such as Rotten Tomato's and metacritic. Each form tackles the review and layout in various forms to incorporate their audience.

Page 3: Film Review Conventions

NewspapersDepending on the news paper will depend on the style of the review, for example a review from The Guardian will be much more sophisticated the a review from The Sun. Reviews from The Guardian will use formal language, they will focus on less mainstream films. However, The Sun for example is much less sophisticated and informal; using language such as “have a beer, grab a mate…”. So overall they will give completely different reviews of the same film as they have different audiences and conventions.

Page 4: Film Review Conventions

Example:

Page 5: Film Review Conventions

Official MagazinesPurposely designed to be bold and stand out against the other text and the page to draw the reader in.

The tag line often sums up the important details from the film and depending on the genre is a sometimes a play on words designed to be humours.

Allows people to see the detail of the film like stars, director, etc. Giving people an insight into the film such as if its child appropriate, age restrictions, etc.

The synopsis of the film allows people to see a summary of the plot before they read the whole thing. This means they can decide if it is something they will enjoy before they waste their time.

The use of a dramatic photo like this is used with the purpose of forcing the audience into wanting to see it, wanting to know what is going on, about the plot and in turn forcing them to see the film.

Other film reviews and topics present in the magazine helping the reader to quickly locate what they wish to find

The critic will give the film a rating, usually out of five stars but it may, in this care be a summary in words of whether or not the film was worth watching. This helps the audience decided whether or not it is something they will enjoy.

Page 6: Film Review Conventions

Examples:

Page 7: Film Review Conventions

Aggregate Sites

These sites combine the film review with the percentage or score the critic feels it deserves, the audience can leave reviews on their thoughts of the film and change the score showing how their views can make an influence. If the film scores over 60% it is considered a film worth watching and in Rotten Tomato’s case considered fresh and under 60% is considered rotten.

Page 8: Film Review Conventions

Example:

Page 9: Film Review Conventions

Film Name and Year

Having the film name and year of the film release is conventional to any review as it allows the audience to understand the film genre, credits, details, director, screenwriter, cast, stars, soundtrack and much more information.

Page 10: Film Review Conventions

Quotes and Tag Lines

More often then not a review will begin with a quote or a reference or a tag line from the actual film as a brief introduction into the film to grab the audiences attention, hence it is a common feature into reviews. Although it is not used by all short films as they may not have key quotations within them due to their length.

Page 11: Film Review Conventions

Introduction and Summary

Its is very conventional for the first paragraph to contain a brief plot summary of the film, often written with the intention of leading the audience to want to see the film. The summary will include aspects of the timeline, location, narrative, cast performance, etcetera. This is often proceeded by a personal view of the film form the writers perspective.

Page 12: Film Review Conventions

Aspects

It is convention to feature the positive aspects of the film by itself. This is often to create a personal opinion of certain points od interest can be focussed on within the production. This often focuses on points such as the story, mise-en-scene, set scenes, special effects used throughout, music, etcetera. This is then followed by the negatives of the film following the same points.

Page 13: Film Review Conventions

Characters

It is sometimes a convention for short films reviews to focus on the protagonists in a film, explain how they’re good or bad, explore their qualities, personality, etcetera. However, this isn’t always present in a short film review because they have so few characters.

Page 14: Film Review Conventions

Ratings

In film reviews it is conventional to summarise the review in a brief paragraph. Usually with a percentage or a rating out of five stars. However this isn’t always present as it is sometimes just apparent in the wording of the review and is therefore not needed.

Page 15: Film Review Conventions

Other

Increased size of the first letter of the paragraphImage with captions and / or annotationsPage numbersItalic for quotesThe dateName of writer and publisherIndex of other reviews or articles