Month: July 2017

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everyone’s a critic: week 2 update

by Georgia Imfeld & Bradley Dixon

 

Reading for this week: Film Criticism: The Next Generation

Questions raised by this week’s reading:

What does it mean to be a critic in this day and age? How has technology influenced criticism? What gives a critic authority?

To start the week we watched a panel discussion on criticism with Adrian Martin, Gillian Armstrong, Mel Campbell, Fenella Kernebone and moderated by Peter Mares. Among other things they discussed their process, the importance of critics, the changing nature of criticism in the age of the internet, and the difference between simple “reviews” and the deeper level of analysis associated with “criticism”, which are all areas we will explore further later in semester.

constructive criticism brainstorm

Receiving feedback and constructive criticism from peers/editors is an important part of the writing process, so using some guidelines and techniques that ensure to feedback is framed in a positive manner (see above) we workshopped a 300-word review with a partner in class. This is the first time we’ve shared our work with others in the class, but instead of being daunting it was a great chance to get tips to improve our writing and also help others improve theirs.

critique session

 

 

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what’s due this week + what you need for week 3

Hi everyone —

Don’t forget that your response to Project Brief 1 is due today. All details can be found on the Assessments page here on the blog. You just need to upload your work (in .doc/.docx/.pdf format) to the “EAC.your.name” google drive that you set up and shared with me.

 

Looking ahead, here’s the plan for Week 3:

Monday 12:30 – 3:30: we will start thinking about critics and their personas. This should help you work towards your second assessment task and encourage you to begin reflecting on your own persona as an emerging critic. We will be watching a documentary about a particular critic and will be taking notes to write a review of the documentary. We will also take a closer look at some of this critic’s writing.

To prepare for class, you will need to:

  1. Think about some of the critics that you read (or have read in the past). What do you think defines their persona and their approach to criticism?
  2. Make sure you have your laptop or other writing materials with you to take notes for your review of the film.

 

Wednesday 8:30 – 10:30: we will be doing some close analysis of particular critics’ writing and thinking about what characterises their approach to criticism and their voice more broadly.

To prepare for class, you will need to:

  1. Read the collection of reviews of Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (1990) that is in the Week 3 Readings folder on the shared studio drive. It contains short and long reviews of the film by five different critics, as well a short reflection from each writer on the act of criticism. Take some notes about the different approaches to the film and to criticism.
  2. If you have time, re-watch (or watch) Edward Scissorhands. You might like to take your own notes while doing this to compare to the reviews in the reading.

See you next week!

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everyone’s a critic: week 1 update

class brainstorm: “critical reviews should…”

Week one in the studio ‘Everyone’s a Critic’ consisted of an in-depth brainstorm of essentials that critical reviews should include and achieve. Two of the most important aspects we as a class were able to come up with and agree upon were ‘research’ and ‘description’. From the key ideas discussed in the brainstorm, and with each class member thinking of a piece of media they have recently consumed, the planning of our first 300 word reviews were ready to begin. Feedback and ideas were bounced off each other as we heard everyone’s plans and direction for their review’s on their chosen film, TV show or book, which were all so incredibly interesting and different from each other. Through this first exercise we will learn how to create individuality within our views and the way they are expressed, and develop our own persona that can be carried throughout the rest of the semester.

— Isobel Smart & Joss Utting

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welcome + what you need for week 2

Thanks for a great first week, everyone! It was really helpful to establish an idea of what everyone wants to get out of the studio and also to get some ideas going for projects. Today we talked about what a good critical review should do and we workshopped ideas for our first pieces of critical writing. Here’s the brainstorm we did on the board:

So, here’s the plan for Week 2:

Monday 12:30 – 3:30: we will be exploring differences between “criticism” and “reviews”.

To prepare for class, you will need to:

1. Read “Film Criticism: The Next Generation.” Cineaste, Vol. XXXVIII No. 2, 2013.

2. Bring along any questions you have about the first assessment task, which is due on Friday (28/7). Instructions can be found here on the assessments page of this blog.

 

Wednesday 8:30 – 10:30: we will be looking at how to give feedback and we will be having our first peer critique session.

To prepare for class, you will need to:

1. Bring in a printed copy of the 300 word critical review that you pitched this week. As we established in class, the review can be on a text of your choice (film, tv show, album, book, performance, restaurant etc) and it should respond to the ideas of what good critical writing should do. The printed copy will be useful because we will be swapping with classmates and it’s good to have something that can be marked up.

Remember: It’s an experiment in thought. Exploit your unique perspective. It’s a draft. 

See you next week!