This week I had my edited version of my Baby Driver review ready for class. The main thing I added in was the description of the music. In the original version I talked about the music which was good not only because I made sure to cover many cinematic elements of the film rather than just the plot, but because the film essentially revolves around the music – the beat of the music reflects the mood and is diegetic as it’s actually in the film.

We looked at different reviews of the film Edward Scissorhands (1990 film). Going through each of the five different reviews was so interesting, as each was so incredibly different in tone, style, structure and language. Each of the reviewers had their own tips and main things to think about when reviewing which again were all so different and interesting. Here are the main points I gathered from the five reviewers: Jane Baxter, Ray Cassin, John Conomos, Paul Harris and Adrian Martin

Jane Baxter:

• Had a ‘storytelling’ style where she just summarised the plot majority of the piece
• Begins with quote from film = evidence and trustworthy source
• Used imagery with ‘box-houses’, ‘neat’ and ‘pastel colours’
• Punchy last sentence
• She says that it’s important to balance any criticism with a positive and try to be fair

Ray Cassin

• Appeals to a sense of nostalgia in opening paragraph with ‘fairytales’
• Discusses lots on the director and his choices and style

John Conomos

• Academic style= very structured, intellectual
• Lots of references to other films, showing his knowledge and research/evidence. Demonstrates expertise with his strong persona and voice
• Focuses on directing style and cinematic elements rather than story
• The piece requires knowledge
• He says that it’s important to borrow ideas and, references and styles of expression from other sources

Paul Harris

• Conversational style with simple language yet sophisticated quotes
• References of other films and pieces of media to support his points and show knowledge
• Discusses other cinematic elements such as music, not just directing style
• Style of writing reflecting the film = dark and gothic
• Interesting that he says he is unaware of his audience “the audience which I address is a complete mystery to me”

Adrian Martin

• Forceful in his views – feels as though he is shouting at you when you read
• Little summary on film but more so ideas such as the style, form and structure
• References to show expertise
• Analytical and intellectual voice
• Generous in terms of knowledge
• Concludes with positives of film
• He says it’s important to grasp the compositional elements such as the plot shifts, character stereotypes, references etc.

 

I really enjoy writing reviews, especially if I’m passionate about the material (if I enjoyed the film, TV show, book etc.) and I want my writing to improve, so I wrote two more reviews this week. One on the film Suicide Squad (2016) and a show I went to see at Chapel on Chapel called Britney Spears the Cabaret.