A movie review gives indication as to whether or not others will find the movie worth watching. The purpose of most movie reviews is to help the reader in determining whether they want to watch, rent or buy the movie. The review should also give enough details about the movie so that the reader can make an up-to-date decision as to whether to watch the movie or not. At the same time, the review should not give away too much of the essential plot of the story.
In this article we will be discussing the guidelines that should be followed while writing a movie review. Before starting to write a review, the writer should remember the following procedure:
- Selecting the movie
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Knowing the context of the movie, such as it’s director, actors, story and many more
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Formulating the writers opinion in one sentence
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Selecting special scenes from the movie or other facts that will support the writer’s opinion.
The first step in writing the review is to watch the movie. Most take notes as they watch the movie. Watching the movie a second time helps to absorb a lot more detail about the movie. Most movie reviewers give their personal opinion of the movie in their review. In all good journalism, the reviewer should always give impartial details, and allow the reader to make their own opinion as well.
Reviewer’s opinions should be explained to allow the reader to determine whether the readers would agree or not. The reviewer also needs to consider the audience. Writing a movie review for children requires a different approach than if writing for a general movie audience. The review should always be written keeping the targeted audience in mind. The main essence of the movie should be retained in an outlined sketch — but it should always be remembered not to give away any essential details like surprises or a sudden turn in the plot.
Details of actors, crew members, directors should be mentioned in the review. It should also be mentioned how well they have acted and how well the movie has been made technically. The technicalities are an important part of the review. Technicalities include art direction, music, editing lighting, cinematography and many more.
Movie reviews even include a little bit of criticism if needed. Criticism says what could have been done to make the film better or what the weak points of the movie are. Though critical analysis is not always needed, a word or two can serve the purpose in a movie review.
Conclusion
A reviewer must always remember to give an outline of the whole story, but not give away details which hold surprises or the special essence of the film. It should be kept untold for the audience to watch the film. The review should be written keeping a note of the types of readers who would be reading the review. The language, presentation and technicalities of writing would also depend on the types of readers. The medium which the review will be published is also important, because if the review is published on the net, the reviewer will get mostly youth readers. However, if it is going to be published in a local language in a local daily newspaper, then the approach should be different.
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