What Makes A Good Film Review?

Another part of my ancillary task is to produce a film review from scratch. Reviews are important both to film-making companies and the film fans themselves; whilst reviews can often act as a means of deciding between which films to see, they're also crucial to film companies as a means of promotion. People value respected journalist's opinions such as the late Roger Ebert, and attaining the all-important five stars means that people are far more likely to go see it. Indeed, for film-makers making films and short films on minimal budgets, reviews are probably the most important means of promotion, as such film-makers can't stretch to the million's Universal or Warner Bro's can. Therefore, it's crucial that I design a film review that is well written and designed, and to ensure that it conforms to what a review typically looks like. Having looked through copies of film magazines such as Empire, Total Film and SFX, I've collated a check-list of things that I need to feature in order to make a well-made, quality short film review spread...

1) Title of film: Most obviously, a title is crucial. It makes the reader recognise what film the review is to be about, and they can use the title to research the trailer at a later date. Typical conventions of a film review mean that, typically, the title should be the piece of text written in the largest and most bold font.

2) Sub-title: Moreover, it's the sub-title that really draws readers in. It's often a pun or a quick joke based around the theme of the film. For instance, a review I found of Paranormal Activity had a cleverly written sub-title of, 'Poltergeist meets You've Been Framed...' It's not always comic or pun-based but typically reviewers that use comedy draw the reader in, as well as coming across as enthusiastic and knowledgeable of the text. Sub-title's also have a prominent bold font, but not as large or dominant as the film's title.

3) An info box: What I've dubbed as an info-box, a review, at its beginning features a little section including the following bits of information (and in this order):
-Release date (eg. Released: 1st January)
-Certificate (eg. 15)
-Director (eg. Tim Burton)
-Cast (eg. Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter....)
-Screenwriter (eg. Woody Allen)
-Running time (eg. 120 mins)
-Plot (a very short summary of the film's main plot and themes)

The info box gives the reader a very quick lowdown on all the bits of information you need to know, before the reviewer launches into his opinion. It also means the reviewer can be more sophisticated in his opinion, rather than having to integrate all this information into his/her work. In terms of layout, the categories such as Running Time are usually written all in capitals and are highlighted to make it clear. The info itself is all in capitals but is usually just black writing. There are often lines above and below the 'box' to separate the information from the actual review itself. 

Review Research No.1

4) Quotes from the review: It's important to breakup text by including quotes from the review. These quotes serve to draw the eye towards the review, as well as acting as a 'snapshot' of the reviewer's opinion. For instance, one review I've found states 'thriller film of the year!' Typically, such quotes stand out amongst the review's main text, and perhaps are written in a different colour and font in order to make it stand out. Moreover, such quotes should only be a few words- any longer and they begin to lose their impact.

5) Picture/s: A still from the film is also another means of catching the eye, and typically encompasses the films themes and concept into one picture. Also, it can show off a film's star power. A picture often contains a caption; from my research, newspapers adopt a more serious tone in their captions, maybe perhaps stating something along the lines of: 'Angelina Jolie stars in her latest film etc.' However, magazine reviews such as Empire may opt for a slightly more comical take on things to lighten proceedings. Note that some reviews contain an inset picture (a slightly smaller pic within the larger pic) so I need to bear in mind when designing my review.

6) Verdict: A review ends with (what I call) a 'verdict box'. Like the info box, this section stands out by bold lines above it and below it, making it stand out. Fonts are bold, and the verdict section is where a reviewer sums up there opinion in a nutshell; a verdict section is also the most bold in terms of its language. For instance, this is where a reviewer would say 'best film of the year' or something along those lines. A succinct statement, a verdict section is followed by a five-star system, whereby a reviewer sums up how much they liked it. Of course, 5 stars means they loved, 1 star... well, you get the idea.

Review Research No.2

7) A few extra things: A review finally ends with the reviewers name. Moreover, the beginning of a reviews first few words are written in bold. When referring to films the star has previously been in, these films are written in italics.

Analysing film review posters has been crucial for me, in order to gauge what I need to do in my own ancillary tasks. A reader of reviews myself, it was efficient for me to re-cap what a review typically features so I can emulate this in my own review.