Writing a Great College Movie (Documentary) Review

Writing a Movie Review for a College Class

Many students feel puzzled when they are faced with a movie review for a college or university class. However, this is one of the greatest tasks, as it brings the joy of watching a movie, which makes this task much easier than reading a long book or having a lab work.

Why Should We Write Them Anyway?

With the blistering development of cinema and easy Internet access to various movie libraries, many teachers and professor started to include movie reviews into the studying course. While this may seem weird to some students, it’s actually an amazing idea, as students can develop analytical thinking and have a different type of learning available. If you have some issues coping with the review assignments, you can use online essay services and get ideas or useful tips for your papers writing.

In order to help you prepare a perfect movie review for any film or documentary, we have created a simple list of things, which you need to cover in your review to get a good grade.

Movie Review Structure

While writing a good movie review for a college class, you have to remember this is not only the matter of personal preferences. Students are usually asked to critically evaluate a film, or compare a movie to a book. Take a notebook to watch a movie and make notes along the way. Before you start, sketch out a plan for your future paper and remember to include the following movie review elements.

• Title. It is important to state what movie you are writing about. Does the title match the movie? How can you interpret it? Can you say that it is intriguing? Does it match the genre? A great movie title should be with intriguing and captive, so that the audience could remember it. For example Requiem for a Dream or The Perks of Being A Wallflower.
• Plot. Summarize what happens in the movie (documentary). Don’t be afraid to cover everything, as you are not writing a review for an IMDB, but for your college class. Imagine your professor has not seen it. How did events unfold?
• Filmmaker. Do a little research and add some information about the person who directed this piece. Are they famous, and if yes, what for? Do they have a specific background in the subject matter?
• Cast. Do you like the casting choices? Are they good? Do they fit this movie or documentary? Are these actors famous for any other roles? Can they relate to the hero in any way (relevant experience, life choices, etc.)?
• Screening & special effects. Is there any computer graphics in the movie? Are there any great shots that you can clearly remember and describe? If so, you definitely should include their description.
• Significance. How does this particular movie or documentary contribute to your course? If you are taking a history class, make sure you pay attention to over-acting or historical mistakes of any kind. Are you taking Literature and need to describe a screen adaptation? Make sure you cover the differences in the descriptions of scenery and in the way the characters look.
• Personal impression. Add a few words about your feelings concerning this movie. Did you like it? What was great or terrible about it?

Summary

After you have finished writing you movie review, let it lie on your desk for a little while. If you have some time and you liked the movie, you can watch it one more time to make sure you didn’t miss anything. Then pay attention to editing and proofreading, and when you are sure it’s perfect, you can send it, print it out or publish it (depending on the task you have).

Creative Crisis Tips

A creative crisis means the author's incapability of writing a single line regardless of strong will, determination, or deadlines. The novelty of writer’s perspective is dim, and the ideas just fly away immediately. Good news: it is just a temporary stage experienced by each writer at a particular stage of a creative career. Let me give you a hand with this:

 

Being in Crisis: No Fear

Fear causes creative blocks, and the more you fear, the more blocks emerge. As a rule, writers are afraid of not being perfect or being worse than previously. The major thing to do here is to get rid of all the evaluations. Just do it – write! There are always all the chances that consequent revisions, improvements, and editing can make it much better or that bad writing will transform into a masterpiece!

 

Being in Crisis: Investigate!

The crisis also comes when you lack information. Explore the world. Explore yourself. Explore others. I can tell from my experience that good ideas often come in the most trivial places. You can have a spark communicating, traveling, or even contemplating the architecture – been there, done that! If you intend to get some inspiration from other books in order to write the best essays you have ever managed to – make sure that your reading diet is diverse and vivid. It is often useful to stick to the genres you are not usually a fan of since it expands your creative perspective.

 

Being in Crisis: There Is No Tomorrow

Yep, that is the approach you are about to use if you want to fight that crisis. Start right now. No excuses. No postponing. It is also useful to set up the daily limit. For instance, you oblige yourself to write 2, 5 or 10 pages each day. I also recommend to set a punishment and to inform friends or relatives about this daily challenge. You can also go more global: put the deadline for a story, an article, or a book. It means that you should make writing a habit – a pleasant one, not a frightening obligation, of course. At this stage proper motivation is everything! Reward yourself. Those punishments should be aligned with a set of rewards so that you can see what you lose and what you gain.

 

And What Is More…

Whenever you have a part of the text that looks pale, irrelevant or just annoying, boring and lacking authenticity…

Just change a perspective. Try to look at the world, at your plot, and at that hero not through the eyes of the major hero, but through the eyes of that “newcomer.” Explore this technique and see how far it can lead you in writing. There are boring people in life – but what does it say about us, not about them? Contrast the main hero with this boring guy, show your main character from the unexpected side, track the dynamics of changes.

Wish you inspiration, enthusiasm, and phenomenal success in writing!

How to Start a Descriptive Essay

A descriptive essay should give the reader a clear image of a person, object, place, or event. The essay should have good descriptions and vivid sensory details. You may need to write a descriptive essay for a class or decide to try out the form for fun. To start a descriptive essay, begin by brainstorming topics and outlining the essay. Then, create a strong opening for the essay so your reader is drawn into the narrative.

Choose a person to describe. One possible topic for a descriptive essay is a person that you feel strongly about, such as a mentor, a friend, a parent, or a role model. The person may be someone very close to you who knew you during a formative period in your life, such as your mother. Or the person could be someone you do not know well who has qualities you admire or wish to emulate, such as your favorite basketball player.

• If you are writing the descriptive essay for a college application, you may choose a person who is a role model or a mentor to you. When I think of such a person, I have the idea to write an essay about my father who the one I admire. Describing this person in the essay will give you the chance to discuss why this person is important to you and the lessons you have learn from this person.

Describe an object. Another possible topic option for a descriptive essay is an object that has meaning or significance to you. The object could be from childhood or adolescence. It could be your favorite object as a kid or the object you hated the most. Maybe the object has sentimental value or holds deep meaning for you.

• For example, you may choose your favorite childhood toy as the topic for the essay. You could then describe the toy and what it meant to you growing up.

Select a place to describe. Identify a place that is important to you and describe it in your essay. The place could be your hometown, your bedroom, or your favorite spot at school. You could also choose the ideal place, or where you would go if you could go anywhere in the world.

• For example, you may choose the most beautiful place you have ever been to. You can then describe the experience of the place and how it made you feel.

Pick an event or memory to describe. Choose a significant event in your life and use it as the topic of your essay. The event could have happened recently or very far back in the past. Pick an event that taught you something or shifted your world view.

• For example, you may choose the first time you got your period or the first time you visited a relative in the hospital.

Go for a chronological pattern. One option for outlining a descriptive essay is to use a chronological pattern, where you move in the order of time. The writing will move from scene to scene, describing events or moments as they happened. This is a good outlining option if you are writing about an event or memory in your descriptive essay. The outline will look like:

• Paragraph 1: Introduction
• Paragraph 2: Scene 1
• Paragraph 3: Scene 2
• Paragraph 4: Scene 3
• Paragraph 5: Conclusion
• You can use five paragraphs for this outline or have more than one paragraph for each scene.

Create a thesis statement. No matter what outline or pattern you choose for the descriptive essay, you should still have a thesis statement. The thesis statement should appear in the introduction and the conclusion of the essay. A strong thesis statement will state the key idea or theme in your essay. It will serve as a guide or map for the rest of the essay.

Begin with a hook first line. Draw your reader in by starting with a first line that will grab the reader’s attention right away. The first line could start in scene with a strong description of an event, place, object, or person. You could also describe the first time you experienced an event, place, object, or person. Take the reader straight into the experience so they feel immersed and engaged.

Use sensory details. A key element of a good descriptive essay is a lot of details that focus on the five senses: smell, taste, touch, sight, and sound. Put a lot of sensory details into your opening paragraph. Describe how a scene sounds or tastes. Discuss how an object feels or smells. Explore how a place sounds and looks.

^{Show, rather than tell. To write a good opening for your essay, focus on showing your reader a scene, rather than telling them the scene. Avoid reporting on the events as they happened or just the action of a scene. Instead, use sensory detail and vivid descriptions to place the reader in a place, an event, a moment, or a memory.}