Movie Review Prewriting and Editing (Kerry Stephenson)

Prewriting:

• Take as many notes as possible while watching the movie. These notes can take the form of brief comments or questions that come to mind about a particular passage or scene, or about the overall theme or style.
• Focus on essentials.
• Make a note of quotable passages, but keep the quotes short and to the point.
  

Drafting:

• Grab the reader. An interesting lead will motivate your audience to continue reading.
• Follow your checklist, but be brief. Magazines do not allow more than a few pages for movie reviews. On the other hand, if you don't complete all of the parts of a movie review, you will have an incomplete movie review.
• The title of your movie review should be different than the title of the movie. After writing your review, choose a title that goes along with what you are saying.
• No spoilers. This means that you should reveal only the basic plot of the movie, without giving away the entire story.
• Stick to the actual content of the movie. Don't speculate on what “should” be in it. Let the material stand on its own merits.
• Conclusion – Wrap up your ideas, opinion, and summary. Recommend whether this movie should be seen or not.

Introduction

For questions about this lesson plan, email Kerry Stephenson at kerry.stephenson@fuse.net

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