AS2.4 Produce a selection of crafted and controlled writing - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

AS2.4 Produce a selection of crafted and controlled writingSlide2
Slide3

FILM REVIEWSSlide4

What is a film review?A film review both informs and entertains. It gives the reader enough information to know whether they should see the film or not without giving away too much in terms of the plot.

What you need to cover:

Casting

Brief plot – no spoilers

Your opinion

The title, director, rating and running time

What you could comment on:

Setting

Previous work by the director

Films it is similar to (Hitchcock-

esque

)

The acting of main actors

Music in the film

Slide5

Who is Anthony Mingella?

Anthony

Minghella

, 

CBE

 (6 January 1954 – 18 March 2008) was a 

British

film director

, 

playwright

 and 

screenwriter

. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the 

British Film Institute

 between 2003 and 2007.

Minghella

was born in 

Ryde

, 

Isle of Wight

, the son of Gloria (née

Arcari

) and Edward

Minghella

, ice cream factory owners.

[1]

 His father was an Italian immigrant and his mother was born in 

Leeds

 to an Italian family;

[2]

 her ancestors originally came from 

Valvori

, a small village in the 

Lazio

 region of central Italy

.Slide6

Awards

Year

Title

Oscar

nominations

Oscar

wins

BAFTA

nominations

BAFTA

wins

1990

Truly, Madly, Deeply

3

1

1996The English Patient1291361999The Talented Mr. Ripley5712003Cold Mountain71132

A number of

Minghella’s

films were very well received critically and won multiple awards. Slide7

Film deets

Based on a Patricia

Highsmith

1955 novel of the same name, which was previously filmed as

Plein

Soleil

in

1960.

Filmed in multiple locations across Italy and New York.

Stars Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth

Paltrow

, Cate

Blanchett

, Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The film fits into the genres of crime, thriller and drama and is said to be “

Hitchcockian” in style.Slide8

Setting

The twisted plot and violence in the film is “juxtaposed” with the gorgeous Italian backdrop.

Tom and

Dickie

visit a number of Italian cities together.

Tom first meets

Dickie

in the

fictitious resort of ‘

Mongibello

’. The

movie uses two separate locations: the beautiful island of 

Ischia, largest of the three volcanic islands in the Bay of Naples; and its tiny neighbour, 

Procida

.

They also visit Rome, San Remo and Venice.Minghella used a number of different locations to film it including Sicily, Rome, Venice, Naples, Ischia. He didn’t worry about the factual aspect of the setting and instead films multiple locations for one “City” in order to get the romantic and gorgeous image of Italy. Slide9

The cast

He embarked

on a romance with Sienna Miller shortly after splitting from wife Sadie

Frost. His engagement

to

Sienna was

called off amid allegations he had cheated on her with his children's nanny

. He can't

understand why he has been branded a "womaniser

".

His role in Talented could almost be said to be “art imitating life”.

Previous well known roles: Jerome Morrow in

Gattaca

.

Jude Law Perfect casting. It’s no accident People magazine’s “Sexiest man alive” was cast as a womaniser and all round play boy.Slide10

Matt Damon

Matt Damon’s break through role was in

Goodwill Hunting

which he co wrote and starred in with Ben Affleck.

The Talented

Mr.

Ripley

came 2 years later in 1999 and shows Damon in a very different light.

Minghella

may have picked Matt because of his classic all-American good looks and trustworthy face.

Y

our task:

Think, pair, share.

Why would

Minghella

have wanted to cast Matt… what would he bring to the role of Tom?Slide11

Style

Some critics have compared the film to the works of Alfred Hitchcock, a renowned director of psychological thrillers. It is said to have a

“

Hitchcockian

”

style. He is best known for his films Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window, Vertigo.

Features of the film that mirror a class Hitchcock include:

The

cool 

platinum blond (Marge and Meredith)

Characters

who switch sides or who cannot be trusted.

Tension building through suspense to the point where the audience enjoys seeing the character in a life-threatening

situation.

Bumbling

or incompetent authority figures, particularly police officers.Use of darkness to symbolise impending doom (dark clothing, shadows, smoke, etc.)Strong visual use of famous landmarks.Mistaken identity Voyeurism (Tom watching Dickie when he doesn’t know)A focus on the world of the privileged.Your task: come up with an example of 3 of these stylistic features that the film has.Slide12

Vocab and phrasingReviews use different vocab and phrases than regular writing.

Put these words and phrases into categories that you could use them in: e.g. setting, characters, actors and casting, writing and plot, director, film techniques.

Find meanings for any words you don’t already know.

Now pick 5 of the words and use them in a sentence about our film.

Captivating

Picturesque

Anti-hero

Pacing

Evocative

Depth

Virtuoso performance

Expertly cast

Romantic view

Edge-of-your-seat

Chillingly portrayedSophisticatedGlamorousSweeping shotsStriking sceneryEngulf the sensesThought provokingConfusingOriginalAbsorbingImaginativeTrue-to-lifePowerfulStaticOverratedSpectacular scenesNarcissisticCleverly portrayedAgainst typePlaying to his strengthsDazzlingTwists and turnsEnhancesSuspensefulDramaticHighly-chargedUnevenVersatile Dark and thrilling StellarHeart-poundingCharismatic actingComplex and enticingMulti-layeredDeceptiveCinematographyExpertly craftedGoes downhill from thereUnnervingPlot twistsGenreEngrossedSlide13

Talented triviaThe opera excerpt is a scene from Eugene

Onegin

, by Tchaikovsky. The title

character

in the opera is, like Ripley, an attractive, charismatic, and clever young man, who aspires to be accepted by people of a higher social standing. This is best portrayed at the beginning of the third act when

Onegen

crashes a dinner party where he is clearly over his head and is quickly spotted as a poseur.

Jude Law

 learned to play the saxophone and 

Matt Damon

 learned to play the piano for this film. Damon's training enabled him to recreate the proper keyboard fingering; however, the music heard in the film is played by Sally Heath (the Bach) and Gabriel

Yared

(the Vivaldi). 

Is based on the novel of the same name by 

Patricia

Highsmith. There are an additional four novels which follow "The Talented Mr. Ripley", they are "Ripley Underground", "Ripley's Game", "The Boy Who Followed Ripley", and "Ripley Under Water". Slide14

Fausto and Dickie (and Tom, later) sing "Tu Vuo' Fa

'

L'Americano

," a humorous song about an Italian man in the 50s who wants to imitate the American lifestyle he sees in the movies. But American food doesn't do him any good and in the end, the money he spends comes from his mother's purse.

The second film in as many years in which 

Jude Law

 plays an entitled young man impersonated throughout the movie by someone else. The other film is 

Gattaca

. 

Anthony

Minghella

 originally wanted 

Tom Cruise

 for the role of Ripley but after

seeing

Good Will Hunting, he decided to cast Matt Damon. Slide15

Option 1: Hot or not

Intro:

What were your expectations going in, what were they based on,

eg

. Previous roles by cast, previous films by director. What did the poster/

trailor

lead you to expect? Pretend the film is in theatres right now.

Plot summary:

Keep it brief but give a picture of what it’s about – chance to use language techniques.

Hot or not:

Two good things about the film.

Followed by one or two bad things.

(you need to cover off casting somewhere in here)

Conclusion:

Your recommendation about seeing it, who would like it, where audiences can see it etc.

Could use star ratings, number out of 10 etc.Option 1: Technique basedIntro: What were your expectations going in, what were they based on, eg. Previous roles by cast, previous films by director. What did the poster/trailor lead you to expect? Pretend the film is in theatres right now.Plot summary:Keep it brief but give a picture of what it’s about – chance to use language techniques.Techniques: Evaluate 3 different techniques. One needs to be casting. Others could be symbolism, cinematography, music, setting. Conclusion:Your recommendation about seeing it, who would like it, where audiences can see it etc.Could use star ratings, number out of 10 etc Slide16

Beautiful creatures review

Which format do you think this film review is based on?

How do they introduce each section? Slide17

Talented – hot or not

In pairs or groups, come up with 3 things the film does well, or that you liked, and 3 things the film doesn’t do so well, or you didn’t like.

Note: Just saying it was creepy isn’t a good enough “not”. Think about things like pacing, characters, plot line, etc.

Pacing – uneven, unbalanced

Not appealing to teens

Characters sometimes

predicatable

Too heavy on the foreshadowing, makes plot predictable

Good casting – Jude Law, maximising his playboy persona. Matt Damon – against type.

Good chemistry between characters – Jude and Matt.

Boat scene - dramatic

Twists and turns – edge of your seat

Setting, gorgeous shots of Italy amid horrible acts.

Good actingSlide18

Language features

Reviews allow you to be playful and creative with your language.

You can use a number of language features to do this including

:

Rhetorical question

– a question that doesn’t need answering.

Puns

– a play on words. Usually in this case it’s using a saying from the film.

Metaphors, similes, personification, onomatopoeia

etc

Neologism

– made up words, like

Hitchcockian

or

Hitchcockesque.ListingSlang – colloquial language, in this case it’s usually particularly appropriate to your film.References – to other films/styles/characters. Possibly to other films the actors or directors have made. Slide19

Silver Linings Playbook

You’ll get 2 different reviews for Silver Linings Playbook.

Your task

: read them and identify as many language features as you can. They could be the ones we outlined earlier or you could spot other ones as well.

Underline the language feature and make a note of which feature it is. Slide20

The trailorSlide21

Do:

Use language features

Be playful with your language

Use interesting vocab (use the list!)

Use the format to guide you

Give your opinion

Give a plot summary

End it by giving a recommendation and a rating

Give multiple points, both positive and negative

Don’t:

Make the whole review just plot

Give away the twists and turns (no spoilers!)

Use sentence starters like “My opinion is” or “I think this movie…” or “in conclusion” – you don’t need those kinds of connecting sentences, just tell us, don’t have to introduce what you are saying

Have a one sided review where you only say negative or positive things