Guest Post /// Writing a Great Movie Review That People Will Read [Wes Hemings]

Greetings everyone! Meet Wes Hemings. He is an actor, writer and a business man that I admire very much. In addition to running BlackPrint, an informative website with articles, music & movie reviews, poetry and a pinch of snarky humor, he acts, blogs and loves the San Antonio Spurs. Need I say more? He's clearly amazing. Today he is guest posting on this blog about Writing a Great Movie Review.


/// Wes Hemings ///

To me, writing a good review is akin to writing a good TV show like "Lost". You want to start it in shocking fashion, declaring a specific point of view that demands itself to be fleshed out and explored. Simple declarations such as "I liked Lost's series finale." is hardly eye-catching, though it is specific. Instead, "Lost's finale turned me into a smoke monster of hatred toward mindless writing hacks in Hollywood." is a bit more specific, invokes a point of view that promises elaborative answers to the implied question of: "Why did you hate Lost's finale?", and that's when you have the reader interested in your views and voice.

Once you have an opening worthy of Shakespearean tragedy, it's ideal to add any necessary background to the uninformed reader such as the breakdown of the movie/show you're reviewing, "Lost is about (and only about) people stranded on a mysterious island with mysterious powers.", it's also appropriate to include any personal history with the project, "I've wasted 6 years of my life watching, reading, talking, theorizing about Lost, so this finale is important to me.", this helps add perspective to the casual reader so they can fit in their tastes more closely with yours.

I think the most important part of writing a quality film review is removing anything that could be a spoiler, because they're reading it to know whether they should see a movie, not to know that they can claw through over 100 hours of television and walk away not being any wiser as to why Hurley won the lottery with those freaking numbers a mad man was mumbling in an institution or why food was still being dropped by the Dharma Iniative though Ben killed them years ago and if finding the island were that easy then surely Widmore would have found it long ago. So it helps to keep your views more generalized to concepts, i.e. "Lost built its franchise based on mysteries on an island that tied into the characters' past in a fresh take on converging storylines a la such films as 'Traffic' or 'Crash', yet negated to fill in the blanks that attracted viewers in the first place."

Depending on your level of film expertise there are several angles you can take when reviewing a movie. Being someone who shakes hands with acting, writing and producing I often critique a movie from several angles such as the setting, plot, characters, acting, themes, special effects, music, photography, etc, picking whatever seems most relevant. The first episode of Lost I would probably comment on how gorgeous the setting is and how I love the vast amount of characters and sheer contrast they all bring. The last episode I may focus more on how themes overrode the plot and ultimately drove writing integrity back out of Hollywood (the last I heard it was en route to Guam).

My number one rule I try and live by: no generalities, be specific as to "why". This rule must be married to the no-spoiler rule, because if you can't say why you don't like something conceptually then you probably don't have an opinion worth reading. To this end, it helps to contrast similar films to shed light on why you feel a certain way, i.e. "M. Night Shymalan is often ripped for his consistent style of twist endings that come off as flat, but at least they arrive at a promised destination, though the location may not be desired. Lost, however, booked you a ticket and left you on the runway with nothing but emotional goodbyes in the airport, the only twist we're left with is this knife in my spine."

Length is in the eye of the beholder. I keep my reviews almost always to five paragraphs: intro, synopsis, what I liked, what I didn't, outro. The opening allows me creative wiggle room to try and grab a reader, then I can set the stage for my opinions and drive it home at the end. This brings me to the conclusion: Lost is ultimately about murdering viewer intelligence via sporadic coincidences unobligated to explanations outside of using the island in Deus ex machina fashion. Wait, what are we talking about again?

/// Thank You Wes Hemings {website / blog}

Guest Post: Syntax Part 2 with Brittany Laneaux

Good morning all. Brittany is back with Part 2 of her miniseries on Syntax; click here for Part 1. Also, on her blog today she is discussing varying sentence types. Head over and check it out.

Syntax Part 2
So last time we saw that the structure of the sentence can dramatically change the meaning and implications of a story. This time we will see how syntax can be used to physically illustrate a point in the story that you want to convey. Form imitating Meaning…

Here is an example from The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner:

I slowed still more, my shadow pacing me, dragging its head through the weeds that hid the fence.

Faulkner uses the commas and the diction to slow the sentence down and emphasize the meaning. The character moves slowly and so does the sentence. How different would it be if Faulkner wrote “I slowed more still. My shadow was pacing me. It dragged its head through the weeds that hid the fence.” The syntax of this group of sentences does the exact opposite. It suggests anxiety and gives off a nervous feeling. Faulkner’s purpose was not to make the reader feel nervous, but rather sluggish, weighed down, and cautious. Your eyes should be dragging across the sentence in the same way that the shadow drags through the weeds.

Have you been able to include any sentences in your current WIP where form imitates meaning?

Guest Post: Syntax Part 1 with Brittany Laneaux

Good morning all. Today Brittany Laneaux (an amazing freelance editor) is our guest and she has written some helpful notes for us about syntax. You can also check out Brittany's new blog on which she will write posts every Monday to help us with the craft of writing. Also, don't forget that the contest ends tomorrow at 3:02 p.m. CST. Enter now for your chance to win a cool prize.

Syntax Part One

Syntax is far from just a grammatical term, but people have a difficult time seeing what significance it has in their writing or even how much it can affect meaning in their writing. True masters of the language have learned to manipulate syntax in such a way that it not only shows the meaning behind your writing, but it can even be physically illustrated in your sentences.

Let’s start at the beginning: Syntax is simply sentence structure. Now bear with me if this is too elementary, but we all have to start somewhere. A simple sentence is exactly what it is called…simple. Phrases (prepositional, participial, infinitive, etc…) are added to your simple sentence to include details and to make the sentence more interesting. Syntax is the way you write these phrases and where you choose to place them.

For example, I am going to break down a sentence from Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

Sentence: But George sat stiffly on the bank and looked at his right hand that had thrown the gun away.
Simple sentence: George sat stiffly on the bank and looked at his right hand.
Phrase (Type, just for those of you wondering, Adjective Prepositional): that had thrown the gun away

Where this phrase is placed changes the meaning of the sentence and, therefore, makes certain implications when considering the meaning of the overall story. In this case the phrase is used as an adjective to modify the word “hand” suggesting that it was the “hand” that was responsible for whatever was done with the gun. George, to whom the hand belonged, was not responsible for his own actions.

However, if the sentence was written “George, who had thrown the gun away, sat stiffly on the bank and looked at his right hand,” the sentence would vilify George, not the hand. It would suggest that George knew what he was doing and was conscious of his actions. Written this way, the sentence also conveys a sense of regret or disbelief.

Where you choose to place phrases plays a part in what the sentence is actually saying, so be aware and be creative. Don’t be afraid to play with your sentence, moving things around to create different meanings and emphasis.

I’ll leave you something to chew on…

Here is a great example sentence from “Snow” by Julia Alvarez where she plays with phrases.

Simple Sentence: We rented a small apartment.

Sentence with phrases: “Our first year in New York we rented a small apartment with a Catholic school nearby, taught by the sisters of Charity, hefty women in long black gowns and bonnets that made them look peculiar, like dolls in mourning.”

Regina here. Thank you Brittany for your post. Visit her blog.  
photo: smoorenburg