Instructions
Write a review of one of the plays on film offered on “The List” below. You need to offer a critical perspective of the acting, directing, and design taking advantage of the theatrical language you have learned in this course. It also should give us basic information about the film/play and share general observations from the perspective of an audience member.
Your critique must include:
Develop a strong HEADLINE for your review. Throughout the piece find ways of tying back into the premise of your headline (ex. New Play by John Smith a Frightening Masterpiece). Obviously the writer of this headline will emphasize why they thought the production was so scary and why they think the writing is worthy of the term masterpiece.
Paragraphs covering each of these 5 elements:
The Basic Information
Name of film, where it is available, how long it ran, and a short (couple of sentences) synopsis.
The Acting/Singing
A couple of performances positive or negative (+ or -) which stood out in your mind. Name the performers. Provide relevant background on them.
The Direction
Did the director stage the peice effectively? Was the story and the narrative clear? Present a couple of examples (+ or -). Name the director. Provide relevant background on this person.
The Design
Did the production design, music choices suit the film, the period, and the production. A couple of strong examples (+ or -). Who was on the production team? What have they designed before?
Your Overall Reaction
Was this a thumbs up or thumbs down? Was it a great film, too long, too short, could you understand it, (+ or -), etc??
Writing that makes it evident that you DEFINITELY SAW THIS FILM. Avoid speaking in generalities or attempting to load up the paper with synopsis or other materials readily available online. Read the articles provided on criticism, critical writing, and reviews in major publication (NY Times) as a way of understanding this form.
A clear critical POINT-OF-VIEW. Again, read the articles provided on criticism, critical writing, and reviews in major publication (NY Times) as a way of understanding this form.
Utilize the theatrical language you have learned in this course. Talk about the 5 elements using the vocabulary presented in learning activities in this course.
Reviews must be 100% your original writing. Do not quote or paraphrase and source. Reviews will be checked for plagiarism and ANY sequence of words (longer than 12 words) that matches any source or previous student review will result in an automatic zero and referral to the Dean of Academic Affairs.
Reviews must be posted online as a Google+, YouTube, Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon, or other online review platform.
A screen-shot of your posted review must be submitted with your text in this assignment area (NOT A LINK TO THE REVIEW).20 points (of 100) will be deducted if there is not proof you have posted an online review. Please allow processing time for some websites or take a screenshot of your submission page BEFORE you hit submit.
This review must be a minimum of 700 words. Remember papers that reflect minimum writing effort get average grades.
Important Note About Authorship:
One feature common to many pieces written by or with the assistance of AI are sentences that run-on, contain mixed participles, confused noun/pronoun combinations, and other grammar that is best described as “gobbledygook.” I simply won’t grade papers that contain multiple sentences like this. The entire paper will be returned to you ungraded. You will have an opportunity to proof-read the paper, and return it free of these mistakes. I will not remind you to do this. If you do not return the paper in corrected form as soon as possible, you will receive a zero for this assignment and potentially fail the course.
