Day 4

The Critical Review

Your final lesson will involve watching the short films that you have produced, learning how to express opinion, and writing a critical review of another group's film.

Warm-up Activity: Opinionated

Look at the lists of descriptions concerning films. Choose 5 of the descriptions and give an example of a film that corresponds to each one in your opinion.

too long action-packed dramatic

boring suspenseful emotional

meditative disappointing predictable

hilarious powerful romantic

exciting big-budget outdated

Gut Reaction

You will now watch a short film called "Broken Wand." After watching, the instructor will go around and ask each filmmaker to give a one-word reaction to the film. This can be a description, an emotion, a thought... If you cannot think of a new response, you will be eliminated. The last person remaining is the winner of the game.

Reading Reviews

You will be divided into four groups. Each group will read a critical review of one of four films. As you read, make a list of the different aspects of the film that are mentioned in the review and note if the critic gives a positive or negative review of the film.

The Film Festival

Now we will watch all of the films that were submitted for the festival. As we watch, take notes so that you are prepared to critique one of the other group's films. You can access the films from home by click on the button below.

The Critical Review

Now that you have seen all of the submitted short films, you will need to write a 150-200 word critical review of one of them. As you write, include the following elements:

The plot, setting, genre, and characters of the film
Your personal experience watching the film (reactions, emotions, thoughts)
An analysis of how the technical aspects help to express the thematic content
A conclusion in which you summarize your opinion and give a final recommendation

Once you have finished your review, you may submit it as a Word or PDF file using the uploader.