Some

dos & donts - An incomplete style guide to wri7ng eec7ve lm

reviews and wri<en essays.

1: Dont use the rst person!

i.e. I think that, I believe that, In my opinion, If you ask me'

Instead of:

My review is of Vincenzo Natali's 2009 lm, Splice.

Consider:

This review examines Vincenzo Natali's 2009 lm, Splice.

Instead of:

For my research I have looked at Nightmare Movies by Kim Newman, The David
Cronenberg Companion by Bodie Horrace and How To Turn A Baboon Inside Out by
Seth Brundle.

Consider:

Research sources include Nightmare Movies by Kim Newman, The David
Cronenberg Companion by Bodie Horrace and How To Turn A Baboon Inside Out by
Seth Brundle...'

Okay - construc8ng sentences using the third person might feel a li>le unnatural
or strange at rst, but youll soon get used to it. The reason for not wri8ng in the
rst person (I think etc.), even though it feels en8rely intui8ve to do so, is simple.
If you are weighing up an idea or discussing dierent interpreta8ons, you will
quickly sound to your reader as if youre experiencing a mul8ple personality
disorder!

e.g. I think David Cronenbergs 1986 remake of The Fly is a story about HIV/
Aids. However, a\er reading the following observa7on made by cri7c, Richard
Luck - Perceived as a lm about the AIDS crisis at the Fme of its release,
Cronenberg is too intelligent a lmmaker to allow his picture to become a
vehicle for other people's poliFcs. (Luck, 2007) - Im thinking now that maybe
The Fly is not about HIV a\er all. Yes, I now think Cronenbergs body-horror
classic is a lm about our fear of decay more generally. However, a\er
reading (and so on).

Use the following conversion table to help you weed out the rst person from
your academic wri8ng.

2: Dont narrate! (wri8ng as if you're thinking out-loud or telling your reader a

bed8me story).

e.g. My essay/review is on Splice. I was thinking about looking for some
research in books, but I couldnt nd any good ones, so I started looking on the
internet, and I found some good quotes which Ill be using in my essay because I
want to show how Ive researched my essay using the internet.'

Yawn! Your tutor is giving up the will to live. Just get on with it! Be specic
always its not a diary entry. WHICH published sources are you using? Give the
8tle and the author. Dont tell your reader about content youre NOT using, or
about informa8on you COULDNT nd. DONT talk about how hard its been to
nd relevant informa8on. Your reader doesnt care!


3: When you introduce a lm, tv programme, book, game or pain7ng etc. in an
assignment for the rst 8me, give both the author/producer/originator/director
and release/publishing/painted date. A:er that, just the 8tle is ne.

e.g. 'David Lynchs The Elephant Man (1980) explores what it means to be
human' not just The Elephant Man explores what it means to be human.

4: Always give lm 7tles/book 7tles etc. their righgul capital le<ers and do it
every 8me you write them!

e.g. The Elephant Man not The elephant Man, or the Elephant man, or the
elephant man.

5: The rst 7me you introduce a director/prac77oner/specic individual, give

their full name; a\er that use surname only!

e.g. 'David Lynchs The Elephant Man (1980) explores what it means to be
human. Lynchs use of black and white cinematography and evoca7ve
soundscape contribute to the lms expressionis7c style...'

If you con8nue to use the persons Chris8an name, it presumes a familiarity you
do not have with them:

'David Lynchs The Elephant Man (1980) explores what it means to be human.
Davids use of black and white photography and evoca7ve soundscape
contribute to the lms expressionis7c style'

(it's like, yeah, me and David go way back we're old drinking buddies)

6: Avoid vagueness!

e.g. In the past (when exactly?), In the olden days (when exactly?), Back
then (back when?), people did this a lot (how much?) people did this a lot in
the past, but now people dont do it as much (which people did what, to what
degree, and when, and now [meaning when? Right now? This century? This
decade? This minute?] which people are doing what and by how much less than
before?).

Vagueness is a consequence of a research blindspot or lazy repor8ng. If its
ge`ng vague, you obviously dont know enough about your subject yet!

7: Avoid generaliza7ons!

e.g. All women think this.

Unless you have done a recent survey of all women this statement cannot be
proven; if it cannot be proven it is a generaliza8on and has no place in an
EVIDENCE based discussion.

8: Avoid superla7ves and sycophancy! (Dont gush!)

e.g. Neil Jordans The Company of Wolves (1984) is a brilliant lm.

Or In Fritz Langs Metropolis (1927), the set designs are just amazing.

(Here brilliant and amazing are en8rely content free i.e. they dont tell your
reader anything. Your job is to unpack what you mean by brilliant and unpack
what you mean by amazing.

e.g. 'Neil Jordans The Company of Wolves (1984) impresses in its use of dream-
logic by which it links its separate stories' or 'In Fritz Langs Metropolis (1927), the
set designs are monumental and imposing'.

9: Always put your lm 7tles/book 7tles etc. in italics to dis7nguish them from the
rest of text.

not 'In Fritz Langs Metropolis (1927), the set designs are monumental and
imposing', but 'In Fritz Langs Metropolis (1927), the set designs are monumental
and imposing.'

10: Always put your quota7ons between or and italicise them.

e.g. "This is a quotaFon!"

11: Unpack your quotes /demonstrate your knowledge/dene your terms!

Some students use quotes in their assignments but let them hang around like especially invited dinner
guests who end up with nothing to contribute to the conversa8on.

Consider this statement:

As Kim Newman observes, Splice shares Cronenbergs fascinaFon with body horror.

Okay but Cronenberg who? Body horror what? And Newmans point is? And the point of you choosing
this quote and using it in this context is...?

Consider instead:

As Kim Newman observes, Splice shares Cronenbergs fascinaFon with body horror (Newman
1989:76). Here, Newman refers to Canadian director, David Cronenberg, whose early lms - Shivers
(1975), Rabid (1977) and The Fly (1986) among others - are preoccupied with themes of bodily
disintegra7on and infec7on. Of his 1979 lm, The Brood (1979), David J. Schow noted, Cronenberg
turns our private terrors of the esh into horrid, visceral manifestaFons. (Schow 1986:102) Splices
depic7on of unstable and evolving esh exploits similar anxie7es regarding the bodys capacity to
shock and surprise.

You must unpack the quote into its important elements, dene them where necessary and thereby
demonstrate your knowledge of the concepts encompassed. Then you apply the content to your own
discussion in a proac8ve way: i.e. you use the quote to enrich, advance and corroborate your argument.
Quotes have no inherent value of their own they only become signicant when theyre used to
illuminate your subject further.

And nally

A very basic bit of advice: if you're not reading interes7ng stu, you're not going
to write interes7ng stu! You'll only get out what you're pu`ng in - so, if you're
not doing the research, if you're not reading around the subject and engaging in
independent study, and if you're leaving it to the night before to write your wri>en
assignments WILL be average, generic and may fail to sa7sfy the assessment
criteria.