Here are some helpful hints as you work on your summary of Cool Hand Luke and your film review (essay 2):
Punctuation of titles: Film titles should be either italicized. (As should the titles of books, magazines, newspapers, long/epic poetry, plays, TV shows, titles of CDs. Short poems, song titles, single episodes of TV shows, titles of short prose like magazine articles are all punctuated with quotation marks.)
Continuous present tense: It is customary to discuss the plot/action of films and books in present tense. Some of you will do this automatically. Some of you will need to think about it as you are writing. It may help to remember that every time someone watches the film, the action takes place again. (Every time someone reads a book, the plot occurs again.)
Referring to characters/actors: If you are talking about a character in a film, refer to that character by his or her name in the film. The first time you refer to the character you will want to provide the name of the actor playing the character in parentheses, after the character’s name. You only need to do this once. If you are talking about the performance of a particular actor, refer to that actor by his or her own name—not the name of the character he or she is playing.
Common elements in film reviews: You should provide your audience with, at minimum: the title of the film, the lead actors, the director. Some other elements that might be useful to your audience could include: the film’s writer, the year the film was produced, the running time of the film, any material that might be upsetting or objectionable to some audiences, the film’s MPAA rating, and other films associated with the director and/or the lead actors in the film. Use your choice of audience to guide your
decisions about the information that you include.
Citing films in MLA style: See pages 457-458 in Rules for Writers.
