Bifrost
25-02-2006, 07:41 PM
Hi. If you're here, then you obviously have something to say about a film you've recently seen at the cinema, on DVD or...other. This is good. Reviewing films is therapeutic, enjoyable and unfortunately more difficult than most people think.
Writing reviews for zFilm is pretty straight-forward, though we do have some minimum standards we would like you achieve before we publish it on the site. This brief guide will explain how the post-new-review page works and also tell you what those minimum standards I mentioned are.
To start writing movie a review for zFilm head into the reviews section (http://forum.zgeek.com/forumdisplay.php?f=133) of zFilm, click on Film (http://forum.zgeek.com/forumdisplay.php?f=159) or Television (http://forum.zgeek.com/forumdisplay.php?f=160) (obviously depending on what you're reviewing) and click "New Thread". Alternatively, I have provided a handy link at the bottom of this guide (to make you read it first).
So, let's have a look at the parts of the post-new-review page which differ from the standard post-new-thread page:
Options
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/1/9/8/zFilmReviewPage_small.gifUpload Image: The first field is (obviously) an image upload facility. This image will be placed next to the byline and summary of your review on the reviews page. Think of it as a promotional image or an image which is making your review look more attractive for the reader to click on. Try not to upload images greater than 200px by 200px. It's supposed to be a small, review-related image. I usually use the film's promotional poster (if there is one) or the cover of the DVD if I'm reviewing a DVD, but you can use any Safe-for-Work image related to the film. It's all up to you.
Title: The second field is obvious - the title of your review. If you're reviewing the cinema release of a film, please put the title, but if you're reviewing a DVD, try to put "DVD:" before the title so we know what to expect before we click.
Byline: The byline is a space for you to put your real name if you want to. If not, your ZGeek username will do.
Synopsis: I think kleph said it best in his zTunes guide, so I'm going to blatantly plagiarise his words...You then need to come up with a "synopsis." This is probably the most difficult piece of writing for your review and, likely, the most important. Folks perusing down the review list will most likely decide whether or not to read your work based on this little paragraph. Make it two or three sentences and try to distill the essence of the subject of your review to its bare basics.
Post As: Woopee! Finally we can shed our true names and be represented anonymously on the Internet! Basically just throw your ZGeek username in there and all will be well.
Feature Until: If you think your review will be completely irrelevant after the date of Nostradamus' next apocalyptic prediction, then chuck in the date. Basically this will "feature" your article. I'm not quite sure what it does yet except make it with a tiny orange icon (rather than blueish) in the reviews forum thread list. I've been playing with this field and I'm still a little confused about it. Pirate might be able to help me, but the team of witch doctors certainly couldn't.
Ratings
You've all seen reviews given before. Most reviewers give a number of stars, points, dots, bare arses - whatever. Give your scores to each category, they're pretty self-explanatory, though remember when setting the Crap Factor - the higher the Crap Factor, the crappier the film; the lower, the better quality. Remember - crap films can be fantastic, just look at Troma Studios.
The Rest
All of this is much the same as any regular post, so you know the drill here.
Review Standards
Write Your Own Review: First of all and most important, when writing a review for zFilm, write what YOU felt about the film in question, not what other reviewers are saying - this is your chance to have your say read by a lot of people, so say it in your own words. And please leave that ubiquitous, superior, pretentious, know-it-all crap some prominent reviewers go on with (no names) to them, we want to hear what you think.
Spoilers: Try not to give too much away. If the movie is THAT shite that you wouldn't wish it upon your worst enemy, yeah maybe a few spoilers would go nicely, but if the movie was even halfway decent try to keep them to a minimum. If you cannot manage to write your review without major spoiler PLEASE put a warning at the top of your review so myself and the other zFilm editors can at least have a chance to go watch it before we read your piece.
Booty: Posted reviewers will be paid $50 zCash for their efforts by the editor. Rejected posts (ie. posts moved to the Movie forum) will not garner this payment.
Length: Ideally we would like reviews to be at least a couple of minutes read. People who post a review which essentially says "Great movie, liked it a lot" will be PMed and asked to expand it, if they don't want to or can't, then the thread will be moved into the general Movie forum (with no zCash provided). The perfect size for a review would be 1000 to 1500 words, but don't break your necks trying to fit this size. If your post is astronomically too large, we can edit it down for you. Anyway, my reviews tend toward the 3000 word mark which is bad, but it means I can't complain too loud. ;)
Post Icon: Unless you can find something better (I can't), I'd recommend you stick to the "Movies" icon.
So...what do you need, a movie ticket and a pen-light? Go write a movie review (http://forum.zgeek.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=159) OR a television review (http://forum.zgeek.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=160)!!!
-- Bifrost
Writing reviews for zFilm is pretty straight-forward, though we do have some minimum standards we would like you achieve before we publish it on the site. This brief guide will explain how the post-new-review page works and also tell you what those minimum standards I mentioned are.
To start writing movie a review for zFilm head into the reviews section (http://forum.zgeek.com/forumdisplay.php?f=133) of zFilm, click on Film (http://forum.zgeek.com/forumdisplay.php?f=159) or Television (http://forum.zgeek.com/forumdisplay.php?f=160) (obviously depending on what you're reviewing) and click "New Thread". Alternatively, I have provided a handy link at the bottom of this guide (to make you read it first).
So, let's have a look at the parts of the post-new-review page which differ from the standard post-new-thread page:
Options
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/1/9/8/zFilmReviewPage_small.gifUpload Image: The first field is (obviously) an image upload facility. This image will be placed next to the byline and summary of your review on the reviews page. Think of it as a promotional image or an image which is making your review look more attractive for the reader to click on. Try not to upload images greater than 200px by 200px. It's supposed to be a small, review-related image. I usually use the film's promotional poster (if there is one) or the cover of the DVD if I'm reviewing a DVD, but you can use any Safe-for-Work image related to the film. It's all up to you.
Title: The second field is obvious - the title of your review. If you're reviewing the cinema release of a film, please put the title, but if you're reviewing a DVD, try to put "DVD:" before the title so we know what to expect before we click.
Byline: The byline is a space for you to put your real name if you want to. If not, your ZGeek username will do.
Synopsis: I think kleph said it best in his zTunes guide, so I'm going to blatantly plagiarise his words...You then need to come up with a "synopsis." This is probably the most difficult piece of writing for your review and, likely, the most important. Folks perusing down the review list will most likely decide whether or not to read your work based on this little paragraph. Make it two or three sentences and try to distill the essence of the subject of your review to its bare basics.
Post As: Woopee! Finally we can shed our true names and be represented anonymously on the Internet! Basically just throw your ZGeek username in there and all will be well.
Feature Until: If you think your review will be completely irrelevant after the date of Nostradamus' next apocalyptic prediction, then chuck in the date. Basically this will "feature" your article. I'm not quite sure what it does yet except make it with a tiny orange icon (rather than blueish) in the reviews forum thread list. I've been playing with this field and I'm still a little confused about it. Pirate might be able to help me, but the team of witch doctors certainly couldn't.
Ratings
You've all seen reviews given before. Most reviewers give a number of stars, points, dots, bare arses - whatever. Give your scores to each category, they're pretty self-explanatory, though remember when setting the Crap Factor - the higher the Crap Factor, the crappier the film; the lower, the better quality. Remember - crap films can be fantastic, just look at Troma Studios.
The Rest
All of this is much the same as any regular post, so you know the drill here.
Review Standards
Write Your Own Review: First of all and most important, when writing a review for zFilm, write what YOU felt about the film in question, not what other reviewers are saying - this is your chance to have your say read by a lot of people, so say it in your own words. And please leave that ubiquitous, superior, pretentious, know-it-all crap some prominent reviewers go on with (no names) to them, we want to hear what you think.
Spoilers: Try not to give too much away. If the movie is THAT shite that you wouldn't wish it upon your worst enemy, yeah maybe a few spoilers would go nicely, but if the movie was even halfway decent try to keep them to a minimum. If you cannot manage to write your review without major spoiler PLEASE put a warning at the top of your review so myself and the other zFilm editors can at least have a chance to go watch it before we read your piece.
Booty: Posted reviewers will be paid $50 zCash for their efforts by the editor. Rejected posts (ie. posts moved to the Movie forum) will not garner this payment.
Length: Ideally we would like reviews to be at least a couple of minutes read. People who post a review which essentially says "Great movie, liked it a lot" will be PMed and asked to expand it, if they don't want to or can't, then the thread will be moved into the general Movie forum (with no zCash provided). The perfect size for a review would be 1000 to 1500 words, but don't break your necks trying to fit this size. If your post is astronomically too large, we can edit it down for you. Anyway, my reviews tend toward the 3000 word mark which is bad, but it means I can't complain too loud. ;)
Post Icon: Unless you can find something better (I can't), I'd recommend you stick to the "Movies" icon.
So...what do you need, a movie ticket and a pen-light? Go write a movie review (http://forum.zgeek.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=159) OR a television review (http://forum.zgeek.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=160)!!!
-- Bifrost