[00:00.00]NARRATOR: Listen to a conversation between a student and his professor.
[00:04.54]FEMALE PROFESSOR: This is not what I had in mind when I assigned a film review.
[00:08.31]MALE STUDENT: It isn’t?
[00:09.14]FEMALE PROFESSOR: No, what you wrote is a synopsis, a detailed summary of the movie, but it's not a review.
[00:15.07]MALE STUDENT: It's not? I guess I'm a little confused cause isn't that what a film review does, [00:19.88]you know, describe the film?
[00:21.26]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Sure, in part, but a good review has to do more. [00:24.79]But this is probably not your fault. [00:27.19]I’m starting to think that I should've explained the assignment better, because, well, I got a lot of summaries, and very few reviews.
[00:34.30]MALE STUDENT: So… it wasn't only me?
[00:35.79]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Hardly. I just assumed that everyone would know what to do…
[00:39.05]MALE STUDENT: So, um, what else is a review supposed to do?
[00:42.71]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Well, it should also analyze the film, discuss its strengths and weaknesses, maybe compare it to other movies, even mention why the reviewer did or didn't like it.
[00:53.03]MALE STUDENT: You mean it should've been more personal?
[00:54.80]FEMALE PROFESSOR: For starters. Or maybe, “subjective” is a better word than “personal.”[00:59.35]Yes, it should’ve been more subjective.
[01:02.28]MALE STUDENT: Maybe I could rewrite it? [01:04.05]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Well, I don't know about rewriting it. [01:06.79]Too many people seem to have missed the point. [01:09.20]I think I may have to forgo evaluating this one. [01:12.20]Instead, maybe we'll just devote a class to discussing what it takes to write a good film review, [01:17.45]or maybe… hmm… you know, I have a colleague who writes film reviews for the local paper. [01:23.83]Maybe I could ask her to come to class and describe what she does, and then have everyone rewrite their reviews.
[01:31.56]MALE STUDENT: So… she would talk about what a film review should be like, so we'd know what to do?
[01:36.34]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Well more than that… [01:38.25]a professional film reviewer gets to see movies sometimes before they’ve even been released… [01:43.21]they get advance copies, usually a video or DVD, to watch at home. Or they go to a movie as soon as it opens in the theaters.
[01:51.31]MALE STUDENT: Umm… Seeing it on the big screen, in a theater, doesn't that affect the experience.
[01:55.99]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Of course. Having other people there… can affect the review too… [02:00.27]So for the next assignment, I might ask everyone to review one of the films the film club shows every weekend at the theater on campus. [02:08.78]There’s no admission charge, [02:10.51]they're free to students, and… the movies are shown Friday and Saturday nights, plus Sunday afternoon, [02:16.20]so everyone should be able to see one. [02:18.34]Yeah, that should work.
[02:20.28]MALE STUDENT: But for this time, will we have to rewrite our reviews?
[02:23.67]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Well, let's take it one thing at a time. [02:26.55]Let me talk to my colleague.