As an aspiring journalist, I crave to write about what I’m passionate about; film. My aim is to work in a specialised film magazine in which I’m able to review the latest films and give a critical opinion about it. I would start by reviewing films in my own blog so that I can practice my analytical and writing skills. My personal blog would not just give me the opportunity to improve my writing but also to get used to writing every day and have a routine. I would then search for a job in a film magazine.
A magazine would give me the chance to write about a specific and specialised subject which I would dominate. My aspiration is to work in magazines that I’ve always appreciated, such as Film Comment or Little White Lies. These types of magazines are the type of work I’m looking for, since they just don’t review and criticise a film but they talk about movies as a world apart: interviewing actors and directors, recommending the best films of the year, comparing films… The magazine Little White Lies is a magazine specifically made for cinematographic addicts and the fact that the reader has to pay to read every individual article makes it even more exclusive. I also enjoy the fact that these types of magazines never usually talk about commercial movies, but independent films, since it’s a specialised magazine.
One of the reasons I chose to analyse films is due to the work of the prominent film critic Robbie Collin. Robin Collin is a film critic for the Telegraph newspaper and his work is the perfect example of what I would like to become in the future. Eloquence, wit and charming sarcasm are the basics that Robbie Collin uses in all of his film reviews. The first time I read one of his reviews was when he reviewed the film “Joy”in 2015 starring Jennifer Lawrence and directed by David O’ Russell.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/04/14/joy-review-jennifer-lawrences-brilliant-fairy-tale/
I was immediately captivated by Collin’s unconventional insight and I would even dare to say sensitivity. I applaud him for his ability to relate to the character and analyse meticulously the film and the director’s work. The film was based on the true story of the business woman Joy Mangano and Collin perfectly knew how to portray the films strengths and weaknesses in the most fluent and sharpest way possible. I really admired Collin’s capacity to use metaphors to describe and analyse the film. Collin states:”It soon becomes clear Joy chose the name of her mop well:her life, let alone her kitchen floor, is in need of divine intervention.”Collin uses characteristic elements of the film to make a point about the actor´s work and the film itself.
Robbie Collin: “Russell has lumbered his heroes with exasperating families before, most memorably in Silver Linings Playbook and his boxing film, The Fighter”. I noticed that Collin,as most of the film critics, has knowledge about the director’s and actor’s previous work, which is undeniably important to write a good film review.It is clear that to obtain enough knowledge about the film I’m writing about I would need to have a significant cinematographic awareness and also do an abundant amount of research.
Another journalist which I admire is the film critic Peter Bradshaw. Ingenious sarcasm is an element that I praise in a film critic since it provides humour and it’s much more entertaining for the reader to read, and Bradshaw is definitely a journalist that enjoys using sarcasm in his pieces of work.”I bet playing the game is much more exciting. But then getting Fassbender to slap a coat of Dulux on the wall of his high-tech prison cell and monitoring the progressive moisture-loss would be more exciting” says Bradshaw about the film Assassin’s Creed. Despite the fact that I consider this piece of work not one of the best ones of Bradshaw, I still believe that he has the sills that I need to obtain.
To become a successful film critic as Robbie Collin and Peter Bradshaw I need to acquire certain skills. Fluency, ability to analyse and perseverance to become a specialist about the subject are crucial skills that I need to work on to become the journalist I want to be. For this, I would need to become a passionate reader, but not just about film reviews but also newspapers, books, blogs… Since it is indispensable to own a certain knowledge about everything to write about any type of subject that the film might relate to. When I finally acquire this skills my objective would be to work in a magazine.I hope that I would be able to interview the actors and then review their work at the office. Hopefully, with time, I would like to create my own film magazine since I’m more interested in generating ideas and taking an editorial role.
Matt Thompson wrote an article about the different types of journalists and what can we learn from them. The four types of journalists are: The Storyteller, the Newshound, the Systems Analyst and the Provocateur. As a film critic I would consider myself as a Provocateur. The Provocateur has “originality and insight” and makes the audience think in different ways .They encourage them to think critically about it. “Provocateurs are particularly good at posing questions, poking at conventional wisdom in a way that encourages us to think critically about it”. The provocateur usually makes the reader ask questions to himself and wonder their knowledge is wrong or right; a movie critic can do that.A film critic not just reviews or evaluates a film but makes the audience think even more about it and that’s what I want to do in the future.
During my journalism course I would like to choose modules that help me improve my writing skills. Modules like “specialist journalism” (I would then choose literary journalism) would give me the skills that I need to become a prominent film critic. I would also like to choose the module of “pitch, produce, publish: creating modern magazines” because, as I mentioned before, I’m interested in generating ideas and taking an editorial role and I think this module would help me. At the end of the year I would choose the module of “specialist journalism” focussing on arts and entertainment.I also think that they type of media/journalism I consume is quite important to help me understand how I need to write for the different types of platform. This is the reason why I read most of the film magazines and the most important newspapers such as the Guardian, the Telegraph and also the Independent Eye. Despite the fact that I want to work reviewing and analyzing films I still consider that I need to consume every type of journalism, including Tv shows, radio, websites… Despite the fact that I want to become a journalist that it specialised on a certain subject, a journalist still needs to have a wide knowledge of what is going on in the world. I would be unable to review a film about the second world war without a certain knowledge about it.
I must say that I follow on Twitter several film critics and actors. I believe that is important to consume all types of journalism and undoubtedly Twitter is a contemporary platform to consume journalism. If I had the chance I would like to do my work placement during my third year at university in a newspaper like the guardian or the telegraph, but specially in a film magazine.
R Pacheco 