Helen O' Hara Talks to Film Studies Students

A blockbuster lesson for Year 12 Film Studies 

Year 12 Film Studies pupils were recently given an exciting opportunity to learn from acclaimed writer and magazine editor Helen O’Hara. 

Helen O’Hara, a writer and Editor-at-Large for Empire Magazine and the author of Women vs Hollywood and A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary, shared her wealth of experience as a film journalist, offering pupils a fascinating insight into the world of film criticism and writing. The workshop focused on the art of writing compelling film reviews, with Helen providing practical advice that pupils could immediately put into practice.

During the session, Helen explained that the opening paragraph of a film review is the most important and should achieve three key aims: it should explain what the film is about, introduce the reviewer’s opinion, and hook the reader to encourage them to read on. She also challenged pupils to practice writing concise, impactful reviews of no more than 140 words, reflecting the importance of clarity and precision in modern film journalism.

Lead Teacher of Film and Media, John Branney, praised the workshop, saying: “It was a real pleasure to have Helen lead a workshop on writing film reviews with our Year 12 Film Studies students. The class are keen to publish their own magazine and we are excited about what they are going to be able to produce.”

The workshop proved both inspiring and highly practical, equipping pupils with valuable skills and confidence as they develop their own critical voices. The school looks forward to seeing the creativity and professionalism that will emerge as the students work towards producing their own film magazine later this year.