By Corbin Richardson
Letterboxd was launched in October of 2011 by Buchanan and Von Randow. It is a program where anybody can give their own personal review of a movie and post it for the world to see. The app has over ten million current users with it growing every day. With pretty much any movie you could think of, users have an almost infinite number of movies to review, with shows being added soon. Letterboxd is a great way to expand your reach in the film community. Very easy to get in contact with other people and see their options on the movies you love. It is an amazing way to get your foot into the door as a movie reviewer and have some back catalog for when you eventually move up. In this essay I will be teaching you how to expand and create a professional Letterboxd account.
When accessing your Letterboxd profile this is one of the first steps that you need to consider. The main thing that other people will be seeing is your username, bio and profile picture. These are key in developing a professional account. As you can see my username is Richyrich1776, this is a fun one that I use but is not very professional. I would advise using your name paired with your last name, an ideal username for me would be CorbinRichardson, so that you get your name out there and it becomes recognizable. Next is your bio, the bio should provide a detailed but short description of you and what you hope to achieve with your account. I have not written a bio yet but here is a professional one that I will now use. “Hello my name is Corbin Richardson and I love movies. When I was little my mother introduced me to the world of cinema through Peter Jackson’s “Lord Of the Rings” trilogy and ever since then I have had a passion for film. I tend to watch movies from every different genre and style to get a broader perspective on film making itself. I hope you enjoy the reviews, but most importantly I hope you enjoy the movies.” With a bio like this you are able to give a brief but precise idea of what your account will be like so that viewers will know what they are getting into. Lastly your profile picture should be something that you could show your grandma and she would think you look handsome or beautiful in. I have chosen to use a picture of myself in a suit as it gives a professional and clean atmosphere to your page. People tend to trust other people in professional attire, so they will trust your reviews.
The next portion of creating a professional Letterboxd account is doing the actual movie review. A movie review should consist of a few things, your overall impression of the film, what they excelled and failed at. Comment of the cinematography, acting performances, soundtrack, etc. People like different things about movies, personally I enjoy cinematography over most other things. So, when I look at movie reviews I always look to see if they mentioned cinematography. By including your opinions on different film making topics you will draw in more readers focused on their own interest. I will always mention the highs and lows of the movie and my opinions of the plot. But I never go into spoiler country. By containing spoilers in your reviews, you cut out a significant number of viewers because nobody likes spoilers. You can write a very detailed reviews while never crossing into spoilers’ territory. I have provided an example film review that I did for the movie “The Covenant.” In this review I highlighted a number of different topics on acting, sound, and the plot. I never got close to giving out spoilers. Not every movie needs a detailed review like this, some are just fun movies that do not need to be over explained.
To make a professional account on Letterboxd is not hard. It takes some pizzaz and charm but anybody can do it. By following some of these steps, you too can create a lasting professional impact on the film world.
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