h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A635113-Chinese Cinema: "The Fifth Generation"

I've writen an entry,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A635113
It's designed as one of several linked entries on Chinese Cinema, of which this is the first (and main) one. It's not about individual films, but rather about thedifferent concerns and influences that these films have, and how you can approach them if you get to see the pictures. I hope you enjoy.

Be gentle with me, this is my first time...

I like it, and I like the pictures you've put in it too.

There's a typo somewhere...you put "Staring" instead of "Starring" for Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, Shanghai Triad and Red Sorghum.

With all those pin-yin titles i'd very much doubt that that's the only typo!

Hi, autist!
I've had a chance to look at your entry now.

My first reaction - it's obviously very well researched, and very well written, but I think the level of background knowledge you assume is rather high for the general reader. I think you could include more basic information in the introduction: for example, put the origin of the name 'Fifth Generation' here rather than in the footnote. There will be readers who are not familiar with the Cultural Revolution and its effects. Perhaps if you said in the introduction that the Cultural Revolution in 1966 closed the film school, leaving the Fourth Generation out in the cold for 10 years, and that the Fifth Generation were the first group to graduate after it reopened in 1976(?), this might make things clearer for the less knowledgeable readers. I also think it might be a good idea to name the most important members of the group at an earlier stage.

Another general comment - I think it might help to put the names of films in italics where they're mentioned in the main text, using the and tags. These names are probably the most recognisable features to a casual reader (more so than the directors' names!) so it would help if they stood out from the text a little more.

Anyway, well done! I found the entry really interesting when I read it properly - I just had to concentrate a bit harder than I usually need to with h2g2 entries. This may just be a reflection of my general ignorance of Chinese cinema, but that's why I suggest making the introduction a little more basic.

Good luck!
Azara

It seemed that the article was getting a bit too lengthy so I was planning to write a seperate entry for Chinese Cinema as a whole, which outlined the things you mentioned about the effect of the CR on the 4th gen, and the classic period etc. As well as the annexed Hong Kong and Taiwan film industries. Logically this would have come first of course, but me and logic fell out a long time ago.

One of the reasons i wanted to write the entry was because firstly there didn't seem to be much about non-hollywood in H2G2 and the other is that almost no-one has seen these films, with maybe the exeption of Farewell My Concubine, and they are great pictures, and they work in so many ways that western films, even 'arty' ones don't attempt to operate in. The thing i must do is try to write Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in somehow, then at least readers will have one familiar title to refer to.

Right, the here are my promised comments.
Firstly, thumbs up. Well written and high quality.

As for constructive comments;
-You can't link to unedited entries. Sorry, I know they seem pretty important but it's not allowed.
-The entry is quite heavy-going, especially for the uninitiated such as myself. There's nothing wrong with that, just be aware of the fact, and that you could lose your reader.
-I hate to do it, but now's the point I'm supposed to warn you that it's over 3000 words long. I quote the (amended) guidelines at this point;

"Because of the way that entries are scouted and edited in h2g2, it might be necessary for the Editors to split up long entries - over 2,000 words or so - into two or more linked entries before they go out to the Sub-editors. You can certainly write 20,000 words in one entry if you like - we'd like nothing better! - but you should indicate places in the entry where you'd like it to be split. You can use a row of dashes in a text entry, or, if you're using GuideML, a tag or two could be used."

Just be prepared that they might want to split it into two, but try not to worry about it.

Hmm, my first sentence didn't make sense. I don't think I meant to write that 'the'.

So is this 2000 word limit at all flexible? Surely a couple of hundred words isn't going to make too much of a difference.

How do they split the entries, just into a Part One and a Part two, or is it into two independent entries?

I think it would be as two separate entries that are linked. I also think that another (background) entry on Chinese Cinema would be helpful.

It's only a 'maybe' thing at the moment, not set in stone for every article with 2001 or more words. But apart from that, I'd like to reiterate what I said before, but this time with added impact- I'll use a smiley.
Thumbs up it's great.

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'Peer Review' to 'Chinese Cinema: "The Fifth Generation"'.

This thread has been moved out of the Peer Review Forum because your entry has now been recommended for the Edited Guide.

You can find out what will happen to your entry here: http://www.h2g2.com/SubEditors-Process

Congratulations!

for the autist!

I'm really glad to see this get into the Edited Guide - I was afraid it had been forgotten.

Well done!
Azara

Nah, I was just waiting for my picks to come round.
Well done autist

I've been poorly in hospital this week, so to come back and find my first guide entry was a nice suprise. I'm in the process of putting together a sister entry covering the whole of Chinese film history, which had i not been ill would be ready now. As soon as i'm up and running again i'll serve it up for you, between the two it should be a fairly good history and guide.

, autist!

I'm sorry to hear that you were in hospital, and I'm really glad that you came back to this news. The wait until it appears on the Front Page can seem very l..o..o..ng, though!

The best of luck in your recovery, and for the further entries you're planning!

Azara