2 min read · The Lovvy team
How to keep a movie diary together
What to write down after a film so that, a year later, it reads like a story instead of a list. The five things worth keeping.
A list of films you have watched is useful for about a week. A diary is useful for years, because it keeps the part the list leaves out: when, where, with whom, and what you thought at the time.
The five things worth keeping
- The date. Films attach themselves to moments, and the date is how you find them again.
- Where you watched it. At home, at a cinema, on a plane, at a friend’s place.
- A score from each of you, given separately.
- One line each. What you will want to remember, not a plot summary.
- A photo, if there is one. The room, the popcorn, the ticket.
Write it the same night
The next morning your opinion has already been edited by whatever the other person said and whatever you read online. Two minutes right after the credits keeps it honest. It is the same reason to rate before you hear what they thought.
Let it build by month
Entries grouped by month turn into chapters. You start to notice seasons: the winter you watched everything by one director, the summer you barely watched anything, the month you finally finished that series.
Read it back
The point of a diary is the rereading. Look back on the anniversary of a film, or at the end of each month with a short recap, and compare what you both wrote.
How Lovvy does it
Lovvy is built around exactly this: a shared diary where each entry holds both scores, notes, tags, where you watched it and your photos, laid out on a timeline by month. Old entries come back on the day you watched them.