the art of reading, analyzing, watching, critically viewing, and deconstructing a film (to take apart the film's components and interpret how it was all intentionally assembled together)
Know The Basics:
* film's title (and alternate titles or production titles, if any)
* year of release
* main stars/performers
* director
* rating (if available)
* running time
* genre classification
* brief summary
* tagline(s) catchy, enticing short phrases used by marketers and film
studios to advertise and sell a movie
Identify Studio:
Know the studio responsible for the film. Was it made by a major studio, a minor studio, or an independent?
Why was the film made?
Learn About Production:
Know the film's dates of production; study the production credits to learn more about the film's production; research any interesting facts about the 'making of' the film.
Discover Film's Context:
What was the social, political, and/or historical context for the film?
Was there any controversy surrounding the film's release?
Learn About Initial Reception:
What was the film's original reception?
How is the film perceived today?
Understand Film's Influence:
Learn if the film had an influential impact on future films.
Did it pay homage to (or reference) a previous film in some way?
Classify Film's Genre:
Decide on the film's principal type, its genre and sub-genre categories (such as action, adventure, musical, comedy, etc.). If it's a hybrid (a combination of two or more genres), what are they?
How does the film fit (or not fit) into its conventional, recognizable classifications?
Write One-Liner Summary:
If you were to write a short 'one-liner' summary to describe the film (often called a synopsis or film treatment), what would it be?
Classify Type of Film:
Read about whether the film is a sequel, prequel, re-make, a spoof, an homage film, etc.
Are there other versions of the film's story or tale?
Study Narrative Origins and Script:
Learn about the script-screenwriter (and other works) - if a screenplay is available, compare it to the actual film.
Read about the narrative origins of the film (literary or otherwise):
* Is it adapted from some other work, or based on an original idea? If
adapted, how well does it follow the original?
* If original, how fresh and innovative is it?
Does the film's screenplay effectively communicate the story through action and dialogue?
Learn Whether It's Fact or Fiction?:
* If the film is based upon an historical event or person, how true to life is
the film?
* Is the film fact or fiction?
* Does it mythologize an historical event or period?
Examine Plot, Structure or Story:
How is the film structured?
Determine the film's pivotal scene(s) and sequencing.
How is the story's plot told?
* through normal exposition
* by flashback
* with a narrator (by voice-over)
* chronologically or linearly
* character-driven
* objectively or subjectively
* otherwise
Additional Questions to Decipher:
* What is the vantage point from which the film is presented?
* Does parallelism (the film cuts back and forth between two scenes that are
happening simultaneously or at different times) exist between two or more
scenes?
* Are the transitions between scenes effective?
* Is there a climax and resolution (and denouement)?
* Does the film's narrative provide continuity from scene to scene?
* Is there closure by film's end?
Ascertain Special (Visual) Effects:
Learn about the special (visual) effects within the film and determine how skillfully they are handled.
Consider whether the advanced, computer-generated technical aspects of the film are essential to the film's plot, or whether their unrestrained use overwhelms the dramatic, story-telling elements and sacrifices substance - namely, the plot and/or characters.
Look Up Awards and Honors:
Find out about the film's major awards (i.e., the Academy Awards), nominations, or other honors bestowed upon it.
Recognize Theme(s):
Look for the film's central theme, motif, idea or dominant message, as well as the film's sub-text (the message 'beneath the surface'), and then answer these questions:
* Identify prominent symbols and metaphors within the film and determine
their purpose and overall effect.
* What popular ideologies are reproduced and reinforced in the film?
* Does the film have an original theme or a traditional one?
* Is the film's theme adequately or successfully supported by the story,
acting, and other film elements?
Observe Style and Tone:
Decide the overall style and tone of the film (noirish, sophisticated, suspenseful, slapstick, etc.).
Distinguish Characters and Acting Performances:
List the following:
* the film's main characters (are their names significant?)
* also consider a few of the minor characters and how they are used
* a brief description for each one
* their major motivations or ethical values/assumptions
* their character development
Then, ask yourself these additional things:
* Is there a hero or anti-hero?
* Are the characters believable and three-dimensional?
* Is the acting memorable, exceptional, or inferior?
* Ask yourself about 'star quality' - why were specific performers (or stars)
chosen (or cast) to play each role - were they appropriately cast (i.e., the
right age or size, or with the proper accent)? Were any of the performers
cast against type? Were there any debut performances?
* Were their performances appropriate for the roles?
* Was the acting professional or non-professional?
* Does one performer steal the spotlight from others?
Disclose Stereotyping:
Were the popular stereotypes (attitudinal or imagined) about different kinds of people (fathers, gays, Native Americans, the elderly, women, the mentally-ill, blacks, rural folks, etc.) challenged or reinforced?
Were there any caricatures?
Reveal Directing:
Learn about the director's entire repertoire of films, stylistic characteristics, and favorite techniques.
Is the director a veteran or a novice?
How has the director shaped, auteured, interpreted or controlled every aspect of the film's making, and the telling of its story? See this site's Greatest Directors section.
Perceive Cinematography and Visual Cues:
Identify the film's cinematographer, stylistic and visual characteristics, use of lighting and color (or black and white) to create a mood, use of a static or moving camera, amount of close-ups, and favorite techniques. Compare screen time to 'story time.'
Be attentive to various visual clues, such as the following:
* establishing shots (the initial shot in a scene)
* camera lighting (diffuse, high-key, low-key, muted, highlighting, spot-
lighting, use of light and dark areas)
* focusing (zooms, rack-focus, blurry, deep-focus)
* camera distance and framing (full shots, medium shots, close-ups)
* compositions (positioning of elements, symmetrical vs. asymmetrical, use
of shadows, doors, low ceilings, windows, mirrors, etc.)
* camera angles (tilted, wide angle, telephoto, POV shots, low/high angled,
etc.)
* camera movements and shots (dolly shots, crane shots, pans, tracking,
hand-helds, freeze-frames, reaction shots, the number and order of shots,
the use of shot/reverse shots in conversations or interviews, etc.)
* colors used (or color filtering)
* film speed (reversed, or fast/slow-motion)
Overall, is the cinematography effective?
Listen to Score and/or Soundtrack:
Identify the film's composer, and any previous similar works. Note any memorable songs (and their lyrics) and/or dances.
Listen carefully to how the music/score functions within the film to underscore the action, to move the story along, or to provide an emotional tone or mood.
* Is the film's soundtrack appropriate, subtle and effective, or inappropriate,
overwhelming and domineering? Note if silence is used, at times, in place
of sound
Find Out About Mis-en-Scene ("What is put into a scene")
Understand the 'mis-en-scene' of the film. (Mis-en-scene can include the setting, costumes, make-up, lighting, and camera positioning and movement.)
How were the scenes 'orchestrated' or set up for the camera?
Identify Locations or Settings:
Identify the settings for each scene. Are they each appropriate and effective?
Note the different kinds of settings:
* geographical (place)
* temporal (time period)
* locations (on-site)
* studio sets
* important props
Notice Film Conventions or Clichés:
Notice the typical conventions used in the film, for instance, (1) cars that crash will almost always burst into flames, or (2) all telephone numbers in America begin with the digits 555.
Detect Editing:
Is the film seamlessly and smoothly edited?
Note the film's transitional edits, such as the following:
* jump cuts
* wipes
* fade-ins
* fade-outs
* fade-to-black, dissolves
* lap dissolves
* mixes
* use of montage or rapid cutting between shots
* juxtapositions (cross-cutting, cutaways, match cuts)
* aural editing (how music, noise, or transitional dialogue create the illusion
of continuity between cuts)
* the pace and rhythm of editing (the typical length and speed of sequences
or shots)
Listen to Audio Clues:
Listen for the film's audio clues, including one of more of the following:
* sound effects
* music
* dialogue or voice
* silence
Study and distinguish the use of the following:
* sound bridges
* on-screen vs. off-screen sounds (to provide an impression of 3-D space)
* post-synchronized sound vs. direct sound
* diegetic sound (i.e., dialogue and sound effects)
* non-diegetic sound (i.e., the musical score, narrative voice-overs)
Note when sound transitions do not match shot transitions.
Observe Costuming:
Identify the use of period costumes, body physiques, hair-stylings, etc.
Identify Dialogue:
Identify the most important line(s) of dialogue, and identify any lengthy monologues or speeches.
Note how the dialogue is delivered (fast, mumbled, overlapping, loud/soft, etc.).
Are there any recurring lines of dialogue and how do they function?
Excerpts from An Extensive Review, Synopsis, and Discussion of Film Viewing by Tim Dirks, 1996
