How to Watch and Write About Film

First and most importantly: follow the traditional academic essay format when writing for this
course. Include a thesis statement (the main idea of the essay) in the introduction and provide
support for the thesis statement in the subsequent paragraphs. Remember to include a conclusion
that restates the thesis statement (in different words of course) and wraps up the essay without
leaving any loose ends. Each of the essays for this course should be at least three typed pages,
double-spaced, using font no larger than 12. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation do count, so
employ the spelling and grammar check on your computer and proofread on your own as well.
The computer does not always identify every mistake. DO NOT email your assignments to me
or type your assignments into the Comments box. YOU MUST attach them as a Word
document from within the Assignments area. Try to figure out how to do this first, but if
you do have questions, please contact me through the Message feature on Blackboard.
Why do we write about cinema? Most of us watch movies for entertainment but give little
thought to the purpose of examining them or explaining them beyond voicing our personal
preference. Yet movies inhabit our cultural life. To use an extreme example, on the morning of
the World Trade Center tragedy, as cataclysmic devastation flashed across our TV screens,
commentators reported that the images resembled action movie scenes of disaster and
destruction. Clearly, the fantasies of movies are built into our collective frame of reference
causing us to recall them even at moments of stark reality. The last century of film gradually
infiltrated the consciousness of each generation of moviegoers. As German art historian Erwin
Panofsky so aptly put it as early as 1934, If all the serious lyrical poets, composers, painters and
sculptors were forced by law to stop their activities, a rather small fraction of the general public
would become aware of the fact and a still smaller fraction would seriously regret it. If the same
thing were to happen with the movies, the social consequences would be catastrophic.

There are several different ways to write about film. Most of us are familiar with the movie
reviews we read in magazines and newspapers. The objective of these articles is to offer a
judgment to a wide audience. The critic writes with the assumption that his readers have not seen
the movie, and he is there to help them decide whether it is worth it to see it at all. Another form
of film criticism is the theoretical essay. Philosophy, history, and education of the film industry
form the foundation for theoretical film writing. The writer as film scholar assumes his readers
have seen the film in question and possess knowledge of films as a field of study. These
examples claim two extremes of film writing. We are attempting to conquer neither of them in
this class. Instead we focus on the critical film essay. Both the theoretical and critical film
essays are written for an academic audience. However, the critical film essay does not rely on
film history, theory, or industry knowledge to inform its ideas. It examines a film based on an
independent analysis of a specific subject such as genre, style, or narrative.

In this class we study genres. Therefore the basis of your essay is to observe and report how
the movie applies to its genre or, in some cases, how it deviates from it. Your reader is your
instructor. It is not your aim to persuade me to see or not see the film, as I will already have done
so. Your personal opinion, whether positive or negative, will inform the essay, but it should not
be the crux upon which your essay balances. While you may want to include major plot or
story elements in your essay, by no means should you allow for more than a few sentences
of plot information. You also cannot possibly report on every aspect of the movie. You are not
writing a book; you are carefully choosing only the most salient aspects of the film as they relate
to the theme of your essay.
Two viewings of each film (more if you are feeling industrious and have the time) are
recommended in order to write a film essay. The first viewing may be for your own enjoyment
and to develop a familiarity with your subject. Take notes during the second viewing. Be aware
of several aspects of the film as they relate to genre.
For example:

Soundtrack Does the music clearly represent the genre?

Characters Do the characters behave in accordance with the genre?
Setting Is the location and environment generally associated with the genre?
Costumes Do they suggest a certain period?
Script Is the language indicative of a certain genre?
To the best of your knowledge, are the actors and director usually identified with a genre?

Your carefully observed, insightful second viewing notes will start to form the shape of your
essay before you even begin writing. Make sure you support your ideas and observations
with SPECIFIC examples from the movie. In other words, writing, The lighting and music in
Double Indemnity suggests the haunted feeling of an urban film noir setting, is not acceptable
on its own. While the statement may or may not be true, it requires references to particular
scenes and moments that the reader can recall or even go back to and experience again.
Remember not to get too caught up in who is playing the roles in the film or who the director is.
Essays concerning the filmmakers rather than the film fall into the category of auteur criticism.
While this is a legitimate form of film scholarship, it is not our focus. An actor or director
(indeed even a composer, designer, or editor) may be identified with a particular genre, but he or
she does not encompass the genre and should not become the focus of your essay. A mention is
acceptable and relevant. Devoting half your paper to him or her is not.
You should have at least a passing familiarity with some film terms. After all, a sportscaster
certainly knows the difference between a touchdown and a homerun, and a food critique would
never mistake a barnaise sauce with a hollandaise. Therefore you should certainly know the

difference between frame and camera frame. Some of these terms function in other areas of
study as well. In this case we are learning them as they apply to the study of film.
1. Frame and Camera Frame: The screen itself that contains the image of the movie is the
frame. It does not change throughout the movie. The camera frame, however, changes
frequently in relationship to what is being filmed. The camera frame controls what you
see and how you see it. Mood, emotion, and tension can all be controlled by the camera
frame.
2. Theme: What is the film about? What is the main idea and what, if any, is the message it
is trying to impart? There is not always a moral or message in a film, but there is always a
theme. Some questions to ask when trying to identify theme are:
Who are the main characters?
What is their relationship to each other and what larger ideas do they represent?
In what way does their story encompass meaning, either individual or in relation
to society?
What do the characters endure and how do they change?
What is the film asking you to value or criticize?
How does the film make you feel at the end?
3. Narrative: Plot and story are the main components of narrative. While
story comprises everything that happens in a movie, the plot refers to the
arrangement and structure of events. A classical narrative involves a
plot where events bare a logical connection to each other.
There is a resolution at the end of a classical narrative, a happy or
tragic ending. The stories focus on characters. Not all movies employ
classical narratives. Some are nonnarrative. They do not tell stories at
all. They are experimental in nature and focus on situations or questions
rather than characters. Some films liberate the narrative from any logical
relationship between events. Memento and 21 Grams are two
examples of this popular technique.
4. Character: The individuals that appear in a film, whether they are
people, animals, robots, monsters, or superheroes are characters.
Many of the questions necessary for analyzing character may
be found in the above discussion of theme. What the character says,
does, thinks (if we are privy to this information), and what others say
about him or her are also ways of informing character analysis.
5. Point of View: The position from which a story is told, seen, and
implied informs its point of view. The camera frame itself often
helps to create a point of view. The narrative plays a part in
3

point of view as it relates a story either from a purely objective

perspective or from the subjective perspective of a single person.
Consider all of these terms as you are comparing a film to the genre in which we have placed it.
Narrative, theme, character, point of view, as well as the more specific design elements listed
above all play a part in creating an original story within a universal genre. You may want to
print this reading and refer to it as you write your essays. Try to write your essay within the
context of film scholarship and theory presented here. Before you know it, you will naturally
pick up on cinematic storytelling styles that will enrich your appreciation of filmmaking as
entertainment and as an art.