Select a topic, a focus, an emphasis.
Write about a films content – its themes, characterizations, moods, or focus on the films form – cinematography, sound, editing. Or combine the two, i.e. write about the ways in which editing expresses the theme of the ways in which sound supports characterization.
A paper on a films theme (what the film says and means), will have to include some explanation of how you know what the theme is. How it is revealed through all the films elements. How the camera moves, how the images are illuminated, how the film is edited.
Select one specific element to emphasize, examine that element in detail, and use other cinematic elements of the film only as supportive material.
Distinguish between the plot and the story of a film. The story is what happens in a film, the sum of events in which the characters are involved. The plot is not only the events but the order of those events as presented on the screen.
Summarizing the plot of a film does not make a critical paper. How does the plot reveal the story? Are there flashbacks, jump cuts, etc.?
Some topics to focus on and how to approach them:
THEME
The theme of a film is what the film is about, what the whole film communicates to the viewer. It is the statement the film makes or the question(s) it raises. Unlike the plot, it cannot be seen because it does not happen. The theme of a film is abstract – an idea.
Example:
The final closing shot of Anarene in The Last Picture Show draws together the theme of the movie into a single, grainy, black and white photographic expression of emptiness, nothingness and paralysis.
Is there any clue to the films theme in its title?
Does the dialogue offer any obvious expressions of the film is about?
Do the characters themselves suggest the theme – through their names, their personalities, their clothing, their occupations, their situations?
Are there any discrepancies between what the characters say and what they actually do?
Do the characters relationships with their surroundings have any meaning?
Does the form of the film (the lighting, composition, editing, sound) reveal the theme?
CHARACTERIZATION
Write about characterization and not acting. What does the character say or do?
What is the characters function in the film?
Is the film about the character or is the character a device through which the filmmaker can make a statement?
Does the character stay the same or change and develop through the film?
Where is the evidence in the film to support my interpretation of the character and his/her significance? Is it in the dialogue, the actions, the relationship with other characters, relationship to the environment?
TONE
Tone of a film is its prevailing atmosphere, such as joyousness or horror. Can be created by many things – setting, lighting, color, sound, editing – working together.
What is the tone of the film?
Does the films tone change or is it consistent?
If the tone shifts, where does the shift occur? Is it gradual or abrupt? Why does it shift, for what purpose?
How is the tone revealed? Through the lighting, the editing, the cinematography, the music?
What relationship does the tone have to the theme of the film? Is it supportive or contradictory?
FORM
The basic components that create an image are film, video, composition, camera angle, lighting and camera and subject movement.
Find the ones that most interest you and choose those. Try not to write about all of them. Preferably no more than three.
Was the films imagery particularly expressive?
What elements of the cinematography (film, video, composition, lighting, camera angle, movement, etc.) stood out, either because of their artistry or because they seemed inappropriate?
Did an awareness of the technique clarify the content and theme of the film – or did it obscure them?
With all the various aesthetic possibilities open to her, why did the filmmaker choose to create her images the way she did?
EDITING
Editing is the linking together of separate images to form an entire and coherent film. It can have a narrative logic, intellectual logic and /or aesthetic logic. Through the organization of time and space, editing creates the structure of the film.
Was the editing noticeable?
If the editing was not noticeable, was it traditional invisible editing in service to the narrative? Or was it more montage to establish editorial relationships?
Did the editing create meaning? How?
Did the editing contract or expand or distort chronological time? How?
What rhythm did the film have and how did the editing contribute?
What are some of the reasons the filmmaker might have had for editing the film the way she did?
SOUND
Sound in a film falls into four categories: spoken dialogue, narration, sound effects, music and silence.
Was the sound noticeable? Did you pay more than usual attention to it?
What kinds of sound were used in the film? What were their separate functions?
Did the sound support or complement the image? Was in synchronous or asynchronous?
Was sound at any time isolated, distorted, heightened or obscured? Is so, to what purpose?
Was silence used to any special effect?
Was the use of sound of more than average importance to the film?
Helpful Hints:
Dont recount the entire plot of a film. Writing about what happens in film rather than what the film means or how its effects are achieved is not critical thinking. Summarize the plot in a sentence or two. Shane is a western which concerns an ex-gunfighter who helps a family of sodbusters in a range war. Then, selectively use plot incidents to clarify, illustrate and solidify points within the body of the paper.
Dont write generally about an entire film. In a short paper you cannot cover the acting, directing, editing, lighting, sound and sound and so forth. Focus on one or two elements and explore them as thoroughly as you can. It is better to exhaust an idea than to flit from one idea to another.
Avoid words like great, good, effective, emotional, and well done, and interesting as simple adjectives in phrases like: The use of location was very effective or Light was used in a very interesting way. If you use those words you must qualify them with more specific information and supported by concrete details. It what way was the location used? Why was it effective? How was the light used? What did it have to do with the story or characters that made it interesting?
Make sure your examples from the film are relevant to the point youre making. Be as selective and specific as possible as it relates to your ideas.
Be sure that your ideas and arguments move coherently from point A to point B to point C.
Do focus on a particular and relatively narrow topic suitable for 3 to 5 pages. Have a thesis – a one sentence summation of what your paper is about – clearly in mind before beginning to write. Make sure the paper has a function: argue with a critical position, make a statement and prove it.
Do use specific examples from the film to illustrate your points. Be precise and accurate in describing your example.
Do check your paper carefully for typographical errors, errors in grammar, etc. Finish the paper in advance if possible and put it aside. Proofread it a day later, and you may well be able to spot any inconsistencies in logic or any other problems. For some people reading the paper aloud is a helpful way to detect errors.
Keep your sentences and paragraphs shorter than you think. No run on sentences and no paragraphs that take up an entire page.
