Writing About Film

Writing about Film

When viewing a film we need to remind ourselves to be active listeners not passive. When professors ask you to view a film you need to take note of the way the camera moves, the composition within the frames and how the film was edited. The question to ask is how do these things function together? When looking at film you need to ask yourself when it was made, how it was made and by whom. When writing about a film it is important to remember you are not writing a review.
There are different kinds of papers written about films. They include a formal analysis; breaking the film down into parts and discussing them, a film history paper; a historical type document, ideological film papers; films that promote some set of beliefs and cultural studies or national cinemas papers; films that reflect cultures and nations.
There are steps to take when you are writing about film, first you view the film and observe its content and features. Second taking notes or annotating scenes helps you keep track of the sequence of the film. Some questions to ask yourself might include who made the film, what is the production history of the film, what can you learn from the films genre, does the film reflect a culture and what do critics say about the film?
When you begin to write about the film it is important to have a strong thesis statement, to have clear paragraphs which support your thesis and to check your grammar. If you use sources it is important to cite them correctly. Some things to avoid when writing about a film are just summarizing the film, just looking at camera angles or editing techniques, limiting your discussion of the plot and characters and using “I” to much.