CHAPTER 9: WRITING FILM ANALYSIS

Film Analysis

Excellent film analysis will explain how a film has been made: which filmmaking techniques have been chosen and why, how the visual storytelling supports the narrative, and the effect that filmmaking elements have on the viewer. It brings together the explicit facts of the film – mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, sound – with the implicit or subliminal effects of the film on its audience.

We often can immediately describe a film’s plot and how the film made us feel. These are easy qualities to identify that do not require analysis to understand. But what is much harder to explain is how filmmaking choices support the film’s narrative and how the film creates the feelings that the audience experience. Film analysis aims to make visible the qualities of film that usually remain invisible. To do this, you must be trained in film literacy – which you have been through your Film Appreciation course! – and you must apply this training to a film that is worthy of being analyzed. Not every film warrants a close reading of its parts. But a film that is worthy of being examined will flourish under analysis and reveal itself to be a complicated system of moving parts that is just as exciting to admire as it is to experience.

This chapter includes resources for your film analysis paper writing. Papers should start with gathering data about the filmmaking of your chosen film. Use the “Questions to Ask” list to gather information about the film’s visual storytelling. See student samples for how this data can be turned into analysis paragraphs. To form a thesis and larger argument, use the “Writing Tips” list to keep your paper focused and organized.

Questions to Ask

These are questions to help you gather data for analysis. You do not need to answer every question in your essay.

Mise-En-Scène

How do props and costumes convey characters and themes? Are particular colors dominant (or absent)? Is the setting significant? If so, how is it presented? How does the lighting help convey the setting and the action? How is character blocking and placement used? Are there any motifs introduced in your film? Where do they occur in the film, and how do they cue the viewer’s expectations?

Space

Is the film space deep or shallow? How is space framed to allow a greater understanding of characters and story? How do editing and sound construct the space of the scene, and how does this space relate to the overall narrative action of the film?

Cinematography

Where is the camera placed in relation to the action? How do particular compositions draw attention to elements of the settings, characters, or themes? How does camera movement function in the scene? Are different focal lengths or depths of field used? How does cinematography reinforce the mise-en-scène?

Editing

What kinds of transitions are there between shots? Are these always the same? Do they change? Does the editing have a particular rhythm, and is it consistent? Does it conform to rules of continuity, or does it seem disjunctive and discontinuous? What spatial and temporal relations are articulated through cutting? Graphic relations? Rhythmic relations? Associative connections?

Sound

What sounds are present? When does volume or pitch change? Is silence used? Are specific sounds linked to cuts or camera movement? When and how are onscreen and off-screen sound used? Are sounds diegetic or non-diegetic?

Sample of Close Analysis

First published by James Barrie as a play in 1904, the classic story of Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn’t grow up, has been told countless times across the century. Today, the story: “Peter Pan stands in our culture as a monument to the impossibility of its own claims” (Rose, 94). P. J. Hogan’s 2003 live action film, Peter Pan, attempts to draw in the viewers to a world where imagination and reality are indistinguishable to children. In a single shot from the 2003 film, the clip during which Wendy, Peter and the boys first begin flying over the city is presented with a tone, which contributes a more romantic element that is unrealistic at such a young age. Primarily, as the four fly over London, the focus of the scene is centered around interactions between Wendy and Peter rather than all four of the children and the environment. The choreography of the two characters conveys a more romantic relationship through the proximity of the actors’ faces, the facial expressions of the actors, and the motion of their heads and hands toward one-another. Similarly, the lighting in the scene during the sunset creates a more romantic tone than a lighthearted one of childhood. The depiction of the characters flying through the pinks, reds and oranges of the sunset with low fill lighting, backlighting, and warm tones creates a sense of romantic ambience which distracts from the novelty of the flying experience.

The claim “romantic tone” is proven with choreography, framing, lighting, and color evidence.

In combination with this, the director’s choices in the framing and setting create a more character-focused scene rather than a thematic scene. The setting claims to feature London yet includes nothing but chimneys and a rather empty street. In choosing a less detailed setting, Hogan’s film detracts from the connection of reality to the imagination. Because the children are not easily identified to be in a realistic, established city, the imaginary aspect of flying above a city loses much of its connection and context with the film’s theme of blending reality and imagination. While the children briefly fly past Big Ben, they interact amongst stars and planets for a significant amount of time. In “space,” the director’s choices for the setting mimic a project or mobile and even include a few unrecognizable planets to significantly emphasize imagination over reality.

Connects terms with visuals. “Thematic scene” is linked with setting-oriented reality. “Character-focused scene” is linked with a bare setting and imagination.

Terms used to prove that how the film privileges imagination over reality.

Links mise-en-scène with symbolic meaning.

The connection of the nursery shot and flight shot serves to both contrast and connect imagination and reality. The scene centers much more upon the experience of the characters than the overall theme. Both the nursery scene lighting and the lighting in the flight shot utilize warm, fill lighting. It can be argued that this version of the film is actually set in the land of make believe, rather than linked between the imaginary and the real. The use of snow in the setting before the children begin to fly contributes to the youthful attitude of imagination in contrast to the rigidity of the adults in the scene. The choreography of the young boy “tumbling” behind the heads of the adults contrasts his movement to that of the grown characters. By including this, the adult’s focus on the loss of the hat rather than the fact that the children are flying symbolizes the blindness of adults to the imaginary world of children. The vivid coloration, despite the low-key lighting, connects to the setting as fantasy as well. Although Big Ben is still included briefly in the children’s flight, it is featured so much less than the vivid planets and stars that its inclusion seems to be an afterthought.

Connects two scenes through lighting, choreography, and color to show overall pattern in filmmaking.

Sample generously contributed by Hope
Gandy, UNG Class of 2001, from her paper
“Peter Pan”.

Sample of Compare-and-Contrast Analysis

First published by James Barrie as a play in 1904, the classic story of Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn’t grow up, has been told countless times across the century. Today, the story: “Peter Pan stands in our culture as a monument to the impossibility of its own claims” (Rose, 94). P. J. Hogan’s 2003 live action film, Peter Pan, attempts to draw in the viewers to a world where imagination and reality are indistinguishable to children. In a single shot from the 2003 film, the clip during which Wendy, Peter and the boys first begin flying over the city is presented with a tone, which contributes a more romantic element that is unrealistic at such a young age. Primarily, as the four fly over London, the focus of the scene is centered around interactions between Wendy and Peter rather than all four of the children and the environment. The choreography of the two characters conveys a more romantic relationship through the proximity of the actors’ faces, the facial expressions of the actors, and the motion of their heads and hands toward one-another. Similarly, the lighting in the scene during the sunset creates a more romantic tone than a lighthearted one of childhood. The depiction of the characters flying through the pinks, reds and oranges of the sunset with low fill lighting, backlighting, and warm tones creates a sense of romantic ambience which distracts from the novelty of the flying experience.

The claim “romantic tone” is proven with choreography, framing, lighting, and color evidence.

In combination with this, the director’s choices in the framing and setting create a more character-focused scene rather than a thematic scene. The setting claims to feature London yet includes nothing but chimneys and a rather empty street. In choosing a less detailed setting, Hogan’s film detracts from the connection of reality to the imagination. Because the children are not easily identified to be in a realistic, established city, the imaginary aspect of flying above a city loses much of its connection and context with the film’s theme of blending reality and imagination. While the children briefly fly past Big Ben, they interact amongst stars and planets for a significant amount of time. In “space,” the director’s choices for the setting mimic a project or mobile and even include a few unrecognizable planets to significantly emphasize imagination over reality.

Connects terms with visuals. “Thematic scene” is linked with setting-oriented reality. “Character-focused scene” is linked with a bare setting and imagination.

Terms used to prove that how the film privileges imagination over reality.

Links mise-en-scène with symbolic meaning.

The connection of the nursery shot and flight shot serves to both contrast and connect imagination and reality. The scene centers much more upon the experience of the characters than the overall theme. Both the nursery scene lighting and the lighting in the flight shot utilize warm, fill lighting. It can be argued that this version of the film is actually set in the land of make believe, rather than linked between the imaginary and the real. The use of snow in the setting before the children begin to fly contributes to the youthful attitude of imagination in contrast to the rigidity of the adults in the scene. The choreography of the young boy “tumbling” behind the heads of the adults contrasts his movement to that of the grown characters. By including this, the adult’s focus on the loss of the hat rather than the fact that the children are flying symbolizes the blindness of adults to the imaginary world of children. The vivid coloration, despite the low-key lighting, connects to the setting as fantasy as well. Although Big Ben is still included briefly in the children’s flight, it is featured so much less than the vivid planets and stars that its inclusion seems to be an afterthought.

Connects two scenes through lighting, choreography, and color to show overall pattern in filmmaking.

Sample generously contributed by Hope
Gandy, UNG Class of 2001, from her paper
“Peter Pan”.

Writing Tips

Find a Focus

Establish an argument upon which your ideas hinge. Think about what stand or point your paper is making. Analyze your film to prove this larger point.

Identify Patterns

Look closely at the visual and aural choices that the film has made. Find patterns, and draw conclusions to help develop your argument.

Avoid Plot Summary

Organize your essay around key points in your argument, rather than a chronological recap of the sequence.

Use Examples, Not Extended Visual Description

Select specific filmmaking examples to fully analyze rather than describe everything that you see on screen.

Balance Evidence with Analysis

For every sentence or two of observations, follow with a sentence or two of your analysis.

Replace Evaluative Language with Explanation

Analyze the effects of techniques used, not their reception.

Use Precise Film Terms

Is the camera movement a track, tilt, pan, or zoom? Is it a high-angle shot or a low-angle shot? When in doubt, check the glossary.

Avoid Vague Language

Aim instead to analyze the specific effect of individual techniques.

“The use of lighting in this scene is very effective.” → “The light creates a shadow across her face, which tells the audience that her intentions are impure.”

Attribution

FILM APPRECIATION

Dr. Yelizaveta Moss and Dr. Candice Wilson

Acknowledgement

Film Appreciation is dedicated to the remarkable faculty and students of the CMJ department at UNG. Thank you for inspiring us to take on this project.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge and thank those film professors and students who have reviewed the project and contributed to its content. Thank you to the faculty insert contri­butors Michael Lucker, Dr. Tobias Wilson-Bates, Alex Lukens, and Dr. Jeff Marker. Thank you to the students who contributed their essays as writing samples, Hope Gandy and Eric Azotea. And thank you to the students who piloted the textbook and provided feedback: Peyton Lee, Carly Martinez, Marissa Oda, Danna Sandoval, David Sutherland, and Elise Wilkins.

Copyright

This textbook is an open educational resource developed with funding from an Affordable Learning Georgia Textbook Transformation Grant.

This work is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.