Film Analysis
Analyzing Films is a very detailed process. Every part of the film, from the music and color palette to the characters and dialogue, must be examined in order to provide a complete and correct analysis. Film analysis is much more complicated than simply watching a film and deciding whether or not you liked what you saw. One must learn to watch a film objectively and critically as well as for the pleasure concept.
One of the biggest challenges in analyzing films is the fact that the motion picture is in constant motion, there are no still photos to examine, one is able to stop a film but it is still a complicated task. The stop and go movement of pausing a film takes away from the overall effect that will be achieved if one were to watch the film without stopping. This non-stop motion forces the viewer to “somehow remain almost totally immersed in the experience of a film while we maintain a high degree of objectivity and critical detachment.”(Boggs, 2008 page 5) This is not an easy state of mind to achieve but through much conscious thought and practice it is possible to accomplish.
The first step in film analysis is to begin by trying to get a clear idea of the film’s theme. The theme of a film is “The central concern around which a literary work or film is structured, it’s unifying focus. In film, theme can be broken down into five categories: plot, emotional effect or mood, character, style or texture, and ideas.” (Boggs, 2008 page G-7). All of the five elements will be present in all films but one will be focused on more than others in each film depending on the filmmakers plan for the film. The analyst must first determine which element the filmmaker is emphasizing.
The analyst must ask themselves several questions about what the filmmaker is trying to achieve in the film in order to determine which element is being focused on. One must ask whether the filmmaker is trying to simply entertain us, to set a certain mood,...