Movie Analysis: A Step-By-Step Guide
Are you looking to learn how to analyze a movie?
You’re in luck.
In this article, I’ll walk you through the steps for analyzing a movie.
Movies are a useful medium for entertainment and art and analyzing them makes them more interesting.
Unfortunately, with the plethora of advice out there about reviewing movies, it’s easy to get confused.
I have been analyzing movies from a critical perspective for over six years now and what I’ve realized is that movie analysis doesn’t need to be complex.
What you need is to watch a movie carefully, probe all the aspects, focusing on the themes that resonate with you then produce an honest, thoughtful, and sophisticated analysis.
You can use APA movie citation by Edubirdie to cite your sources properly.
Below are the steps you need to follow to analyze a movie from the start to finish.
Pre-Movie Analysis
First off, when the time to review a movie comes, you might be tempted to read other people’s reviews or doing too much research before watching the actual movie.
Of course, it can help you get a starting point, but on the flip side, you might end up being swayed by other people’s opinions about the movie.
Besides, you’ll end up producing a biased review.
I know that trailers can provide some context and tone of the movie before watching it but they sometimes contain spoilers so I’d advise you to avoid them.
As stated earlier, movie analysis needs to be honest and thoughtful. When you rely on other people’s reviews, you won’t be honest with your own opinion.
Try as much as you can to avoid doing too much research or reading other people’s reviews before watching the movie.
Watching the Movie
As a rule, you shouldn’t write a movie review based on other people’s reviews.
Start writing a review after you’ve understood it and its concept.
I recommend evaluating the entire movie from start to finish.
I usually see a movie once when analyzing it but some people prefer to watch a movie several times.
I have found it easy to understand what the director of the movie intended when I watch the entire movie without distractions.
Avoid viewing and pausing or re-watching one segment at a time as this will make you not get a sense of how the movie was intended to be enjoyed.
Avoid taking notes with watching the movie but only write a phrase or word that stands out.
Watching the movie while pausing or rewinding can be interrupting hence might hinder you from analyzing the movie critically.
After Watching
One of the most important aspects of writing a movie analysis is to stay focused and write down important information that stands out from the entire movie.
Immediately after watching a movie, write down everything you found interesting.
You can come to evaluate what you have written later.
As a rule, you need to be precise and incorporate specific examples from the movie to support your opinion.
This is where you’ll want to write down all aspects of filmmaking as below:
⦁ Plot
⦁ Theme and tone
⦁ Acting and characters
⦁ Direction
⦁ Score
⦁ Cinematography
⦁ Product design
⦁ Special effects
⦁ Editing
⦁ Pace
⦁ Dialogue
Writing the Analysis
Now that you have watched the movie, work on the flow.
This is where you carefully organize your review ensuring your thoughts are cohesive to help the audience understand your review.
Prioritize the important aspects and discard the rest.
Remember that reviewing a movie entails writing how it made you feel or how it resonated with you.
Your movie review needs to have your voice so your audience can understand your perspective and connect with you.
