The A-B-C of writing a formal film analysis

1. The A-B-C of writing a formal filmanalysis Analyzing Media, FALL 2010 AllaGadassik

2. Part A: Example If you’re having a hard time finding your topic or beginning your analysis, it’s a great idea to go through your chosen film or scene, and write down interesting moments or patterns that you notice. These will form the basis for your examples – your evidence.

3. Part A: Example Sample: In your paper on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, your example could be thehaunting piano melody that recurs when Harry is alone

4. Part B: Argument Once you collect recurring patterns or examples, try to write out suggestions for how they function in the film to tell us something about the story or character. Remember, it’s not about what the example “represents”, but what role it serves within the bigger picture of the film.

5. Part B: Argument Sample: We notice that Harry’s music motif always occurs when he is alone, or when he is brooding over surveillance footage. So we could build an argument about how the music’s role is to reveal something about Harry’s mental process. Perhaps his loneliness, or his growing obsession with the film’s central sound recording.

6. Part C: Analysis Why does A lead to B? In other words, why is our example (A) a good formal choice to show something (B)? The analysis component looks closely at the evidence, and establishes how that evidence actually works to suggest something about plot or character.

7. Part B: Argument Sample: How does the piano music actually reveal something about Harry’s character? What could be the reason for this formal choice? Here, you could compare the piano music with other musical scores in this film, or you could compare the structure of the musical motif with aspects of Harry’s character we know from the film.

8. Part A: Evidence Part B: Argument Part C: Analysis (showing a formal pattern through examples) (analyzing the relationship of that pattern to what else is going on in the film: story, character, atmosphere, etc. Making a meaningful claim about how and why A is a formal choice that communicates B to the viewer.

9. What kind of evidenceto look for?

10. Mise-en-scene Looking at scenery, placement, movement, colour, lighting, casting choices, etc. TIP: At least once during your screenings, TURN OFF THE VOLUME and just look at what’s happening in the frame

11. Cinematography Looking at shot angle, framing, camera movement, lens type, and the relationship between framing and lighting.TIP: At least once during your screenings, TURN OFF THE VOLUME and just look at what’s happening in the frame

12. Editing Looking at shot duration, editing rhythm, tempo, repetition, and timing.TIP: Spend at least one viewing pass looking at the relationship between editing choices and framing. Spend at least one other pass looking at the relationship between editing and sound/dialogue

13. Sound Looking at the interaction of image and sound, particular qualities of sound, pitch, timbre, rhythmTIP 1: At least once, screen it with closed eyes. TIP 2: At least once, screen it while pretending you don’t speak the language spoken in the film. Pay attention to rhythm, tone, and timbre here.

14. Good luck! The most exciting analysis is one that uncovers some interesting patterns or connections in the film (B), that backs up those connections with clear, specific, and well-discussed examples (A), and that shows us something about WHY the filmmakers made the choices they did (C)