Journal 2: Reading a Film

The video “Looking at Movies: Film Analysis” http://wwnorton.com/common/flvplayer/?flvid=/college/movies3/film_analysis_lam3.m4v&flvimg=/college/movies3/film_analysis_lam3.jpg&flvw=600&flvh=400&flvauto=false&flvskin=dark, explores how people break down and understand a movie. It compares form analysis and cultural analysis and looks at content versus form. There is so much more to watching a movie than simply looking at a screen and understanding the story line.

(“Looking at Movies: Film Analysis”)

One aspect that I found interesting was the difference between form analysis and cultural analysis. Form analysis basically focuses on what the movie looks like. It reveals everything from camera angle to what the background of the scene looks like, including length of a screen shot, the intensity of sounds, and the lighting of the picture. If done well, the form of the film should be able to pull the viewer into the movie and make it feel like they are there. On the other hand, cultural analysis focuses on the underlying story of the movie itself instead of what it looks like. As “Looking at Movies” points out, films can display our culture’s views on family, women, men, and social order, down to the controversial issue of abortion and how the world looks at pregnancy and child birth. It breaks apart everything from how the characters talk to how they dress and present themselves according to the world’s culture.

Watching this film analysis was extremely eye opening. I’ve never watched a movie and thought of the content and form of it before.  After watching this I feel like I am able to analyze pieces and scenes of a movie and be able to pick out emotions the viewer is meant to feel and what causes them. I don’t know if the film analysis left anything out because it already taught me so much. It is also a good tool to look back on while doing an actual film analysis in the future.