- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the grand reopening of Famiboards film community thread!
Movies cover a multitude of themes across an array of genres, but not everything is for everyone. One person’s horror is another’s western is somebody else's musical, which is what I’m hoping this thread can bridge, so we’re learning from each other’s love of their corner of appreciation. I also want to expand the scope of the thread to cover all visual media as the proliferation of cameras and their ease of use has lowered the barrier for entry, allowing even video game youtubers to make mini movies for a cheeky review.
One of the big hurdles in film discussion is how they’re started. “I didn’t like the soundtrack” or “the soundtrack was awful” could technically be true statements, but they leave no room for discussion as they’re just an opinion. “The use of Hallelujah during the sex scene brought a goofy tone to a rather serious movie,” while still your opinion opens the door to a discussion on the intent of the scene. Some are prone to operating with their feelings as the basis for a perceived arbitrary standard, resulting in “cinema sins” like color grading.
My absolute favorite review on the internet dives into this idea, presenting the naked way a critic can “attack” a subject. While not mandatory, I urge everyone to listen to at least the third segment, where the reviewer explores the ways we criticize movies. What is a “thinly written” character, what is a “thickly written” character? What makes a movie “bad,” when we allow some “good” movies to make the same “mistakes” as bad ones? As critics, all we can do is take the movie for what it is, not what we wanted it to be or would’ve done given the chance. “Why did the creators choose an ostensibly “off” tonal song for this scene and how does its use reflect on the characters?
Another major stumbling block for a film community is the debate of high vs low art, with more “robust” discussions reserved for perceived high art(there’s a discussion to be had in art vs product). This usually results in a community split and less contributors as some feel “less or unequipped” to join the conversation. A major aim of this thread will be to combat exclusion by being open to all types and fostering an educative tone of discussion rather than an argument to be won. So if you want to discuss how/if Jarmusch’s What We Do in the Shadows appearance is a juxtaposition to his oeuvre, or how the RDCWorld crew is able to distill and recontextualize for an “unintended” audience, this is the thread for you. But, please, NO youtube reviews/think pieces here unless you have something substantial to add or want to contend a point made, unless you made the piece so that we can have a proper discussion and not a potential argument from authority.
The forum will still have major movie and show reaction threads, as they tend to subsist on that initial raw emotion. The goal of this thread, then, is that after you’re over the shock of whatever you're watching, you’ll come to this thread and discuss it. Not what could happen next, but why it happened or what you took from that in regards to a theme that’s being highlighted. Hopefully we can foster a welcoming community beyond IP culture wars and box office numbers, that grows in appreciation of not just the art form itself, but how each of us see it differently.
A primer on ways to look at film:
Different types of film analysis
As you consider your notes, outline, and general thesis about a film, the majority of your assignment will depend on what type of film analysis you are conducting. This section explores some of the different types of film analyses you may have been assigned to write.
Semiotic analysis
Semiotic analysis is the interpretation of signs and symbols, typically involving metaphors and analogies to both inanimate objects and characters within a film. Because symbols have several meanings, writers often need to determine what a particular symbol means in the film and in a broader cultural or historical context.
For instance, a writer could explore the symbolism of the flowers in Vertigo by connecting the images of them falling apart to the vulnerability of the heroine.
Here are a few other questions to consider for this type of analysis:
What objects or images are repeated throughout the film?
How does the director associate a character with small signs, such as certain colors, clothing, food, or language use?
How does a symbol or object relate to other symbols and objects, that is, what is the relationship between the film’s signs?
Many films are rich with symbolism, and it can be easy to get lost in the details. Remember to bring a semiotic analysis back around to answering the question “So what?” in your thesis.
Narrative analysis
Narrative analysis is an examination of the story elements, including narrative structure, character, and plot. This type of analysis considers the entirety of the film and the story it seeks to tell.
For example, you could take the same object from the previous example—the flowers—which meant one thing in a semiotic analysis, and ask instead about their narrative role. That is, you might analyze how Hitchcock introduces the flowers at the beginning of the film in order to return to them later to draw out the completion of the heroine’s character arc.
To create this type of analysis, you could consider questions like:
How does the film correspond to the Three-Act Structure: Act One: Setup; Act Two: Confrontation; and Act Three: Resolution?
What is the plot of the film? How does this plot differ from the narrative, that is, how the story is told? For example, are events presented out of order and to what effect?
Does the plot revolve around one character? Does the plot revolve around multiple characters? How do these characters develop across the film?
When writing a narrative analysis, take care not to spend too time on summarizing at the expense of your argument. See our handout on summarizing for more tips on making summary serve analysis.
Cultural/historical analysis
One of the most common types of analysis is the examination of a film’s relationship to its broader cultural, historical, or theoretical contexts. Whether films intentionally comment on their context or not, they are always a product of the culture or period in which they were created. By placing the film in a particular context, this type of analysis asks how the film models, challenges, or subverts different types of relations, whether historical, social, or even theoretical.
For example, the clip from Vertigo depicts a man observing a woman without her knowing it. You could examine how this aspect of the film addresses a midcentury social concern about observation, such as the sexual policing of women, or a political one, such as Cold War-era McCarthyism.
A few of the many questions you could ask in this vein include:
How does the film comment on, reinforce, or even critique social and political issues at the time it was released, including questions of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality?
How might a biographical understanding of the film’s creators and their historical moment affect the way you view the film?
How might a specific film theory, such as Queer Theory, Structuralist Theory, or Marxist Film Theory, provide a language or set of terms for articulating the attributes of the film?
Take advantage of class resources to explore possible approaches to cultural/historical film analyses, and find out whether you will be expected to do additional research into the film’s context.
Mise-en-scène analysis
A mise-en-scène analysis attends to how the filmmakers have arranged compositional elements in a film and specifically within a scene or even a single shot. This type of analysis organizes the individual elements of a scene to explore how they come together to produce meaning. You may focus on anything that adds meaning to the formal effect produced by a given scene, including: blocking, lighting, design, color, costume, as well as how these attributes work in conjunction with decisions related to sound, cinematography, and editing. For example, in the clip from Vertigo, a mise-en-scène analysis might ask how numerous elements, from lighting to camera angles, work together to present the viewer with the perspective of Jimmy Stewart’s character.
To conduct this type of analysis, you could ask:
What effects are created in a scene, and what is their purpose?
How does this scene represent the theme of the movie?
How does a scene work to express a broader point to the film’s plot?
This detailed approach to analyzing the formal elements of film can help you come up with concrete evidence for more general film analysis assignments.
As you consider your notes, outline, and general thesis about a film, the majority of your assignment will depend on what type of film analysis you are conducting. This section explores some of the different types of film analyses you may have been assigned to write.
Semiotic analysis
Semiotic analysis is the interpretation of signs and symbols, typically involving metaphors and analogies to both inanimate objects and characters within a film. Because symbols have several meanings, writers often need to determine what a particular symbol means in the film and in a broader cultural or historical context.
For instance, a writer could explore the symbolism of the flowers in Vertigo by connecting the images of them falling apart to the vulnerability of the heroine.
Here are a few other questions to consider for this type of analysis:
What objects or images are repeated throughout the film?
How does the director associate a character with small signs, such as certain colors, clothing, food, or language use?
How does a symbol or object relate to other symbols and objects, that is, what is the relationship between the film’s signs?
Many films are rich with symbolism, and it can be easy to get lost in the details. Remember to bring a semiotic analysis back around to answering the question “So what?” in your thesis.
Narrative analysis
Narrative analysis is an examination of the story elements, including narrative structure, character, and plot. This type of analysis considers the entirety of the film and the story it seeks to tell.
For example, you could take the same object from the previous example—the flowers—which meant one thing in a semiotic analysis, and ask instead about their narrative role. That is, you might analyze how Hitchcock introduces the flowers at the beginning of the film in order to return to them later to draw out the completion of the heroine’s character arc.
To create this type of analysis, you could consider questions like:
How does the film correspond to the Three-Act Structure: Act One: Setup; Act Two: Confrontation; and Act Three: Resolution?
What is the plot of the film? How does this plot differ from the narrative, that is, how the story is told? For example, are events presented out of order and to what effect?
Does the plot revolve around one character? Does the plot revolve around multiple characters? How do these characters develop across the film?
When writing a narrative analysis, take care not to spend too time on summarizing at the expense of your argument. See our handout on summarizing for more tips on making summary serve analysis.
Cultural/historical analysis
One of the most common types of analysis is the examination of a film’s relationship to its broader cultural, historical, or theoretical contexts. Whether films intentionally comment on their context or not, they are always a product of the culture or period in which they were created. By placing the film in a particular context, this type of analysis asks how the film models, challenges, or subverts different types of relations, whether historical, social, or even theoretical.
For example, the clip from Vertigo depicts a man observing a woman without her knowing it. You could examine how this aspect of the film addresses a midcentury social concern about observation, such as the sexual policing of women, or a political one, such as Cold War-era McCarthyism.
A few of the many questions you could ask in this vein include:
How does the film comment on, reinforce, or even critique social and political issues at the time it was released, including questions of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality?
How might a biographical understanding of the film’s creators and their historical moment affect the way you view the film?
How might a specific film theory, such as Queer Theory, Structuralist Theory, or Marxist Film Theory, provide a language or set of terms for articulating the attributes of the film?
Take advantage of class resources to explore possible approaches to cultural/historical film analyses, and find out whether you will be expected to do additional research into the film’s context.
Mise-en-scène analysis
A mise-en-scène analysis attends to how the filmmakers have arranged compositional elements in a film and specifically within a scene or even a single shot. This type of analysis organizes the individual elements of a scene to explore how they come together to produce meaning. You may focus on anything that adds meaning to the formal effect produced by a given scene, including: blocking, lighting, design, color, costume, as well as how these attributes work in conjunction with decisions related to sound, cinematography, and editing. For example, in the clip from Vertigo, a mise-en-scène analysis might ask how numerous elements, from lighting to camera angles, work together to present the viewer with the perspective of Jimmy Stewart’s character.
To conduct this type of analysis, you could ask:
What effects are created in a scene, and what is their purpose?
How does this scene represent the theme of the movie?
How does a scene work to express a broader point to the film’s plot?
This detailed approach to analyzing the formal elements of film can help you come up with concrete evidence for more general film analysis assignments.
I've also created The A/V Club so that we can more easily coordinate community recommendations and potential events like watch parties.
Original post:
I felt like we need to get a film thread going.
What did you last watch? What did you think of it? Any recommendations? Feel free to share! And if you're on Letterboxd, feel free to link your profile below.
Please join us over at the Famiboards Bi-Weekly Movies for Maniacs Film Club!.
Also; we definitely need a better title, but it’s 5 in the morning here so I’m sure someone else could come up with something better than me right now
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I just watched The Many Saints of Newark and as a big fan of The Sopranos I really enjoyed it. Of course it’s not as good as the show, but it does a great job in setting up that universe. I thought the trailer I saw a couple months ago looked pretty bland, so I was surprised I liked it this much. Definitely worth watching if you like the show.
3/5
3/5
