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Is there a way to learn how to analyse films? TrueFilm: An in-depth discussion of film
An in-depth discussion of film
I have a friend who is really into films, and actually works as a programmer for a large film festival. I love to talk movies
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RECE N T with him as we have fairly similar taste but I also find his analysis and readings of movies very interesting. When I watch a
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movie it feels like my take away is just a gut reaction of whether or not I like it, what I thought of the acting, what worked
r/GamingLeaksAndR… and didn't. My friend, on the other hand, is great at pointing out what he thinks the use of certain shots is meant to
evoke, symbolism, recurring elements, color choices, etc.
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I'd love to be able to watch a movie and get the same level of depth from it, but I seem unable. Is there a way to learn
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Heynony • 5 yr. ago
Celebrity Showing You My 2023 Wrapped
There are an awful lot of books.
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What I would do is start with story telling; isolate out (artificially because a film is really a whole) symbolism and 104 upvotes · 29 comments
such. Take a genre you like a lot, say Westerns. Watch some of the simplest you can find, those awful John
Wayne Lonestars are a good place. Watch narrative sequences and see how the shots are framed and sequenced
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to tell the story. Then watch some better B westerns, the Hopalong Cassidy series, say, as a step forward. See the
wider variety and more deliberate choices? [FRESH VIDEO] Black Country New
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Move up a few steps at a time, find some intermediate complexity to chart out, then sit back and watch youtube
Advertise Stagecoach about 100 times, as Orson Welles did. 141 upvotes · 13 comments

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[deleted] • 5 yr. ago [FRESH VIDEO] Sufjan Stevens -

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Do you know a good book for semiotics in film? That's the one thing I struggle with most. Themes and youtube
Careers technical stuff I feel confident about, but I cannot for the life of me notice or find symbolism most of the 243 upvotes · 8 comments
time.
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English / Global [deleted] • 5 yr. ago

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psychoho • 5 yr. ago Bubblegum Dog
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One day, I have listened interesting way to analyze. According to that most of the auteurs use symbolic 151 upvotes · 7 comments
Français representations of catholic icons. For example when we see a male character whom kisses an another male
character that's mean is that the man kissed by the other will die in movie. We can see a lot of examples:
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Italiano Godfather II, Repulsion, Alien Covenant, Blade Runner.
Nothing But Trouble (1991) is a
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horror comedy that's free on…
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WHYsoSRS98 • 5 yr. ago

I think the fact that you want to look at it deeper is the first step. I always knew I loved movies but it was more r/SuccessionTV
of a gut feeling, like you say.
It didn't happen. He never actually
I started reading reviews and analysis of my favorites, but more importantly I read a lot about stuff I didn’t danced with his kids. The sequen…
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totally care for and couldn’t understand why they were so acclaimed.
103 upvotes · 39 comments

I read a lot of Roger Ebert’s reviews and he really opened things up for me. I started understanding things in
different ways, like certain lines of dialogue, certain shots, etc. I also listened to interviews of some of my favorite r/TheCurse
filmmakers talking about movies they loved, and they too would highlight things that I had never thought about Posible inspiration for closing
before. The more movies I watch and things I read, the deeper down the rabbit hole I go and I just start scene of episode 4
understanding more and more things as I go. youtube
112 upvotes · 8 comments
Like I said, I knew I loved movies and it seems like you probably do as well. That love, for me, just kept growing
and I had to keep learning new things. I didn’t understand everything right away but eventually it just clicked. If
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you pursue what you want to know about it, it will probably click for you too.
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from Hideo Kojima and Jordan…
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meat_exe • 5 yr. ago • Edited 5 yr. ago

Easy answer is film school. Learned how certain camera angles can convey certain emotions like a wide angle r/indieheads
distorts the image and makes the subject more circular than realistic which, if used in horror movies or
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something like Requiem for a Dream, can convey paranoia and claustrophobia while a long or telephoto lens
Hansard, Lisa O'Neill, and The…
distances the subject from the background or another subject even if they were in the same position as in the youtube
wide angle shot. However, paying tens of thousands of dollars to study film isn't a choice many people want to 190 upvotes · 17 comments
jump into so books would be a good one or even just the internet. If you like a shot in a movie, a performance
or the sound design, lots of people, such as myself, who study that will have the answers you need
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Edit: There's a channel on youtube called RedLetterMedia who review movies from big, box office theatrical Trailer for LOVE LIES BLEEDING,
releases to the cheap, extremely underbudget B movies of yesteryear and they have a good grasp on film Directed by Rose Glass and…
knowledge. Their reviews go further than "this actor sucked, the script sucked, this joke didn't work" they'll talk youtube
about the cinematography, sound design, editing, etc. One episode of the show where they review the bad 191 upvotes · 53 comments
movies, one of the guys just started talking about the boom operator and other movies he's worked and to me
that's dedication to the craft r/blankies

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Greta Gerwig & James Cameron |…
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[deleted] • 5 yr. ago 270 upvotes · 36 comments

Watch A LOT of films. Films from different eras and countries. When you’re watching it, start asking yourself why
some things are how they are: why am I looking from an upper point of view? Why so many shadows? Why this TOP POSTS
actor has this particular posture? Why is this movie so long, so short, so scary, so tedious?
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Don’t be afraid to answer this questions with what your intuition tells you to answer. Make a habit out of
drawing this types of conclusions and then go to forums, reviews and film related books to see if what you reReddit: Top posts of March 27, 2019
thought match what others have thought too.
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Also, guide your viewing by understanding the different film genres and schools that existed and what’s
common to the films of each one of those. Nouvelle vague, film noir, neorrealism, queer cinema, expressionism, reReddit: Top posts of March 2019
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6745408 • 5 yr. ago

Whenever possible, get your hands on the commentary tracks for films you know and love. Fight Club has four
of them:

Director David Fincher

Director David Fincher and actors Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham-Carter
Chuck Palahniuk (writer of source novel "Fight Club") and screenwriter Jim Uhls
Director of photography Jeff Cronenweth, production designer Alex McDowell, costumer * Michael Kaplan,
special effects supervisor Kevin Haug, and animator Doc Bailey

Once you're done these, take a week away and then watch the movie normally and see what you spot. A lot of
analyzing film or whatever is purely learning the language of film -- so start small, like u/heynony said, and build
up.

If you want a somewhat exhaustive history of film, try to get your hands on The Story of Film: An Odyssey by
Mark Cousins. Its long... but really well made.

Another note about commentaries. When you listen to them, keep track of other films mentioned. It'll give you a
nice rabbit hole to go down. For me, there have been plenty of times where I've enjoyed the commentary more
than the film itself... where other times the commentaries are just a mess and not worth it (e.g. most of Wes
Andersons, despite them having some fun moments.)

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Signed_DC • 5 yr. ago

I'll second commentary tracks, my favorite are any of Guillermo Del Toro's. The guy just loves to talking
about cinema and how it connects to symbolism, literature, art, mythology, ect. He will sometimes go off
on tangents that are incredibly profound. You see in his films that every detail is accounted for and has
some kind of meaning aside from it's practical use.

Once you start looking at films the way he does, you notice when other greats are showing the same
attention to detail, and more importantly it becomes obvious when a film does not have it. There are also
tons of Guillermo Del Toro masterclasses out there, you can get a film school level education for next to
nothing.

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caseyjosephine • 5 yr. ago

Use what you already know

You’ve probably taken a course on literary criticism at some point in your life, so you’ve already got the tools to
analyze films.

Film is a visual (and auditory) style of storytelling. Just like you can break books down by thinking about things
like themes, motifs, symbols, tone, and narrative structure, you can analyze films the same way. Many of my
college film classes were through the English department, and once you understand that film is a way of telling
stories you’ll start to thinking about how those stories are told.

Of course, film is a different medium than the written word. Some vocabulary for you to look up to understand
the unique nature of film would be: mise en scene, diegesis, and auteur theory. That’s just a jumping off point
(there’s a lot of specialized film vocab), but it should get you started.

Watch documentaries about film

If you have a Hulu subscription (or a local library card and Kanopy streaming), I’d highly recommend The Story
or Film. It’s a 15-hour documentary on film history, and it roughly follows what I learned in my college intro to
film class. Some of the movies will probably look interesting to you, so add them to your watch list on
Letterboxd to check out later.

Also, check out Los Angeles Plays Itself, which is my personal favorite documentary about film and an interesting
watch.

There are a ton of video essay YouTube channels out there; personally, I’m a fan of This Guy Edits.

Engage with the canon

Some movies are considered to be particularly important, either because of technical competence, innovation,
cultural relevance, or aesthetic. Watch them.

I’m not going to give a list, because everyone has their own opinions on important films. But They Shoot
Pictures and Roger Ebert’s Great Movies are helpful resources.

Go make a movie

Seriously, you’ve probably got a smartphone. Record a story. Edit it on your smartphone too if you have to.
Remember, the computer you carry in your pocket has better filmmaking abilities than what most early
filmmakers were working with.

You can read all about film, but I’ve learned more about motivated camera movement, lighting, color grading,
and editing by having fun and getting my hands dirty.

Don’t take it too seriously

Whatever, we can all circle jerk about how pedestrian Marvel movies are or how great Akira Kurosawa is. But you
don’t want to become the person who exclusively watches films with Criterion Collection releases. Don’t be
afraid to keep watching everything that sounds interesting to you — snobbery is boring.

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oadephon • 5 yr. ago

That's probably because you're not spending enough time with it. That kind of thing comes naturally the more
you do it. Imo the best way to do this is to write. So if you ever have an idea about what a film means and you
want to explore it, write an essay and try to find supporting evidence for your interpretation. Expect to spend
many hours with a film when you start out, and expect to talk yourself out of your position a lot. But eventually
it gets easier and becomes more natural, and it enriches the way you watch films.

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Sanpaku • 5 yr. ago

Do a literature search (on say Google Scholar) on a film you're familiar with. If its gotten attention within film
studies, there will be multiple analyses. Some will be behind paywalls, but sometimes there are workarounds.

Read them. They'll almost certainly introduce you to cultural theorists you've never heard of. For the most part,
you can read the Wikipedia synopses of their views and "fake it". This may be preferable to actually reading
cultural theory from 1960-2000 or so, where obfuscation was considered a merit.

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[deleted] • 5 yr. ago

Rather than just start reading books and articles on analysing films, i would recommend starting out on your
own.

Once you've seen a film, and have made notes about how it makes you feel, what are the emotions it invokes in
you, you watch it again, perhaps multiple times, to see how it was achieved. This can really be done with
anything - every film no matter what genre. has its own style and language, and even if done imperfectly, can
teach you a lot. You don't have to start with the masters of cinema. I've learnt quite a bit from watching, for
example RomComs and action flicks, and what they do to achieve their intended (conjecture) effect. Then you
can move slowly to the masters of cinema, and much more formal filmmakers who are working with the magic
of language.

Film analytics and appreciation can sometimes become far too removed from the actual experience of watching
and feeling, and so I always tend to work with what it made me feel and then go back to craft and evidence on
screen. After all, cinematic language, though it has some code, is open to interpretation and that's the fun part.
The same shot can be used in multiple ways, to mean different things in different contexts by different
filmmakers. So really it's about looking at a small things in the context of the whole, in relation to what it makes
YOU feel. It's a deeply personal thing.

A good way to start, is to watch the film multiple times with a focus to isolate and study each of the elements
that makes up what we watch as a unified entity. One common trick is to watch just the images without sound,
so you are able to understand the intent behind the visual imagery, how it breaks down and coalesces. For
example you could look at the use of color, contrast, framing, etc - intra-frame, and then see how that builds
into a sequence and what it means in the larger context, and so on.

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larrystarr • 5 yr. ago

First off, I think your position is envious. If you do truly love film then it sounds like you are at the start of a long
journey which is better than being at the middle or the end :)

"Ways Of Seeing" is the title of a book about art appreciation but I long ago co-opted the title for my own views
of watching, understanding, and enjoying film.

I feel like if you love cinema you should develop different 'ways of seeing' film. Not all films work in the same
way and we should not expect them to. When you first start out, it is more of a gut reaction. Do you like the
characters? Was the acting good? But by watching more and more films, you will naturally develop ways to see
what the film is offering and not just through a rigid idea of a movie as plot/dialog/acting. It's something like
lifting weights to grow your muscles, if you watch more and more films you will also develop those skills like you
say you friend has. It won't happen overnight but it will.

I'm sure some of this will be redundant with other suggestions but this will help develop your understanding of
film also...

Books - there are no shortage of great film books available cheap at used books stores. College text books and
biographies on filmmakers. Reading about "the big films" will be a short cut to gaining knowledge of the film
language that has evolved over time. Psycho, 2001, Citizen Kane, Breathless, 400 Blows, Rashomon, Blue Velvet,
Battleship Potemkin, Blow Up. Learning to appreciate these films - even if you might not like them - will help
with a more general understanding of different ways films "work" and what different directors from various eras
and different countries have brought to the game. Watch the movie, read about it, watch it again...

Watch movies twice. I don't know the science or magic behind it, but when you watch a movie once, your brain
seems occupied with the mechanics of the story/plot. Watching a movie a second time, your brain power is
somehow 'freed up' to see a movie in a totally different way (I've never actually verified if other people notice
this, other than knowing that most critics watch a movie at least twice before writing about it). This again will
'grow the muscle' of perception that you speak of. I found in time that perception for things like subtext and
meaning in composition in watching a film the first time improved as I watched more film multiple times.

Youtube videos, commentaries, podcasts. Maybe this is as good as book even, there weren't any youtube
videos when I was learning about film but the scene breakdowns and film criticism on YT can be really great. I
remember seeing a clip that breaks down the camera movement in the scene in the office in Vertigo where
Scotty is offered the job. Just look for 'vertigo analysis' or 'blow up analysis'. It's pretty amazing actually. The
commentary tracks on Criterion discs, especially those done by film critics and historians are really enlightening
also. Personally I don't listen to a ton of podcasts because I'm usually watching movies or listening to music, but
there are some outstanding film podcasts out there.

Read film criticism (But form your own ideas first). Film criticism isn't what it used to be, at least not in the
mainstream. Check in to the film writings of Truffaut ("The Films in My Life", "Truffaut/Hitchcock") and
compilations of reviews from notable critics from the 60s and 70s. I'm gonna actually say don't read Pauline
Kale, save that for later, way later. But, I think it's good to watch a film and compose your own thoughts on it
first. It's hard to not fall back on something you read about a movie once you read about it. Everyone sees a film
differently and has different takes on it, so best to see it your way before seeing it someone else's way. But
reading film criticism is a great way to build up a critical eye for film.

Lastly I would say "Be open" and "critical but not critical". When I first got in to film I was surrounded by art
students. They taught me good things and bad things about critically thinking about film. The bad part was that
after seeing a film, if we talked about it they basically took turns saying everything they thought was wrong with
the movie. I assumed this was how you critiqued art. But it never felt right to me. I was loving film, why would I
watch it to look for what was wrong with it? I started taking the opposite approach and try and find what's good
in a movie. And there is almost always something good, sometimes even great, even in the worst movies. A
single scene. A performance. A song. An sequence of edits. I've seen movies where an opening credit sequence
is the best part of the film. I find if you are truly open and engaged with every film you watch and looking for
what's good and what you like, that's far better as far as learning how films works and works for you.

I'm sure there is more, but that's all I got now. Good luck! Watch movies.

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