Writing About Film

The five kinds of film writing are formal analysis,  film history, ideological papers, cultural studies/national cinemas, and discussion of the auteur. A formal analysis paper is where the viewer critiques a film in sections and how they contribute as a whole to a film. It also is one of the most common film papers. A Film history paper reflect history behind the film to show date or age corresponding to it's time from when it was made. An ideological paper films that promote religious, political or any other kind of beliefs. Discussing the Auteur is a paper about the film as a whole and the person who visioned it.

Annotating a film sequence is when you take notes in certain way, as you watch a film, just as you would take notes for a class or something. By annotating a shot sequence, you label each shot in the sequence. This helps you keep track of each shot in a sequence that has a diverse shot selection. Reviewing these notes can establish a visible pattern that the director, editor or cinematographer was going for.

When an authors says to "Think Beyond the Frame," they are implying to think what further meaning is behind the shot or shot sequence. The following question are ones you should ask yourself when "Thinking Beyond the Frame": Who is the director?, What is the production history of the film?, What do the critics and scholars say?, What can you learn from the film's genre?, Does the film reflect an interesting cultural phenomenon?.