A Short Guide to Writing about Film

This best-selling text is a succinct guide to thinking critically and writing precisely about film.

 Both an introduction to film study and a practical writing guide, this brief text introduces you to major film theories as well as film terminology, enabling you to write more thoughtfully and critically. With numerous student and professional examples, this engaging and practical guide progresses from taking notes and writing first drafts to creating polished essays and comprehensive research projects. Moving from movie reviews to theoretical and critical essays, the text demonstrates how an analysis of a film can become more subtle and rigorous as part of a compositional process.

Preface

 1. Writing about the Movies 

Why Write about the Movies? 

Your Audience and the Aims of Film Criticism 

            The Screening Report

The Movie Review 

            The Theoretical Essay 

            The Critical Essay 

Opinion and Evaluation 

Exercises 

2. Beginning to Think, Preparing to Watch, and Starting to Write 

Subject Matter and Meaning 

Silent Dialogue: Talking Back to the Movies 

Taking Notes 

Visual Memory and Reflection 

Exercises 

3. Film Terms and Topics for Film Analysis and Writing 

Themes 

Film and the Other Arts 

            Narrative 

            Characters 

            Point of View 

            Comparative Essays

Mise-en-Scène and Realism 

            Realism 

            Elements of Mise-en-Scène 

Composition and the Image 

            The Shot 

            The Edited Image 

Sound 

Sample Essay 

Exercises 

4. Six Approaches to Writing about Film 

Film History 

National Cinemas 

Genres 

Auteurs 

Kinds of Formalism 

Ideology 

Sample Essays 

Exercises 

5. Style and Structure in Writing 

The Right Words 

            Concrete Language 

            Denotation and Connotation 

            Tone 

            Repetitions and Clichés 

Effective Sentences 

Economy 

            Varied Sentence Structures 

Coherent Paragraphs 

Introductory Paragraphs 

Concluding Paragraphs 

Revisions and Proofreading

Checklist for Writing an Effective Essay 

Exercises 

6. Researching the Movies

How to Begin Research 

The Materials of Research 

            Primary Sources 

                        Video, DVD, and Digital Downloads

                        Scripts

            Secondary Sources: Books Indexes, Journals, and Electronic Sources 

Film Research on the Internet 

Taking Notes on Secondary Sources 

Writing the Paper 

Sample Essays 

Exercises 

7. Manuscript Form

Manuscript Copy 

Last-Minute Corrections 

Quotations 

Acknowledging Sources 

            Common Knowledge 

Documenting Sources 

            Notes for Documentation 

            Works Cited 

            Notes Supplying Additional Commentary 

Common Conventions of Usage 

            Names 

            Titles 

            Foreign Words and Quotation Marks 

            Sexist Language 

            Spelling 

Last Words 

Appendix: Symbols Commonly Used In Marking Papers 

 Glossary of Film Terms 

 Works Cited 

 Credits 

 Index