How to read a film

Adapted from Film Analysis, [on-line], www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~hogan/fall04/FilmAnalysis.doc

To interpret the meaning of any particular film or sequence of film, we need to consider not
simply what happens in the film (e.g. narrative, action, plot), but how it is filmically
constructed. We can only understand the meaning of a sequence of film by carefully
analyzing how the various elements of the film are working in each particular shot, from one
shot to the next, and throughout the film as a whole. When you read a film you need to do
so with a critical eye, and ear, to each of the major elements of film listed below.
As you view a film, ask yourself questions like: Which of these film elements are
working most actively and how? (E.g. How is the camera moving? How are things lit?
How are shots edited together? etc.) Most importantly, you need to consider what effects
and meanings are produced as a result of the directors decision to manipulate particular
elements. That is, what specific feelings, comments and/or associations occur to you
as you observe the camera's movement, or the lighting, the editing, etc.?

Major film elements to consider when reading a film:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Narrative
Editing
Cinematography
Staging/ Mise-en-Scene
Sound
Additional Elements of Film

1. NARRATIVE

What story, plot and action happen in the shot, the sequence, the film?
What is the function of dialogue within the larger narrative? How does it contribute to
ongoing themes, conflicts, and oppositions at work throughout the film?
What are the underlying issues and conflicts propelling the narrative?
How is the narrative told (does it unfold in a linear fashion? is it fragmented? Episodic?
Does it use flashbacks? Flashforwards?)?
Is there an identifiable source of narration? Why was this style of narration chosen?
Which elements of film language are most prominently used to narrate the story?

2. EDITING
Editing determines how shots are joined. While a clean break from one shot to another is
described as a cut, we can be far more specific about the kinds of cuts and other
transitions that join shots together. Whatever the editing devices used, we should ask:
Does the editing function?
What is the effect of a given dissolve or cross-cut?
What elements are associated and how?
What rhythms, patterns, continuities and discontinuities does the editing produce? Is it
consistent? Disruptive? Does it encourage us to passively accept the image? Critically
analyse it? Both? Neither?
Straight Cut: Two shots joined/spliced together with no obvious continuity device.
Cross-cut: Editing that alternates between shots of two or more lines of action occurring
in two different places, usually at the same time.

Fade-in: A gradual lightening of the image from black to light.

Fade-out: A gradual darkening of the image to black.
Dissolve: Shot A gradually disappears and shot B gradually appears in its place with
momentary blending of the two.
Jump Cut: A break or jump in time. On screen the result is often jerky.
Duration and pacing: The duration and rhythm of shots and scenes.

3. CINEMATOGRAPHY
The position and movement of the camera are also important in determining not only what
we see but how we see it. Consider how the camera is placed in relation to the material
being filmed:
At what distance? At what angle?
With or without movement and of what kind?
How does the use of the camera present and comment upon the material?
CAMERA DISTANCE
Close-Up: A shot taken very close to the subject. Often a person's head, or other
significant object which fills the screen.
Extreme Close-up: A shot in which the scale of the object is even larger, as when a
small object, detail or body part (face, eyes, etc.) fills the screen.
Medium Close-up: A shot framing the human figure from the chest up.
Medium Shot: A shot framing the human figure from the waist up.
Full Shot: Frames the human figure in its entirety.
Long Shot: A shot in which the object shown is small in relation to the size of the screen.
Establishing Shot: Usually a long shot which establishes the spatial relations between
figures, objects and the setting of a film or scene.
CAMERA ANGLE:
Straight on or eye level: The camera is located at normal eye level in relation to the
subject.
High angle: The camera is positioned above the subject and shoots down at it.
Low angle: The camera is positioned below the subject and shoots up at it.
Tilted or Dutch angle: The frame is not parallel to the horizon.
CAMERA MOVEMENT:
Pan (Panorama Shot): The camera rotates from a fixed position along a horizontal
plane (pan right/left; 360 degree pan).
Swish Pan: The camera moves very rapidly along the horizontal plane so that the action
appears blurred.
Tilt: To camera tilts up or vertically (tilt up/ tilt down).

Tracking shot: The camera travels in any direction (track backward, forward, left, right).
The camera can be mounted on a truck or dolly to permit high-speed movement.
FRAMING:
Consider the edges/borders of the image. How are shots framed and what vantage point
does that framing provide for the spectator? Are things framed frontally, centrally? Are
they cropped and fragmented?

4. STAGING/ MISE-EN-SCENE
This refers to everything that is staged before the camera.
Setting:
Where is the action staged?
Is it shot on location, in a studio?
What are the indicators of period and place?
Is the set "naturalistic" or stylized?
How are landscapes and architecture used?
What do props and sets signify?
Color & Tone: Film stocks, developing processes, tinting and other means can be used to
alter the intensity and texture of color and contrast.
Consider when color technologies are used and to what ends?
When and how is black and white used?
Is the tone sharp, grainy, modulated?
Are colors naturalistic and/or artificial?
What are the effects of the various uses of color and tone?
Lighting: Consider what is illuminated and what isn't.
Is the lighting harsh, hard, soft, diffused, tinted?
Does the lighting appear naturalistic, artificial?
Are certain places, objects or characters lit in particular ways?
What moods and atmospheres are created through light?
Acting and Figure Movement:
What are the characteristics of the acting?
What do gestures, expressions and body language signify?
How are figures placed and moved within the shot/scene?
Costumes and Make-Up:
Are these things obvious and showy, "natural" and unobtrusive?
What are cultural, economic, and political factors are suggested by clothing and makeup?
Composition: Consider the framing of the image, the placement of figures within the frame,
the organization of space, and the special relations of figures and objects within the frame.
Is the space open, tight, ordered, chaotic?
What is included and excluded?
How does the frame construct the image?
Consider the movement of figures within the frame and their relations in space.

5. SOUND
The possibilities for manipulating film and sound are varied and complex. We need to
consider all of the different kinds of sound (and silence) that punctuate a film, the relations
between these various elements, and the relations between sound and images.

Sound Effects:
What kind of sound effects are there?
Do they sound artificial or natural?
What is their purpose and significance?
Dialogue:
What kinds of languages, dialects, accents, and slang are spoken?
Who speaks and in what ways?
What kinds of characterizations are made through dialogue?
Voice-Over/Voice-Off: Voice-over narration is a narration told from an off-screen voice.
Who is the narrator? A character, a disembodied authority?
What power and interpretations do the voice-over represent?
How does the voice-over narration relate to the camera's narration?
Is the voice-over omniscient, reliable, unreliable?
Music:
Is the source of the music visible (on-screen) or beyond the frame (off-screen)?
What does the music signify? How does it relate to the image?
Silence:
When is there silence and why?
Are particular characters prone to silence?

6. ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS OF FILM

Innovations in technology, computer graphics and animation, screen size and shape, special
effects, sound effects, etc. continue to change the ways films are constructed. Watch and
listen for any additional elements you discover!