32 CHAPTER 1LOOKING AT MOVIES
Analyzing Movies
As we said at the beginning of the chapter, the pri-
mary goal of Looking at Moviesis to help you gradu-
ate from being a spectator of movies—from merely
watchingthem—to actively and analytically looking
atthem. The chapters that follow provide very spe-
cific information about each of the major formal
components of film, information that you can use to
write and talk intelligently about the films you view
in class and elsewhere. Once you’ve read the chap-
ter on cinematography, for example, you will have at
hand the basic vocabulary to describe accurately
the lighting and camera work you see on-screen.
As you read the subsequent chapters of this
book, you will acquire a specialized vocabulary for
describing, analyzing, discussing, and writing about
the movies you see. But now, as a beginning studentof film and armed only with the general knowledge
that you’ve acquired in this first chapter, you can
begin looking at movies more analytically and per-
ceptively. You can easily say more than “I liked” or
“I didn’t like” the movie, because you can enumer-
ate and understand the cinematic techniques and
concepts the filmmakers employed to convey story,
character state of mind, and other meanings. What’s
more, by cultivating an active awareness of the
meanings and structures hidden under every
movie’s surface, you will become increasingly capa-
ble of recognizing the film’s implicit meanings and
interpreting what they reveal about the culture that
produced and consumed it.
The following checklist provides a few ideas
about how to start.✔On a related note, be conscious of the fact
that you may be initially blind to a movie’s
political, cultural, and ideological meaning,
especially if that meaning reinforces ideas and
values you already hold. The greater your
awareness of your own belief systems (and
those you share with your culture in general),
the easier it will be to recognize and interpret
a movie’s implicit meaning.
✔Ask yourself how expectations shaped your
reaction to this movie. Does it conform to the
ways you’ve come to expect a movie to function?
How did what you’d heard about this movie
beforehand—through the media, your friends, or
your professor—affect your attitude toward the
film? Did your previous experience of the director
or star inform your prior understanding of what to
expect from this particular film? In each case, did
the movie fulfill, disappoint, or confound your
expectations?
✔Before and after you see a movie, think about
the direct meanings, as well as the implications,
of its title. The title of Roman Polanski’s China-
town(1974) is a specific geographic reference,
but once you’ve seen the movie, you’ll under-
stand that it functions as a metaphor for a
larger body of meaning. Richard Kelly’s Donnie
Darko(2001) makes us wonder if Darko is a real
name (it is) or if it is a not-so-subtle clue that
Donnie has a dark side (he does). Try to explain
the title’s meaning, if it isn’t self-evident.✔Be aware that there are many ways to look at
movies. Are you primarily interested in interpreting
the ways in which the movie manipulates formal
elements such as composition, editing, and sound
to tell its story moment to moment, or are you con-
cerned with what the movie has to say in broader
cultural terms, such as a political message?
✔Whenever you prepare a formal analysis of a
scene’s use of film grammar, start by considering
the filmmakers’ intent. Remember that filmmak-
ers use every cinematic tool at their disposal;
very little in any movie moment is left to chance.
So before analyzing any scene, first ask yourself
some basic questions. What is this scene about?
After watching this scene, what do I understand
about the character’s thoughts and emotions?
How did the scene make me feel? Once you
determine what information and mood the scene
conveyed, you’ll be better prepared to figure out
how cinematic tools and techniques were utilized
to communicate the scene’s intended meaning.
✔Do your best to see beyond cinematic invisibility.
Remember that a great deal of a movie’s machin-
ery is designed to make you forget you are expe-
riencing a highly manipulated, and manipulative,
artificial reality. One of the best ways to combat
cinema’s seamless presentation is to watch a
movie more than once. You may allow yourself to
be transported into the world of the story on
your first viewing. Repeated viewings will give
you the distance required for critical observation.