Critical Analysis Essay: Film Review (2-3 pages)
Topic: How do the specific cinematic techniques or elements of a film (place,
characterization, music etc.) support the message or point it is making? As much
as possible, point out techniques/acting/writing in such a way as to make some
general point about the way(s) in which a film exposes its themes.
Tips for Writing an Essay on Film
Mechanics: For any formal essay, you should follow the formatting
guidelines of the profession style in the field – in this case MLA style. That means
you should have a heading (your name, the course, &c.), a “header” (your last
name & the page number, which you can add using functions under the Insert tab
in your word‐processing program), and an original, relevant title. Use italics for
the title of any feature‐length film.
Grammar: In discussing any work of art, including a film, you should use
the present tense, not the past. As an upper‐level English course, this one
assumes that you have a general grip on basic organizational concepts
(paragraphing, essay structure, &c.), grammatical concepts (sentence 2 structure,
agreement, modifier placement, parallelism, &c.), and punctuation.
Style: In all of your writing, you should strive to write concisely.
As for specific wordiness problems associated with writing about film/literature,
here are a few tips:
● Avoid references to yourself or your thoughts/opinions – just state them
directly.
● Avoid references to your writing (“I’m going to discuss…”) or your essay
(“This essay is about…”).
● Avoid references to your reader; avoid the 2nd‐person pronoun (you,
your) altogether. Minimize references to the artists involved in the
creation of specific techniques. It’s fine to name someone once (e.g., the
director, the cinematographer, or the scriptwriter) if you happen to know
who that person is. But don’t constantly say things like, “In this scene the
director uses lighting to show….”
● Avoid references to the intentions of the film or its makers, like “The movie
is trying to make the point that….” Again, just state those points directly,
e.g., “The high‐contrast lighting supports the theme of the dark side of
human nature.”
● Avoid references to the film’s audience, e.g., “The viewer notices that….” In
all the above cases, just state your points directly – e.g., “The high‐contrast
lighting in this scene symbolizes…” or “The expressionist style underscores
the liberal message that…”
Content: Don’t just make broad generalizations about how great, how
ineffective, how confusing, &c. the techniques are in the films that you’re using as
examples. Instead, discuss in detail (while of course writing concisely) how the
technique delivers its effect.
Finally and probably most importantly: You should have a central idea, a
thesis, for the whole essay – an argument that is original, complex, relevant,
specific, and debatable. Thus, instead of just sort of parroting my question and
saying something obvious like, “The film uses a variety of cinematic techniques to
create meaning,” you should try to narrow the focus to something specific e.g.,
various social issues or symbolic frameworks or cultural/historical contexts or
artistic influences related to the work. Or your thesis could be some strictly
aesthetic point.
Citations in MLA or APA.
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