Guide for Writing a Movie Analysis Essay

Movie Analysis Essay - How to Write a Good Film Review?

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With the help of our essay writing guide for school and college students, you can take your writing skills to a whole new level and achieve the perfection you didn't even dream of having! So without further ado, let's get to it!

What Is a Movie Analysis Essay?

You cannot write a good paper unless you fully understand what you are expected to write, so we recommend asking your teacher for clarification if there's something about the task that bothers you. Let's start by finding out what that practically means.

An analysis is the critical assessment of something, showing it from a different and sometimes unusual perspective. Analyzing also helps broaden the reader's understanding of whatever it is you're studying (books, poems, songs, or movies), as well as shows the writer's attitude towards a subject. The important thing to remember here is that the writer should watch the movie they want to dissect no less than a couple of times before applying the analysis technique mentioned above. It's also notable that unlike most such things, the movie analysis essay requires the writer to focus on movie-specific questions, such as the actors, plot, quality of filming, audience, distribution-related issues, the special effects, etc.

Composition of a Movie Analysis

Just like any other academic paper, such a paper has a basic narrative structure that comprises the elements of film analysis. Those are an introduction, body parts, and a conclusion. In this section of our article, we'll be discussing all of them in detail. But, before we do, let's have a brief look at some important things concerning movie essay writing.

Before you embark on the writing itself, you should watch the movie several times, taking notes of every single worthy detail in the process.

Your film analysis should be more than just your reflection on the movie. It should challenge the reader by bringing up discussion-worthy questions that can help them see the movie from an entirely unexpected angle. To do that, read the reviews of film critics and other reviews prior to watching and analyzing a film yourself. When it comes to analysis essay writing, one of the most helpful things to do is create an outline. Many students underestimate the importance of this seemingly minor detail, but in fact, it is one of the integral essay writing tools.

A good outline for the movie analysis essay is a summary of your future paper, which lists its main parts, the headings of the body paragraphs with their short description, and your ideas. The outline helps the author feel confident during the writing process, be organized, and have a sense of direction. Imagine watching a movie and trying to put all your ideas into words directly after watching it. We bet that you won't be able to do it properly and end up having a bunch of haphazardly thrown-together information, which is not exactly the best way of writing an essay. Instead, you can come up with an outline, organize your essay effectively, and enjoy the process of writing.

How to Write an Introduction Paragraph

The introduction is one of the most critical parts of a film analysis essay because it provides the reader with the first impression of your work. A good introduction should be both short and informative, mentioning the actors, producer, and the book or real story the movie is based on (if any). The ultimate goal of the introduction is to grab the reader's attention without revealing all the details and make them want to read the essay all the way through. Here, you need to make it clear for the reader what you are going to write about.

Let's take a look at what an introduction for the movie review essay may look like.

Wondering how to write a thesis statement for a movie analysis? First, let's establish what the thesis statement is and where it should be placed in your essay. The thesis either supports and recommends the film, or convinces the reader that is it not worth watching. The thesis statement also gives you a sense of direction and introduces your main idea, which will be supported in the remaining parts of your essay.

Time can make us forget many things, but there is one of them that can never be erased completely - love. In Garth Davis's movie "Lion," the main character is trying to reunite with his family after being separated from them 25 years ago. And even though he finds a new life far from home, the love he has inside him won't let him forget who he is and where he comes from, making him battle the distance and time to find his loved ones. Using powerful dialogues, music, and filming techniques, the authors of the movie let the audience share the main character's feelings, fears, and joyful moments.

Writing the Body of a Movie Analysis

The central part of a movie review essay is the body paragraphs that focus on the elements mentioned in the introduction and thesis. You should organize the body paragraphs in the best manner possible by logically connecting all the information included therein. Make sure your body paragraphs contain solid facts andan examples which can support ideas mentioned in the thesis statement. There are no strict limitations as to what you can discuss in the body paragraphs, so you can bring up any movie-related questions and analyze them in detail. Be creative with your argument, and don't be afraid to discuss any hot topics related to the movie. Do your best to open the script up to the reader!

If you need a roadmap of what to write about, this is a set of questions to help you with writing an analysis essay.

• What was the movie's goal? Was it accomplished?
• What was the film's target audience? Did the movie really reach them or speak to them effectively?
• What are the main conflicts in the motion picture? How do they contribute to the film's goal?
• Does the film raise any religious or theological issues? If yes, what are they?
• Did the film stimulate you to think about something? If yes, what was it?

At the same time, bear in mind that you needn't summarize the whole plot or events that take place in the movie. You should do it only in places where it's necessary to make youran examples clear as the reader may have seen the film and won't be eager to read about its plot one more time. Given the limited word count (about 600 words), you need to devote your essay exactly to the analysis.

Do not cover these aspects in a separate paragraph. Instead, integrate them into your general discussion. Also, be careful not to lose thread of every paragraph. They should start with an opening - or topic - sentence and end with a concluding one.

• mise-en-scene;
• audiovisual elements;
• lighting or color;
• acting or casting;
• sets or costumes.

Do not cover these aspects in a separate paragraph. Instead, integrate them into your general discussion. Also, be careful not to lose thread of every paragraph. They should start with an opening - or topic - sentence and end with a concluding one.

Along with this, do not fail to cite specific examples to support the main thesis of your paper. Make sure they are not spending too much time summarizing the film and rather briefly describe scenes to facilitate your analytical essay.

What about the Movie Analysis Conclusion?

Once you are done with the introduction and body paragraphs, it's time to move on to the conclusion. In it, you should sum up all your arguments and attempt to convince the reader that your opinion about the movie is correct. To achieve that, be sure to include the five "W" in your conclusion, such as who, what, why, where, and when.

An essay conclusion is a high point of your whole analysis, so do your best to make it sound strong, logical, and convincing. Let's see an example (but be careful of the spoiler).

"In conclusion, the main characters in the Truman Show are a group of people that show a high level of amorality throughout the film. In particular, Christof and Meryl represent and influence the cruelness and immorality of the demand of entertainment in society today, which in a term, negatively effects and emotionally scars Truman as a result to the point of violence and inhumanity. This can show the reader that this can and will leave a major impact on human beings' lives forever."

Movie Analysis Topics Choice

If your professor wants you to analyze a specific movie, you will have no other choice but to follow their requirements. However, if you get to choose your film, make sure it is a good one and think of the best topic for it. Keep in mind that your success depends significantly on the themes of your choosing, so make sure it's something exciting and thought-provoking.

If you choose one of the movie analysis topics below, you will do the right thing!

• The interpretation of the meaning of seven sins in the "Seven" movie.
• What are the historical values and messages of the "Amistad Film Project"?
• A strong message of Christopher Nolan's "Inception."
• The problem of missing children in India in the "Lion" movie.
• Faith even in the direst environments as depicted in Frank Darabont's "The Green Mile."
• The Utopian world in "The Truman Show" movie.

Tips on Writing a Good Analysis Essay

Now that you've got an idea of how to craft a film analysis essay, you need to know some useful tips that would help make it in a top-notch quality.

• While watching the movie you are going to make the review for, take the notes at the most interesting moments of the film. If you watch a film on the web, be ready to pause the film at certain moments, and rewind it.
• When watching a film for the second time, try to watch it critically. Concentrate on a distinct theme or concept related to the plot. What can be analyzed is how the movie is photographed or how a film relates to a historical event without distorting the facts.
• Introduce the major film participants, such as actors and the director. If your analysis focuses on the aspect of the cinematographic aspect, mention the names of other technicians in the movie. For instance, if it is the importance of shadows to movie noir that you are to analyze, write about the cinematographer. If you are going to dissect background music and how it relates to the emotional tone of the movie, you will need to talk about the composer.
• Be careful with over-reviewing the film to not make it just a synopsis of the story. It needs to be an analysis. Reveal spoilers about the plot only if your analysis directly deals with them.
• Use some technical jargon from the world of filmmaking, which will help strengthen the authority of your paper. It means you need to know the difference between cut and dissolve. Or, you may speculate on subjective camera work if your essay is dealing with a particular character's POV.

• Check the overall paper organization. It includes the clarity of thoughts, effectiveness of transitions between body parts, and inclusion of only one example in each of the paragraphs. Also, be sure you've used the proper formatting. Are all the citations formatted in a required style? Along with that, you need to ensure there are no spelling and punctuation errors and that the whole text is written in formal academic English.
• Don't neglect tags like "according to" or "as explained in the film." These phrases will remind the reader you are talking about the view presented, not your own.
• Try to stay objective. Report the central ideas without including your own reactions and responses.
• Discuss the parallels between the film you are reviewing and some other movies. They may have the same genre or describe the same event but from different perspectives.
• Once again, you are to craft a movie analysis essay, not the critical film review. The main difference between them lies in the names of these papers. The first type of paper is supposed to make an objective dissection of a film that evaluates it, follows a certain structure, and summarizes the ideas. A critical review relies more on subjective ideas and suggests how to improve a motion picture and has a specific outline.

P.S.

The movie analysis paper is an excellent way of showing off your critical skills, analyzing information, and supporting your opinion. We hope our guidelines will help you achieve that! We provided you with some theory and examples so that you could use our samples but remember about plagiarism when using reviews of other authors!

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