How to Actually Watch Movies

Understanding and identifying the individual style and techniques in a filmmaker’s repertoire.

Visual and auditory techniques used on film to create a story for our senses.

How to analyze the atmosphere of a film and its impact on the audience.

The artistry of filmmaking comes in turning something technical, such as the shots used in a film and the camera angles, into a work of art.

The mind-blowing plot twists, heart-wrenching moments, and intense action are made more powerful when experienced by characters that we as audience members care about. 

A film’s genre is determined by the plot of the movie, the type of character and their actions, the setting and time period, as well as the theme. All of these elements form cohesive and identifiable categories of films.

The theme transcends the story because the theme is the aspect of the story that resonates with the audience on a deeper, more personal level and conveys a message about human nature or reality.

Film editing is the underappreciated but absolutely necessary art of assembling shots of a film together in a way that most powerfully emphasizes the theme and emotion of the story. 

How to use narrative structures to identify a plot and tell a story

Critical viewing of a film also means possessing the necessary knowledge to recognize the techniques filmmakers use to entertain.