1. Topics and Areas of Films to Evaluate
Movie Analysis
Topics and Areas of Films to Evaluate

2. Theme What is the unifying, central idea of the film?
Emotional effect or mood
Character development/motivation
Style/structure
Moral implications
Human Nature
Social Problems
Complexity of Human relationships

3. “Citizen Kane”
Love
Control/Obsession
Youth
Money can’t buy happiness

4. “Vertigo”
Obsession
Love
Fear

5. “Casablanca”
Love
Fear
War
Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons

6. Plot Story must be credible Story must be interesting
Story should be simple and complex
Story handles emotional material with restraint
Significance of the title
Plot structure
Conflict

7. “Citizen Kane” Story of a boy who comes into an inheritance
Lots of money, but not a success story
Based on a true story
Story told from different POV

8. “Vertigo” Story of a man and his physical issues Falls in love Mystery
Dramatic Irony

9. “Casablanca” Multiple characters introduced very quickly Love story
War/political story
Emotional and unexpected ending

10. Visual Design Color vs Black and White Production design/Mise en Scene
Costume and make up
Lighting/use of colors
Symbolism
Camera work/points of view
Framing Shots—Wide shots, medium shots, close ups, extreme close ups

11. Visual Design Camera movements Dolly-zoom  Panning Focus Tracking
Hand-held shots

12. Editing Jump cuts Transitions Pacing of the film Montage
Mise En Scene—emphasizes the content from a single frame, opposite of montage

13. Genres
Suspense
Coming of Age
Drama
Comedy
Rom-Com
Action

14. Creating a Thesis Where do I begin??
What do the movies have in common?
What are the strong, creative points about the film?
Is there a characteristic about the director that shows up in his/her films?
What stands out about the films to you?
These things will help you develop subtopics!

15. Things to remember… ANALYZE, DON’T SUMMARIZE!!!
Talk about what scenes MEAN, don’t just write about what happened.
How does it apply to your thesis?
How does it apply to the overall creativity and artistry of the film??