1. Pay attention. Take notes.
Becoming a Film Critic
Pay attention. Take notes.

2. What makes a movie appealing to you?
Everyone has different tastes and interests. Think about your own personal preferences - what do you look for?
What makes a movie appealing to you?

3. While everyone has their own opinion on what determines the quality of a film, we can say with certainty that some are of higher quality than others. What do movies need to have to be considered a high-quality product?
What makes a movie good?

4. What should we look for?
The following list and questions are from esteemed film critic Tim Dirks’ site ( and serve as a very limited primer to the art of film viewing. If you like this more academic approach to viewing films, take a film studies class as an English class in college!
Maintain objectivity and assess overall quality
Understand and perceive mis-en-scene (directing)
Track camera movement and variety of shots (cinematography)
Note use of light, color, shadow, shapes (photography)
Perceive pacing as a result of post-production decisions (film-editing)
Listen to dialogue and voice overs; notice the originality and thematic concerns of the plot (screenwriting)
Be attentive to soundtrack, score and sound effects (sound direction)

5. mise-en-scene (from French “placing on stage”
This French term refers to the placing of scenery and props in a play. In film, it refers to the effect directors create by orchestrating shots and scenes in a film to resemble their creative vision.

6. Cinematography
Cinematographers control the positioning and movement of cameras. They make important decisions about the perspective of the film through this work, and work closely with, or sometimes act as, the director of photography.

7. Cinematography continued
Cinematographers also make decisions about what varieties of shots to take with each individual camera.

8. Photography
Sometimes, cinematographers also act as the director of photography. DPs are in charge of framing, costumes, lighting, and makeup.

9. Editing
Film editors work to create seamless transitions between scenes and moments. Editing controls the pacing of films - lots of edits close together create a frantic, rushed pace, while a slower pace of edits relies on a slower rhythm of editing.

10. Sound Editing
The sound track of a movie contains dialogue, many layers of sound effects, music, and anything else you hear during the movie!