Taking Notes While Viewing a Film

When viewing films for English 1154, take notes during the screening or immediately afterward to record key features of the production.  This list of questions guides your observations from the production’s context (viewing conditions) and production details (design, sound, performers, cinematography) to its interpretation.  It asks you to spot specific directorial decisions that created your reaction, so you can discuss systematically how the film 1) realizes its director’s vision and 2) brings something new or meaningful to cultural discussion.

Before writing a response to a film or video production, you should consider each of these questions, although your written response may concentrate on just a few of them, or even just one.  Always ponder the interpretation questions, which point you toward a strong thesis.

A film response addresses the vision of the production, not your individual opinion.  Don’t get stuck in whether the production met your personal tastes or other people’s.  Instead, identify the film’s goals so you can see how it succeeded on its own terms.

Context:

1.   What was your viewing environment?

(home, class, theater; number of others in the room; screen size and picture quality)

2.  What was the medium of the production?

(made-for-TV or film, which has more depth; wide-screen or normal format)

3.  What prior knowledge of the film’s casting, marketing, or critical reception did you bring?

Design:

4.  What was striking about the overall “look” of the production, its mise-en-scene?

(color/black and white; realistic/stylized; clear/blurry; indoor/outdoor; harsh/warm)

5...  Was it filmed with artificial sets, or on location, or a combination?  Did the settings refer to a particular time and place, or were they timeless or mixed?  Did they match the play’s verbal scenery?   Were they varied or uniform?

6.  What did you notice about the lighting?  Did it appear to be filmed by natural light?  How did changes in light change the tone?

7.  What overall effect was created by the costume decisions? What kinds of shapes and styles were used?  Did they make the actors look similar or differentiated, shapely or shapeless?  Did they suggest a particular time and place, or were they timeless or mixed?  Did the costumes “match” the setting?  Did color choices have meaning?

8.  What were some crucial props (“properties” or stage objects)? When did they recur?

Sound and dialogue:

9.  What kinds of sound did you hear? (on-screen performers, film score, silence, sound effects)

How did sound add to the visual content of the film?

Performers:

11.  Consider  the casting, including gender, race, age, body types and agility.  If some actors are well-known, is the director working with or against their “star” identities?

12.  How would you describe the dominant acting style?  What were key moments of change?

(light-hearted/ponderous; ironic/idealistic; low-key/melodramatic; stagey/naturalistic)

13.  How would you describe the use of space, including blocking and movement of actors and  the camera framing that includes or selects actors? (busy, sedate, jumpy)

Cinematography:

14.  What were some characteristic features of the film stock and camera work?

(grainy vs. glossy; still, tracking, or hand-held camera; gentle fade-outs or abrupt cuts; close, long, medium shots; shots straight-on, at high or low angle)

15.  What did the camera work do?  How did it affect characterization, perhaps by showing certain characters’ points of view or closeups?  How did it help create tone and pace?

Interpretation:

16.  What moments gave you particular pleasure or unease?  Was it the film’s style or the narrative content or both that you reacted to?

17.  What did this director seem to emphasize?  Which elements of the production seemed to carry the director’s interpretation most strongly?

18.  Did the audience reaction ever surprise you?  How so?  Did your own reaction?  Did audience reactions, or yours, change by the end of the production?

19.  If you had to sum up the production in a single key shot, which would it be?

What does this shot capture about the production?

20.  Did the production leave a lasting impression?  Did the production respond meaningfully to social concerns of its own time?