A Basic Guide on How to Write a Movie Analysis Essay

How to Write a Movie Analysis Essay

This writing task may sometimes seem to be challenging. Anyway, when studying something thoroughly as well as practicing, the level of writing substantially increases. We hope that this brief guide might come in handy when writing a movie analysis essay.

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The Definition and the Goal of a Movie Analysis Essay

If you do not understand something in your writing task, you should ask a teacher for clarification and explanation. Thus, you can better realize the essence and the goal of an essay. Follow all the requirements for your writing assignment.

Generally, analysis means critical evaluation of something, demonstrating it from a different (sometimes, unusual angle). Moreover, analyzing is valuable for readers. It helps them better understand the subject of the writer`s study (movies, books, etc.). Besides, it reflects the writer`s attitude concerning a particular topic, subject, etc.

It is very important to watch the movie several times to provide a thorough analysis. There are also some specific points in movie analysis, for instance, actors, the quality of filming, the plot, special effects, the audience, the issues relating to distribution, and so on.

How to Compose a Movie Analysis Essay

This type of academic paper involves a basic narrative structure, including the elements of film analysis. The basic structure comprises the introduction, body parts, as well as the conclusion. Here below, we are going to provide a brief overview of these parts of writing a movie analysis.

Before starting writing an essay, the students should get familiar with the film critics` reviews, other reviews on a particular movie. Keep in mind that the essay should be with no plagiarism. The movie analysis is not just the writer`s reflection on the film. The essay ought to challenge and encourage the readers to discuss the worthwhile questions that may facilitate the readers to see the movie from a completely surprising angle.

It is highly recommended to watch the movie several times to notice every single worthwhile detail. You should take notes and write down all the necessary things in the process.

Of course, the students should create an outline for writing an analysis essay. This is an integral step in writing any paper. A well-designed outline considerably contributes to structuring thoughts, writing ideas, planning, etc. So, an outline is an essential part of writing an essay.

An outline for the essay is considered to be a summary (a so-called “map”) of the future paper. It includes the main parts of writing, the student`s ideas, the headings of the body paragraphs incorporating their brief description, and so on.

A good outline helps the writer gain more confidence, organize the thoughts as well as realize the proper direction of writing. The person usually can` t structure all the information at once; for instance, just after watching a movie, it is quite complex to concentrate on every single detail and write a well-structured paper. Thus, an outline makes the process of writing effective, helps to compose a systematized and structured essay.

The Introduction of the Movie Analysis Essay

The introductory part should be brief and informative enough. This is a very important part, as the readers get the first impression of the paper. The students should include the actors, the producer, the book/real story the movie is based on (if available), and so on. The main purpose of the introductory part is to draw the readers` attention and encourage them to read further. It should be clear to the readers what you are going to write about. Please, note that you should not reveal all the details in this part.

Of course, you ought to pay attention to writing the proper thesis statement for the movie analysis essay. You need to determine what it is and where it ought to be placed in the essay. The thesis statement can support as well as recommend the movie, or, for example, convince the readers that the film is not worth watching. Besides, the thesis statement provides you with a sense of direction as well as presents your key ideas that will be supported in the following parts of the movie analysis essay.

The Body of the Movie Analysis Essay

The body paragraphs are the central part of the movie review essay. They should be focused on the points that were mentioned in the thesis and introductory part. The body paragraphs ought to be logically connected. They should include solid and credible facts, examples, information that can support the ideas from the thesis statement. Generally, there are not any strict restrictions on what you talk about in the body paragraphs. So, the students can discuss any questions regarding the movie, analyze them in-depth. Try to be creative with the argument and open the script up to the readers. The students can discuss some hot topics connected with the movie. Of course, you should check all the requirements for a particular writing assignment (the style, structure of the essay, etc.) as well as clarify all the points that can be mentioned in the paper.

The students should have a roadmap of what they are going to talk about. Here below, there are some questions that can be discussed in the movie analysis essay. So, determine:

• the objective of the movie. Was it reached?
• the target audience of the movie. Did the film manage to communicate with them effectively?
• the main conflicts in the movie. What was their contribution to the objective of the film?
• any theological, religious issues that are raised in the movie, etc. If they exist in the film, what are they?
• what the movie motivates you to think about. If available, describe these aspects.
• etc.

Please, keep in mind that this list above is not an exhaustive one – there are many other elements to include. The points mentioned above are not placed in a specific order, but just randomly, as a general example of what to include in the discussion.

Remember that you shouldn`t make a summary of the whole plot or the events of the film. You should do it when it is necessary to provide clear examples, etc. The readers might have already watched the movie, so that they may not like to read simply about the plot once again.

There is a word count (usually, about 600 words – you should check all the requirements according to your particular writing assignment). So, the writer needs to direct his/her essay exactly to the process of analysis.

Here below, we are talking about the elements that should be integrated into the general discussion, but not covered in a separate paragraph. They are the following ones: mise-en-scene, acting or casting, lighting or color, sets or costumes, audiovisual elements. This is not a complete list, so you should carefully study this information further and check all the points according to your particular writing task. Do not lose the thread of every single paragraph. The paragraphs ought to begin with an opening (topic) sentence as well as finish with a concluding sentence.

Besides, you can cite some specific examples. This can support the main thesis of the essay. Nevertheless, the examples should not spend too much time summarizing the movie. They can provide a rather short description of the scenes to promote the movie analysis essay.

The Conclusion of the Movie Analysis Essay

Now it`s time to briefly talk about the conclusion. Here you ought to summarize all the arguments as well as try to convince the readers that your view about the film is correct. You should use 5 “W” in the concluding part (who, what, when, where, why). You should check this information for a better understanding. A conclusion of the essay is a very significant point of the entire analysis paper, so it should be logical, strong, convincing.

Topics Choice for a Movie Analysis Essay

The topic of the movie analysis essay can be assigned by the professor, or you can choose your own one (if this opportunity is available). If you can choose the topic yourself, be sure to search for a thought-provoking and interesting one. The proper topic is a very important point in writing an essay. You can consult with your teacher if necessary.

Basic Tips for Writing a Movie Analysis Essay

Here below, you can find several general recommendations that can be useful for writing a quality movie analysis essay. Please, study this info further in detail, as the list below does not include all possible tips that can be applied for your particular writing assignment.

• While watching a movie, take notes of the most interesting points. If you watch this movie on the net, you can pause the film at some particular moments, rewind the movie, etc. Try to be attentive and focused on catching all the necessary moments in the movie.
• While watching the movie for the second time, strive to watch critically. Be concentrated on a distinct theme, the concept regarding the plot of the film. For example, you can analyze how this particular film is photographed, its relation to the historical events without distorting the facts.
• You should present the major participants of the movie (the actors, the director, etc.). You can also include other technicians in the film if necessary. Particularly, you can write about the cinematographer and others. It depends on the importance of the aspects that you are going to highlight and analyze in the essay. For example, when you would like to analyze the background music as well as its relation to the emotional tone of the film, you ought to mention the composer. And so on.
• Avoid spoilers about the plot of the movie. Reveal the spoilers only in case when the analysis is directly related to them. Be sure that your essay is not just a synopsis of the movie. It should be an analysis. So, do not over-review the film.
• Some technical filmmaking jargon can sometimes be applied here. It can enhance the authority of the paper. For instance, you know the difference between dissolve and cut, etc. Also, if the paper concerns a certain character`s POV, the student can talk about subjective camera work. And like that. Anyway, you should check all the requirements for your paper and clarify what elements can be used in the essay, etc.
• You should carefully check the entire paper several times. Check the organization of the essay, the clarity of ideas, the efficiency of the transitions between the body parts; check whether you have placed only 1 example in each of the paragraphs, and many other points. Check whether you have formatted your essay properly. Make sure that all the citations are formatted in a correct (required) style. The essay should not contain any kinds of mistakes (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.); the text ought to be written in formal academic English. So, proofread, revise, edit as many times as necessary. Check all the requirements for your specific writing assignment. The essay should be without any plagiarism.
• Do not forget about such phrases, for instance, “according to…”, “as explained in the film…”, etc. These tags can point out that you are discussing the view presented, not your own.
• Be objective. Avoid adding your personal responses, reactions, and so on when reporting the central thoughts.
• You can talk about some parallels between the movie that you are analyzing as well as some other films. These movies might have the same genre, describe the same event; however, from different angles, etc.
• One more time – your task now is to write a movie analysis essay, but not a critical movie review. There are differences between these papers, so you should study this topic further. Generally, one of the main differences between them is connected with the names of the academic papers. A movie analysis essay ought to provide an objective analysis of the movie that assesses, evaluates it, adheres to a particular structure, sums up the ideas. A critical film review includes more subjective thoughts as well as proposes what improvements should be made to a movie; this type of academic paper has got a particular outline, etc.

Conclusion about Writing a Movie Analysis Essay

The movie analysis essay is a great opportunity to show the student`s critical skills, supporting his/her opinion, analyzing information, and so on. You should start practicing, creating a draft, a good outline, analyzing the information, etc. All this can boost your writing skills and help to create a perfect essay. You can consult with the teacher if necessary. Study the information on how to create a movie analysis essay further in detail, as this is only a brief guide for the general overview; it does not contain every single aspect of writing a movie analysis essay. So, carefully prepare for writing, check all the requirements for the task, thoroughly proofread several times, and edit when necessary, etc.

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