You only need to have a quick look online to see just how many ways there are of approaching film analysis. Do we approach it purely as a storytelling medium focusing on narrative? Do we scrutinise the director as an auteur, looking at each of their films as part of a larger body of work?
Or do we look at it as a cultural artefact that reflects the context in which it was made? The list of options is endless, and each of these perspectives is equally valid. But each of them would ultimately start with analysing the creative elements of a film itself. So the method of analysing that I'm going to offer in this video is one that I think is the most approachable to those who are new to film studies and it will also lay the groundwork for all further in-depth study of auteurs, spectatorship, representation when you're ready. And it's all based on answering this simple question.
How does a film communicate its major themes and ideas using the five key elements of film. Not sure what those are? Keep watching. So film analysis is largely all about learning how to notice the deliberate stylistic decisions made by the filmmaker and then questioning how that contributes to meaning.
But what exactly are we supposed to be looking out for? Enter the five key elements of film. Cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene, performance and sound.
Think of these as the toolkit available to filmmakers, each one able to signify meaning to the audience. Each element has its own glossary of technical language, which you're going to need to get your head around, but once you have, you'll be able to start noticing how they are used uniquely in the films that you watch. Let's take a quick look at each now, but for a more in-depth explanation. You can find specific videos for each of these on my channel. The first element we'll start with is the one that I think you will find the easiest to identify.
Mise en scene. It's the world in which our film takes place and what it looks like. And there's less technical language associated because it's really say what you see.
In discussions with Damien about how he wanted the film to look visually from the get-go he said I want to be very historically accurate. This includes Everything from the characters what they're wearing and their props to the setting the objects within them and even the weather It's essentially the main ingredient in establishing the overall aesthetic of the film Scene 17 take 8 mark. How is the setting establishing tone? Does it feel warm and welcoming or hostile and uncertain is the overall design of the mise-en-scene realistic or expressive?
What do you notice about how each character looks? Does it reflect their narrative role such as the hero or the villain? This leads us very nicely onto the second key element of film, performance. When we look beyond the aesthetic of characters, how is verbal and perhaps more importantly non-verbal language being used to communicate? Is their performance over the top or subtle?
Are they open or closed? All of the infinite ways that actors interpret their roles in collaboration with the director are another layer of meaning maker for the audience. The one part of the story that I believed was that he experienced childhood trauma.
So going into that research and seeing the effect that it has on somebody and how they perceive the world, basically he's in this highly reactive state in which he perceives and looks for threat everywhere. If Mies on Seine and performance make up the visual elements of the film world, then the third key element of film, cinematography, is how it's captured. No, I mean, a film is something that...
You don't want any shot to be kind of outside of all the others in a way. This is primarily all about shot size, be it close-up, mid-shot, wide-shot and so on, and camera movement, be it static, panning, freehand, tracking, and the framing of the mise-en-scene on camera. If film offers us the point of view of the director, what can we learn about how we are being positioned to view the events within?
Look a bit deeper and cinematography also includes factors such as The format of film used, such as IMAX and its corresponding aspect ratio, whether it's been shot in colour or monochrome, even lighting comes under the umbrella of cinematography, which introduces a whole extra list of technical terms which we use to describe the scene. But ultimately, it's all about how the scene is captured and why. I think there's times to move the camera, there's times to follow a character and there's times to stay back and...
Allow that character to observe that the audience to observe that character within the space. The natural next step from cinematography is our fourth key element of film editing. This is how individual shots are cut and assembled into scenes and how scenes are assembled into a film. The order in which shots and scenes. that are presented to us has the ability to completely change how we interpret them.
Just think, every time we cut from one shot to another we're effectively being offered cause and effect. It's how we know that this character has cruel intentions. Each cut is a cause and effect. It's also evident in the pace of editing which may for example communicate the tension in the scene. And finally we have sound as our last key element.
Be it diegetic or non-diegetic, music or the score is perhaps the most obvious part of sound for us to notice. But of course it also includes everything in the soundscape. Ambient sound, vocal qualities, sound effects, everything you can hear is making meaning. So now we know what the five key elements of film are, how do we go about putting it into practice? Well, I've recently been studying Kenneth Branagh's 2021 film Belfast with my students, so let's use that as an example.
The first thing I get my film students to do is a bit of background reading to help us figure out what the director's motivation behind the film was. Don't get me wrong, there's an awful lot to be said for going into a film absolutely blind. Part of the beauty of all art is interpretation. But if we're going to analyse film academically, it's worth doing a bit of homework first to help us identify how the 5 key elements of film are going to be used to construct meaning and consider the context of when the film is set but also when it will be used.
it was made. Belfast is a city of stories and particularly at the end of the 1960s it went through an incredible tumultuous phase in its history. In the case of Belfast to truly appreciate Branagh's ideas you need to have some understanding of the troubles in Northern Ireland in 1969 and also of Branagh's childhood in Belfast which is nostalgically reflected in the film's celebration of the people.
and the city and the family above all else. Well, I'm from there, I was born in Belfast and I lived there till I was nine and the story of the film is really about something that happened to me when I was nine years old. There are a few ways you can go about this previewing reason. I like to watch Q&A's with the director or perhaps even listen to Mark Kermode's review on his podcast. Approaching our first viewing of the film with this information in mind will help focus you on how this theme is being constructed.
So now it's time to watch. I personally recommend avoiding the temptation to take notes in your first screening. Give the film your full attention. No wonder you brought us to this.
It's educational for the boys. After it's time to reflect on your first screening, on the film and start properly analyzing. And to use an appropriate metaphor, I think there are two different lenses we can look at it. One is through a wide angle, looking at the film holistically and applying the five key areas to help us describe the film's aesthetic broadly. And two, by switching to a closeup and examining several key sequences in far greater depth.
Let's take a quick look at Belfast through that wide angle lens. Across the film the camera work is incredibly realist, evident in the choice of shooting in monochrome, but also the way most scenes favor wide-angle static shots, with a full depth of field that could easily have been taken from a late 60s Path documentary. This also allows the actors and their performance to take centre stage by keeping an objective view of the film's world.
These performances are incredibly naturalistic, using language and physicality to very subtly express themselves. I'm always saying to your man there what's yours is mine and what's mine is me own. Thanks granny. The primary perspective throughout the film comes in the form of the fairly restricted view of the main star Buddy who's played by Jude Hill. In this sense, the troubles and the conflict unveiling around him is actually the backdrop to far more relatable childhood concerns like school crushes, playing with friends and potentially losing loved ones.
In terms of Mise en Scene, the overall look of the film immediately identifies this as a working class area of the 1960s. Cars, buildings and clothing are all based on historical context rather than being stylized or impressionist. The houses are packed a little too close together which makes the neighborhood feel communal like a family and at the same time Slightly crowded and less affluent The set was designed to be slightly tall to encourage our perspective of the child to describe the edit throughout the film It's fairly slow and unintrusive which Again causes minimal interruption to the film's reality and between scenes seamlessly jumps between periods of time which Could be weeks or months giving us the sense that these are a collection of memories from the childhood of Buddy Almost like he's looking back on this period of his life and these are the bits that stand out.
In terms of sound we have a non-diegetic soundtrack provided by Belfast's own Van Morrison, a further nod to the city's rich culture and one that complements Buddy's slightly innocent perspective of such a difficult time in Northern Ireland's history. We also have the very realist diegetic sound, which like the cinematography is intended to add authenticity to the film. Street ambience and real world news excerpts help to remind audiences that this fictional family's story is set against very real events. We could go on, but as you can see, by applying the five key areas holistically, You get a general sense of the aesthetic and the construction of the film as a whole.
But now if we zoom in on a key scene we can apply the key elements of film far more specifically. Let's take a look at the incredibly memorable opening sequence of the film. We fade into a series of wide crane and drone shots of modern day Belfast.
Before we meet any of the ensemble cast we're introduced to the main star, the city itself. We see landmarks and buildings of great cultural significance like the Titanic Museum, Belfast Castle and the old dockyards. The message here is clear, Belfast is thriving and proud.
We are accompanied by an upbeat original song by Van Morrison. Then the title for the film finally appears as we reach the suburbs of row after row of terraced houses where we will spend the majority of the film. This is the heart of Belfast.
You won't have missed that we begin in colour, immediately placing us in the present, but also allowing us to see the dawn. A bright new Belfast has moved past the troubles and we see this in just how saturated the colour is. Our transition into the monochrome that we see for the rest of the picture is seamless. There is no cut as we crane over one of the piece walls which effectively bridges time as we stay in the same place.
It feels very much as though the following film is taking place on the very same streets we just saw in colour. But the black and white immediately ages the footage and makes it feel raw and realistic. We are immediately invited to the tightly knit community where everyone on the street knows each other.
Neighbours stand outside their doors chatting, and as a group beckon for the main character to come back home for dinner, there is a sense of community, and we are part of it, as the lack of any cutting suggests. There's a real sense of calm and presence and activity and we take it all in with a controlled freehand wide shot that takes in every part of the set and the characters. The performance of the entire cast is very naturalistic and understated and nowhere is this more evident than in the main character Buddy who we first meet while he's play fighting dragons using a wooden sword and a dustbin lid.
His youthful nature is carefree and innocent. Listen to the way he speaks to his neighbors without a care in the world. Only a couple. I ain't got a couple in my house.
Is that right Mr West? Aye. And can you lend us a shield, Buddy? I'll see what I can do.
Say hello to your daddy for me, will ya? Will do. Buddy?
We are abruptly stopped in our tracks, with an orbiting mid-shot that tracks around Buddy as the troubles begin. This innocent expression from just moments ago is replaced by genuine confusion when armed Protestants march around the corner. By framing them out of focus in the distance, they aren't given individual identities. They are fellow Irishmen, indistinguishable from those who live on this street. Each time we pass Buddy in an orbit, we see his expression change to concern and as the sound becomes muffled until it reaches utter silence, a molotov is thrown and Buddy's face becomes a picture of absolute terror.
The slow meandering pace of the previous wide shots of the community are replaced by rapid chaotic Handheld mid shots and close-ups that create a very sudden sense of panic This only works because of the contrast of what we had before but he cries out his mum and suddenly the toy weapons from the previous scene are being used as defensive items against stones. Clearly violence in the real world is not like the imagining of Buddy a moment ago and his whole reality in this moment has shifted. Don't move! Will!
We could go on but this demonstrates how we can analyse film from two different perspectives. The wide shot, talking holistically and about the aesthetic as a whole and then close up on a beat by beat basis. And if you think back to our original question, how does a film communicate its major themes and ideas using the five key elements of film?
If you follow the three steps you should find, the more you practice the skill the more you'll find yourself analysing without even trying. and you'll appreciate film on a whole new level. I'd like to take this opportunity to give a huge shout out to Dave Dunlap, my first ever YouTube member, and encourage you to let me know what films you'd recommend for analysis in the comments below. As always, thank you very much for watching, and I'll see you next time.