Writing About Film

The first type of film papers is formal analysis. A formal analysis paper is similar to a passage analysis paper in a book: it focuses on small, yet vital portions of the film, and analyze it in relation to the film as a whole. This focus allows for scrutiny of the different aspects of film making, such as: how the director manipulated lighting, the dialogue, the coloring, the framing, and the editing of a particular scene. This also allows the writer to get insight on the director's intent as reflected n that particular aspect of the film.

The other type of film papers is film history. This type of writing reflects the history that the film made, the history that the film reflects, or the history of making the film and its intent. For instance, the film, 'The patriot" reflects the U.S. war of independence and their victory. Also, the film Taxi Driver perhaps reflects Robert Dinero's own youth, as he was surrounded by a terrible environment in New York.
Another type of film writing is Ideological papers. These papers target to extract beliefs that are withheld in a film. Directors intentionally portray certain beliefs within a film in order to condone them or negate them. This type of writing delves into the director's intent and how he portrays his intentions through settings and characters.

Another is culture studies. This studies the culture portrayed in the film as shown by character virtues and the setting they are placed.
The last type of film writing is discussion of the auteur. This focuses on on the single individual or vision that created the piece. Assuming this, it is a critique of their approach on the vision and how it is portrayed to the audience.
annotating a film sequence is labeling each shot in a sequence and determining how it contributed to the sequence as a whole, and thus, the film as a whole. This is very beneficial because it is a great preparation to analyze and look at the film as a whole.
What is meant by "Thinking behind the Frame" is to research or wonder what is behind the work that is physically seen. This includes the author's intent, and how it may relate to his/her biography. Along with that, look at the film in context of the time and period and what had occurred during that time and why the event portrayed is important to that time period.