Writing about a film

1. Choose a topic.
a. Be sure that you select a film that interests you, which will help you write a good paper about it. You don't necessarily have to "like" the story, but you do have to be interested in it.

2. Watch your selected film at least three times and take notes on it. Make a list of quotations and passages that seem significant. Ask yourself:

a. Who is narrating the story and what role do they play? Basically think about point of view.
b. Who are the characters and how are they related to each other? Do their names have a symbolic meaning? Are the characters a mirror image of each other? Is one the antithesis of the other?
c. Is the place where the story develops significant?
d. What are the main issues in the story? How are they presented: through a character, by the narrator?
e. Are the scenes short or long? Is this significant? Are there close ups, changes in colors, etc.? What does this indicate?
f. Is the structure linear, circular or episodic?

3. What is the main point of the story? This is called the story's theme. What do you think the story means? This is your interpretation.

4. Use cinematographic terms to help you articulate the story's meaning. Go to the text book to review the terms that may apply to the film.

5. Brainstorm by yourself or with friends to come up with an idea for a thesis statement.

Your thesis statement should be an argument about the topic - that is, an argument about the story.
Make sure that you have a solid argument. A good stand-by is to figure out something that works in the story, like a certain character or a certain setting, and then explain in your paper why it works so well. How do you know whether it works or not? The important thing is to show how it supports the story's main theme or central idea. What do you learn from the film? What parts of the story help to get that point across? Write about one or more of those parts (character, setting, leitmotifs, structure etc.) that help to get the point across.

6. After you have decided what argument you want to make about the film, gather up your evidence to support that argument.

7. Do NOT write a plot summary as a paper.

I have seen the film you are writing about,so it is not necessary to retell everything that happens in it. Use essential events to make your point. If you find yourself saying "then ____ happens; then ____ happens," you'd better stop and look carefully at what you're doing. If your essay only tells what happens in the film in a chronological order, you have written a plot summary. Your paper probably won't get better than a "D" grade. Remember that we are writing argument papers in this class, not reports. You have to make an argument about the film, not simply tell what happens.

main source: http://vc.ws.edu/engl2110/writingsteps.htm