Chapter 1—Corrigan
Writing About the Movies
Christian Metz:
We all understand the movies, but how do we explain them? (qtd. in Corrigan 1)
Erwin Panofsky:
If all the serious lyrical poets, composers, painters and sculptors were forced by law to stop their activities, a rather small fraction of the general public would become aware of the fact and a still smaller fraction would seriously regret it. If the same thing were to happen to the movies, the social consequences would be catastrophic. (qtd. in Corrigan 1)
Types of film writing:
Screening report: organizes notes on a film
Movie review: aimed at the broadest possible audience
Theoretical Essay: this is what paper 1 is.

Written for an informed audience.
Critical Essay: the movie review for the informed crowd.
Opinion and Evaluation

Chapter 2—Corrigan
Beginning to Think, Preparing to Watch, and
Starting to Write
Jean Cocteau: The cinema muse is too rich.
(qtd. in Corrigan 18)
Jean-Luc Godard: Badly seen, badly said.
(qtd. in Corrigan 18)
What does Godard mean by this? You have to watch a film with your entire being. If you’re not completely engaged, then your analysis will not be completely engaged.
That doesn’t mean that your engagement doesn’t always have to be positive.
(Sweeney Todd, Elizabeth: The Golden
Age)
Things to ponder before you see a film:
1.
As an art form, the movies involve literature, the pictorial and plastic arts, music, dance, theater, and even architecture. (19) If you’re a music student how do you respond to music
and sound?
2.
The film industry depends on and responds quickly to changes in

technology. Are you predisposed to
special effects?
3.
Film technology, production, and distribution are commercial and economic enterprises. How is A Woman
Under the Influence different from The
Notebook?
These questions should “remind you that the images you see are the product of certain influences and conditions, not just the world seen through a frame.” (22)
Silent Dialogue: Talking back to the movies
(22-24)
Record the figures and objects in the frame
(the content)
Record the photographic qualities of the frame (the form)
CU close-up
XCU extreme close-up
MS medium shot
FS full shot
3/4S three-quarters shot
PS pan shot
S/RS shot/reverse shot
CT cut

LT long take
CRS crane shot
TRS tracking shot 
LA low angle
HA high angle
Find a system that works for you. I use cu, ecu, ms, fs but write pan, track, cut, jump cut
When you go over the film and the key sequences in your notes, ideas begin to take shape. When you can support those ideas with concrete descriptions from the movie, an argument becomes dramatically more convincing. (35) 