Characters—The individuals who populate narrative and non-narrative films. As you begin an analysis of characters, you should ask yourself the following questions:
Do the characters seem realistic? Are they meant to seem realistic?
Are they defined by their clothes, their conversation, or something else?
If they are not realistic, why not, and why are they meant to seem strange or fantastic?
Do the characters seem to fit the setting of the story?
Does the film focus mainly on one or two characters or on many?
Do the characters change, and if so, in what ways?
What values do the characters seem to represent: What do they say about such matters as independence, sexuality, morality, political belief?
Setting—not merely peripheral but integral to a film. Location establishes the film’s tone, historical and cultural context, and can serve as a backdrop to a character’s psychological state of mind.
Point of view—The relationship a camera has to a person or action. Usually movies use an objective point of view, so that most of what is shown is not confined to anyone person’s perspective.
Point of view is the central term in writing about films because films are basically about seeing the world in a certain way. Pay attention to point of view by using these two general guidelines:
* Observe how and when the camera creates the point of view of a character—and to what effect.
* Notice if the story is told mostly from an objective point of view or from the subjective perspective of one person.