{"id":178,"date":"2025-11-03T22:28:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T22:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/?p=178"},"modified":"2025-11-03T22:32:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T22:32:07","slug":"how-to-read-a-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/?p=178","title":{"rendered":"How to Read a Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hey you! Yeah you reading this. I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ve watched a movie before, but have you really <em>seen<\/em> it? In this blog, I&#8217;ll be going over the best tips for how to read and analyze a movie. There is a message behind every action a director makes including camera angles, what kind of transitions they use, and editing techniques as well. Pay attention to this post to impress your family or friend group (or annoy them) as you learn to analyze films. In my college career I have done surface research on the topic, and taken a cinema studies class in which we dove deep into these techniques. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Filming techniques.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-wolfcrow wp-block-embed-wolfcrow\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"hUJFCChsqs\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wolfcrow.com\/15-essential-camera-shots-angles-and-movements\/\">15 Essential Camera Shots, Angles and Movements<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;15 Essential Camera Shots, Angles and Movements&#8221; &#8212; wolfcrow \" src=\"https:\/\/wolfcrow.com\/15-essential-camera-shots-angles-and-movements\/embed\/#?secret=gQoVBpaHRh#?secret=hUJFCChsqs\" data-secret=\"hUJFCChsqs\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Camera Angles\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Camera angles can often be used to show the importance of the subject. A good example is how <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/37540504\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/37540504\">Quentin Tarantino often uses low angles<\/a> to convey a subject of power or importance. (click the link for examples)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tell a story: \n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Camera angles will convey important aspects of a story. Most popular angles are low angles and birds eye views. Low angles conveys a subject as large and powerful above the viewer, and birds eye does the opposite. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shot sizes: To interpret how directors guide viewer attention and emotion.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Establishing space\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Establishing shots<\/em> which are usually extreme wide shots, tend to orient the viewer in the setting, while <em>medium shots<\/em> help ground characters in their environment. There are a few other distance shots that convey different things, but these are among the most noticed. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Viewer immersive\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Shot sizes help to immerse the viewer in the film. If an intense moment uses a close up or an extreme close up, we are seeing the details of someone&#8217;s emotion in that scene. It can also make us feel like observers who are participating in the scene itself, such as the use of over-shoulder shots. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Character insight: \n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As mentioned before in camera angles, different shot sizes reflect a character\u2019s emotional state or power dynamics. For example, a low-angle medium shot can make a character appear dominant. Below is one of the post famous low-angle medium shots of the Joker in The Dark Knight via Warner Bros.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"755\" height=\"425\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Dark_Knight_Low_Angle.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Dark_Knight_Low_Angle.jpg 755w, https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Dark_Knight_Low_Angle-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 755px) 100vw, 755px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3. Motion: This is essential in filmmaking and analysis because it drives emotion, narrative, and viewer engagement. It takes static visuals and makes them into a dynamic story. This is another technique to help us shape how we precieve a characters mindset, time, and space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Guides viewer attention: Camera movements like pans, tilts, and tracking shots direct the audience\u2019s gaze, revealing or concealing information.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shapes narrative rhythm: Motion controls pacing, so fast cuts and kinetic movement energize scenes. Slow ones or stillness can mean a moment of reflection or suspense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Editing techniques<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Examples of Editing Techniques\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/s_Sp59lQD7Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Editing techniques include any after film editing work. This is when the raw film becomes edited by chaning where the scene cuts off, maybe changing the hue of the environment or brightness to convey different emotions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hue Adjustments: An adjustment used to shift color calues across the spectrum. \n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Often alters emotional tone, or creates surreal or stylized effects. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Match Cut: A seamless transition between two visually similar shots. \n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Usually placed to create a continuity in the narrative.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jump Cut: An abrupt cut within the same shot or scene\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is often meant to change ones perception of time, disorient the viewer, and also adds slylization. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are many other types of after-editing techniques for camers work such as cross cuts, montages, dissolve transitions, sound cuts, etc. If this blog post interested you, feel free to look onto my next few as I actually apply these techniques and use them to analyze a few popular scenes. Thank you for visiting my page as always, and best of luck talking about all this stuff furing your next movie night!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hey you! Yeah you reading this. I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ve watched a movie before, but have you really seen it? In this blog, I&#8217;ll be going over the best tips for how to read and analyze a movie. There is a message behind every action a director makes including camera angles, what kind of transitions they [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-video-assignments"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=178"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193,"href":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178\/revisions\/193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalstorytelling.rileybelle1.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}