The importance of studying film and movies

We spend our whole lives using language to share our stories (of fun experiences, future dreams, etc.) and our wants (a job, a specific meal, a good grade, etc.). And so every year in LA classes, we examine the tools and techniques available to us in order to practice and improve our reading, writing, speaking, and listening. As we get better using these tools, we are able to tell more engaging stories and have a bigger influence in the world.

As we spend more dependent on images and information coming through social media, there is another set of skills that we can use to continue our positive impact in a visual space. Movies and TV tell visual stories through light, color, choice of camera lens, the way the camera moves through the scene and what is included or focused on in the frame. By studying these skills, we can improve the ways we make our positive impact on the world around us.

If you really want to deep dive into film analysis, here’s a link to a comprehensive video about how to analyze movies. It’s about 90 minutes, and it comes from noted video essayist Patrick Willems about how to analyze films.