This text is designed to teach you how to analyze a film and discover the way the underlying message(s) of a film are conveyed through the elements of filmmaking.

To do this, you will learn about the process of filmmaking as well as the tools and techniques that are used by the various artists and craftsman involved in creating a film.

Film can be a complex art form to study because, while definitely a piece of art, most film is produced as an act of commerce.  Filmmaking is a business and a big business at that -  which means that choices made in filmmaking often have financial motivations as well as artistic ones.

In order to utilize this text effectively in your learning process, it will help you to understand how it is organized.  After an introduction to the process of filmmaking with the first chapter, the remainder of the text is divided into the 7 production areas of filmmaking: Screenwriting, Production Design, Cinematography, Editing, Music & Sound, Acting and Directing. Each of those chapters is divided into two sections.  The first section explains how that production area functions during the process of filmmaking.  The second section explains the tools and techniques used by the practitioners in the area i.e. the Screenwriter, Production Designer etc...  to convey information to the audience.

The goal of this information is to allow you, the audience member, to analyze (decode) the choices and discern the underlying meaning.  (Why is the character wearing that particular skirt?; Why is she being filmed from a high angle and in a long shot?; Why is "American the Beautiful" playing the the back ground?)  You can then use this information to discover and express the theme of the film.