How to Research Films

Series Summary

Have you ever been at home watching a movie or been walking out of a movie theater wishing there was a way for you to share your thoughts about what you just saw? Are you a bright and critical person looking for a creative outlet for your talents? Then become a movie critic. The best way for art to improve is by a diverse audience getting involved and helping to work off the fat that the industry adds to the art of film. Stop letting just the newspapers and Hollywood define what is good and bad about movies, speak up, develop a voice, and do your part in improving the movie community.

In this free video, watch as film studies graduate and movie critic Amy Wallace teaches how to be a movie critic. Learn how to research films, how to watch movies at home and in theaters with care, how to take notes during a film, how to reflect on a movie, the importance of honesty, the of positive, and the art of negative in movie reviews, and how to deal with reviewers' remorse. All good art needs good critics to survive, grow, and improve. Watch these videos and start improving the art of movies today.

Video Transcript

"Hi! I'm Amy Wallace on behalf of Expert Village and today we are going to be discussing how to be a good movie critic or more importantly, how to start off as a movie critic with a budget. In our first clip, we are going to be discussing research. Being a movie critic doesn't just require I liked it or I didn't like it, because nobody is going to listen to you if that is all you say. So you are going to want to look into different things surrounding film and adjust them to your taste. The first little bit I think you should do is look at different critics and see what they like and what they don't like. Be careful though. You'll want to make sure that you don't feel pressured to agree or disagree with any one person. The second little bit of information is that you are going to want to read up on the film in general. Now in order to do this on a budget, you might want to check out used book stores or going to sound darkey, your local library. They'll have a lot info on for instance the technical jargon of film but also just simply what makes a good shot. It really is magic when it happens so you have to just know when you see it. The last thing and it is going to be hard but you are going to have to watch the movie. If you are not sure where to start, you can always check out the American Film Institute list of Talk 100 Movies of all times or go to the back catalog of Academy Awards and find out who their winners were in the past. Pretty much a good place to start because they are all iron clad winners. "