How To Analyze Movies - Film Studies 101 

Holy crap, making a video like this is like you read my mind. I've been wanting to get better at film analysis lately.

I studied Film for five years and this is the most concise conveyance of the core principles of Film Studies that I think I've ever seen. Another great essay!

The difference in how Patrick looked between the two camera lengths at 00:20:00 was UPSETTING

Thank you Patrick. I was an english major so I'm kind of used to asking "Why?" about every piece of art I consume, but there are plenty of young kids growing up right now who are learning to love movies. They need videos like this one to start them on their journey, not stupid reddit comment sections rehashing the same arguments over and over again about which movies are overrated.

In an era where everyone gets an opinion (and they're usually bad), this is an excellent walkthrough of critique vs. opinion. Nice work! One of the things I found really interesting (as a writer) is that you spoke mostly in terms of storytelling and techniques, but didn't mention writing as much. And here's why I love that: The common RU-vid take "it's bad writing" rarely applies. Because so much is done post-script that knowing how it was written is incredibly difficult. Great video! Now, I'd love to see a video on "why every amateur Twitter critic thinks writing is the problem." LOL

Can’t wait to watch this Patrick. I teach a high school Intro to Film class. I look forward to hearing your insights.

I literally spent 4 years and too much money getting a degree in this, but you bet your ass I'm not missing a Patrick upload

Man, I wish I had film profs when I attended film school who could explain cinema as simply and succinctly as Patrick does here. Excellent!!

Home Alone is about materialism and consumerism versus relationships and love. Everyone who pursues happiness through consumerism or greed, including Kevin, doesn't find lasting happiness. That only comes through love and relationships. Thanks for the great video. Now I can be annoying at parties too!

This video would've be worth making just for the color analysis of Home Alone, honestly. You broke that all down in a way that makes it staggeringly clear in hindsight, but I've seen that movie a thousand times and never picked up on that. Then later in the video, you cut back to the cops taking the Wet Bandits away at the end, and all I can see is that their sirens and brake lights are all red, pure warm tones as Home reasserts. Awesome stuff.

This is fantastic, Patrick! As filmmakers ourselves and former film teachers, we can really appreciate what went into making this. You're one of the best film essayists out there. Keep up the great work!

Chris Columbus fascinates me as a director, because he’s both a fairly bland filmmaker and the director of three of the most beloved modern live-action family films (the first Harry Potter, Home Alone and Mrs Doubtfire). I think his relative blandness becomes a strength - he allows Robin Williams all the space he needs to shine - same in Home Alone, he stands back and let’s Macauley Caulkin be the star - and is faithful to HP’s source material rather than doing a weird spin on it.

I really like how this gently makes a really good case for learning to be media literate. I feel like it's often sort of... mis-sold to us in school as a thing you're meant to look for, rather than something that gives you full access to a story. Also, things you can use yourself. Turning the old "the curtains are just blue!" on its head, if you know your stuff, then curtains can be a weapon in your arsenal

It almost brought a tear to my eye to think about some of this. Like the use of lenses on the old man or the use of warm colors on the mom while everything around her is cold, when I think about how I felt about this film as a kid and then look at these moments with this in mind the emotional impact hits me harder and it's just so sentimental and endearing.

My friends and I just watched every M. Night Shyamalan movie, and it was a delight applying auteur theory to his work. Common themes and occurrences we noticed: the color red, reflection shots, marital strife, depressed children, familial death, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania as a whole, water, and the importance of storytelling. Oh, and plot twists.

SUCH A GREAT VIDEO!!! As a person in a creative field, who has always loved movies, this was such a refreshing and honest look at the art and how to observe it. Literally an entire semester of intro to film class in an hour and a half.

You just turned my 73-year-old mom into a cinephile, Patrick. She enjoyed it from first chapter to last and then we watched and analyzed Saturday Night Fever. Thank you! (And I'm working now on showing each of my friends...)

14:25 Exactly. SPEED RACER was based on an old anime show. The FLASH had CGI choices that confused the audience and made them feel like the special fx weren't finished.

I can’t believe how well Home Alone worked for this video

Alternate title: "How not to be a member of the Film Twitter community or r/movies"

Your normal videos have taught me a lot about movie intricacies, appreciating different shots of movies and themes, generally learning a deeper way to appreciate the movies I love. I'm really appreciative that you did this video so that I could learn more and that now there's a solid guide-stone I can point friends to if they want to learn more about movies to enhance their enjoyment. Sincerely, I appreciate you and thank you.

I very much enjoyed this style of content from you. Beyond my subjective enjoyment, though, this course seems highly appropriate given the current structure of online spaces and interactions. We are inundated with more media than ever before, so gaining the skills to extract meaning and more deeply engage with all this culture feels crucial. Recognizing the language of Film can also (potentially) inspire a greater diversity of online content creation. I fear we lose something meaningful when so many of our videos on RU-vid, TikTok, and elsewhere are made with few if any genuine cinematic choices. It is like a written/spoken language gradually being stripped down to its basic components until it is purely utilitarian or only capable of eliciting simple emotions. Thank you for your effort here!

and just like *that*, 100 filmbro youtube channels were launched

Kudos to Patrick for this video! Even the shots, angles, and lighting in the most unassuming of movies come from hundreds of choices being made, and examining why they were made can not only lead to fun insights but at their best can reveal almost a whole other movie that was waiting for you "under the surface". One book that I can't praise highly enough for this purpose is Sidney Lumet's "Making Movies". He's made some of the greatest ones, from "12 Angry Men" to "Dog Day Afternoon" to "Network", and throughout the book he talks about his methods in the most plainspoken and accessible manner you could ever want. He completely avoids film school glossary terms like "mise en scene" or "diegetic" and, by direct description of his camera, lighting, and performance choices lets even the most casual film fan get an increased illumination of how a scene or film works as well as it does.

Toy Story is an allegory for Western Imperialism. Woody, the cowboy sheriff, is a product of Manifest Destiny. He believes that his moral right to the Wild West despite any who may have resided there before. He has the right to invade. Then Woody has to deal with an invader of his own. His title of Favorite Toy is threatened by the new technologically advanced explorer. Buzz's goal, however valiant he may think, is "A Secret Mission in Uncharted Space" implying he works above the law and explores the unknown. He imposes his worldview where he appears. Buzz and Woody are colonizers and they conflict over land, but eventually unify over the common goal of conquest. "To Infinity and Beyond..." the hunger is never quenched-- even infinity isn't enough to satisfy their hunger for more.

I’m glad you made this video. The fact is most, if not all, film criticism I hear is just people telling they either liked or disliked it. And they often matchup with each other based on certain celebrities(mainly Talk Show/Podcast hosts) who voiced their opinions on it one episode. I’ve always loved taking apart whatever I’ve just watched in my head to see what makes it work or if I’m missing something everyone else gets. There are solid films I can’t say impressed me, like The Departed, and train wrecks that I’ve fallen in love with, like Waterworld. I hope families sit down to watch this, not because it’s going to “sophisticate” them, but it’s going to help them enjoy movies and get their money’s worth out of the theater. Also. Hey P. Willies(can I call you that?) what’s a really beloved film you don’t get the appeal of? Thanks so much!

This is the most refreshing video essay I've watched in a while. Although it's over an hour long, I didn't feel the length. If anything, each single moment felt like a scoop of ice cream rich with Cinematic spice. This is definitely that one video I'll keep coming back to now and again. Thank you for exposing me to this experience. 🥂

This is great. I recall reading an article that defines good criticism as evaluating if a movie has accomplished what it is attempting to do. This video helps me better understand the first step in this process: the determination of what, exactly a movie might be attempting to do.

Remember: fan service, nostalgia and packing in reference and tie-ins are the only requirement to make a good movie.

Ok so, I know it was just an example of a potential reading but, I think if I’m understanding criticism right, taking things as intentional regardless of intent, reading the movie as class struggle might make sense because even if the authors didn’t explicitly decide to make a movie about that, there could be biases, internal fears, etc. That inform the decisions. Like making the villains blue collar was a choice. Someone at some point might have been subconsciously worried about blue collar people invading the upper middle class traditional home.

This is amazing! As a newbie who always thought about meaning behind scenes but having a hard time explaining what I was seeing and feeling this was super interesting and useful, thanks for making this!!

I was a film student and Patrick's video here definitely sounds like the first couple of weeks of a very memorable class I took called "Directing for the Camera" Anyone who wants to become a great film director has to be able to break down a script and get to the core meaning and message of a film before directing it

You just don’t miss Patrick 😭 loved this video. You leveled up my film analysis skills with this masterclass! Thank you for sharing this on youtube :)

I think videos like this are made just for me. I absolutely loved my college film analysis class. This is absolutely my kind of thing Great work Patrick.

Pretty impressive, Pat. That basically *was* an entire Film 101 course.

Congratulations, man! You did it again! An excellent and detailed video that's engaging and flies by despite its length. I'll definitely come back to it again and again for years to come

Love how clear and concise you gently lead me through ways to think, thank you Patrick!

Oh, and nicely done with the line "Give the same script to Alfred Hitchcock or Stanley Donen and you'll get very different films.", seeing as Donen's "Charade" is regarded as the best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock didn't actually make. Chef's kiss on sneaking that one into the video!

Great video Patrick! I’m a video game developer and it’s really cool seeing some of the crossover between film and game productions and how we use different tools and terms but try to achieve the same things.

I’ve been transported back to my favorite classes in college. Thank you for this, Patrick!

I liked the idea that the film itself is always teaching you how to watch it.

As someone who’s completing their Film Studies Minor I loved the simplicity and clarity with which you covered all of these topics. It was a great review for me

This was put together so well. Im going to go check out more of your work. Keep it up.

I found the podcast "Blank Check" through your channel--sidebar: THANK YOU it's my new favorite--and their work is a stellar example of auteur theory done right For everyone not familiar, the podcast does miniseries about the careers of notable directors and how each of that director's films builds on each other, comments on the director, and was a byproduct and influence on the context in which they were made. Which is WAY headier than how it actually plays out. It's addictive and extremely insightful and entertaining.

This is fascinating! Really opened my eyes to the often overlooked complexities of movies. Thanks for making this. I'll never think about a movie the same way!

Seriously, I have always wanted to take one of your classes. Thank you for being so generous.

Patrick . This just might be the greatest video I've ever seen on any subject anywhere. It's 1.5 hours and it feels like 10 minutes. This is brilliant.

I really enjoyed this particular take on film criticism, I'll be sure to analyze it and find the meaning in it (intended or not), and ask questions, such as why you chose to make a more academic 'class' style video, why you chose the movies for clips that you did, why Home Alone was chosen for analysis within the class, and the thematic reasons behind multiple endings.

I'm only on part 1, but yeah, realizing that in a professional production of art, EVERYTHING is done with intention, that there is a "why" behind any element you can identify, is the key to appreciating art. Things don't just happen and show up onscreen. Even in cheap and bad movies, an element ended up there because the filmmakers wanted you to see it for a reason, even if that reason is stupid or shallow or doesn't make sense. Or if it WAS a happy little accident, yeah, it's either worth noting the circumstances that lead to it and how its presence affects the work, or considering that even if it wasn't done INTENTIONALLY, it wasn't REMOVED, because the creators decided it works. A little further in now, and the Psycho shower scene also established another great point: the collaborative nature of film. The whole idea of auteur theory was basically created to describe Hitchcock, but Hitchcock famously DID NOT EDIT HIS FILMS OR HAVE INPUT IN THE EDITING PROCESS. The moment filming was done, he handed it off to his trusted editor and started production on his next project. So the most famous scene of Hitchcock's most famous film? The vast majority of its strength, the editing, is completely absent of his influence. George Tomasini deserves the credit for it.

It's hard to find a fulfilling video which surprises more than the thumbnails! This is one such gem❤️👌 Amazing video... Patrick's way of putting things together deserves respect.... Thank you Patrick...🙏

You actually brought a tear to my eye when you talked about the lenses in the scene with old man Marley. I don't know shit about lenses. Just to know that Chris Columbus and the cinematographer cared enough to do that with the different lenses in order to convey the changing of emotions is amazing. The language of film is so incredible when done with care. It is a form of expression and media that brings a feeling that only a movie can. Kind of how a good book gives you a feeling that only a good book can. Learning these kinds of things makes me want to go to film school. I've been thinking about it

Thankyou so much for making this! I was literally looking for such a video last day❤️ I'm a film studies scholar and this really means a lot because often times I find it hard to pinpoint where exactly i should start when analysing a movie and this is like a structured guide. Really grateful!

I'm okay with more academic entries like this. It's really nice to get a primer on some of the terms that come up in your other videos!

I've genuinely been looking for this exact video for years. Film analysis has always been something that I felt like I didn't fully understand. I relate to your story where a teacher sat down with you to explain film analysis except in this case, I was the student and you were the teacher.

Patrick, I'm watching this while failing at sleeping before a day of college classes related to theatre, and it got me thinking about the years I've been watching your channel, and all the stuff I've learned about storytelling and filmmaking from your channel. Suddenly, a question popped in my head: in another world where you didn't start this RU-vid thing, do you think you might've been a teacher/professor instead? I think you would've been good at it.

I really loved this video, really loved seeing how you look at movies & what sort of things you see that most of us would miss or gloss over.

As a non Cinema studies major I do feel vindicated in the education my mom gave me walking through blockbuster as a eight year old and showing me alien and Casablanca and the breakfast club. She sat me down, showed me the movie and asked me what I thought. Analysis is fun!

I want to watch these videos FOREVER. Thank you so much for giving me an hour and a huff of such good analysis

This is the most I've enjoyed a Willems video in years. Really insightful and informative.

Media literacy these days is completely in the bin so I thank the lord for videos like these.

We need more of theses videos! Purely focusing on its topic! Another great video!

thank you THANK YOU for this video patrick and crew

It's very hard to overemphasize how actually epic this lecture is. Thank you, Patrick!

I’m actually taking Intro to Film Studies in my first semester in film school right now. Perfect timing, Patrick!

I never went to film school or anything, I am actually working at a nursery school. But movies and cinematography have been a hobby for almost a decade. THIS was one of the most informative videos i’ve seen so far. Brilliant!

Every minute is the answer to my every prayer - my favourites being the Auteur Theory and “Putting it All Together" segments. BRAVO! @Patrick (H) Willems

Thanks Pat! I like this type of video, really helps a lot

Absolutely love this video! I'd be curious to know if Home Alone was an obvious lock for the example movie or if there were others in consideration.

Thank you for making this video! I was actually searching up for some inspiration for my essay, and I came up across your vid! I learn so much more than just about how to analyze movies. Feeling glad and happy that I could watch this today. Thank you Patrick!

Very comprehensive and comprehensible! Well done!

I'm watching through this all the way through but I'm definitely going to be rewatching and taking notes.

This is a great video. In fact this kind of video is what I like most about this channel: straight up great analysis with lots of thought provoking educational content. Home Alone is a masterpiece, I could tell you could've made this video about the original Star Wars too. Well done. If you upload more content like this I'm on board for it.

Tremendous video! Loved all the technical camera stuff. Really great breakdown. Every "film reviewer" on RU-vid should watch this.

I've had this in my "Watch Later" list for months cause of the length... And then I started it and couldn't put it down. So much of what you describe I guess I could already "feel" even without thinking, and now watching your explanation I understand more about why I felt what I felt!

I’m here because my Intro to Film Studies professor showed part of it in class the day after it dropped and told us to watch the rest of it. This is a very informative and enjoyable video, especially as I watched _Home Alone_ a lot as a kid.

Okay, this was truly AWESOME! Not just for people watching films but also for those of us making them. Great food for thought when making the creative decisions that go into a film. Thanks for this!

What a great mini course!! So detailed and informative. Full package. Thank you a lot!

This is excellent. Great work!

I've watched this a couple of times now and I really appreciate your take on film analysis. My SO went to film school and def loves to do film analysis but he was never great about explaining how to look at the film, he would go more into technical filmmaking aspects that I don't always understand. This video was a great way for me to look at films in the same way he does and we can have a deeper conversation about movies

such a great watch. I have loved watching films and also watching other people's essays and critics about them. Never have I thought all this time though, that I might be able to try analysing movies myself. after watching this I might actually try It out. exciting! thank you very much.

I can't explain how much this video has paved a clearer way for me to analyze movies with a new perspective.

Killed it, Patrick, way to go!

I like the idea that theme is best encapsulated in a statement, for example “all you need is love” or “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”, or “greed is good”, etc. Typically this is a philosophical or worldview statement. A worldview statement is something that people either agree or disagree with, to varying degrees since we all have different worldviews. To put it simply, a statement creates conflict. This is the core conflict around which all other elements revolve.

I now realized how great home alone is.

Such a wonderful video. Keep up the good work!!

That subtle burn on Tenet was very well done.

Yet another of your videos I will introduce to my grade 10 Language and Literature students as they move into writing analytical essays. They absolutely love your Lemon of Troy episode and it was fantastic supplemental material in furthering their understanding of narrative structures. Thank you!

Actually a fantastic video. Excellent Explanation. Thank You.

I think all media analysis can be booked down to "intent" vs "product". Analyzing what the artist wanted to do and what was actually presented; and what caused those things. The rest is really just personal interpretation of how it made you feel.

just what i needed, thanks patrick

one of the most helpful videos ive ever seen, this channel is seriously underrated

Terrific video essay Patrick, really enjoyed that, thank you.

Loved it! Really nice! Thank u Patrik!

This is amazing! I've picked up bits and pieces of this here and there over the years, but for someone like me who has no formal training in media analysis it's invaluable.

thanks for providing this toolset. I think it makes me now watch movies even more joyous.

It’s been a while since my last short film and this was a nice refresher as I tackle my next short. I appreciate this video very much.

Thank you very much, this video is the best guide you could provide to anyone!

This was extremely helpful!! Thank you so much!

I'd really love to see more content like this on the channel. Great stuff.

Thanks Patrick, I Have been really enjoying your channel and this is a great introduction on how to analyse film. Having done film studies myself it’s always good to get a refresher and this is broken down perfect. Enjoy your enthusiasm and elegance. Keep it up!