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The Art of Evaluating Movies: A Guide to Writing a Comprehensive Evaluation Essay

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evaluation paper on a movie

The Art of Evaluating Movies: A Guide to writing a Comprehensive Evaluation Essay

Introduction.

Watching a movie can be an enjoyable and entertaining experience, but IT can also be a learning opportunity. When you watch a movie critically, you can analyze its various elements, such as the plot, characters, cinematography, and more. Evaluating movies through writing comprehensive evaluation essays can help you sharpen your analytical skills, develop your taste in cinema, and express your opinions effectively. In this guide, we will walk you through the art of evaluating movies and provide you with valuable insights into writing a comprehensive evaluation essay.

The Importance of Evaluating Movies

Evaluating movies is more than just expressing personal preferences or giving a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down. IT involves a deeper understanding and analysis of the film, which can contribute to your overall cinematic knowledge. By evaluating movies, you learn to appreciate different genres, understand filmmaking techniques, and critically assess the messages portrayed in the film. Moreover, evaluating movies can enhance your communication skills as you articulate your thoughts and opinions effectively.

Understanding the Evaluation Essay

An evaluation essay is a form of writing that critically analyzes and assesses a subject, in this case, a movie. The main goal is to provide an objective and comprehensive evaluation of the movie’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall quality. This type of essay requires a balanced approach, taking into account various aspects of the film and substantiating your opinions with supporting evidence.

Choosing the Right Movie

Before diving into the evaluation essay, IT is crucial to select a movie that interests you and holds potential for critical analysis. Opt for a movie that provides ample material for evaluation, such as complex characters, thought-provoking themes, or innovative storytelling techniques. IT is recommended to choose a movie that you have already watched or have access to, as rewatching or analyzing specific scenes will help you in crafting a detailed evaluation.

Analyzing the Movie’s Elements

To write a comprehensive evaluation essay, you need to examine various elements of the movie. Here are the key aspects to consider:

Plot and Structure

Start your evaluation by analyzing the movie’s plot and structure. Assess whether the storyline is engaging, coherent, and well-paced. Evaluate the effectiveness of plot twists, character development, and the overall flow of the narrative.

Characters and Acting

Focus on the characters portrayed in the movie and the actors’ performances. Assess the believability of the characters, their depth, and the impact of the actors’ performances on the overall movie experience. Pay attention to the character development throughout the film.

Cinematography and Visuals

Evaluate the cinematography and visual elements used in the movie. Analyze the framing, camera angles, lighting, color palette, and overall aesthetics. Consider how these choices enhance or detract from the storytelling or the overall mood of the movie.

Sound and Music

Assess the audio aspects of the movie, including the sound design and the music. Determine how these elements contribute to the atmosphere, emotional impact, and overall effectiveness of the film. Analyze the use of silence or background music in key scenes.

Themes and Messages

Reflect on the themes and messages conveyed by the movie. Evaluate the depth, relevance, and originality of these themes. Consider the movie’s social or cultural commentary and its impact on the audience.

Editing and Pacing

Analyze the editing techniques and pacing of the movie. Assess the transitions between scenes, the use of cuts or fade-ins/outs, and the overall rhythm of the film. Evaluate whether the editing choices enhance or hinder the audience’s engagement with the story.

writing the Evaluation Essay

Now that you have thoroughly analyzed the movie, IT ‘s time to start writing your evaluation essay. Follow these steps to ensure a well-structured and comprehensive essay:

In the introduction, provide a brief overview of the movie and include relevant information such as the title, director, and release date. Set the tone for your evaluation by stating your overall opinion while avoiding specific details or spoilers.

After the introduction, summarize the movie’s plot and main elements. Keep IT concise, focusing on the essential aspects that will allow the reader to understand your evaluation.

Evaluation Criteria

Create a clear and structured evaluation by discussing specific criteria. For each element you analyzed, present your assessment, supported by evidence from the movie. Back up your claims with examples, quotes, or scenes that illustrate your points.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Highlight the movie’s strengths and weaknesses by discussing each element individually. Offer a balanced evaluation by praising what the movie does well while also addressing its shortcomings. Be objective and avoid personal biases.

Overall Evaluation

Conclude your evaluation essay by summarizing your overall assessment of the movie. Reiterate your opinion and provide a final analysis of how the movie succeeded or failed in conveying its message, entertaining the audience, or achieving its intended goals.

writing a comprehensive evaluation essay allows you to delve deep into the world of movies and analyze various elements that contribute to their overall quality. By evaluating movies, you develop a critical eye, learn to appreciate different cinematic techniques, and express your opinions effectively. Remember to choose a movie that provides ample material for analysis, break down its different elements, and support your evaluation with evidence. Through practice and an open mind, you will become a skilled movie critic capable of providing insightful evaluations.

Q: How do I choose the right movie for evaluation?

A: When choosing a movie for evaluation, opt for one that interests you and provides material for analysis. Look for complex characters, thought-provoking themes, or innovative storytelling techniques. IT is recommended to select a movie you have already watched or have access to for easier analysis.

Q: How can I improve my analytical skills when evaluating movies?

A: To improve your analytical skills, watch movies critically and pay attention to various elements such as plot, characters, cinematography, sound, and themes. Practice analyzing and reflecting on these elements, and challenge yourself to express your thoughts and opinions in a clear and structured manner.

Q: Can personal opinions be included in an evaluation essay?

A: While an evaluation essay requires a balanced and objective approach, personal opinions are essential. However, they should be supported by evidence from the movie and presented in a thoughtful manner. Avoid using personal biases or unfounded statements without any supporting rationale.

Q: How should I structure my evaluation essay?

A: A well-structured evaluation essay includes an introduction, a summary of the movie, an evaluation based on specific criteria, a discussion of strengths and weaknesses, and a concluding overall assessment. Make sure to support your evaluation with evidence and examples from the movie.

Q: Are there any tips for expressing my opinions effectively in a movie evaluation?

A: To express your opinions effectively in a movie evaluation, be specific and provide supporting evidence. Use concrete examples, quotes, or scenes that demonstrate your points. Avoid vague statements and ensure your opinions are connected to the specific elements you are evaluating.

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Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Movies — Movie Review

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Essays on Movie Review

Hook examples for movie review essays, "a cinematic masterpiece" hook.

"Prepare to be captivated by the sheer brilliance of this cinematic masterpiece. Explore how every frame, performance, and detail contributes to a visual and emotional spectacle."

"Beyond the Screen: Themes and Messages" Hook

"This film transcends entertainment, offering profound themes and powerful messages. Dive into the underlying ideas and social commentary that make it a thought-provoking experience."

"The Journey of Character Development" Hook

"Follow the compelling journey of characters who evolve throughout the film. Analyze their growth, conflicts, and relationships, making this movie a character-driven narrative."

"Visual Delights: Cinematography and Special Effects" Hook

"Be prepared to be visually stunned by the breathtaking cinematography and cutting-edge special effects. Explore how these elements enhance the storytelling and immerse the audience."

"Unforgettable Performances" Hook

"The cast delivers unforgettable performances that breathe life into the characters. Discuss standout acting moments, character dynamics, and the emotional impact of their roles."

"The Soundtrack: Music That Moves" Hook

"The film's soundtrack is more than just music; it's an integral part of the storytelling. Explore how the score enhances emotions, sets the tone, and complements the visuals."

"Cinematic Analysis: Directing and Editing" Hook

"Delve into the meticulous craftsmanship of the director and editor. Analyze their choices in pacing, sequencing, and storytelling techniques that make this film a cinematic triumph."

The Significance of "The Godfather" (1972)

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How to Write a Movie Review

Last Updated: January 18, 2024 Fact Checked

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 178 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 5,522,788 times. Learn more...

Whether a movie is a rotten tomato or a brilliant work of art, if people are watching it, it's worth critiquing. A decent movie review should entertain, persuade and inform, providing an original opinion without giving away too much of the plot. A great movie review can be a work of art in its own right. Read on to learn how to analyze a movie like a professional film critic, come up with an interesting thesis, and write a review as entertaining as your source material.

Sample Movie Reviews

evaluation paper on a movie

Writing an Intro for a Movie Review

Step 1 Start with a compelling fact, quote, or opinion on the movie.

  • Comparison to Relevant Event or Movie: "Every day, our leaders, politicians, and pundits call for "revenge"– against terrorist groups, against international rivals, against other political parties. But few of them understand the cold, destructive, and ultimately hollow thrill of revenge as well as the characters of Blue Ruin. "
  • Review in a nutshell: "Despite a compelling lead performance by Tom Hanks and a great soundtrack, Forrest Gump never gets out of the shadow of its weak plot and questionable premise."
  • Context or Background Information: " Boyhood might be the first movie made where knowing how it was produced–slowly, over 12 years, with the same actors–is just as crucial as the movie itself."

Step 2 Give a clear, well-established opinion early on.

  • Using stars, a score out of 10 or 100, or the simple thumbs-up and thumbs-down is a quick way to give your thoughts. You then write about why you chose that rating.
  • Great Movie: ABC is the rare movie that succeeds on almost every level, where each character, scene, costume, and joke firing on all cylinders to make a film worth repeated viewings."
  • Bad Movie: "It doesn't matter how much you enjoy kung-fu and karate films: with 47 Ronin, you're better off saving your money, your popcorn, and time."
  • Okay Movie: "I loved the wildly uneven Interstellar far more than I should have, but that doesn't mean it is perfect. Ultimately, the utter awe and spectacle of space swept me through the admittedly heavy-handed plotting and dialogue."

Step 3 Support your opinions with evidence from specific scenes.

  • Great: "Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer's chemistry would carry Fruitvale Station even if the script wasn't as good. The mid-movie prison scene in particular, where the camera never leaves their faces, shows how much they can convey with nothing but their eyelids, the flashing tension of neck muscles, and a barely cracking voice."
  • Bad: " Jurassic World's biggest flaw, a complete lack of relatable female characters, is only further underscored by a laughably unrealistic shot of our heroine running away from a dinosaur – in heels."
  • Okay: "At the end of the day, Snowpiercer can't decide what kind of movie it wants to be. The attention to detail in fight scenes, where every weapon, lightbulb, and slick patch of ground is accounted for, doesn't translate to an ending that seems powerful but ultimately says little of substance."

Step 4 Create an original...

  • Does the film reflect on a current event or contemporary issue? It could be the director's way of engaging in a bigger conversation. Look for ways to relate the content of the film to the "real" world.
  • Does the film seem to have a message, or does it attempt to elicit a specific response or emotion from the audience? You could discuss whether or not it achieves its own goals.
  • Does the film connect with you on a personal level? You could write a review stemming from your own feelings and weave in some personal stories to make it interesting for your readers.

Composing Your Review

Step 1 Follow your thesis paragraph with a short plot summary.

  • When you name characters in your plot summary, list the actors' names directly afterward in parenthesis.
  • Find a place to mention the director's name and the full movie title.
  • If you feel you must discuss information that might "spoil" things for readers, warn them first.

Step 2 Start to talk about the film’s technical and artistic choices.

  • Cinematography: " Her is a world drenched in color, using bright, soft reds and oranges alongside calming whites and grays that both build, and slowly strip away, the feelings of love between the protagonists. Every frame feels like a painting worth sitting in."
  • Tone: "Despite the insane loneliness and high stakes of being stuck alone on Mars, The Martian's witty script keeps humor and excitement alive in every scene. Space may be dangerous and scary, but the joy of scientific discovery is intoxicating."
  • Music and Sound: " No Country For Old Men's bold decision to skip music entirely pays off in spades. The eerie silence of the desert, punctuated by the brief spells of violent, up-close-and-personal sound effects of hunter and hunted, keeps you constantly on the edge of your seat."
  • Acting: "While he's fantastic whenever he's on the move, using his cool stoicism to counteract the rampaging bus, Keanu Reeves can't quite match his costar in the quiet moments of Speed, which falter under his expressionless gaze."

Step 3 Move into your...

  • Keep your writing clear and easy to understand. Don't use too much technical filmmaking jargon, and make your language crisp and accessible.
  • Present both the facts and your opinion. For example, you might state something such as, "The Baroque background music was a jarring contrast to the 20th century setting." This is a lot more informative then simply saying, "The music was a strange choice for the movie."

Step 4 Use plenty of examples to back up your points.

  • Great: "In the end, even the characters of Blue Ruin know how pointless their feud is. But revenge, much like every taut minute of this thriller, is far too addictive to give up until the bitter end.""
  • Bad: "Much like the oft-mentioned "box of chocolates", Forest Gump has a couple of good little morsels. But most of the scenes, too sweet by half, should have been in the trash long before this movie was put out."
  • Okay: "Without the novel, even revolutionary concept, Boyhood may not be a great movie. It might not even be "good.” But the power the film finds in the beauty of passing time and little, inconsequential moments – moments that could only be captured over 12 years of shooting – make Linklater's latest an essential film for anyone interested in the art of film."

Polishing Your Piece

Step 1 Edit your review.

  • Ask yourself whether your review stayed true to your thesis. Did your conclusion tie back in with the initial ideas you proposed?
  • Decide whether your review contains enough details about the movie. You may need to go back and add more description here and there to give readers a better sense of what the movie's about.
  • Decide whether your review is interesting enough as a stand-alone piece of writing. Did you contribute something original to this discussion? What will readers gain from reading your review that they couldn't from simply watching the movie?

Step 2 Proofread your review.

Studying Your Source Material

Step 1 Gather basic facts about the movie.

  • The title of the film, and the year it came out.
  • The director's name.
  • The names of the lead actors.

Step 2 Take notes on the movie as you watch it.

  • Make a note every time something sticks out to you, whether it's good or bad. This could be costuming, makeup, set design, music, etc. Think about how this detail relates to the rest of the movie and what it means in the context of your review.
  • Take note of patterns you begin to notice as the movie unfolds.
  • Use the pause button frequently so you make sure not to miss anything, and rewind as necessary.

Step 3 Analyze the mechanics of the movie.

  • Direction: Consider the director and how he or she choose to portray/explain the events in the story. If the movie was slow, or didn't include things you thought were necessary, you can attribute this to the director. If you've seen other movies directed by the same person, compare them and determine which you like the most.
  • Cinematography: What techniques were used to film the movie? What setting and background elements helped to create a certain tone?
  • Writing: Evaluate the script, including dialogue and characterization. Did you feel like the plot was inventive and unpredictable or boring and weak? Did the characters' words seem credible to you?
  • Editing: Was the movie choppy or did it flow smoothly from scene to scene? Did they incorporate a montage to help build the story? And was this obstructive to the narrative or did it help it? Did they use long cuts to help accentuate an actor's acting ability or many reaction shots to show a group's reaction to an event or dialogue? If visual effects were used were the plates well-chosen and were the composited effects part of a seamless experience? (Whether the effects looked realistic or not is not the jurisdiction of an editor, however, they do choose the footage to be sent off to the compositors, so this could still affect the film.)
  • Costume design: Did the clothing choices fit the style of the movie? Did they contribute to the overall tone, rather than digressing from it?
  • Set design: Consider how the setting of the film influenced its other elements. Did it add or subtract from the experience for you? If the movie was filmed in a real place, was this location well-chosen?
  • Score or soundtrack: Did it work with the scenes? Was it over/under-used? Was it suspenseful? Amusing? Irritating? A soundtrack can make or break a movie, especially if the songs have a particular message or meaning to them.

Step 4 Watch it one more time.

Community Q&A

wikiHow Staff Editor

  • If you don't like the movie, don't be abusive and mean. If possible, avoid watching the movies that you would surely hate. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
  • Understand that just because the movie isn't to your taste, that doesn't mean you should give it a bad review. A good reviewer helps people find movie's they will like. Since you don't have the same taste in movies as everyone else, you need to be able to tell people if they will enjoy the movie, even if you didn't. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
  • Structure is very important; try categorizing the different parts of the film and commenting on each of those individually. Deciding how good each thing is will help you come to a more accurate conclusion. For example, things like acting, special effects, cinematography, think about how good each of those are. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

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  • ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_about_film/terminology_and_starting_prompts.html
  • ↑ https://www.spiritofbaraka.com/how-write-a-movie-review
  • ↑ https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/9-tips-for-writing-a-film-review/
  • ↑ https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/writing-help/top-tips-for-writing-a-review
  • ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/summary-using-it-wisely/
  • ↑ https://twp.duke.edu/sites/twp.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/film-review-1.original.pdf
  • ↑ https://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-tips-for-writing-a-film-review/
  • ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_about_film/film_writing_sample_analysis.html
  • ↑ https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/onnyx.bei/dual-credit/movie-review-writing-guide
  • ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/conclusions/
  • ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-a-movie-review/
  • ↑ https://gustavus.edu/writingcenter/handoutdocs/editing_proofreading.php
  • ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
  • ↑ https://edusson.com/blog/how-to-write-movie-review

About This Article

To write a movie review, start with a compelling fact or opinion to hook your readers, like "Despite a great performance by Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump never overcomes its weak plot." Then, elaborate on your opinion of the movie right off the bat so readers know where you stand. Once your opinion is clear, provide examples from the movie that prove your point, like specific scenes, dialogue, songs, or camera shots. To learn how to study a film closely before you write a review, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a Movie Review: 9 Essential Tips

Whether you are an actor, a filmmaker, or a film geek through and through, writing film reviews can help hone your ability to think critically. With experience writing reviews, cinephiles can watch movies with a more thoughtful and intentional perspective. This skill enables viewers to have a response that goes deeper than “That movie was awesome!” And for you future film reviewers out there, it’s never too soon to start.

How to Write a Movie Review

While there’s no perfect approach to writing a movie review, there are definitely best practices that every aspiring reviewer can consider. Here are nine tips on writing a compelling piece.

1. Watch the film at least once.

When writing a film review, once is necessary, but twice is preferable. It’s impossible to capture every detail and thought only after one viewing. Throughout watching the film, taking detailed notes is also a good idea. This will help the writing process and make it easy to refer to your in-the-moment thoughts and reactions.

2. Express your opinions and support your criticism.

Professional reviewers do not shy away from telling their readers whether they thought a movie was good, bad, or indifferent. In fact, readers rely on those reviewers whose tastes reflect their own. Be sure to back up these thoughts with specifics–a disappointing performance, a ridiculous plot, beautiful cinematography, difficult material that leaves you thinking, and so on. Professional reviewers can express why and how they came to their criticism.

3. Consider your audience.

Are you writing for a fan site or a news outlet? Who will read your pieces, and what are their interests? Knowing who your readers are can help you decide what elements of the movie to highlight. You can also adjust your writing style to fit the target audience and the tone they’re used to reading.

4. Talk about the acting.

Many casual filmgoers will be inspired to see a movie if a favorite actor is in it, so you should probably spend a little space talking about the performances. Does the film feature a seasoned actor in a new kind of role or a brilliant performance from a rising star? How was the acting? Feedback about how well the actors handled the script, the dynamics in an ensemble, and so much more can help describe how the actors did in any given film.

5. Call out directors, cinematographers, and special effects.

This is where your film geek can really shine. Tell your readers about the highlights or missteps of directors, cinematographers, costume designers, and CGI. What worked, what surprised you, and what fell short of expectations are all great questions to address in the body of your review. It helps to have some knowledge of filmmaking , as well. That’s why film students with writing experience can actually make great reviewers. At NYFA, for instance, many film students study a range of topics relating to film that can include screenwriting, producing, and much more.

6. No spoilers!

Give your readers some idea of the plot, but be careful not to include any spoilers. Remember, the point of a good review is to get people interested in going to the movie. Don’t get over-excited and ruin it for them!

7. Study the professionals.

As with all writing endeavors, the more you read, the better. And when you read film reviews that you like (or don’t like), think about why. Use your critical eye to consider why one reviewer has a hundred thousand followers and another only has two. Be sure to read the publications where you’d like your writing to appear as a template for your reviews, and don’t forget to read the submission guidelines. A few examples of film review professionals include Rotten Tomatoes , Roger Ebert , and Film Comment . 

8. Reread, rewrite, and edit.

Edit your work. Your opinions will not be taken seriously if you misspell the director’s name or can’t put together a grammatically correct sentence. Take the time to check your spelling and edit your piece for organizational flow.

9. Find your voice.

The best reviewers have a distinct personality that comes across in their writing. This does not happen overnight, so take every opportunity to write as an opportunity to develop your own style and voice that will grab the reader’s attention and keep them coming back for more.

Learn More About Filmmaking at NYFA

Writing film reviews is a great way to pursue your passion for film. Ready to build even more skills in filmmaking? Request more information about New York Film Academy’s filmmaking programs and workshops today!

Writing the Evaluation Essay

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evaluation paper on a movie

In this tutorial, you will walk through instruction and writing steps that will lead you to an Evaluation Essay.  Please make a copy of this document (File>Make Copy) and complete all of the steps below:

Sometimes it’s nice to know how your paper will be graded before you start writing. Here are the key features of a well-written paper about a film of your choosing.

From  Norton Field Guide chapter 16

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

For this assignment, you will choose a film you have watched that was meaningful enough to evaluate. It can be one that was meaningful because it changed your perspective, for instance. You are also welcome to choose a film that was critically acclaimed, but you have objections to. Choose something that strikes you as a film worth analyzing and discussing.

evaluation paper on a movie

Step 4- Draft

Use this MLA formatted writing template linked  HERE  to draft out your 3 page (750 word) essay by making a copy and adding your own information.  Add a link to your paper in the box below. Make sure it is set so that “Anyone with a link CAN COMMENT” Do this by clicking SHARE in the top right corner. Then click “change” under the “get link” box, and use the down arrow to change so that anyone at MHA can edit.

evaluation paper on a movie

Step 5: Get Feedback

evaluation paper on a movie

Step 6- Peer Editing

Go back to the course and submit your draft for peer editing. You will post your own draft, then edit two of your peers’ drafts. Read the directions carefully in the Peer Editing Forum.

Step 7: Final Paper

Once you have revised your draft, you will submit your final draft to your teacher in the course. You may also paste the draft below. Make sure it is shared so that anyone from MHA with a link can edit:

The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Film Analysis

What this handout is about.

This handout introduces film analysis and and offers strategies and resources for approaching film analysis assignments.

Writing the film analysis essay

Writing a film analysis requires you to consider the composition of the film—the individual parts and choices made that come together to create the finished piece. Film analysis goes beyond the analysis of the film as literature to include camera angles, lighting, set design, sound elements, costume choices, editing, etc. in making an argument. The first step to analyzing the film is to watch it with a plan.

Watching the film

First it’s important to watch the film carefully with a critical eye. Consider why you’ve been assigned to watch a film and write an analysis. How does this activity fit into the course? Why have you been assigned this particular film? What are you looking for in connection to the course content? Let’s practice with this clip from Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958). Here are some tips on how to watch the clip critically, just as you would an entire film:

  • Give the clip your undivided attention at least once. Pay close attention to details and make observations that might start leading to bigger questions.
  • Watch the clip a second time. For this viewing, you will want to focus specifically on those elements of film analysis that your class has focused on, so review your course notes. For example, from whose perspective is this clip shot? What choices help convey that perspective? What is the overall tone, theme, or effect of this clip?
  • Take notes while you watch for the second time. Notes will help you keep track of what you noticed and when, if you include timestamps in your notes. Timestamps are vital for citing scenes from a film!

For more information on watching a film, check out the Learning Center’s handout on watching film analytically . For more resources on researching film, including glossaries of film terms, see UNC Library’s research guide on film & cinema .

Brainstorming ideas

Once you’ve watched the film twice, it’s time to brainstorm some ideas based on your notes. Brainstorming is a major step that helps develop and explore ideas. As you brainstorm, you may want to cluster your ideas around central topics or themes that emerge as you review your notes. Did you ask several questions about color? Were you curious about repeated images? Perhaps these are directions you can pursue.

If you’re writing an argumentative essay, you can use the connections that you develop while brainstorming to draft a thesis statement . Consider the assignment and prompt when formulating a thesis, as well as what kind of evidence you will present to support your claims. Your evidence could be dialogue, sound edits, cinematography decisions, etc. Much of how you make these decisions will depend on the type of film analysis you are conducting, an important decision covered in the next section.

After brainstorming, you can draft an outline of your film analysis using the same strategies that you would for other writing assignments. Here are a few more tips to keep in mind as you prepare for this stage of the assignment:

  • Make sure you understand the prompt and what you are being asked to do. Remember that this is ultimately an assignment, so your thesis should answer what the prompt asks. Check with your professor if you are unsure.
  • In most cases, the director’s name is used to talk about the film as a whole, for instance, “Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo .” However, some writers may want to include the names of other persons who helped to create the film, including the actors, the cinematographer, and the sound editor, among others.
  • When describing a sequence in a film, use the literary present. An example could be, “In Vertigo , Hitchcock employs techniques of observation to dramatize the act of detection.”
  • Finding a screenplay/script of the movie may be helpful and save you time when compiling citations. But keep in mind that there may be differences between the screenplay and the actual product (and these differences might be a topic of discussion!).
  • Go beyond describing basic film elements by articulating the significance of these elements in support of your particular position. For example, you may have an interpretation of the striking color green in Vertigo , but you would only mention this if it was relevant to your argument. For more help on using evidence effectively, see the section on “using evidence” in our evidence handout .

Also be sure to avoid confusing the terms shot, scene, and sequence. Remember, a shot ends every time the camera cuts; a scene can be composed of several related shots; and a sequence is a set of related scenes.

Different types of film analysis

As you consider your notes, outline, and general thesis about a film, the majority of your assignment will depend on what type of film analysis you are conducting. This section explores some of the different types of film analyses you may have been assigned to write.

Semiotic analysis

Semiotic analysis is the interpretation of signs and symbols, typically involving metaphors and analogies to both inanimate objects and characters within a film. Because symbols have several meanings, writers often need to determine what a particular symbol means in the film and in a broader cultural or historical context.

For instance, a writer could explore the symbolism of the flowers in Vertigo by connecting the images of them falling apart to the vulnerability of the heroine.

Here are a few other questions to consider for this type of analysis:

  • What objects or images are repeated throughout the film?
  • How does the director associate a character with small signs, such as certain colors, clothing, food, or language use?
  • How does a symbol or object relate to other symbols and objects, that is, what is the relationship between the film’s signs?

Many films are rich with symbolism, and it can be easy to get lost in the details. Remember to bring a semiotic analysis back around to answering the question “So what?” in your thesis.

Narrative analysis

Narrative analysis is an examination of the story elements, including narrative structure, character, and plot. This type of analysis considers the entirety of the film and the story it seeks to tell.

For example, you could take the same object from the previous example—the flowers—which meant one thing in a semiotic analysis, and ask instead about their narrative role. That is, you might analyze how Hitchcock introduces the flowers at the beginning of the film in order to return to them later to draw out the completion of the heroine’s character arc.

To create this type of analysis, you could consider questions like:

  • How does the film correspond to the Three-Act Structure: Act One: Setup; Act Two: Confrontation; and Act Three: Resolution?
  • What is the plot of the film? How does this plot differ from the narrative, that is, how the story is told? For example, are events presented out of order and to what effect?
  • Does the plot revolve around one character? Does the plot revolve around multiple characters? How do these characters develop across the film?

When writing a narrative analysis, take care not to spend too time on summarizing at the expense of your argument. See our handout on summarizing for more tips on making summary serve analysis.

Cultural/historical analysis

One of the most common types of analysis is the examination of a film’s relationship to its broader cultural, historical, or theoretical contexts. Whether films intentionally comment on their context or not, they are always a product of the culture or period in which they were created. By placing the film in a particular context, this type of analysis asks how the film models, challenges, or subverts different types of relations, whether historical, social, or even theoretical.

For example, the clip from Vertigo depicts a man observing a woman without her knowing it. You could examine how this aspect of the film addresses a midcentury social concern about observation, such as the sexual policing of women, or a political one, such as Cold War-era McCarthyism.

A few of the many questions you could ask in this vein include:

  • How does the film comment on, reinforce, or even critique social and political issues at the time it was released, including questions of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality?
  • How might a biographical understanding of the film’s creators and their historical moment affect the way you view the film?
  • How might a specific film theory, such as Queer Theory, Structuralist Theory, or Marxist Film Theory, provide a language or set of terms for articulating the attributes of the film?

Take advantage of class resources to explore possible approaches to cultural/historical film analyses, and find out whether you will be expected to do additional research into the film’s context.

Mise-en-scène analysis

A mise-en-scène analysis attends to how the filmmakers have arranged compositional elements in a film and specifically within a scene or even a single shot. This type of analysis organizes the individual elements of a scene to explore how they come together to produce meaning. You may focus on anything that adds meaning to the formal effect produced by a given scene, including: blocking, lighting, design, color, costume, as well as how these attributes work in conjunction with decisions related to sound, cinematography, and editing. For example, in the clip from Vertigo , a mise-en-scène analysis might ask how numerous elements, from lighting to camera angles, work together to present the viewer with the perspective of Jimmy Stewart’s character.

To conduct this type of analysis, you could ask:

  • What effects are created in a scene, and what is their purpose?
  • How does this scene represent the theme of the movie?
  • How does a scene work to express a broader point to the film’s plot?

This detailed approach to analyzing the formal elements of film can help you come up with concrete evidence for more general film analysis assignments.

Reviewing your draft

Once you have a draft, it’s helpful to get feedback on what you’ve written to see if your analysis holds together and you’ve conveyed your point. You may not necessarily need to find someone who has seen the film! Ask a writing coach, roommate, or family member to read over your draft and share key takeaways from what you have written so far.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Aumont, Jacques, and Michel Marie. 1988. L’analyse Des Films . Paris: Nathan.

Media & Design Center. n.d. “Film and Cinema Research.” UNC University Libraries. Last updated February 10, 2021. https://guides.lib.unc.edu/filmresearch .

Oxford Royale Academy. n.d. “7 Ways to Watch Film.” Oxford Royale Academy. Accessed April 2021. https://www.oxford-royale.com/articles/7-ways-watch-films-critically/ .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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The Evaluation Essay

Key features of a well-written paper about an evaluative essay about a film, a concise description of the subject.

You should include just enough information to let readers who may not be familiar with your subject understand what it is. Remember, the goal is to evaluate, not summarize.

For instance, if writing about a movie, you’d want to describe the main plot points, only providing what readers need to understand the context of your evaluation. While you are evaluating the movie, you want to try to avoid retelling the story of it.

One other thing to keep in mind, depending on your topic and medium, some of this descriptive information may be in visual or audio form.

Clearly Defined Criteria

Since you are evaluating the subject, you will need to determine clear criteria as the basis for your judgment. In reviews or other evaluations written for a broad audience, you can integrate the criteria into the discussion as reasons for your assessment. In more formal evaluations, you may need to announce your criteria explicitly.

For instance, you could evaluate a film based on the stars’ performances, the complexity of their characters, and the film’s coherence. There are lots of other criteria to choose from, depending on your film choice.

A few things to keep in mind when coming up with your criteria:

  • Don’t try to have too many things to evaluate. Using three to four elements to evaluate should be enough criteria to support an overall evaluation of the subject.
  • Pick things relevant to the evaluation of your subject. For instance, if you are specifically reviewing a movie, you don’t want to include criteria evaluating the popcorn at the movie theater.
  • Remember, you’re going to have to define the criteria for your evaluation, so make sure you pick things you either know about or that you can learn about.

A Knowledgeable Discussion of the Subject

To evaluate something credibly, you need to show that you know it yourself and that you understand its context. Cite many examples showing your knowledge of the film. Some evaluations require that you research what other authoritative sources have said about your subject. You are welcome to refer to other film reviews to show you have researched other views, but your evaluation should be your own.

A Balanced and Fair Assessment

An evaluation is centered on a judgment. You can point out both its weaknesses and strengths. It is important that any judgment be balanced and fair. This is why it’s important to select your criteria before starting your evaluation. Seldom is something all good or all bad, and your audience knows this. If only presenting the positive or negative, your audience may feel you aren’t that credible of a source. While it may feel weird to include less-than-positive comments about something you enjoy, a fair evaluation acknowledges both strengths and weaknesses.

Well-Supported Reasons

You need to argue for your judgment, providing reasons and evidence that might include visual and audio as well as verbal material. Support your reasons with several specific examples from the film. This is also a good place to use knowledge of other movies, movie terminology, and other references to not only support your argument (aka: your evaluation) but show your ethos of the subject.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

For this assignment, you will choose a film you have watched that was meaningful enough to evaluate. It can be one that was meaningful because it changed your perspective, for instance. You are also welcome to choose a film that was critically acclaimed, but you have objections to. Choose something that strikes you as a film worth analyzing and discussing.

Things to consider while making this selection:

  • What is the purpose of your evaluation? Are you writing to affect your audience’s opinion of a film?
  • Who is your audience? To whom are you writing? What will your audience already know about the film? What will they expect to learn from your evaluation of it? Are they likely to agree with you or not?
  • What is your stance? What is your attitude toward the subject, and how will you show that you have evaluated it fairly and appropriately? Think about the tone you want to use should it be reasonable? Passionate? Critical?

What film are you going to evaluate in this essay? Make sure it is one that is accessible to you (accessible as in you own it, you have checked it out from the library, or it’s available through a subscription you have like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, etc.) You will need to watch it and take detailed notes so that you have specifics, dialogue, etc. to include. So, what film will you evaluate?

Step 2: Generating Ideas and Text

Now that you know the film you want to evaluate, it’s time to watch it. Make sure you take extensive notes as it needs to be clear that you have taken the time to watch and study your film and that you have thought through not only the criteria that you want to talk about but also specific examples of those criteria.

Explore what you already know. Freewrite to answer the following questions:

  • What do you know about this subject?
  • What are your initial or gut feelings, and why do you feel as you do?
  • How does this film reflect or affect your basic values or beliefs?
  • How have others evaluated subjects like this?

Now it’s time to identify criteria. Make a list of criteria you think should be used to evaluate your film. Think about which criteria will likely be important to your audience.

Here are ideas for specific criteria:

  • Evaluate your subject. Study your film closely to determine to what extent it meets each of your criteria.
  • You may want to list your criteria and take notes related to each one as you watch the film.
  • You may develop a rating scale for each criterion to help stay focused on it.
  • Come up with a tentative judgment. Choose 3-4 criteria to discuss in your essay.
  • Compare your subject with others. Often, evaluating something involves comparing and contrasting it with similar things. We judge movies in comparison with other movies we’ve seen in a similar genre.
  • State your judgment as a tentative thesis statement. Your thesis statement should be one that addresses both pros and cons. “Hawaii Five-O is fun to watch despite its stilted dialogue” “Of the five sport utility vehicles tested, the Toyota 4 Runner emerged as the best in comfort, power, and durability, though not in styling or cargo capacity.” Both of these examples offer a judgment but qualify it according to the writer’s criteria. Experiment with thesis statements and highlight one you want to use.
  • Anticipate other opinions. I think Will Ferrell is a comic genius whose movies are first-rate. You think Will Ferrell is a terrible actor who makes awful movies. How can I write a review of his latest film that you will at least consider? One way is by acknowledging other opinions–and refuting those opinions as best I can. I may not persuade you to see Ferrell’s next film, but I can at least demonstrate that by certain criteria he should be appreciated. You may need to research how others have evaluated your subject.
  • Identify and support your reasons. Write out all the reasons you can think of that will convince your audience to accept your judgment. Review your list to identify the most convincing or important reasons. Then review how well your subject meets your criteria and decide how best to support your reasons; through examples, authoritative opinions, statistics, visual or audio evidence, or something else.

Step 3: Organization of the Evaluation Essay

The following provides two ways to organize your document:

Black text "start with your subject" above five light blue boxes in a line connected with black arrows pointing to the next box in the line. Each box includes writing. First box, "describe what you are evaluating"; second box "state your judgement"; third box "provide reasons and evidence, discussing criteria as you apply them"; fourth box "acknowledge objections or other opinions"; "restate your overall judgement"

Step 4: Drafting

Now that you’ve watched the thing, written the notes, and collected your thoughts, it’s time to draft. Use the organizational scheme you created in Step 3 to help you create your evaluation.

Step 5: Get Feedback

Step 6: revising.

Once you’ve received feedback, if possible, read through it and then walk away from the work for a little while. This will allow your brain time to process the feedback you received making it much easier to sit back down to make adjustments. While revising, try to avoid messing with punctuation or fixing any grammatical issues. Revision is when you focus on your ideas and making sure they are presented properly, so make sure you’ve set aside plenty of time or scheduled multiple times to go through your project.

Once you’re finished with revision–everything is well defined, claims justified, conclusions given–it’s time to edit. This is when you correct punctuation and adjust grammatical issues. During this stage, try to only focus on one or two issues at a time. Work all the way through your project looking for these couple of things and then start again with the next couple of issues you may need to smooth.

Hopefully you’ve finished all of these steps before the deadline. If you are running behind, make sure you reach out to your instructor to let them know; they may have some tips to help get you through the final push.

ATTRIBUTIONS AND LICENSE

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“ The Evaluation Essay ” by Rachael Reynolds is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License  and adapted work from the source below:

Adapted from “ Writing the Evaluation Essay ” by Sara Layton and is used according to CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

UNM Core Writing OER Collection Copyright © 2023 by University of New Mexico is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Write a Film Analysis Essay: Examples, Outline, & Tips

A film analysis essay might be the most exciting assignment you have ever had! After all, who doesn’t love watching movies? You have your favorite movies, maybe something you watched years ago, perhaps a classic, or a documentary. Or your professor might assign a film for you to make a critical review. Regardless, you are totally up for watching a movie for a film analysis essay.

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However, once you have watched the movie, facing the act of writing might knock the wind out of your sails because you might be wondering how to write a film analysis essay. In summary, writing movie analysis is not as difficult as it might seem, and Custom-writing.org experts will prove this. This guide will help you choose a topic for your movie analysis, make an outline, and write the text.️ Film analysis examples are added as a bonus! Just keep reading our advice on how to get started.

❓ What Is a Film Analysis Essay?

  • 🚦 Film Analysis Types

✍️ How to Write a Film Analysis

  • 📄 Essay Examples

🔗 References

To put it simply, film analysis implies watching a movie and then considering its characteristics : genre, structure, contextual context, etc. Film analysis is usually considered to be a form of rhetorical analysis . The key to success here is to formulate a clear and logical argument, supporting it with examples.

🚦 Film Analysis Essay Types

Since a film analysis essay resembles literature analysis, it makes sense that there are several ways to do it. Its types are not limited to the ones described here. Moreover, you are free to combine the approaches in your essay as well. Since your writing reflects your own opinion, there is no universal way to do it.

Film analysis types.

  • Semiotic analysis . If you’re using this approach, you are expected to interpret the film’s symbolism. You should look for any signs that may have a hidden meaning. Often, they reveal some character’s features. To make the task more manageable, you can try to find the objects or concepts that appear on the screen multiple times. What is the context they appear in? It might lead you to the hidden meaning of the symbols.
  • Narrative structure analysis . This type is quite similar to a typical literature guide. It includes looking into the film’s themes, plot, and motives. The analysis aims to identify three main elements: setup, confrontation, and resolution. You should find out whether the film follows this structure and what effect it creates. It will make the narrative structure analysis essay if you write about the theme and characters’ motivations as well.
  • Contextual analysis . Here, you would need to expand your perspective. Instead of focusing on inner elements, the contextual analysis looks at the time and place of the film’s creation. Therefore, you should work on studying the cultural context a lot. It can also be a good idea to mention the main socio-political issues of the time. You can even relate the film’s success to the director or producer and their career.
  • Mise-en-scene analysis . This type of analysis works with the most distinctive feature of the movies, audiovisual elements. However, don’t forget that your task is not only to identify them but also to explain their importance. There are so many interconnected pieces of this puzzle: the light to create the mood, the props to show off characters’ personalities, messages hidden in the song lyrics.

Even though film analysis is similar to the literary one, you might still feel confused with where to begin. No need to worry; there are only a few additional steps you need to consider during the writing process.

Need more information? It can be found in the video below.

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Starting Your Film Analysis Essay

There are several things you need to do before you start writing your film analysis paper. First and foremost, you have to watch the movie. Even if you have seen it a hundred times, you need to watch it again to make a good film analysis essay.

Note that you might be given an essay topic or have to think of it by yourself. If you are free to choose a topic for your film analysis essay, reading some critical reviews before you watch the film might be a good idea. By doing this in advance, you will already know what to look for when watching the movie.

In the process of watching, keep the following tips in mind:

  • Consider your impression of the movie
  • Enumerate memorable details
  • Try to interpret the movie message in your way
  • Search for the proof of your ideas (quotes from the film)
  • Make comments on the plot, settings, and characters
  • Draw parallels between the movie you are reviewing and some other movies

Making a Film Analysis Essay Outline

Once you have watched and possibly re-watched your assigned or chosen movie from an analytical point of view, you will need to create a movie analysis essay outline . The task is pretty straightforward: the outline can look just as if you were working on a literary analysis or an article analysis.

  • Introduction : This includes the basics of the movie, including the title, director, and the date of release. You should also present the central theme or ideas in the movie and your thesis statement .
  • Summary : This is where you take the time to present an overview of the primary concepts in the movie, including the five Ws (who, what, when, where, and why)—don’t forget how!—as well as anything you wish to discuss that relates to the point of view, style, and structure.
  • Analysis : This is the body of the essay and includes your critical analysis of the movie, why you did or did not like it, and any supporting material from the film to support your views. It would help if you also discussed whether the director and writer of the movie achieved the goal they set out to achieve.
  • Conclusion: This is where you can state your thesis again and provide a summary of the primary concepts in a new and more convincing manner, making a case for your analysis. You can also include a call-to-action that will invite the reader to watch the movie or avoid it entirely.

You can find a great critical analysis template at Thompson Rivers University website. In case you need more guidance on how to write an analytical paper, check out our article .

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Writing & Editing Your Film Analysis Essay

We have already mentioned that there are differences between literary analysis and film analysis. They become especially important when one starts writing their film analysis essay.

First of all, the evidence you include to support the arguments is not the same. Instead of quoting the text, you might need to describe the audiovisual elements.

However, the practice of describing the events is similar in both types. You should always introduce a particular sequence in the present tense. If you want to use a piece of a dialogue between more than two film characters, you can use block quotes. However, since there are different ways to do it, confirm with your supervisor.

For your convenience, you might as well use the format of the script, for which you don’t have to use quotation marks:

ELSA: But she won’t remember I have powers?

KING: It’s for the best.

Finally, to show off your proficiency in the subject, look at the big picture. Instead of just presenting the main elements in your analysis, point out their significance. Describe the effect they make on the overall impression form the film. Moreover, you can dig deeper and suggest the reasons why such elements were used in a particular scene to show your expertise.

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Film Analysis Essay Topics

  • Analysis of the film Inception by Christopher Nolan . 
  • Examine the rhetoric in the film The Red Balloon .  
  • Analyze the visual effects of Zhang Yimou’s movie Hero .  
  • Basic concepts of the film Interstellar by Christopher Nolan.  
  • The characteristic features of Federico Fellini’s movies.  
  • Analysis of the movie The Joker .  
  • The depiction of ethical issues in Damaged Care .  
  • Analyze the plot of the film Moneyball .  
  • Explore the persuasive techniques used in Henry V .   
  • Analyze the movie Killing Kennedy .  
  • Discuss the themes of the film Secret Window .  
  • Describe the role of audio and video effects in conveying the message of the documentary Life in Renaissance .  
  • Compare and analyze the films Midnight Cowboy and McCabe and Mrs. Miller .  
  • Analysis of the movie Rear Window .  
  • The message behind the film Split .  
  • Analyze the techniques used by Tim Burton in his movie Sleepy Hollow . 
  • The topic of children’s abuse and importance of trust in Joseph Sargent’s Sybil .  
  • Examine the themes and motives of the film Return to Paradise by Joseph Ruben . 
  • The issues of gender and traditions in the drama The Whale Rider.   
  • Analysis of the film Not Easily Broken by Duke Bill.  
  • The symbolism in R. Scott’s movie Thelma and Louise .  
  • The meaning of audiovisual effects in Citizen Kane .  
  • Analyze the main characters of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo .  
  • Discuss the historical accuracy of the documentary The Civil War .  
  • Analysis of the movie Through a Glass Darkly . 
  • Explore the core idea of the comedy Get Out .  
  • The problem of artificial intelligence and human nature in Ex Machina .  
  • Three principles of suspense used in the drama The Fugitive .  
  • Examine the ideas Michael Bay promotes in Armageddon .  
  • Analyze the visual techniques used in Tenet by Christopher Nolan.  
  • Analysis of the movie The Green Mile . 
  • Discrimination and exclusion in the film The Higher Learning .  
  • The hidden meaning of the scenes in Blade Runner .  
  • Compare the social messages of the films West Side Story and Romeo + Juliet .  
  • Highlighting the problem of children’s mental health in the documentary Kids in Crisis .  
  • Discuss the ways Paul Haggis establishes the issue of racial biases in his movie Crash .  
  • Analyze the problem of moral choice in the film Gone Baby Gone .  
  • Analysis of the historical film Hacksaw Ridge . 
  • Explore the main themes of the film Mean Girls by Mark Walters .  
  • The importance of communication in the movie Juno .  
  • Describe the techniques the authors use to highlight the problems of society in Queen and Slim .  
  • Examine the significance of visual scenes in My Family/ Mi Familia .  
  • Analysis of the thriller Salt by Phillip Noyce.  
  • Analyze the message of Greg Berlanti’s film Love, Simon .  
  • Interpret the symbols of the film The Wizard of Oz (1939).  
  • Discuss the modern issues depicted in the film The Corporation .  
  • Moral lessons of Edward Zwick’s Blood Diamond . 
  • Analysis of the documentary Solitary Nation .  
  • Describe the audiovisual elements of the film Pride and Prejudice (2005) . 
  • The problem of toxic relationships in Malcolm and Marie .  

📄 Film Analysis Examples

Below you’ll find two film analysis essay examples. Note that the full versions are downloadable for free!

Example #1: The Intouchables

Raising acute social problems in modern cinema is a common approach to draw the public’s attention to the specific issues and challenges of people facing crucial obstacles. As a film for review, The Intouchables by Oliver Nakache and Éric Toledano will be analyzed, and one of the themes raised in this movie is the daily struggle of the person with severe disabilities. This movie is a biographical drama with comedy elements. The Intouchables describes the routine life of a French millionaire who is confined to a wheelchair and forced to receive help from his servants. The acquaintance of the disabled person with a young and daring man from Parisian slums changes the lives of both radically. The film shows that for a person with disabilities, recognition as a full member of society is more important than sympathy and compassion, and this message expressed comically raises an essential problem of human loneliness.

Example #2: Parasite

Parasite is a 2019 South Korean black comedy thriller movie directed by Bong Joon-ho and is the first film with a non-English script to win Best Picture at the Oscars in 2020. With its overwhelming plot and acting, this motion picture retains a long-lasting effect and some kind of shock. The class serves as a backbone and a primary objective of social commentary within the South Korean comedy/thriller (Kench, 2020). Every single element and detail in the movie, including the student’s stone, the contrasting architecture, family names, and characters’ behavior, contribute to the central topic of the universal problem of classism and wealth disparity. The 2020 Oscar-winning movie Parasite (2019) is a phenomenal cinematic portrayal and a critical message to modern society regarding the severe outcomes of the long-established inequalities within capitalism.

Film Analysis Essay FAQ

  • Watch the movie or read a detailed plot summary.
  • Read others’ film reviews paying attention to details like key characters, movie scenes, background facts.
  • Compose a list of ideas about what you’ve learned.
  • Organize the selected ideas to create a body of the essay.
  • Write an appropriate introduction and conclusion.

The benefits of analyzing a movie are numerous . You get a deeper understanding of the plot and its subtle aspects. You can also get emotional and aesthetic satisfaction. Film analysis enables one to feel like a movie connoisseur.

Here is a possible step by step scenario:

  • Think about the general idea that the author probably wanted to convey.
  • Consider how the idea was put across: what characters, movie scenes, and details helped in it.
  • Study the broader context: the author’s other works, genre essentials, etc.

The definition might be: the process of interpreting a movie’s aspects. The movie is reviewed in terms of details creating the artistic value. A film analysis essay is a paper presenting such a review in a logically structured way.

Want more examples? Check out this bonus list of 10 film analysis samples. They will help you gain even more inspiration.

  • “Miss Representation” Documentary Film Analysis
  • “The Patriot”: Historical Film Analysis
  • “The Morning Guy” Film Analysis
  • 2012′ by Roland Emmerich Film Analysis
  • “The Crucible” (1996) Film Analysis
  • The Aviator’ by Martin Scorsese Film Analysis
  • The “Lions for Lambs” Film Analysis
  • Bill Monroe – Father of Bluegrass Music Film Analysis
  • Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Harry Potter’ Film Analysis
  • Red Tails by George Lucas Film Analysis
  • Film Analysis – UNC Writing Center
  • Film Writing: Sample Analysis // Purdue Writing Lab
  • Yale Film Analysis – Yale University
  • Film Terms And Topics For Film Analysis And Writing
  • Questions for Film Analysis (Washington University)
  • Resources on Film Analysis – Cinema Studies (University of Toronto)
  • Does Film Analysis Take the Magic out of Movies?
  • Film Analysis Research Papers – Academia.edu
  • What’s In a Film Analysis Essay? Medium
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Have you ever read a review and asked yourself how the critic arrived at a different interpretation for the film? You are sure that you saw the same movie, but you interpreted it differently. Most moviegoers go to the cinema for pleasure and entertainment. There’s a reason why blockbuster movies attract moviegoers – cinema is a form of escape, a way to momentarily walk away from life’s troubles.

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It’s an interesting point of view. Thank you for your opinion, Sourav!

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Film Writing: Sample Analysis

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Summary: A sample analysis of a filmic sequence that makes use of the terminology on the OWL’s Writing About Film page .

Written by Kylie Regan

Introductory Note

The analysis below discusses the opening moments of the science fiction movie  Ex Machina  in order to make an argument about the film's underlying purpose. The text of the analysis is formatted normally. Editor's commentary, which will occasionally interrupt the piece to discuss the author's rhetorical strategies, is written in brackets in an italic font with a bold "Ed.:" identifier. See the examples below:

The text of the analysis looks like this.

[ Ed.:  The editor's commentary looks like this. ]

Frustrated Communication in Ex Machina ’s Opening Sequence

Alex Garland’s 2015 science fiction film Ex Machina follows a young programmer’s attempts to determine whether or not an android possesses a consciousness complicated enough to pass as human. The film is celebrated for its thought-provoking depiction of the anxiety over whether a nonhuman entity could mimic or exceed human abilities, but analyzing the early sections of the film, before artificial intelligence is even introduced, reveals a compelling examination of humans’ inability to articulate their thoughts and feelings. In its opening sequence, Ex Machina establishes that it’s not only about the difficulty of creating a machine that can effectively talk to humans, but about human beings who struggle to find ways to communicate with each other in an increasingly digital world.

[ Ed.:  The piece's opening introduces the film with a plot summary that doesn't give away too much and a brief summary of the critical conversation that has centered around the film. Then, however, it deviates from this conversation by suggesting that Ex Machina has things to say about humanity before non-human characters even appear. Off to a great start. ]

The film’s first establishing shots set the action in a busy modern office. A woman sits at a computer, absorbed in her screen. The camera looks at her through a glass wall, one of many in the shot. The reflections of passersby reflected in the glass and the workspace’s dim blue light make it difficult to determine how many rooms are depicted. The camera cuts to a few different young men typing on their phones, their bodies partially concealed both by people walking between them and the camera and by the stylized modern furniture that surrounds them. The fourth shot peeks over a computer monitor at a blonde man working with headphones in. A slight zoom toward his face suggests that this is an important character, and the cut to a point-of-view shot looking at his computer screen confirms this. We later learn that this is Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a young programmer whose perspective the film follows.

The rest of the sequence cuts between shots from Caleb’s P.O.V. and reaction shots of his face, as he receives and processes the news that he has won first prize in a staff competition. Shocked, Caleb dives for his cellphone and texts several people the news. Several people immediately respond with congratulatory messages, and after a moment the woman from the opening shot runs in to give him a hug. At this point, the other people in the room look up, smile, and start clapping, while Caleb smiles disbelievingly—perhaps even anxiously—and the camera subtly zooms in a bit closer. Throughout the entire sequence, there is no sound other than ambient electronic music that gets slightly louder and more textured as the sequence progresses. A jump cut to an aerial view of a glacial landscape ends the sequence and indicates that Caleb is very quickly transported into a very unfamiliar setting, implying that he will have difficulty adjusting to this sudden change in circumstances.

[ Ed.:  These paragraphs are mostly descriptive. They give readers the information they will need to understand the argument the piece is about to offer. While passages like this can risk becoming boring if they dwell on unimportant details, the author wisely limits herself to two paragraphs and maintains a driving pace through her prose style choices (like an almost exclusive reliance on active verbs). ]

Without any audible dialogue or traditional expository setup of the main characters, this opening sequence sets viewers up to make sense of Ex Machina ’s visual style and its exploration of the ways that technology can both enhance and limit human communication. The choice to make the dialogue inaudible suggests that in-person conversations have no significance. Human-to-human conversations are most productive in this sequence when they are mediated by technology. Caleb’s first response when he hears his good news is to text his friends rather than tell the people sitting around him, and he makes no move to take his headphones out when the in-person celebration finally breaks out. Everyone in the building is on their phones, looking at screens, or has headphones in, and the camera is looking at screens through Caleb’s viewpoint for at least half of the sequence.  

Rather than simply muting the specific conversations that Caleb has with his coworkers, the ambient soundtrack replaces all the noise that a crowded building in the middle of a workday would ordinarily have. This silence sets the uneasy tone that characterizes the rest of the film, which is as much a horror-thriller as a piece of science fiction. Viewers get the sense that all the sounds that humans make as they walk around and talk to each other are being intentionally filtered out by some presence, replaced with a quiet electronic beat that marks the pacing of the sequence, slowly building to a faster tempo. Perhaps the sound of people is irrelevant: only the visual data matters here. Silence is frequently used in the rest of the film as a source of tension, with viewers acutely aware that it could be broken at any moment. Part of the horror of the research bunker, which will soon become the film’s primary setting, is its silence, particularly during sequences of Caleb sneaking into restricted areas and being startled by a sudden noise.

The visual style of this opening sequence reinforces the eeriness of the muted humans and electronic soundtrack. Prominent use of shallow focus to depict a workspace that is constructed out of glass doors and walls makes it difficult to discern how large the space really is. The viewer is thus spatially disoriented in each new setting. This layering of glass and mirrors, doubling some images and obscuring others, is used later in the film when Caleb meets the artificial being Ava (Alicia Vikander), who is not allowed to leave her glass-walled living quarters in the research bunker. The similarity of these spaces visually reinforces the film’s late revelation that Caleb has been manipulated by Nathan Bates (Oscar Isaac), the troubled genius who creates Ava.

[ Ed.:  In these paragraphs, the author cites the information about the scene she's provided to make her argument. Because she's already teased the argument in the introduction and provided an account of her evidence, it doesn't strike us as unreasonable or far-fetched here. Instead, it appears that we've naturally arrived at the same incisive, fascinating points that she has. ]

A few other shots in the opening sequence more explicitly hint that Caleb is already under Nathan’s control before he ever arrives at the bunker. Shortly after the P.O.V shot of Caleb reading the email notification that he won the prize, we cut to a few other P.O.V. shots, this time from the perspective of cameras in Caleb’s phone and desktop computer. These cameras are not just looking at Caleb, but appear to be scanning him, as the screen flashes in different color lenses and small points appear around Caleb’s mouth, eyes, and nostrils, tracking the smallest expressions that cross his face. These small details indicate that Caleb is more a part of this digital space than he realizes, and also foreshadow the later revelation that Nathan is actively using data collected by computers and webcams to manipulate Caleb and others. The shots from the cameras’ perspectives also make use of a subtle fisheye lens, suggesting both the wide scope of Nathan’s surveillance capacities and the slightly distorted worldview that motivates this unethical activity.

[ Ed.: This paragraph uses additional details to reinforce the piece's main argument. While this move may not be as essential as the one in the preceding paragraphs, it does help create the impression that the author is noticing deliberate patterns in the film's cinematography, rather than picking out isolated coincidences to make her points. ]

Taken together, the details of Ex Machina ’s stylized opening sequence lay the groundwork for the film’s long exploration of the relationship between human communication and technology. The sequence, and the film, ultimately suggests that we need to develop and use new technologies thoughtfully, or else the thing that makes us most human—our ability to connect through language—might be destroyed by our innovations. All of the aural and visual cues in the opening sequence establish a world in which humans are utterly reliant on technology and yet totally unaware of the nefarious uses to which a brilliant but unethical person could put it.

Author's Note:  Thanks to my literature students whose in-class contributions sharpened my thinking on this scene .

[ Ed.: The piece concludes by tying the main themes of the opening sequence to those of the entire film. In doing this, the conclusion makes an argument for the essay's own relevance: we need to pay attention to the essay's points so that we can achieve a rich understanding of the movie. The piece's final sentence makes a chilling final impression by alluding to the danger that might loom if we do not understand the movie. This is the only the place in the piece where the author explicitly references how badly we might be hurt by ignorance, and it's all the more powerful for this solitary quality. A pithy, charming note follows, acknowledging that the author's work was informed by others' input (as most good writing is). Beautifully done. ]

Writing the Film Evaluation: An Exercise in Critical Thinking

Johnie Scott

Associate Professor of Pan African Studies

California State University , Northridge

Background:

As noted by Ronald Lunsford, “Writing an evaluation will require you to judge whether the topic of your essay is good or bad, effective or ineffective, beneficial or detrimental, important or unimportant, and so on.” (369) This noted writing authority goes on to say, “As an evaluator, you’ll need to impress your reader with your fairness, and with the thoroughness with which you consider your topic. Because you’ll present your opinion about the topic, you cannot avoid your biases, but you must take care not to let any preconceived ideas about your topic go unsupported.” (369)

Within those statements, Lunsford is making the point that if you’re evaluating a film by one of your favorite directors, actors or actresses, you might make the assumption or claim that this film will be just as good if not better than previous films by this same star. That may be true; on the other hand, it may not be. It is your task to evaluate the new film as fairly and completely as possible, to move on ahead as a fan of the particular artist, but to be open-minded and willing to criticize if that proves necessary. To convince your readers that your evaluation is worth considering, you must demonstrate that you have given serious thought to the topic.

When writing evaluations, whether of a film, documentary, CD, concert, photograph or painting, the reader expects for you to have established some sort of criteria. As Lunsford states, “Sometimes criteria are referred to as the standards against which you’ll judge your topic…Criteria are the standards used in evaluating something, and if you don’t establish criteria for your evaluation, then you’ll present a statement of personal taste rather than evaluation.” (370-371) What this means is that in writing evaluations, you are consciously and constantly exploring the topic. While doing this, you must establish criteria by which to evaluate. Expect to be called upon to justify that criteria, to defend that criteria as appropriate and effective in evaluating your topic. Student writers often make the mistake, for example, of thinking that documentary films are expected to have the same entertainment value as feature films and this is certainly not so.

One would not, for example, expect a videotaped documentary that an interested director has done with writer Alice Walker to carry the same “entertainment values” of her book The Color Purple or the film based upon that work. And yet, I often receive evaluations of documentaries from students asserting they were not “entertained” when the purpose of the film was clearly to inform and educate. As I say to my students, “It is not my job to entertain you or be your friend. It is not my mission to win a ‘Most Popular Teacher’ Award. That would be nice, but for me it is not important. What is important, however, is that I be your Professor, that you see and regard, respect me as that individual who is there to teach first and last.” The point being made here is that you need to think through and establish what would be relevant criteria for the particular film that you are looking at and evaluating. You don’t want to make the mistake of comparing apples with oranges.

It might be helpful for you, at this point, to list the traits or characteristics of two or three of the following film genres: suspense thrillers, action-adventure and youth-oriented. After making your list, name two or three films that exemplify the traits in each category.

The next point to be made is that your film evaluation “should present a value judgment about the worthiness of your topic. Once you’ve made this judgment, it is your job to marshal support for it. The criteria you established for evaluating your topic can guide you here, because you can state the criteria as reasons, and reasons must be supported.” (374) That value judgment is your thesis, what you see as the central theme, message or concern of the film. To support your evaluation, you are expected to provide details that develop and support the criteria you’re chosen. Those details are framed as “statements,” and it would be expected in a film evaluation that you would list specific scenes, dialogue and action to support and develop those statements.

It is always a good idea to state your evaluation in a thesis sentence near the beginning of your essay. The body of your essay may be structured by the criteria you use in evaluating your topic. Accordingly, as noted by Lunsford, “in an evaluation of a movie, a paragraph (or a block of paragraphs) might be given to acting, a paragraph (or block) to cinematography, and a paragraph (or block) to special effects. Your conclusion may make clear once again what your evaluation is and briefly summarize the evidence you have offered that makes you think your reader should share that evaluation (i.e., your opinion about the film).” (378)

When doing film evaluations, I typically ask my students to take the following approach:

  • Describe what stands out as the single most compelling scene or incident in the film. Use very visual details for the reader;
  • Identify what you see as the major premise or idea in the film and then discuss what you see as the three primary ways in which that idea is developed. For this, you want to cite specific details, examples and illustrations from the film; and
  • Lastly, state what you see as the importance or relevance of the film. What do we learn, or fail to learn, from watching this film? I always ask my students to develop a rating scale to conclude their film evaluations (one they explain to the readers like a 5-Star system) because they are, in fact, film critics.

In submitting the film evaluations to me via email, students are to follow these guidelines:

ü       Under the Subject heading, write “Film Evaluation #” followed by the actual title of the film. When it arrives to my email inbox, I am able to look and immediately see who the email is from, that it is a film evaluation, what number the film evaluation is, and the title of the particular film. Right away, I know this is business;

ü       If students are sending those evaluations to me as attachments, then I insist upon those attachments being in MICROSOFT WORD and no other program. To send an attachment in any program is to run the risk of my not being able to open, evaluate and send you a grade. It also costs me valuable time in trying to download an item that is impossible or time-consuming for me to do so. When sending me attachments, ALWAYS USE MICROSOFT WORD!!!

ü       On the other hand, it is not necessary to send an attachment. You can simply write your evaluation within the MESSAGE portion of the email. In either event, I always ask for the student to give their name, course and ticket number. In today’s world, so many students have mail nicknames and addresses that do not identify who they are at all (e.g., [email protected] , [email protected] , etcetera). Please identify yourself whenever sending me communication via email. To do otherwise is to run the risk of not receiving proper credit for your work;

ü       Always keep copies of those transmissions to me. Backup copy everything that you do. Work sometimes gets lost or accidentally deleted. You want to always have a copy in case that request is given to you; and

ü       Lastly, take pride in your work! When using a program such as MICROSOFT WORD, always run spellcheck to pickup those misspelled words. Run grammar check for awkward phrasing and problems with grammar and mechanics including sentence fragments, run-on sentences and the like. Never use abbreviations. Never assume – it is your responsibility to write as though your reader is not familiar with the film. This doesn’t mean you repeat scene by scene, word for word everything that happened in the film (just think of those times you tried to watch a film with someone, then had to tell that person to be quiet and let you see the film rather than listen to tell you everything that was taking place! They are insulting your intelligence when doing so.) And definitely, make certain that you use fully-developed, 5-sentence paragraphs when writing!

One thing I can assure you after teaching in the University now for 18 years, those students who stick to the program outlined above invariably see great improvements in their writing skills by the end of the semester. Think of that as a “perk” while you’re taking this course.

Works Cited

Lunsford, Ronald and Bridges, Bill, The Longwood Guide to Writing/Second Edition , Pearson Education, Inc., New York, NY/2002.

Revised 9/10/02

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Movie Evaluation Writing Hints

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evaluation paper on a movie

 How To Write An Evaluation Essay On A Movie

Majority of individuals have the thought that writing a movie evaluation essay is easy. Well it truly is, there are various distinct aspects of consideration depending on the reason for evaluation writing. In the case of academic purposes, it is vital to reach completion of your evaluation according to standards and guidelines of your educational institution. Certain publications may have specific guidelines or formatting requirements as well if you are interested in getting your content published. Below is an outline of a typical writing guide for this type of written content.

  • Study Your Source Material  – It is difficult to write a strong movie evaluation without first studying your movie. This includes things such as viewing the movie, more often more than once, and researching facts about it (production details, budget, actor/actress backgrounds, and previous work of the director).
  • Take Notes  – The most vital bit is to take notes while viewing the movie to ensure you do not leave anything out of your evaluation. It is best to be able to view a copy of the film that you can pause or rewind in order to avoid missing anything important. This could include notes of the soundtrack, performances by the actors, quality of the cinematography, impressions of the plot, and both the highs and lows of the movie.
  • Evaluate the Various Mechanics of the Film  – First you should note the script, then the film editing, the cinematography techniques, the cast performance, and lastly the other various movie mechanics. Take note of how they either add to or take away from the movie, and the impression they leave.
  • Create a Basic Thesis for Your Evaluation  –once you are through with your research, decide what you main thesis for your evaluation to be. You should utilize this as the evaluation introduction, and ensure to remain consistent with it throughout your review.
  • Move into the Mechanics of the Film  – give a description of the film mechanics. Take notes during the research and the impressions they gave you. Analyze or Praise the actor/actress, editing work, soundtrack, or camera angle, and the set design. You should ensure that you provision a short plot summary without giving too much away.
  • Maintain a Personality  – Since the main movie objective is the evaluation to inform the reader concerning everything on the film, ensure you add and retain your personality throughout the review in order to keep it fresh and entertaining.
  • Provide a Solid Conclusion  – Conclude your evaluation with a strong ending that repeats your original thesis, and reminds the reader of the strong and weak parts of the film. This is the perfect position to give a score of the movie if you wish to include it.

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Have troubles writing your college book report? Get professional book report and movie review writing help for free.

High school, college and university students are often assigned to write reviews and reports on certain books, articles, stories and movies. However, most students do not have enough time to do the reading, so they need to learn how to complete such assignments using outside sources.

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How to Write a Movie Evaluation?

Movie evaluations are used commonly in our society. A movie evaluation should entertain the reader while providing the information they are searching for. Whether you are a film student looking to perfect that assignment before you turn it in, or simply wanting to write a review of that latest blockbuster you found incredibly disappointing, following the steps below will help to write a detailed, helpful movie evaluation.

  • Study Your Source Material – It’s impossible to write a strong movie evaluation without first studying your movie. This includes viewing the movie, more often more than once, and researching facts about it (production details, budget, actor/actress backgrounds, previous work of the director).
  • Take Notes – It’s important to take notes while viewing the movie to ensure you don’t leave anything out of your evaluation. This could include notes of the soundtrack, performances by the actors and actresses, quality of the cinematography, impressions of the plot, and both the highs and lows of the movie. It is best to be able to view a copy of the film that you can pause or rewind in order to avoid missing anything important.
  • Evaluate the Various Mechanics of the Film – Take notice of the script, the editing of the film, the techniques of the cinematography, the performance of the cast, and the other various mechanics of the movie. Make a note of how they either add to or take away from the movie, and what impression they leave you with.
  • Create a Basic Thesis for Your Evaluation – After finishing your research, decide what you main thesis for your evaluation to be. Use this as an introduction to your evaluation, and ensure to remain consistent with it throughout your review.
  • Move Into the Mechanics of the Film – Describe the mechanics of the film you took notes of during your research and the impressions they gave you. Praise or critique that certain actor/actress, camera angle, editing work, set design, or soundtrack. Make sure to provide a short plot summary without giving too much away.
  • Maintain a Personality – While the main purpose of a movie evaluation is to inform the reader about the film, make sure to add and maintain personality throughout the review in order to keep it fresh and entertaining.
  • Provide a Solid Conclusion – Finish your evaluation with a strong conclusion that repeats your original thesis, and reminds the reader of the strongest and weakest parts of the film. This can also be where you can provide a score for the movie if you wish to include it.

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Evaluation Essay

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Evaluation Essay - Definition, Examples, and Writing Tips

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Published on: Jan 12, 2020

Last updated on: Nov 22, 2023

Evaluation Essay

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Are you unsure about what it takes to evaluate things from your perspective in an evaluation essay?

If you’re having a hard time understanding how to present a balanced assessment of the subject, worry not!  We are here to help you get through the evaluation essay writing process.

In this blog, you will learn all about evaluation essays. From the definition, writing process, topics, tips, and a lot more, you’ll learn how to write an evaluation essay effortlessly!  

Continue reading to get a better idea.

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What is an Evaluation Essay?

Let’s first understand the evaluation essay meaning, here is the standard definition:

An evaluation essay offers a value judgment or an opinion of something. It presents an overall view of a particular subject’s quality. Moreover, it provides a critical analysis and a complete evaluation of something.

What is the Purpose of an Evaluation Essay?

The main purpose of an evaluation essay is to present an opinion and evaluate a topic critically. This type of writing determines the condition, worth, or significance by careful appraisal and study.  

This essay features the writer’s opinion, but when done correctly, it does not sound opinionated. Instead, it provides the facts and evidence to justify the opinions about the essay’s subject.

To write a good evaluation essay, you need to master critical evaluation and present the evaluation in an unbiased manner. You may also discuss both the pros and cons of the subject.

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Evaluation Essay Structure

The four different ways to format and organize the evaluation essay are as follows.

1. Chronological Structure

It is a sequential organization that could be used for evaluating historical or current events. It tells how something works and assesses the effectiveness of a mechanism, procedure, or process.

2. Spatial Structure

The spatial organization structure is used for evaluating or describing art or architecture. Here, you will define one element of the artifact and spatially move to the next. 

3. Compare and Contrast Structure

The compare and contrast structure is used to evaluate or review the culinary or music genre. Here the writer evaluates a subject by comprising and contrasting it with the known subject.

4. Point-by-Point Structure

The point-by-point structure is also used for culinary and music reviews. But, in this structure, you describe one element and then evaluate it, describe the second element and evaluate it, and so on.

After setting the criteria and collecting evidence for strengthening your judgment, you’ll start your evaluation essay. Let’s see what are the steps involved in starting an evaluation essay.

How to Start an Evaluation Essay?

When you start writing an evaluation essay, grabbing the reader’s attention is essential. For this, hook the reader from the beginning until the end to ensure that your essay’s opening follows an engaging tone. 

Step 1. Choose an Interesting Topic

Deciding the topic and evaluation essay criteria is important. Make sure it's not just compelling and interesting, but also informative so that you can find enough material for a detailed evaluation. 

Step 2. Set the Evaluation Essay Criteria

For an evaluation essay, you have to set the criteria for evaluation first. Criteria are the standards or measures by which someone assesses the quality or value of the subject. 

Some key points to establish the criteria are:

  • Identifying relevant aspects that relate to the subject 
  • Defining the criteria clearly so that it is specific and understandable for readers
  • Your criteria should be directly relevant to the nature of the subject
  • Always consider the audience’s expectations and standards while setting the criteria
  • Your thesis statement should always align with your evaluation criteria

Step 3. Collect Evidence for Your Judgment

The author’s judgment of the subject states whether the subject is good or bad. It is an overall assessment or the opinion supported by the evidence. The judgment corresponds to the benchmarks set by the author in the essay criteria. 

The evidence is a combination of supporting data and facts. Using the evidence, the author demonstrates how well the subject meets the judgment. The evidence serves as the foundation of your evaluation. 

Without providing strong and accurate evidence, you will not be able to convince the readers of your judgment. 

Step 4. Decide the Essay Structure

After that, decide on the structure that you want to follow. It can be a chronological or point-by-point structure

Step 5. Craft the Essay Outline

When you create an essay outline , evaluate what should be added and removed. If you skip this step before writing, you may lose track of what to include in your essay while you write.   

So, writing an outline for your evaluation essay is a critical step that eases your writing journey. 

Here is a sample evaluation essay outline:

Step 6. Declare Your Thesis Statement

For an evaluation essay that keeps the reader hooked from the start, opt for a catchy thesis statement . The thesis should state the main point of the evaluation. 

In the thesis statement, you should always express your stance on the subject clearly. In doing so, the readers will have a clear idea about the purpose and direction of your essay. 

Now, understand how to write an evaluation essay by following the detailed procedure mentioned below.

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How to Write an Evaluation Essay?

Here is a step-by-step guide for you to write an evaluation essay.

Step 1. Write the Introduction

The introduction is the first impression your readers will have of you, so it's crucial to make a good one. It should capture attention and excite readers, drawing them into what you have to say about this topic. 

The following are the elements that you should consider while writing the introduction:

  • Start with an interesting hook statement so that you can get the reader’s attention.
  • Provide background information about the topic for the reader to understand the subject
  • Establish the evaluation essay thesis statement. It sets out the overall purpose of the evaluation, so make sure it is apparent and to the point

Read this evaluation essay introduction example, and you’ll understand exactly what to pen down in yours:

Step 2. Draft the Body Section

The body of the essay consists of three paragraphs. Each paragraph holds different ideas related to one another and flows smoothly from start to finish, just like how a good story should be told.

Here are the important points that must be included in the body paragraphs.

  • Start with the topic sentence that presents your judgment about the topic
  • Present the supporting evidence to back up the topic sentence and your viewpoint.
  • Present a balanced evaluative argument to show impartiality
  • Compare and contrast the subject to another subject to show the strengths and weaknesses
  • Present the evaluation from multiple perspectives, while being both positive and critical
  • Always use transition words between your paragraphs to ensure a smooth and coherent flow for the reader. 

Step 3. Write the Conclusion

It is the final chance to convince your reader to agree with your point of view. You’re supposed to summarize and conclude the essay. In the conclusion , you present your final evaluation of the essay. 

Keep in mind the following aspects while writing a closing paragraph of an evaluation essay. 

  • Summarize the points and evaluative arguments that you made in the body section.
  • Justify your thesis statement.
  • Provide a concrete and secure conclusion to your argument by ultimately leaving the reader convinced by your evaluation.

Step 4. Proofread, Revise, and Edit

The final step is proofreading and editing. Always spend enough time reading your essay carefully. It will help you catch the unintentional mistakes you have made and recover them. If needed, you can also revise your essay 2–3 times.

How to Format Your Evaluation Essay?

For formatting your evaluation essay, follow the standard academic writing guidelines. You can opt for different formatting styles like APA, MLA, or Chicago. 

In general, you should stick to the below formatting guidelines: 

Font and Size:

  • Use a legible font such as Times New Roman or Arial.
  • Choose a standard font size, often 12-point.
  • Set one-inch margins on all sides of the paper.
  • Double-space the entire essay, including the title, headings, and body paragraphs.
  • Create a title for your essay that reflects the subject and purpose of the evaluation.
  • Center the title on the page.
  • Use title case (capitalize the first letter of each major word).
  • Include a header with your last name and page number in the top right corner.
  • Follow the format “Last Name Page Number” (e.g., “Smith 1”).

Citations (if applicable):

  • Include citations for any sources used in your evaluation.
  • Follow the citation style specified by your instructor or the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago).

Counterargument (if included):

  • Clearly label and present any counterargument.
  • Provide a well-reasoned response to the counterargument.

References or Works Cited Page (if applicable):

  • Include a separate page for references or a works cited page if your essay includes citations.
  • List all sources in the appropriate citation style.

Well, the time has come to look at some great evaluation essay examples. Getting help from sample essays is always a great way to perfect your evaluation papers.

Evaluation Essay Examples

Evaluation can be written on any topic, i.e., book, movie, music, etc. Below, we have given some evaluation essay examples for students: 

Evaluation Essay Sample PDF

Movie Evaluation Essay Example

Critical evaluation Essay Example PDF

Product Evaluation Essay PDF

Source Evaluation Essay Example PDF

Employee Self-Evaluation Essay Example

How to Start A Self-Evaluation Essay Example PDF

Evaluation Essay Topics For College Students

For writing an amazing evaluation essay, the first thing that you require is an essay topic.  Here are some incredible topic ideas for college students. You can use or mold them according to your preference. 

  • Artificial intelligence's impact on society: A double-edged sword?
  • Evaluate the online teaching and on-campus teaching styles
  • Analyze and evaluate the Real Madrid football team and their performance
  • Is media a threat to cultural cohesion or a source of enrichment?
  • Compare and evaluate recorded music and live performance
  • Evaluate how a university's football team impacts students' personalities
  • Critically evaluate a remake of an original movie you have watched recently
  • Analyze how the roles of females and males changed in recent romantic movies
  • Evaluate your favorite restaurant, its food, aroma, and everything
  • Critically evaluate gender disparities in college majors and career choices.

Evaluation Essay vs. Review

At first glance, an evaluation essay might look like a review. But, there are some notable differences between them. See this table to see how both pieces of writing differ from each other.

To conclude, 

After reading the step-by-step guide and examples, you must have learned the art of writing a good evaluation essay. We’re confident that you’re now able to provide a balanced and effective evaluation of the topics you choose for your essay.

But writing a perfect essay is not that simple; you require a lot of practice and experience to become a good writer. That is why we are here to help you write any type of academic essay. 

MyPerfectWords.com is a professional essay writing service that offers help for all academic writing assignments. We have a team of professional writers who are experts in writing all types of essays and evaluation papers. 

So what are you waiting for? Let us handle your evaluation essay worries and have a sigh of relief! 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. what are the four components of an evaluation essay.

The four components of an evaluation essay are:

  • Introduction
  • Background information

2. What are the 4 types of evaluation?

The four types of evaluation are:

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Movie Evaluation Essay

Had to do an evaluation essay last semester at school and I chose a tough movie and I beat myself over it. This semester I have to do a similar essay and it’s easy because I’ve pretty much already done it.

Academic level

Type Of Paper

Is the phrase “ I'm supposed to write an evaluation essay on a movie and pretty much explain and review it ” continually echoing and it reverbs back and forth inside your head?

Feature movies and sometimes documentaries are instrumental when it comes to research sources. They are frequently used as supplementary learning tools in institutions of higher learning. Analysis of film is a common assignment in college and trust me “you don’t need to be an English Professor to be a good film reviewer.”

Your professor will select a specific film or maybe a documentary for a reason because it probably relates to the current material at hand. A perfect movie evaluation essay will explain how the movie or film has enhanced the learning experience and also should provide an account of your thoughts and ideas regarding the movie.

evaluation paper on a movie

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What is a movie evaluation essay?

A movie evaluation essay is a process of analyzing a movie in terms of semiotics, narrative structure, cultural context, and mise-en-scene, among other approached that are open for anyone to use as long as the proper structure is followed. A movie evaluation essay is a form of rhetorical analysis, and it critically analyzes and evaluates discourses, which in this case are phrases and also images that bring out different meanings and emotions to different viewers of the movie and should be subject to review. Like other forms of writing in college or university, movie evaluation essays need to have the support of evidence and clear arguments, just like a research paper thesis statement or an argumentative essay.

There are different types of movie analysis

Here I will list the most common approaches to movie evaluation essays, and this does not mean that I have listed all of them, but there are, of course, others that you will learn from the class or when having group discussions. The most critical thing is to understand what your professor expects, with this guide you are guaranteed to understand you're prompt better and also you can be able to understand any questions regarding movie evaluation essays and know which method to use appropriately. The approaches I am going to discuss can sometimes be used to discuss aspects in one movie analysis since most films try to capture many aspects ranging from cultural to narrative aspects of film-making.

SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS

Semiotic analysis is the meaning behind symbols, and it involves analogies and symbolism and to add similarities as well. I will try and explain this using the simplest way possible. If you were to describe a person who you do not know and you’ve never met, then you’d use probably signs from the person, for example, unkempt hair, torn shirt, unzipped trouser to relay specific information to your brain based on the characteristics of this person and you’d think the person is careless: but if you meet a person with a briefcase, well-polished shoes, tucked in shirt and proper kempt hair then the information that will be relayed to your brain is that this person is responsible and you can even manage to hold a decent conversation with. A soldier is typically associated with cultural ideas of a country’s security, border security, and also toughness.

The semiotic analysis explains to the audience how to understand codes used in movies and their meaning. No object or symbol in a film lacks significance in the form of ideas they bring forward to the viewer. An example of a sign is a person dressed in a black t-shirt with a big sign on the front side with a rock band singer, she is holding a guitar, and she has black nail polish and black makeup plus dyed hair you can easily conclude that she is a goth or maybe a rebel in some way. Color red brings an emotion of anger and resentment and perhaps violence, but in some other form, it has a meaning of love same as diamond is a symbol of love and commitment among spouses. 

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE ANALYSIS

The narrative structure can be defined as the analysis of story elements, which include the plot structure and the theme.  The narrative structure can be analyzed by using questions like “who,” “what,” “and “where,” and specifically, “How” and “when” are used to examine plot structure.

To adequately describe a story in a movie, we need to answer some questions:

• Which location is the story set?

• Which events lead to the start of the story?

• Who are the top characters?

• Any conflicts they face?

• What happens when they face conflict?

• What is the outcome?

• What is the impact of the conflict on the characters?

To accurately describe the plot structure of the movie, we need to answer some questions:

• How was the conflict that arose in the movie set up, and how did it happen?

• How are the top characters introduced, and when?

• How is the story pushed along to the point of the characters facing conflict?

• When is the central conflict set up, (how) to thrust the film to the conclusion?

• When and how does the conflict gets resolved and its effects on the whole story set-up?

How to write an evaluation essay on a movie

• Make it a habit to review every movie you come across since it will always get easy once you’re into the habit of reviewing movies.

• Make sure you have read and well-understood the prompt and also grasped what your professor expects you to do. Select a specific issue and go ahead to focus on it by making proper arguments. Selecting multiple arguments will only lead to a downward pull since you won’t manage to analyze all issues perfectly.

• Since there is not that much strictness when grading movie evaluation essays in terms of the format. I would advise you to write in any style you prefer if at all your professor has not instructed any special style to be used. Most professors won’t specify any particular writing style, so use the style you’re most comfortable with.

• Always try to match the tone of each review with the style of the film. For example, a serious tone can match up with a crime film whereas a scary tone would match a thriller or horror movie

• Make sure to watch the movie while noting down different aspects of what you will write at a later stage. Make sure to review your materials and to watch over and over again the movie to make sure you do not miss any part of the film or documentary. 

• Come up with a thesis and an outline and make sure you have your evidence ready to vase your argument on. Your thesis should answer what your prompt dictates because this is an academic assignment, and it’s purely based on a set of instructions.

• Use your evidence effectively and by this I mean, you should go ahead and make sure you do not state the evidence and describe it, but you should adequately explain what the evidence is used for, why it’s being used and for what purpose it’s being used and in what context it’s being used in your argument.

Evaluation Essay VS Writing a Review

Although evaluation essays and reviews do have some broad similarities, both are entirely different types of essays with significantly different structures.

Whether it’s a book, movie, music, a product or a restaurant, reviews are the best way to help you decide whether a particular item or place is a good fit for you. Reviews are constructive in terms of offering information to other people who are yet to try a product or service. Many people are turning to reviews when researching products they want to purchase or services they want to hire.

evaluation paper on a movie

Writing great reviews that attract several readers can be viewed as a form of art that is perfected with time. Practice makes perfect; therefore, the more you write, the more you develop the skill of writing reviews.

Tricks for writing a compelling review

1.    Understand the subject

The key to any compelling review is the understanding of the subject. Take your time to research whatever it is you’re writing about. If it is a restaurant, for example, you will have to visit it and experience their services and meals first hand. Don’t rely on other people’s information to write your review even if you trust the source of information. If it is a movie, you will need to watch it keenly, and if it is a book, you will have to read it and understand. This is the kind of research required to come up with a great review. You might also need to take notes to help with your writing later. You could, for example, take notes on a movie you are reviewing, note down the critical points and use them later when you’re writing your review. Taking photographs is also another method you can use to gather information. The pictures can be used later to help you write your review. You can even decide to upload them for your review to give the reader a unique perspective on things.

2.    Structuring your review

Armed with your research, the next step is to structure your review and plan how to write it. Determine how you will organize your review using the points you have. You can go through review samples online to fully grasp the concept of how to write one.

You should also figure out what the angle of your review will be. That is, will your review be negative or positive. Decide what perspective you want to go with.

If your review is to be submitted to your professor, a magazine, or a blog; ensure that you find out whether there are any instructions that you should follow. Adhere to the word limit, writing format, or any other guidelines. Ensure also to check whether there is any deadline so you can submit your review at the required time.

3.    Knowing the audience

Understanding your audience is a very critical step. Your audience needs to feel that you can relate to them and that you know what they are looking for in your review. When writing a review of a horror movie, for example, you should keep your audience in mind and come up with something that you know they can relate to. You should be able to draw them in and keep them entertained. The review should be somewhat helpful to the audience. The main aim here is not to bore your readers since this will not work in your favor. However, understanding the right approach could mean that you can educate your audience about a particular topic in your review as long as you keep it interesting.

4.    Writing the review

Begin by describing what your review is about, remember to keep it brief. This gives the reader an impression of what you’ll be talking about. Provide the reader with some background information also to ensure that you’re on the same page. For example, if it is a movie review, give a summary of the movie (don’t give the entire plot of the movie as this can spoil it for your reader), name the actors, the director, and maybe name some previous movies directed by the same person. If it is a restaurant, you can talk about the chef, the owner, and a little history where applicable.

Give your readers plenty of details about the product or service you’re reviewing and have some evidence to back up your claims. Talk about your entire experience if it’s a restaurant, along with talking about the food, state whether the place was clean, and how the staff treated you. If it is a book, state your argument and back it up with some evidence. Keep it as accurate as possible and state any details you feel are relevant to a particular situation. Be confident enough to express strong opinions but, at the same time, be realistic. 

Don’t use general facts to write a review. Remember that the reader wants to know about your personal experience. If possible, you can attach photos or links to give the readers a visual idea of what you’re reviewing. 

Don’t write a review while you’re upset; this might bring out strong feelings that will cloud your judgment. Alternatively, take some time to calm down and write a fair review. Highlight what was done right and what was done wrong. Remember to keep it as truthful as possible. Try and place yourself on the other side of the story and consider the possible reasons for the situation. This shows your readers that you are understanding and honest and could give the validation of an authentic review.

Remember to keep your review as interesting and entertaining as possible. You can add any extra information that you think will be helpful to the reader.

If I wrote a review for LHS on Google reviews, I would write. 

“I’ve truly enjoyed my stay here; the pool on the roof is a must-try for any new student.”

5.    Proofreading and Editing 

The final step of the review is proofreading and editing. Go through your entire review a couple of times to the full review and make the necessary corrections. Check that you have used the correct grammar and punctuation. Confirm that all your tenses are in the correct form. You can have someone else go through your review and inform you of anything that needs correcting. Ensure that you adhere to any rules provided, if any. Once you’re confident that everything is where it should be, you can go ahead and submit your review.

Are you writing an evaluation essay on your worst movie? Do you find the entire process daunting, or are you struggling to reach the required word count? Watching a movie for an essay is probably the best/worst thing ever, and we can help with your movie essays if you’re stuck. Worry no more! Our custom writing service got your back!

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Movie Review: ‘Dune: Part Two’ sustains the dystopian dream of ‘Part One’

“Dune: Part Two” stars Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler sat down with AP film writer Lindsey Bahr to talk about their fight scene, director Denis Villeneuve’s playful approach to creating the sci-fi epic, Chalamet’s growth in between trips to the desert — and that sandworm theatre popcorn bucket. The movie hits theatres March 1.

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows a scene from "Dune: Part Two." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows a scene from “Dune: Part Two.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

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This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Timothee Chalamet in a scene from “Dune: Part Two.” (Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Zendaya in a scene from “Dune: Part Two.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Timothee Chalamet, foreground left, and Austin Butler in a scene from “Dune: Part Two.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Rebecca Ferguson in a scene from “Dune: Part Two.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Florence Pugh in a scene from “Dune: Part Two.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Stellan Skarsgard in a scene from “Dune: Part Two.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Dave Bautista in a scene from “Dune: Part Two.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Austin Butler, left, and Lea Seydoux in a scene from “Dune: Part Two.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

evaluation paper on a movie

Three firm thumps into the Arrakis sand is all you need to summon a sandworm in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two.” It’s almost as easy as hailing a cab or calling for the check.

The big buggers can’t resist the sound, which is a little like how I feel taking in all the vibrations of Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 science-fiction novel. Whispers, incantations and guttural sounds buzz throughout “Part Two,” a hissing hulk of a sequel that fluctuates between ominous silences and thunderous booms.

The first “Dune,” released in 2021 when movie theaters were still humbled by the pandemic, tackled just the first half of Herbert’s opus, saving the second half for the sequel. That split can be owed in part to the enormous amount of plot contained in the novel, but it can also be attributed to the operatic rhythms of Villeneuve’s solemn spectacle. Sober as they are, “Dune” parts one and two are almost drunk on their own sense of atmosphere.

And with good reason. Like its predecessor, “Dune: Part Two” thrums with an intoxicating big-screen expressionism of monoliths and mosquitos, fevered visions and messianic fervor — more dystopian dream, or nightmare, than a straightforward narrative.

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows director Denis Villeneuve, left, with actor Rebecca Ferguson on the set of "Dune: Part Two." (Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

That filmmaking prowess sometimes comes at the expense of other things. Humor, for one, is in shorter supply on Arrakis than water. Javier Bardem, returning as the Fremen leader Stilgar, alone seems to want to breathe a little laughter into all the fiery red sands and mammoth machinery of “Dune.”

“Part Two” primarily follows the rise of Paul Atreides ( Timothée Chalamet ), who, after seeing his father killed and House Atreides routed from the Arrakis capital by House Harkonnen and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (a monstrously good Stellan Skarsgård), is now living among the Fremen, the desert-dwelling peoples of Arrakis, with his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson).

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Timothee Chalamet in a scene from "Dune: Part Two." (Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

The myth of Paul is already growing among the Fremen, who call him Muad’Dib. (A great feature of these movies, like Hebert’s books, is the exquisite names.) Is he the chosen one or a false prophet? Doubts are gradually erased by his accomplishments (leading strikes against Harkonnen spice harvesters; quickly learning the ways of the Fremen); the cunning maneuvering of Lady Jessica; and the worshipful zeal of Stilgar.

The Fremen warrior Chani ( Zendaya ), though skeptical of the hype, believes, with some reluctance, in Paul. “Part Two” is significantly propped up by their dynamic and budding romance , a relationship that gives a deserving wide-screen canvas to two of the most exciting young movie stars of their generation.

For a while it’s fun and games in the desert, blowing up stuff and learning how to ride sand worms. Oh, there’s the matter of the “holy poison” forced on Lady Jessica, a neon-blue liquid extracted from sand worms that looks like it would produce a fine Slush Puppie , but, if it doesn’t kill you, confers a frightful clairvoyance of the universe.

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Zendaya in a scene from "Dune: Part Two." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

Blue is an important color in the otherwise darker shaded “Dune.” It lights up in Lady Jessica’s eyes and, later, Paul’s too. If you thought Peter O’Toole’s eyes blazed in “Lawrence of Arabia,” Paul’s look like they’ve been pumped through with windshield-wiper fluid. As his following swells, Paul grows increasingly aware, and fearful, of his god-like power.

“Dune: Part Two” spends much of its energy with Paul wrestling with this supposed messianic destiny. Like “Lawrence of Arabia,” he’s a white protagonist from the West (or, here, the “Outer World”) on a Middle Eastern-like desert, leading the revolution of a dark-skinned population against oppressors whom he, himself, has deep ties to.

Herbert’s metaphor-rife book has sometimes been interpreted — or misinterpreted, scholars would say — by the alt-right for its racial politics. Villeneuve’s film, scripted by the director and Jon Spaihts, appears highly conscious of this legacy as well as that of the white-savior trope. And often — as in so much of these two films — the movie expresses itself most through imagery and movement.

The Harkonnens, universally white, bald and violent, are served up as the symbol of colonist rule. In the middle of “Part Two,” the film introduces the Harkonnen prince Feyd-Rautha (a hairless Austin Butler, looking a bit too much like the albino protagonist of 1995’s “Powder” ) who is a kind of opposite to Paul. He, too, could take command of Arrakis.

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Austin Butler, left, and Lea Seydoux in a scene from "Dune: Part Two." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

When Villeneuve temporarily switches to Feyd-Rautha’s story and away from Paul and Chani, the film’s richly orchestrated sense of momentum falters. But the comparison is illuminating. In a massive colosseum, Feyd-Rautha ruthlessly battles a trio of Atreides survivors in a scene, bleached in monochrome, that looks like “Triumph of the Will,” supersized.

There’s an earnest reckoning here in the power dynamics of the source material and previous Hollywood tales of first-and-third world confrontations. There’s plenty of doubt to go around for all involved, too. The movie’s perspective ultimately resides in the drained, shrouded face of Charlotte Rampling, who plays the matriarch of the Bene Gesserit (again, the names!), a mystic order that pulls the strings behind the galactic politics of “Dune.” For her, it’s a game of raw calculation and “no sides.”

As “Part Two” brings all parties together for the final act, it begins to loose steam. The Emperor (Christopher Walken) and his daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), seen sporadically from afar debating the events on Arrakis, turn up. But while Walken’s company is always welcome, he might be too warm a presence for “Dune” — too much of the Earth despite so often seeming on a planet of his own.

Yet the limpness of the finale, despite all of the expert build-up of Hans Zimmer’s score and Mark Mangini and Theo Green’s sound design, goes to something deeper. Villeneuve’s great talent lies, I think, in invocation. He may be less perfect when it comes to conclusions but he’s brilliant at summoning — a sense of doom, a suddenly appeared spacecraft, a sandworm. Even better than those serpentine sand creatures (the runaway stars of “Part Two”) is that thump, thump, thump that precedes them.

“Dune: Part Two,” a Warner Bros. release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for sequences of strong violence, some suggestive material and brief strong language. Running time: 165 minutes. Three stars out of four.

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The model delivers dramatically enhanced performance, with a breakthrough in long-context understanding across modalities.

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A note from Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai:

Last week, we rolled out our most capable model, Gemini 1.0 Ultra, and took a significant step forward in making Google products more helpful, starting with Gemini Advanced . Today, developers and Cloud customers can begin building with 1.0 Ultra too — with our Gemini API in AI Studio and in Vertex AI .

Our teams continue pushing the frontiers of our latest models with safety at the core. They are making rapid progress. In fact, we’re ready to introduce the next generation: Gemini 1.5. It shows dramatic improvements across a number of dimensions and 1.5 Pro achieves comparable quality to 1.0 Ultra, while using less compute.

This new generation also delivers a breakthrough in long-context understanding. We’ve been able to significantly increase the amount of information our models can process — running up to 1 million tokens consistently, achieving the longest context window of any large-scale foundation model yet.

Longer context windows show us the promise of what is possible. They will enable entirely new capabilities and help developers build much more useful models and applications. We’re excited to offer a limited preview of this experimental feature to developers and enterprise customers. Demis shares more on capabilities, safety and availability below.

Introducing Gemini 1.5

By Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, on behalf of the Gemini team

This is an exciting time for AI. New advances in the field have the potential to make AI more helpful for billions of people over the coming years. Since introducing Gemini 1.0 , we’ve been testing, refining and enhancing its capabilities.

Today, we’re announcing our next-generation model: Gemini 1.5.

Gemini 1.5 delivers dramatically enhanced performance. It represents a step change in our approach, building upon research and engineering innovations across nearly every part of our foundation model development and infrastructure. This includes making Gemini 1.5 more efficient to train and serve, with a new Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture.

The first Gemini 1.5 model we’re releasing for early testing is Gemini 1.5 Pro. It’s a mid-size multimodal model, optimized for scaling across a wide-range of tasks, and performs at a similar level to 1.0 Ultra , our largest model to date. It also introduces a breakthrough experimental feature in long-context understanding.

Gemini 1.5 Pro comes with a standard 128,000 token context window. But starting today, a limited group of developers and enterprise customers can try it with a context window of up to 1 million tokens via AI Studio and Vertex AI in private preview.

As we roll out the full 1 million token context window, we’re actively working on optimizations to improve latency, reduce computational requirements and enhance the user experience. We’re excited for people to try this breakthrough capability, and we share more details on future availability below.

These continued advances in our next-generation models will open up new possibilities for people, developers and enterprises to create, discover and build using AI.

Context lengths of leading foundation models

Highly efficient architecture

Gemini 1.5 is built upon our leading research on Transformer and MoE architecture. While a traditional Transformer functions as one large neural network, MoE models are divided into smaller "expert” neural networks.

Depending on the type of input given, MoE models learn to selectively activate only the most relevant expert pathways in its neural network. This specialization massively enhances the model’s efficiency. Google has been an early adopter and pioneer of the MoE technique for deep learning through research such as Sparsely-Gated MoE , GShard-Transformer , Switch-Transformer, M4 and more.

Our latest innovations in model architecture allow Gemini 1.5 to learn complex tasks more quickly and maintain quality, while being more efficient to train and serve. These efficiencies are helping our teams iterate, train and deliver more advanced versions of Gemini faster than ever before, and we’re working on further optimizations.

Greater context, more helpful capabilities

An AI model’s “context window” is made up of tokens, which are the building blocks used for processing information. Tokens can be entire parts or subsections of words, images, videos, audio or code. The bigger a model’s context window, the more information it can take in and process in a given prompt — making its output more consistent, relevant and useful.

Through a series of machine learning innovations, we’ve increased 1.5 Pro’s context window capacity far beyond the original 32,000 tokens for Gemini 1.0. We can now run up to 1 million tokens in production.

This means 1.5 Pro can process vast amounts of information in one go — including 1 hour of video, 11 hours of audio, codebases with over 30,000 lines of code or over 700,000 words. In our research, we’ve also successfully tested up to 10 million tokens.

Complex reasoning about vast amounts of information

1.5 Pro can seamlessly analyze, classify and summarize large amounts of content within a given prompt. For example, when given the 402-page transcripts from Apollo 11’s mission to the moon, it can reason about conversations, events and details found across the document.

Reasoning across a 402-page transcript: Gemini 1.5 Pro Demo

Gemini 1.5 Pro can understand, reason about and identify curious details in the 402-page transcripts from Apollo 11’s mission to the moon.

Better understanding and reasoning across modalities

1.5 Pro can perform highly-sophisticated understanding and reasoning tasks for different modalities, including video. For instance, when given a 44-minute silent Buster Keaton movie , the model can accurately analyze various plot points and events, and even reason about small details in the movie that could easily be missed.

Multimodal prompting with a 44-minute movie: Gemini 1.5 Pro Demo

Gemini 1.5 Pro can identify a scene in a 44-minute silent Buster Keaton movie when given a simple line drawing as reference material for a real-life object.

Relevant problem-solving with longer blocks of code

1.5 Pro can perform more relevant problem-solving tasks across longer blocks of code. When given a prompt with more than 100,000 lines of code, it can better reason across examples, suggest helpful modifications and give explanations about how different parts of the code works.

Problem solving across 100,633 lines of code | Gemini 1.5 Pro Demo

Gemini 1.5 Pro can reason across 100,000 lines of code giving helpful solutions, modifications and explanations.

Enhanced performance

When tested on a comprehensive panel of text, code, image, audio and video evaluations, 1.5 Pro outperforms 1.0 Pro on 87% of the benchmarks used for developing our large language models (LLMs). And when compared to 1.0 Ultra on the same benchmarks, it performs at a broadly similar level.

Gemini 1.5 Pro maintains high levels of performance even as its context window increases. In the Needle In A Haystack (NIAH) evaluation, where a small piece of text containing a particular fact or statement is purposely placed within a long block of text, 1.5 Pro found the embedded text 99% of the time, in blocks of data as long as 1 million tokens.

Gemini 1.5 Pro also shows impressive “in-context learning” skills, meaning that it can learn a new skill from information given in a long prompt, without needing additional fine-tuning. We tested this skill on the Machine Translation from One Book (MTOB) benchmark, which shows how well the model learns from information it’s never seen before. When given a grammar manual for Kalamang , a language with fewer than 200 speakers worldwide, the model learns to translate English to Kalamang at a similar level to a person learning from the same content.

As 1.5 Pro’s long context window is the first of its kind among large-scale models, we’re continuously developing new evaluations and benchmarks for testing its novel capabilities.

For more details, see our Gemini 1.5 Pro technical report .

Extensive ethics and safety testing

In line with our AI Principles and robust safety policies, we’re ensuring our models undergo extensive ethics and safety tests. We then integrate these research learnings into our governance processes and model development and evaluations to continuously improve our AI systems.

Since introducing 1.0 Ultra in December, our teams have continued refining the model, making it safer for a wider release. We’ve also conducted novel research on safety risks and developed red-teaming techniques to test for a range of potential harms.

In advance of releasing 1.5 Pro, we've taken the same approach to responsible deployment as we did for our Gemini 1.0 models, conducting extensive evaluations across areas including content safety and representational harms, and will continue to expand this testing. Beyond this, we’re developing further tests that account for the novel long-context capabilities of 1.5 Pro.

Build and experiment with Gemini models

We’re committed to bringing each new generation of Gemini models to billions of people, developers and enterprises around the world responsibly.

Starting today, we’re offering a limited preview of 1.5 Pro to developers and enterprise customers via AI Studio and Vertex AI . Read more about this on our Google for Developers blog and Google Cloud blog .

We’ll introduce 1.5 Pro with a standard 128,000 token context window when the model is ready for a wider release. Coming soon, we plan to introduce pricing tiers that start at the standard 128,000 context window and scale up to 1 million tokens, as we improve the model.

Early testers can try the 1 million token context window at no cost during the testing period, though they should expect longer latency times with this experimental feature. Significant improvements in speed are also on the horizon.

Developers interested in testing 1.5 Pro can sign up now in AI Studio, while enterprise customers can reach out to their Vertex AI account team.

Learn more about Gemini’s capabilities and see how it works .

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‘Dune: Part Two’ Review: Denis Villeneuve’s Sci-Fi Epic Is Staggering to Look at but Agonizing to Watch

David ehrlich.

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Denis Villeneuve has insisted that “ Dune: Part Two ” would be a direct continuation of its predecessor rather than a sequel, and the man has absolutely made good on that promise: Not only does this new movie pick up exactly where the last one left off, it also carries over the strengths and weaknesses that made the previous chapter so astonishing to look at but stultifying to watch. 

Once again, the biblical solemnity of Villeneuve’s approach — along with the tactile brutalism of his design — have combined into a Timothée Chalamet movie that shimmers with the patina of an epic myth. And once again, the awesome spectacle that Villeneuve mines from all that scenery is betrayed by the smallness of the human drama he stages against it, with the majesty of the movie’s first hour desiccating into the stuff of pure tedium as Paul Atreides struggles to find his voice amid the visions that compel him forward. It’s a struggle that “ Dune: Part Two ” continues to embody all too well.  Related Stories Demands for Pay Equity Plaster the Costume Designers Guild Awards: ‘You’re Naked Without Us’ Tom Cruise to Lead Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s New Film for Warner Bros. and Legendary

This isn’t quite the same common — and admittedly boring — criticism that’s been leveled against massive studio movies since the industry first started making them. This isn’t a case of sound and fury signifying nothing, or one of special effects signifying even less. The artistry of this film ’s craftsmanship and the sincerity of its application would in and of themselves make it disingenuous to compare “Dune: Part Two” to the likes of, say, “Jurassic World” and Disney’s “live-action” remake of “The Lion King.” 

If “Dune: Part Two” is more nuanced and action-packed than the previous installment, and Chalamet’s twiggy princeling a far less passive hero than he was the first time around, the relative density of the drama that Villenueve has packed into this movie is deflated by a similar uptick in the grandiosity of the spectacle that surrounds it. Much like his protagonist, the filmmaker is straining to reconcile a larger-than-life sense of predestination with the intimate pain of a moral dilemma, but his own failure to achieve that balance makes it all but impossible for Paul to succeed on the same terms. 

evaluation paper on a movie

The droning heaviness of Villeneueve’s direction is great at creating a sustained mood (in this case, one of mournfully pyrrhic victory), but it flattens characters into the sets around them until they start to feel like part of the scenery themselves. It’s as difficult to trace the granular changes in Paul’s thinking as it would be to notice a single chip in the giant slabs of gray concrete that form the gladiator arena on Giedi Prime (Chalamet’s gradual transition from reverent whisper-talking to empyrean scream-shouting is the closest thing we get to legible character growth), and that lack of detail becomes a fittingly enormous problem for this film as the transportive stage-setting of its first half gives way to the stunted fatalism of its second. 

Instead, Paul’s growing prescience becomes a major albatross for a film too focused on the big picture to look for signs of life in each scene along the way, and watching this boy-god arrive at the only possible future among the many that he learns to foresee is as dull and emotionally disengaging as it was to watch him awake to that destiny in the first “Dune.” “Part Two” may be the more broadly entertaining of these two movies, but feeling unmoved by the climactic sight of Willy Wonka riding a 400-meter sandworm into battle against a Manhattan-sized disco ball is also a much weirder and more uncomfortable kind of disappointment than anything the last chapter had to offer. 

evaluation paper on a movie

This time, however, the road towards that colossal letdown is a bit smoother. Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts have already teased out the lay of the land, and so “Dune: Part Two” is able to dig a little deeper from the moment it starts — to actually show us some of the places that were alluded to in the previous movie, and to complicate the white savior myth that Paul brings with him when he and his pregnant mom (Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica) are escorted to the secret Fremen community of Sietch Tabr. 

These early scenes represent the very best of what Villeneuve can bring to this story, as they viscerally bring to life “a place where nothing can live without faith.” It’s because the arid deserts are so merciless that we can understand why the Fremen suck the moisture out of their enemies’ bodies and honor their own dead by pouring their water into a giant pool, and it’s because of an indelible new track from Hans Zimmer’s semi-recycled score — a bittersweet wail that cuts deeper than any of the music he wrote for “Part One” and sustains the emotion of this movie long after the script has run out of steam — that we can parse the complicated roles that anger, pride, and resentment play in the Fremen’s need for outside help.

evaluation paper on a movie

That clarity lends a welcome shot in the arm to the thrilling action sequences that Villeneuve stages on the sand, which are clear and concussive enough to compensate for their brevity. These setpieces — which peak with a sandworm-riding trial so exhilarating that the rest of the movie can’t help but feel like a letdown — are also more exciting than anything that follows because they allow Paul to forge his relationship with the two Fremen who will most directly impact his fate.

And then, of course, there’s Chani. The skeptical and self-reliant Fremen was the patron saint of everything that didn’t work about the last movie, as Spaihts and Villeneueve reduced her character to a living reminder of all the sacrifices their adaptation had to make on its way to the screen. In “Part Two,” Chani is allowed to take her rightful place at the heart of Paul’s story, even as she questions whether or not it should belong to him (and even as the script dramatically streamlines her role in it). 

Zendaya is more than up for the challenge. Not to belittle Chalamet, whose furrowed brow sows doubt in all the right places, but the most interesting thing about Paul’s trajectory is how it’s reflected across Zendaya’s face. So much of this increasingly interminable film is spent on slow-motion shots of silhouettes walking towards the sunset as Zimmer goes ham over the soundtrack, but all it takes is a single reaction shot of Chani for the drama to snap back into focus.

evaluation paper on a movie

This “Dune” is never better than when it frames its messianic spectacle as the backdrop for a star-crossed love story about a woman falling in love with the same man she doesn’t trust to free her people. Villeneuve’s “Dune” has almost nothing new to say about religion as a form of control, or the risks that an indigenous community might incur by trusting their salvation to a white boy from another planet, but none of that seems to matter when it all comes down to a couple of people who lose sight of the signs whenever they look at each other. 

Stellan Skarsgård’s Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, who was such a monstrous force of nature in the previous “Dune,” is now a shadow of his former self, and so it’s up to his nephew Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler, doing an excellent Skarsgård impression) to step up and lead the family to the promised land. Butler certainly doesn’t half-ass his transformation into a sexually vulnerable psychopath so white — or whiiiiiite — that Colonel Tom Parker would probably self-combust if he saw him, but his commitment to the part can’t redeem the fact that Feyd-Rautha is just a pasty knife-licking bore.

evaluation paper on a movie

Villeneuve introduces him in a hideous, monochromatic fight sequence that so clumsily literalizes the film’s black-and-white moral binary that it feels like a detour into a Zack Snyder movie, and from that point on Feyd-Rautha never has a chance to rise above his look to become a rival worthy of Paul’s ascendance. His only scene that doesn’t bring “Part Two” to an absolute standstill involves Léa Seydoux dropping by for some light “Under the Skin” cosplay. 

The Emperor’s arrival is meant to reflect Paul’s discovery that power cannot be tamed, and that “the heart is not meant to rule,” but his non-presence only manages to incite one of the largest and most underwhelming final battles a sci-fi blockbuster of this scale has ever served up. That anticlimax may be true to the plot of Herbert’s novel, but it reflects the missteps of Villeneuve’s stolid adaptation. In a film so booming and immense that it seems like sandworms are rumbling under your feet, a film that best identifies with the Bene Gesserit’s detached and ultra-wide POV on this story, even the most significant events tend to blow over like farts in the wind. Even the oldest and most oft-told of myths feel more alive in the moment.

The pieces on this chess board are so big that we can hardly even tell when they’re moving, and while that sensation helps to articulate the sheer inertia of Paul’s destiny, it also leads to a shrug of an ending that suggests Villeneuve and his protagonist are equally at the mercy of their epic visions. No filmmaker is better equipped to capture the full sweep of this saga (which is why, despite being disappointed twice over, I still can’t help but look forward to “Dune: Messiah”), and — sometimes for better, but usually for worse — no filmmaker is so capable of reflecting how Paul might lose his perspective amid the power and the resources that have been placed at his disposal. 

Warner Bros. will release “Dune: Part Two” in theaters on Friday, March 1.

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Computer Science > Computation and Language

Title: large language models: a survey.

Abstract: Large Language Models (LLMs) have drawn a lot of attention due to their strong performance on a wide range of natural language tasks, since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022. LLMs' ability of general-purpose language understanding and generation is acquired by training billions of model's parameters on massive amounts of text data, as predicted by scaling laws \cite{kaplan2020scaling,hoffmann2022training}. The research area of LLMs, while very recent, is evolving rapidly in many different ways. In this paper, we review some of the most prominent LLMs, including three popular LLM families (GPT, LLaMA, PaLM), and discuss their characteristics, contributions and limitations. We also give an overview of techniques developed to build, and augment LLMs. We then survey popular datasets prepared for LLM training, fine-tuning, and evaluation, review widely used LLM evaluation metrics, and compare the performance of several popular LLMs on a set of representative benchmarks. Finally, we conclude the paper by discussing open challenges and future research directions.

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EU AI Act: first regulation on artificial intelligence

The use of artificial intelligence in the EU will be regulated by the AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive AI law. Find out how it will protect you.

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As part of its digital strategy , the EU wants to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure better conditions for the development and use of this innovative technology. AI can create many benefits , such as better healthcare; safer and cleaner transport; more efficient manufacturing; and cheaper and more sustainable energy.

In April 2021, the European Commission proposed the first EU regulatory framework for AI. It says that AI systems that can be used in different applications are analysed and classified according to the risk they pose to users. The different risk levels will mean more or less regulation. Once approved, these will be the world’s first rules on AI.

Learn more about what artificial intelligence is and how it is used

What Parliament wants in AI legislation

Parliament’s priority is to make sure that AI systems used in the EU are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory and environmentally friendly. AI systems should be overseen by people, rather than by automation, to prevent harmful outcomes.

Parliament also wants to establish a technology-neutral, uniform definition for AI that could be applied to future AI systems.

Learn more about Parliament’s work on AI and its vision for AI’s future

AI Act: different rules for different risk levels

The new rules establish obligations for providers and users depending on the level of risk from artificial intelligence. While many AI systems pose minimal risk, they need to be assessed.

Unacceptable risk

Unacceptable risk AI systems are systems considered a threat to people and will be banned. They include:

  • Cognitive behavioural manipulation of people or specific vulnerable groups: for example voice-activated toys that encourage dangerous behaviour in children
  • Social scoring: classifying people based on behaviour, socio-economic status or personal characteristics
  • Biometric identification and categorisation of people
  • Real-time and remote biometric identification systems, such as facial recognition

Some exceptions may be allowed for law enforcement purposes. “Real-time” remote biometric identification systems will be allowed in a limited number of serious cases, while “post” remote biometric identification systems, where identification occurs after a significant delay, will be allowed to prosecute serious crimes and only after court approval.

AI systems that negatively affect safety or fundamental rights will be considered high risk and will be divided into two categories:

1) AI systems that are used in products falling under the EU’s product safety legislation . This includes toys, aviation, cars, medical devices and lifts.

2) AI systems falling into specific areas that will have to be registered in an EU database:

  • Management and operation of critical infrastructure
  • Education and vocational training
  • Employment, worker management and access to self-employment
  • Access to and enjoyment of essential private services and public services and benefits
  • Law enforcement
  • Migration, asylum and border control management
  • Assistance in legal interpretation and application of the law.

All high-risk AI systems will be assessed before being put on the market and also throughout their lifecycle.

General purpose and generative AI

Generative AI, like ChatGPT, would have to comply with transparency requirements:

  • Disclosing that the content was generated by AI
  • Designing the model to prevent it from generating illegal content
  • Publishing summaries of copyrighted data used for training

High-impact general-purpose AI models that might pose systemic risk, such as the more advanced AI model GPT-4, would have to undergo thorough evaluations and any serious incidents would have to be reported to the European Commission.

Limited risk

Limited risk AI systems should comply with minimal transparency requirements that would allow users to make informed decisions. After interacting with the applications, the user can then decide whether they want to continue using it. Users should be made aware when they are interacting with AI. This includes AI systems that generate or manipulate image, audio or video content, for example deepfakes.

On December 9 2023, Parliament reached a provisional agreement with the Council on the AI act . The agreed text will now have to be formally adopted by both Parliament and Council to become EU law. Before all MEPs have their say on the agreement, Parliament’s internal market and civil liberties committees will vote on it.

More on the EU’s digital measures

  • Cryptocurrency dangers and the benefits of EU legislation
  • Fighting cybercrime: new EU cybersecurity laws explained
  • Boosting data sharing in the EU: what are the benefits?
  • EU Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act
  • Five ways the European Parliament wants to protect online gamers
  • Artificial Intelligence Act

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OpenAI teases an amazing new generative video model called Sora

The firm is sharing Sora with a small group of safety testers but the rest of us will have to wait to learn more.

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OpenAI has built a striking new generative video model called Sora that can take a short text description and turn it into a detailed, high-definition film clip up to a minute long.

Based on four sample videos that OpenAI shared with MIT Technology Review ahead of today’s announcement, the San Francisco–based firm has pushed the envelope of what’s possible with text-to-video generation (a hot new research direction that we flagged as a trend to watch in 2024 ).

“We think building models that can understand video, and understand all these very complex interactions of our world, is an important step for all future AI systems,” says Tim Brooks, a scientist at OpenAI.

But there’s a disclaimer. OpenAI gave us a preview of Sora (which means sky in Japanese) under conditions of strict secrecy. In an unusual move, the firm would only share information about Sora if we agreed to wait until after news of the model was made public to seek the opinions of outside experts. [Editor’s note: We’ve updated this story with outside comment below.] OpenAI has not yet released a technical report or demonstrated the model actually working. And it says it won’t be releasing Sora anytime soon. [ Update: OpenAI has now shared more technical details on its website.]

The first generative models that could produce video from snippets of text appeared in late 2022. But early examples from Meta , Google, and a startup called Runway were glitchy and grainy. Since then, the tech has been getting better fast. Runway’s gen-2 model, released last year, can produce short clips that come close to matching big-studio animation in their quality. But most of these examples are still only a few seconds long.  

The sample videos from OpenAI’s Sora are high-definition and full of detail. OpenAI also says it can generate videos up to a minute long. One video of a Tokyo street scene shows that Sora has learned how objects fit together in 3D: the camera swoops into the scene to follow a couple as they walk past a row of shops.

OpenAI also claims that Sora handles occlusion well. One problem with existing models is that they can fail to keep track of objects when they drop out of view. For example, if a truck passes in front of a street sign, the sign might not reappear afterward.  

In a video of a papercraft underwater scene, Sora has added what look like cuts between different pieces of footage, and the model has maintained a consistent style between them.

It’s not perfect. In the Tokyo video, cars to the left look smaller than the people walking beside them. They also pop in and out between the tree branches. “There’s definitely some work to be done in terms of long-term coherence,” says Brooks. “For example, if someone goes out of view for a long time, they won’t come back. The model kind of forgets that they were supposed to be there.”

Impressive as they are, the sample videos shown here were no doubt cherry-picked to show Sora at its best. Without more information, it is hard to know how representative they are of the model’s typical output.   

It may be some time before we find out. OpenAI’s announcement of Sora today is a tech tease, and the company says it has no current plans to release it to the public. Instead, OpenAI will today begin sharing the model with third-party safety testers for the first time.

In particular, the firm is worried about the potential misuses of fake but photorealistic video . “We’re being careful about deployment here and making sure we have all our bases covered before we put this in the hands of the general public,” says Aditya Ramesh, a scientist at OpenAI, who created the firm’s text-to-image model DALL-E .

But OpenAI is eyeing a product launch sometime in the future. As well as safety testers, the company is also sharing the model with a select group of video makers and artists to get feedback on how to make Sora as useful as possible to creative professionals. “The other goal is to show everyone what is on the horizon, to give a preview of what these models will be capable of,” says Ramesh.

To build Sora, the team adapted the tech behind DALL-E 3, the latest version of OpenAI’s flagship text-to-image model. Like most text-to-image models, DALL-E 3 uses what’s known as a diffusion model. These are trained to turn a fuzz of random pixels into a picture.

Sora takes this approach and applies it to videos rather than still images. But the researchers also added another technique to the mix. Unlike DALL-E or most other generative video models, Sora combines its diffusion model with a type of neural network called a transformer.

Transformers are great at processing long sequences of data, like words. That has made them the special sauce inside large language models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Google DeepMind’s Gemini . But videos are not made of words. Instead, the researchers had to find a way to cut videos into chunks that could be treated as if they were. The approach they came up with was to dice videos up across both space and time. “It’s like if you were to have a stack of all the video frames and you cut little cubes from it,” says Brooks.

The transformer inside Sora can then process these chunks of video data in much the same way that the transformer inside a large language model processes words in a block of text. The researchers say that this let them train Sora on many more types of video than other text-to-video models, varied in terms of resolution, duration, aspect ratio, and orientation. “It really helps the model,” says Brooks. “That is something that we’re not aware of any existing work on.”

“From a technical perspective it seems like a very significant leap forward,” says Sam Gregory, executive director at Witness, a human rights organization that specializes in the use and misuse of video technology. “But there are two sides to the coin,” he says. “The expressive capabilities offer the potential for many more people to be storytellers using video. And there are also real potential avenues for misuse.” 

OpenAI is well aware of the risks that come with a generative video model. We are already seeing the large-scale misuse of deepfake images . Photorealistic video takes this to another level.

Gregory notes that you could use technology like this to misinform people about conflict zones or protests. The range of styles is also interesting, he says. If you could generate shaky footage that looked like something shot with a phone, it would come across as more authentic.

The tech is not there yet, but generative video has gone from zero to Sora in just 18 months. “We’re going to be entering a universe where there will be fully synthetic content, human-generated content and a mix of the two,” says Gregory.

The OpenAI team plans to draw on the safety testing it did last year for DALL-E 3. Sora already includes a filter that runs on all prompts sent to the model that will block requests for violent, sexual, or hateful images, as well as images of known people. Another filter will look at frames of generated videos and block material that violates OpenAI’s safety policies.

OpenAI says it is also adapting a fake-image detector developed for DALL-E 3 to use with Sora. And the company will embed industry-standard C2PA tags , metadata that states how an image was generated, into all of Sora’s output. But these steps are far from foolproof. Fake-image detectors are hit-or-miss. Metadata is easy to remove, and most social media sites strip it from uploaded images by default.  

“We’ll definitely need to get more feedback and learn more about the types of risks that need to be addressed with video before it would make sense for us to release this,” says Ramesh.

Brooks agrees. “Part of the reason that we’re talking about this research now is so that we can start getting the input that we need to do the work necessary to figure out how it could be safely deployed,” he says.

Update 2/15: Comments from Sam Gregory were added .

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  • Cast & crew
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Drive-Away Dolls

Colman Domingo, C.J. Wilson, Beanie Feldstein, Margaret Qualley, and Geraldine Viswanathan in Drive-Away Dolls (2024)

Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee. Things quickly go awry when the... Read all Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee. Things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals. Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee. Things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals.

  • Tricia Cooke
  • Margaret Qualley
  • Geraldine Viswanathan
  • Beanie Feldstein
  • 15 User reviews
  • 65 Critic reviews
  • 58 Metascore

Official Trailer 2

  • The Goons - Arliss

C.J. Wilson

  • The Goons - Flint

Colman Domingo

  • The Collector

Bill Camp

  • Senator Gary Channel

Connie Jackson

  • Cicero's Waiter

Sam Vartholomeos

  • Old Man at Slappy's
  • Turkish Hotel Man

Abby Hilden

  • Soccer Girl

Fatima Fine

  • (as Fatima Barlow)
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Lisa Frankenstein

Did you know

  • Trivia The first film directed by Ethan Coen without the involvement of brother Joel Coen
  • Crazy credits Dedicated to Cynthia Plaster Caster (1947-2022) We remember!
  • Soundtracks Blue Bayou Written by Roy Orbison, Joe Melson Performed by Linda Ronstadt Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User reviews 15

  • Feb 23, 2024
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  • February 23, 2024 (United States)
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  • Drive Away Dykes
  • Lawrence, Pennsylvania, USA (The Butter Churn)
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  • Runtime 1 hour 24 minutes
  • Dolby Digital

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