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Questions about Seeing a Movie or Video
These questions are very similar to those for watching a play, but you also need to think about what the camera let you see.

1. Tell what the movie or TV show was about, describe it

• Who were the characters?
• Where did the story take place?
• What was the story?
• Did the movie seem like real life or was it very fantastic, like a cartoon or science fiction story?

2. Think about what the screenwriter, the actors and the cameraman did, analyze the play

• The screenwriter made choices when he or she wrote the play
  • Which characters were interesting? Did they belong in this story?
  • When did the dialogue fit the characters? When did the dialogue tell the story? How did it do this?
  • When did the settings fit the story?
  • Was the story interesting, funny, scary? What made it so?
• The actors rehearsed the play
  • How did the actors move?
  • How did the actors talk?
  • When did you believe them?
• The camera person made choices about what the camera saw.
  • When and how did the camera show what happened in the story?
  • When and how did the camera let you see how the actors felt?
  • When did the camera let you see the setting? Why was this effective?
  • When did the camera images and effects add to the meaning of the drama – the close ups, the fades, the transitions from one scene to another?
• Sound designers make choices about what the audience hears
  • Which sound effects helped tell the story?
  • How did the music help set the mood and tell the story? When?

3. How did the movie or TV show make you feel? What did it make you think about? Interpret the movie.

• How did the characters and movie make you feel? Why?
• What was the movie saying about people in general, or about life? What did the play mean to you?

4. Think about the whole movie or TV show. What did you particularly like? What would you like to see changed? Evaluate the movie or video.

• Did you enjoy the movie? When was it particularly interesting or funny or scary? Is there anything you’d like to be different about the story, the characters or the settings?
• Did you believe in the characters? Is there anything you’d like to be different about the acting?
• Did the camera person help you see the action and the setting? Is there anything you’d like the camera person do differently next time?
• Who would you tell about the movie so they might go to see it?