In chapter 4 of the text book, the author talks about different kinds of formalism. The author defines formalism as a name often ti film criticism concerned with matters of structure and style in a movie, or with how features discussed in chapter 3 are organized in particular ways in a movie. The author talks about different examples of how a formalist might investigate a narrative differently.

 One example is through the film, His Girl Friday. In this example, the author says that a writer might look for stylistic or formal repetition in the editing or writing because they would be able to describe how they work to the rest of the film. This type of formalism is directed towards the audience. The critic would study how each screen, color, sounds, or anything else in the film has an effect on the audience watching the film.

The second example that the author gave was for the movie, Shane. In this example, the author says to choose a visually complex scene and describe how it works and why it is important to the movie. In the movie there is a quick and involved look between the four main characters, this set up a social relationship through the remainder of the film. This was important for the movie because it developed the characters of the movie into who they were for the rest of the movie

 
    













As I look at the horror movie covers from the 50's, I notice that they used much more color than the horror movie covers that have been made in 2014. The covers in 2014 seem like the creators of the cover were trying to be as terrifying as possible. The colors from the 50's seem as if they film makers were trying to take advantage of the new technology of using color rather than to make them look scary. As we look at them now, the reason they don't look scary could be because current media has desensitized the things that we once thought was scary.
Most of the covers in 2014 also use faces with their mouths open, many of them have blood in them or coming out of them. These covers in 2014 make it seem that the person in the picture is screaming for their life while they are in the act of dying. In the pictures in the 50's, more of them have pictures of the villain rather then the person being attacked.

As I look at the horror movie covers from the 50's, I notice that they used much more color than the horror movie covers that have been made in 2014. The covers in 2014 seem like the creators of the cover were trying to be as terrifying as possible. The colors from the 50's seem as if they film makers were trying to take advantage of the new technology of using color rather than to make them look scary. As we look at them now, the reason they don't look scary could be because current media has desensitized the things that we once thought was scary.
Most of the covers in 2014 also use faces with their mouths open, many of them have blood in them or coming out of them. These covers in 2014 make it seem that the person in the picture is screaming for their life while they are in the act of dying. In the pictures in the 50's, more of them have pictures of the villain rather then the person being attacked.

As I watch the football games, and also listen to my father and how he yells at makes statements about the ability of the players, I find it possible that the media is the reason for his arguments. As I watch the games, the reporters well always say that a team is either a good team or a bad team depending on how they play in that one game. This type of reporting ends up making its way into the news and newspapers. I personally do not let it affect the way that I see the game, because I know that players will have bad games. The media tries to change the way you think about it by saying that the only reason that they had a bad game was because the team is not good and the team will continue to loose unless they change the way they play. This information that is reported changes the way that people think about the game, my father is one of those people. He seems to believe that just because one person has a bad game, then he will have a bad game every week because he goes along with everything that the reporters say during the game. I, myself, would personally enjoy watching a football game with nobody reporting the game, it would allow me to think on my own about how the game and players are playing without any possible bias being heard from any other people or media outlet.

Chapter 4 of, A short Guide to Writing About Film, is titled, Six Approaches to Writing about Film. In this chapter, the author talks about national cinemas. He says that a writer should know something about the society and culture India to be able to correctly analyze an Indian film. Once this is said, the author says that once an individual is able to understand the culture of other societies, then they will be able to understand there culture and be able to analyze it. If a person criticized a certain film or any type of cultural aspect from another culture, then they would never be able to do it without being biased. They would be biased because they would only have their own personal culture to judge the films too. They would compare it to what the critics culture says is what and how a film is made, and how it is composed. I feel that for a person to be a successful critic, if they want to pursue it as a career, then they must first have a great understanding about how many different types of cultures there are in the world.

In chapter three of, "A Short Guide to Writing About Film", the author has a section titled, "Film and the Other Arts". In this section the author talks about the critical language of the other literary and visual arts. These arts that the author mentions are plot, character, and point of view. These three literary terms are things that critics critique. They look at these three things and decide how well each of them are in their mind. Each critic will have their own input on what they believe they see or feel while they are watching the film. Similar to what I said in a past post, each critic will have there own point of view of what the film will be like before they even watch it. I think that that is the worst way to critique a film, I believe that a person would have to watch a movie with a, "blank slate", so to speak, while they critique a film. If a person went in with an idea of the film before they watched it, then there idea of what the plot, character, and point of view will be skewed as they watch the film.

In the middle of chapter two, there is a section that is titled, Subject Matter and Meaning. In this section, the author says that "the previously mentioned preliminary question should remind you that the images you see are the product of certain influences and conditions, not just the world seen through the frame" (T. Corrigan, 2015, pg. 24) This means that the images that you view in a film are not just what is being shown. The things that you see are a result of previous actions or situations. The certain image that you see in a film or video is not just the image you are viewing, it is also the past. What I mean when I say this is that the present is only there because of the past. If the past was different or changed at all, then the present image you see would be different as well.
The author also states that you need to be prepared with a questioning mind while analyzing a movie. This means that you can't go into a movie, as a critic, and expect one thing to result from the film. If you were to do that, then you would criticize every little thing in the movie that is not what you original thought of the film was. As a critic, you need to go into a movie with a "open mind", so to speak, and start from scratch while criticizing a film


Corrigan, Timothy, and Graham Corrigan. A Short Guide to Writing about Film. 9th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

In another section of chapter 2 the author talks about memory and reflection. The title of the section is, Visual Memory and Reflection. The author mentions a man named Jean Mitry. The author said that his most important asset was an unusually precise visual memory. He was a renowned French film historian. His ability to remember details precisely was what made him so good at his job.
In another part of this chapter, the author talks about the horror film Psycho. The author mentions that taking notes while watching a horror movie such as psycho while you are first watching it could be different notes if you take notes after you watch the movie. I agree with what the author said about this. I do because the movie was a horror film, so peoples emotions will be raised while they are watching the film for the first time. These emotions would be clear in a persons writing, if they wrote while they were watching the film. Waiting until the movie is over and taking time to settle down will help your emotions go away and you have a steady mind while you criticize a film.