Designed for absolute beginners to budding cinephiles by Daniel Dercksen, a film journalist of 40 years, The Writing Studio’s film appreciation course will give you a thorough grounding in the art and craft of film and filmmaking.
If you love film, then this course will help you learn more about film analysis, film reviews and discussions, period genres and movements in film style, and more.
It will provide you with an informed opinion that will hopefully make your enjoyment of the film medium deeper.
This course may be useful for professionals who need to be informed and conversant about the film industry; for the layman who wants to know as much as he/she can about the world of film for personal enjoyment; or for those who want to venture into film journalism, film criticism of filmmaking.
During the course, you will take a closer look at the latest film releases as well as classics and go behind the scenes of how these films were made.
- To be able to appreciate there needs to be an ‘understanding’ and that is what film appreciation is all about for me.
- To help you understand the key dynamics of what film is made up of – technology, art, industry.
- To really understand what contemporary cinema is made up of we need to look at what went before because the foundation of the past is based on the present and the future.
At the end of the course, you will write a review that will be evaluated.
You will then have the necessary tools of writing reviews that are meaningful and rewarding, and venture into the world of filmmaking as a screenwriter, filmmaker or work as a Script Supervisor
The course is divided into 12 interactive and practical units that explore:
- A Steady Diet of Celluloid: Explore why films are popular, why they’re made, and the 12 key factors that influence what we see. This unit also examines the differences between film and television as storytelling mediums.
- The Screenplay: Take a closer look at how a screenplay serves as the blueprint for a film. Read selected screenplays to gain insight into the words that inspire action and shape cinematic vision.
- The Writing Process vs. the Film Process: Embark on a journey into how words are transformed into images, and how each process contributes to what we ultimately experience on the big screen.
- Deconstructing Film: Examine how films are conceptualized, what inspires them to be made, and the forces—personal, cultural, and commercial—that shape their creation.
- Genre and Genre Conventions: Each genre imposes specific conventions on a film. The choice of genre determines and limits what’s possible within a story, shaping tone, structure, and audience expectations.
- Theme: Theme is the glue that holds the story together and resonates throughout its telling. It gives writing meaning, reveals the story’s inner value system, and reflects the characters’ desires, conflicts, and actions. Theme is why we care about how the story unfolds—and what it ultimately reveals.
- Characters: All memorable and successful films share one essential trait: unforgettable characters. Not genre. Not budget. Not even a good story. Character is the foundation of film—the heart, soul, and nervous system of the narrative. Through characters, audiences experience emotion and are deeply moved.
- Structure: Structure is the most important element in film. A strong story follows a clear line of dramatic action—it moves forward, step by step, toward resolution. This unit explores the relationship between character and structure, and examines composition: the ordering and linking of scenes, transitional values, and turning points.
- Plot and the Line of Dramatic Action: Content is the story; context holds it together. The plot—or line of dramatic action—drives the narrative. You’ll explore genre-specific plots and four traditional plot types.
- How to Read a Film: Discover the language and visual dynamics of film. Learn how visual imagery offers an emotional journey and how filmmakers use cinematic tools to shape meaning.
- Visual Dynamics of Character: Take a closer look at how filmmakers use visual dynamics to reveal the inner world of characters—their psychology, emotional states, and narrative function.
- How to Review a Film: To master the art of seeing film, you must learn to view stories beyond your personal worldview and from an objective perspective. No matter how poorly a film may resonate with your own experience, every film has a specific audience. This unit encourages you to step into the audience’s zone—outside your comfort zone—and engage with film critically, empathetically, and insightfully.
Sign up for our Film Appreciation Course
