Does studying film help or hinder?
 

Im currently halfway through my first year in a BA Hons i film studies and already im starting to watch films with a different view point and to be honest sometimes it really bugs me. I'm naming the shot sizes and the camera moves in my head. If anyone else does film studies, tell me, what effect has it had on how you watch movies?

Agreed
 

Haha I totally agree mate. I studied film in 6th Form and you do tend to pay more attention to things like camera movements, shots, mise-en-scene etc.

It can be a bit annoying sometimes but all round I think its given me a much better and deeper understanding of films, and I am able to appreciate them on many more levels too.

But like I said it can be annoying too :)

That's the general consensus. You do let the ideas seep in when you try to watch movies.

Sometimes it happens. Sometimes not.

Film Studies has had no effect on me since I've always looked at films in that way.

im finding that im questioning my response to a film cause i keep thinking of it in terms of theorists or other directors and stuff, trying to remember what it was like when i didnt know any of this stuff when i had to come up with my own thoughts about it

For the movie lover, film studies will always be a valuable thing in that it alows us to articulate exactly why we appreciate certain aspects of film. It is true that these studies tend to bring out the 'brushstrokes' of production, and the entire filmmaking process ceases to be invisible for most movies, but knowledge is rarely a harmful thing. Film studies, for me, has opened up thousands of fantastic movies which i would have never previously have even watched, and matured and evolved my point of view on the movies i already love.

If your only in your first year and you're worried, stop worrying. You havnt even scratched the surface of film yet. (pun strongly intended) Stick with it, and you'll be amazed and what sort of things you'll unlock within your own perceptions.

I tend to notice technique when a movie sucks, so it's usually not a big deal, but when I first started studying film I constantly picked films apart (it's not a bad thing). Give it some time and become as familiar as you can with the filmmaking process. Film's considered a language, and like a language, when you're first learning, little things make big differences until you end up listening and interpretating without even thinking about it.

From an empathetic POV, it took me years after my Eng Lit degree to read a book for enjoyment and feel that I didn't have to make notes or underline passages. I don't think I've fully recovered, and it's been well over a decade...

I did Film Studies at Uni for a term but walked out after one stand-up row too many with the lecturer. He really did know the arse-end of nothing. ;)

I find it has really helped me appreciate film, and has influenced my filmmaking especially. I've become a lot more theoretical about the films I watch, and I love analyzing them. Not that I didn't do this in the first place, though..

well i think it depends on the personality. i agree with others here that it is indeed a language, and you'll be more aware of the horrible use of it in bad films, and swoon when you see it used well in good films. it will take you time to be less aware of its use, by how comfortable you become with it.

if your personality is one heavily pressured by artifice and the awareness of concepts - ie, if you honestly truly can't shake the perception of film type, lighting, framing of shots, etc. - then no, it won't get better, and it will forever taint your perception.

if you can surrender to it, however, and learn to take it with a grain of salt, to even choose what you agree with and let go of what you don't agree with (ie, i deliberately got over theorists very early because that's all they are - theorists. it's their opinion, not fact, and my and your opinion are just as valid as a filmmaker philosophizing on his art in 1973), you'll add a deeper level of meaning and richness to every film experience you ever have from now til the day you die.

i minored in film studies and english was my major. they are a means to an end (full immersion in an art form you love and may choose to create with), not rules to live by.

^ I think the personality thing is right; My cousin studies films, is questing to become a director; He's the most incredible bore when it comes to technique and, ok this is more my problem, is also developing into quite the film snob. But he was already somewhat pretentious before that. :)

ditto. I just read a lot. That's my excuse. ;)

I got 93 in film studies last semester. I don't really look at the camera movements as much as the purpose of each scene (Use of colour/props)

I think it's been only richening for me. The most negative thing I suppose is when friends ask "Is this film good or bad?" and I always respond "Well, it depends....". That annoys people a lot. ;D The more you study film the harder it gets to categorize them into good or bad boxes or give them three or four stars. I quickly realized that in my film studies department they have a very open minded attitude towards film. You would think that they exclusively devote their and our time to studying directors like Pasolini, Bergman and Tarkovsky but cinema is so much more than studying films in the way you study a painting. Film is connected to the world and to people. It's influenced by society and it affects society. I've studied and learned the importance of big blockbusters like Jaws and Independence Day, what radical feminists have to say about horror and slasher flicks, how economy and the market matters and how ideology and politics are everywhere in film - not just exclusively in propaganda films or explicitly political films. And, of course, the great masters and the canon of film history. I think I've trained my eye enough to know what to look for in different films. If I have become damaged in any way because of my film studying it's probably that, that I always look for different things while watching a film. I have never focused on technique, I look more for certain strategies behind the choices the filmmakers make which leads to certain reactions within the audience. Many films that I find interesting are the ones that the public view as easily digested entertainment. You can find lots of goodies in those.

Good post, Piddz...

Escapism
 

I think when you study film you obviously look at the screen differently and much more critically. There is no longer a pure reaction to the events unfolding before your eyes... you think about camera angles, lighting and diction. It's hard to sit there as an ignorant spectator and enjoy the artform for what it is... an escape.

I totally get you, i always say in response 'Well...I lilke, dont know whether that means its good or not.'

Thanks, Zed!

Another thing people always ask when they hear that you study film is "So, which film is the best film ever made?". For a while I named a few of my favourites and then tried to explain why I liked them so much, which I barely know myself. The best films often hit you in the gut - not intellectually. Nowadays I often say Titanic or something like that because, apparently, a whole bunch of people went to the movies to see that one.

Looking at it from anouther angle, I studied graphic design and now I can't look at a pamphlet, brochure, billboard, magazine without thinking they could have probably used more spacing, different font more color etc....

I don't think this is a bad thing because when you see somthing good you really apprieciate it!

I also did a year of 'Politics in Film'. A very, very interesting course.