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PERSONAL FILM EVALUATION CRITERIA Personal Film Evaluation Criteria Week 5 Paper Christian Grau University of Phoenix HUM/150 Dr. Phil Orlando March 1, 2010 My criterion for evaluating a film’s quality has changed since the beginning of the University of Phoenix Course HUM/150 Introduction to Film Studies. Before this course started the way I evaluated films was totally different than the way I view a film now. Throughout this course I have learned many different styles and techniques to evaluating films. Before I started this course I never had any need to evaluate a film.
The only thing that was important to me was that the films I watched were realistic. I have always enjoyed films that where about struggles and how the main characters persevere and succeed. I have always enjoyed watching films that are positive in one way or another. As long as the film leads to a good ending I would have considered it to be good. Some of the films I selected for this course are my favorite type of films. I have chosen films such as “8 Mile” and “Cinderella Man” just to see if my view of the films changes as a result of this class. Now after taking this class watching films is a whole other ball game.
When I watch a film now I look beyond the basic realisms and struggle to succeed in a film. The same human nature type films are no longer just about struggles and realisms. Suddenly 8 Mile and Cinderella Man do not seem to be the same with my new aspect of films. Now “8 Mile” is about a young man named Jimmy that has hit rock bottom and moved in with his mother. He struggles to hold a decent job and works on saving money for a demo for his rap artist career. Jimmy is a man that dreams of making it big in the rap game but feels some doubt from the negativity that flows in his life.
As for Cinderella man the film is about a boxing fighter at the top of his career until it all turned for the worse. During the United States’ Great Depression James Braddock hits bottom when he loses everything to the depression. While struggling to provide for his family he loses his commission to fight. Somehow after the chance to fight one last chance he turns and goes on a winning streak straight to the championship. As you can see my criteria for evaluating films has changed and I have developed new skills to evaluating. Considering the different approaches to evaluate a film I see many that would favor my newly acquired approach.
At first I thought about The Film as Moral, Philosophical, or Social Statement also known as The Humanistic Approach. Then The Film as Showcase for The Actor Approach looked to be a good choice too. I realized that both of these approaches are great for related type of films but you can not conform to every film out there. There are many analysis approaches but none fit me more than the Eclectic Approach. The reason why I picked the Eclectic approach is because it can relate to all director styles and film styles. In order to truly be fair to the film itself it is a must to use the Eclectic Approach.
With all the different approaches to film evaluating criteria one could find it hard to make a dessition on his or hers direction to evaluating film. I have chosen films that cater to my liking to evaluate throughout this course in order to truly identify my learning experience. Even though I have chosen films that I previously viewed for my course assignments my approach to evaluating film has changed. Now after attending HUM/150 I don’t think I will ever be able to watch a film without applying the film evaluation techniques that I have learned in this course.