Film analysis is the process in which a film is analyzed in terms of mise-en-scène, cinematography, sound, and editing. - Wikipedia

If you are a person who watches a lot films and is a film enthusiast, you will definitely come across many film analysis videos on YouTube. These analysts take a video or a scene from a movie or a television series and break it down trying to understand why the movie was so good or why the scene worked so well. This is seen in other forms of art too, not just in films. The things I'm going to say might hurt a few people out there, but this is a personal opinion and opinions differ.

Even I used to watch and enjoy these analysis videos on YouTube, after a while I realized this is not a right way to learn or appreciate the art. Art is something that's enjoyed, not analysed. There are quite a few number of channels in YouTube lets not name them, who are actively doing these analysis. This post will be about some of the things which are wrong or which they don't understand when they make the videos. This is not only for film it can be applicable for any kind of art form. Again, this is my personal opinion. Lets dive in

Art is an instinctive process: 

The most important thing which these analysis videos don't understand is that art come from our instincts. I see videos where they will count the number of seconds between each dialog or they count the number of shots in a scene or they count the time taken between each cuts in a scene, finally by using these numbers they will tell us that's how a good scene is made.

(Lets see how many of you will get the joke after seeing the image)

Well they might be right. But, do you think the director, the actor or the editor had a stopwatch in their hands throughout the process of making the film? No, most of the decisions are instinctive and they are a product of a lot of trial and error. This kind of mastery in a film maker comes after watching million of movies. Like any other art, film making is also like a muscle which needs to be built over a period of time. 

Art is a product of love, not analysis:

Even if you read hundreds of books and watch hundreds of videos on making the world's best pizza. You will definitely fail when you try to make it, because you forgot the most important recipe which is love. I am not telling these people who analyse don't love films or art, but its almost like someone trying to justify why you love your family or friends. You don't know why you love them, but you know you love them.

Analysis is like telling someone that this is the reason you love them, which I think kills the magic. An artist or a filmmaker never analyse his art. The artist just trusts in his instincts and takes his own time and produces art.

One of the biggest reason why Hollywood or Bollywood industries produce bad film every year is because they will fall in the traps of these analysts and critics and the entire industry tries to come up with a formula to make the next blockbuster by making sequels and prequels of the same film and try to squeeze out every penny and life out of the film. But, they fail terribly. 

"If you truly love cinema... you can't help but make a good movie." - Quinton Tarantino

Art cannot be thought, it can only be learnt:

Masters like Tarantino, Spielberg and Nolan are not a product of film schools. Film Schools makes students analyse movies, its a way to teach film making to students. And probably this is the only way to teach film making or any kind of art. If you research in YouTube most of the videos are by film school graduates. Well there's no right way to teach art. That's why most of the film school graduates don't get success. They are submerged in other peoples thoughts, which will make them not recognize their own voice.

So, an art is not something that can be learnt in a college. It can only be learnt by doing it. When you are watching these analysis video you will feel like you are learning something. But, when you apply whatever you learnt to your film, it will fail because the thing you learnt were instinctive decisions. So, its always better to unlearn or forget about what you have learnt. Its probably the best way to creating something original and worth your time. 

Thank you for reading, this took me a while to put it together. If you disagree with any of my statements do reply by commenting so that I can also learn from you. Do tell me how you felt after reading this. Cheers!

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