Back to the full dot-point answer
ScotlandEnglishQuick questions
The Critical Essay
Quick questions on Writing a critical essay on film and television drama - SQA Higher English
8short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are reference precise moments, not whole scenes?Show answer
You cannot quote a film as you quote a poem, so your evidence is precisely described moments: a particular shot, a cut, a lighting state, a line delivered a certain way. Vague reference to a "scene near the end" is weak; a named shot or edit at a named point is evidence.
What is mise-en-scene?Show answer
Everything arranged within the frame. Setting and props establish world and character, lighting sets mood (high-key for safety, low-key for threat), costume and colour signal status or change. Analyse a deliberate choice, not the incidental background.
What is cinematography?Show answer
How the camera shows it. A close-up forces intimacy or traps the viewer; a long shot isolates a figure in a landscape; a low angle empowers, a high angle diminishes; camera movement (a slow push-in, a handheld shake) directs feeling.
What is sound?Show answer
Diegetic sound (heard in the world of the film) and non-diegetic sound (score, voice-over) shape response. A swelling soundtrack, a sudden silence, or sound that contradicts the image all carry meaning worth analysing.
What is performance?Show answer
The actor's gesture, expression, movement and delivery. A held look or a change in posture can convey what dialogue does not.
What is q1?Show answer
What is the main weakness of a film essay that retells the plot? [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Name two cinematography or editing techniques worth analysing, with the effect each can create. [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Why is "a precisely described moment" the right form of evidence in a film essay? [2 marks]