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174 Film Research Paper Topics To Inspire Your Writing

174 Film Research Paper Topics

Also known as a moving picture or movie, the film uses moving images to communicate or convey everything from feelings and ideas to atmosphere and experiences. The making of movies, as well as the art form, is known as cinematography (or cinema, in short). The film is considered a work of art. The first motion pictures were created in the late 1880s and were shown to only one person at a time using peep show devices. By 1985, movies were being projected on large screens for large audiences.

Film has a rich and interesting history, as well as a bright future given the current technological advancements. This is why many professors will really appreciate it if you write a research paper on movies. However, to write a great paper, you need a great topic.

In this blog post, we will give you our latest list of 174 film research paper topics. They should be excellent for 2023 and should get you some bonus points for originality and creativity. As always, our topics are 100% free to use as you see fit. You can reword them in any way you like and you are not required to give us any credit.

Writing Good Film Research Paper

Before we get to the film topics for research papers in our list, you need to learn how you can write the best possible film research paper. It’s not overly complicated, don’t worry. Here are some pointers to get you started:

Start as early as possible Start your project with an outline that will keep you focused on what’s important Spend some time to find a great topic (or just use one of ours) Research every angle of the topic Spend some time composing the thesis statement Always use information from reliable sources Make sure you cite and reference properly Edit and proofread your work to make it perfect. Alternatively, you can rely on our editors and proofreaders to help you with this.

Now it’s time to pick your topic. We’ve made things easy for you, so all you have to do is go through our neatly organized list and select the topic you like the most. If you already know something about the topic, writing the paper shouldn’t take you more than 1 or 2 days, however if you have no desire to spend a lot of time on your assignment, thesis writing help from our professionals is on its way. Pick your topic now:

Easy Film Research Topics

We know most students are not too happy about spending days working on their research papers. This is why we have compiled a list of easy film research topics just for our readers:

  • What was the Electrotachyscope?
  • Research the history of film
  • Describe the first films ever made
  • Talk about the Kinetoscope
  • Who were Auguste and Louis Lumière?
  • An in-depth look at film during World War I
  • Talk about the evolution of sound in motion pictures
  • Most popular movie actors of all time
  • The life and works of Charles Chaplin
  • The life and works of Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein
  • Discuss the Mutoscope device
  • Talk about the introduction of natural color in films

Film Topics To Write About In High School

If you are a high school student, you probably want some topics that are not overly complicated. Well, the good news is that we have plenty of film topics to write about in high school. Check them out below:

  • An in-depth analysis of sound film
  • Research the shooting of Le Voyage dans la Lune
  • Talk about the Technicolor process
  • Research the film industry in India
  • The growing popularity of television
  • Discuss the most important aspects of film theory
  • The drawbacks of silent movies
  • Cameras used in 1950s movies
  • The most important cinema movie of the 1900s
  • Research the montage of movies in the 1970s
  • The inception of film criticism
  • Discuss the film industry in the United States

Interesting Film Paper Topics

Are you looking for the most interesting film paper topics so that you can impress your professor and your fellow students? We are happy to say that you have arrived at just the right place. Here are our latest ideas:

  • Are digital movies much different from films?
  • Research the evolution of cinematography
  • Research the role of movies in Indian culture
  • The principles of a cinema camera
  • Technological advancements in the film industry
  • The use of augmented reality in movies
  • Talk about the role of film in American culture
  • An in-depth look at the production cycle of a film
  • The role of the filming crew on the set
  • Latest cameras for cinematography
  • An in-depth look at the distribution of films
  • How are animated movies made?

Controversial Movie Topics

Why would you be afraid to write your paper on a controversial topic? Perhaps you didn’t know that most professors really appreciate the effort and the innovative ideas. Below, you can find a whole list of controversial movie topics for students:

  • An in-depth look at Cannibal Holocaust
  • Controversies behind Fifty Shades of Gray
  • A Clockwork Orange: the banned movie
  • All Quiet on the Western Front: a controversial war movie
  • Discuss The Texas Chain Saw Massacre movie
  • Apocalypse Now: one of the most banned movies
  • Brokeback Mountain and the controversies surrounding it
  • Talk about The Last Temptation of Christ
  • The Birth of a Nation: the movie that was banned in America

Movie Topics Ideas For College

As you probably know already, college students should choose topics that are a bit more complex than those picked by high school students. The good news is that we have compiled a list of the best movie topics ideas for college students below:

  • Methods to bring your sketches to life
  • Discuss problems with documentary filming
  • War movies and their impact on society
  • What does a director actually do on the set?
  • Talk about state-sanctioned movies in China
  • Research cinematography in North Korea
  • Talk about psychological reactions to films
  • Research the good versus evil theme
  • African Americans in the 1900s cinematography in the US
  • Discuss the creation of sound for films

Hottest Film Topics To Date

Our writers and editors did their best to compile a list of the hottest film topics to date. You can safely pick any of the topics below and write your essay or research paper on it. You should be able to find plenty of information online about each and every topic:

  • The life and works of Alfred Hitchcock
  • Talk about racial discrimination in war movies
  • The psychology behind vampire movies
  • The life and works of Samuel L. Jackson
  • Classic opera versus modern movie soundtracks
  • Hollywood versus Bollywood
  • The life and works of tom Hanks
  • Research the Frankenstein character
  • Major contributions by women in cinematography
  • The life and works of Harrison Ford
  • The 3 most popular topics for a moving picture

Good Movie Topics For 2023

We know, you probably want some topics that relevant today. You want to talk about something new and exciting. Well, we’ve got a surprise for you. This list of good movie topics for 2023 has just been added to the blog post, and you can use it for free:

  • The life and works of Will Smith
  • Why do people love movie monsters?
  • Talk about the popularity of fan movies
  • The life and works of Morgan Freeman
  • Gender inequality in UK films
  • Research movies that were produced because of video games
  • The life and works of Anthony Hopkins
  • The importance of the Golden Raspberry Award
  • Outer space: the future of cinematography
  • Compare today’s filming techniques to those in the 1950s
  • The importance of winning a Golden Globe Award

Fascinating Film Topics

Are you looking for some of the most fascinating film topics one can ever find online? Our experts have outdone themselves this time. Check out our list of ideas below and choose the topic you like the most:

  • Talk about the development of Star Wars
  • Talk about spaghetti western movies
  • Discuss the filming of Pride and Prejudice
  • Research fantasy films
  • The most popular movie genre in 2023
  • What makes a movie a blockbuster?
  • Filming for the Interstellar movie
  • Peculiarities of Bollywood cinema
  • Talk about the era of Hitchcock
  • Discuss the role of motion pictures in society
  • Talk about Neo-realism in Italian movies
  • Research the filming of A Fistful of Dollars

The History Of Film Topics

Writing about the history of film and cinematography can be a good way to earn some bonus points from your professor. However, it’s not an easy thing to do. Fortunately, we have a list of the history of film topics right here for you, so you don’t have to waste any time searching:

  • Research the first ever motion picture
  • Discuss the idea behind moving images
  • Research the Pioneer Era
  • Talk about the introduction of sound in movies
  • Talk about the Silent Era
  • Who created the first ever movie?
  • Discuss the Golden Era of cinematography
  • The era of changes in 2023
  • The rise of Hollywood cinematography
  • Discuss the first color movie
  • Research the first horror movie
  • Discuss the phrase “No one person invented cinema”

Famous Cinematographers Topics

You can, of course, write your next research paper on the life and works of a famous or popular cinematographer. You have plenty to choose from. However, we’ve already selected the best famous cinematographers topics for you right here:

  • The life and works of Sir Roger Deakins
  • Research the cinematographer Vittorio Storaro
  • An in-depth look at Bill Pope
  • Research the cinematographer Gordon Willis
  • The life and works of Wally Pfister
  • An in-depth look at Robert Burks
  • Research the cinematographer Stanley Cortez
  • The life and works of Conrad Hall
  • An in-depth look at Rodrigo Prieto
  • The life and works of Claudio Miranda
  • Emmanuel Lubezki
  • An in-depth look at Jack Cardiff
  • Research the cinematographer Michael Ballhaus
  • The life and works of Kazuo Miyagawa

Famous Films Topic Ideas

The easiest and fastest way to write an essay or research paper about movies is to write about a famous movie. Take a look at these famous films topic ideas and start writing your paper today:

  • Research A Space Odyssey
  • Research the movie Seven Samurai
  • Cinematography techniques in There Will Be Blood
  • Discuss the film The Godfather
  • An in-depth look at La Dolce Vita
  • Research the movie Citizen Kane
  • Cinematography techniques in Goodfellas
  • An in-depth look at the Aliens series
  • Cinematography techniques in Singin’ in the Rain
  • Research the movie Mulholland Drive
  • An in-depth look at In The Mood For Love
  • Research the movie City Lights

The Future Of Movies Topic Ideas

Did you ever wonder what the movies of the future will look like? We can guarantee that your professor has thought about it. Surprise him by writing your paper on one of these the future of movies topic ideas:

  • The future of digital films
  • Discuss animation techniques of the future
  • The future of cinematography cameras
  • How do you view the actors of the future?
  • Will digital releases eliminate the need for DVDs?
  • The role of streaming services in the future
  • Talk about the direct-to-consumer distribution concept
  • Is cinematography a good career for the future?
  • Will movie theaters disappear?
  • Virtual reality in future films
  • The rise of Pixar Studios

Awesome Cinema Topic Ideas

Our experts have just finished completing this section of the topics list. Here, you will find some of the most awesome cinema topic ideas. These should all work great in 2023, so give them a try today:

  • The concept of the Road Movie
  • Review the film “Donnie Brasco”
  • The popularity of musical movies
  • A comprehensive history of cinematography
  • Discuss the A Beautiful Mind movie
  • Compare watching movies now and in the 1990s
  • Talk about film narrative
  • The importance of the main characters in a movie
  • The process of selecting the right actor for the role
  • Well-known produces in the United States
  • The most popular actors in 2023
  • Research Nazi propaganda films

Simple Cinema Essay Ideas

If you want to write about cinematography but don’t want to spend too much time researching the topic, you could always choose one of our simple cinema essay ideas. New ideas are added to this list periodically:

  • Discuss the concept of limited animation
  • War movies during World War II
  • The importance of James Bond for Americans
  • What is docufiction?
  • The traits of a filmophile
  • The success of early crime movies
  • An in-depth look at Hanna-Barbera
  • The transition from VHS tape to DVD
  • Best comedy movies ever made
  • Discuss the Film Noir genre
  • What is a Blaxploitation?
  • The best samurai film ever produced

Movies And The Internet Topics

  • How does piracy affect the movie industry?
  • An in-depth look at Netflix
  • Research the top 3 movie streaming websites
  • Compare and contrast Netflix and Amazon Prime
  • Should movies be shared for free online?
  • The effects of online streaming on piracy
  • Is pirating movies illegal everywhere?
  • Illegal downloads of movies in North Korea
  • Piracy: a form of film preservation
  • The most pirated movies of the 21st century
  • Research the best ways to stop film piracy
  • The economic impact of movie piracy in the United States

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150 Amazing Film Research Paper Topics for Students

Table of Contents

If you are a film student, then often you will have to work on film research papers. But for writing a research paper, you must have a good topic. Right now, do you want to prepare a film research paper? Are you looking for the top film research topics? No worries! We know how hard it is to come up with the right topic for a dissertation. So, to help you out, here, we have prepared a list of the best film research paper topics for you to consider. Continue reading this blog post and get exclusive film dissertation topic ideas.

Film Research Paper Topics

How to Find a Good Topic for a Film Research Paper?

In film studies, there are plenty of film research paper topics available. Out of those topics, you will have to identify a good topic for your assignment. The topic selection becomes easier if your professor gives a set of ideas or themes for you to choose from. Sometimes, your professor will ask you to create your own idea for research. At that time, choosing one right topic from endless topics would become hard.

Are you confused about how to identify the right film research topic? Don’t worry! Here is what you will have to do to find out a good film dissertation topic of your choice.

  • Create a list of your favorite filmmakers, films, or genres. Then, based on your interest or category, narrow down your search.
  • It is not necessary to go with topics related to your favorite filmmaker or film. You can also think about a certain film history period and research the film techniques, themes, etc. used in that period.
  • Deep research is necessary to identify the right topic. By exploring credible sources such as literature, books, media platforms, and published research papers, you can collect more research or dissertation ideas.
  • From the list of ideas gathered, you can choose a topic that matches your area of interest and has a wide research scope.
  • If the topic is too broad, make sure to narrow it down. Because the narrow topic will help you cover all the major points before the deadline and keep your readers engaged.

Also, before finalizing the topic, check whether your selected topic stands in line with your professor’s research paper writing guidelines.

List of Excellent Film Research Paper Topics

Film studies is a broad field of study where you can conduct research on any areas such as film technology, film history, film genre, music, sound design, etc. Here, we have listed some best film research paper topic ideas in various categories. Go through the whole list and pick an ideal film topic for writing your academic paper.

Film Research Paper Topics

Film History Research Paper Topics

  • Movies about the history of religions.
  • The importance of representation in movies.
  • African-Americans in cinematography.
  • Science-fiction movies- History
  • The globalization of popular culture: Hollywood vs. Bollywood.
  • Discuss the contribution of Fellini to cinematography.
  • How technology has transformed the art of filmmaking?
  • Discuss the contribution of women in the film industry.
  • Hitchcock’s sacred power.
  • The progress of animation in movie production.
  • The effect of the film industry on different generations.
  • Analyze the life before CGI.
  • War Justification in American Cinema
  • Charlie Chaplin and the Silent Movie Era.
  • Changes in Hollywood and its dominance of cinematography.
  • Evolution of Hollywood movies  
  • Discuss the cinematographic excellence of Roger Deakins  
  • History of British Cinema  
  • The Lion In Winter – A movie that nailed historical accuracy  
  • Discuss the contribution of Steven Spielberg  
  • Song of the Road – The first Indian movie at the Academic Award  
  • Analyze the impact of LGBTQ+ Representation in Contemporary Cinema.
  • War Justification in the worlds’ Moving Pictures
  • Changes in Hollywood and Its Dominance of the Cinematography

Horror Film Research Paper Topics

  • Special effects in horror films.
  • Explain the Folklore elements in the screenplay.
  • Discuss the popular fear elements used in horror films.
  • Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense.
  • Psychological and behavioral responses to horror films.
  • The fusion of comedy and horror.
  • Racial discrimination in horror films.
  • The use of religion in horror movies
  • The youngsters’ perception of horror films.
  • The idea of suspense in horror films.
  • George Romero: The greatest director of horror movies of all time  
  • Compare the works of Sam Raimi and John Carpenter  
  • Michael Myers: The most famous killer in horror movies  
  • Chucky: One of the most scariest movies have ever made  
  • Discuss the use of Psychopathy and Delusions in horror films with examples  
  • A side effect of watching horror movies  
  • The reflection of society’s fears in horror movies
  • The specific use of genre theory in the horror game
  • The human fondness for horror movies
  • Monster creatures from horror movies
  • Stephen King and his legacy in the genre of horror

Horror Film Research Paper Topics

Film Music Research Paper Topics

  • The use of music in modern movies.
  • The power of recorded nature sounds.
  • The art of sound design in movies.
  • The progress of music in films.
  • The effects of music on movie perceptions.
  • Bollywood-made musicals.
  • The art of storytelling with sound
  • Picture versus sound.
  • Broadway musicals are made into movies.
  • The development and cultural influence of musicals in the 20th century.
  • Christina Aguilera’s career in musicals.
  • Classical Opera versus Modern Music on Screen
  • Analyze the soundtrack and music in films.
  • Cradle of future pop stars.
  • The mental effects created by music in movies.
  • Theoretical aspects of studying film music.
  • Music in cinema as a director of the semantic series.

Monster Film Research Topics

  • Mythology in monster movies.
  • The aspects of human monstrosity in films.
  • The history of monster movies.
  • The science behind Hollywood’s movie monsters.
  • Explore fear in monster movies.
  • Vampires through history: The evolution of the undead cinema.
  • Examine the portrayal of aging in Cinema.
  • The Monster vs. Frankenstein: Who Is More Human?
  • The psychological appeal of movie monsters.
  • Discuss the monster movie culture in the 21st century.
  • Compare Prophecy (1979) and It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)  
  • Discuss the first monster film  
  • Impact of monster movies on children  
  • A side effect of watching monster movies  
  • Use of VFX and Special Effects in monster films  

Outstanding Film Research Paper Topics

  • TV shows: A new film franchise.
  • Masculinity and violence in films.
  • Movies through the eyes of their directors.
  • What are the effects of censorship on films?
  • The role of colors in movies.
  • Comics and Superheroes in films.
  • The role of animals in movies.
  • Investigate the Use of AI in Film Production, Visual Effects, and Storytelling.
  • Animation: Giving life to sketches.
  • The cultural effects of war movies.
  • The power of documentary movies to change the world.
  • Walt Disney and the psychosocial implications of his characters.
  • The ethical issues involved in documentary filmmaking.
  • The effects of Hollywood stereotypes.
  • The art of creating stories using video editing.

Unique Film Research Paper Topics

  • The role of film directors in giving life to stories.
  • The important qualities of a successful movie director.
  • The role of film critics and reviews on box office performances.
  • Transitions and visual effects in movie editing.
  • The social and cultural effects of movies .
  • Contribution of Arthur Conan Doyle to detective movies  
  • Good versus Evil: A classing theme of the movie  
  • Discuss the cinematic innovations that have changed the movie industry  
  • Discuss the most important inventions the movie industry experienced within the past two decades  
  • The directorial debut of Tom Hanks  
  • How depression years are depicted in American movies?
  • Discuss the technological evolution of the global film industry from 1975 to 2022
  • The Works of Christopher Edward Nolan and Sam Raimi: A comparative analysis
  • Evolution of Indian cinema from 1950 to 2022
  • Discuss the contribution of Edgar Allan Poe to detective movies
  • Compare and contrast European and Asian horror movies
  • Discuss the comparative mythology and dark side in screenwriting
  • Critical analysis of the silent era of the movie industry
  • How African-Americans get represented in American movies
  • Analyze the evolution of the zombie in contemporary cinema

Interesting Film Dissertation Topics

  • The importance of a character in a film.
  • The influence of the digital revolution on the film industry?
  • Drama as a cultural phenomenon.
  • Diverse film elements are needed for creative writing.
  • The evolution of urban filmmaking.
  • Difference between commercial cinema and non-commercial cinema.
  • The usage of irony in films.
  • Discuss the popular cinema genres in the world.
  • Analyze the localization efforts of Hollywood films.
  • The relationship between literature and film.
  • Explore the role of men and women in blockbuster movies.
  • Assess the importance of global film awards in improving the quality of filmmaking.
  • Analyze the roles given to black actors and white actors in Hollywood movies.
  • Study the key differences between theater performances and film shooting.
  • Analyze the principles of filmmaking with respect to casting and editing.
  • Discuss the impact of online streaming services on the quality of traditional cinema content.
  • Study the impact of film in a rural area.
  • Explain the role of a short film in making a feature film.
  • Research the cultures of theater and film in the big city of a country.
  • Explain the economics of cinema.

Read more: Demonstration Speech Topics and Ideas That Will Impress the Audience

Brilliant Film Research Topics

  • The art of cinematography.
  • Indie Movies: An attitude or a genre?
  • Good versus Evil concept in movies.
  • The cinema of shortcuts.
  • Multiple actors play a single role.
  • The influence of social media on movie results.
  • What makes a great film director?
  • Humanity versus technology in modern films.
  • The role of fashion design in the film industry.
  • Video streaming platforms and the future of cinema.
  • Success factors of the American film industry.
  • The influence of movie genres on different audiences.
  • Film Noir: A style expanding through genres.
  • Comics in the film industry.
  • The persuasive effectiveness of shortcuts.
  • Freudian Practice in Cinematography.
  • The effects of streaming platforms on cinematography.
  • The idea of drama in movies.
  • The psychological aspects of filmmaking.
  • The art of storytelling in modern movies.

Impressive Film Research Questions

  • Different Types of Narrative Structures in Screenplays and Books
  • Violence and Masculinity in Hollywood Blockbusters.
  • Looking for Truth in Film: Observational vs. Direct Cinema.
  • Reconstructing atmospheres using ambient sounds: Recorded Nature Sounds.
  • Comedy and horror combined in a chaotic genre mashup.
  • History of the Vampire: The Cinematic Evolution of the Dead
  • Using the content of documentaries, kids may develop their interethnic tolerance.
  • The Cultural and Educational Project of the Cinema Museum and Its Importance in Historical Education.
  • The history of development and current status of the post-apocalyptic storyline in American movies.
  • The characteristics of contemporary cinema in relation to the development of historical politics.

Awesome Ideas for Film Research Paper

  • Digital Storytelling: Narrative Elements from Hollywood.
  • Analyze the Personality Traits of the Best Film Directors.
  • Musicals: from stage to screen.
  • Analyze the animation in the Movies Frozen and Zootopia.
  • Share your viewpoints about the use of mythology in horror movies.
  • Analyze the hidden elements in Disney movies and their effects on children.
  • Write about the history of the Japanese animation industry and new technology.
  • Historical and Mythical Time in the Marvel and DC Series.
  • Analyze the new developments in the area of illustrations.
  • Explore the phenomenon of visiting film locations and the economic impact on local communities.

Film studies basically approach movies from historical, theoretical, and critical perspectives. To write a brilliant film research paper, from the list of 150+ topics recommended above, choose the best topic that matches your interest. In case, you are not sure what film research topic to select or how to write an informative film research paper, then contact us for help.

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Film Research Topics: 140+ Interesting Ideas

140+ Film Research Topics

The film industry includes a variety of fields that you can explore in your research paper. These include producing, directing, art direction, documentary films, screenwriting, cinematography, digital cinema, and more. Throughout their academic years, students get to learn and understand an array of such aspects. However, because of this extensive range of varieties, students often need help choosing the correct film research topic for their papers.

Think about something that would most effectively showcase your critical thinking and expertise. However, aside from the interest factor, there are numerous other things that you should always pay attention to. That is why, to guide you on this daunting journey, we have compiled a comprehensive list of film topics to write about. Furthermore, to help students, we have also shared some essential tips to help you pick the right topic. So, without any further delay, let’s get started!

Table of Contents

Choosing the Best Film Topic for Writing

Do you want to find the perfect topic? Don’t worry! We’ve got your back! We have enumerated a few tips you can use for selecting the right topic that perfectly fits your requirements:

  • Think about your favorite films, filmmakers, or genres:  You can quickly narrow down the best options when you chase after the movies or filmmakers you’re passionate about. A positive attitude would give you an advantage.
  • Consider picking a topic from a historical era:  You can choose a specific chronological age of the film industry to analyze themes, movies, techniques, etc., used in that period. Historical eras shed light on hidden or contradictory histories that either contradict or support established narratives. Thus, choosing a film topic from a significant historical era will help you frame an out-of-the-box research paper.
  • Choose a film genre:  Choosing your favorite film genre will help you narrow down a few research topics of your interest.
  • Research previous scholarly articles:  Research previous academic essays and papers would help you gain a significant perspective on the topic you want to use in your research paper and how you want to take it further. You can use credible sources such as published research papers, literature, media platforms, etc.
  • Brainstorm the ideal topics:  Armed with credible sources, you can come up with the most intriguing film research topics that pique your interest. Ensure that the topic is narrow enough and establish relevant values.
  • Narrow down the most relevant topics.  Narrowing down your good topics would make the selection process easier for you. This way, you can eliminate unnecessary topics and can analyze and select the best topic among them.   Students must do an in-depth study on various film research topics. In this case, your objective is to comprehensively analyze multiple film industry aspects. Furthermore, understand the abovementioned tips before jumping on the topic selection process.

140+ Film Research Paper Topics

Movie-making   is the ideal form of art that requires the correct combination of creativity and techniques. Much effort is needed to shoot the scenes and turn the big picture into reality. It is why film studies can be both interesting as well as complex at the same time. One must combine extensive research with creativity to frame their research paper. Here are some original and exciting film research topics for your academic papers to lessen your difficulties. Let’s get started!

Most Promising Film Research Topics

The most exciting film paper topics are included in the following list. When choosing a topic for your research, make sure you choose the one that will pique your interest the most. These film research topics will help you put your most professional foot forward.

You can also look at our research topics; you might get something that can correlate with your film research. So, why give it a try?

  • The role of censorship in the film industry
  • Gender Stereotypes in Hollywood Movies
  • The American film industry
  • The Life Struggle Of Hazel And August In The Fault In Our Stars Movie: An Individual Psychological Approach
  • Bringing Ideas into Life Through Animation
  • A detailed study of the cultural impact of war movies
  • Comics and Superheroes in Cinematography
  • Films Seen Through the Directors’ Eyes
  • The vitality of color in the film industry
  • Animals in Movies and on TV: Cruelty Behind the Scenes
  • Video editing: the vitality of visual effects in movies
  • Daily Soap is the New Film Franchise
  • The Psychosocial Implications of Walt Disney Movies
  • Books vs screenplays
  • Documentary movies: The Power to Change the World
  • Indie Movies: A Genre or an Attitude?
  • Analyzing the art and science of crafting screenplays
  • A detailed study of ethical issues in documentary filmmaking
  • The role of film directors in bringing stories to life
  • The impact of movie genres on different audiences
  • Personality Traits of the Best Film Directors
  • Digital Storytelling: Narrative Elements from Hollywood
  • The social, psychological, and cultural influence of movies
  • The psychological impact of masculinity and violence on youth
  • Exposure and Ethnocentrism in Foreign Cinematography
  • The Notion of Mainstream Film in Contemporary Cinema
  • The cultural phenomenon of drama in movies
  • Freudian practice in cinematography
  • A detailed study of the technical evaluation of the film industry

Read Also – 120+ Journalism Research Topics

Music and Sound Research Topics in the Film Industry

Music in films can stir emotions and develop an excellent experience for viewers long after watching any movie. Musicians, especially those working in cinema, experiment extensively with the film’s background score, sound design, and songs to give the whole thing a unique experience. Occasionally, a movie scene is elevated and supported by nothing but music. If you enjoy listening to music, you can research any of the film music research topics listed below.

  • Contemporary opera and classical crossover
  • The Works of Sam Raimi and John Carpenter: A Comparative Analysis
  • The evolution of the music industry
  • A detailed study of the essential aspects of film theory
  • Understanding the psychological impact of music on audiences
  • The art of sound design in movies
  • The effect of music on contemporary cinema
  • Musicals: from stage to screen
  • An introduction to music therapy: theory and practice
  • The evolution of film music: using a theme for storytelling
  • Movies Based on Broadway Shows
  • The influence of music on movie perceptions
  • Musical development and performance: the 20th century and beyond
  • Classical opera versus modern music on screen
  • Ambient sound in film and media production
  • Constructing music: an art beyond words
  • The structure of the popular music industry
  • Innovation and diversity in the popular music industry, 1969–1990
  • The impact of brand sponsorship on music festivals
  • A comprehensive study on the art of film music

Riveting Horror Film Research Paper to Consider

Horror is one of the most intriguing film genres for most of us. Some horror and thrilling movies linger for a long time for various viewers. These horror films can keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Here are some enticing horror film research paper topics to consider:

  • The psychology of horror movies
  • Use of mythology in horror movies
  • The life and works of Alfred Hitchcock: the master of suspense
  • Horror movies reflect cultural fears: a critical review
  • The Place of Horror Movies in Today’s Cinematography
  • The aesthetics and psychology behind horror movies
  • The concept of suspense behind the making of horror movies
  • Racial discrimination in horror movies
  • US vs European horror movies: a comparative analysis
  • Evaluation of Horror Cinematography Through the Centuries
  • A detailed study of the elements of fear in horror movies
  • Religion and mythology in horror movies
  • Use of special effects and cinematography in horror movies
  • Horror-comedy: the chaotic spectrum and cinematic synthesis
  • The chaotic fusion of horror and comedy: why do we love it?
  • The perception of youth toward horror movies
  • A Brief History of Gothic Horror
  • The dark side and comparative mythology in screenwriting
  • How Horror Reflects Societal Fears
  • The Holocaust as horror in American film

Read Also – Art History Thesis Topics

Film History Research Paper Topics

The history of cinema is so vast that using this as your research topic would open a world of opportunities for students. Using the history of cinema as your research paper topic would be an excellent way to earn bonus points from your committee members.

So, let’s look at the below-listed film history research topics.

  • Music and Multimedia: Theory and History
  • Globalization of popular culture: from Hollywood to Bollywood
  • Evolution of the film industry over centuries
  • The technological evolution of the film industry
  • The history of motion pictures
  • The depression years, as depicted by the American theatre
  • Filmmaking and its history in the United States
  • A detailed study of early cinema
  • A Brief History of Special Effects in Film
  • A detailed history of science fiction movies
  • The globalization of popular film industries
  • The Golden Era of Cinematography: A Complete Historical Guide
  • Charlie Chaplin and the Silent Film Era
  • Representation of African-Americans in American Movies
  • The contribution of women to the film industry
  • War justification in American cinema
  • Pioneers of the Moving Picture
  • Hollywood’s dominance of the movie industry
  • Movies Transformation From B&W to Color
  • History of the horror film genre

Brilliant Film Research Topics for Monster Movies

Just like horror movies, audiences also like watching monster movies. Compared to fictional characters such as vampires, werewolves, monsters, or zombies, those with human characteristics provide audiences a terrifying experience. Thus, if monster movies intrigue you, this would be a worthwhile research topic for your upcoming project. Familiarization with these research topics would give you a significant perspective on what research topic you want to pursue. Check them out below:

  • A detailed analysis of a monster culture in the 21st century
  • Why do we still love Universal movies about monsters?
  • The science behind bringing monsters to life through cinematic effects
  • The psychological appeal of movie monsters
  • The mythology of monster movies
  • A brief history of monsters in movies
  • In the true meaning of Frankenstein, who was the monster?
  • Aspects of horror in the films
  • The Monsters Within Gothic Monstrosities in Dracula
  • Exploring Humanity Through Monster Movies
  • Monsters in Our Midst: An Examination of Human Monstrosities in Fiction
  • Zombies in Film: The Evolution of the Zombie in Contemporary Cinema
  • Vampires in Hollywood: The Undead’s Evolution
  • Exploration of movie monsters through the years
  • The psychological impact of monster movies on children
  • The culture of fictional monsters in the 21st century
  • Zombies and vampires in the contemporary film industry
  • Understanding the relationship between myth and anomalies in the film industry
  • Discomforting Creatures: Monstrous Natures in Recent Film
  • The Monster Movies of Universal Studios

Read Also – 180+ Immigration Research Topics

Animation Research Paper Topic Ideas

Are you still struggling with your decision? We understand choosing the correct film research topic can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to worry anymore. We can help. In this section, we have prepared a list of the best film paper topics related to animation.

  • Advanced narrative illustration: an overview
  • Mapping the evolution and development of 3D in printing
  • A thematic analysis of digital illustration
  • Organizational creativity in heterarchies: The case of VFX production
  • Analyzing the new developments in the area of illustrations
  • The role of ethics, culture, and artistry in scientific illustration
  • Analyzing Hidden Elements in Disney Movies and Effects on Children
  • Exploring the progress in animation films in the past ten years
  • Exploring the effects of Kinematics methods on animation
  • Animation Character Detection Algorithm Based on Clustering and Cascaded SSD
  • History of the Japanese Animation Industry and New Technology
  • Scotland’s History of Animation: An Exploratory Account of the Key Figures and Influential Events
  • The history and developments of 2D animation
  • Analysis Of Finding Nemo Through Mythological, Theological, And Ideological Criticisms
  • Bringing a story to life: For programmers, animators, VFX artists, and interactive designers
  • Design and Realization of Animation Composition and Tone Space Conversion Algorithm
  • Scotland’s History of Animation
  • Anime: A Style of Japanese Film and Television
  • A comparative analysis between Kinematics and Dynamic Animation
  • Animated vs Static graphics in a video game
  • Analyzing the use of texting art in animated games.
  • The idea of Digital illustration and its impact on an appealing visual element
  • An Analysis of Animation in the Movies Frozen and Zootopia
  • Aesthetics and design in the three-dimensional animation process
  • The uses and abuses of cartoon style in animation

Read Also – A List of 100+ Research Topics in Education

Movies Research Paper Topics About Production Houses

If you are still looking for the best film topics to write about, we suggest you look at the topics below about production houses. This list includes essential research topics about film production houses and their roles in the film industry. Let’s have a look!

  • The risk environment of filmmaking: Warner Bros in the inter-war years
  • Stardom and the profitability of filmmaking: Warner Bros. in the 1930s
  • A Comparison in the Movie Studios Sector
  • Bankruptcy and Restructuring at Marvel Entertainment Group
  • Disney’s Marvel acquisition: a strategic financial analysis
  • A research study on the 20th Century Studios
  • Marvel, DC, and sport: Investigating rivalry in the sport and comic settings
  • Walt Disney Animation Studios: a detailed analysis
  • Historical and Mythical Time in the Marvel and DC Series
  • Hollywood’s attempt to appropriate television: The case of Paramount Pictures
  • TSG Entertainment Production Company Box Office History
  • A measurement study of Netflix, Hulu, and a tale of three CDNs
  • The Powerful Influence of Netflix and Amazon Studios
  • Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures: a research analysis
  • Can Netflix Take Over Hollywood

Final Words

Film studies generally examine the film industry’s historical, critical, and theoretical aspects. You can easily select the perfect research topic that matches your interests from the above-provided lists of film research topics. However, there’s still an option if you need help with these. You can contact our writing services and get   quick assistance. At Edumagnate.com , we provide brilliant research papers and research proposal writing services to students from all domains. You can contact us and share your requirements to get a high-quality, plagiarism-free research paper quickly.

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Cinema Scope: 70 Film Research Paper Topics

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Table of contents

  • 1 What Is the Good Film Research Paper Topic? 
  • 2.1 Film History Research Paper Topics
  • 2.2 Research Paper Topics on Specific Film Genres
  • 2.3 Cinematic Movements
  • 2.4 Film Directors
  • 2.5 Research Paper Topics on Film Theories
  • 2.6 Censorship and Film Controversy Research Topics
  • 2.7 Global Cinema Research Paper Topics

Exploring the world of cinema through academic lenses offers a rich and diverse field of study. From the evolution of movie genres to the impact of legendary directors, these topics invite a deep dive into the art and history of filmmaking. Whether it’s analyzing cinematic movements that have changed the course of history or exploring theories that unlock new ways of viewing, there’s a rich tapestry to explore. 

Additionally, exploring contentious aspects like censorship and controversy adds a layer of societal context to the study. For those with a global perspective, investigating it worldwide offers insights into diverse narratives and styles. This guide is a gateway to understanding the multifaceted nature of cinema, providing a solid foundation for any film research paper.

What Is the Good Film Research Paper Topic? 

Choosing good movies to write an essay on requires a balance between personal interest and academic value. Start by considering what aspects of cinema fascinate you the most. Are you intrigued by classic noir or the evolution of computer-generated imagery in modern movies? Once you identify your area of interest, narrow it down to a specific theme or question. For example, instead of broad movie topics ideas like ‘The History of Hollywood,’ focus on ‘The Influence of Hollywood on Global Cinema.’

You should also think about film research paper topics with many primary sources . Libraries and online databases can offer many resources on various subjects. Look for a topic that sparks debate or offers a fresh perspective . For instance, examining the role of women filmmakers in shaping modern cinema can provide insightful discussions.

Lastly, align your topic with the scope of your research paper . If you have a word limit or a specific research method in mind, make sure your topic fits these requirements. A well-chosen topic makes the research process enjoyable and enriches your understanding of the industry.

Need help with writing a research paper? Get your paper written by a professional writer Get Help Reviews.io 4.9/5

Interesting Filmmaking Research Paper Topics

Diving into the world of cinema, there are numerous good movies to analyze for a paper and intriguing filmmaking topics to explore. From analyzing landmark movies to unraveling film research topics, each area offers a unique perspective. Whether it’s crafting movie research papers or dissecting film paper topics, the possibilities for insightful essays are endless.

Film History Research Paper Topics

  • The Evolution of Silent Films to Talkies.
  • Impact of World Wars on Early 20th Century Industry.
  • Technicolor’s Revolution in Film Aesthetics.
  • Hollywood’s Golden Age: An Era of Innovation.
  • New Wave: Breaking Traditional Boundaries.
  • The Rise and Influence of Independent Films.
  • Blockbusters’ Era: Shaping Modern Cinema.
  • Digital Age Transformations in Filmmaking.
  • Cult Classics: Defining and Impacting Genres.
  • The Role of Festivals in History.

Research Paper Topics on Specific Film Genres

  • Horrors: Evolution of Fear through Decades.
  • Comedy in the Industry: More Than Just Laughter.
  • The Journey of Sci-Fi: From Fiction to Reality.
  • Romance Films: Reflecting Societal Changes in Love.
  • Documentary: Truth Telling or Narrative Crafting?
  • Westerns: The American Frontier in Cinema.
  • Film Noir: Style, Themes, and Influence.
  • Musicals: Synchronization of Sound and Story.
  • Animations: Technological Advances and Storytelling.
  • Actions: The Development of Hero Archetypes.

Cinematic Movements

  • French New Wave: Redefining Cinematic Rules.
  • Italian Neorealism: Post-War Reality.
  • German Expressionism: Visual Style and Emotion.
  • Soviet Montage: Revolutionizing Film Editing.
  • Dogme 95: Challenging Hollywood Norms.
  • British Kitchen Sink Realism: Post-War England Stories.
  • The Hollywood Renaissance in the Late 20th Century.
  • Bollywood’s Rise: India’s Cinematic Identity.
  • Latin American: Voices of the Marginalized.
  • The Impact of Scandinavian Cinema.

Film Directors

  • Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense.
  • Akira Kurosawa: Bridging East and West.
  • Stanley Kubrick: Visionary and Controversial.
  • Sofia Coppola: Feminine Perspectives.
  • Steven Spielberg: Redefining Blockbuster Cinema.
  • Quentin Tarantino: A Stylized Violence Approach.
  • Martin Scorsese: Depicting American Urban Life.
  • Guillermo del Toro: Fantasy and Reality Blend.
  • Ava DuVernay: Pioneering Diverse Storytelling.
  • Christopher Nolan: Complex Narratives.

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Research Paper Topics on Film Theories

  • Auteur Theory: Director as the Creative Force.
  • Feminist Theory: Representation and Identity.
  • Structuralist Theory: Unpacking Cinematic Language.
  • Psychoanalytic Theory: Cinema and the Mind.
  • Queer Theory: Breaking Norms.
  • Marxist Theory: Cinema as a Cultural Product.
  • Postmodernism: Breaking Conventional Narratives.
  • Ecocriticism: Nature and Environment.
  • Reception Theory: Audience’s Role in Interpretation.
  • Realism: Truth versus Artifice.

Censorship and Film Controversy Research Topics

  • The Hays Code: Censorship and American Cinema.
  • Propaganda Films: Influence and Ethics.
  • Banned Films: Cultural Contexts and Reasons.
  • The MPAA Ratings System: Impact and Controversy.
  • Sexuality in Cinema: Taboos and Acceptance.
  • Political Censorship in the Industry.
  • Violence in Films: Societal Impact and Debate.
  • Religious Sensitivities and Censorship.
  • Race and Stereotyping in Hollywood Films.
  • Freedom of Speech vs. Film Censorship

Global Cinema Research Paper Topics

  • Nollywood: Nigeria’s Booming Film Industry.
  • South Korean Cinema: A Global Impact.
  • Iranian Cinema: Artistic Expression Under Restrictions.
  • French Cinema: Romance, Realism, and Revolution.
  • The Rise of Chinese Blockbusters.
  • Brazilian Cinema: Social Issues and Narratives.
  • Australian Cinema: Landscape and Identity.
  • Japanese Anime: Cultural Export and Influence.
  • Ukrainian Cinema: Cultural Renaissance and Evolution Post-Independence.
  • Canadian Cinema: Emerging Voices and Stories.

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good film dissertation ideas

Film Dissertation Topics (28 Examples) For Research Ideas

Mark Jun 18, 2020 Jun 18, 2020 Film No Comments

The discipline of film studies in the world of academia is linked with the critical, historical, and theoretical approaches to films. A list of film dissertation topics is developed to help students in choosing the right topic for their thesis, research project, and dissertation. Choosing a topic from the list of film dissertation topics can […]

film dissertation topics

The discipline of film studies in the world of academia is linked with the critical, historical, and theoretical approaches to films. A list of film dissertation topics is developed to help students in choosing the right topic for their thesis, research project, and dissertation. Choosing a topic from the list of film dissertation topics can help in gaining a fascinating experience of research.

The project topics on films and research topics on films are developed to help students in finding a topic according to their area of interest. We have a team of highly experienced and professional writers who can help you in writing proposals and dissertations on your selected film dissertation topic.

List of Film dissertation topics

An analysis and comparison of the most popular genres of cinema in the world today.

To compare the commercial cinema and non-commercial cinema – A literature review.

Studying the role of marketing in the Chinese and Japanese film industry.

Examining the cinema and film culture in the Middle East.

An analysis of the perceptions of youngsters on horror films.

Exploring the concept of special effects in silent movies.

Creative translation and cultural transformation impact on the film adaptation.

How has the digital revolution influenced the film and cinema industry?

An empirical analysis of music and soundtracks in films.

Exploring the diverse film elements and pedagogical feasibilities for creative writing.

An analysis of film education as a multiplicity of practices.

Evaluating the evolution of music in the film – a comparative review.

Studying the evolution of urban film making.

How are technological advancements contributing to the film industry?

An analysis of the importance of a Character in a film.

Studying the landscape of Eastern film making.

Exploring the relationship between literature and film.

What are the special aspects of film making and how it influences the different people involved in the process?.

Why is violence in commercial cinema overrated?

An analysis of participatory film production a media practice.

Exploring the role of women in film – cultural impact on the changing discourse on gender representation in films.

A sentiment analysis on IMDb movie reviews using hybrid feature extraction model..

Irony, interpretation, and surface meanings in the film.

A literature review on the evolution of television and film industry.

Studying the art of handmade movie hoardings in Pakistan.

To study the effects of protectionism on film industry taking the case of Korea.

An analysis of Hollywood’s film localization efforts.

A comparative review of Hollywood with other countries film industry.

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120 Most Interesting Film Research Paper Topics and Ideas

Are you a student with a major in Film? Are you looking for exciting film research topics for writing your research paper? We know how challenging it is to find the right topic for your research paper. One of the most difficult things in the process of research paper writing is finding the best research topic.

However, when one talks about film studies, one can find a huge list of topics in a film dissertation, but choosing the best and the most interesting one out of the lot, is what matters the most. To help you in selecting the film essay topic for your research paper, we have shared some vital tips on choosing the right film research topic and have also made a list of 100 film research topics.

Film Research Paper Topics

How can one select the appropriate Film Research Topic?

If you do not know how to choose the right research topic for your film research paper, this is what you can do to choose the film dissertation topic that will fit you well.

  • Make a list of all your favorite films, genres, and filmmakers. This is because writing about a specific film category that is of your interest is easier.
  • If not your favorite films or filmmakers, you can also select a specific period in the history of films and then examine the theme that has been used in that time period.
  • For finding the right topic, deep-ended research is important. You can create more and more ideas when you do extensive research and go through different authentic sources. It can be literature, media, books, websites, research papers from the previous years, etc.
  • With the important information that you have compiled, you can fix a specific topic that will match your interest. Make sure to choose a topic that is not very broad.
  • Shorten down your selected topic and pick a few ideas for writing a research paper that is of high quality. Narrowing it down can help you explore the depth and will also add value to the topic. This will also keep the readers engaged.

Film Research Paper Topic Ideas that have been popular throughout

Film Research Paper Topic Ideas

Creating a film is quite a difficult task to do. It is the best form of art and it requires a lot of effort from various departments of creativity and techniques. A lot of work goes into shooting a scene or making the whole film. A film study is a huge subject, and if you are passionate about films, then you will find utmost interest in doing film research papers. To lessen your difficulties, we have here provided a list of the best film research topic for writing your academic paper, go through the following list:

Film History Research Paper Topics

  • Life Before CGI: The history of special effects
  • African-Americans in cinematography.
  • Contribution of Fellini to cinematography.
  • Sacred power of Hitchcock.
  • American Cinema’s War Justification in
  • Charlie Chaplin and the Silent Movie Era
  • The technological evolution of filmmaking
  • The history of science-fiction movies
  • The importance of representation in films.
  • Changes in Hollywood; and its dominance of the cinematography
  • The globalization of popular culture: Hollywood vs Bollywood
  • The role and contributions of women in the film industry
  • Movies about the history of religions.
  • The impact of the film industry on different generations.
  • Evolution of animation in movie production.
  • Fiction films as a historical source for the study of cultural memory.
  • Historical semantics of cinema.
  • Visualization of history: a new turn in the development of historical knowledge.

Research Topics on Music in Films

To touch the emotions of your audience and tell your story in an interesting way in films, music plays an important role. In the film industries all over the world, musicians who are working the films, do a lot of experimentation with the film background score, uniqueness of the sound design, and elevate the experience of the entire film. If you are a music fanatic, you can choose a research paper on any of the research topics on film music for your research paper:

  • The psychological impact of music in movies
  • The art of sound design in movies
  • The use of music in contemporary cinema
  • History of film music: Storytelling with sound
  • The evolution of music in films
  • The effects of music on movie perceptions
  • The development and cultural influence of musicals in the 20th century
  • Classical Opera versus Modern Music on Screen
  • The power of recorded nature sounds.
  • Broadway musicals made into movies.
  • Cradle of future pop stars
  • Bollywood-made musicals.
  • Picture versus sound.
  • Christina Aguilera’s career in musicals.
  • Analyze the soundtrack and music in films.
  • The Evolution of Music in Film.
  • The Psychological Impact of Music in Movies.
  • Musicals: From Broadway to Screen.
  • The Effects of Music on Movie Perceptions.
  • Classical Opera
  • The Development and Cultural Influence of Musicals in the 20th century.

Horror Film Research Paper Topics

One of the best and the most exciting genres of films in the genre of a horror movie. There is a list of horror films that has an intense effect on the audience. To excite the readers who will go through your paper, in-depth research can be conducted on horror films and also on the techniques used in the famous horror films of all times. We have provided here some of the best research topics on horror movies:

  • The concept of suspense in horror films.
  • Racial discrimination in horror films.
  • Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense
  • The use of religion in horror movies
  • Special effects in horror films
  • The fusion of comedy and horror
  • Folklore elements in the screenplay.
  • Psychological and behavioral responses to horror films
  • Popular fear elements used in the horror genre
  • The youngsters’ perception of horror films

Film Research Topic Ideas on Monster Movies

Just the way, a group of people enjoys watching horror films, they also like monster movies. Some movies show the character of fictional monsters and create fear amongst the audience with the help of different film techniques. The scary characters such as the monsters, zombies, werewolves, or zombies help in holding the attention of the audience. A lot of monster movies can be considered for film dissertations ideas. Below given is a list of engaging film research topics on monster movies, have a look:

  • Monster movie culture in the 21st century
  • The history of monster movies
  • The science behind Hollywood’s movie monsters
  • Zombies in contemporary cinema
  • Mythology in monster cinema
  • The psychological appeal of movie monsters
  • The Monster vs. Frankenstein: Who Is More Human?
  • The aspects of human monstrosity in films
  • An exploration of fear in monster movies
  • Vampires through history: The evolution of the undead cinema

Read more: Interesting Social Media Research Topics and Ideas To Focus On

Most Interesting Film Research Paper Topic Ideas

For writing a film research paper that will interest the readers, you can select any one of the interesting film research topics given below.

  • Animals on Movies: The Ethics of Animal Training
  • Comics and Superheroes in films
  • Animation: Giving life to sketches
  • Walt Disney and the psychosocial implications of his characters
  • Movies through the eyes of their directors
  • TV shows: A new film franchise
  • Masculinity and violence in films
  • Different forms of narrative structures
  • The role of colors in movies
  • The effects of Hollywood stereotypes
  • The impact of film critics and reviews on box office performances
  • Documentary movies and their power to change the world
  • The ethical issues involved in documentary filmmaking
  • The art of crafting stories using video editing
  • The importance of visual effects and transitions in movie editing
  • The effects of censorship on films
  • The social and cultural impact of cinema
  • The role of film directors in giving life to stories
  • The cultural impact of war movies.
  • The essential traits of a successful movie director

Unique Film Research Paper Topics

  • Captivating Film Dissertation Topics
  • Analyze the popular cinema genres in the world
  • Difference between commercial cinema and non-commercial cinema
  • The influence of the digital revolution on the film industry?
  • The importance of a character in a film
  • The diverse film elements needed for creative writing
  • The usage of irony in films
  • The evolution of urban filmmaking
  • The relationship between literature and film
  • Analyze the localization efforts of Hollywood films.
  • Drama as a cultural phenomenon
  • Engaging Film Research Topics
  • The art of storytelling in modern movies
  • The influence of movie genres on different audiences
  • Multiple actors playing a single role

Read more: Excellent Statistics Project Ideas That Will Help Scoring an A+ Grade

Amazing Film Research Paper Topics

  • Indie Movies: An attitude or a genre?
  • The cinema of shortcuts
  • Success factors of the American film industry
  • The art of cinematography
  • The role of fashion design in the film industry
  • Humanity versus technology in modern films
  • Good versus Evil concept in movies
  • The influence of social media on movie outcomes
  • The effects of streaming platforms on cinematography
  • What makes a great film director?
  • The persuasive effectiveness of shortcuts
  • Freudian Practice in Cinematography
  • Film Noir: A style expanding through genres
  • The concept of drama in movies
  • Comics in the film industry.
  • The psychological aspects of filmmaking
  • Video streaming platforms and the future of cinema

Latest Film Research Paper Topics

  • The effect of movie reviews and critics on box office results
  • The ability of documentaries to impact the world
  • The moral dilemmas associated with filming documentaries
  • The craft of utilizing video editing to tell tales
  • The significance of transitions and visual effects in film editing
  • The repercussions of film censorship
  • The effects of film on culture and society
  • The function of cinema directors in bringing tales to life
  • the influence of war films on culture.
  • The characteristics of a successful film director

The Concluding Words

In a generic way, film studies include a lot of approaches based on history, critics, and theories of films. From the above-mentioned list of popular and interesting film research topics mentioned in this blog, you can select the topic that best suits your choice and interest to write an excellent Film research paper. If you are confused on how to choose a film research topic or if you are finding it difficult to write a good film research paper, then contact our expert team of academic writers and get genuine research paper writer assistance.

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Film and Theatre Studies Research Topics

Published by Carmen Troy at January 6th, 2023 , Revised On August 11, 2023

Introduction

Film and theatre studies focus on the critical analysis of experiential learning. Film and theatre have been popular areas of interest among students of arts. As a student of film and theatre, you will be expected to study cinema history and the social importance of cinematography and films to learn the techniques and methods used for the production of films. This blog post provides several film dissertation topics and theatre dissertation topics so you can make a meaningful contribution to the literature.

Here is our selection of film and theatre research topics that we think you should consider.

Topic 1: An Exploration of Gender Role in Blockbuster Films and the Perspectives of Assigning Roles

  • Topic 2: A Comparative Study of Hollywood and Bollywood: An Exploration of Research of Movies

Topic 3: A Detailed Analysis of the Principles of Making Films: An Exploration of the Relevant Principles of Making Films

Topic 4: assessing the significance of awards for making a better film, topic 5: analysing female sexuality in the film: a detailed research on the perspectives of society, topic 6: an explorative study of the performances of an actor in theatre and film.

  • Topic 7: An explorative study of the Cultures of Theatre and Film in the Big City of a Country

Topic 8: Detail Perspectives of the Impact of Theatre in the Urban Area

Topic 9: explorative research on the impact of film in a rural area, topic 10: the relevance of casting and editing for making a film.

These film and theatre dissertation topics have been developed by PhD-qualified writers of our team , so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting  a brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the topic,  research question ,  aim and objectives ,  literature review  along with the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted.  Let us know  if you need any help in getting started.

Check our  dissertation examples  to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

Review the full list of  dissertation topics for 2022 here.

You may also want to review our arts dissertation topics, fashion dissertation topics and literature dissertation topics if you don’t find an intriguing idea below.

2022 Film and Theatre Studies Research Topics

Topic 1: the role of writers’ creativity in film’s success- a comparison between hit and flop hollywood movies.

Research Aim: This study aims to find the role of writers’ creativity in a film’s success in Hollywood. It will show how the writer’s imagination, emotions, creativity, and other factors affect the movie’s story. And how does it affect its success when it comes to the cinema? It will compare and contrast various successful and flop Hollywood movies to analyze whether the writer’s creativity is crucial for the movie or not. Lastly, it will recommend whether producers give the writer’s creativity prime attention or not.

Topic 2: Impact of Online Streaming Services on Traditional Cinema’s Content Quality and Investments - A Case of Netflix TV Shows Production

Research Aim: This research intends to find the impact of online streaming services on traditional cinema’s content quality and investments. It will show whether the introduction of online content besides mainstream cinema has affected its content or continues the way it used to create. It will use Netflix as a case study to show whether its introduction and significant investments affected the Cinema equilibrium in terms of investments in cinema and content produced by it. Lastly, it will indicate whether both models can work simultaneously or if one has to give up.

Topic 3: Do Film Sequels Overshadow the Original Story? Or Do they Help to Reconnect with the Original Story? A Case of “The Lord of the Rings”

Research Aim: This study sheds light on the impact of film sequels on the success of the original story. It will show whether sequels overshadow the actual story or do they help to reconnect with the original story. Moreover, it will find how factors such as the introduction of new characters and actors, replacement of old actors, addition and removal from the actual story, etc., affect the success of the original story.

Topic 4: The Economics of Cinema: Impact of Large Production Houses’ Monopoly in Production and Distribution on the Quality of the Movies

Research Aim: This study assesses the impact of large production houses’ monopoly in production and distribution on the quality of the movie. It will show that these economic actors control production and distribution factors in the movie markets. It will see how big production houses operate in Hollywood and influences the entire Hollywood economic process of movie production, distribution, rights allocation, etc. Lastly, it will also show how small players penetrated this market of strong entry to a barrier.

Topic 5: Does a Script Makes a Movie Successful or the Actors? An Exploratory Analysis Finding the Factors which Make a Movie Successful

Research Aim: This research will identify the factors which make a movie successful. It will specifically find whether a good script makes a movie successful or the actors. It will assess various movies through a film literature framework to see whether a specific movie was actors-dominated or script overshadowed the actors, or it was a mix of both. Moreover, it will show how a film producer can utilize both to make a good movie.

Film and Theatre Dissertation Research Topics

Research Aim: The research aims to investigate and analyse the role of gender in doing blockbuster films. The aim of the research seeks to understand the importance of gender roles in assigning a task. The aim of the research explores the roles of genders to discover new areas of filmmaking.

Topic 2: A Comparative Study of Hollywood and Bollywood: An Exploration Research of Movies

Research Aim: The research aims to explore the different perspectives of Hollywood and Bollywood movies and explore the areas for improvement. The research explores the comparisons between these two types of film. The study supports various arguments about making two different types of movies.

Research Aim: The relevance of the research focuses on the principles of making films. The research highlights the importance of utilizing principles in the field of theatre. The research aims to explore various perspectives of principles that help to justify the topic of the film.

Research Aim: The research aims to evaluate the importance of awards for making a good film. The aim is to focus on the detailed analysis of the awards and their cultural perspective on making a film.

Research Aim: The research aims to analyse the perspectives of society in the case of representing female sexuality in the movie. The study analyses the stereotypical presentation of women onscreen that describes how women were initially treated in society. The detailed analysis of the research explores the role of film in highlighting a sensitive issue of women.

Research Aim: It studies the detailed analysis of the actor’s performances and how external and internal factors affect the performances of actors in a film.

Topic 7: An explorative study of the Cultures of Theatre and Film in the big city of a country

Research Aim: The aim of the research is in making a detailed exploration of the cultures of theatre and film. It highlights the differences in culture from both perspectives.

Research Aim: The research aims to analyse the impact of theatre and its advancement in an urban area. The aim is to explore the reflection of theatre on the mind of a human being.

Research Aim: The aim of the research focuses on the impact of film on the mind of the people of rural areas. It explores the forms of various films that create an effect on the life of the rural area.

Research Aim: This research highlights the importance of casting and editing and its critical casting and editing perspectives in film. It focuses on the principles of casting and editing for making a film.

Topic 11: Perspectives of Youth for Making a Cinema: A Detailed Analysis of the Influential Factors of Making a Cinema.

Research Aim: It highlights the mindset of youth for making a cinema. It focuses on the factors that influence making a successful piece of art.

Topic 12: The Role of the Short Film in Making a Big Cinema

Research Aim: The research focuses on making a short film can be an essential step for making a big one. This research highlights the various perspectives of making a short film. It helps to explore the historical perspectives of making a big cinema.

Topic 13: A Detailed Exploration of the Impact of History and Culture on Making Modern Cinema

Research Aim: The research focuses on the importance of history and how it impacts making modern cinema. It highlights the steps of records of cinema.

Topic 14: A Critical Analysis of Horror Movies: A Case Study on a Horror Movie

Research Aim: The aim explores the perspectives of horror movies and it impacts society. It supports arguments based on evidence.

Topic 15: An Exploration of the Revolution of the Movie with Perspectives on History and Culture

Research Aim: The research aims to explore the evolution of cinema’s history and highlight every perspective of the revolution. It focuses on the impact of the revolution on making a film.

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  • Identify unexplored areas.
  • Select a topic resonating with your passion and academic scope.

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Dissertations

Listed by year of graduation

  • Dissertation: " Aluminum Lesbians: Recycling Lesbian Legacy in Classical Hollywood"
  • Chair: Mark Lynn Anderson (English)
  • Readers: Jules Gill-Peterson (English), Nancy Glazener (English), David Pettersen (French & Italian)
  • Dissertation: " Process over Product: Kinesthetic Cinema, Sporting Bodies, and Media Milieux"
  • Readers: Randall Halle (German), Adam Lowenstein (English), Neepa Majumdar (English)
  • Dissertation: White Design: Engineering the Visualization of Race and Racism in Social Media
  • Chair: Jinying Li (English) & Zachary Horton (English)
  • Readers: Mark Lynn Anderson (English), Brenton Malin (Communication), Elizabeth Reich (English)
  • Dissertation: From Women's Cinema to Women's Horror Cinema: Genre and Gender in the Twenty-First Century
  • Chair: Adam Lowenstein (English)
  • Readers: Lucy Fischer (English), Neepa Majumdar (English), David Pettersen (French & Italian)
  • Dissertation: Soviet Tableau: Cinema and History under Late Socialism (1953-1985)
  • Chair:  Nancy Condee  (Slavic)
  • Readers:   David Birnbaum  (Slavic),   Randall Halle  (German),  Neepa Majumdar  (English),  Marcia Landy  (English),  Vladimir Padunov  (Slavic),  Dan Morgan  (Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
  • Dissertation:  Cinema in Fragments: Transmediating Popular Hindi Cinema on Small Screens
  • Chair: Neepa Majumdar (English)
  • Readers: Nancy Condee (Slavic), Jinying Li (English), Aswin Punathambekar (Communication Studies, University of Michigan), Jennifer Waldron (English)
  • Dissertation:  The Interstate Logic: How Networks Change the Cinematic Representation of Time and Space
  • Chair:   Lucy Fischer  (English)
  • Readers:  Randall Halle  (German),  Mark Lynn Anderson  (English),  Neepa Majumdar  (English)
  • Dissertation:  "Quiet on Set!": Craft Discourse and Below-the-Line Labor in Hollywood, 1919-1985
  • Chair:  Mark Lynn Anderson  (English)
  • Readers:  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Neepa Majumdar  (English),   Randall Halle  (German), Dana Polan (NYU),  Dan Morgan  (Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
  • Dissertation:  The Matter of Identity: Digital Media, Television, and Embodied Difference
  • Chair:  Jane Feuer  (English)
  • Readers:  Brenton J. Malin  (Communication), Jinying Li (English),  Jennifer Waldron  (English)
  • Dissertation:  The Rehearsal for Terror: Form, Trauma, and Modern Horror
  • Chair:  Marcia Landy  (English)
  • Readers:  Mark Lynn Anderson  (English),  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Dan Morgan  (Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
  • Dissertation:  FEEL IT ALL AROUND: ART MUSIC VIDEO, ART CINEMA, AND SPECTATORSHIP IN THE STREAMING ERA
  • Chair:  Adam Lowenstein  (English)
  • Readers:  Mark Lynn Anderson  (English),  Neepa Majumdar  (English),   Randall Halle  (German),   Dan Morgan  (Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
  • Dissertation:  The Cinematic Animal: Animal Life, Technology, and the Moving Image
  • Readers:  Neepa Majumdar  (English),   Adam Lowenstein  (English), Akira Lippit (Cinema & Media Studies, University of Southern California)
  • Dissertation:  Sustaining Life During the AIDS Crisis: New Queer Cinema and the Biopic
  • Readers:  Lucy Fischer  (English),   Randall Halle  (German),   Marcia Landy  (English)
  • Dissertation: Pataphysical Networking: Virtuality, Potentiality and the Experimental Works of the Collège de 'Pataphysique, the Oulipo, and the Mouvement Panique
  • Dissertation: "Everything new is born illegal." Historicisizing Rapid Migration through New Media Projects
  • Chair: Randall Halle (German)
  • Readers: Nancy Condee (Slavic), Sabine von Dirk (German), John B. Lyon (German)
  • Dissertation:  Impasse in Multilingual Spaces: Politics of Language and Identity in Contemporary Francophone Contact Zones
  • Chair:  David Pettersen  (French & Italian)
  • Readers:  Nancy Condee  (Slavic),  Neil Doshi  (French & Italian),  Giuseppina Mecchia  (French & Italian)
  • Dissertation:  Press Play: Video Games and the Ludic Quality of Aesthetic Experiences across Media
  • Readers:   Randall Halle  (German), Jinying Li (English),  Neepa Majumdar  (English),  Dan Morgan  (Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
  • Dissertation:  Shopping the Look: Hollywood Costume Production and American Fashion Consumption, 1960-1969
  • Chair:  Neepa Majumdar  (English)
  • Readers:  Mark Lynn Anderson  (English),  Jane Feuer  (English),  Brenton J. Malin  (Communication)
  • Dissertation:  Another Habitat for the Muses: The Poetic Investigations of Mexican Film Criticism, 1896-1968
  • Readers:  Neepa Majumdar  (English),  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Joshua Lund  (University of Notre Dame)
  • Dissertation:  Frame and Finitude: The Aporetic Aesthetics of Alain Resnais's Cinematic Modernism
  • Co-Chairs:  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Daniel Morgan  (Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
  • Readers:  Neepa Majumdar  (English),  Marcia Landy  (English)

Natalie Ryabchikova

  • Dissertation: The Flying Fish: Sergei Eisenstein Abroad, 1929-1932.
  • Chair: Mark Lynn Anderson (Film)
  • Readers: William Chase (History), Nancy Condee (Slavic), Randall Halle  (Film), Vladimir Padunov (Slavic)

Kelly Trimble

  • Dissertation:  The Celebrification of Soviet Culture: State Heroes after Stalin, 2017
  • Chair: Vladimir Padunov (Slavic)
  • Readers: David Birnbaum (Slavic), Nancy Condee (Slavic), Randall Halle (German)
  • Dissertation:  A Hidden Light: Judaism, Contemporary Israeli Film, and the Cinematic Experience
  • ​Chair:   Lucy Fischer  (English)
  • Readers:  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Neepa Majumdar  (English), Adam Shear  (Religious Studies)
  • Dissertation:  Global Russian Cinema in the Digital Age: The Films of Timur Bekmambetov
  • ​Chair:   Nancy Condee  (Slavic)
  • Readers:  Vladimir Padunov  (Slavic),  Randall Halle  (German),  Daniel Morgan  (Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
  • Dissertation:  The Flying Fish: Sergei Eisenstein Abroad, 1929-1932
  • ​Chair:   Vladimir Padunov  (Slavic)
  • Readers:  Mark Lynn Anderson  (English),  William Chase  (History),  Nancy Condee  (Slavic),  Randall Halle  (German)

Anne Wesserling , Visiting Assistant Professor, University of North Georgia

  • Dissertation: Screening Violence: Meditations on Perception in Recent Argentine Literature and Film of the Post-Dictatorship
  • Chair: Daniel Balderston  (Hispanic Languages & Literature)
  • Readers: John Beverley  (Hispanic Languages & Literature), Gonzalo Lamana  (Hispanic Languages & Literature), Adam Lowenstein  (English)
  • Dissertation:  The British War Film, 1939-1980: Culture, History, and Genre
  • Readers:  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Colin MacCabe  (English),  David Pettersen  (French & Italian)
  • Dissertation:  Unseen Femininity: Women in Japanese New Wave Cinema
  • Readers:  Nancy Condee  (Slavic),  Marcia Landy  (English),  Neepa Majumdar  (English)
  • Dissertation: Visualizing the Past: Perestroika Documentary Memory of Stalin-era
  • Readers: Nancy Condee (Slavic), David J. Birnbaum  (Slavic), Jeremy Hicks  (Languages, Linguistics, Film)

Gavin M. Hicks

  • Disseration: Soccer and Social Identity in Contemporary German Film and Media  
  • Readers: John B. Lyon  (German), Sabine von Dirke (German), Clark Muenzer  (German), Gayle Rogers (English)
  • Dissertation:  Film Dance, Female Stardom, and the Production of Gender in Popular Hindi Cinema
  • Readers:   Lucy Fischer  (English),  Marcia Landy  (English), Ranjani Mazumdar (Cinema Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)
  • Dissertation:  Overlooking the Evidence: Gender, Genre and the Female Detective in Hollywood Film and Television
  • Readers:  Mark Lynn Anderson  (English),  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Brenton J. Malin  (Communications)

Christopher Nielsen , Educator, Institute for Health and Socioeconomic Policy/National Nurses United

  • Dissertation: Narco Realism in Contemporary Mexican and Transnational Narrative, Film, and Online Media
  • Chair: Juan Duchesen-Winter (Hispanic Languages & Literature)
  • Readers: John Beverley (Hispanic Languages & Literature), Joshua Lund (Hispanic Languages & Literature), Giuseppina Mecchia  (French & Italian)
  • Dissertation:  New Korean Cinema: Mourning to Regeneration
  • Readers: Kyung Hyun Kim (East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of California, Irvine),  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Colin MacCabe  (English)
  • Dissertation:  “Insubordinate” Looking: Consumerism, Power, Identity, and the Art of Popular (Music) Dance Movies
  • Readers:  Mark Lynn Anderson  (English),   Lucy Fischer  (English),  Randall Halle  (German)
  • Dissertation:  Sustaining Feminist Film Cultures: An Institutional History of Women Make Movies
  • Readers:   Mark Lynn Anderson  (English),  Neepa Majumdar  (English),  Randall Halle  (German Language),  David Pettersen  (French & Italian)

Yvonne Franke , Assistant Professor of German, Midwestern State University

  • Dissertation:  The Genres of Europeanization - Moving Towards the "New Heimatfilm"
  • Readers: Lucy Fischer (Film), John B. Lyon (German), Sabine von Dirke (German)

Olga Kilmova ,  Visiting Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh

  • Dissertation: Soviet Youth Films under Brezhnev: Watching Between the Lines
  • Chair: Nancy Condee (Slavic)
  • Readers: Vladimir Padunov  (Slavic), David J. Birnbaum  (Slavic), Lucy Fischer  (Communication), Alexander V. Prokhorov (Slavic)
  • Dissertation:  The Toy Like Nature: On the History and Theory of Animated Motion
  • Chair: Daniel Morgan
  • Readers:  Marcia Landy  (English), Mark Lynn Anderson  (English), Scott Bukatman (Film & Media Studies, Stanford University)
  • Dissertation:  Cinematic Occupation: Intelligibility, Queerness, and Palestine
  • Readers:  Mark Lynn Anderson  (English), Troy Boone  (English), Todd Reeser (French & Italian)

Yahya Laayouni , Assistant Professor of Arabic and French, Bloomsberg University of Pennsylvania

  • Dissertation: Redefining Beur Cinema: Constituting Subjectivity through Film
  • Co-Chairs: Giuseppina Mecchia  (French and Italian) & Randall Halle  (German)
  • Readers: Todd Reeser (French and Italian), Mohammed Bamyeh  (Sociology & Religious Studies), Neil Doshi  (French & Italian)
  • Dissertation:  Image to Infinity: Rethinking Description and Detail in the Cinema
  • Chair:   Marcia Landy  (English)
  • Readers: Troy Boone ,  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Colin MacCabe  (English),  Randall Halle  (German)
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  • Dissertation:  Screen Combat: Recreating World War II in American Film and Media
  • Readers:   Lucy Fischer  (English),  Marcia Landy  (English),  Randall Halle  (German)
  • Dissertation:  Modern Kinesis: Motion Picture Technology, Embodiment, and Re-Playability in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twenty-First Centuries
  • Readers:   Lucy Fischer  (English),  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Giuseppina Mecchia  (French & Italian)
  • Dissertation:  Research in the Form of a Spectacle: Godard and the Cinematic Essay
  • Readers:   Lucy Fischer  (English),  Marcia Landy  (English)
  • Dissertation:  Immaterial Materiality: Collecting in Live-Action Film, Animation, and Digital Games
  • Readers:  Marcia Landy  (English),  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Randall Halle  (German)
  • Dissertation:  Nation, Nostalgia, and Masculinity: Clinton/Spielberg/Hanks
  • Readers:  Marcia Landy  (English),  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Brent Malin  (Communications)
  • Dissertation:  Body Image: Fashioning the Postwar American
  • Readers:  Jane Feuer  (English), Marianne Novy (English), Carol Stabile (English, University of Oregon)

Natalia Maria Ramirez-Lopez , 

  • Dissertation: MARGINALIDAD Y VIOLENCIA JUVENIL EN MEDELLÍN Y BOGOTÁ: NARRATIVAS LITERARIAS Y FÍMICAS DE LOS AÑOS 80 Y 90 EN COLOMBIA
  • Chair: Hermann Herlinghaus  (Latin American Literature, University of Freiburg)
  • Readers: Aníbal Perez-Linán (Political Science), Bobby J. Chamberlain  (Hispanic Languages & Literature), Gerald Martin (Hispanic Languages & Literature)

Dawn Seckler , Associate Director of Development, Bridgeway Capital

  • Dissertation: Engendering Genre: The Contemporary Russian Buddy Film
  • Readers: David MacFadyen (University of California, Los Angeles), Lucy Fischer  (Film), Nancy Condee (Slavic)
  • Dissertation:  The Ethnic Turn: Studies in Political Cinema from Brazil and the United States, 1960-2002
  • Readers:  Adam Lowenstein  (English), Shalini Puri,  Neepa Majumdar  (English),  John Beverley  (Hispanic)
  • Dissertation:  Acting Social: The Cinema of Mike Nichols
  • Readers:  Mark Anderson  (English),  Marcia Landy  (English),  Colin MacCabe  (English), David Shumway (English, Carnegie Mellon University)
  • Dissertation:  Ruins and Riots: Transnational Currents in Mexican Cinema
  • Readers:   Lucy Fischer  (English),  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  John Beverly  (Hispanic)
  • Dissertation:  The Word Made Cinematic: The Representation of Jesus in Cinema
  • Readers: Troy Boone ,  Adam Lowenstein  (English), Vernell Lillie (Africana Studies)
  • Dissertation:  Fathers of a Still-Born Past: Hindu Empire, Globality, and the Rhetoric of the Trikaal
  • Readers: Paul Bové  (English), Ronald Judy  (English),  Nancy Condee  (Slavic)
  • Dissertation:  Excavating the Ghetto Action Cycle (1991-1996): A Case Study for a Cycle-Based Approach to Genre Theory
  • Readers:  Jane Feuer  (English),  Neepa Majumdar  (English), Paula Massood (Cinema and Media Studies, Brooklyn College, CUNY)
  • Dissertation:  "The World Goes One Way and We Go Another": Movement, Migration, and Myths of Irish Cinema
  • Readers:  Adam Lowenstein  (English),  Colin MacCabe  (English),  Nancy Condee  (Slavic Languages and Literatures)
  • Dissertation:  The Writing on the Screen: Images of Text in the German Cinema from 1920-1949
  • Readers: Paul Bové  (English),  Lucy Fischer  (English), Linda Shulte-Sasse (German, McAllister College)
  • Dissertation:  Mantras of the Metropole: Geo-Televisuality and Contemporary Indian Cinema
  • Readers: Paul Bové  (English); Eric Clarke (English);  Colin MacCabe  (English); M. Prasad (Film Theory, Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad)
  • Dissertation:  Hollywood Youth Narratives and the Family Values Campaign 1980-1992
  • Readers: Troy Boone  (English),  Marcia Landy  (English), Carol Stabile (Communications)
  • Dissertation:  Reading Scars: Circumcision as Textual Trope
  • Chair: Philip Smith  (English)
  • Readers:   Lucy Fischer  (English), Mariolina Salvatori, Greg Goekjian (Portland State University)
  • Dissertation:  Dreaming in Crisis: Angels and the Allegorical Imagination in Postwar America
  • Chair:  Colin MacCabe  (English)
  • Readers: Ronald Judy  (English), Jonathan Arac ,  Nancy Condee  (Slavic)
  • Dissertation:  Laying Down the Rules: The American Sports Film Genre From 1872 to 1960
  • Readers:  Jane Feuer  (English), Moya Luckett, Carol Stabile (Communications)

Elena Prokhorova

  • Dissertation: Fragmented Mythologies: Soviet TV Series of the 1970s
  • Readers: Carol Stabile (Communications), Jane Feuer (English and Film), Martin Votruba (Slavic), Nancy Condee (Slavic)
  • Dissertation:  Nickels and Dimes: The Movies in a Rampantly American City, 1914-1923
  • Readers: Moya Luckett,  Jane Feuer , Gregory Waller (University of Kentucky)
  • Dissertation:  As Far As Anyone Knows: Fetishism and the Anti-Televisual Paradoxes of Film Noir
  • Readers: Valerie Krips, James Knapp, Henry Krips (Communications)

Alexander Prokhorov , Associate Professor, College of William and Mary

  • Dissertation: Inherited Discourse: Stalinist Tropes in Thaw Culture
  • Chair: Helena Goscilo (Slavic)
  • Readers: Lucy Fischer (Film), Mark Altshuller (Slavic), Nancy Condee (Slavic), Vladimir Padunov (Slavic)
  • Dissertation:  “Dig If You Will The Picture”: The Cinematic, the Black Femme, and the Image of Common Sense
  • Chair:   Marcia Landy  (English)
  • Readers: Paul Bové  (English),  Colin MacCabe  (English), Amy Villarejo (Cornell), Wahneema Lubiano (Duke)
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175 Interesting Film Research Paper Topics and Ideas

Table of Contents

Would you have to prepare a film research paper? If you are a student who is pursuing a degree in film studies, then for your academic work often you will have to prepare film research papers. For writing a film essay or research paper, you must need a good topic. In general, there are plenty of film research paper topics available. But, in this blog post, we have filtered and composed a list of the top film research topic ideas you can consider for your assignments. Keep on reading this blog post and get interesting film dissertation ideas.

Film Research Paper Topic Selection Tips

The first step in the research paper writing process is topic selection. For selecting a topic, you need to invest a lot of time and effort because it is one of the important factors that will help you earn an A+ grade. Usually, your instructors will give you a set of topics for you to choose from. In that scenario, you will not have much pressure to handle the topic selection phase. But, sometimes your professors will ask you to come up with a creative film research topic on your own.

Right now, do you have to select a good topic for your film research paper? If yes, then have a look at the steps below and follow them to identify a good film research paper topic.

  • At first, think and list out all your favorite films, filmmakers, and genres. Then, narrow down your search depending upon your favorite category or area of interest.
  • Every time it is not necessary to give preference to your favorites. Instead, you can also focus on a specific film history period and research the themes, production methods, film techniques, etc. used in that time period.
  • For identifying a good research topic, you should perform deep research and collect more ideas. Mainly, you can refer to various credible sources such as literature, published research papers, books, and media platforms for gathering topic ideas.
  • If you have gathered a lot of research ideas, then analyze them all and select a topic that has a wide research scope. Remember, the topic you pick should match your interest and should be comfortable for you to write about.
  • During topic selection, think about the topic that you have strong knowledge of. The topic you choose should be neither too wide nor too narrow. If it is broad, narrow it down and select a simple topic or subtopic.

When finalizing a topic, make sure whether the topic you have selected will engage and educate your readers. The topic should not only be interesting to you but also to the target audience. Avoid selecting topics that are frequently taken for discussion. The topic you choose should be unique, informative, and creative. Also, before finalizing check whether your topic meets your instructor’s research paper writing guidelines. You can easily craft a research paper and score high marks only if the topic you choose satisfies all the tips shared above.

List of Film Research Paper Topic Ideas

Film Studies is a broad academic discipline filled with excellent research areas to explore. For writing a brilliant film research paper, you can choose areas such as film history, film technology, music and sound design, film genre, etc.

Are you struggling to come up with the best film research paper topics? Don’t worry! Here, are some interesting film research paper topics and ideas list. Go through them all and identify the right topic for your academic paper.

List of Film Research Paper Topic Ideas

Excellent Film Research Paper Topics

  • The role of colors in movies.
  • Different forms of narrative structures.
  • What are the effects of censorship in films?
  • The cultural effects of war movies.
  • The role of film directors in giving life to stories.
  • The social and cultural effect of movies.
  • Animation: Giving life to sketches.
  • Movies through the eyes of their directors.
  • Walt Disney and the psychosocial implications of his characters.
  • Comics and Superheroes in films.
  • The role of film critics and reviews on box office performances.
  • TV shows: A new film franchise.
  • The ethical issues involved in documentary filmmaking.
  • The role of animals in movies.
  • Explain the qualities of a successful movie director.
  • The effects of Hollywood stereotypes.
  • Transitions and visual effects in movie editing.
  • The power of documentary movies in changing the world.
  • Masculinity and violence in films.
  • The art of creating stories using video editing.

Film History Research Paper Topics

  • How technology has transformed the art of filmmaking?
  • Science-fiction movies – History.
  • The effect of the film industry on different generations.
  • War Justification in American Cinema.
  • Hitchcock’s sacred power.
  • Movies about the history of religions.
  • Charlie Chaplin and the Silent Movie Era.
  • Discuss the contribution of Fellini to cinematography.
  • Analyze the life before CGI.
  • The globalization of popular culture: Hollywood vs. Bollywood.
  • African-Americans in cinematography.
  • Discuss the contribution of women in the film industry.
  • The progress of animation in movie production.
  • The importance of representation in movies.
  • Changes in Hollywood and its dominance of cinematography.
  • Discuss the historical context of the origin of cinema.
  • The difference between classical and modern films.
  • How does the first movie differ from the modern ones?
  • Popular Cinematographers of the 20th century.
  • The most prominent actors of the 20th century
  • Explain the visible changes and modifications in filmmaking in the last 20 years.
  • The emergence of cinema infrastructure.
  • The modification in actors’ behavior in the film set.
  • Compare the fees of the actors in the ’80s and ’90s.
  • Sound developments in the filmmaking industry.
  • The image of the enemy in historical films.
  • The educational function of historical cinema.
  • Aesthetics of the comic in historical films.
  • Historical semantics of cinema.
  • Tales of the Past in Film and Television.

Research Topics on Film Music

  • The art of storytelling with sound.
  • Classical Opera versus Modern Music on Screen.
  • The art of sound design in movies.
  • Analyze the soundtrack and music in films.
  • The progress of music in films.
  • The power of recorded nature sounds.
  • The development and cultural influence of musicals in the 20th century.
  • Bollywood-made musicals.
  • Christina Aguilera’s career in musicals.
  • The effects of music on movie perceptions.
  • Cradle of future pop stars.
  • The mental effects created by music in movies.
  • Broadway musicals made into movies.
  • Picture versus sound.
  • The use of music in modern movies.
  • Live music in films.
  • Incidental music.
  • Background music.
  • Music in cartoons.
  • Classical music in films.
  • Discuss the benefits of customized music in filmmaking.
  • How does music reveal the emotional state of the characters?
  • How to choose the right song for a film?
  • Electronic music in series.
  • How musicians promote themselves in films.

Research Paper Topics on Monster Films

  • Explore fear in monster movies.
  • The history of monster movies.
  • Zombies in modern cinema.
  • The psychological appeal of movie monsters.
  • The science behind Hollywood’s movie monsters.
  • Discuss the monster movie culture in the 21st century.
  • Vampires through history: The evolution of the undead cinema.
  • The aspects of human monstrosity in films.
  • The Monster vs. Frankenstein: Who Is More Human?
  • Mythology in monster movies.

Horror Film Research Paper Topics

  • The fusion of comedy and horror.
  • Discuss the popular fear elements used in horror films.
  • The youngsters’ perception of horror films.
  • Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense.
  • The use of religion in horror movies.
  • Racial discrimination in horror films.
  • The idea of suspense in horror films.
  • Special effects in horror films.
  • Explain the Folklore elements in the screenplay.
  • Psychological and behavioral responses to horror films.

Captivating Film Dissertation Ideas

  • Drama as a cultural phenomenon.
  • The usage of irony in films.
  • The evolution of urban filmmaking.
  • The diverse film elements needed for creative writing.
  • The importance of a character in a film.
  • Discuss the popular cinema genres in the world.
  • The relationship between literature and film.
  • Difference between commercial cinema and non-commercial cinema.
  • The influence of the digital revolution in the film industry?
  • Analyze the localization efforts of Hollywood films.

Outstanding Research Topics on Movies

  • What makes a great film director?
  • Humanity versus technology in modern films.
  • Good versus Evil concept in movies.
  • Video streaming platforms and the future of cinema.
  • The cinema of shortcuts.
  • The influence of social media on movie results.
  • Indie Movies: An attitude or a genre?
  • Multiple actors playing a single role.
  • The art of cinematography.
  • Success factors of the American film industry.
  • The role of fashion design in the film industry.
  • Film Noir: A style expanding through genres.
  • Freudian Practice in Cinematography.
  • The influence of movie genres on different audiences.
  • The idea of drama in movies.
  • The psychological aspects of filmmaking.
  • The features of vocal music in movies.
  • The effects of streaming platforms on cinematography.
  • The art of storytelling in modern movies.
  • The persuasive effectiveness of shortcuts.

Informative Film Research Paper Topics

  • The role of culture in filmmaking.
  • The purpose of Archeological films.
  • The role of the American film industry in biology.
  • Films about language and language discrimination.
  • History of Anthropology films.
  • The most expensive films on Netflix.
  • Can Star Wars become a new film category?
  • Explain Spanish movie production.
  • Discuss the making of Soap operas.
  • Reflection of ideology in the visual arts and cinema.

Amazing Film Research Paper Topics

  • How to write the screenplay for a documentary?
  • Discuss the artistic value of documentaries.
  • Talk about digital cinema technologies.
  • Asian filmmaking industry.
  • The role of the producer in organizing film production.
  • Psychology in filmmaking
  • Awards in the Film Industry.
  • Talk about popular feminist films.
  • Creation of Crime Series and Detective films.
  • How to make a low-budget film?

Interesting Research Paper Topics on Film Studies

  • Current trends in film studies.
  • Fundamentals of film drama.
  • The cinematography in the aspect of sociology.
  • The relationship between cinema and performance.
  • The crisis of cinema research.
  • Is Cinema a means of education?
  • Film analysis methodology.
  • Compare Film education and media education.
  • Anthropological concepts in contemporary film studies.
  • The theoretical and empirical levels of film studies.

Film Essay Topics

  • Opera elements in the film industry
  • Politics in the film industry.
  • Relevance of biography series.
  • TV shows as an extension of Films.
  • How can the soundtrack promote its film?
  • Describe American Filmmaking.
  • How to write a screenplay for a novel?
  • Explain the difference between producers and filmmakers.
  • Top categories of movies.
  • How to model the script of TV shows?

Top Research Topics on Cinema

  • Discuss the difference between Watching Movies in Cinemas and at Home.
  • The effects of Western Movies on Arab Youth.
  • The influence of film festivals.
  • Discuss how the movies handle transgender issues.
  • What is the future of film narratives?
  • Analyze the visual style of the Godfather Movie.
  • Discuss the ideology in the film ‘The Matrix’.
  • Film Analysis of ‘the Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Harry Potter’.
  • Music of modern non-fiction films.
  • The role of young directors in modern cinema.

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We hope you have identified a good topic for your assignment from the list of film research paper topics recommended above. If you haven’t selected a topic, or need assistance for writing an informative film research paper, then reach out to us. We have a team of professional writers who are experts in film studies to provide research paper writing help.

To avail of our online research paper writing service, just submit your requirements in the order form. Based on your specifications, we will offer you the best assignment writing service that includes topic selection, research paper writing, and editing. We always stick to your writing guidelines and will deliver a plagiarism-free research paper to you on time. Additionally, as a part of our service, we also give 24/7 customer support and unlimited paper revisions.

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The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Film Analysis

What this handout is about.

This handout introduces film analysis and and offers strategies and resources for approaching film analysis assignments.

Writing the film analysis essay

Writing a film analysis requires you to consider the composition of the film—the individual parts and choices made that come together to create the finished piece. Film analysis goes beyond the analysis of the film as literature to include camera angles, lighting, set design, sound elements, costume choices, editing, etc. in making an argument. The first step to analyzing the film is to watch it with a plan.

Watching the film

First it’s important to watch the film carefully with a critical eye. Consider why you’ve been assigned to watch a film and write an analysis. How does this activity fit into the course? Why have you been assigned this particular film? What are you looking for in connection to the course content? Let’s practice with this clip from Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958). Here are some tips on how to watch the clip critically, just as you would an entire film:

  • Give the clip your undivided attention at least once. Pay close attention to details and make observations that might start leading to bigger questions.
  • Watch the clip a second time. For this viewing, you will want to focus specifically on those elements of film analysis that your class has focused on, so review your course notes. For example, from whose perspective is this clip shot? What choices help convey that perspective? What is the overall tone, theme, or effect of this clip?
  • Take notes while you watch for the second time. Notes will help you keep track of what you noticed and when, if you include timestamps in your notes. Timestamps are vital for citing scenes from a film!

For more information on watching a film, check out the Learning Center’s handout on watching film analytically . For more resources on researching film, including glossaries of film terms, see UNC Library’s research guide on film & cinema .

Brainstorming ideas

Once you’ve watched the film twice, it’s time to brainstorm some ideas based on your notes. Brainstorming is a major step that helps develop and explore ideas. As you brainstorm, you may want to cluster your ideas around central topics or themes that emerge as you review your notes. Did you ask several questions about color? Were you curious about repeated images? Perhaps these are directions you can pursue.

If you’re writing an argumentative essay, you can use the connections that you develop while brainstorming to draft a thesis statement . Consider the assignment and prompt when formulating a thesis, as well as what kind of evidence you will present to support your claims. Your evidence could be dialogue, sound edits, cinematography decisions, etc. Much of how you make these decisions will depend on the type of film analysis you are conducting, an important decision covered in the next section.

After brainstorming, you can draft an outline of your film analysis using the same strategies that you would for other writing assignments. Here are a few more tips to keep in mind as you prepare for this stage of the assignment:

  • Make sure you understand the prompt and what you are being asked to do. Remember that this is ultimately an assignment, so your thesis should answer what the prompt asks. Check with your professor if you are unsure.
  • In most cases, the director’s name is used to talk about the film as a whole, for instance, “Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo .” However, some writers may want to include the names of other persons who helped to create the film, including the actors, the cinematographer, and the sound editor, among others.
  • When describing a sequence in a film, use the literary present. An example could be, “In Vertigo , Hitchcock employs techniques of observation to dramatize the act of detection.”
  • Finding a screenplay/script of the movie may be helpful and save you time when compiling citations. But keep in mind that there may be differences between the screenplay and the actual product (and these differences might be a topic of discussion!).
  • Go beyond describing basic film elements by articulating the significance of these elements in support of your particular position. For example, you may have an interpretation of the striking color green in Vertigo , but you would only mention this if it was relevant to your argument. For more help on using evidence effectively, see the section on “using evidence” in our evidence handout .

Also be sure to avoid confusing the terms shot, scene, and sequence. Remember, a shot ends every time the camera cuts; a scene can be composed of several related shots; and a sequence is a set of related scenes.

Different types of film analysis

As you consider your notes, outline, and general thesis about a film, the majority of your assignment will depend on what type of film analysis you are conducting. This section explores some of the different types of film analyses you may have been assigned to write.

Semiotic analysis

Semiotic analysis is the interpretation of signs and symbols, typically involving metaphors and analogies to both inanimate objects and characters within a film. Because symbols have several meanings, writers often need to determine what a particular symbol means in the film and in a broader cultural or historical context.

For instance, a writer could explore the symbolism of the flowers in Vertigo by connecting the images of them falling apart to the vulnerability of the heroine.

Here are a few other questions to consider for this type of analysis:

  • What objects or images are repeated throughout the film?
  • How does the director associate a character with small signs, such as certain colors, clothing, food, or language use?
  • How does a symbol or object relate to other symbols and objects, that is, what is the relationship between the film’s signs?

Many films are rich with symbolism, and it can be easy to get lost in the details. Remember to bring a semiotic analysis back around to answering the question “So what?” in your thesis.

Narrative analysis

Narrative analysis is an examination of the story elements, including narrative structure, character, and plot. This type of analysis considers the entirety of the film and the story it seeks to tell.

For example, you could take the same object from the previous example—the flowers—which meant one thing in a semiotic analysis, and ask instead about their narrative role. That is, you might analyze how Hitchcock introduces the flowers at the beginning of the film in order to return to them later to draw out the completion of the heroine’s character arc.

To create this type of analysis, you could consider questions like:

  • How does the film correspond to the Three-Act Structure: Act One: Setup; Act Two: Confrontation; and Act Three: Resolution?
  • What is the plot of the film? How does this plot differ from the narrative, that is, how the story is told? For example, are events presented out of order and to what effect?
  • Does the plot revolve around one character? Does the plot revolve around multiple characters? How do these characters develop across the film?

When writing a narrative analysis, take care not to spend too time on summarizing at the expense of your argument. See our handout on summarizing for more tips on making summary serve analysis.

Cultural/historical analysis

One of the most common types of analysis is the examination of a film’s relationship to its broader cultural, historical, or theoretical contexts. Whether films intentionally comment on their context or not, they are always a product of the culture or period in which they were created. By placing the film in a particular context, this type of analysis asks how the film models, challenges, or subverts different types of relations, whether historical, social, or even theoretical.

For example, the clip from Vertigo depicts a man observing a woman without her knowing it. You could examine how this aspect of the film addresses a midcentury social concern about observation, such as the sexual policing of women, or a political one, such as Cold War-era McCarthyism.

A few of the many questions you could ask in this vein include:

  • How does the film comment on, reinforce, or even critique social and political issues at the time it was released, including questions of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality?
  • How might a biographical understanding of the film’s creators and their historical moment affect the way you view the film?
  • How might a specific film theory, such as Queer Theory, Structuralist Theory, or Marxist Film Theory, provide a language or set of terms for articulating the attributes of the film?

Take advantage of class resources to explore possible approaches to cultural/historical film analyses, and find out whether you will be expected to do additional research into the film’s context.

Mise-en-scène analysis

A mise-en-scène analysis attends to how the filmmakers have arranged compositional elements in a film and specifically within a scene or even a single shot. This type of analysis organizes the individual elements of a scene to explore how they come together to produce meaning. You may focus on anything that adds meaning to the formal effect produced by a given scene, including: blocking, lighting, design, color, costume, as well as how these attributes work in conjunction with decisions related to sound, cinematography, and editing. For example, in the clip from Vertigo , a mise-en-scène analysis might ask how numerous elements, from lighting to camera angles, work together to present the viewer with the perspective of Jimmy Stewart’s character.

To conduct this type of analysis, you could ask:

  • What effects are created in a scene, and what is their purpose?
  • How does this scene represent the theme of the movie?
  • How does a scene work to express a broader point to the film’s plot?

This detailed approach to analyzing the formal elements of film can help you come up with concrete evidence for more general film analysis assignments.

Reviewing your draft

Once you have a draft, it’s helpful to get feedback on what you’ve written to see if your analysis holds together and you’ve conveyed your point. You may not necessarily need to find someone who has seen the film! Ask a writing coach, roommate, or family member to read over your draft and share key takeaways from what you have written so far.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Aumont, Jacques, and Michel Marie. 1988. L’analyse Des Films . Paris: Nathan.

Media & Design Center. n.d. “Film and Cinema Research.” UNC University Libraries. Last updated February 10, 2021. https://guides.lib.unc.edu/filmresearch .

Oxford Royale Academy. n.d. “7 Ways to Watch Film.” Oxford Royale Academy. Accessed April 2021. https://www.oxford-royale.com/articles/7-ways-watch-films-critically/ .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Film making has become part and parcel of current human life. This makes  Film Research Paper Topics , Tips & Ideas to Use as Inspiration an affluent area of making money and even highly examinable in the schools. As such, as a veteran or aspiring filmmaker, researcher or student in that field, it is commendable to always have at your fingertips various current ideas to use as inspirations when working on such a topic. Consequently, this article seeks to keep you at par with the various current film research paper topics, tips & and ideas for inspiration. There are various film research paper topics  by WriteMyEssays.info  that the history of film making and research suggest to be very easy to work with as a beginner or student. Given the vast history of filmmaking, there are so many research topics and below is a list of the most relevant.

If you are searching for an essay writer on film topics you’ll need the best essay writing service company.

Film Research Paper Topics

There are various  film research paper topics  that the history of film making and research suggest to be very easy to work with as a beginner or student. Given the vast history of filmmaking, there are so many research topics and below is a list of the most relevant.

Science fiction movies

The digital era tends to appreciate science fiction movies so much. This gives this film research topic a wide range of markets, making it almost naturally acceptable. Science fiction movies as a film research paper topic also allow you to structure your script to your liking, provided it has a flow and is understandable.

African-Americans in the American Cinema

Writing about African-Americans has always been a marketable film research paper topic from time immemorial. This is given the diversity in the treatment and reception of African-Americans across the American continent. The success and rise to positions of power and leadership by the African-Americans, the rise in the anti-racism campaigns , the factual existence of people who still consider blacks as slaves and various topics surrounding the African-Americans allow you to structure your script as you so wish.

Women’s role and contribution in the film industry and society in general

Women have drastically evolved from their previous submissive nature into measuring up with their male counterparts in societal duties. Notably, in the film industry included, women have risen to the occasion to take up leadership and other roles in society and other fronts of life. This makes women in themselves a highly marketable film research paper topic.

The evolution of filmmaking

Like every other thing, filmmaking has evolved with technology over the decades. This is an exciting and highly marketable film research paper topic. The human mind tends to appreciate the knowledge of history and evolution of a field that has since become part and parcel of human life.

The Importance of Representation in Movie

The human brain tends to want to understand everything, especially the things that have since become a part of human life, like filmmaking. Consequently, the importance of representation in movies is a topic that tends to spike a debate anywhere across the globe. This makes it a highly marketable film research paper topic.

Tips & Ideas to Use as Inspiration

As a person working in the filmmaking industry, you need to know the tips and amp and ideas and to use them as inspiration when writing a particular film. When choosing an inspiration, it is commendable to go with a topic you are passionate about to make it easily navigable for you. Below is a list of ideas that tend to carry so much inspiration. This site also will help you find out more creative ideas.

  • Your background may form a perfect inspiration as you perfectly understand it.
  • The culture and heritage of a particular group of people don’t necessarily have to be ethnic.
  • Deserted areas tend to be good inspirations as the human mind is naturally curious and would want to know what goes on there.
  • Former old film .
  • A day in one’s life.

What are the current trends in filmmaking and research? The answers to this question tend to solve a good percentage of your problems in the film industry.

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Brainstorm and Organize Ideas

Now, brainstorm your ideas related to the research question. Think about the evidence you've gathered and how it supports your interpretation of the film. Organize these ideas into a logical structure that will guide your analysis.

Craft a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement should be concise, clear, and arguable. It should encapsulate the main argument of your analysis and give the reader a clear sense of what to expect in your essay. Here are some tips for crafting a solid thesis statement:

Make it specific:  Avoid vague or overly broad statements. Be precise in what you're arguing.

Make it debatable:  Your thesis should invite discussion and disagreement. Avoid stating the obvious.

Make it relevant:  Ensure that your thesis directly addresses the research question and the film's themes or elements.

Example Thesis Statement:

"In Christopher Nolan's 'Inception,' the use of dreams as a narrative device serves to blur the line between reality and perception, challenging conventional notions of truth and subjectivity."

Examples to Support the Thesis:

Dreams as a Narrative Device

Throughout 'Inception,' the characters enter various dream levels, each with its own set of rules and physics. Nolan uses this complex narrative structure to keep the audience engaged and constantly questioning what is real.

The manipulation of time within dreams adds another layer of complexity to the narrative. Time moves differently at each dream level, leading to intricate storytelling that challenges traditional linear storytelling.

Blurring Reality and Perception

The film consistently blurs the boundaries between dreams and reality, making it difficult for the characters and the audience to distinguish between them. This intentional ambiguity creates a sense of unease and intrigue.

The use of the spinning top as a totem to determine reality in the film's closing scene encapsulates the theme of perception versus reality. The spinning top symbolizes the characters' struggle to discern the truth.

Challenging Conventional Notions of Truth and Subjectivity

'Inception' invites viewers to question their understanding of reality and truth. The film challenges the idea of an objective reality by presenting multiple layers of dreams and subjective experiences.

The film's enigmatic ending, which leaves the spinning top's fate unresolved, forces viewers to confront their subjectivity and interpretation of the story's conclusion.

By examining these specific examples, it becomes evident how using dreams as a narrative device in 'Inception' blurs the line between reality and perception, ultimately challenging conventional notions of truth and subjectivity as proposed in the thesis statement. 

This exemplifies the importance of using concrete evidence from the film to validate your interpretation as outlined in your thesis statement.

Forming a thesis statement in film analysis is vital in creating a compelling and well-structured essay. 

By understanding the film's context, closely examining its elements, and crafting a clear and arguable thesis statement, you'll be well on your way to conducting a thorough and insightful analysis that will engage your readers and deepen your understanding of cinema. Happy analyzing!

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Film Studies Research Guide: Research Topics

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Film and Theatre Dissertation Topics

The film and theatre industry employs thousands of people and contributes millions to the national economy via tourism and associated marketing and promotions. The Arts, film and theatre, combined with media studies, is a popular area for study for many who wish to be more attuned with political and social events, enjoy looking at the history of the development of the arts and who wish to gain a better understanding of people.

Should you be considering a dissertation on the theme of theatre and film studies then it is important to connect to a topic that is contemporary, engaging and with enough scope for you to engage with the literature available.

The following sections will highlight some of the key issues and debates concurrent within the field of theatre and film studies, including issues related to COVID-19, and digital innovation.

Technological Innovation

Gender and race, connecting to the public, the politics of theatre and film.

Technological innovation has changed the face of film, it seems a different world watching Harold Lloyd cling onto the clock in “Safety Last” (1923). From the pioneering Lumière brothers and their innovation of the illusion of movement, to modern CGI and 3D, the film industry is in a state of constant adaptation, trying to keep ahead and looking to retain cinema audiences. In theatre, Knifedge have controversially introduced computer generated sword fighting to the stage in the show ‘Pippin,’ taking theatre into the avatar computer generated world of the gaming industry. Is this a positive step for theatre?

  • Does the digital nature of Video on Demand make it accessible in a way that cinema can never be? Discuss with reference to Martin Scorsese releasing The Irishman via Netflix.
  • As the rise of VR has changed the face of the gaming industry, to what extent can it be seen to potentially impact film and live theatre/music in 2021?
  • Is computer generated action for the theatre, as seen in ‘Pippin’ a step too far for the stage?
  • 3D on stage, and the wearing of 3D glasses for theatre, has had an uncertain status. Analyse the potential, or otherwise for 3D in theatre and live performance.
  • Does the film audience expect to always have more impressive technology, or is this too often seen as a cover up for a lack of script?

2020, as well as being the year of the pandemic, has been the year of Black Lives Matter and of gender (and race) neutral casting. This is a controversial area, and recent casting decisions such as black actress Jodie Turner Smith playing Anne Boleyn for Channel 5 has opened up a race debate in the media. Does this actually matter, or is it an issue worthy of academic debate? Entering these zones are interesting for debate, and there has been much media attention to both of these areas in the Arts.

  • Is gender and race neutral casting in theatre an issue that is worthy of debate?
  • Is theatre leading or following trends in the current directions of social movements, how does theatre reflect these trends?
  • In 2019 the RSC cast a female actress as King John. Is this following a theatrical tradition of cross gender casting dating back to the all-male Elizabethan theatre, or is it (as one critic said) an “eccentric measure” that adds nothing to the production?
  • Quentin Letts, theatre critic of the Daily Mail, has been critical of the “RSC’s clunking approach to politically correct casting (which) weakened its stage product.” Is this assessment based on valid concerns over recent casting decisions, or a concerning lack of appreciation for modern diversity?
  • To what extent does modern theatre continue to confront gender and racial stereotypes?
  • Applying Mulvey’s (1975) theories of the male gaze, are popular films still made in ways that satisfy masculine scopophilia?
  • Discuss whether there is a direct female equivalent of the male gaze in cinema today.

Theatre sometimes struggles with an elitist brush applied to it, with Panto and West End Musicals seen as more for the masses. Getting the public into theatre became impossible as they were closed during the pandemic and the future is uncertain. Likewise, the closure of cinemas has seen the likes of Amazon and Netflix fill the void with their own productions; further down the chain, fan-made films on outlets such as YouTube have shown new avenues for film, outside of the main cinema and producers. Does this herald a new world of film making and direction? Lastly, both theatre and cinema need to reconnect to its audience again when Covid is over, how difficult will this be? An audience that may have changed its habits, and with an economy in trouble, will people still be prepared to pay for live theatre?

  • To what extent do fan-made films such as ‘Dark Jedi’ (a fan created Star Wars Film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn1o9lPTSbY ) create a new type of film making made possible through platforms such as YouTube?
  • If cinemas need to engage with the public and turn them away from made for TV drama, has this been derailed by the 2020 Covid Pandemic?
  • An analysis of street theatre and its contribution to theatre for the people.
  • Discuss the adaptation of theatre performance in a mediatized age.
  • Are the performing arts still for the people, or have they become expensive luxuries for the educated middle classes?
  • Has Covid-19 created a new form of film media increasingly produced independently away from the big studios?

Covid-19 has seen the government close theatres and cinemas, the arts have suffered perhaps more than any other sector, and those employed in the sector were told to consider retraining. However, this has meant new innovation from the industry, musicians taking their performances online, and some private performances available as pay per view. Given that some of the leading theatre companies in the UK are partly state funded, and that the theatre and film industries bring in considerable funds to the national coffer via tourism, the role of the arts in representing the national mood is often studied, from propaganda films in the 1940’s onward.

  • How can presenting traditional theatre such as Shakespeare reflect modern political concerns?
  • Does modern film retain the ability to shock, or has become blunted by commercialism and the need for sequels?
  • An analysis over whether star actors now control the modern film industry, to its detriment. With reference to Tom Cruise and The Mummy (2017)
  • Is society still reflected in the modern film, or is the industry more about escapism?
  • An analysis over the impact film has over youth culture today.

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Film Analysis: Example, Topics, & Essay Writing Guide [2024]

Film Analysis: Example, Topics, & Essay Writing Guide [2024]

It’s hardly possible to find one who is not keen on watching films. It is one of the most common ways of spending free time. When it comes to writing a film analysis essay, you would probably be confused.

Don’t worry! We gathered everything you need to make it without a hitch. What’s more, you will find free essay samples as a bonus.

📽️ What Is a Film Analysis?

✍️ film analysis terms, 📜 film analysis types.

  • 📼 Film Genres: List

✨ How to Write a Film Analysis

  • ✍️ Film Analysis Essay Topics
  • 🗒 Film Analysis Template and Example

🔗 References

F ilm analysis expresses the afterview synoptic. The result is a transparent and informative thesis and its arguments .

Don’t forget you should maintain an appropriate academic style. This article explains how to manage it well, using the proper terminology, structure, techniques, etc.

As an introduction to film analysis, explore a list of general film analysis terms. They come as an inseparable part of your film analysis essay.

Find them below.

Auteur definition.

Auteur: Definition

The auteur is the French equivalent of the English word author. The auteur’s definition is straightforward. As a rule, the film’s director is the author. Why so? Director is a core role that manages all processes: from organizing a filmmaking crew and cast to every aspect of the film.

Diegesis in films is all about the fictional world elements. Everything the director creates and transfers on the screen is diegesis. Time framework, setting, range of events, etc., are examples of those elements.

Flashback and Flashforward

Flashback and flashforward imply relating to a chronological flow of a narrative. Flashback is a scene that takes it back in time from the present point of the film.

A flashforward differs from the flashback only by the time-shifting direction: it takes the audience to the plot pieces later in the film.

Mise-en-scène

The term looks confusing, but it is easy as pie. A pre-defined set of a film’s scene is a mise-en-scène . Everything in the camera’s focus: exposure, actors, and other elements form a mise-en-scène.

The Plot of a Story

The plot of a story is a sequence of events and their interactions that make up a story shown in a film.

Scene vs. Sequence

To put it simply, the scene and the sequence differ by the number of shots. The scene is short and consists of a few shots. The sequence is a more significant film part as it implies several scenes. As you may have guessed, the entire movie consists of several sequences.

The variety of possible film genres and their complexity assume more than one way to analyze them. There are several film analysis types, depending on the reviewing angle.

Narrative Analysis

This approach is similar to literary analysis. It means examining the film plot, narrative structure, motives, and characters. The research is built on answering the three simple questions: who, what, and where?

Mise-en-scène definion.

Semiotic Analysis

Everything about understanding the hidden meaning of the symbols is a semiotic analysis of the film. Those symbols usually appear more than once in a movie. Also, particular directors tend to repeat specific symbols. This type of analysis requires very close attention to detail.

Mise-en-scène Analysis

We have already found what mise-en-scène is: a setting with the lighting, soundtrack, background, etc. When we focus on those audio and visual elements and their meaning, we talk about the mise-en-scène analysis. Audiovisual elements may seem insignificant at first glance, but they carry tremendous importance and power to support the plot.

📼 Film Genres List

Having grasped the basic film analysis terms and types, we move on to the starting point of film analysis. We talk about defining a film genre.

You do not have to be a cinema theorist or a crazy film fan to identify one from another. Anyways, let’s list the common film genres and describe them briefly. Please, check the table below:

There is also a deeper categorization. Each genre in the list has several, sometimes overlapping sub-genres.

We are closer to the central part: we’ve approached the writing guide.

Are you still struggling with how to write a film analysis essay? The solid solution is, to begin with conducting a step-by-step plan. Move on, and we will tell you how to do it!

Like every other paper, hence literary analysis, writing film analysis involves several ultimate steps. There is nothing groundbreaking here. All the steps are familiar. They are:

  • Thesis statement
  • Introduction

Let’s touch upon each step and note what is worth considering (after watching the movie itself).

Film Analysis Outline

The first and foremost step is writing a film analysis essay outline. You need to make a short draft with the core measures to analyze the film. Mind the instructions in case you have them. Organize the ideas in a list and proceed to the next step.

Film Analysis Thesis Statement

Pay special attention to writing a film analysis thesis statement. You first need to squeeze out the central narrative threads and ideas. The thesis statement should focus on what you will prove in your essay by transforming those ideas into new meanings.

Concentrate on the combination of film expectations, the auteur’s point of view, and your own critical opinion. In the end, formulate a concise thesis statement and move on to the introduction preparation.

Film Analysis Introduction

Your film analysis introduction should be informative and catchy. Give the general information about the film. It may contain the movie title, director, release year, and cast. 

After building an introduction background:

  • Dive deeper.
  • Explore the director’s filmography or build possible links between the film and the current trends or social agenda.
  • Include as many valuable insights as you can to spark a thought in the reader’s mind. 

Remember that the introduction should validate and complement your thesis statement. 

Having the outline and the formulated thesis statement, you should, in a way, break down a film into its creative elements and analyze each of them. At once individually, and then as a whole picture.

What are those creative elements?

  • Directing. Since we have mentioned the role of the director time and again, let’s start with it. Trace their distinctive directing manner to find new patterns and compare them to previous works.
  • Scenario. In most films, often except for art-house cinema, the script plays one of the critical roles in its power. A well-written scenario helps develop the narrative and each character. It reduces the risk of silly inconsistencies or mistakes. After watching, try to access the level of scripting consistency and clarity.
  • Acting. Even though we’ve just defined the role of the scenario, acting sometimes plays louder than words. Try to answer the question: how accurately does the actors’ performance reveals and conveys the author’s main idea and your thesis statement.
  • Music and visual effects. Setting the overall mood is what is impossible without soundtracks and visual effects. Provide an example of how each part, special effects, sounds, make-up, or costumes, help, or vice-a-versa, interfere in expressing the author’s message.

While analyzing, don’t forget to build logic between each element. Make a smooth and solid review.

We’ve approached the icing on the cake — your film analysis conclusion. Once again, make sure your analysis confirms the thesis statement and show it in your resolution.

Remember that movies are complex pieces of art. Don’t be too shallow in your essay. Try to see a bigger picture and put it in words.

Now that we’ve outlined the plan let’s figure out how it works on a real example.

✍️ 20 Film Analysis Essay Topics

  • Sociological concepts in “The Truman Show” film
  • The process of shame to violence in Bergman film: “Shame”
  • “The King’s Speech” movie and anxiety disorder
  • Gender biases in “If These Walls Could Talk 2” film
  • “The Neighbor’s Window”: film review
  • Ethical, political and social issues in business in “The Corporation” movie
  • Mental health illness in the film “When a Man Loves a Woman”
  • The Devil Wears Prada film’s critical analysis
  • Negotiation situation in “The Godfather” movie
  • “Watchmen” film in relation to the American dream
  • Moral and theme in “The Pursuit of Happiness” movie
  • “The State of Play: Trophy Kids”: main idea and summary of the film
  • Narrative campaign of “The Hunger Games” film
  • Review of “Mon Oncle” movie: a portrayal of France
  • Gender and family in “Gone With the Wind” film
  • Sociology of “Avatar” movie by James Cameron
  • Historical themes in the movie “Gladiator”
  • Review of “Kung Fu Panda” movie: educational psychology
  • Settings in Bollywood cinema: “Bobby” movie
  • Visual effects in the “1917” movie

🗒️ Film Analysis Template and Example

We prepared a short-outlined essay sample. Explore the table to understand what your analysis may look like. Here is the “Solaris” film analysis essay example.

You may take this or other essay samples from StudyCorgi as a template for your future writing. It will save your time and make the process transparent. Don’t hesitate to use them!

You’ve just found out the primary terms, tips, and a film analysis guide.

Now, as we have shed light on the film analysis techniques and showcased the real examples, the task seems not as tricky as at first sight. Save this article or share it with a friend to avoid losing!

What Is the Purpose of Film Analysis?

Film analysis aims to extract value from watching a movie, except for leisure. Films do not just tell a story. They bring a message, provoke feelings, and teach precious lessons. Directors sometimes encode priceless meanings applicable to many generations.

How to Analyze a Movie Effectively?

To analyze a movie effectively, you should acquire the appropriate terminology. Then, understand the existing types of film analysis and their difference. After that, outline your future film analysis paper and look through the extant examples.

What Is Formal Analysis in Film?

The formal analysis comprises the investigation of professional elements of film production like camera motion, lighting, color editing, special effects, and other inner working processes. The average viewer does not pay much attention to them, but we should not diminish their importance.

What Are the 4 Elements of Film Analysis?

One of the many interpretations of this question is the following: the first component is a film plot, the second one is the existing arguments about the film, the third one is a film background, and the fourth is their evaluation.

  • Film Analysis — The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Film Term Glossary — Brooklyn College
  • Film Analysis and Methods — Penn Arts & Science Cinema & Media Studies
  • Movie Genres – 120+ Examples of Different Movie Genres – NFI
  • A Guide to Writing a Film Studies Paper: Carleton University
  • How to Write an Analytical Essay — MDC
  • Film Analysis Research Papers – Academia.edu
  • Shot, Scene, and Sequence — Columbia Film Language Glossary
  • Diegesis — Oxford Reference
  • Film Analysis Essay Sample — Purdue Online Writing Lab
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A List of Good Film-Dissertation Ideas to Explore

The film is a powerful communication tool. It has a huge impact on both the social and cultural aspects of many people in our generation. The various dissertation topics and research conducted by students in college have helped people to properly understand the process of filmmaking.

Since you are going to spend a lot of effort for several months researching a chosen topic, select an appealing subject to avoid boredom. Here are interesting film dissertation ideas to explore:

If you are looking for a filmmaking dissertation idea

Little is known about the history of films; available records date back to the 1900s. The brilliant mind of creative filmmakers is evident, since the software was not open for editing. To mirror the society, they had to work on raw and relevant data related to the community.

There are several topics that students can focus on when conducting research. Depending on the education field you studied in college, consider the evolution of films as a possible subject. It is a very broad topic. The information is still scanty, hence the need for more comprehensive studies and maybe some help from dissertation writing services will help. EduBirdie offers professional writing assistance to college students to enhance their education process and makes even the toughest topic look easy.

good film dissertation ideas

The role the digital media has played in the film industry

There are several modes of communication that have played significant roles in the development of the film industry. In this digital era, digital media has had various impacts on filmmaking.

The various impacts of social media provide a good dissertation-writing topic. Choose a niche that interests you, and with a little seriousness, being one of the best in your college is possible. For instance, social media is vital in advertising films . On the contrary, it has also led to the theft of contents, therefore compromising copyrights.

Impact of true crime and crime fiction

Movies on criminology are among the most-viewed films, topping the charts for several years in a row. Crime-thriller movies are interesting; age is not a factor, since both young and old movie enthusiasts enjoy them.

The impact of films about crime is a very broad dissertation topic. Students are at liberty to choose the topic of choice. It has both positive and negative effects; therefore, finding the most suitable topic is a simple task, depending on your educational background.

Film figures

Are you critical with details? If yes, choosing a topic on an individual film producer or actor is the best choice for you. There are several great actors and filmmakers whose impact on the film industry is priceless. The selfless acts of such people are not properly documented.

Therefore, students can bring their names back to life by conducting a serious study on them. Dissertation-writing is simpler with such topics, since information is easily available. From the journals in your college library to print-media records, such a study is simple.

Unlike other topics that are difficult to present, a presentation on film figures is simple. Who doesn't know Charlie Chaplain? Preparing a defense on this is simple. To schedule a great dissertation offers the best ways to launch a proper defense.

good film dissertation ideas

Changing trends

The film industry is one of the most dynamic sectors worldwide. Just like in politics, a day is a very long time in this sector. In the past, film was not a money-making venture. It was more of entertainment for the masses. However, from the 1950s, moviemakers gradually changed it to a money-minting sector. This trend has continued, to date.

Moreover, current creative directors have changed the business to commercial cinema. Today, creating a good film costs millions of dollars. Why and what led to this ? Research is the answer.

You can take this as a topic, since it is very broad. Many students choose more direct topics, and as a result, such a case provides you with a chance to be unique at your college.

Choosing a film-related topic is fun, mostly for the lovers of film. It offers you a good opportunity to enjoy your education life in college and to learn more about what you love. However, many students face serious challenges during dissertation-writing. It is fundamental to choose a good topic that you can relate well to. Considering a broad topic that hardly limits your research is also important. Please seek help if you face any challenges.

Author's Bio

Michael Turner is a recent graduate in finance and currently works for a global bank as a junior financial advisor. His other passion is to write academic papers, and he loves to contribute to the learning of students by helping them with thesis and dissertation work. In his free time, he loves to prepare Italian food, watch news channels, and relax by taking a dip in the pool.

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8 movies to watch while you’re writing your dissertation.

As a doctoral candidate or thesis writer , we have all been given advice on how to write our manuscripts, on how to research, on how to relax. We’re often given dissertation editing advice from advisors, readers, friends, family. We regularly scour the Internet looking at link upon link, possibly searching for a dissertation editor or reading prescribed advice from all types of experts in all kinds of fields. And as we weed through the expert advice, we continue to write and research and research and write, trying to find our groove to keep the flow of words moving from our brains to our fingertips.

Yet very rarely do the dissertation editors and experts give advice on mental thought processes through the utilization of entertainment. Oh sure, some experts will tell aspiring writers to watch such movies as Barton Fink, Misery, The Shining, Dead Poets Society, Stand By Me, or Henry Fool before sitting down to a blank page on their computer screen. However, we’ve found it’s often the case that inspiration comes not from movies about writers, but movies that offer ideas of inspiration from the norms found within the world. Such films may be considered provisional to getting the creative juices flowing but, in all honesty, certain movies can prove helpful for you when trying to get through the process of dissertation writing .

good film dissertation ideas

So, no list of which movies are the best to watch before you write. That kind of list is nefarious, honestly, because it can create insecurities in one’s own writing style and can even create blank space or writer’s block since you will be thinking about how to write as well as Stephen King—which doesn’t even work for a dissertation!

Instead, today we’ll discuss some of the best movies to watch while writing your dissertation in terms of encouraging the creativity of one’s own thought processes and writing style.

Here’s our list:

  • Midnight in Paris (2011)
  • Adaptation (2002)
  • Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
  • Inside Out (2015)
  • Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
  • The Princess Bride (1987)
  • The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
  • Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

Sitting down with your laptop and turning on the television, your desktop or laptop computer, or your tablet, flipping over to Netflix or Hulu or whatever movie channel you watch, and intertwining your writing thinking with the antics or drama of these films can push your creative fluids to flow freely.

You might be thinking, what kind of advice is this?! Who would recommend watching movies while writing my dissertation? Well, hang on, and we’ll run down the reasons alongside these feature films that we believe are sure to enhance your thinking, formulating, and writing of your dissertation or thesis.

Midnight in the Paris

good film dissertation ideas

The fact that this movie stars Owen Wilson should not put you off, if you think watching a movie should be serious and related to academic writing.

Wilson is ingenious in his depiction of Gil and gives probably the best advice a writer having squashed thoughts or a block,

“Pretend you are sitting with a famed author and discussing your dissertation.”

For example, you might pretend you’re talking to Alice Goffman, who wrote an ethnographic study on the lived experiences of crack dealers while she was living with one. In your comfy chair, you might pretend that you and Goffman are discussing the legitimacies of her field study while you dish on all the crazy parties she went to and about the time she watched a layperson surgically remove a bullet from another crack dealer on her kitchen table.

This gets the juices flowing for the writers of this blog post—but we digress.

The point is that talking to your “pretend” friend-slash-author may provide you with inspiration. Crazily, Midnight in Paris provides a sound array of inspiration for many writers, and it really does convey quite a bit of good sound advice for when you have problems moving your writing along, and after all, we are all looking for that dissertation assistance .

This movie probably does not come to any surprise that it is on a list of suggested movies to watch while writing your dissertation. Everyone says Adaptation provides an embodiment of the enigmatic American literary icon, but what we believe has merit in this film is the fact that it portrays a writer who fights his personal demons, who faces ethical struggles, and had to adapt and change his original ideas to something someone else thought would be better. Many of us have dealt with this very type of change at the beginning of our dissertation.

It is certainly not unusual for a doctoral candidate to visit with the person they selected as their chair and walk out of an initial meeting feeling bamboozled and overwhelmed with all the necessary changes recommended. Often the earliest drafts require editing services to help get the required approval of a proposal but then are advised substantial changes. Charlie/Donald Kaufman offers audiences insight to slogging through any manuscript and gives viewers inspiration that shows the insanity of a writing process.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

good film dissertation ideas

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is one of those silly teen angst films that most adults find superfluous. After all, with a generation of teens and young adults taking movie date night seriously, Hollywood has focused many films on capturing the attention of this population. However, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a movie that has an emphasis on something that all doctoral candidates should remember while writing their dissertation…there is more than one way to tell a story. So, while you are sitting there depressed because your committee ripped apart your discussion of the results chapter, remember that there is often more than one way to explain things. And while you certainly must adhere to their advice (such as it is) on changing your entire chapter 5, don’t get down on yourself. Get some popcorn, your laptop, and watch Scott Pilgrim vs. The World . It may help pick you up out of a slump, it may give you some inspiration, or it simply may be a way to remind you, that indeed, there are many ways to tell a story (or explain your results).

good film dissertation ideas

Okay, so who really admits to watching a kid’s movie? Or who would really believe an animated film holds more than a simple “golden rule” type message?

Yet the Pixar animated film Inside Out explores the inner self, discussing the psyche and the in-depth nature of emotional countenance.

When you’re in a creative slump, it’s reasonable to wish that you could be a kid again, and get back that big imagination you once had. Inside Out will definitely help nudge you in that direction, and it might make you shed a few creative tears too (Marsh & Zakrzewski, 2015).

Okay, so maybe you don’t have problems with your emotional well-being, but we all know that writing a dissertation is an emotional rollercoaster. It’s loving what you have written to want to delete the entire file. From working diligently for days, nights, and weekends, thinking you have created a masterpiece, to reading the crappy comments from your chair. Writing your dissertation can literally give you a lot of emotional meltdowns through the entire process!

Watching Inside Out can offer you a type of therapy that can help you embrace those strong emotions you may feel towards your dissertation and writing skills. This film makes you realize being happy comes hand in hand with sadness or what is termed as emodiversity. This term is the necessary emotional array that combines both the positive and negative aspects of your emotions to provide a balance of your mental health. And we all know that mental health is a tentative thing while writing your dissertation!

Sit back and work on your dissertation enjoying the antics of Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust as they explore their human’s (a young pre-teen named Riley) emotions as she is forced to deal with absolute craziness and adversity in her young life…like you dealing with the ups and downs of dissertation creation.

If you need dissertation help, one film to watch while writing your dissertation is Moonrise Kingdom. Everyone is aware that dissertation writing often makes you wish for a dissertation help service . There is no doubt that this gargantuan task in writing and working on a research study can be a little crazy-making!

good film dissertation ideas

The film is an exploration of imagination and learning for 12-year olds Suzy and Sam. The film is set in 1965 and Suzy, and Sam runs away and fights to maintain their friendship which does evolve into romantic feelings. Beyond this, what we witness through the film is a desire to follow the dreams we first believe it, to have the tenacity to make such dreams come true. This is true with your dissertation. You had a dream of what you wanted your topic to be, and you developed through this dream how to arrive at this moment when you sat down and started to write.

Moonrise Kingdom reminds us that even though we are adults we still have “the childhood capacity to dream” and have the ability deep within ourselves to create the words to express our story. Perhaps statistical analysis of the data collected for your dissertation does not sound like a creative endeavor. However, watching Moonrise Kingdom can help to open up the imagination within you, to initiate the flow of words that you need for your chapters or even just prompt new ideas that help round out your dissertation.

The Princess Bride

good film dissertation ideas

“My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.”

“As you wish …”

“Inconceivable. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means”

“Who says life is fair, where is that written?”

“You seem a decent fellow, I hate to kill you. You seem a decent fellow, I hate to die.”

“No more rhymes now, I mean it! Anybody want a peanut?”

“When I was your age, television was called books”

These lines from the film The Princess Bride are familiar all over the world. The Princess Bride is one of the perfect fantasy films, but what many do not realize, is that The Princess Bride is a great movie to watch while you are working on your dissertation. Whether you are writing on quantitative analysis or qualitative research , The Princess Bride will remind you that you can put a twist on an old formula. Sometimes you don’t have to create something totally new for it to be original.

The thing about The Princess Bride that offers help with dissertation writing is the story is one of fairytale norm but has a different way that allows the characters to reach their happily ever after. The same can be noticed when you are writing your dissertation. You may need the help of a statistical consultant to help sort through the data found from your qualitative research and analysis. In the end, however, when you reach out to a statistician for help, you can consider this just taking a trip through the Fire Swamp and need to avoid the rodents of unusual size (ROUS) as Wesley and Buttercup once did. Watching The Princess Bride can give you a sense of clarity on this journey and help you understand that in the end, the road you travel to reach your conclusion (that happily ever after for graduate school) does not matter, only that you reach it

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Think about how our imagination is put to work when we write a dissertation or thesis. We don’t often consider dissertation and thesis writing as something we use our imagination, but we really need to step back and consider how our imagination works. We have an idea; our imagination formulates this idea and begins to build and create the intrinsic path from the idea to an outcome we hope for or even expect. Our imaginations walk us down this path, even when you are screaming help me write a thesis.

good film dissertation ideas

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is an ingenious film that prompts an awe-inspiring tale of real-life Jean-Dominic Bauby. Bauby was an editor of French Elle magazine who through a tragic accident was paralyzed throughout his entire body. The only movement he can do is through his eyes. Bauby’s therapist, Celine, tirelessly works with Bauby to create a language using the movements of his eyes. The creativity of Bauby’s developed language through moving and blinking his eyes alone is inspirational.

The point of this movie for you may be just to feel good about how this man overcomes such tragedy in his life, but look deeper. Bauby facing severe adversity and rising above it, waking his mind, waking his body was beyond what most would expect. Even though writing your dissertation is not a tragedy (although it can feel that way), waking up your mind comes from seeing your idea clearly and recognizing that you can accomplish this daunting task.

Monsters vs. Aliens

good film dissertation ideas

You read the title right.

Monsters vs. Aliens is the story of Susan Murphy who is about to marry egomaniac Derek Dietl but is hit by a meteorite before the ceremony. The meteorite contains an alien substance called quantonium which makes Susan grow to an enormous, gigantic size whitening her hair. Captured by the army, Susan, renamed Ginormica, meets other monsters hidden by the government. Housed with Susan/Ginormica is B.O.B. (benzoate ostlyezene bicarbonate), a mutated being who was created as a food flavoring blue goo with no brain, Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. who is a half cockroach, half human and is quite mad, Insectosaurus, who is a 350 ft tall mutated bug of unknown origin, and Link (aka the Missing Link) who was found frozen and deemed a fish-ape hybrid over 20,000 years old.

When an alien invader arrives, the government relies on the monsters to save the day.

Sounds like a typical feel-good movie, right?

Nope. What we found from watching Monsters vs. Aliens was a real sense of inspiration, which came from understanding that the enormity of any situation, for example like writing a thesis or dissertation, could be tempered by the perspective of the situation and thereby could entice an open flow of verbiage from the brain to paper.

Still confused?

When we watched Monsters vs. Aliens , we recognized how super huge Susan became and how she overcame it based her finally realizing what she wanted. She was happy being a big monster that could help save the world.

If you apply this thinking to being stuck and needing thesis help , it might help you to ignore the enormity of the project and work on one section at a time. Each small section builds far more easily onto the next once you stop focusing on the monumental task of writing an entire manuscript.

good film dissertation ideas

While these movies may not be the norm for what you watch or for what you believe can give you inspiration, it may be worth your time to check it out. Understandably, we all need some type of dissertation consulting when undergoing such a mammoth task as writing a dissertation or thesis.

So, inspiration, creativity, even essential language is considered a necessity when working on your dissertation or thesis. These suggested movies can possibly assist in opening the key to your creative flow. But if you have trouble and need dissertation help , thesis help , editing services , or APA editing , Precision Consulting has your back. We offer services such as a personal dissertation consultant to help get you through those tough times when you need the encouragement and focus of a supportive teammate. We also provide statistical consulting services and are one of the leading data analytics companies , with the very best statistics consultants and qualitative research experts available to assist.

From statistical consulting to qualitative research and analysis, to dissertation editing services and one-on-one work with a dissertation coach for your defense, Precision Consulting has you covered. Give us a call or send an email to make an appointment with one of our dissertation consultants . We have the ability, the know-how, and the desire to help you with your dissertation or thesis writing.

And enjoy the movies! Here’s that list again:

The Best Kids' Movies Coming Out in 2024

Whether you're heading to the theater or staying home ands streaming, these movies will be a hit with families.

garfield, inside out 2 and orion and the dark are three good housekeeping picks for best kids movies 2024

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When we look at what's been slated so far, these are the best kids' movies coming out in 2024, listed in order of their release. As usual, we have a bunch of sequels — and even a couple of part-fours! — that return to check in with some favorite characters. There are a few exciting book adaptions, set to transform the works of classic kids' book authors like Crockett Johnson or Barbara Robinson. Most of these are coming to theaters for a fun, big-screen outing, but a few are slated to go straight to streaming services (and those are the ones that are usually announced at the last minute, so there's sure to be more in the future). Check the list, put your favorites in the calendar, and then get ready for some fun movie outings.

two souls talk in the great before in a scene from soul

Release Date: January 12, 2024

Wait a minute, didn't this one come out already? Sure it did, and you can watch it on Disney+, but Disney is re-releasing into theaters three Pixar movies that went straight-to-streaming during the worst of the pandemic. If you dig the visuals of the Great Before, you can see them on the big screen.

Orion and the Dark

orion sits on a couch with a metal colander on his head and reaches for something in a scene from orion and the dark

Release Date: February 2, 2024

Orion has a great many fears — but he's especially afraid of the dark. So you can imagine his surprise when an embodiment of the dark shows up to take him on an adventure to show him there's nothing to be afraid of. The Netflix movie is based on a book by Emma Yarlett , but the script was written by someone who knows a thing or two about writing movies about anxieties: Being John Malkovich and Adaptation writer Charlie Kaufman.

WATCH ON NETFLIX

The Tiger's Apprentice

a kid holds a glowing skateboard and stands on lunar zodiac symbols in a promotional image for the tiger's apprentice

A Chinese-American teenager named Tom unexpectedly learns that he's part of a force called The Guardians — and he must train to take on an evil entity that's bent on destroying humanity. (No pressure, right?) This Paramount+ animated original features performances by Henry Golding, Brandon Soo Hoo, Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh and Michelle Yeoh.

Peppa's Cinema Party

peppa pig and an adult hold balloons and look at a group of kids who are also holding balloons in a scene from peppa's cinema party

Release Date: February 9, 2024

Everyone's favorite pig from across the pond is headed for the big screen! The Peppa Pig cinema experience includes some never-before-seen episodes, five new songs and interactive moments that encourage kids to get up and dance or sing.

WATCH TRAILER

Turning Red

a giant red panda surprises a middle school student in the school bathroom in a scene from turning red

You haven't seen a giant red panda until you've seen it on the big screen. For its second Pixar re-release, Disney has chosen Turning Red , about a 13-year-old who turns into a furry creature whenever she feels extreme emotions. Now, how often does that happen to a new teenager?

WATCH ON PRIME VIDEO WATCH ON DISNEY+

Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin

franklin and charlie brown race other kids in a homemade race car in a scene from welcome home franklin

Release Date: February 12, 2024

Not a full feature, but Peanuts fans will delight in a brand-new special on Apple TV+. This one focuses on Franklin, who, as part of a military family, moves around a lot. When he finds letters from his grandfather, he gets advice about making friends.

WATCH ON APPLE TV+

Kung Fu Panda 4

po holds a cylindrical object in is hand with wonder in a scene from kung fu panda

Release Date: March 8, 2024

Jack Black (aka the voice of Bowser in 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie ) returns for another go-round as Po, the unlikely "Dragon Warrior." When he faces a villain that can absorb powers of enemies past, Po will be challenged like never before.

WATCH ON PRIME VIDEO WATCH ON APPLE TV

two italian kids talk in a town square in a scene from luca

Release Date: March 22, 2024

Before there was "We Don't Talk About Bruno," there was Luca 's "Silencio, Bruno!" The third Pixar re-release of the year follows a couple of normal-seeming boys in Italy who just want to get a Vespa of their own. But one of them is hiding a big secret.

The Casagrandes Movie

a promotional image for the casagrandes movie featuring two kids

This is a feature length movie based on Nickelodeon's The Casagrandes , a spin-off of The Loud House . This time, 12-year-old Ronnie Anne causes mayhem on a family vacation to Mexico when she accidentally frees a demigod.

a dog rides a snowboard in a scene from powder pup

Release Date: March 26, 2024

A teenager has a rough time moving from sunny southern California to snowy Montana — until he adopts a dog that can snowboard. This one is going direct to streaming.

Chicken for Linda!

a stylized, animated mom and daughter talk in a scene from chicken for linda, a good housekeeping pick for best movies for kids 2024

Release Date: April 5, 2024

In French with subtitles and with a heavy emotional core, Chicken for Linda might not be for every family, but Variety said it, "gets mother-daughter bonds better than most live-action movies." In it, a daughter, grieving the death of her father, tells her mom she wants to eat his famous chicken dish. The mom promises to make it for her, but circumstances make it harder than it should be (they can't buy chicken during a strike, for example), which sends them off on a wild adventure.

Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp

woody woodpecker shrugs in a scene from woody woodpecker goes to camp

Release Date: April 12, 2024

This Netflix movie follows Woody Woodpecker as he gets kicked out of the forest and finds a new home in Camp Woo Woo. So when an inspector threatens to shut down the camp, Woody vows to save it.

The Barkers: Mind the Cats

the barker family in a car in a a scene from the barkers mind the cats

Release Date: April 30, 2024

Kid Barker feels lonely and left out when his two older siblings are too busy to play with him. When two mischievous cats steal the family's jet pack, though, they'll need Kid's help to get it back. The movie is based on the characters from the 2011 The Barkers TV series, and will go straight to streaming

Star Wars Ep. I: The Phantom Menace

queen amidala poses in full regalia in a sene from star wars episode i the phantom menace, a good housekeeping pick for best movies for kids 2024

Release Date: May 3, 2024

In honor of the film's 25th anniversary, The Phantom Menace will see a theatrical re-release just in time for May the Fourth . Kids who were too little or not born in time to see Jar Jar on the big screen will finally have their shot.

a big, purple imaginary friend smiles at a little girl

Release Date: May 17, 2024

When they realize a tween named Bea has the power to see imaginary friends that have been forgotten by their children, Calvin (played by Ryan Reynolds), Blossom (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and Blue (Steve Carrell) team up with her to see if they can find IFs new children. The Office and A Quiet Place 's John Krasinski directs.

Thelma the Unicorn

thelma rears up on stage in front of a crowd in a scene from thelma the unicorn, a good housekeeping pick for best kids movies 2024

Thelma the Pony has always dreamed of stardom, and her wish is granted when she is transformed into Thelma the Unicorn — but is fame all it's cracked up to be? Alabama Shakes singer Brittany Howard provides the voice of Thelma in a Netflix film based on the book by Bad Guys author Aaron Blabey. It's also directed by a pair who knows a thing or two about lovable outsiders and/or outsize fabulousness: Jared Hess (director of Napoleon Dynamite ) and Lynn Wang (of Unikitty ).

The Garfield Movie

jon feeds a baby garfield some pizza in a scene from the garfield movie

Release Date: May 24, 2024

We know of Garfield as a lazy, pampered, lasagna-eating cat who mostly sits around the house. In this movie, things change when Garfield is reunited with his father, a scruffy outdoor cat, and goes on an adventure. Chris Pratt is the voice of Garfield, and Samuel L. Jackson plays the father.

Robot Dreams

a robot and dog spend the day at the beach in a scene from robot dreams, a good housekeeping pick for best kids movies of 2024

Release Date: May 31, 2024

This film, based on the comic by Sara Varon , is just coming off its Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. (It lost to The Boy and the Heron .) It's about an anthropomorphic dog who, suffering from loneliness, orders a robot to be his friend. The near wordlessness and pervasive melancholy gives the impression that it's not exactly aimed at kids, but the older ones might get into it.

Too Old for Fairy Tales 2

three kids in matchiing esports team jackets stand with their backs facing the camera in a scene from too old for fairy tales 2, a good housekeeping pick for best movies for kid 2024

Release Date: June 1, 2024

The sequel to Netflix's Too Old for Fairy Tales , this Polish film follows the travails of a 10-year-old esports player and the two other members on his team. This time, our hero journeys to find the father he's never met.

Inside Out 2

anxiety waves at the other emotions in a scene from inside out 2

Release Date: June 14, 2024

Pixar returns to the life of the mind with a sequel t0 2015's Inside Out . Only this time, some new emotions are joining the crew — including Anxiety, Ennui, Embarrassment and Envy — who threaten to upend the equilibrium. Amy Poehler returns as the voice of Joy.

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Natalie Portman, 42, can’t stop smiling with Paul Mescal, 28, in London after Benjamin Millepied divorce

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Is she in a “May December” romance of her own?

Natalie Portman appeared giddy while hanging out with Paul Mescal in north London on Tuesday.

The “Black Swan” star, 42, was seen laughing while engaged in a lively conversation with the “All of Us Strangers” actor, 28, outside cocktail bar 69 Colebrooke Row in Islington.

Natalie Portman and Paul Mescal

Mescal also seemed to be enjoying his time with Portman, as he was spotted at one point grinning from ear to ear while looking flushed with bright red cheeks.

The “No Strings Attached” star — who is newly divorced — was dressed casually for the outing in a white T-shirt and pair of comfortable jeans. She nonchalantly puffed on a cigarette during the cheerful chat.

The “Foe” star wore a similar outfit, sporting a white tee, a pair of black slacks and matching sneakers.

Natalie Portman hanging with Paul Mescal.

According to an eyewitness, the pair seemed to have “great chemistry” and “couldn’t stop laughing at each other’s jokes.”

Reps for Portman and Mescal did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.

However, a source tells us Friday that the famous duo are just friends.

Natalie Portman hanging with Paul Mescal.

The actors could take their relationship to the next level, though, as they are both seemingly on the market.

Portman quietly filed for divorce from her ex-husband, Benjamin Millepied, in July 2023 following rumblings that he had been unfaithful with a younger woman named Camille Étienne .

The former couple — who share son Aleph, 12, and daughter Amalia, 7 — finalized their split in February.

Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied.

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Want celebrity news as it breaks? Hooked on Housewives?

Although it was reported that the “Closer” star had a really tough time with the dissolution of her marriage in the beginning, Page Six exclusively learned by March that she was having a “phoenix rising” moment .

“[She] looks incredible and is feeling great,” a pal of Portman told us at the time.

Mescal, for his part, was most recently in a high-profile romance with Phoebe Bridgers .

Paul Mescal and Phoebe Bridgers.

However, the “Aftersun” star and the “Not Strong Enough” singer sparked split rumors in late 2022.

He was then seen going to grab coffee with Angelina Jolie , further fueling the breakup speculation.

By May 2023, Bridgers confirmed she had moved on when she was seen kissing Bo Burnham at a show on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

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Natalie Portman and Paul Mescal

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COMMENTS

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