What makes a film good?

I believe that the question of ‘what makes a film good’ can have many answers to it; the plot, the cultural impact, the score etc. However, to me, there is not one thing that makes a film good alone. The right combination of a good plot, paired with good acting, suitable music and direction can be what does this; these aspects being the macro elements to films.

The micro elements on the other hand, are incredibly important in making a film great, despite not being obvious at first glance. For example; the way a scene is set up – the mise en scene – can impact the way the viewer depicts a film. It can be a great tool in adding plot devices or even foreshadowing that the viewer may not pick up on the first time watching. Furthermore, editing can also help with doing this. While it may not be obvious at first glance, colour grading can impact the way you are supposed to feel about characters, as well as set the general mood for the film. Schindler’s list is a good example of this; it’s an all black and white film despite being filmed in 1993, the only colour ever shown being the girl walking in the streets.

I also think that having the right score for a film is incredibly important. Similar to colour grading, music helps to impact the way the viewer is supposed to feel about a character, along with also making certain scenes feel so much more important and interesting. Music is extremely impactful in films even when they aren’t musicals, for example; The Pirates of the Caribbean. Hans Zimmer, a very famous composer in the film industry, wrote the score for Pirates of the Caribbean. I feel that the music in that film is just so captivating and that half of the movie just wouldn’t feel half as impactful if there was no music all together. As well as this, the music in Pirates of the Caribbean is so iconic and instantly recognisable because it was very influential. Another example is Coraline. The iconic ‘French’ sounding song in Coraline is actually gibberish made to sound like French, which I think just adds to the unsettling nature of the film.

Overall, I think it’s very difficult to pick out one aspect of a film that makes it good, as there are many things to think about when it comes to films.