What makes a Great Film?

There are so many films that are truly master pieces, many that will remain in film history forever. Though many of these amazing films are unique in their own way, they all have a basic foundation in which allows their film to memorable.The main parts of this foundation include story line,character and cinematography. Without these a film might be considered bland and boring.

Story Line 

This is the most essential in a film, the story determines everything about the film and without a good story a film will be destined to be dull and even unwatchable. The story is the heart of the film, a film could have the best cinematography or editing, but if there is a lack of story the film is no longer engaging to an audience.In addition it is quite obvious that the stories that contain new and unseen ideas are the ones that are the most successful. Novels prove to be a major source when making films, since novels focus on purely story lines, its perfect to make films from these already well developed ideas and characteristics. The following were taken from novels. This idea did not come from Steven Spielberg, it was an novel originally written by  Michael Crichton. In addition The Shawshank Redemption was adapted by a  novel called Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Repdemption written by Stephen King. The Lord of the Rings was originally written by J.R.R Tolkien. 

      
                   


These stories must evoke some type of emotion into the audience.The key into having a film where the audience can lose themselves in the story is done through emotion and having the audience fully acknowledge the conflicts of the characters. Whether its a frighting feeling in Jurassic Park, an adventure in Lord of the Rings to understanding outrage and despair in the Shawshank Redemption all films pursue in awakening all sides of humanity.  

Characters
Portrayal of characters is one of the main aspects in a great film. Often times these characters are flawed yet still lovable. One of the most loved characters known in American film is Forrest Gump. From beginning to end audience find themselves falling in love with this character.Though introduced as a mentally challenged country boy, Forrest has a good heart and is portrayed as a selfless and courageous character.

Lovable characters come in all shapes in sizes, and are the significant in making films. Lovable characters on the comedy side of film can be portrayed in various ways. One of the most obvious comedic character, yet still original is Austin powers. His character focuses portraying parodies of  late 60s films.Austin Powers is goofy, but still charming to the audience, he is well developed character that is the center of films.


We even find flawed characters who's roles are meant to be hero's as inspiring characters. Flawed characters such as these must go through a series of conflicts to change their mindset and become what audiences think of as the "good guy".  In the end, most of the popular characters in films, will always be good at heart. Good example would be Handcock. A hero who learns how to use his advantages to help  those in need.

   Cinematography
Lastly Cinematography plays a large part in film.It aids the film in the portray of certain aspects, such as the characters, genre, and story. If the Cinematography is plain and uncreative, this is exactly how the film will be represented. Cinematography is the window to how the audience sees the story and the character, it is their direct connection to the film. Furthermore the Cinematography also must  be adequate in order to portray an adequate story/character. You can also have an outstanding story, but without decent cinematography to portray this story, then the film will also fall short and not be entertaining. One of the most outstanding films where cinematography absolutely benfits the film is The Matrix. Fight scenes and the time where the characters are in the program are quite marvelous.