Let us begin to ask various questions of film, such as:

1. Is there a larger theme or cultural worldview inherent in the film?
2. How is this theme(s) or worldview(s) expressed?
3. What types of “voices” are used in the film?  Is there a match between the speaker who you see and the voice associated/assigned to him/her?  Are voices manipulated – how and for what purpose?
4. What genre/type of film is this (e.g., ethnographic, educational, popular/feature, documentary)?
5. What cinematic strategies are used to reinforce particular themes or messages? (e.g., lighting, montages, creative “cuts”, etc.)
6. What images or symbols are employed in the film?  Are these symbols presented strategically?  If so, how?
7. Is there a narrator?  What is the narrator’s primary function in the film?
8. Are the voices of the narrator and the people filmed on equal par?  To what degree is intersubjective nature of film/filmmaking apparent in the final product?
9. Who are the major characters in the film? Are women visible in the film?
10. Whose perspective(s) guides the film?
11. Does the film rekindle any thoughts in regard to the politics of representation?
12. Might stereotypes be challenged or reinforced in the film?
13. Does the film represent some aspect of culture using a cultural relativistic framework?
14. Are power relations between filmmaker and those filmed apparent in the video?
15. How “real” is this film?  Does it seem more like a highly edited production (as are all texts) or less-produced/ethnographic?
16. Is the focus of the film properly contextualized?  How so? How might the film be better contextualized (historically, socio-culturally, politically, etc.)?