WHAT IS TEXTUAL ANALYSIS?

 Textual analysis of film is a way to better understand the film and its underlying meanings that the audience may be oblivious to at first. Textual analysis entails questioning the elements that make up the film like camera angles, lighting, mise en scene, acting etc. Exploring all these elements deeply and connecting them to the socio-cultural and historic background of the film will help in thorough understanding of its larger context.

A big part of textual analysis is the interpretation. Interpretation means how one perceives the content. Depending on personal experience and the mental capacity everyone may interpret things differently. Similarly everyone may take things from films a bit differently. This gives birth to the idea that there is no one meaning or one truth when it comes to media content. But in contrast, the director or the filmmakers do have one idea that they are trying to portray and some leads that they keep open for personal interpretation.

-Film analysis is so much more complex than literature analysis and it reveals so much more as well. In literature analysis there are characters and plot which obviously are present in films as well but films also make use of audiovisual features like camera techniques and background sounds. To a normal viewer it may not seem significant but even the small sounds or the way the camera moves have great impact on audience. When it all adds up, the mise en scene, lighting, camera work, it gives greater meaning to the audience and portrays the silent messages that words can not.

-One branch of analysis is semiotics analysis. Semiotic analysis is the analysis or study of signs and symbols. Sign and symbols are not always that complicated sometimes the costumes can also be signs and give hints about the character or the plot. For example is someone is wearing a crisp tuxedo it can be understood that they are attending an important event or that they are tidy and sophisticated. Similarly someone wearing baggy pants, roughed up shirt and mismatched shoes with a go bag can seem homeless or on the run.

In these two scenes we see how costumes act as signs and symbols embodying the example I gave before. Body language is also a great symbol of what is happening or how the characters feel.