What Makes a Good Film?

...An adaptation of a good book (series like frank Herbert's)... ? there is more of course

If ever there was a subjective question, then it would be this one. To analyse what exactly makes a good film arguably takes away from the magic of films themselves. Everyone will agree that films are one of the most loved things on Earth and one only must look at how much money the industry rakes in to see this in numbers. The allure of films was almost instantaneous following the birth of the industry. Even when they had no sound and no colour, audiences still loved to go and watch them because they said something about the human race and its capability to tell marvellous stories.

We all like a good story, and humans have a rich history of storytellers. One only must look at the Bible to see human’s potential to create wonderful stories that engage many people. It can be argued that we like stories because they are fictional, or at least we prefer fictional stories. This is because life is not always a euphoric experience, in fact, it is safe to say that life is suffering. We appreciate the good in our lives because we have the bad as a looming contrast to what will happen when we don’t have the good. In this way, movies act as a way of being distracted from the challenges faced in life. This is why they would have been used greatly during the last few years considering recent world events. This would have been alongside other activities like gambling, though the latest laws will dictate whether some players can try and win money or not.

It is clear to see then that the more immersive a film is, then the better is. However, immersion is such a broad term that several different factors can go into creating this sense of being in the film itself. For example, the story is a key contributing factor. A film can have excellent action pieces, music, and everything else, but if the story is shallow, not thought out, or downright boring, then audiences will not be immersed. A good example of a great story is Dune, a hotly anticipated film that was released this year. The story presented in this film is intensely engaging and keeps audiences attached to it throughout its lengthy runtime.

Another factor that will go into improving immersion is the strength and depth of its characters. It isn’t a stretch to say that characters are intimately attached to the story as the strength of one can often decide the strength of the other. Having characters that feel real and sometimes even relatable is something that cannot be underestimated. Creating characters that feel like they could actually be people is one of the hardest aspects of writing, and when writers accomplish this, they can be sure that the film will be great.

While there are many more factors that go into increasing immersion within a film, creating a good story and good characters are arguably the two most important things to consider when trying to make a good film.