• Does the film have a hero, heroine or villain? How do viewers relate to different characters, their actions and their values, and how does the film construct such identifications?
• How does the film visually represent the public issue(s) you are exploring? How does the design of different scenes, as well as the movement, angles and positioning of the camera, shape how viewers see both the scene and the actions taking place?
• How does the film reflect the time and social context in which it was made? Is the film responding to particular current discourses or events? Is it responding to other films?
• What was happening at the time the film was made that the film might be read as responding to? Is there a “rhetorical situation” that the film is addressing? Is there an exigence for the film?
• Who is the audience of the film? Does it seem targeted towards particular types of viewers? Do the producers and/or financers of the film have particular “target demographics” that they want to reach? Why?
• How does the film engage, and even possibly, shape the identities of viewers? Might the film be considered part of someone’s “identity kit” (to use Gee’s phrase)? Does the film invite the viewer to adopt any particular identity?
