General Information
Cast – director, producer, cinematographer, editor, actors, etc.
Background info – year of release, studio, country of origin
Category – Genre, sub-genre
Context – relevant cultural or individual circumstances of production
Auteur theory is the idea that the artistic qualities of a film can be primarily attributed to an individual, usually the director. Since filmmaking is an inherently collaborative process, auteur theory is not always applicable.
Cast 
Genre 
Context
Literary Qualities
Characters – Who appears in the story? Who are the protagonists and antagonists?
Character arcs – How do the characters change throughout the film?
Perspective – Whose point of view do we experience the story through?
Setting – Where and when do the events of the film take place?
Plot, conflict, and subplots – What happens?
Narrative structure – How is the story shown?
Theme – What does it all mean?
Tone – How does it make you feel?
Characters 
Setting 
Perspective
Formal Elements
Cinematography – framing, angle, movement, depth-of-field, lighting, etc.
Color grading – stylizing the image in post-production
Editing – continuity, parallel, montage, cross-cutting, transitions, etc.
Audio – diagetic and non-diagetic sound
Acting – realism and style of acting
Effects – special effects, practical and digital visual effects, compositing
Mise-en-scène is a term referring to the arrangement of everything in the cinematic frame. Mise-en-scène includes the set, props, costumes, actors, and lighting.
Cinematography 
Color grading 
Sound design
Analysis
Auteur – analysis of a film through the broader work of its director
Cognitive – use of psychology and neuroscience to understand how an audience interacts with cinema
Formalism – study of a film’s construction
Ideological – uncovering the hidden messages or politics of a film
Semiotics – study of the ways a film uses signs and symbols to function as a sort of language
Structuralism – analysis of a film’s narrative and character tropes or conventions