how to write a case study on a film

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How to produce a film case study

What is a case study?

A case study is a look at a particular subject or topic of interest which describes, explores, explains or analyses activities or events, groups or individuals. Case studies can be a good way to tell a story or share information and help other people to learn, understand and be inspired.

You can use this guidance alongside our case study template which shares information on how to structure a case study and the type of information and style that we aim for.

Why use film?

Film can be a good way to reach people as it’s easy to share and social media sites are set up so that watching and sharing films is easy. Film has an immediate quality – depending on who you are trying to reach, some people might be more likely to watch a three minute film than they are to read a few pages of text.

Telling the story

Although your case study might focus on one particular area, it’s important to set the scene so people understand the story around your case study. For example, if you’re talking about an activity in your Big Local area, remember to introduce briefly what Big Local is and how your activity fits in with what you’re doing in your area more widely. If the people in your case study mention something which only a few people might know about, remember to explain in a sentence or two what they are talking about. For example, if you mention a group by name, say what the group is, maybe why they’re called that name, what they do and when they meet.

Before you start making your film case study, work out what you want to include and how you are going to cover these things. If your case study is to discover things you don’t already know, you can outline the questions you want to ask and what you’d like to find out. Some people decide to set out storyboards as a quick cartoon.

The location of where you do your filming is important and will help you to tell your story. For example, if your case study is about a particular street, you probably want to do quite a lot of filming on that street. If you interview a shop owner, filming the interview in or just outside the shop is all part of helping to tell the story. Where this isn’t possible, you can try to use photos.

Sound is a big part of the film watching experience and you will need to prepare in advance so that your sound quality is good. If your film is hard to listen to then people are less likely to watch it through or share it with others.

Try and use a microphone to get the best results. Using a microphone will minimise the amount of background noise that gets picked up and is particularly useful if you’re outside.

If you don’t have an external microphone try to avoid filming outside or on a windy day (as wind sounds very loud through the camera’s microphone!) and avoid places with strong echoes (such as sports halls).

Doing a sound check means that you record a little to listen and watch back to check the quality.

Length of film

The length of your film case study will depend on what is suitable for your content and the story you are telling. You might have recorded quite a lot and part of the challenge will be about making a decision about what is important to include and knowing what to leave out and when you might be repeating yourself.

Think about how much time you might give to watching a film online. It’s probably not very long!

As a guide, a case study covering one story or one activity should be approximately 2-5 minutes. For example, you can watch these case studies of Star People award winners. If your case study has a number of different parts to it and is about describing a bigger story, it should be approximately 6-12 minutes.

Applying styles

Styles are effects that you might apply to your film. For example special effects in between different film clips or photos that move around. For accessibility reasons we suggest not applying styles or effects as they can be hard to watch and are distracting. Your film will look much ‘cleaner’ if kept simple.

If you use text on your film, use a simple font which is easy to read. Local Trust use the font Arial. You should check that the text you display can be read against the background (for example white text against a dark background reads well, white text against a light background is hard to read). You also need to check that the length of time the text appears is enough for all of the text to be read easily. If you have a large amount of text, think about breaking it up into smaller parts.

Participants and agreement

Once you have filmed and edited your film, you should check with the people who took part that they are happy with it and feel it is an accurate description. If people are pleased with a film they’re in, they are more likely to want to share it and show it to more people.

If your film includes children you should get consent first from their parent or guardian. You can use this photo and video consent form for children or vulnerable adults. We also have a photo and video consent form for adults.

Logos and branding

By using the Big Lottery Fund logos people can see that Lottery money has supported your work and is being spent in your community. For people in Big Local areas, you can download the Lottery logos on the Big Lottery Fund website. We also encourage people to use the

Local Trust | Big Local logo so that people can see that the work you are doing locally is part of an England wide programme. You can download these from our website. If you have your own branding you should of course use this too!

It’s a good idea to have an introduction to your film where you give a title and short description to your case study and use these logos. This helps people to know what they’re about to watch. The end of your film is a good place to share where people can go to for more information.

Sharing your film with Local Trust and others

Once your film is ready you can upload it online to make it available for people to see and share. Some of the websites you can upload your film too include YouTube and Facebook. Local Trust uses YouTube. If you email us with a link to your film we can ‘like it’ and share it on our YouTube channel, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

You may want to copy some onto DVDs too for people that don’t have access to the internet or want to watch it on a TV. Some Big Local areas have organised small film screenings to get people together to watch their film and talk about it.

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Case Study of a Short Film: “The Man With The Spying Glass” part 1

Below is the case study I created by my last short film as well as my general experience as a filmmaker on this production.

“The Man With The Spying Glass”   is a self-financed short film.

Post-production: 7 weeks Length: 13’51 min Placit lives in a dreamless society where people have to take pills to stop dreaming and thinking. Almost everyone wears helmets, which gives the global government access to human thoughts.

Placit’s most profound dream is to be a puppeteer, an artist, someone that the official government disapproves. However, he is afraid to go against the system which was created by his father and strongly guarded by Placit’s cynical self.

• First I had an idea about a man living in a hotel room and spying on people using a spying glass.
• I started playing with the spying glass idea.
• Then I started asking myself questions… what if my character would do this or that? What if? Why do I make the film is the most important question one can ask while making one.
• I started wondering what do I want my film to be about.
• Inspired by one film I gave my character a name, which was Placit.
• I decided that Placit was going to live in an oppressive society.
• I also decided that it was going to be a one-man film.
• To create some conflict in the story, I decided that Placit was going to try to go against the system.
• I didn’t know that Placit was going to live in a dreamless society until I started writing the script.
• Remarks, notes.
• Anything can trigger the initial idea for the script.
• Don’t be afraid to play with ideas in your mind.
• Give yourself time to get acquainted with the concepts & ideas you have, let them grow inside you.
• You don’t have to know all the details right away and how the story is going to evolve before you write a script. Many issues get resolved during the writing process.

  Scriptwriting.

• When all ideas and concepts have rested and grown (just like dough) for a while in my head, I sit down and start writing.
• I write anything that comes to my mind. It doesn’t have to be perfect, not from scratch at least. Anyway, often the concept changes and evolves while writing.
• Writing is nothing more than rewriting. So I revise whatever I wrote and then rewrite whatever I rewrote before.
• I don’t think about structure. I just let the creative part flow.
• When I have each scene roughly described I start rewriting.
• If any new ideas or concepts come up I decide to follow this lead, sometimes it’s a cul de sac, but mostly it is worthwhile.
• At some point after working on “The Man…” For a very long time, I discovered that I hated everything I wrote apart from the character’s name.
• After my meltdown, I got stuck and didn’t know which way to go. I decided to move to another project and give “The Man with the Spying Glass”  a rest and let it grow again.
• I went looking for some inspiration in books, films and everyday situations.
• After I cooled down, I went back to the first step, which is the primary concept. I started wondering what are the things that I care about the most and I’m afraid of the most.
• I started writing the script once again, and I found the new focus for the story.
• And rewriting again…
• … until I was happy enough to make a film out of it.
• During production, we added one sequence of the script.
• During post-production, the order of two scenes was changed and some of the dialogue cut out about the script.
• Don’t be afraid to still work on the script and add or delete scenes etc. during the production and the post-production.
• I knew the actor I was going to work with so I didn’t need to hold a casting. If I hadn’t had an actor, I would have organised casting then. And probably I’d have gone to see a few theatre plays.
• Since I had an actor, I started looking for the crew when we were pretty early in the pre-production process. I knew the DOP I was going to work with since we had worked together before and he had brought a lot of his crew with him.
• My producer started negotiating dates and money with the crewmembers (make-up, camera operator, lights, sound, etc.
• We (me and my producer) started looking for a studio where we could build our set.
• The most problems we had were finding the right sound recording team.
• We also had a very long search for the right production designer. But it was worthwhile since he turned out to be a professional, inventive and dependable guy & managed to build the whole city in 2 days.
• I got all the contracts ready for the key crew members. You have to sign contracts regardless whether you work with friends or not, just in case. You may stop being friends one day.
• I prepared all the production documents thought I might have needed during the production.
• I started working on the script analysis.
• I started visualising the shots I would like to have in the film, and I made a shoot list.
• I started thinking about the set design and which way I would like to go.
• I watched a lot of movies for inspiration.
• I had meetings with each crew member. So once on the set, we all knew which way we were going to go.
• Once again I thought that I wasn’t going to have any music in my film. But I was lucky enough to meet an amazingly talented and incredibly openhearted composer Jan Broberg Carter. Jan agreed to write the music for “The Man with the Spying Glass” free of charge and even paid her travel expenses to be on the set with us.
• Design a proper storyboard together with your DOP and production designer. Don’t work from your notes and your shoot list. It’s not reliable material to work from.
• Remember that the better you are prepared for the pre-production, the easier production will go and the more time (and money) you save.

Working with the actor.

• Generally speaking, I like to be prepared (and I mean PREPARED), so I start rehearsing with the actor/actors as soon as I can.
• Preparing for “The Man…”  at the first meeting we talked about the script and what it meant to us. [If we can (me and the actor/s), we try to find in the script references to real life. I usually ask a lot of questions so the actor/s can start thinking about the answers in their “free” time, when we don’t see each other]
• Next meeting we had was all about answering the questions we spoke about previously as well as analysing each scene.
• The third meeting was all about reading the script. We often stopped and talked about the meaning behind each scene. We tried to do a few physical actions at the end of the meeting.

The Man With the Spying Glass

• Since Pawel isn’t a native English speaker and the script was in English, I arranged a meeting with a native speaker who helped Pawel with pronunciation.
• We had our last rehearsal the day before shooting, and this time it was on the set. Working on the set is extremely vital for the character development and the actors’ security. That was the time to work out the physical action and make Pawel acquainted with his character’s natural environment.
• Remember that even if you don’t have the time or money to rehearse with your actors, still try to find at least some time to have a cup of coffee with your actor/s. These people are going to represent your film on the screen.

Case Study of a Short Film: “The Man With The Spying Glass” part 2

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How to Read a Film Case Study in the New Normal

April 21, 2020

This past month, Science has collided with every industry on the planet, and as people look to scientists for answers, certain politicians and media have perhaps become less trusted than ever.

As The Film Collaborative readies a slew of real-world case studies on film distribution that we have been working on for months, it behooves us to re-examine and contextualize what we mean by the “real-world.” We have been covering COVID-19’s impact on film festivals and festival distribution (our core specialty) and you can read that blog series here . The case studies we are publishing presently are all on films released in the last year or two, so their lessons are fresh and relevant, notwithstanding the fact that festival distribution has collapsed and may not return to normal for months—if it ever reverts to what it was.

Science has many ways of looking at what went wrong—and what went right. So, before we ask what filmmakers are supposed to glean from a case study, it seems especially appropriate (and even maybe a bit refreshing) to look at what science does. And then we’ll swing back and suggest ways that filmmakers can get the most out of these case studies as they read them.

What role do Case Studies play in a scientific environment?

In the medical industry, a case study is a research strategy and an empirical inquiry that investigates a phenomenon within its real-life context. Case studies are based on an in-depth investigation of a single individual, group, or event to explore the causes of underlying principles.

What can one learn from a case study? Because it only focuses on a single case, it’s not the gold standard. That honor is given to a “randomized control trial”—the highest level of research—and usually requires a wide sample size. Its aim is to separate what is anecdotal from what is based on collected data. And if you don’t have a wide sample, you need to list limitations of the study. After that, there is a meta-analysis, with peer reviews that form a consensus, which in turn leads to best practices.

So, what does science say one can learn from a single individual’s experience? Even on that front, a case study does not occupy the highest level of inquiry. When a sentinel event occurs, i.e. one that could potentially (or actually did) cause harm where the entire staff involved in that patient’s care and the higher-ups are all present. The meeting is used to identify the factors of what went wrong, with the purpose of improvement in the future, and to keep the same mistake from happing again. If someone or something performed poorly, they identify whether it was a performance error, or a systems error…in other words, a deep dive into the root cause of the problem.

A case study, by contrast, also applies to a single case, but it is not actually a strong level of evidence. It is educational, and functions as a teaching tool in order to give the audience a better appreciation of how a certain process works, like how a disease functions or progresses.

How can we apply this to film distribution?

Scientists are trained not to confuse factual with anecdotal evidence, but in the arena of film distribution, the lines become somewhat blurred.

When it comes to sharing data, we have a long way to go. We certainly do not have enough reporting and transparency to come close to the level of study that takes place in a randomized clinical trial. The Sundance Institute partnered with a few organizations a few years ago with its Transparency Project (which The Film Collaborative participated in), in an attempt to come up with some larger findings, but they couldn’t make it work because it seems there was not enough data to extrapolate from in a way that would produce something useful.

Of course, we could never create a methodology that could produce an entire set of best practices for film distribution, simply because the world, like the stock market, never has been, and is never going to be, predictable. The Film Collaborative produced two books over the years (“Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul” and another focusing on VOD outside the U.S.), and while they are not completely irrelevant, much of the information and players have changed to the point that they are not as useful as they once were. But even at their most useful point, it’s important to remember that they never functioned as a road map, and the same is still true: one cannot simply do the same things that Tom Huang (our first case study filmmaker) did and reproduce his success with Find Me .

How to read a film case study…

• Find the ones for you . We are attempting to really cover the gamut in diverse case studies with respect to: [1] independent film genre; [2] diversity of filmmakers; [3] premiere status (so-called A-list festival, not A-list festival, non-festival premiere), [4] niche appeal; [5] traditional sales and distribution vs. DIY vs. hybrid models; and [6] successful releases by the filmmaker’s standards, and not disappointing ones. While reading each one would probably be useful in some way for many filmmakers, one can also analogize and utilize some more than others—the ones that are more fitting based on your film, goals, possibilities, etc.
• Look for the similarities rather than the differences . If someone tells you about their experience, a natural initial human reaction is to see that person’s experience as fundamentally different from yours and to make a premeditated decision to get nothing out of hearing about it. But if you listen more closely, you can begin to find a lot of similarities in other people’s experiences. If you distance yourself, you set up your own prejudice systems—and learn nothing. So, when you read a case study, even if the substantive elements are different, look at the techniques that are employed and see if you might be able to use them to inform your process.
• Learn to separate anecdotal evidence from best practices , including your own. If you made your last film three years ago, don’t assume that everything you think you know still applies. And, of course, you must re-think everything you thought you knew back in in February 2020, too.
• Ask whether the filmmaker knew who their film was for , and if that filmmaker succeeded in identifying a path to reach that audience . Ask yourself the same question about your project. If you your answer is, “I can reach my audience if I had a studio-level marketing campaign,” you need to re-define your demographic to the point where you can reach them for a relatively small amount of money, or even using what we call “sweat equity,” and maybe marketing / media / organizational partnerships that can help.
• Make a list of the practical ideas and advice that you can glean regarding how to market your film, to try and think about different trailer lengths, how much money to spend on ads, how to figure out if your ads are working, vendors to look into, etc.
• Improve your self-awareness and critical thinking . Some of the drafts of the case studies we are getting underscore the reasons why TFC’s educational tools are so important in the first place. We had asked our filmmaker authors to be as transparent and honest as they wanted to be, yet are finding that even these drafts themselves reveal the filmmakers’ mistaken or unrealistic expectations, or place blame on third parties that do not deserve to bear the sole burden of the many systemic problems in the industry regarding distribution. We have working closely with these filmmakers (many of whom did not even realize they may have been wronged — or actually not wronged, depending on the example —until we pointed it out to them) to help them offer a more constructive presentation on some of the more difficult aspects of their projects’ journeys. The questions that arose from that exercise are useful in showing that not everything should be taken at face value.
• What success and failure look like. We have not cherry picked the success stories, but rather have encouraged filmmakers to be more transparent about failures/stats/earnings in addition to successes, so that if strategies or partners do not produce desired outcomes, others can make different choices. And being clear about one’s goals and motivations will help put into perspective what success looks like (it’s not the same for everyone). And if there’s one thing that we hope you take away from these case studies, it is that not everything is possible for every film in terms of distribution.
• Real numbers . When possible, we ask the filmmakers to be as transparent as they feel comfortable with in general, but also in terms of the fact that in some cases they have signed NDAs, or have other parties that they need to be accountable to.

In today’s climate only relatively few filmmakers who are offered a lucrative (or at least professionally advantageous) distribution deal from a distributor or digital platform get to walk away from the obligations and work of actually distributing their films. The rest must set aside their director’s chair and take on new roles surrounding the distribution of their film that they traditionally may not have ever planned to assume. TFC has seen many filmmakers who do not possess enough knowledge about how distribution works to make informed decisions as to distribution deals, such as whether to accept an offer from a distributor with little or no minimum guarantee / license fee and not-great terms and conditions, to try to go it alone and distribute their film by themselves, or to split rights with chosen partners. So, we hope that these case studies help to improve that, and we of course welcome any feedback or comments to [email protected] .

Over the next several months, we will be releasing case studies on films of different genres, subject matter, and levels of success, and covering topics from sales agents, distributors and self-distribution to reaching an online audience, creating impact campaigns with calls-to-action, and being pigeonholed in one’s film niche. We hope you find them useful, inspiring and enjoyable!

Acknowledgements

Stephanie Palmer: 10 Steps To Writing A Movie Pitch-A Case Study

Stephanie Palmer – Would you like to see how a movie pitch gets developed?

Would you like to see how a movie pitch gets developed?

A screenwriting client of mine gave me permission to use his project and his draft of a movie pitch as an example. What you’re about to see is the first phase of researching and developing a movie pitch, using my client’s feature film idea as a case study.  This process will not only help you to improve your movie pitch; it will also build your expertise in the genre so that you are the kind of writer executives want to hire .

Ten Steps To A Great Movie Pitch

Step 1: draft the initial short pitch.

If you already have a short pitch, great. If not, try the following formula with five elements:

“My story is a (genre) called (title) about (hero) who wants (goal) despite (obstacle).”

I like starting with this formula because it forces the clarification of the dramatic conflict. Typically, a story that is clear can be framed in terms of an entity (the hero) that is seeking something (the goal) despite some significant problem (the obstacle).

Our goal is to clarify the five elements and make them more compelling. This means that the changes we make may seem small (e.g., exchanging one word for another), but they will have large implications because we’re working at the DNA-level of the story.

Using the formula, here’s my client’s initial pitch:

It’s a comedy called Nerd Ops about the National Security Administration’s nerdiest technical people who must become field operatives to save the world from a terrorist hacker organization.

Step 2: Identify Possible Genres

Genre gives context to the project, suggests a structure for the story, and has implications for budget, scope, and potential revenue. The 1-2 words you use to categorize your project, therefore, should be chosen with care.

For Nerd Ops , is “comedy” the best description of genre? Could we find something more specific?

You may already know how your project should be categorized. If not, here’s a way to generate ideas for genre descriptions:

• Go to boxofficemojo.com;
• Look for produced projects that are the most like your idea;
• See how they are classified.

Using this strategy, and given the core concept of nerdy technicians becoming field operatives, here are some possible genres:

• Dark comedy
• Buddy comedy
• Action comedy

Step 3: Identify Themes

While I do believe that it’s important for a finished project to have one core thematic premise, at this stage we’re interested in looking at themes more broadly.

Here are some themes that I could see being relevant:

• Weaknesses can be strengths (and strengths weaknesses)
• Warriors for the 21st century
• The brotherhood (and sisterhood) of geekdom
• Humans vs. machines

Step 4: Identify Structural Elements

Structural elements are aspects of the project which are obvious and relevant but which you don’t want to classify as themes.

Some structural elements of this story could be:

• The culture of elite hackers
• The NSA recruiting process
• “Hell Week” training
• Powerful supercomputers

Step 5: Brainstorm Comparisons

Now, using the genres, themes, and structural elements as a starting point, let’s generate more projects to which Nerd Ops could be compared:

• Spies Like Us (Dan Ackroyd’s character is a technical genius)
• Hackers (elite hackers work together)
• Stripes (oddballs in the military)
• Mission Impossible 3&4 (technical geek played by Simon Pegg)
• The Recruit (Colin Farrell’s character is a math genius)
• GI Jane (the structure of “Hell Week”)
• The Other Guys (desk jockey cops become field agents)

Step 6: Build A Table To Hold Comparison Data

What we’re going to do now is build a chart full of data. Along the way, we’re going to get ideas for more comparison projects and we’ll add those to the chart.

First, set up a table with twenty rows and nine columns. Those nine columns should read: Title, Genre, Rating, Release Date, Buyer/Distributor, Domestic Box Office (DBO), International Box Office (IBO), Total Box Office (TBO), Pitch.

Second, open two websites: boxofficemojo.com and netflix.com . If you’re not already a Netflix member, you can get a trial membership.

Step 7: Fill In The Table

First, I’ll search boxofficemojo.com for Spies Like Us . I’ll enter the data in my table, then click on the tab for “Similar Movies.” This shows me that there’s a project called This Means War that I hadn’t considered. So I’ll click on that and enter the data. Then, I’ll click on the tab for “Similar Movies,” and repeat the process.

Second, I’ll go to netflix.com and look for the summaries. I highlight them, edit if needed, paste into a text file, then cut and paste into my table.

Third, I’ll click on the genres in boxofficemojo.com that I’m interested in and see what other comparable projects I can find.

Sometimes boxofficemojo.com, netflix.com (or IMDB or Wikipedia) don’t agree on the genre. For example, a comparison project in my table is Knight and Day . Boxofficemojo calls it a comedy; netflix calls it an action comedy. I think it’s an action comedy, but like This Means War , could also be classified as a romantic comedy.

Use the genre and pitch that you think best. The important thing is to collect the data in one place so you can look for patterns.

After poking around in the boxofficemojo and netflix databases, my table looks like this:  Good in a Room Nerd Ops Research Example

Step 8: Sort The Table And Look For Patterns

Now, sort the table by clicking on the column for Total Box Office and sort the table with the highest grossing projects at the top.

The point is not to be a slave to the box office and to copy exactly movies that have been successful. Rather, it’s to have the same information that the decision-maker has, and to be able to customize your pitch using that information to showcase what’s original about your project in a way that is compelling to the listener.

Looking at our table, we can start to see patterns:

• It seems that Nerd Ops would be more clearly described as an action comedy rather than a spy comedy (e.g. Austin Powers, Bean ).
• The top grossing action comedies are either romantic comedies or buddy pics (e.g., Knight and Day, Rush Hour, The Other Guys )
• Characters who are “desk-jockeys” or “prodigies.”
• Two male heroes.
• A PG-13 rating.
• Titles with 2-3 words.

Step 9: Improve Your Movie Pitch

Now that I’ve done some research and identified patterns, I can change the short pitch and come up with new pitch material .

Here’s the old short pitch, then the new one:

New (changes in bold):

It’s an action comedy called Nerd Ops about two competing National Security Administration computer prodigies who must become field operatives and work together to save the world from a terrorist hacker organization.

Step 10: Test Your New Movie Pitch

At this point, I would begin testing this short pitch to see how I can sharpen and improve the core concept.

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About Michael

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Privacy Overview

Film Analysis

What this handout is about.

This handout introduces film analysis and and offers strategies and resources for approaching film analysis assignments.

Writing the film analysis essay

Writing a film analysis requires you to consider the composition of the film—the individual parts and choices made that come together to create the finished piece. Film analysis goes beyond the analysis of the film as literature to include camera angles, lighting, set design, sound elements, costume choices, editing, etc. in making an argument. The first step to analyzing the film is to watch it with a plan.

Watching the film

First it’s important to watch the film carefully with a critical eye. Consider why you’ve been assigned to watch a film and write an analysis. How does this activity fit into the course? Why have you been assigned this particular film? What are you looking for in connection to the course content? Let’s practice with this clip from Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958). Here are some tips on how to watch the clip critically, just as you would an entire film:

• Give the clip your undivided attention at least once. Pay close attention to details and make observations that might start leading to bigger questions.
• Watch the clip a second time. For this viewing, you will want to focus specifically on those elements of film analysis that your class has focused on, so review your course notes. For example, from whose perspective is this clip shot? What choices help convey that perspective? What is the overall tone, theme, or effect of this clip?
• Take notes while you watch for the second time. Notes will help you keep track of what you noticed and when, if you include timestamps in your notes. Timestamps are vital for citing scenes from a film!

For more information on watching a film, check out the Learning Center’s handout on watching film analytically . For more resources on researching film, including glossaries of film terms, see UNC Library’s research guide on film & cinema .

Brainstorming ideas

Once you’ve watched the film twice, it’s time to brainstorm some ideas based on your notes. Brainstorming is a major step that helps develop and explore ideas. As you brainstorm, you may want to cluster your ideas around central topics or themes that emerge as you review your notes. Did you ask several questions about color? Were you curious about repeated images? Perhaps these are directions you can pursue.

If you’re writing an argumentative essay, you can use the connections that you develop while brainstorming to draft a thesis statement . Consider the assignment and prompt when formulating a thesis, as well as what kind of evidence you will present to support your claims. Your evidence could be dialogue, sound edits, cinematography decisions, etc. Much of how you make these decisions will depend on the type of film analysis you are conducting, an important decision covered in the next section.

After brainstorming, you can draft an outline of your film analysis using the same strategies that you would for other writing assignments. Here are a few more tips to keep in mind as you prepare for this stage of the assignment:

• Make sure you understand the prompt and what you are being asked to do. Remember that this is ultimately an assignment, so your thesis should answer what the prompt asks. Check with your professor if you are unsure.
• In most cases, the director’s name is used to talk about the film as a whole, for instance, “Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo .” However, some writers may want to include the names of other persons who helped to create the film, including the actors, the cinematographer, and the sound editor, among others.
• When describing a sequence in a film, use the literary present. An example could be, “In Vertigo , Hitchcock employs techniques of observation to dramatize the act of detection.”
• Finding a screenplay/script of the movie may be helpful and save you time when compiling citations. But keep in mind that there may be differences between the screenplay and the actual product (and these differences might be a topic of discussion!).
• Go beyond describing basic film elements by articulating the significance of these elements in support of your particular position. For example, you may have an interpretation of the striking color green in Vertigo , but you would only mention this if it was relevant to your argument. For more help on using evidence effectively, see the section on “using evidence” in our evidence handout .

Also be sure to avoid confusing the terms shot, scene, and sequence. Remember, a shot ends every time the camera cuts; a scene can be composed of several related shots; and a sequence is a set of related scenes.

Different types of film analysis

As you consider your notes, outline, and general thesis about a film, the majority of your assignment will depend on what type of film analysis you are conducting. This section explores some of the different types of film analyses you may have been assigned to write.

Semiotic analysis

Semiotic analysis is the interpretation of signs and symbols, typically involving metaphors and analogies to both inanimate objects and characters within a film. Because symbols have several meanings, writers often need to determine what a particular symbol means in the film and in a broader cultural or historical context.

For instance, a writer could explore the symbolism of the flowers in Vertigo by connecting the images of them falling apart to the vulnerability of the heroine.

Here are a few other questions to consider for this type of analysis:

• What objects or images are repeated throughout the film?
• How does the director associate a character with small signs, such as certain colors, clothing, food, or language use?
• How does a symbol or object relate to other symbols and objects, that is, what is the relationship between the film’s signs?

Many films are rich with symbolism, and it can be easy to get lost in the details. Remember to bring a semiotic analysis back around to answering the question “So what?” in your thesis.

Narrative analysis

Narrative analysis is an examination of the story elements, including narrative structure, character, and plot. This type of analysis considers the entirety of the film and the story it seeks to tell.

For example, you could take the same object from the previous example—the flowers—which meant one thing in a semiotic analysis, and ask instead about their narrative role. That is, you might analyze how Hitchcock introduces the flowers at the beginning of the film in order to return to them later to draw out the completion of the heroine’s character arc.

To create this type of analysis, you could consider questions like:

• How does the film correspond to the Three-Act Structure: Act One: Setup; Act Two: Confrontation; and Act Three: Resolution?
• What is the plot of the film? How does this plot differ from the narrative, that is, how the story is told? For example, are events presented out of order and to what effect?
• Does the plot revolve around one character? Does the plot revolve around multiple characters? How do these characters develop across the film?

When writing a narrative analysis, take care not to spend too time on summarizing at the expense of your argument. See our handout on summarizing for more tips on making summary serve analysis.

Cultural/historical analysis

One of the most common types of analysis is the examination of a film’s relationship to its broader cultural, historical, or theoretical contexts. Whether films intentionally comment on their context or not, they are always a product of the culture or period in which they were created. By placing the film in a particular context, this type of analysis asks how the film models, challenges, or subverts different types of relations, whether historical, social, or even theoretical.

For example, the clip from Vertigo depicts a man observing a woman without her knowing it. You could examine how this aspect of the film addresses a midcentury social concern about observation, such as the sexual policing of women, or a political one, such as Cold War-era McCarthyism.

A few of the many questions you could ask in this vein include:

• How does the film comment on, reinforce, or even critique social and political issues at the time it was released, including questions of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality?
• How might a biographical understanding of the film’s creators and their historical moment affect the way you view the film?
• How might a specific film theory, such as Queer Theory, Structuralist Theory, or Marxist Film Theory, provide a language or set of terms for articulating the attributes of the film?

Take advantage of class resources to explore possible approaches to cultural/historical film analyses, and find out whether you will be expected to do additional research into the film’s context.

Mise-en-scène analysis

A mise-en-scène analysis attends to how the filmmakers have arranged compositional elements in a film and specifically within a scene or even a single shot. This type of analysis organizes the individual elements of a scene to explore how they come together to produce meaning. You may focus on anything that adds meaning to the formal effect produced by a given scene, including: blocking, lighting, design, color, costume, as well as how these attributes work in conjunction with decisions related to sound, cinematography, and editing. For example, in the clip from Vertigo , a mise-en-scène analysis might ask how numerous elements, from lighting to camera angles, work together to present the viewer with the perspective of Jimmy Stewart’s character.

To conduct this type of analysis, you could ask:

• What effects are created in a scene, and what is their purpose?
• How does this scene represent the theme of the movie?
• How does a scene work to express a broader point to the film’s plot?

This detailed approach to analyzing the formal elements of film can help you come up with concrete evidence for more general film analysis assignments.

Reviewing your draft

Once you have a draft, it’s helpful to get feedback on what you’ve written to see if your analysis holds together and you’ve conveyed your point. You may not necessarily need to find someone who has seen the film! Ask a writing coach, roommate, or family member to read over your draft and share key takeaways from what you have written so far.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Aumont, Jacques, and Michel Marie. 1988. L’analyse Des Films . Paris: Nathan.

Media & Design Center. n.d. “Film and Cinema Research.” UNC University Libraries. Last updated February 10, 2021. https://guides.lib.unc.edu/filmresearch .

Oxford Royale Academy. n.d. “7 Ways to Watch Film.” Oxford Royale Academy. Accessed April 2021. https://www.oxford-royale.com/articles/7-ways-watch-films-critically/ .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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All You Wanted to Know About How to Write a Case Study

What do you study in your college? If you are a psychology, sociology, or anthropology student, we bet you might be familiar with what a case study is. This research method is used to study a certain person, group, or situation. In this guide from our dissertation writing service , you will learn how to write a case study professionally, from researching to citing sources properly. Also, we will explore different types of case studies and show you examples — so that you won’t have any other questions left.

What Is a Case Study?

A case study is a subcategory of research design which investigates problems and offers solutions. Case studies can range from academic research studies to corporate promotional tools trying to sell an idea—their scope is quite vast.

What Is the Difference Between a Research Paper and a Case Study?

While research papers turn the reader’s attention to a certain problem, case studies go even further. Case study guidelines require students to pay attention to details, examining issues closely and in-depth using different research methods. For example, case studies may be used to examine court cases if you study Law, or a patient's health history if you study Medicine. Case studies are also used in Marketing, which are thorough, empirically supported analysis of a good or service's performance. Well-designed case studies can be valuable for prospective customers as they can identify and solve the potential customers pain point.

Case studies involve a lot of storytelling – they usually examine particular cases for a person or a group of people. This method of research is very helpful, as it is very practical and can give a lot of hands-on information. Most commonly, the length of the case study is about 500-900 words, which is much less than the length of an average research paper.

The structure of a case study is very similar to storytelling. It has a protagonist or main character, which in your case is actually a problem you are trying to solve. You can use the system of 3 Acts to make it a compelling story. It should have an introduction, rising action, a climax where transformation occurs, falling action, and a solution.

Here is a rough formula for you to use in your case study:

Problem (Act I): > Solution (Act II) > Result (Act III) > Conclusion.

Types of Case Studies

The purpose of a case study is to provide detailed reports on an event, an institution, a place, future customers, or pretty much anything. There are a few common types of case study, but the type depends on the topic. The following are the most common domains where case studies are needed:

• Historical case studies are great to learn from. Historical events have a multitude of source info offering different perspectives. There are always modern parallels where these perspectives can be applied, compared, and thoroughly analyzed.
• Problem-oriented case studies are usually used for solving problems. These are often assigned as theoretical situations where you need to immerse yourself in the situation to examine it. Imagine you’re working for a startup and you’ve just noticed a significant flaw in your product’s design. Before taking it to the senior manager, you want to do a comprehensive study on the issue and provide solutions. On a greater scale, problem-oriented case studies are a vital part of relevant socio-economic discussions.
• Cumulative case studies collect information and offer comparisons. In business, case studies are often used to tell people about the value of a product.
• Critical case studies explore the causes and effects of a certain case.
• Illustrative case studies describe certain events, investigating outcomes and lessons learned.

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Case Study Format

The case study format is typically made up of eight parts:

• Executive Summary. Explain what you will examine in the case study. Write an overview of the field you’re researching. Make a thesis statement and sum up the results of your observation in a maximum of 2 sentences.
• Background. Provide background information and the most relevant facts. Isolate the issues.
• Case Evaluation. Isolate the sections of the study you want to focus on. In it, explain why something is working or is not working.
• Proposed Solutions. Offer realistic ways to solve what isn’t working or how to improve its current condition. Explain why these solutions work by offering testable evidence.
• Conclusion. Summarize the main points from the case evaluations and proposed solutions. 6. Recommendations. Talk about the strategy that you should choose. Explain why this choice is the most appropriate.
• Implementation. Explain how to put the specific strategies into action.
• References. Provide all the citations.

How to Write a Case Study

Let's discover how to write a case study.

Setting Up the Research

When writing a case study, remember that research should always come first. Reading many different sources and analyzing other points of view will help you come up with more creative solutions. You can also conduct an actual interview to thoroughly investigate the customer story that you'll need for your case study. Including all of the necessary research, writing a case study may take some time. The research process involves doing the following:

• Define your objective. Explain the reason why you’re presenting your subject. Figure out where you will feature your case study; whether it is written, on video, shown as an infographic, streamed as a podcast, etc.
• Determine who will be the right candidate for your case study. Get permission, quotes, and other features that will make your case study effective. Get in touch with your candidate to see if they approve of being part of your work. Study that candidate’s situation and note down what caused it.
• Identify which various consequences could result from the situation. Follow these guidelines on how to start a case study: surf the net to find some general information you might find useful.
• Make a list of credible sources and examine them. Seek out important facts and highlight problems. Always write down your ideas and make sure to brainstorm.
• Focus on several key issues – why they exist, and how they impact your research subject. Think of several unique solutions. Draw from class discussions, readings, and personal experience. When writing a case study, focus on the best solution and explore it in depth. After having all your research in place, writing a case study will be easy. You may first want to check the rubric and criteria of your assignment for the correct case study structure.

Read Also: ' WHAT IS A CREDIBLE SOURCES ?'

Although your instructor might be looking at slightly different criteria, every case study rubric essentially has the same standards. Your professor will want you to exhibit 8 different outcomes:

• Correctly identify the concepts, theories, and practices in the discipline.
• Identify the relevant theories and principles associated with the particular study.
• Evaluate legal and ethical principles and apply them to your decision-making.
• Recognize the global importance and contribution of your case.
• Construct a coherent summary and explanation of the study.
• Demonstrate analytical and critical-thinking skills.
• Explain the interrelationships between the environment and nature.
• Integrate theory and practice of the discipline within the analysis.

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Case Study Outline

Let's look at the structure of an outline based on the issue of the alcoholic addiction of 30 people.

Introduction

• Statement of the issue: Alcoholism is a disease rather than a weakness of character.
• Presentation of the problem: Alcoholism is affecting more than 14 million people in the USA, which makes it the third most common mental illness there.
• Explanation of the terms: In the past, alcoholism was commonly referred to as alcohol dependence or alcohol addiction. Alcoholism is now the more severe stage of this addiction in the disorder spectrum.
• Hypotheses: Drinking in excess can lead to the use of other drugs.
• Importance of your story: How the information you present can help people with their addictions.
• Background of the story: Include an explanation of why you chose this topic.
• Presentation of analysis and data: Describe the criteria for choosing 30 candidates, the structure of the interview, and the outcomes.
• Strong argument 1: ex. X% of candidates dealing with anxiety and depression...
• Strong argument 2: ex. X amount of people started drinking by their mid-teens.
• Strong argument 3: ex. X% of respondents’ parents had issues with alcohol.
• Concluding statement: I have researched if alcoholism is a disease and found out that…
• Recommendations: Ways and actions for preventing alcohol use.

Writing a Case Study Draft

After you’ve done your case study research and written the outline, it’s time to focus on the draft. In a draft, you have to develop and write your case study by using: the data which you collected throughout the research, interviews, and the analysis processes that were undertaken. Follow these rules for the draft:

• Your draft should contain at least 4 sections: an introduction; a body where you should include background information, an explanation of why you decided to do this case study, and a presentation of your main findings; a conclusion where you present data; and references.
• In the introduction, you should set the pace very clearly. You can even raise a question or quote someone you interviewed in the research phase. It must provide adequate background information on the topic. The background may include analyses of previous studies on your topic. Include the aim of your case here as well. Think of it as a thesis statement. The aim must describe the purpose of your work—presenting the issues that you want to tackle. Include background information, such as photos or videos you used when doing the research.
• Describe your unique research process, whether it was through interviews, observations, academic journals, etc. The next point includes providing the results of your research. Tell the audience what you found out. Why is this important, and what could be learned from it? Discuss the real implications of the problem and its significance in the world.
• Include quotes and data (such as findings, percentages, and awards). This will add a personal touch and better credibility to the case you present. Explain what results you find during your interviews in regards to the problem and how it developed. Also, write about solutions which have already been proposed by other people who have already written about this case.
• At the end of your case study, you should offer possible solutions, but don’t worry about solving them yourself.

Use Data to Illustrate Key Points in Your Case Study

Even though your case study is a story, it should be based on evidence. Use as much data as possible to illustrate your point. Without the right data, your case study may appear weak and the readers may not be able to relate to your issue as much as they should. Let's see the examples from essay writing service :

‍ With data: Alcoholism is affecting more than 14 million people in the USA, which makes it the third most common mental illness there. Without data: A lot of people suffer from alcoholism in the United States.

Try to include as many credible sources as possible. You may have terms or sources that could be hard for other cultures to understand. If this is the case, you should include them in the appendix or Notes for the Instructor or Professor.

Finalizing the Draft: Checklist

After you finish drafting your case study, polish it up by answering these ‘ask yourself’ questions and think about how to end your case study:

• Check that you follow the correct case study format, also in regards to text formatting.
• Check that your work is consistent with its referencing and citation style.
• Micro-editing — check for grammar and spelling issues.
• Macro-editing — does ‘the big picture’ come across to the reader? Is there enough raw data, such as real-life examples or personal experiences? Have you made your data collection process completely transparent? Does your analysis provide a clear conclusion, allowing for further research and practice?

Problems to avoid:

• Overgeneralization – Do not go into further research that deviates from the main problem.
• Failure to Document Limitations – Just as you have to clearly state the limitations of a general research study, you must describe the specific limitations inherent in the subject of analysis.
• Failure to Extrapolate All Possible Implications – Just as you don't want to over-generalize from your case study findings, you also have to be thorough in the consideration of all possible outcomes or recommendations derived from your findings.

How to Create a Title Page and Cite a Case Study

Let's see how to create an awesome title page.

Your title page depends on the prescribed citation format. The title page should include:

• A title that attracts some attention and describes your study
• The title should have the words “case study” in it
• The title should range between 5-9 words in length
• Your name and contact information
• Your finished paper should be only 500 to 1,500 words in length.With this type of assignment, write effectively and avoid fluff

Here is a template for the APA and MLA format title page:

There are some cases when you need to cite someone else's study in your own one – therefore, you need to master how to cite a case study. A case study is like a research paper when it comes to citations. You can cite it like you cite a book, depending on what style you need.

Citation Example in MLA ‍ Hill, Linda, Tarun Khanna, and Emily A. Stecker. HCL Technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Publishing, 2008. Print.

Citation Example in APA ‍ Hill, L., Khanna, T., & Stecker, E. A. (2008). HCL Technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Publishing.

Citation Example in Chicago Hill, Linda, Tarun Khanna, and Emily A. Stecker. HCL Technologies.

Case Study Examples

To give you an idea of a professional case study example, we gathered and linked some below.

Eastman Kodak Case Study

Case Study Example: Audi Trains Mexican Autoworkers in Germany

To conclude, a case study is one of the best methods of getting an overview of what happened to a person, a group, or a situation in practice. It allows you to have an in-depth glance at the real-life problems that businesses, healthcare industry, criminal justice, etc. may face. This insight helps us look at such situations in a different light. This is because we see scenarios that we otherwise would not, without necessarily being there. If you need custom essays , try our research paper writing services .

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What Is A Case Study?

How to cite a case study in apa, how to write a case study, related articles.

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Your Step-By-Step Guide To Writing a Case Study

Creating a case study is both an art and a science. It requires making an in-depth exploration of your chosen subject in order to extract meaningful insights and understand the dynamics that more general surveys or statistical research might not uncover. At the same time, your case study also needs to be a compelling read to ensure those insights get attention from other people!

Unsurprisingly, the prospect of crafting an effective case study can be daunting. It calls for strategic planning, careful organization, and clear communication, all of which can be challenging even for experienced researchers. That's why we've created this step-by-step guide, which breaks the process down into manageable steps, demystifying the journey from defining your research question to sharing your findings. Whether you're a seasoned researcher or a first-timer, this guide aims to equip you with the necessary tools and tips to create a case study that's not just informative, but also engaging and impactful.

Are you ready to unlock the potential of case studies? Let's dive in!

What is a case study?

First, it's important to understand what a case study is – and what it isn't.

A case study is a thorough exploration of a specific subject or event over a certain time frame. Case studies are utilized in numerous fields, including sociology, psychology, education, anthropology, business, and the health sciences, and employ various research techniques to shed light on complex issues.

A case study does not provide absolute proof or conclusions that can be universally applied. Because it concentrates on one particular case or just a few cases, the findings might not apply to different contexts or subjects. Case studies also aren't ideal for determining cause-and-effect relationships as they do not use controlled conditions to separate and measure the impacts of different factors. Lastly, it must be said that a case study isn't just a random assortment of facts or observations; it necessitates a clear research question, a methodical approach to data collection and analysis, and a thoughtful interpretation of the results.

Getting started

Now that we've established the definition and purpose of a case study, let's explore the process by which one is created. You can produce a case study by following these nine steps:

1. Define the purpose of your case study

Before you start writing a case study, you need to define its purpose clearly. Ask yourself: What is the research question or problem you aim to solve? What insights are you looking to uncover? Your goals will guide your research design and influence your choice of case. This initial stage of introspection and clarification is crucial as it acts as a roadmap for your study.

2. Select the case to study

Once you've defined your research objective, the next step is to choose a suitable case that can help answer your research question. This might be a unique, critical, or representative instance. Unique cases offer the opportunity to observe and analyze a situation that is unusual or not well-understood. In contrast, a representative or typical case is often chosen because it represents other cases or a broader phenomenon.

In any case, be sure to justify your choice. Explain why the case is of interest and how it can contribute to the knowledge or understanding of the issue at hand. For instance, if you're studying the effects of corporate restructuring on employee morale, you might choose to focus on a company that recently underwent a significant restructure.

3. Conduct a thorough literature review

Performing a literature review involves a careful examination of relevant scholarly articles, books, and other sources related to your research question or problem. In the process, you identify gaps in the current knowledge and determine how your case study can address them. By critically examining existing research, you will not only gain a comprehensive understanding of your chosen topic but also be able to refine your research question or hypothesis, if necessary.

4. Choose a methodological approach

The methodological approach used in your case study will depend on your research objectives and the nature of the case. Methodologies that can be employed in case studies include qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods .

Qualitative methods are often used when the goal is to explore, understand, or interpret certain phenomena. These involve approaches like interviews, focus groups, or ethnography. Quantitative methods, on the other hand, are used when the goal is to test hypotheses or examine relationships between variables. Quantitative approaches often include experiments. Also, surveys may be either qualitative or quantitative depending on the question design.

You may choose to use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods (mixed methods) if it suits your research objectives.

5. Collect and organize your data

Data collection should be systematic and organized to maintain the integrity and reliability of your research. You need to plan how you will record and store your data to ensure that it's accessible and usable.

If you're conducting interviews or observations, consider using recording devices (with participant consent) to capture the data accurately. In addition, you may want to transcribe the recorded material for easier analysis. If you're using documents or archival records, develop a system for coding and categorizing the data.

6. Analyze the data

Analysis involves interpreting your data to draw out meaningful insights; it is in this stage that your findings start to take shape. Depending on the nature of your data and your research question, you might use any of a variety of analysis methods. For qualitative data, you might employ thematic analysis to identify key themes or grounded theory to generate a new theoretical framework. For quantitative data, you might use statistical analysis to identify patterns or correlations.

Always be open to unexpected findings. Your initial hypotheses might not be supported, or you might uncover new insights that you hadn't initially considered. Remember that all data, whether they fit neatly into your analysis or not, provide valuable insights and contribute to the holistic understanding of your case.

7. Write the case study report

After analyzing the data, it's finally time to compose your case study. In terms of structure, a typical case study might consist of an introduction, background information, the collected data (results), analysis of that data, and the conclusion. Here's a brief breakdown of each section:

• Introduction: The introduction should be brief but engaging, providing a clear statement of the research question or problem, explaining why the case was chosen, and outlining what the case study will cover.
• Background: The background provides the context for your case. Describe the case, its history, and any relevant information that will help readers understand the situation.
• Results: This section should provide a comprehensive account of what you found, without interpretation or opinion. Present your findings in a clear, organized manner. Use visuals such as charts or graphs if they aid comprehension.
• Analysis: This section should provide your interpretations and arguments. Discuss the patterns, themes, or relationships you've identified in your data. Explain what these findings mean in relation to your research question.
• Conclusion: Finally, summarize the key insights from your case study along with their implications. Discuss the limitations of your study and propose avenues for future research.

8. Review and revise

The process of writing a case study doesn't actually end when the report is written; you also need to review your writing for coherence, clarity, and correctness. Don't underestimate the importance of this step! Make sure the information flows logically and that your arguments are well-supported. Check for any grammar or spelling errors. Having a peer or mentor review your work can be incredibly helpful as they provide a fresh perspective and can catch mistakes you might have missed.

9. Get approval if required

If your case study involves human subjects, you may need to obtain approval from an ethical review board. You'll also need to obtain informed consent from your subjects and ensure you respect their privacy and confidentiality throughout the research process. Always follow your institution's ethical guidelines and any other relevant legislation .

Practical tips for writing a compelling case study

Getting through all those steps can feel like a formidable challenge, but here are some practical tips to make the process more manageable:

Be systematic and organized

Given the importance of detail in case studies, it's vital to be systematic and organized from the get-go. This means keeping meticulous records of your data, your sources, and any changes to your research design. A good practice is to maintain a research journal or log where you can record your process, thoughts, and reflections.

In addition, use technology to your advantage. Digital tools like citation managers can help you keep track of your sources and make formatting references a breeze, while spreadsheet or database software can assist in managing and organizing your data. Developing a consistent system for labeling and storing information at the outset will save you time and effort later when you need to retrieve data for analysis.

Stay focused

One common pitfall in research and writing is loss of focus: getting sidetracked by interesting but ultimately irrelevant digressions, which can be very easy, especially when you're dealing with a rich and complex case. Always remember your research question and objectives, and let these guide your study at every step. It's perfectly acceptable – and in fact advisable – to delineate what your study will not cover. Setting clear boundaries can help you stay focused and manage the scope of your study effectively.

Use visual aids

Visual aids such as charts, diagrams, or photographs can greatly enhance your case study. They provide readers with a break from the monotony of text and can communicate complex data or relationships more easily. For instance, if you're presenting a lot of numerical data, consider using a chart or graph. If you're describing a process or sequence of events, portraying it in a flowchart or timeline might be useful. Remember, the goal is to aid comprehension, so make sure your visual aids are clear, well-labeled, and integrated into the text.

Include direct quotes

If your case study involves interviews, including direct quotes can add depth and a sense of the personal to your findings. They provide readers with a firsthand perspective and make your case study more engaging.

When using quotes, be sure to integrate them smoothly into your text. Provide enough context so readers understand the quote's relevance. Also, remember to adhere to ethical guidelines– always respect confidentiality and anonymity agreements.

Maintain ethical standards

Ethics is a fundamental consideration in all research, including case studies. Ensure you have proper consent from participants, respect their privacy, and accurately present your findings without manipulation.

Misrepresenting data or failing to respect participants' rights can lead to serious ethical violations. Always follow your institution's ethical guidelines and any other relevant legislation. If in doubt, seek advice from a supervisor or your institution's ethics committee.

Acknowledge limitations

Every research study has limitations, which could relate to the research design, data collection methods, or other aspects of the study. Being transparent about the limitations of your study can enhance its credibility; moreover, not only does identifying limitations demonstrate your critical thinking and honesty, but it also helps readers accurately interpret your findings.

Finally, acknowledging the limitations of your work helps to set the stage for further research. By identifying aspects that your study couldn't address, you provide other researchers with avenues for building on your findings.

Learn from examples

Before you start writing your case study, it can be helpful to review some published case studies in your field. Different fields may have different conventions, and familiarizing yourself with case studies in your own field can help guide your writing. Look at the structure, tone, and style. Pay attention to how the authors present and analyze data, and how they link their findings back to the research question. You can also learn a lot from the strengths and weaknesses of previously published works. However, remember to develop your own unique voice and perspective – don't just mimic what others have done.

Design for triangulation

Triangulation involves using multiple data sources or methods to gain a more comprehensive and balanced understanding of your research topic. By coming at your research question from multiple directions, such as by examining different datasets or using different methods, you can increase the validity of your results and gain more nuanced insights.

For example, if you're studying the impact of a new teaching method in a school, you might observe classes, interview teachers, and also survey students. Each method will provide a slightly different perspective, and together, they allow you to develop a more complete picture of the teaching method's impact.

Practice reflexivity

Reflexivity involves reflecting on how your assumptions, values, or experiences might influence your research process and interpretations. As a researcher, it's essential to be aware of your potential biases and how they might shape your study.

Consider keeping a reflexivity journal where you can note your thoughts, feelings, and reflections throughout the research process. This practice can help you stay aware of your biases and ensure your research is as objective and balanced as possible.

Write for your audience

Always make sure that your writing is on target for your intended audience. If you're writing for an academic audience, for example, you'll likely use a more formal tone and include more detailed methodological information. If you're writing for practitioners or a general audience, you might use a more accessible language and focus more on practical implications.

Remember to define any technical terms or jargon, and provide sufficient context so your readers can understand your research. The goal is to communicate your findings effectively, regardless of who your readers are.

Seek feedback

Feedback is valuable for improving your case study. Consider sharing drafts with your peers, mentors, or supervisors and asking for their input. Fresh eyes can provide different perspectives, catch errors, or suggest ways to strengthen your arguments.

Remember, feedback is not personal; it's about improving your work. Be open to critique and willing to revise your work based on the feedback you receive.

Writing a case study is a meticulous process that requires clear purpose, careful planning, systematic data collection, and thoughtful analysis. Although it can be time-consuming, the rich, detailed insights a well-executed case study can provide make this study design an invaluable tool in research.

By following this guide and adopting its practical tips, you will be well on your way to crafting a compelling case study that contributes meaningful insights to your chosen field. Good luck with your research journey!

Header image by Kateryna Hliznitsova .

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How to write a case study — examples, templates, and tools

It’s a marketer’s job to communicate the effectiveness of a product or service to potential and current customers to convince them to buy and keep business moving. One of the best methods for doing this is to share success stories that are relatable to prospects and customers based on their pain points, experiences, and overall needs.

That’s where case studies come in. Case studies are an essential part of a content marketing plan. These in-depth stories of customer experiences are some of the most effective at demonstrating the value of a product or service. Yet many marketers don’t use them, whether because of their regimented formats or the process of customer involvement and approval.

A case study is a powerful tool for showcasing your hard work and the success your customer achieved. But writing a great case study can be difficult if you’ve never done it before or if it’s been a while. This guide will show you how to write an effective case study and provide real-world examples and templates that will keep readers engaged and support your business.

In this article, you’ll learn:

What is a case study?

How to write a case study, case study templates, case study examples, case study tools.

A case study is the detailed story of a customer’s experience with a product or service that demonstrates their success and often includes measurable outcomes. Case studies are used in a range of fields and for various reasons, from business to academic research. They’re especially impactful in marketing as brands work to convince and convert consumers with relatable, real-world stories of actual customer experiences.

The best case studies tell the story of a customer’s success, including the steps they took, the results they achieved, and the support they received from a brand along the way. To write a great case study, you need to:

• Celebrate the customer and make them — not a product or service — the star of the story.
• Craft the story with specific audiences or target segments in mind so that the story of one customer will be viewed as relatable and actionable for another customer.
• Write copy that is easy to read and engaging so that readers will gain the insights and messages intended.
• Follow a standardized format that includes all of the essentials a potential customer would find interesting and useful.
• Support all of the claims for success made in the story with data in the forms of hard numbers and customer statements.

Case studies are a type of review but more in depth, aiming to show — rather than just tell — the positive experiences that customers have with a brand. Notably, 89% of consumers read reviews before deciding to buy, and 79% view case study content as part of their purchasing process. When it comes to B2B sales, 52% of buyers rank case studies as an important part of their evaluation process.

Telling a brand story through the experience of a tried-and-true customer matters. The story is relatable to potential new customers as they imagine themselves in the shoes of the company or individual featured in the case study. Showcasing previous customers can help new ones see themselves engaging with your brand in the ways that are most meaningful to them.

Besides sharing the perspective of another customer, case studies stand out from other content marketing forms because they are based on evidence. Whether pulling from client testimonials or data-driven results, case studies tend to have more impact on new business because the story contains information that is both objective (data) and subjective (customer experience) — and the brand doesn’t sound too self-promotional.

Case studies are unique in that there’s a fairly standardized format for telling a customer’s story. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for creativity. It’s all about making sure that teams are clear on the goals for the case study — along with strategies for supporting content and channels — and understanding how the story fits within the framework of the company’s overall marketing goals.

Here are the basic steps to writing a good case study.

1. Identify your goal

Start by defining exactly who your case study will be designed to help. Case studies are about specific instances where a company works with a customer to achieve a goal. Identify which customers are likely to have these goals, as well as other needs the story should cover to appeal to them.

The answer is often found in one of the buyer personas that have been constructed as part of your larger marketing strategy. This can include anything from new leads generated by the marketing team to long-term customers that are being pressed for cross-sell opportunities. In all of these cases, demonstrating value through a relatable customer success story can be part of the solution to conversion.

2. Choose your client or subject

Who you highlight matters. Case studies tie brands together that might otherwise not cross paths. A writer will want to ensure that the highlighted customer aligns with their own company’s brand identity and offerings. Look for a customer with positive name recognition who has had great success with a product or service and is willing to be an advocate.

The client should also match up with the identified target audience. Whichever company or individual is selected should be a reflection of other potential customers who can see themselves in similar circumstances, having the same problems and possible solutions.

Some of the most compelling case studies feature customers who:

• Switch from one product or service to another while naming competitors that missed the mark.
• Experience measurable results that are relatable to others in a specific industry.
• Represent well-known brands and recognizable names that are likely to compel action.
• Advocate for a product or service as a champion and are well-versed in its advantages.

Whoever or whatever customer is selected, marketers must ensure they have the permission of the company involved before getting started. Some brands have strict review and approval procedures for any official marketing or promotional materials that include their name. Acquiring those approvals in advance will prevent any miscommunication or wasted effort if there is an issue with their legal or compliance teams.

3. Conduct research and compile data

Substantiating the claims made in a case study — either by the marketing team or customers themselves — adds validity to the story. To do this, include data and feedback from the client that defines what success looks like. This can be anything from demonstrating return on investment (ROI) to a specific metric the customer was striving to improve. Case studies should prove how an outcome was achieved and show tangible results that indicate to the customer that your solution is the right one.

This step could also include customer interviews. Make sure that the people being interviewed are key stakeholders in the purchase decision or deployment and use of the product or service that is being highlighted. Content writers should work off a set list of questions prepared in advance. It can be helpful to share these with the interviewees beforehand so they have time to consider and craft their responses. One of the best interview tactics to keep in mind is to ask questions where yes and no are not natural answers. This way, your subject will provide more open-ended responses that produce more meaningful content.

4. Choose the right format

There are a number of different ways to format a case study. Depending on what you hope to achieve, one style will be better than another. However, there are some common elements to include, such as:

• An engaging headline
• A subject and customer introduction
• The unique challenge or challenges the customer faced
• The solution the customer used to solve the problem
• The results achieved
• Data and statistics to back up claims of success
• A strong call to action (CTA) to engage with the vendor

It’s also important to note that while case studies are traditionally written as stories, they don’t have to be in a written format. Some companies choose to get more creative with their case studies and produce multimedia content, depending on their audience and objectives. Case study formats can include traditional print stories, interactive web or social content, data-heavy infographics, professionally shot videos, podcasts, and more.

5. Write your case study

We’ll go into more detail later about how exactly to write a case study, including templates and examples. Generally speaking, though, there are a few things to keep in mind when writing your case study.

• Be clear and concise. Readers want to get to the point of the story quickly and easily, and they’ll be looking to see themselves reflected in the story right from the start.
• Provide a big picture. Always make sure to explain who the client is, their goals, and how they achieved success in a short introduction to engage the reader.
• Construct a clear narrative. Stick to the story from the perspective of the customer and what they needed to solve instead of just listing product features or benefits.
• Leverage graphics. Incorporating infographics, charts, and sidebars can be a more engaging and eye-catching way to share key statistics and data in readable ways.
• Offer the right amount of detail. Most case studies are one or two pages with clear sections that a reader can skim to find the information most important to them.
• Include data to support claims. Show real results — both facts and figures and customer quotes — to demonstrate credibility and prove the solution works.

6. Promote your story

Marketers have a number of options for distribution of a freshly minted case study. Many brands choose to publish case studies on their website and post them on social media. This can help support SEO and organic content strategies while also boosting company credibility and trust as visitors see that other businesses have used the product or service.

Marketers are always looking for quality content they can use for lead generation. Consider offering a case study as gated content behind a form on a landing page or as an offer in an email message. One great way to do this is to summarize the content and tease the full story available for download after the user takes an action.

Sales teams can also leverage case studies, so be sure they are aware that the assets exist once they’re published. Especially when it comes to larger B2B sales, companies often ask for examples of similar customer challenges that have been solved.

Now that you’ve learned a bit about case studies and what they should include, you may be wondering how to start creating great customer story content. Here are a couple of templates you can use to structure your case study.

Template 1 — Challenge-solution-result format

• Start with an engaging title. This should be fewer than 70 characters long for SEO best practices. One of the best ways to approach the title is to include the customer’s name and a hint at the challenge they overcame in the end.
• Create an introduction. Lead with an explanation as to who the customer is, the need they had, and the opportunity they found with a specific product or solution. Writers can also suggest the success the customer experienced with the solution they chose.
• Present the challenge. This should be several paragraphs long and explain the problem the customer faced and the issues they were trying to solve. Details should tie into the company’s products and services naturally. This section needs to be the most relatable to the reader so they can picture themselves in a similar situation.
• Share the solution. Explain which product or service offered was the ideal fit for the customer and why. Feel free to delve into their experience setting up, purchasing, and onboarding the solution.
• Explain the results. Demonstrate the impact of the solution they chose by backing up their positive experience with data. Fill in with customer quotes and tangible, measurable results that show the effect of their choice.
• Ask for action. Include a CTA at the end of the case study that invites readers to reach out for more information, try a demo, or learn more — to nurture them further in the marketing pipeline. What you ask of the reader should tie directly into the goals that were established for the case study in the first place.

Template 2 — Data-driven format

• Start with an engaging title. Be sure to include a statistic or data point in the first 70 characters. Again, it’s best to include the customer’s name as part of the title.
• Create an overview. Share the customer’s background and a short version of the challenge they faced. Present the reason a particular product or service was chosen, and feel free to include quotes from the customer about their selection process.
• Present data point 1. Isolate the first metric that the customer used to define success and explain how the product or solution helped to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Present data point 2. Isolate the second metric that the customer used to define success and explain what the product or solution did to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Present data point 3. Isolate the final metric that the customer used to define success and explain what the product or solution did to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Summarize the results. Reiterate the fact that the customer was able to achieve success thanks to a specific product or service. Include quotes and statements that reflect customer satisfaction and suggest they plan to continue using the solution.
• Ask for action. Include a CTA at the end of the case study that asks readers to reach out for more information, try a demo, or learn more — to further nurture them in the marketing pipeline. Again, remember that this is where marketers can look to convert their content into action with the customer.

While templates are helpful, seeing a case study in action can also be a great way to learn. Here are some examples of how Adobe customers have experienced success.

Juniper Networks

One example is the Adobe and Juniper Networks case study , which puts the reader in the customer’s shoes. The beginning of the story quickly orients the reader so that they know exactly who the article is about and what they were trying to achieve. Solutions are outlined in a way that shows Adobe Experience Manager is the best choice and a natural fit for the customer. Along the way, quotes from the client are incorporated to help add validity to the statements. The results in the case study are conveyed with clear evidence of scale and volume using tangible data.

The story of Lenovo’s journey with Adobe is one that spans years of planning, implementation, and rollout. The Lenovo case study does a great job of consolidating all of this into a relatable journey that other enterprise organizations can see themselves taking, despite the project size. This case study also features descriptive headers and compelling visual elements that engage the reader and strengthen the content.

Tata Consulting

When it comes to using data to show customer results, this case study does an excellent job of conveying details and numbers in an easy-to-digest manner. Bullet points at the start break up the content while also helping the reader understand exactly what the case study will be about. Tata Consulting used Adobe to deliver elevated, engaging content experiences for a large telecommunications client of its own — an objective that’s relatable for a lot of companies.

Case studies are a vital tool for any marketing team as they enable you to demonstrate the value of your company’s products and services to others. They help marketers do their job and add credibility to a brand trying to promote its solutions by using the experiences and stories of real customers.

When you’re ready to get started with a case study:

• Think about a few goals you’d like to accomplish with your content.
• Make a list of successful clients that would be strong candidates for a case study.
• Reach out to the client to get their approval and conduct an interview.
• Gather the data to present an engaging and effective customer story.

Adobe can help

There are several Adobe products that can help you craft compelling case studies. Adobe Experience Platform helps you collect data and deliver great customer experiences across every channel. Once you’ve created your case studies, Experience Platform will help you deliver the right information to the right customer at the right time for maximum impact.

To learn more, watch the Adobe Experience Platform story .

Keep in mind that the best case studies are backed by data. That’s where Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform and Adobe Analytics come into play. With Real-Time CDP, you can gather the data you need to build a great case study and target specific customers to deliver the content to the right audience at the perfect moment.

Watch the Real-Time CDP overview video to learn more.

Finally, Adobe Analytics turns real-time data into real-time insights. It helps your business collect and synthesize data from multiple platforms to make more informed decisions and create the best case study possible.

Request a demo to learn more about Adobe Analytics.

https://business.adobe.com/blog/perspectives/b2b-ecommerce-10-case-studies-inspire-you

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/business-case

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/what-is-real-time-analytics

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

• Annotated Bibliography
• Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
• Group Presentations
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• Types of Structured Group Activities
• Group Project Survival Skills
• Leading a Class Discussion
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Works
• Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• Writing a Case Study
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Reflective Paper
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Generative AI and Writing
• Acknowledgments

A case study research paper examines a person, place, event, condition, phenomenon, or other type of subject of analysis in order to extrapolate  key themes and results that help predict future trends, illuminate previously hidden issues that can be applied to practice, and/or provide a means for understanding an important research problem with greater clarity. A case study research paper usually examines a single subject of analysis, but case study papers can also be designed as a comparative investigation that shows relationships between two or more subjects. The methods used to study a case can rest within a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method investigative paradigm.

Case Studies. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010 ; “What is a Case Study?” In Swanborn, Peter G. Case Study Research: What, Why and How? London: SAGE, 2010.

How to Approach Writing a Case Study Research Paper

General information about how to choose a topic to investigate can be found under the " Choosing a Research Problem " tab in the Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper writing guide. Review this page because it may help you identify a subject of analysis that can be investigated using a case study design.

However, identifying a case to investigate involves more than choosing the research problem . A case study encompasses a problem contextualized around the application of in-depth analysis, interpretation, and discussion, often resulting in specific recommendations for action or for improving existing conditions. As Seawright and Gerring note, practical considerations such as time and access to information can influence case selection, but these issues should not be the sole factors used in describing the methodological justification for identifying a particular case to study. Given this, selecting a case includes considering the following:

• The case represents an unusual or atypical example of a research problem that requires more in-depth analysis? Cases often represent a topic that rests on the fringes of prior investigations because the case may provide new ways of understanding the research problem. For example, if the research problem is to identify strategies to improve policies that support girl's access to secondary education in predominantly Muslim nations, you could consider using Azerbaijan as a case study rather than selecting a more obvious nation in the Middle East. Doing so may reveal important new insights into recommending how governments in other predominantly Muslim nations can formulate policies that support improved access to education for girls.
• The case provides important insight or illuminate a previously hidden problem? In-depth analysis of a case can be based on the hypothesis that the case study will reveal trends or issues that have not been exposed in prior research or will reveal new and important implications for practice. For example, anecdotal evidence may suggest drug use among homeless veterans is related to their patterns of travel throughout the day. Assuming prior studies have not looked at individual travel choices as a way to study access to illicit drug use, a case study that observes a homeless veteran could reveal how issues of personal mobility choices facilitate regular access to illicit drugs. Note that it is important to conduct a thorough literature review to ensure that your assumption about the need to reveal new insights or previously hidden problems is valid and evidence-based.
• The case challenges and offers a counter-point to prevailing assumptions? Over time, research on any given topic can fall into a trap of developing assumptions based on outdated studies that are still applied to new or changing conditions or the idea that something should simply be accepted as "common sense," even though the issue has not been thoroughly tested in current practice. A case study analysis may offer an opportunity to gather evidence that challenges prevailing assumptions about a research problem and provide a new set of recommendations applied to practice that have not been tested previously. For example, perhaps there has been a long practice among scholars to apply a particular theory in explaining the relationship between two subjects of analysis. Your case could challenge this assumption by applying an innovative theoretical framework [perhaps borrowed from another discipline] to explore whether this approach offers new ways of understanding the research problem. Taking a contrarian stance is one of the most important ways that new knowledge and understanding develops from existing literature.
• The case provides an opportunity to pursue action leading to the resolution of a problem? Another way to think about choosing a case to study is to consider how the results from investigating a particular case may result in findings that reveal ways in which to resolve an existing or emerging problem. For example, studying the case of an unforeseen incident, such as a fatal accident at a railroad crossing, can reveal hidden issues that could be applied to preventative measures that contribute to reducing the chance of accidents in the future. In this example, a case study investigating the accident could lead to a better understanding of where to strategically locate additional signals at other railroad crossings so as to better warn drivers of an approaching train, particularly when visibility is hindered by heavy rain, fog, or at night.
• The case offers a new direction in future research? A case study can be used as a tool for an exploratory investigation that highlights the need for further research about the problem. A case can be used when there are few studies that help predict an outcome or that establish a clear understanding about how best to proceed in addressing a problem. For example, after conducting a thorough literature review [very important!], you discover that little research exists showing the ways in which women contribute to promoting water conservation in rural communities of east central Africa. A case study of how women contribute to saving water in a rural village of Uganda can lay the foundation for understanding the need for more thorough research that documents how women in their roles as cooks and family caregivers think about water as a valuable resource within their community. This example of a case study could also point to the need for scholars to build new theoretical frameworks around the topic [e.g., applying feminist theories of work and family to the issue of water conservation].

Eisenhardt, Kathleen M. “Building Theories from Case Study Research.” Academy of Management Review 14 (October 1989): 532-550; Emmel, Nick. Sampling and Choosing Cases in Qualitative Research: A Realist Approach . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2013; Gerring, John. “What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?” American Political Science Review 98 (May 2004): 341-354; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Seawright, Jason and John Gerring. "Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research." Political Research Quarterly 61 (June 2008): 294-308.

Structure and Writing Style

The purpose of a paper in the social sciences designed around a case study is to thoroughly investigate a subject of analysis in order to reveal a new understanding about the research problem and, in so doing, contributing new knowledge to what is already known from previous studies. In applied social sciences disciplines [e.g., education, social work, public administration, etc.], case studies may also be used to reveal best practices, highlight key programs, or investigate interesting aspects of professional work.

In general, the structure of a case study research paper is not all that different from a standard college-level research paper. However, there are subtle differences you should be aware of. Here are the key elements to organizing and writing a case study research paper.

I.  Introduction

As with any research paper, your introduction should serve as a roadmap for your readers to ascertain the scope and purpose of your study . The introduction to a case study research paper, however, should not only describe the research problem and its significance, but you should also succinctly describe why the case is being used and how it relates to addressing the problem. The two elements should be linked. With this in mind, a good introduction answers these four questions:

• What is being studied? Describe the research problem and describe the subject of analysis [the case] you have chosen to address the problem. Explain how they are linked and what elements of the case will help to expand knowledge and understanding about the problem.
• Why is this topic important to investigate? Describe the significance of the research problem and state why a case study design and the subject of analysis that the paper is designed around is appropriate in addressing the problem.
• What did we know about this topic before I did this study? Provide background that helps lead the reader into the more in-depth literature review to follow. If applicable, summarize prior case study research applied to the research problem and why it fails to adequately address the problem. Describe why your case will be useful. If no prior case studies have been used to address the research problem, explain why you have selected this subject of analysis.
• How will this study advance new knowledge or new ways of understanding? Explain why your case study will be suitable in helping to expand knowledge and understanding about the research problem.

Each of these questions should be addressed in no more than a few paragraphs. Exceptions to this can be when you are addressing a complex research problem or subject of analysis that requires more in-depth background information.

II.  Literature Review

The literature review for a case study research paper is generally structured the same as it is for any college-level research paper. The difference, however, is that the literature review is focused on providing background information and  enabling historical interpretation of the subject of analysis in relation to the research problem the case is intended to address . This includes synthesizing studies that help to:

• Place relevant works in the context of their contribution to understanding the case study being investigated . This would involve summarizing studies that have used a similar subject of analysis to investigate the research problem. If there is literature using the same or a very similar case to study, you need to explain why duplicating past research is important [e.g., conditions have changed; prior studies were conducted long ago, etc.].
• Describe the relationship each work has to the others under consideration that informs the reader why this case is applicable . Your literature review should include a description of any works that support using the case to investigate the research problem and the underlying research questions.
• Identify new ways to interpret prior research using the case study . If applicable, review any research that has examined the research problem using a different research design. Explain how your use of a case study design may reveal new knowledge or a new perspective or that can redirect research in an important new direction.
• Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies . This refers to synthesizing any literature that points to unresolved issues of concern about the research problem and describing how the subject of analysis that forms the case study can help resolve these existing contradictions.
• Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research . Your review should examine any literature that lays a foundation for understanding why your case study design and the subject of analysis around which you have designed your study may reveal a new way of approaching the research problem or offer a perspective that points to the need for additional research.
• Expose any gaps that exist in the literature that the case study could help to fill . Summarize any literature that not only shows how your subject of analysis contributes to understanding the research problem, but how your case contributes to a new way of understanding the problem that prior research has failed to do.
• Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very important!] . Collectively, your literature review should always place your case study within the larger domain of prior research about the problem. The overarching purpose of reviewing pertinent literature in a case study paper is to demonstrate that you have thoroughly identified and synthesized prior studies in relation to explaining the relevance of the case in addressing the research problem.

III.  Method

In this section, you explain why you selected a particular case [i.e., subject of analysis] and the strategy you used to identify and ultimately decide that your case was appropriate in addressing the research problem. The way you describe the methods used varies depending on the type of subject of analysis that constitutes your case study.

If your subject of analysis is an incident or event . In the social and behavioral sciences, the event or incident that represents the case to be studied is usually bounded by time and place, with a clear beginning and end and with an identifiable location or position relative to its surroundings. The subject of analysis can be a rare or critical event or it can focus on a typical or regular event. The purpose of studying a rare event is to illuminate new ways of thinking about the broader research problem or to test a hypothesis. Critical incident case studies must describe the method by which you identified the event and explain the process by which you determined the validity of this case to inform broader perspectives about the research problem or to reveal new findings. However, the event does not have to be a rare or uniquely significant to support new thinking about the research problem or to challenge an existing hypothesis. For example, Walo, Bull, and Breen conducted a case study to identify and evaluate the direct and indirect economic benefits and costs of a local sports event in the City of Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. The purpose of their study was to provide new insights from measuring the impact of a typical local sports event that prior studies could not measure well because they focused on large "mega-events." Whether the event is rare or not, the methods section should include an explanation of the following characteristics of the event: a) when did it take place; b) what were the underlying circumstances leading to the event; and, c) what were the consequences of the event in relation to the research problem.

If your subject of analysis is a person. Explain why you selected this particular individual to be studied and describe what experiences they have had that provide an opportunity to advance new understandings about the research problem. Mention any background about this person which might help the reader understand the significance of their experiences that make them worthy of study. This includes describing the relationships this person has had with other people, institutions, and/or events that support using them as the subject for a case study research paper. It is particularly important to differentiate the person as the subject of analysis from others and to succinctly explain how the person relates to examining the research problem [e.g., why is one politician in a particular local election used to show an increase in voter turnout from any other candidate running in the election]. Note that these issues apply to a specific group of people used as a case study unit of analysis [e.g., a classroom of students].

If your subject of analysis is a place. In general, a case study that investigates a place suggests a subject of analysis that is unique or special in some way and that this uniqueness can be used to build new understanding or knowledge about the research problem. A case study of a place must not only describe its various attributes relevant to the research problem [e.g., physical, social, historical, cultural, economic, political], but you must state the method by which you determined that this place will illuminate new understandings about the research problem. It is also important to articulate why a particular place as the case for study is being used if similar places also exist [i.e., if you are studying patterns of homeless encampments of veterans in open spaces, explain why you are studying Echo Park in Los Angeles rather than Griffith Park?]. If applicable, describe what type of human activity involving this place makes it a good choice to study [e.g., prior research suggests Echo Park has more homeless veterans].

If your subject of analysis is a phenomenon. A phenomenon refers to a fact, occurrence, or circumstance that can be studied or observed but with the cause or explanation to be in question. In this sense, a phenomenon that forms your subject of analysis can encompass anything that can be observed or presumed to exist but is not fully understood. In the social and behavioral sciences, the case usually focuses on human interaction within a complex physical, social, economic, cultural, or political system. For example, the phenomenon could be the observation that many vehicles used by ISIS fighters are small trucks with English language advertisements on them. The research problem could be that ISIS fighters are difficult to combat because they are highly mobile. The research questions could be how and by what means are these vehicles used by ISIS being supplied to the militants and how might supply lines to these vehicles be cut off? How might knowing the suppliers of these trucks reveal larger networks of collaborators and financial support? A case study of a phenomenon most often encompasses an in-depth analysis of a cause and effect that is grounded in an interactive relationship between people and their environment in some way.

NOTE:   The choice of the case or set of cases to study cannot appear random. Evidence that supports the method by which you identified and chose your subject of analysis should clearly support investigation of the research problem and linked to key findings from your literature review. Be sure to cite any studies that helped you determine that the case you chose was appropriate for examining the problem.

IV.  Discussion

The main elements of your discussion section are generally the same as any research paper, but centered around interpreting and drawing conclusions about the key findings from your analysis of the case study. Note that a general social sciences research paper may contain a separate section to report findings. However, in a paper designed around a case study, it is common to combine a description of the results with the discussion about their implications. The objectives of your discussion section should include the following:

Reiterate the Research Problem/State the Major Findings Briefly reiterate the research problem you are investigating and explain why the subject of analysis around which you designed the case study were used. You should then describe the findings revealed from your study of the case using direct, declarative, and succinct proclamation of the study results. Highlight any findings that were unexpected or especially profound.

Explain the Meaning of the Findings and Why They are Important Systematically explain the meaning of your case study findings and why you believe they are important. Begin this part of the section by repeating what you consider to be your most important or surprising finding first, then systematically review each finding. Be sure to thoroughly extrapolate what your analysis of the case can tell the reader about situations or conditions beyond the actual case that was studied while, at the same time, being careful not to misconstrue or conflate a finding that undermines the external validity of your conclusions.

Relate the Findings to Similar Studies No study in the social sciences is so novel or possesses such a restricted focus that it has absolutely no relation to previously published research. The discussion section should relate your case study results to those found in other studies, particularly if questions raised from prior studies served as the motivation for choosing your subject of analysis. This is important because comparing and contrasting the findings of other studies helps support the overall importance of your results and it highlights how and in what ways your case study design and the subject of analysis differs from prior research about the topic.

Consider Alternative Explanations of the Findings Remember that the purpose of social science research is to discover and not to prove. When writing the discussion section, you should carefully consider all possible explanations revealed by the case study results, rather than just those that fit your hypothesis or prior assumptions and biases. Be alert to what the in-depth analysis of the case may reveal about the research problem, including offering a contrarian perspective to what scholars have stated in prior research if that is how the findings can be interpreted from your case.

Acknowledge the Study's Limitations You can state the study's limitations in the conclusion section of your paper but describing the limitations of your subject of analysis in the discussion section provides an opportunity to identify the limitations and explain why they are not significant. This part of the discussion section should also note any unanswered questions or issues your case study could not address. More detailed information about how to document any limitations to your research can be found here .

Suggest Areas for Further Research Although your case study may offer important insights about the research problem, there are likely additional questions related to the problem that remain unanswered or findings that unexpectedly revealed themselves as a result of your in-depth analysis of the case. Be sure that the recommendations for further research are linked to the research problem and that you explain why your recommendations are valid in other contexts and based on the original assumptions of your study.

V.  Conclusion

As with any research paper, you should summarize your conclusion in clear, simple language; emphasize how the findings from your case study differs from or supports prior research and why. Do not simply reiterate the discussion section. Provide a synthesis of key findings presented in the paper to show how these converge to address the research problem. If you haven't already done so in the discussion section, be sure to document the limitations of your case study and any need for further research.

The function of your paper's conclusion is to: 1) reiterate the main argument supported by the findings from your case study; 2) state clearly the context, background, and necessity of pursuing the research problem using a case study design in relation to an issue, controversy, or a gap found from reviewing the literature; and, 3) provide a place to persuasively and succinctly restate the significance of your research problem, given that the reader has now been presented with in-depth information about the topic.

Consider the following points to help ensure your conclusion is appropriate:

• If the argument or purpose of your paper is complex, you may need to summarize these points for your reader.
• If prior to your conclusion, you have not yet explained the significance of your findings or if you are proceeding inductively, use the conclusion of your paper to describe your main points and explain their significance.
• Move from a detailed to a general level of consideration of the case study's findings that returns the topic to the context provided by the introduction or within a new context that emerges from your case study findings.

Note that, depending on the discipline you are writing in or the preferences of your professor, the concluding paragraph may contain your final reflections on the evidence presented as it applies to practice or on the essay's central research problem. However, the nature of being introspective about the subject of analysis you have investigated will depend on whether you are explicitly asked to express your observations in this way.

Problems to Avoid

Overgeneralization One of the goals of a case study is to lay a foundation for understanding broader trends and issues applied to similar circumstances. However, be careful when drawing conclusions from your case study. They must be evidence-based and grounded in the results of the study; otherwise, it is merely speculation. Looking at a prior example, it would be incorrect to state that a factor in improving girls access to education in Azerbaijan and the policy implications this may have for improving access in other Muslim nations is due to girls access to social media if there is no documentary evidence from your case study to indicate this. There may be anecdotal evidence that retention rates were better for girls who were engaged with social media, but this observation would only point to the need for further research and would not be a definitive finding if this was not a part of your original research agenda.

Failure to Document Limitations No case is going to reveal all that needs to be understood about a research problem. Therefore, just as you have to clearly state the limitations of a general research study , you must describe the specific limitations inherent in the subject of analysis. For example, the case of studying how women conceptualize the need for water conservation in a village in Uganda could have limited application in other cultural contexts or in areas where fresh water from rivers or lakes is plentiful and, therefore, conservation is understood more in terms of managing access rather than preserving access to a scarce resource.

Failure to Extrapolate All Possible Implications Just as you don't want to over-generalize from your case study findings, you also have to be thorough in the consideration of all possible outcomes or recommendations derived from your findings. If you do not, your reader may question the validity of your analysis, particularly if you failed to document an obvious outcome from your case study research. For example, in the case of studying the accident at the railroad crossing to evaluate where and what types of warning signals should be located, you failed to take into consideration speed limit signage as well as warning signals. When designing your case study, be sure you have thoroughly addressed all aspects of the problem and do not leave gaps in your analysis that leave the reader questioning the results.

Case Studies. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Gerring, John. Case Study Research: Principles and Practices . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007; Merriam, Sharan B. Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education . Rev. ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998; Miller, Lisa L. “The Use of Case Studies in Law and Social Science Research.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 14 (2018): TBD; Mills, Albert J., Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Putney, LeAnn Grogan. "Case Study." In Encyclopedia of Research Design , Neil J. Salkind, editor. (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010), pp. 116-120; Simons, Helen. Case Study Research in Practice . London: SAGE Publications, 2009;  Kratochwill,  Thomas R. and Joel R. Levin, editors. Single-Case Research Design and Analysis: New Development for Psychology and Education .  Hilldsale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992; Swanborn, Peter G. Case Study Research: What, Why and How? London : SAGE, 2010; Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods . 6th edition. Los Angeles, CA, SAGE Publications, 2014; Walo, Maree, Adrian Bull, and Helen Breen. “Achieving Economic Benefits at Local Events: A Case Study of a Local Sports Event.” Festival Management and Event Tourism 4 (1996): 95-106.

Writing Tip

At Least Five Misconceptions about Case Study Research

Social science case studies are often perceived as limited in their ability to create new knowledge because they are not randomly selected and findings cannot be generalized to larger populations. Flyvbjerg examines five misunderstandings about case study research and systematically "corrects" each one. To quote, these are:

Misunderstanding 1 :  General, theoretical [context-independent] knowledge is more valuable than concrete, practical [context-dependent] knowledge. Misunderstanding 2 :  One cannot generalize on the basis of an individual case; therefore, the case study cannot contribute to scientific development. Misunderstanding 3 :  The case study is most useful for generating hypotheses; that is, in the first stage of a total research process, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building. Misunderstanding 4 :  The case study contains a bias toward verification, that is, a tendency to confirm the researcher’s preconceived notions. Misunderstanding 5 :  It is often difficult to summarize and develop general propositions and theories on the basis of specific case studies [p. 221].

While writing your paper, think introspectively about how you addressed these misconceptions because to do so can help you strengthen the validity and reliability of your research by clarifying issues of case selection, the testing and challenging of existing assumptions, the interpretation of key findings, and the summation of case outcomes. Think of a case study research paper as a complete, in-depth narrative about the specific properties and key characteristics of your subject of analysis applied to the research problem.

Flyvbjerg, Bent. “Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research.” Qualitative Inquiry 12 (April 2006): 219-245.

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Adapting to Change: The Cinema Case Study

Andrew Herkert

July 19th, 2022

Content Trends , Creativity in Business , External Communications , Products and Services

I recently had what might well be the single most modern cinematic moment of my life: I rented The Batman on YouTube, and watched it all three hours of it from my couch.  Somewhere in the middle of it all, I realized how distracting and bizarre it was to be watching a blockbuster, of this length, through an online platform running through my television, and quickly encountered two (mostly) unrelated thoughts: I am getting old, and cinema is changing at lightspeed.

An Industry Already Under Siege

If I’ve used it once, I’ve used this Charlie Kaufman quote a million times: “Adaptation is a profound process.”  Ask the biggest movie studios if they agree.  As ticket sales have steadily sunk between 1995 and 2020 (and certainly not rebounded in the previous two years to any significant extent), one of cinema’s most important organs seemed to be on the brink of shutdown.

With an 82% collapse in 2020 in already abysmal ticket sales, the pandemic was poised to be the death blow to the American movie theater—and it almost was. 

Pre-pandemic attempts to shore up theater attendance by hearkening back to the picture palaces of the 1930’s and 1940’s (when Americans commonly went to the movies twice a week) couldn’t keep compete with a lethal virus.  Theaters were going to take another hit, this time with very little they could do but wait.

Sea Change upon Sea Change

Studios could work immediately to maintain viewership.  Their reaction to the pandemic was to take even more steps away from dependence on the theater/box office model, and focus more on streaming services.

While bad news for theater proprietors, it made good sense for studios to take the approach.  They still had to overcome at least one large obstacle, however—how do you charge movie theater prices for an experience that doesn’t happen in a movie theater?

Certainly part of that answer comes from trusting your consumer to understand that movies are not cheap, and that they must submit to some higher prices for a rental than they might in safer times.  The other part of that answer had to come in the actual writing and production of the films offered.

Here, we see that cinematic content’s evolution began long before the pandemic became a dominant issue.  Marvel movies, of pre-and-mid-pandemic years, have been basically unstoppable since 2008, and they’re a great collective case study for the modern, theater-crisis-aware film.

Familiarity Brings Comfort

What are Marvel movies, at their core?  I’d argue three things, simply put: familiar, effects-heavy, and long.  The common thread between all of these characteristics?  Value, by specific metrics.  Let’s examine this value assessment in a little more detail.

Familiarity is a definite sign of value.  Brand identity exists for a reason, as do genres of film; they provide expectations to consumers.  Audiences know Captain America, as he’s been in popular culture since 1941.  They know what they’re getting from a movie that features him, and they know what they’re not getting.  Captain America is low-risk, and intended for all ages.

Effects Show Value

I probably don’t need to convince you that Marvel is effects-heavy.  I will, however, try to convince you that this is an outward-facing value indicator.  In short, it’s proof of financial effort.  Effects are one of the easiest places to see a film’s budget reflected.  Dated as this reference may be, it’s not My Dinner with Andre that you’re paying $25 to rent while the film would normally be in theaters.  It’s The Batman , with special effects that justify the price of admission the second you see them.

Runtime Justifies Costs

I’ll keep The Batman as my example for my last point: the value added through length.  Some people hate long films, to be sure, but to many (arguably, many more ), length is an indicator of bang for one’s buck.  It’s a hard sell to pay $25 to rent/stream a 75-minute movie.  This is not the case with The Batman , at just shy of three hours.

Theaters might still be in a dark place, but as the pandemic starts to lessen its grip on the US, it’s entirely possible that its efforts to recall the golden age of theater-going might have success going forward.  Studios, for their part, are working a value proposal that’s still young, but at least partly successful in maintaining audience viewership.

Evolution (However Halting)

It’s worth noting one final (coincidentally also Marvel) development in the modern cinematic landscape: the Johansson v. Disney lawsuit of 2021.  Substantively focused on Disney’s alleged breach of contract with the actor over theatrical vs. streaming rights to Black Widow , the highly-publicized suit was eventually resolved amicably before 2021 ended.

That doesn’t mean it didn’t matter.  CNN called it “ a flashpoint in an evolving Hollywood ,” and wrote that it “came at a pivotal moment as the industry faces questions about how audiences will consume entertainment in the future.”  It’s proof positive that these questions are far from resolved.

It’s also proof of something more far-reaching: no matter the industry, your offering needs to fit the moment.  When the market shifts, the correct response is rarely to dig in your heels.  Instead, it’s time to evolve.

Cinema has changed distribution, content, and form to survive recent upsets in the market.  The case study matters because the movies seem future-proof.  After over 100 years of dominance, we can’t imagine a world without them.

Universal Issues

The lesson is that no industry is future-proof, and when threatened, all industries have to change pace, quickly.  And if an industry as time-tested as cinema has seemed lost—numerous times—in recent years, other industries without such deep cultural roots will almost certainly go through as much change, if not more. 

Supply chain issues are not just occurring in the places we’d expect.  The great resignation has affected more sectors than we imagined.  So, as these and many, many other issues assail your business, remember that it’s not your fault.

Control what you can control, and adapt.  If it happened to movies, it can happen to anyone; fortunately, movies have shown the attitude necessary to survive even the most threatening changes.  

How to Write a Film Analysis Essay – Step by Step

So, your assignment is to watch a movie and analyze it in an essay. Great!

I’m Tutor Phil, and in this tutorial I’ll show you how to write a film analysis. 

In short, to write a film analysis means to:

• Identify the elements of the film
• Identify the relationships among those elements
• Form an argument about your findings
• Support your argument using evidence

If this task seems daunting, don’t worry – it is actually fun once you know exactly what to do. 

So, let’s dive right in. Here are…

7 Steps to Writing a Film Analysis Essay

Step 1. Watch the movie while taking notes

If you already saw the film you need to analyze, you’ll probably need to watch it again, this time taking some notes. 

Why is note taking important? Well, to analyze really means to break something into parts and to discuss relationships among them. 

And to identify parts (or elements) of a movie, you need to watch it while paying attention to details and writing down your observations. 

Taking notes will allow you to do several things:

• Identify some of the elements of the film so you have something to discuss
• Uncover details you would otherwise miss
• Make connections between ideas
• Get some raw content you can readily use in your essay

How to take notes

Here’s a tip on how to do it most efficiently. Play the movie on one device while taking notes on another. 

For example, play the movie on your TV or iPad, and take notes on your laptop. This way, you can pause the movie and make a note without switching apps on your laptop. 

What to look for 

When watching the movie, you are looking for elements that it is made up of. You can simply start a bulleted list with a timeline and some of the things you observe. 

Importantly, you usually don’t want to simply describe every event of the film. You need some kind of a theme or motif to focus on because otherwise you’ll simply write a synopsis if the movie. 

But you want some useful notes. Here’s how to choose what to focus on. 

First, your assignment should determine your focus. For example, if your instructor wants you to write about a particular character, then pay special attention to that character.

If your assignment includes more details, that’s even better. Maybe you have to pick a character and write about her love life or her relationship with her mother. 

Great – that will help you narrow down your focus. 

Second, you can choose your own theme to focus on. If your assignment is very general, don’t worry – just pick your own character, theme, or something in the movie you want to write about.

In this case, if you’ve already seen the film, just think back and choose something to focus your analysis on. 

Third, you can simply analyze the entire film. In this case, your task is to identify the overall message of the film and how its elements help deliver this message. 

Each of these ways to approach writing a film analysis essay works great. And the steps you learn here will help you whatever approach you choose. 

Example of note-taking

Let me give you an example. Recently, I had to write about one particular character in a movie. I also had to discuss the mental health of the character. So, I paid special attention to anything that had to do with mental health. 

I chose the movie The Hours based on Michael Cunningham’s book of the same title. And by the way, let’s use this film from now on as an example to illustrate our seven steps to writing a film analysis. 

This movie follows three women at different periods of the twentieth century. One of them is Virginia Woolf, based on the real-life writer of the same name. 

Since my task was to write about her, I took notes primarily related to her. But I also noted relevant elements in other parts of the film. 

Note that I time-stamped the events that happen on the screen. This would help me orient myself in the story when I later read my notes. 

This can also help you use quotations from the film because in some citation styles you are required to provide exact time stamps for the dialogue lines. 

Here is a sample of the notes that I took while watching the movie:

00:00 – 3:30 Very compulsive behavior. Frantically dressing up. 

“I feel that I’m going mad again.”

08:35 – ~11:00 “How was your sleep?” “Uneventful. No headache. I believe I may have the first sentence.”

“Always giving parties to cover the silence.” – Ed Harris. ~22:00

27:44 – 31:50 “Her fate becomes clear to her.” 

Makes demands on her cook. Being kind of rude. 

43:20 Doesn’t comply with doctors. Depressed all the time. Lies down by the dead bird, as if wanting to join it.

01:05:45 Talking to herself, mumbling, in the presence of others – sister, nephews, niece. 

-What were you thinking about? 

-I was going to kill my heroine but I changed my mind. 

01:08:05 “I’m afraid I might have to kill someone else instead.”

Your notes don’t have to consist of perfect sentences. You can jot down sentence fragments, phrases, or even just words. 

But complete sentences, or at least sentence fragments, will help you understand what you were thinking when taking the note. A sentence will tell you more than a word or a phrase. 

Write down some important dialogue verbatim. You can later use these quotations in your essay. 

Elements to look for

Let’s explore what kinds of elements you can look for while watching the movie. Cinema is an amazing medium that combines a multitude of things to talk about.

A film can contain everything a novel can. And in addition, it has visuals and sound. So, it’s very rich. Let’s divide the elements into two categories – literary and cinematic.

Literary elements

• Story (the beginning, middle, and end)
• Plot (how events are arranged in time and space)
• Setting (where and when the action takes place)
• Characterization (characters and their unique qualities)
• Themes (recurring elements that link things together by topic)
• Message (the point, the argument, if you will, of the movie)
• Dialogue (what characters say)
• Symbols (concrete visual or auditory bits that stand for abstract ideas)
• Contrast (highlighting differences)

Cinematic elements

• Sound (music, noises, or the use of silence)
• Lighting (how light is used to convey or emphasize ideas)
• Camera angles (positioning of the camera when shooting a scene)
• Editing (putting different shots together in a sequence)
• Mise-en-scene (everything you see on the screen)
• Casting (the choice of actors)
• Acting (the art of playing a character)

If you’re a film or literature student, many of these elements will sound familiar to you. But even if you’re not, you don’t have to know much about all or even most of these to write a great film analysis. 

All you need is a few good elements that will serve as ideas to organize and develop your paper. And you are probably already familiar with some of them, such as story and characters, for example.

As you watch the movie and take notes, keep these elements somewhere in your document so you could check in with the list at any time. 

Step 2. Make some connections among the elements

If you really want to do well on this paper, you might want to watch the movie one more time after you’ve taken your initial notes. This time, you’ll be making connections using these elements.

You can do this step from memory and your initial set of notes, but if you do it while watching the film one more time, your paper will be a lot stronger. And the writing part will be easier.

As you watch the film, especially for the second and maybe even a third time, you’ll notice patterns. 

You’ll begin to see how different elements are connected by themes and other unifying elements.

Here are examples of how different and seemingly distant elements can be connected in a movie:

Thematic connection

Two or more characters have the same pattern of behavior. They may not know each other or may even live on different continents or in different time periods. But they both feel stuck in their marriages, for example.

Connection through dialogue

Two or more characters who, again, seem completely unrelated say the same things. Or, one character says something, and another picks it up or answers it in the next scene or shot. 

Connection through mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is all the visual elements on the screen. A recurring visual can link different elements, such as characters, together.

For example, a character can have a red rose in her hand. Another character, in a different time and space, can also have a red rose in her hand. This is a director’s way of saying: “Pay attention and look for connections between these characters.”

Musical connection

The same music can play in different scenes. Or, the same tune can be played in a major, happy key in one scene but in a minor, sad key in another. Or, a short motive can be repeated at pertinent moments in the film. 

Movie writers and directors make all kinds of other connections in their films. If you watch the movie more than once while being consciously aware of the possibilities, you’ll notice things. 

You can choose any types of connections you want. If your instructor wants you to be specific and use cinematography and dialogue, for example, then use these two categories. 

But if you identify some nice connections in other categories, put them in your notes, too. You’ll use them as supporting ideas in your essay. 

Example of making connections 

Let me give you an example of how I used elements of film to make some connections for that film analysis I worked on. 

Note that I’m using only four categories of these elements because to discuss more of them would only make the essay get out of hand. It’s better to focus on a few. Make sure it’s no fewer than two, and preferably three or four. 

The first one or two can be the main ones, and the rest can be used as supporting ideas (more on this later). 

To make better sense of the example below, keep in mind that the movie The Hours follows three women in different times and places. 

I used letters V, L, and C as acronyms of their first names, because it’s faster and easier that way. 

Here is a sample of connections (as brief notes)  

• Homosexuality and bisexuality. 
• Around 42:00 – L kisses her neighbor Kitty. Later, V kisses her sister Vanessa. Both women are not only stuck in their situations – they are also stuck in the closet. 
• C is also stuck, according to her own words. 
• V tries to write a novel. L tries to bake a cake. C tries to throw a party. Each one is frustrated. 
• But there is a progression from V-L-C. V never succeeds. L fails at first attempt but succeeds with the second one. C makes everything ready, but the party never happens through no fault of her own.
• Also, trying to run away. V fails. L succeeds. So does Louis in modern times. 
• C says at one point, “From then on I’ve been stuck.” It seems she’s stuck in bisexuality. 
• When L drops off her son, it’s with Mrs. Latch (note the name). A latch is a fastening or binding device. 
• Louis Waters says, “The day I left him, I got on a train and made my way across Europe. I felt free for the first time in years.”
• V succeeds on the third attempt. L contemplates it but changes her mind. C never attempts. But Richard succeeds. 
• 13:54 – (1951) L’s son asks to help with the cake. L: “Of course you can, sweet pea. I’m not gonna do anything without you.” Cuts to 2001 New York: C: “No, of course!” 
• It’s as if the director is being sarcastic: “Yeah, sure. Of course I’m not gonna do anything without you.” 
• L eventually abandons her family, including her son. So, this juxtaposition seems sarcastic and acts as foreshadowing. 

Mise-en-scene (visual elements)

• Each of two women, V and L, is alone in a bed; one is in bed with a partner. 
• L is particularly emphasized as alone with an empty half bed – happens again later in the film.
• The light is pouring in from outside, but the room is dark. She is isolated by the window frame. Isolated from everything in the home, including her son. 
• Later, around 17:30, her son will be alone in a very dark apartment: “I needed to let in some light.” Maybe light is associated with freedom.
• V depressed, even disturbed
• L wondering what the day will bring
• C excited about the upcoming day.
• There seems to be a progression from worse to better in V-L-C. 

When you actively look for connections, you’ll make many of them. In this step, you’re not thinking deeply about them. You’re just noticing things and jotting them down.

The main thinking is done in the next step. 

Step 3. Formulate your main argument

Now that you have your elements and you’ve perceived some relationships among them, it’s time to formulate your thesis. 

A thesis is the main point of your essay. This step is the most important because this is where you take a stand. 

This is also a creative step. You’re essentially making a decision about what to say about this movie or an aspect of the movie. 

Here’s a short video I created, explaining what a thesis is:

Read back through your notes

Read through the initial notes you took and the connections that you’ve made. 

What stands out to you as the most important, the most general and overarching idea that is probably the main one?

Make your thesis about this idea. And the rest of the elements or ideas will act as supporting points (we’ll add them in the next step). 

Choose the subject

Let’s choose what to write about – our subject – in our sample film analysis. We have four categories of elements in which we’ve made notes and connections:

• Mise-en-scene

Just by looking at this list and reading through the connections made, it is easy to notice:

One or more of the themes are dominant, and the rest is supportive. Therefore, our main point should probably be about a theme . 

Again, if your instructor has given you a specific subject to focus on, then that’s what your thesis will be about. 

In this example, let’s assume that we must simply write a film analysis, and we’re free to choose what to write about.

So, we’ll pick one of the themes, take a stand on it, and formulate our thesis based on it. Let’s look at the themes we’ve picked out again:

• Repressed sexuality
• Frustration
• Being stuck
• Seeking freedom  

Which of these is the dominant one? Which one is all-encompassing? Which one includes some of the others?

These are some of the questions we might ask to pick the main subject for our essay. Let’s arrange these themes in the order of more general to more specific:

Why is being stuck the most general and all-encompassing theme? That’s because it seems that the rest of the themes are either the signs or the effects of it. 

Repressed sexuality and frustration in trying to accomplish things and failing are signs, examples, or manifestations of being stuck. 

It is only possible to seek freedom if you feel stuck. And suicide, at least in this film, is a result of being stuck and seeing no way out. 

This tells us that being stuck as a theme is the best candidate for our thesis. In other words, this essay will be about the theme of being stuck in the film The Hours .  

Formulate the thesis

At this point, we have everything we need to formulate our thesis, our main point that we’ll be supporting in the essay. Let’s do it:

“In the film The Hours, the feeling of being stuck in terms of their sexualities and life situations plagues the main characters. And the earlier in the century the action takes place, the more disastrous the consequences of them feeling stuck.” 

What’s going on in this thesis? 

First, we have two sentences because this film analysis is kind of complex. It is possible to write out the main point in only one sentence, but then it would be too long and complicated. 

Second, note that we have all the main elements either explicitly or implicitly present in this statement. In other words, this thesis summarizes our entire essay perfectly. 

It contains the themes of:

• Being stuck (which is our main subject)
• Sexuality (one supporting idea)
• Seeking freedom (from an unwanted life situation)
• Sucide (a disastrous consequence)

In other words, it’s all there in the thesis. And we’ll unpack these concepts more in the next two steps. 

Step 4. Write the introductory paragraph

The introductory paragraph consists of three parts:

• An introductory sentence
• The thesis (main point)
• The supporting points

Here is a diagram of how it is organized:

We already have one of these parts, which is the thesis (part 2). Now, all we need is  the introductory sentence and the supporting points. 

Let’s put together our supporting points – the crucial part of a thesis statement. A full thesis statement always includes the main point and the supporting ideas. And then we’ll write out the complete introductory paragraph.

Keep in mind that each of our supporting points will correspond to a section of our essay. And I always recommend using the Power of Three to organize a paper. 

Three is a great number to divide one idea into many. Note that writing an essay on any topic is very much a matter of dividing big topics into subtopics. 

What three supporting points or sections can we have in this essay? Well, luckly, it just so happens that the film The Hours centers around three main characters set in different time periods and places. 

This makes a perfect division into three parts. Now, your movie may not have such a clear division, and in that case you’ll need to come up with three supporting ideas creatively. 

For example, you could discuss the feeling or predicament if being stuck in terms of these concepts:

And your essay would have three main sections. Each section would be devoted to being stuck in a particular sense. 

In our essay, the three women are:

• Virginia Woolf (1923)
• Laura Brown (1951)
• Clarissa Vaughan (2001)

From our thesis, we know two things:

• They all share the feeling of being stuck, in similar ways
• There is a progression from past to present in how it affects them

So, now, let’s write out the complete thesis statement. Note that we’re also including the introductory sentence, whose function is to pull the reader into the subject matter of the essay.

Our film analysis thesis statement example

“Through the power of narrative and visual elements, cinema allows the viewer a glimpse into worlds she otherwise could not know, revealing difficulties people have faced throughout history. In the film The Hours, the feeling of being stuck in terms of their sexualities and life situations plagues the main characters. And the earlier in the century the action takes place, the more disastrous the consequences of them feeling stuck. Virginia Woolf, set in 1923, is in the worst situation because while she suffers from repressed homosexuality and hates living in the country, it is next to impossible for her to find a viable way out. Laura Brown, set in 1951, is also a closet lesbian and lives a small-town family life she despises. But she eventually finds a way to liberate herself. Finally, Clarissa Vaughn, set in 2001, is stuck in her bisexuality. But her life situation, while challenging, is otherwise better than those of the other two characters.”

Step 5. Outline the essay 

The thesis statement that we just put together also acts as our big-picture outline. Let’s see how our essay will be organized, in terms of the main sections:

Notice that this big-picture outline is dictated completely by our thesis statement. This is why a great, detailed thesis statement is so important. 

Fulfilling the word count requirement

Your film analysis essay assignment may have a specific word or page count requirement. Let me give you an example of this film analysis outline with a breakdown of words per section and subsection.

Let’s say you need to write a 2,000-word paper. Well, right now our introductory paragraph contains about 150 words. Here is how we could distribute words to meet that word count requirement.

Outline with word count distribution

• Introductory paragraph (150 words)
• Sexuality ( 300 words )
• Life situation ( 300 words )
• Conclusion (100 words)

If you add up all the sections and subsections, you’ll get 2,050, which is about our desired word count. 

If you need to write 5,000 words, then distribute your words accordingly. You’ll have about 250 words per introduction and conclusion, which will leave you with 4,500 words for the body of the essay.

That will be 1,500 words per main section. Divide each main section into three subsections using the Power of Three, and you have 500 words per subsection. 

It’s very helpful to know how to distribute your words because that allows you to map out how much you’re writing in each section and paragraph. 

Step 6. Write the body of the essay

The body of a film analysis essay consists of sections, and each section consists of one or more paragraphs. 

So, your main building block in the body of the essay is the body paragraph. Here is how a body paragraph is structured:

The first sentence is the so-called lead sentence. It must summarize the contents of the paragraph succinctly and perfectly. 

An explanation is where you have a chance to provide any reasoning or describe a process.

And examples are the most specific parts of any paragraph or essay. They are the most fun to write and to read. 

Let’s write a body paragraph to illustrate exactly how such a building block works in a movie analysis. 

Our example is about Virginia Woolf. It belongs in Section 1, subsection 1 – about being stuck with repressed homosexuality. 

Note that this subsection can have more than one paragraph. This will be one of the paragraphs in this section. 

Film analysis body paragraph example

“Virginia feels stuck in her personal life as if in a prison because of her repressed sexuality. She appears to be a closet homosexual, which is a difficult predicament to endure in the early 20th century England. Homosexuality was looked down upon, and a woman had to be married to a man, regardless of her innate sexual preferences. She lives with her husband who takes care of her and clearly loves her. However, when her sister Vanessa comes to visit, at the end of the visit, Virginia gives her a long, passionate kiss on the lips that is apparently reciprocated. The kiss is so intense that it indicates a repressed desire. Vanessa accepts it, but it is not clear whether she does so out of mutual attraction or compassion for her sister’s suffering.”

This paragraph follows the structure illustrated in the diagram. 

It opens with a lead sentence which summarizes and introduces the entire contents of the paragraph perfectly. It is also the most general statement of the essay.

Next comes the explanation. We explain why we think that Virginia has a problem. The time period she lives in makes it difficult to be a sexual minority. 

Finally, we provide an example – the most specific kind of evidence in an essay. It is an example of a kiss, with a description and implications. 

To complete the body of the essay, we would need to build it out by writing one paragraph after another, following the outline and maintaining this body paragraph structure. 

Note that you can also use outside sources to support your points. But first write out what you can without resorting to research. And only then go and find sources that would confirm your thinking and ideas. 

Step 7. Write the conclusion

This is the final step and the easiest one. I usually advocate for concluding with a simple restatement. 

All you need to do is write out the thesis statement using different words so it doesn’t come across as a mere copy. 

Your conclusion can be shorter than the introductory paragraph. After all, you’ve already said it all. And now, just restate in fewer and different words. You can also add a more general statement at the very end, as a finishing touch. 

And let’s do it.

“The Hours is a fascinating study of how repressed sexuality and confining life situations have affected people’s lives throughout the twentieth century. The three characters live in different times, and the earlier the period the more difficult the situation and the harder it is to endure. Virginia commits suicide because she can’t find a way out of her situation. Laura almost commits suicide but then chooses to abandon her situation, which is physically a little easier in the 1950’s. And Clarissa lives with her girlfriend. Her situation is better although she is still stuck as a bisexual. Life in 2001 is significantly better, though not devoid of challenges.”

And there you have it. Now you know exactly how to write a film analysis paper. 

I hope this was helpful!

Tutor Phil is an e-learning professional who helps adult learners finish their degrees by teaching them academic writing skills.

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How To Land 3 Clients a Month By Writing a Case Study About a Project You Did

A case study is not a scientific study. It’s an in-depth examination of one individual, family, or group that sometimes includes interviews and observations.

Case studies are published to provide information about the subject in order to help others make informed decisions when it comes to clinical care, treatment options, and more.

Case studies are most often used in medicine and social science. They typically involve research subjects from a specific population, which can be defined geographically, demographically, or by other criteria for inclusion.

WRITING A CASE STUDY

What is a case study.

A case study is a research method in which the researcher studies an individual, group, or event and describes their experience.

Case studies are typically qualitative because they involve observing and describing behavior as it naturally occurs.

Case studies can be used for any type of business including retail marketing, software development, nursing home management, and more.

Landing new clients can be a game-changer for our business, and we’ve found that writing a case study about a project is a powerful strategy.

A well-crafted case study showcases our expertise and results, directly speaking to potential clients’ needs.

We’ll guide you through the process of creating a compelling case study that attracts clients.

With the right approach, we can consistently secure three new clients every month, just by sharing our success stories.

Why Writing A Case Study Is An Effective Strategy To Land New Clients

Writing a case study is a profound way for businesses to communicate their successes and competencies.

By meticulously detailing a project from inception to completion, it demonstrates the real-world application of our skills and methodologies.

A case study serves as tangible proof of our expertise.

It’s not just about the services we offer, but about the value we deliver.

Prospective clients can visualize their own success through the stories we tell.

Bullet Points:

• Trust factor – showcasing the journey from challenge to resolution builds credibility,
• Problem-solving skills – illustrates our approach to overcoming obstacles,
• Results-oriented – emphasizes the measurable outcomes we deliver.

Case studies leverage storytelling to engage potential clients.

The narrative format makes the content relatable and memorable, creating a lasting impression of our brand .

The use of a case study aligns with how people make buying decisions today.

It offers social proof and aligns with digital trends, such as the preference for authentic content over blatant advertising.

Numbers Speak:

Engaging potential clients through case studies paves the way for a connection.

It’s an opportunity for us to showcase how our film and video solutions can address their needs and goals.

Identifying The Right Project To Create A Case Study

When looking to attract more clients through case studies, it’s crucial to select the right projects to highlight.

Not every project will serve as an effective magnet for potential clients.

Look for projects that reflect standout successes or represent significant milestones in your filmmaking career.

We consider several criteria to determine the most suitable projects for case studies:

• Impact on the client’s success – projects that have had a tangible, positive effect on our client’s goals.
• Innovativeness – projects where we have applied new techniques or creative solutions that set us apart.
• Challenges overcome – highlighting our problem-solving abilities during unforeseen difficulties.

It’s equally important to consider the relevance of the project to our target audience.

A captivating case study should mirror the aspirations or pain points of the clients we’re aiming to attract.

By doing this, we not only show our expertise but also how we empathize and provide solutions within our industry.

Our final selection criteria include:

• The client’s willingness to participate – their support can add authenticity and depth to our case study.
• The measurable results achieved – we focus on data and outcomes that can be backed by quantifiable figures.

Selecting a project with a compelling story and clear results does more than simply paint a picture of our capabilities.

It serves as a beacon to the type of clients we’re looking to engage, demonstrating that we don’t just create films, we craft experiences that leave a lasting impact.

Choosing The Right Format And Structure For The Case Study

Once we’ve identified a powerful project story that resonates with our target audience, it’s crucial to package it in an engaging format.

Structuring the case study to highlight the journey – from challenge to solution to result – supports the narrative arc that captivates potential clients.

Case studies can take various forms, and selecting the right one hinges on the content and the audience.

We could choose from a traditional written document, but multimedia formats offer a dynamic edge.

For filmmakers, a video case study provides a showreel of our storytelling capabilities, while a mini-documentary can immerse the viewer in the client’s experience.

Bullet points, charts, and infographics break down information that needs to stand out.

Remember – maintaining a clear through-line in the chosen format is essential.

Graphics and visuals are not mere decorations; they amplify the story we’re telling.

The structure of our case study should establish the following:

• A clear introduction of the client and their challenge – The innovative approach or solution we applied,
• Concrete results and benefits achieved by the client.

Whatever the medium, it’s vital to maintain an authentic tone.

A case study that’s relatable and honest builds trust among prospects.

We know the success of our case study hinges on transparency – our audience must feel they’re getting a real look behind the curtain of our process.

Including client testimonials provides a personal touch and lends credence to our narrative.

Potential clients see themselves reflected in the success of others, which can tip the scales in our favor.

With the right format and structure, capturing the essence of a project becomes more than a success story.

It’s an invitation to future clients to envision what we can achieve together.

Our case study becomes a bridge connecting the viewer directly to our creative potential and expertise.

Crafting A Compelling Case Study Title And Introduction

Creating a magnetic title is crucial if we’re aiming to land new clients through our case studies.

The title must encapsulate the essence of the story while enticing prospects to read on.

It’s similar to how a film like The Shawshank Redemption doesn’t give away the plot but intrigues with its promise.

Similarly, our case study titles should tease the benefits and success without revealing too much too soon.

The introduction sets the stage for the unfolding narrative of our project.

It should establish the core challenge faced by the client and hint at the transformation achieved through collaboration.

We tend to open with a relatable pain point.

This immediately engages our target audience by letting them know we understand their struggles and have a proven solution.

We weave in:

• The client’s industry and background,
• The specific problem or goal,
• The stakes of not resolving the issue.

By painting a vivid picture of the scenario, we draw readers deeper into the case study, increasing the likelihood they’ll see themselves in the client’s shoes.

The overarching aim is to connect emotionally even before we present the logical arguments.

Our introductions make it clear what the reader can gain.

They emphasize the actionable insights and strategic takeaways that will be disclosed, much like Inception promises a journey into the depths of the subconscious.

We ensure our intros are succinct.

They serve as the springboard into the meat of the story where we will demonstrate our expertise and the measurable outcomes we’ve facilitated.

Remember, the goal is not just to showcase our past success.

It’s to lay down a pathway for our readers to become our next success story.

Demonstrate The Problem And Solution In The Case Study

In a case study, it’s crucial to articulate the problem with precision.

We jump into the client’s world, thoroughly outlining the challenges they faced before our intervention.

Customers often relate to real-world problems, making this part of the case study a powerful hook.

Illustrating the pain points clearly sets the stage for an impactful revelation of the solutions provided.

By doing so, not only do we validate the client’s experience but also our understanding of the industry.

Their issues may stem from common pain points such as:

• Inadequate engagement with their audience,
• Poor conversion rates,
• Inefficient workflows,
• Limited reach in their market.

We transition smoothly from the problem to showcasing our tailored solutions.

It’s critical to demonstrate that the strategies implemented were not chosen at random but specifically designed to target their unique challenges.

Each solution is dissected, showing its direct impact on the client’s predicament.

We highlight our systematic approach to filmmaking or video production which can include:

• Understanding the target audience – Implementing cutting-edge technology – Executing creative storytelling techniques,
• Leveraging strategic marketing campaigns.

We make each solution tangible by providing evidence of our effectiveness.

Metrics play a key role here, as they offer concrete proof of improvement.

Increased viewer engagement or higher conversion rates are just a few metrics that can solidify the success of our solution.

The presentation of the problem and the solution are intertwined within the narrative of the case study.

It’s this journey from adversity to triumph that not only captivates the reader but also demonstrates our expertise and the tangible results we can deliver.

This strategy ensures we’re not just telling a story; we’re showing prospective clients exactly how they’ll benefit from working with us.

Showcasing Results And Impact In The Case Study

After delivering the solution, it’s time to highlight the outcomes.

Measurable results are critical, so we ensure they’re front and center in our case studies.

The impact of our work on the client’s business can’t be understated, and it’s our job to demonstrate this clearly.

By showcasing tangible benefits, we solidify our expertise in creating successful projects, whether for film or other creative ventures.

We’re not shy about sharing the metrics that matter.

After implementing our custom strategies, the improvements are documented through:

• Revenue growth – how the client’s earnings spiked post-engagement,
• Audience engagement – the increase in social media interactions or website traffic,
• Conversion rates – the uptick in viewers taking the desired action after the project’s conclusion.

These numbers speak directly to the reader’s rational side, reassuring them that our solutions have a real-world impact.

also, they provide a quantifiable benchmark for potential clients to understand what we can achieve for them too.

Visual elements play an integral part in telling the success story.

Before and after photos, infographics, and snippets of the produced film work help to illustrate our points.

They also make the data more digestible, ensuring the reader grasps the full scope of our impact without needing to wade through complex datasets.

The narrative doesn’t end with data alone.

We weave testimonials from satisfied clients throughout the narrative, personalizing the statistics with real-world validation of our work.

Their accolades serve as an authentic endorsement, one that resonates deeply with prospective clients considering our services.

What’s essential is that every result we highlight is directly linked back to the client’s goals.

We make sure the connection is crystal clear, demonstrating without a doubt that our film production capabilities are not just about meeting expectations but exceeding them.

Adding Visuals And Data To Strengthen The Case Study

Incorporating visuals and data into a case study is essential for grabbing attention and driving the message home.

Visual aids such as charts, graphics, and videos can transform complex data into digestible and memorable content.

We understand that in the realm of filmmaking, a picture is worth a thousand words – and then some .

Italicized film titles like The Social Network instantly evoke a sense of quality; applying this method to showcase our film work can have a similar effect on prospects.

To truly captivate potential clients, we integrate key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect success:

• Audience reach – illustrating the extensive viewership.
• Social media engagement – demonstrating interaction levels.
• Conversion rates – proving the effectiveness of the film content.

Data visualization goes beyond mere aesthetics; it’s about clarity and impact.

Tables are an excellent tool for comparing before and after statistics, revealing the tangible outcomes of our filmmaking prowess.

Remember that the correct use of images and data doesn’t just show success, it tells a story.

Each visual element should serve as a testament to the nuanced filmmaking strategies we employed to achieve our client’s objectives.

It’s not just about slapping in some graphs and photos; strategic alignment is the name of the game.

Visuals and data points must align with the case study narrative to reinforce the results.

They serve as a visual proof that complements the written word, enhancing the overall credibility and persuasiveness of the case study.

Our goal is to let the visuals speak for us, to let them narrate parts of the story that words alone can’t capture.

Just as in film, the visual storytelling elements we choose are characters in their own right, each playing a crucial role in conveying the plot – the success story – that will entice those three monthly clients.

Promoting The Case Study To Attract Potential Clients

Once our case study is complete, promoting it effectively is crucial for catching the eye of prospective clients.

We’ll jump into methods that ensure the case study reaches our target audience and conveys our success in filmmaking and video production.

Our first step is to leverage our website as a hosting platform.

By creating a dedicated section for case studies, we establish a professional showcase that’s easily accessible to visitors.

Fresh content not only drives traffic but also improves our site’s SEO, making it a win-win.

Social media platforms are powerful tools for promotion.

Here’s how we can use them effectively –

• Share snippets of the case study across different channels,
• Include visually engaging teasers such as trailers or behind-the-scenes clips,
• Engage in discussions and groups related to our industry to increase visibility.

Email marketing should not be overlooked.

A well-crafted email campaign can place our case study directly in the inboxes of industry influencers and potential clients, personalized to spark their interest.

Remember, it’s about making connections that lead to conversions.

Partnering with other industry professionals can amplify our reach.

If our case study highlights work with a well-known brand or artist, tagging them and possibly getting a share or mention from their side can have a significant impact.

This kind of social proof is invaluable for reputability and trust.

finally, we can’t ignore the value of paid advertising.

Targeted ads on platforms like Google, LinkedIn, or Facebook help us reach potential clients who are searching for precisely the services we document in our case study.

By setting clear demographics and interests, our case study can appear right where it’s most relevant.

Ensuring that our content is discoverable by search engines is paramount .

SEO techniques such as keyword optimization and meta descriptions play a pivotal role in driving organic traffic to our case study.

The right phrases can make all the difference between being seen and being overlooked.

Tracking And Measuring The Success Of The Case Study

Tracking the success of our case study is crucial to understanding its impact.

We use various metrics to assess performance and guide future strategies.

Web traffic is a primary indicator of interest.

We monitor the number of visitors to our case study page and observe how long they stay engaged with the content.

Conversion rates tell us how effectively the case study persuades viewers to take action.

We track how many visitors download the study, sign up for our newsletter, or contact us for more information.

Social media engagement measures broader outreach.

We keep an eye on likes, shares, and comments to gauge the conversation around our case study.

We also consider the indirect benefits of our case study.

References in industry publications or invitations to speak at events can signal that our case study is making waves beyond immediate metrics.

To get a complete picture, we compare data from before and after the case study’s release.

Here’s what we look at:

• Changes in website traffic,
• Variations in lead generation,
• Fluctuations in social media metrics.

This comparative analysis helps us understand the case study’s impact.

Feedback from clients provides qualitative insights.

We ask how the case study influenced their decision to work with us.

Search engine rankings can reflect the effectiveness of SEO efforts.

Climbing the SERP for targeted keywords signifies that our content is resonating with the right audience.

We use tools like Google Analytics and social media analytics to collect and analyze data.

These platforms offer comprehensive insights into how our content performs across the web.

By continually monitoring these metrics, we’re able to refine our approach.

We aim to keep our case study fresh and relevant, ensuring it continues to attract new clients to our business.

How To Land 3 Clients A Month By Writing A Case Study About A Project – Wrap Up

We’ve seen the power of a well-crafted case study in not only showcasing our successes but actively driving new client engagement.

By diligently tracking and measuring the performance of our case studies, we’re equipped to make data-driven decisions that optimize our content and strategy.

This ensures that our case study remains a dynamic tool in our marketing arsenal, continually drawing in prospects and converting them into clients.

Let’s leverage these insights and keep refining our approach.

With commitment and precision, landing three clients a month isn’t just a goal—it’s our new reality.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main purpose of a case study.

A case study aims to showcase a success story, demonstrating how a business solved a particular challenge for a client, highlighting the effectiveness of its product or service.

Which Metrics Are Important For Measuring The Success Of A Case Study?

Key metrics to measure include web traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, industry references, and speaking invitations, among others.

Why Is It Important To Compare Data Before And After A Case Study’s Release?

Comparing pre- and post-release data helps in understanding the direct impact the case study has had on marketing efforts and overall business performance.

How Can Feedback From Clients Affect The Future Of Case Studies?

Client feedback can offer valuable insights for improvement, helping to make future case studies more effective and targeted towards the needs and interests of potential clients.

What Role Do Tools Like Google Analytics Play In Case Study Success Measurement?

Tools such as Google Analytics and social media analytics are essential for collecting and analyzing performance data to assess the effectiveness of a case study and to refine marketing strategies.

Matt Crawford

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Case Study: Changing the World, One Documentary at a Time

By Gary Weimberg

On September 10, 1999 Dylcia Pagan walked out of her prison cell in the Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin, California. Her incarceration as a political prisoner in the United States was over. She had served 19 years of her 55 year sentence. She had been set free by an act of Executive Clemency from then President Bill Clinton.

The documentary  The Double Life of Ernesto Gomez Gomez  that we had made about her, her son Ernesto, her years as a political prisoner, and her political struggle for the independence of Puerto Rico, had aired on the PBS series P.O.V just 8 weeks before.

For over 6 years my wife, Catherine Ryan and myself and worked on this documentary as part of an international grassroots campaign to achieve this very thing: freedom for Dylcia and 11 other Puerto Rican nationalists who were serving lengthy prison terms for their political belief in the independence of Puerto Rico.

I have never had a more profoundly emotional and beautiful moment in my life than there outside the prison, when Dylcia took her first free steps and was finally reunited with her son in freedom. Then we all drove off to the airport together, to go to Puerto Rico to begin her new life.

Arriving in Puerto Rico, 10,000 cheering people greeted her at the airport.

The experience was unforgettable, seared into my memory, and it remains to this day a high point of my life and of my lifelong commitment to activism and media. We had begun this work with hope, but without a real expectation of victory. We had begun as a matter of principle, to fight the good fight: for the rights of political prisoners, for the rights of prisoners victimized by injustice in general, for the principle of self-determination of peoples, causes so noble and worthwhile that we never believed with certainty that we would achieve a victory.

That it came to be makes it all the more worthwhile to look at the reasons why.

How it began

In the early 1980’s a small group of us worked together to make a series of documentaries about El Salvador in opposition to the US funded war there. We tried many different styles and techniques in a search to be effective, from “objective journalist” to “strident advocate.”

The most effective of these was  Maria’s Story , a personal biography of a peasant woman, mother, leader, and revolutionary, broadcast on P.O.V in 1992. What worked so well was the program’s specificity: one woman’s life story. Inside of her life, we could explore the truth of the general injustice of the situation of El Salvador. Viewers might disagree with Maria, but they couldn’t disagree with the reality of her life.

The second and even more important reason for the effective nature of  Maria’s Story  is that we made it in conjunction with  CISPES (Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) . The grassroots usefulness of the project was tested and reviewed at screenings and fundraisers from day one. The documentary was not made by us as outsiders, nor advanced as a “top down” solution. It was made hand in hand with the people doing the work, who knew what was needed, who held work-in-progress screenings at countless political events and fielded the questions and the praise, and who never failed to be passionate about the importance of the documentary we were producing.

That became our road map for our other political film work and as that work continued, eventually in 1994, we met Dylcia’s son, Ernesto Gomez-Gomez.

Ernesto was 15 years old when we met. As a child he had been raised under another identity in Mexico because Dylcia wanted to protect him from political harassment. In Mexico, when he turned 10, his Mexican family finally told him the truth: that he was adopted, that his mother was in prison in the United States. So at age 15, he had come to the US to live in San Francisco, near to the prison where his mother was being held, to visit her and to build a mother-son relationship.

His guardian was a dedicated woman, a Puerto Rican nationalist and activist. She moved to San Francisco just to be his guardian and it was she who realized how lonely he was. At that time Ernesto did not speak English and he found no one in his high school who could relate to the issues of his life, or of the lives of political prisoners.

Because of our past work, his guardian suggested that we take him out to a meal and a movie. We got along immediately. He borrowed a copy of  Maria’s Story  to watch. The next day he came by and asked, “Could we make a movie that would help free my mom from prison?”

And so it began.

The grassroots plan

We were 4 months into it when Ernesto told us he was invited to go to a conference in Puerto Rico on the nationalist political prisoners and asked if we wanted to come. We did and got introduced to some brilliant activists (Jan Sussler, Luis Nieves Falcon, and others) who had a plan.

In 1992, shortly after Clinton was elected for his first term, these activists anticipated that Clinton would win a second term and so in 7 years time, at the end of the 2nd term, he would be a lame duck President with nothing to lose. That was the optimum moment, they reasoned, to achieve for executive clemency for the Puerto Rican political prisoners. They began an international campaign, planned to culminate in 7 years, to create the strongest possible petitions for clemency, and with petitions and demonstrations and the written support of Nobel Peace Prize winners from around the world, convince the President of the injustice of the lengthy prison sentences.

Two years later, 1994, we show up with Ernesto and our still-unformed documentary and they immediately promoted us to be the media wing of the campaign. Our goal and theirs would share a strategic vision and timeline, planned to coincide with 1999.

The use of the video by the movement

It took 5 years to complete the documentary, but through out the entire time, just as we had with  Maria’s Story , we used clips and fundraising reels at events. Portions of  The Double Life of Ernesto Gomez Gomez  were shown at nearly 100 events and helped to raise thousands of dollars for the movement. We never refused an activist request to show the video, in fact we never even wanted to refuse. Those screenings became our psychic re-charger when faced with the often dismal reality of political film making.

In return, the movement came to our aid when we were challenged by James Yee Executive Director of ITVS to prove that there would be national interest in a Puerto Rican issue. With in a few weeks the movement was able to generate a couple hundred letters from people around the country who had seen portions of the video and could testify to what it meant to them.

We also promised ourselves and others never to raise money for the video that would take away support for the movement. Video is so expensive that we were concerned it would become a drag on the direct organizing needs. So we tried to use the video as a tool to create new support, new dollars. In the end, I can only wish we were more successful in this regard. The truth is that we raised a limited amount of money and mostly supported the project ourselves, around other jobs. But in an era of inexpensive camcorders and home computer editing systems, everything is possible.

Another important benefit of this true and active collaboration was that whenever the valid question came up of “who are these white people?” we were never compelled to defend ourselves. Puerto Rican activists with years in the movement could speak of the real collaboration that was occurring. We ourselves have always been sensitive to the issue of cultural imperialism, the story of Puerto Rican nationalism is not ours to tell. It was incumbent on us to demonstrate that we could be faithful to other people’s story, and contribute by helping them to tell their own story for themselves.

In a small way, this collaboration was wonderfully illustrated in the final translation/voice over session, where people from California, New York, Illinois, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, El Salvador all worked and argued together over the correct way to translate the English in the video into a trans-national Spanish.

The results

Most amazing of all, was that it worked.

The timeline, the strategy, and the response was exactly as those brilliant activists had planned 7 years before. The additional component of a national broadcast of  The Double Life of Ernesto Gomez Gomez  in the P.O.V series on PBS was helpful both inside the movement, gearing up for the final push; and also it was helpful in discussions with the White House Chief Counsel, Charles Ruff who watched it the week before he made his recommendation for clemency.

Besides the broadcast, the documentary won a number of film festival awards: Best Documentary at the Big Muddy Film Festival, Best Documentary at the San Antonio Cine Festival, Grand Jury Prize (for best film overall) at the Image (Atlanta) Film & Video Festival, Documentary Competition Winner at the Athens International Film & Video Festival, Award of Merit from LASA 2000 (Latin American Studies Association), and a nomination from the Director’s Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary, 1999. The film was screened at the Berlin Film Festival and 21 others.

The lessons

For political activists and advocacy film makers, these then are the things I come away with as lessons:

• Don’t focus on the issue. Focus on a person. It is the individual human experience (or small group) that illustrates the truth of larger societal issues. But our human compassion and understanding is best reached by the stories of people, not by generalizations. If your issue is real, find the human face that exemplifies it.
• Collaborate actively with existing grass roots organizations. Don’t go it alone, don’t think you know it all, don’t re-invent the wheel. Someone out there is already doing what you think needs to be done.
• Have a strategic goal. Don’t just shoot. Think about what it is you wish to accomplish, or find others who have already thought about it. Make every minute, every dollar, every effort count.
• Small is beautiful. Don’t get caught up in expensive gear / crew / production. Don’t get caught up in endless fundraising. Embrace your limitations, start shooting and create your path one step at time.
• Si se puede! Most importantly of all, the lesson of  The Double Life of Ernesto Gomez-Gomez  is simply this:  si se puede . Yes it can be done.