Being able to watch TV and films critically is a skill that is vitally important for all people who wish to enter into the entertainment in any position. It doesn't matter if you want to be a writer, editor, actor, director, or producer, if working in film and TV is something that you aspire too then you have to develop a critical eye for the medium. This is going to do two main things for you. The first thing it is going to do is make you able to see what works and what doesn't. The second thing that it is going to do is inspire you in many ways when it comes to your own work.
Being able to watch a great movie and understand why it is great is one of the greatest skills an aspiring film professional can acquire. It is never enough to know that something is great, you must be able to look at the work critically and determine why it is so good. If all you can do is recognize greatness, then your own work will likely be derivative and bland, only playing off of the exact things that you have seen before. If however, you are able to understand what makes a a specific performance, shot, or script work so well, then you will be starting to grasp a basic understanding of the underlying concepts that make good movies. That knowledge will enable you to apply that way of thinking to the stories that inspire you in order to create your own memorable works.
Being able to watch TV and films critically is especially important if you want to be an actor. Too many actors are consumed with the glitz and the glitter of Hollywood and never put any real thought into the care and effort that goes into creating these performances. You have to use these great performances and great movies as your own inspiration to pursue your craft. Realize how hard these actors work at their job. Think about the classes they've taken or the hours they've spent practicing. Their greatness can serve as an inspiration to your own. Don't let this take all the fun out of TV and movies so often, but every so often, make an effort of turning a more critical eye to what you are watching, and try to decipher exactly what is making a performance so wonderful.
Hans Fredrick is one of the instructors at www.theonlinefilmschool.com. The members of the team at The Online Film School are dedicated to creating the world's premiere web portal for learning and stuyding all aspects of film making. In addition to their ebooks and private video lessons, the staff also issues a free weekly newsletter full of reviews, exercises, industry news and more. The newsletter is available at www.theonlinefilmschool.com/newsletter.
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