How to keep notes on each film watched for film students

Film students can keep a note on each film they watch with one template, one storage place and a weekly review, plus a look at Watcharr.

By VLClean · 2026-11-12

VLClean is published by the makers of Askarr and Watcharr, which are compared here alongside other tools.

Film students can keep notes on each film watched with one template, one storage place, and a short weekly review. Watcharr turns a public IMDb list into one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows, so it is covered here as a separate job from writing notes. ^[1]

Option	What it does	Setup
Watcharr	Turns a public IMDb list into one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. ^[1]	The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. ^[1]
Other note-keeping tools	not published	not published

What you need before you start

Before you take a single note, decide what each note is for. Most film students need a record that is quick to fill in and easy to search before an essay or exam, so the format matters more than the software.

Choose one place to store the notes, such as a notebook, a folder of documents, or a spreadsheet, and use only that place. Build one template with the same fields for every film: title, year, director, date watched, the scene or shot that stood out, a note on sound or editing, and one question for class.

Have your viewing list ready before the term starts. Use the films on your course syllabus or the titles your teacher has named, and write the title and year next to each one. Also decide how much time you can give each film so the notes stay short enough to finish every week.

Step by step

The routine works the same for any note-taking method. Follow these steps in order, and adjust the template after the first few films.

Pick the one place you will keep every note and stick to it.
Save the template as the first note so every later note starts from the same fields.
Write the viewing list with the title and year for each film in the term.
After each screening, fill in one note on the same day while the details are still clear.
Write two or three sentences on what the film did well and one point you would question, in your own words.
Add tags such as genre, director, country, or course unit, so you can find the note later.
Each week, read the new notes and fill any gaps you left.
At the end of the term, go through the notes together and mark the ones you will use for essays.

Keep the same order every time, so the habit becomes automatic and the notes stay consistent from film to film. If a field keeps going unused, remove it from the template rather than leaving it blank.

Tools that can do it

Watcharr is made by the team that publishes this site. Paste one public IMDb list and it gives you one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. ^[1] Each link lets Radarr check it every 15 minutes and Sonarr every 5. ^[1] You can paste any public IMDb watchlist or list, from the desktop site, the phone site, or IMDb's other-language pages. ^[1]

Watcharr turns a public IMDb list into one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. ^[1]

Before you choose a note-keeping tool, check how it saves each note, whether you can tag notes and search them later, and whether it works on the device you use to watch films.

Common mistakes to avoid

Avoid setting up a note method after the term has started, because the first films are the ones you will need to find later. Start the template before the first screening.

Avoid writing notes days after a screening. Details such as the shot that stood out or the sound design fade quickly, and a late note tends to be vague.

Avoid using a different format for each film. Mixed formats make search slow, and the notes stop being useful for essays.

Avoid adding tools before you know what your notes are for. Choosing a tool first makes the decision harder than it needs to be.

Avoid pasting a list into Watcharr without checking that it is public. Watcharr accepts public IMDb lists, so check that a list is public before you paste it. ^[1]

Frequently asked questions

How do film students keep notes on each film watched?

Film students usually keep one template with the same fields for every film, such as title, year, director, date watched, a standout scene, and one question for class. They store every note in one place, fill it in on the day of the screening, and review the notes each week. Tags make it easier to find notes later, and a short end-of-term review shows which notes are ready to use in essays.

Can Watcharr keep notes on each film watched?

Watcharr turns a public IMDb list into one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. ^[1] Its job is sending titles from a list into those programs, so writing a note on each film is a separate step. Keep the notes in the template you set up, and use Watcharr when you want a list sent to Radarr or Sonarr.

Does Watcharr need to be installed before it can be used?

The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. ^[1] The web app allows pasting, copying and browsing from any screen. ^[1] A bookmark you click inside Radarr or Sonarr adds the list for you, using that app's access code without sending it anywhere else. ^[1]

How often does Watcharr re-read an IMDb list?

If you sign in, Watcharr re-reads your list about every 15 minutes and warns you when a list fails three reads in a row. ^[1] If a read fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. ^[1] The same list always gives the same two links. ^[1]

Does Watcharr cost money to use?

The facts available for this page do not state a price for Watcharr, so check its page before you rely on a cost. Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence, and older versions remain under MIT. ^[1] Commercial use is not licensed, and no commercial licence is for sale. ^[1]

Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence; older versions remain under MIT. ^[1]

Try Watcharr

Sources

Watcharr's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)