Introduction to Film Language

Film Language Theresa Dawson Jacob Burns Film Center Monday 20 July 2009

Mise-en-scene Put into the scene / staging an action • Setting • Props • Costume • Performance • Lighting

Mise-en-scene and film authorship Mise-en-scene central to auteur discussion i.e.film authorship. During classic Hollywood studio period control of the director was limited to those processes recorded during filming. The quality of a director’s work could be read through his control over mise-en- scene

Setting Location: What is the significance of the natural setting in this clip? What is the significance of the house set?

QuickTimeª and a Motion JPEG A decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Props What is the key prop in this sequence? How do we know it is not just an innocuous part of the setting?

Costume What is the significance of costume in this clip? How does the costume echo in other elements of the mise-en-scene?

Performance Look at ‘Bruno’s’ performance in this clip. What suggestions are made about him? How do other elements of the mise-en-scene contribute to our ‘reading’ of him?

3 point lighting or ‘high key lighting’ Uses 3 light sources: a key light -the main light for the subject, a back light - picks subject out from background, and a fill light, to fill in shadows Designed to be unobtrusive How does 3 point lighting work in this clip?

Top lighting A beautifying light Lighting from below A distorting light Side lighting A selective light that conceals/reveals How is Marlene Dietrich lit in this clip?

Low key lighting ‘noir lighting’ Uses 1 source light, light is limited Images have high contrast ‘chiaroscuro’ Few mid-tones A very noticeable lighting effect

Exercise What do we learn from the mise-en- scene in this opening sequence from Hitchcock’s Rear Window?

Cinematography • Frame dimension • Lens • Camera angle • Camera movement • Focus • Film stock

Frame dimension Aspect ratio 1: 1.33 ‘academy’ Cinemascope 1: 2.35 Widescreen 1: 1.85 (in Widescreen Europe 1:1.75) Identify frame dimension for the following 2 clips

Lenses: wide angle What effect does shooting with a wide angle lens have on the image in this clip?

Lenses: long lens The following clip of Dustin Hoffman desperately trying to halt a wedding was shot using a long lens -- what impact does this have on how we see his actions?

Angle: low angle This character is shot from a low angle. What is our response to him?

Angle: high Why is the camera positioned above The female lead in this sequence? How do we respond to her based on this framing from above?

Angle: canted or ‘dutch’ This framing starts out as framed with the horizon but then goes askew. What is the reason for the askew or ‘canted’ framing in this clip? How does the askew framing make you feel?

Moving camera: the track This is one of the most famous track shots in film history. Why does the filmmaker use a track shot? What effect does this shot have?

Moving camera: steadicam What is the purpose of this very long shot? How does it make you feel? Why did the filmmaker choose to film in this way?

Moving camera: pan crane Pan: Camera moving from side to side Crane: Camera is mounted on a crane and can float through the air How is pan and crane used in this shot?

Focus: rack focus In this sequence we shift focus from one character to the other What is the effect of this change in focus?

Film stock Comment on the color used in this clip?

Editing • Continuity editing • 180 degree system • Match on action • Montage editing • Cross-cutting

Continuity editing Dominant editing style Designed to be seamless Includes filming in 180 degrees of action Varying angles by more than 30 degrees Eyeline and other match shots

180 degree axis of action This clip explains the 180 degree rule Why is it important that you do not ‘cross the line/axis’ in terms of editing shots together?

Match shots This sequence contains a ‘match on action’ shot Where does the match on action take place? Why is a match on action shot used?

Self-conscious breaking 180 degree rule Ozu is a director who deliberately breaks the 180 degree rule Where do we see a break in the 180 degree rule in this clip? What effect does this have?

Self-conscious match on action This sequence also contains a match action, however, it draws attention to itself Where is the match on action? What is the filmmaker implying here with this match on action shot?

Montage editing The ‘Kuleshov’ effect Cutting of neutral shots of an actor’s face with other shots (variously reported as shots of soup, nature, a dead woman, a baby). The audience assumed that the actor’s expression changed but also that the actor was responding to things in the same scene as himself.

Montage editing How is montage editing used in this clip?

Cross-cutting Creates omniscience by alternating shots from one place with shots from another event or place. Typically used to cause tension in viewer. First used extensively by D W Griffith in his last minute rescue scenes. How is cross cutting used in the opening of Strangers on a Train? How is cross cutting used in The Godfather?

Sound • Speech • Sound effects • Music • Diegetic v non diegetic • Diegetic: internal / external

Speech How is speech varied in this clip? Why does the filmmaker vary loudness timbre of the speaker? How do you feel at the end of the clip?

QuickTimeª and a H.264 decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Sound effects What sound effects are used in this clip? What makes these sound effects more effective than the sound that might have been recorded on set?

Music What sound effects and music do you hear in the opening credits of this film? What do the sounds make you think of? Why is sound so important in this opening sequence?

Diegetic sound Diegetic means emanating from a source in the story space Non-diegetic sound means from outside the story space Is music in the Strangers on a Train clip diegetic or non-diegetic?

Internal v external diegetic External diegetic sound is sound that can be heard by everyone else in the story Internal diegetic sound exists in the character’s mind How is external and internal diegetic sound used in this clip?

Confused internal/external diegetic sound This clip famously plays tricks on the audience about whether the sound is external sound coming from an identifiable source, or whether it is internal and exists in the character’s mind How does the filmmaker do this?

Exercise How is sound used to create emotion and tension in Robert Bresson’s ‘A Man Escaped’?

Further information This presentation is online at slideshare: Reading: ‘Film Art: an introduction’, 7th edition, K Bordwell and D Thompson, Mcgraw-Hill, New York, 2004 My contact: tdawson@burnsfilmcenter.org

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Introduction to Film Language

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