The Impact of Cinematography and Editing Options Prepare As you prepare to write this discussion, take a few moments to do the following: · Review the Modeled Discussion. · Read any required and recommended reading materials for this week, especially Chapter 7 from the text. · Review the grading rubric for this discussion. · Explore movie clips from the Movieclips website or the Internet Movie Database – IMDB. Reflect Choose a clip that you wish to analyze. The clip you choose must be from a film (preferably from a film with which you are familiar) – not a film trailer or a mash-up. Re-watch your chosen movie clip while closely observing the mise en scène. What analysis can you make about the placement and movement of characters and props in the scene as they relate to camera shots, color, lighting, and other elements of cinematography? Write(due Thursday, Day 3) In your discussion, analyze at least three elements of cinematography and editing (e.g., lighting, color, shots, focus, transitions, and types of cuts) by evaluating the dramatic impact of the scene. Interpret the scene based on your analysis. In your view, what mood, symbolism, or meaning results from the scene’s creative editing and cinematography? Include the name or partial name of the film clip you analyzed in the “Subject” line of your discussion. Include the link to your film clip in the body of your post. Your initial post should be at least 200 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to Peers(due Monday, Day 7) Respond to at least two classmates who reviewed a different clip than your own. After watching the movie clips reviewed by your classmates, compare how the scenes would be different had the editors or cinematographers chosen other options. Your responses should be 125 to 150 words each. Please view the video Accessing Feedback in the Gradebook for guidance on how to review your instructor’s feedback when the post is graded. Week 3 Instructor Guidance Try to imagine a person walking. It could be anyone--male or female-- someone you know, or a famous actor. Can you visualize it? After a while, this walker comes to a house. We don't really get a chance to look at the exterior of the house too much--maybe the shot is too tight, too closely aligned with Walker's point of view. But anyway, as Walker approaches the door and reaches out for the knob we hear something . . . What we hear has a huge impact on how we're going to react to what comes next. Imagine that what we hear is: · A piercing, violently repetitive violin string arrangement (similar to what you might hear in a suspense film Psycho) · · · The deep, resounding sounds of a bass being strummed complete with pauses (similar to what you might hear in a thriller like Jaws) · · · A sprightly piano roll with some sloppy but peppy percussion in the background (similar to what you m ...

1. The Impact of Cinematography and Editing Options
Prepare
As you prepare to write this discussion, take a few moments to
do the following:
· Review the Modeled Discussion.
· Read any required and recommended reading materials for this
week, especially Chapter 7 from the text.
· Review the grading rubric for this discussion.
· Explore movie clips from the Movieclips website or the
Internet Movie Database – IMDB.
Reflect
Choose a clip that you wish to analyze. The clip you choose
must be from a film (preferably from a film with which you are
familiar) – not a film trailer or a mash-up. Re-watch your
chosen movie clip while closely observing the mise en scène.
What analysis can you make about the placement and movement
of characters and props in the scene as they relate to camera
shots, color, lighting, and other elements of cinematography?
Write(due Thursday, Day 3)
In your discussion, analyze at least three elements of
cinematography and editing (e.g., lighting, color, shots, focus,
transitions, and types of cuts) by evaluating the dramatic impact
of the scene. Interpret the scene based on your analysis. In your
view, what mood, symbolism, or meaning results from the
scene’s creative editing and cinematography?
Include the name or partial name of the film clip you analyzed

2. in the “Subject” line of your discussion. Include the link to your
film clip in the body of your post. Your initial post should be at
least 200 words in length. Support your claims with examples
from the required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources,
and properly cite any references.
Respond to Peers(due Monday, Day 7)
Respond to at least two classmates who reviewed a different
clip than your own. After watching the movie clips reviewed by
your classmates, compare how the scenes would be different had
the editors or cinematographers chosen other options. Your
responses should be 125 to 150 words each.
Please view the video Accessing Feedback in the Gradebook
for guidance on how to review your instructor’s feedback when
the post is graded.
Week 3 Instructor Guidance
Try to imagine a person walking. It could be anyone--male or
female-- someone you know, or a famous actor. Can you
visualize it?
After a while, this walker comes to a house. We don't really get
a chance to look at the exterior of the house too much--maybe
the shot is too tight, too closely aligned with Walker's point of
view. But anyway, as Walker approaches the door and reaches
out for the knob we hear something . . .
What we hear has a huge impact on how we're going to react to
what comes next. Imagine that what we hear is:

3. · A piercing, violently repetitive violin string arrangement
(similar to what you might hear in a suspense film Psycho)
·
·
· The deep, resounding sounds of a bass being strummed
complete with pauses (similar to what you might hear in a
thriller like Jaws)
·
·
· A sprightly piano roll with some sloppy but peppy percussion
in the background (similar to what you might hear in romantic
comedy like When Harry Met Sally)
·
·
So: How do you feel about Walker going into that house?
***
In the first instance, you might tell Walker to turn around and
run away, that whatever is behind the door is probably about to
make Walker's day a bad one. In the second case, you might
have a similar but less immediate feeling of dread. Something
bad is going to happen but opening the door might be literally
just the gateway. In the third instance, you might expect
something nice or surprising to happen, maybe even a big
welcome home kiss wouldn’t be all that unexpected given the
feisty tone of the music.
It's clear that the sound in a movie plays a big part in how we
receive certain images. In this case, we're talking about the
music (I'll leave the talk of sound effects to our textbook).
Watching a film is certainly primarily a visual exercise but
we're also heavily influenced in how we process those visual
images by the overall tone. Tone is established, as we've seen,
through a variety of methods (light, costume, the visuals
themselves) but one of the most important and most commonly
overlooked is music.
***
You probably know that the cinema has a rich history of silent

4. films, those made literally before the technology to link film
and sound recording even existed. If you're interested in this era
of Hollywood--the stark black and white beauty, the glitz and
glamour--you might want to follow this link. There, you can
read about how one element, sound--or rather, the absence of
this element!--impacted everything from acting to sets, to the
stories themselves.
There's a wealth of resources there, including links to silent
movies you can watch online and a lengthy documentary that
explores the films and stars of that time period: Hollywood: A
Celebration of the American Silent Film.
In many of today's movies, a rich and expressive background
score has been replaced by a soundtrack of popular songs. I
think this is a problem because suddenly someone else's words
are filling your eardrums. You're unable to form your own
opinion and impression because you're being force fed someone
else's. I can understand why Hollywood would pursue such a
strategy; even if you ignore the obvious cross over promotion
and economic motivators, it's a lot easier to rely on an
established and clear way of communicating tone (the lyrics to a
song, our previous experience with a singer's persona) than to
rely on the more moody and atmospheric elements of orchestral
music.
Maybe it comes down to a matter of trust. Some filmmakers
trust their audience to understand what will happen based
simply on a few notes of music. Others feel like they need the
added oomph of star power of lyrics to get their message across.
But to me, the latter method feels like a crutch to prop up a
scene. It feels a little too instant and distant to really have the
kind of deep emotional response that I go to the movies for.
However, some of you might say that the only reason you had
the response I mentioned to the Jaws or Psycho score is because
of previous exposure.
You knew that the violins signaled danger not because of how

5. they were played but because you were able to remember them
signaling danger in a different context. While that's likely true
for the particular examples from this lecture, it's also pretty
commonly held that the sound of certain instruments played
certain ways can elicit or strengthen certain emotions.
So it's not just that the thrumming Imperial March from Star
Wars makes us think of outer space exploits and evil empires
because of our previous association. Somehow, the musical
notes embodied a regal but menacing quality that helped to
define the image, just as the image now helps define our
reaction to the musical notes.
Being aware of the way music works on us as viewers is
incredibly important. If we listen carefully, we can tell when a
character is lying or when they need to be more careful; we can
tell if a situation is truly dangerous or just inconvenient. We
can even tell the future.
***
Understanding the different types of sound can be very
important. Our discussion question for the week breaks this
down a bit, asking you to think of sound in three main
categories--music, dialogue, and sound effects. But really, all
sound in film is broken down much more simply, and under a
much broader umbrella; the sound is either diegetic or non-
diegetic. Basically, what this means is sound that either
originates from the world of the film (the former term, diegetic)
or sound that originates externally from the world of the film
(the latter term, non-diegetic).
These are important terms, so I hope you'll take a few minutes
to watch this brief video presentation that explains them more
fully and also runs through some examples:
Material developed by Nate Pritts, Ph.D.; additional material by
James Meetze.

6. Categories and Functions of Sound
Prepare
As we have been discussing, the mise en scène of a film is the
use of a variety of design elements to create the visual theme.
As you prepare to write this discussion, take a few moments to
do the following:
· Read any required and recommended reading materials for this
week, especially Chapter 5 (Mise en Scene and Actors).
· Review the grading rubric for this discussion.
· Select a full-length film from the AFI 10 Top 10 list.
Reflect
Last week, we examined how different lighting styles and
choices affected the final impact of a film. This week, we will
consider different types and categories of sound at work in film
and assess how they contribute to the overall sense of meaning
in a film.
There are many types of sound in a film. Some are diegetic
(sounds that are represented as coming from within the world of
the film); others are non-diegetic (sounds that come from
outside the world of the film). Your text describes the different
categories of sound that fall under those types. What types of
sounds, and what categories, are most effectively used in the
film under consideration?
Write(due Thursday, Day 3)
Please view the video Adding Pictures and Video to
Discussions and Introductions for guidance on how to integrate
multimedia with your response.

7. Using specific examples from your chosen film, construct a
discussion post of at least 200 words in which you
· Describe each of the three basic categories of sound (dialogue,
sound effects, and music).
· Explain how the different categories of sound are being used
in your chosen film.
· Assess the impact of sound in establishing the theme.
· How does the use of sound inform the mood of the scene, or
the film overall?
· Can you identify specific sounds in your film that allow you to
infer a particular genre?
· Since each category of sound may produce a range of effects,
how might you characterize the effects in your film? For
example, realistic and expected sound effects may have a
different effect on a viewer than exaggerated or unexpected
ones.
· Assess how the scene or sequence would play differently if
you changed or removed a key category of sound.
You must use at least two outside sources, in any combination
of embedded video clips, still photos, or scholarly sources. All
sources should be documented in APA style as outlined by the
Ashford Writing Center. It is suggested that you approach this
post by focusing your attention on the same film you will write
about in this week’s “Establishing Theme” assignment.
Respond to Peers(due Monday, Day 7)
Respond to at least two classmates who chose a different film
than you did. In your responses, reference your initial post and
show how your ideas relate to those of your peers. Your
responses should be 150 to 175 words each.
Please view the video Accessing Feedback in the Gradebook
for guidance on how to review your instructor’s feedback when

8. the post is graded.