1. Film 100: Introduction to Film
Film terminology: ability to understand and apply
basic film terms
Basic elements of film: the building blocks of
cinema
Production process: basics of how films are made
Basic critical analysis: how meaning is constructed
in film, ideology, cultural and historical influences
Writing about film: develop thesis and support it
with examples from the film in question
2. Elements of Film
Narrative: How story is constructed
Cinematography: Process by which moving
images are recorded on film or video
Mise-en-Scene: What we see in the frame
Editing: How the various shots (and the
sounds) in a film are put together
Sound: Audio
Writing About Film: Pulling it all together
3. Writing about Film
Students will write scene analyses and take
screening notes throughout the semester:
Accurately describing what you see
onscreen using proper terminology
Critically analyze scenes and explain how
various film elements are used to create
meaning
Be able to focus on specific elements of
film while watching
4. CHAPTER 1: NARRATIVE
Films are made up of EVENTS:
A turn of the story – something happens:
The Joker blows up a hospital (The Dark
Knight)
Bernie burns up her husband’s car in
Waiting to Exhale
Michael gives Fredo the “kiss of death”
(The Godfather Part II)
Allie and Noah share a poignant dance
(The Notebook)
5. CHAPTER 1: NARRATIVE
But events alone are NOT a
narrative – they need to be
placed into context and
linked by time, space, and
cause to make a coherent
film narrative
6. CHAPTER 1: NARRATIVE
WHAT IS A “NARRATIVE”?
A series of events linked together by
Causality
Chronology
Spatial relationships
7. CHAPTER 1: NARRATIVE
WHAT IS “CAUSALITY”?
A narrative’s events are linked by
CAUSE: the process by which one
event leads to or influences
another…WHY did an event in a
narrative happen?
The causality of a narrative can be
physical and/or psychological in nature
8. CAUSALITY
The Dark Knight EVENT cause?
Why did The Joker blow up that
hospital?
What will this cause to happen next?
Waiting To Exhale EVENT:
Why did Bernie burn up that car?
What will this cause to happen next?
9. CHAPTER 1: NARRATIVE
WHAT IS “CHRONOLOGY”?
The order in which events happen in
the film
Are films always told chronologically?
Flashbacks (Bruce Wayne’s parents are killed)
Non-Linear/Disjointed (Pulp Fiction)
In Reverse (Memento)
10. CHAPTER 1: NARRATIVE
WHAT ARE “SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS”?
WHERE a narrative’s events unfold in relation
to each other
A narrative unfolds not only over time, but also
in space and the SPACES depicted within a film
give the events cohesion and context and
contribute to the narrative
If the SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS don’t make
sense, neither will the film’s narrative
11. CHAPTER 1: NARRATIVE
Narratives depend on CAUSALITY,
CHRONOLOGY, and SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS
to tell coherent narratives with EVENTS
WHAT happened, WHY something happened,
WHEN something happened, WHERE
something happened…if these things are
goofed, then the film’s “spell” can be broken and
cause what is called a “CONTINUITY” problem
because there’s a break in the CONTINUOUS
FLOW of the narrative
12. CHAPTER 1: NARRATIVE
If one of these factors are flawed
in some way the film ‘s narrative
will undoubtedly suffer in the eyes
of audiences:
CAUSALITY
CHRONOLOGY
SPATIAL RELATIONSHIP
13. FILM EXAMPLE
ON THE WATERFRONT
Full Screening In Class
Answer Basic Questions for next
class based on assigned reading –
BRING WORKSHEET TO CLASS!
We’ll be using On The Waterfront to
further our discussion of CHAPTER
ONE: NARRATIVE next time we meet
14. ON THE WATERFRONT
1954 Crime Drama
Directed by Elia Kazan
Nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won 8
including;
Best Picture
Best Actor (Marlon Brando)
Best Supporting Actress (Eva Marie Saint)
Best Director
15. ON THE WATERFRONT
In 1989, On the Waterfront was deemed "culturally,
historically or aesthetically significant" by the
Library of Congress and selected for preservation
in the United States National Film Registry
In 1997 it was ranked by the American Film
Institute as the eighth-greatest American movie of
all time and in AFI's 2007 list it was ranked 19th
An example of “Classic” Hollywood Movie-making
at its finest
CLICK HERE TO WATCH
