More Related Content
Film as text
- 1.
- 2. “Seeing comes before words” JohnBerger, art critic, novelist, painter
- 3. A FILM TELLSA STORY THROUGH PICTURES A good writer chooses his words carefully. A good filmmaker chooses everything carefully Words Pictures Sounds Music Actors
- 4. DIEGESIS The fictionalstory world within a film, the sum of on-screen and off-screen space, narrative, etc. Everything in the film but not in its fictional world is non-diegetic (score, credits, some voice-overs, etc.)
- 5. “A film isnever really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet” Orson Welles, director, writer, actor and producer
- 6. IT’S NOT JUST… What things you say What things you see What things you hear But most of all, it’s how you do it It’s what you don’t say It’s what you don’t see It’s what you don’t hear
- 7. THINGS TO WATCHFOR IN FILM Semiotics Narrative Images Editing Notice I didn’t include “acting”
- 8. SEMIOTICS Semiotics isthe study of “signs” A sign is: A (usually visual or audible) abbreviation for a unit of meaning Signs include: Clichés Metaphors Metonymy / synecdoche
- 9.
- 10. SEMIOTICS (2) Signas object (physical): what we see, hear, etc. the signifier (perception) Sign as concept (psychological): how we react to the sign the signified (meaning) Denotation the direct meaning of the sign Connotation the indirect meaning of the sign
- 11. SEMIOTICS (3) Appropriation Allusion Association Genre
- 12. APPROPRIATION West Side Storyis just a retelling of Romeo and Juliet
- 13. ALLUSION “round up theusual suspects” is a famous line in Casablanca
- 14. ASSOCIATION The pinpoint bombingof the death star in Star Wars echoes the bombing of the dam in “Dambusters”
- 15. GENRES Action andadventure Sci-Fi Western Crime, detective and thriller, courtroom Horror Comedy Romance Rom-Com Western Road Movie Buddy film Bio-pic Fantasy/sword and sorcery War movie Chick-flick Screwball comedy Costume and historical drama Disaster movie Film noir Musical and dance Teen movie Fight film
- 16. “… any textis constructed of a mosaic of quotations; any text is the absorption and transformation of another” Julia Kristeva, philosopher and literary critic
- 17. ROLAND BARTHES: FIVESYSTEMS OF MEANING The enigma code keeps the audience guessing and delaying revelation until the end.. The connotative code refers to connotation within the story that gives additional meaning. The action (or proairetic) code builds tension by using actions that indicate a deeper meaning. The symbolic code organizes semantic meanings into broader and deeper sets of meaning. This is typically done by antithesis, where pairs of meanings are created, such as good/evil, etc. The cultural (or referential) code: This code refers to anything that is founded on some kind of canonical works that cannot be challenged and is assumed to be a foundation for truth. Typically this involves either science or religion, although other canons such as magical truths may be used in fantasy stories.
- 18. NARRATIVE “If you stringtogether a set of speeches expressive of character, and well finished in point and diction and thought, you will not produce the essential tragic effect nearly so well as with a play which, however deficient in these respects, yet has a plot and artistically constructed incidents.” Aristotle, Poetics
- 19. ROLAND BARTHES ONNARRATIVE Narratives are written, verbal or visual Narratives are constructed, they don’t just appear. They consist of events that are selected All human and cultural interaction is governed by narrative, not just fiction Narratives have existed as long as man could think.
- 20. ‘STORY’ VS ‘PLOT’ “Theking died and then the queen died is a story. The king died, and then queen died of grief is a plot. ” E.M. Forster
- 21. STORY VS PLOT Story: The linear construction of both represented and inferred narrative events Plot: the sum of story and non-diegetic elements, such as camera angles, editing, sound, titles, etc., that gives causality to the narrative Non-diegetic: anything in the film but not in its fictional world
- 22. VLADIMIR PROPP’S 8SPHERES OF ACTION Villain Helper Donor (often magician) Female in distress Her father Dispatcher Hero False hero
- 23. NARRATIVE “A whole isthat which has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A beginning is that which does not itself follow anything by causal necessity, but after which something naturally is or comes to be. An end, on the contrary, is that which itself naturally follows some other thing, either by necessity, or as a rule, but has nothing following it. A middle is that which follows something as some other thing follows it. A well constructed plot, therefore, must neither begin nor end at haphazard, but conform to these principles.” Aristotle, Poetics
- 24. TZVETAN TODOROV: HOLLYWOODNARRATIVE STRUCTURE Equilibrium is established Disruption to the equilibrium Character(s) identify the disruption Character(s) seek to resolve the issue Return to equilibrium
- 25. THE HOLLYWOOD THREE-ACTSTRUCTURE Act 1: 1st quarter of the story (30 minutes) equilibrium Act 2: The next two quarters (60 minutes) Disruption of equilibrium Act 3: The final quarter (30 minutes) Restored equlibrium
- 26. GÉRARD GENETTE’S NARRATIVEDISCOURSE Story (content) Events (chronology/causality Characters (actions/interactions) Settings (time and place) Narration (telling) Types (reliable/unrealiable) Levels (embedded narration) Voice (character/narrator) Text (presentation) Time (order/duration/frequency) Characterization (traits/attributes) Focalization (who sees/perceives/judges events)
- 27. STORY Events: thingshappen, but what is the causal relationship between them? Characters: their actions and interactions. Note: a character who does not act or interact is part of the setting Setting: the time and place; it frames the characters and events
- 28. NARRATION Extradiegetic: avoice-over by someone not in the film Homodiegetic: a voice-over by someone in the film, or a character who directly speaks to the camera Intra-diegetic: when characters speak to one another – In a film, dialogue is to further plot or characterization, not for no reason
- 29. TEXT Characterization: thetraits and attributes that make a character ‘real’ for the audience Time: all elements of the narrative – how they repeat and the order in which they occur Focalization: the viewpoint from which we see things
- 30. THE SEVEN PRIMARYPLOTS Achilles – overcoming struggle Cinderella – transformation Jason – pursuit, the quest Faust – temptation Orpheus – irrevocable loss Romeo and Juliet – love triumphant Tristan and Isolde – love defeated
- 31. THE SHOT: PERSPECTIVE Distance Height Angle Depth of field (focus) Movement
- 32. WHOSE EYES? Objectiveor subjective? Do we see the scene as non-participants, or are we seeing it through the eyes or from the perspective of one of the characters?
- 33. THE VISUAL DEVICES Camera angles On-screen and off-screen space Shot distances Composition/in the frame (mise en scène) Lighting Camera movement (panning, tilting, moving) Zoom and reverse zoom Duration Time
- 34. ANGLES: STRAIGHT ON Shot frontally
- 35. LOW ANGLE thecamera is below the subject, looking up. Can suggest power
- 36. HIGH ANGLE thecamera is above the subject, looking down.
- 37. CANTED (TILTED) thecamera is above the subject, looking down.
- 38. SHOT DURATION ANDTIME Typical today: shot length 4-6 seconds (before 1960 8-11 seconds) A “long take” can be much longer (60 seconds) Fast motion: camera films at less than 24 FPS and is shown at that speed Slow motion: camera films at more than 24 FPS and is shown at that speed Simulated slow motion
- 39. CAMERA MOVEMENT Pan(orama):the camera pans left or right, like turning its head horizontally Tilt: the camera tilts up and down vertically Tracking (dolly or trucking): the camera is moves on a track Steadicam: mounted on a camera operator such that it moves smoothly Hand-held: camera operator moves it, creates a shaky effect Zoom (simulated movement) Reverse zoom (simulated movement)
- 40. ON-SCREEN AND OFF-SCREENSPACE Left of the frame Right of the frame Top of the frame Bottom of the frame Back of the frame Front of the frame (the fourth wall) It is spoken about in dialogue A character or object leaves the frame A character or object (re-) enters the frame A character looks at something outside the frame Sound outside the frame
- 41. XLS: EXTREME LONGSHOT Massive backgrounds and tiny people
- 42. LS: LONG SHOT humans are fully visible, but still lots of background
- 43. MLS: MEDIUM LONGSHOT Humans, from the knees up
- 44. MCU: MEDIUM CLOSE-UP People are framed from the waist up
- 45. CU: CLOSE-UP Focuseson face, hands, feet, small objects
- 46. XCU: EXTREME CLOSE-UP Isolates small details, like the eyes, lips, etc.
- 47. COMPOSITION Divide thescreen into three: the middle has the most power
- 48. LIGHTING Key light:the brightest, highlights details by creating shadow Fill light: opposite the key, is softer and less bright, lessens the effect of shadow Back light: behind the subject, creates depth giving the subject a halo Key light Fill light Back light
- 49. HIGH KEY VSLOW KEY LIGHTING “HIGH KEY” (HIGH CONTRAST) USES HARSH LIGHT, DARK SHADOWS AROUND THE IMPORTANT DETAILS (NOTE NO SHADOWS ON THE FACE) “LOW KEY” IS VERY DARK, MANY SHADOWS, TO HIGHLIGHT THE LIGHT PARTS
- 50. EDITING Continuity editing Discontinuity editing Montage
- 51. CONTINUITY EDITING: THERULES Tell the story. Take out anything that gets in the way; minimize repetition Construct and preserve coherence of space Maintain continuity of time Create and sustain graphic and rhythmic relations Hide the means of construction from the viewer
- 52. TECHNIQUES 180º rule:if in one shot, a character walks left to right and leaves the frame on the right, in the next shot, he enters from the left. Match-on-action: if in one shot the character opens the door and walks through, the next shot shows him walking without repeating the door opening Eyeline matches: If the character looks down at someone off- screen, and in the next shot, we see the person looking back, then he must look up at a matching angle 30º rule: If a new shot/scene sequence is begun, it must be greater than 30º or it will disturb continuity Shot-reverse-shot editing: when cutting from one character to another, they stay always on the same side of the screen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLkUHZ1qips
- 53. TRANSITIONS Techniques tocreate ellipses (jumps in time or space) Dissolve: a smooth transition Fade (to black or another color) Wipe Irises Freeze-frame
- 54. “The secret tofilm is that it’s an illusion” George Lucas