The document provides information about key film analysis concepts including narrative, characters, point of view, mise-en-scene, and symbols. It defines types of characters such as round and flat characters. It discusses analyzing narrative structure, point of view, setting through elements like lighting and costumes, and composition. It provides examples of how camera placement like angle, distance, and movement affect interpretation. Finally, it outlines common cinematic symbols and definitions like auteur, genre, and archetypes.

1. The better a viewer reads an image the
more he/she understands:
• Its physical reality
• What it means based on cultural references
• Its various sets of meanings

2. NARRATIVE
Questions to ask when discussing the narrative:
• What is the chronological order of the film? Is it
told in flashbacks, real time, or over an extended
period of time?
• Are there voice-overs or title cards to help narrate
the film? What is the plot of the film?
• Is the narrative conforming to the conventions of a
specific genre? (Romance, Western, Crime?)

3. CHARACTER
Analyzing Filmic Characters is similar to analyzing written
characters: Are they realistic, how do they change over the
course of the film, what do they represent etc.?
Types Of Characters:
Round Characters
– Complex, life-like, multidimensional, and changeable
– Usually only a few per film
– Appear throughout the film
– Essential to the plot
Flat Characters
– Simple, stereotypical, minor, one-dimensional, unchanging
– Appear only in a few scenes
– Are rarely essential to the plot but add interest

4. POINT OF VIEW (POV)
• When is the POV objective (omniscient), and when
is it subjective (seen through the eyes of one of the
characters)?
• What does this POV tell us about the characters?
• How does the camera’s eye limit or control what
you see? How do shifts in POV affect the viewer
and the viewer’s understanding of the film?

5. Point of View
How do the different POVs in
these two images create
interpretations?
Objective POV in The Matrix (1999)
Subjective POV in The Matrix
Revolutions (2003)

6. MISE-EN-SCÈNE
Literally means “put into the scene” and refers to sets
and backdrops, the use of props and lighting, as well
as the blocking of actors’ movements within the
dramatic space. The term is used to describe the space
constructed for the camera. It includes two important
elements:
1. Setting
2. Composition

7. MISE-EN-SCÈNE: Setting
• Lighting: is it harsh or soft? Tinted or colored?
Natural or artificial? What shadows does it
create?
• Costumes: what do we learn about the
characters from what they wear (or don’t wear)?
• Sets: Are props or sets significant? How do
characters relate to them? Are they related to
any themes?

8. Setting: Lighting
How does side lighting
influence the interpretation
of the frame?
The Sixth Sense (1999)
What is the effect of back-lighting in
this image from The Lord of the Rings:
The Two Towers (2002)?

9. Setting: Costumes
Costumes may be used to distinguish main characters from
secondary characters, to further the plotline, and to identify good
and evil.
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Star Wars (1977)

10. Setting: Sets
Sets can reveal how a character has changed. In these two shots
from American Beauty (1999), the setting echoes the changing
relationship between Lester and his wife.

11. MISE-EN-SCÈNE: Composition
Some questions to consider when analyzing
composition:
– The Arrangement: How are the elements in the frame
arranged? (Foreground and Background)
– Photographic qualities: Are the images grainy,
distressed, crisp, or processed in a special way?
– Framing: Do elements (besides the screen itself)
confine/divide/exclude parts of the image? What is off-
screen? How is space created or violated by the frame?
– Camera angle, distance, and tilt: Does the camera itself
move (tracking) or does it stand still and just rotate (a
pan)?

12. Composition: Arrangement (Part 1)
Foreground and Background
How filmmakers position
people and objects in the
background and foreground
in a given image influences
what the image
communicates.
The background of an action may go unnoticed because it is obscurely
lit or out of focus or because subjects in the foreground draw so much
of the viewer’s attention.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (20

13. Composition: Arrangement
Symmetrical Composition
In symmetrical compositions, the subject(s) is seen in the
approximate center of the frame.
American Beauty (1999)
Moulin Rouge (2001)

14. Composition: Arrangement
Asymmetrical Composition
In asymmetricalIn asymmetrical
compositions, majorcompositions, major
subjects are not offset orsubjects are not offset or
balanced by other subjectsbalanced by other subjects
elsewhere in the frame.elsewhere in the frame.
AsymmetricalAsymmetrical
compositions can cause thecompositions can cause the
viewer to pay attention toviewer to pay attention to
an aspect of the shot he oran aspect of the shot he or
she might otherwiseshe might otherwise
ignore.ignore.
Thelma and Louise (1991)

15. When you look at a frame, one of the first
things to consider is distance.
How much do you see of the character(s)?
•Is it a close up?
•Is it a full shot?
•Is it a medium shot?
Can you see the whole body or a part of the
body?
A Place in the Sun 1951

16. American Beauty (1999)

17. In general the closer the camera gets to the
characters, the closer the viewer feels towards the
characters.
This is why close ups are often used for:
 love scenes
 scenes where the character is suffering or
fearful
 any other scene where the viewer is supposed
to understand what the character is feeling.

18. As the camera moves further away from the character(s), the
viewer is provided more information about them or about their
situation.
From Rosemary’s Baby 1968 From Babel 2006

19. The further the camera is from the subject, the more
distant you will feel from what is happening in the scene
or to the character(s). lets the
audience have a look at the subject in relation to its
surrounding.

20. The Two-Shot
Makes two characters the subject of the frame. It allows you to
understand how the characters interact and react to each other.
Avatar 2009

21. Another thing you should consider when observing
A frame is the angle or camera position.
 Was the frame shot from high above?
(a high angle)
 Was it shot at eye level?
 Was it shot from a low angle?

22. A frame shot from a high angle is often referred to
as God’s eye view because it suggests that
‘someone’ is observing the characters. It can
suggest danger and helplessness.
300 2006

23. Apocalypto 2007
The Fountain 2007

24. A frame shot from a low angle makes the subject seem larger.
The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946
Citizen Kane 1941

25. The Dark Knight 2008

26. Inglorious Basterds 2009

27. A character that seems larger than another in a frame is usually the
dominant character.
From Double Indemnity 1944
From
Rebecca
1940
From
Gone with the Wind
1939
From Letter from an Unknown Woman 1948

28. The Departed 2006

29. A canted angle suggests that something is wrong
either in the character or the story’s situation.

30. Artificial Intelligence 2001

31. Besides shots and angles, you should also watch for symbols.
Some common symbols are:
Images of entrapment are usually shown through characters framed by
doors, gates, or confined spaces (like closets).
From The Kid 1921
From Carrie 1976

32. Pan’s Labyrinth 2006
Atonement 2007

33. The Hours 2002
The Ring 2002
The Painted Veil 2006

34. A Beautiful Mind 2001
The Departed 2006

35. Images of duality are usually represented by characters reflected
in mirrors , water, glass.
Psycho 1960

36. The Lady from Shanghai,1947
Taxi Driver 1976
The Matrix 2003

37. Mulholland Drive 2001

38. Black Swan 2010

39. Stairs, dark alleys, canted angles, darkness enveloping a character,
seeing only part of a character are some images of imminent danger.
From Silence of the Lambs
From Kiss Me Deadly
From Halloween
From The French Connection

40. Light cutting through a character(s), lines
which divide the frame, usually mark images of
characters that are in turmoil.
From The Usual Suspects
From Blade Runner
From The Awful Truth

41. Sweeney Todd 2007

42. Other Symbols
Christ figures/Biblical
References
From Dead Man Walking
Crosses
From The Omen
Pan’s Labyrinth

43. From Schindler’s List
Color
Rebirth

44. The Moon Water
Roads
From E.T.
From Jaws
From North by Northwest
…and many others
Trees

45. Other definitions
• Cliché- overuse of situations, symbols
• Voice over-a narrator whose voice is heard
throughout a film
• Restricted narration-limited to one character
• Omniscient narration-changes from one character to
another, the viewer receives information from many
sources.

46. Auteurs/genre
• An auteur is a director who manifests a consistency of style and
theme across his/her films. Auteur films are inventive and
creative. Auteur films emphasize their uniqueness.
• Genre refers to a mass produced product of the Hollywood film
industry.It studies the conventions of certain kinds of films.
Genre categorizes films according to their thematic and visual
similarities.Genres are not static, they evolve. They also create
certain expectations in the viewer.

47. Archetypes- Character

48. Archetypes- Storyline
• The Journey or Quest
• The struggle of light & dark ; good & evil