FUNCTIONS OF THE VISUAL: ILLUSTRATIVE REINFORCING COMMENTARY CONTRAST IRONY
TYPES OF MEANING Referencial: plot summary; film’s subject matter Explicit: the point of the film; concrete meaning; more than one Implicit: primary interpretation; themes Symptomatic: abstract and general; contextual; reflecting social values and ideologies.
EVALUATION Some criteria: Coherence: unity Intensity of effect: vividness, striking, emotionally engaging Complexity: engaging perception on many levels; interesting formal patterns; multiplicity of relations Originality: refreshing conventions; creating a new set of formal possibilities
FUNCTIONS Motivation: why is a certain element in the film and not another? Repetition: motif, any significant repeated element in a film Similarities: parallel visual structures; duplication Difference and variation: repetitions are not exact copies; contrast and change.
DEVELOPMENT Patterning similar and differing elements. Followed by progression: alternating motifs, events, actions. Formal developments: journey; search; mystery Segmentation Comparing beginning and ending
UNITY Every element presents a specific set of recognizable functions Similarities and differences are determinable The form develops logically There are no superfluous elements
DEFINITION OF NARRATIVE Narrative: a chain of events in cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space. Narratives begin with one situation: a series of changes occur according to a pattern of cause and effect; a new situation arises that brings about the end of the narrative.
THE CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD FILM Classical film narrative: Action springs from individual characters as causal agents: personal psychological causes (decisions, choices, character’s traits)
Narrative development Desire sets up a goal Process of achieving that goal Counterforces / obstacles /opposition, which creates a conflict (normally another character made into the opponent) The protagonist must change the situation to achieve her goal Cause and effect imply change
Time is subordinated to the cause-effect chain The plot tends to be ordered chronologically to emphasise the cause-effect chain The plot will omit certain durations in order to show only events of causal importance Devices to highlight cause-effect are: appointments and deadlines Motivation must be clear and complete
Narration is objective: there is an objective story reality (information about what characters say and do, their external behaviour. As opposed to perceptual subjectivity (what the character sees and hears) Unrestricted narration (omniscient narration) Strong degree of closure: to complete the causal chains with a final effect. (learning the fate of characters; answering each mystery; knowing the outcome of each conflict