Cinema

Director as author In 1950s the French journal Cahiers du Cinema promoted the theory that the DIRECTOR was the most important person in the production of a film. Auteur Theory dominated film studies and it is still generally accepted today. The director of a film controls the mise-en-scene- all the visual elements, including sets and scenery, lighting, costumes, coloring, positioning of actors in relationship to each other

James Cameron’s Fake Hollywood Marxism Perverts Guide to Ideology Essay on Marxist Ideology in Aliens, Titanic, and The Abyss

Techniques Editing- film is rarely recorded in the order of its final presentation. Filmed in bits and pieces, the strength of the final product depends upon the editing process. CUTTING Jump Cut non-continuous cut to another scene, separated from the first by an interval of time, location, or camera position. Form Cut or Match Cut a cut from one image to another of similar shape or contour- making a smoother transition. Montage jump or match cuts, but used deliberately to cause an association of ideas- with the juxtaposition of different things. Also used to show compression of time, elongation of time.

Jean Luc Goddard’s Breathless Jump and Form Cutting analyzed, Breathless French New Wave - influence on American Cinema

Montage Best Editing Moments Sergei Eisenstein Best known for Battleship Potemkin Lecture on Soviet Film- Eisenstein and Montage

Continuity Editing Favored by the west Dominates Hollywood until influence of Russians and French D.W.Griffith - First great innovator, bringing movie making out of the hemmed in world of stage plays. System that makes smooth transitions, maintains the logic of space and time Idea of a “seamless or invisible art” Matching action, position, tone Rule of the 180 degree line- action move from right to left and do not cross the line

Continuity Editing 180 degree rule explained John Hess Continuity and the innovations of Griffith

Cutting within the Frame Avoids the editing process, accomplished by actor movement, camera movement or a combination. Cross-cutting/Parallel development Alternates by two separate action relate by theme, mood, or plot. French Connection Car Chase Parallel development – separated events, shown in alternating way. Godfather

SHOT SIZES: Telling What They See Establishing Shots introduce a new location – a church, a city street, a rooftop, a hospital room – from a vantage point that allows the audience to see all the relevant characters in the filmic space. The Birds

Shot Sizes Wide/long Shots Establishing shots will be wide enough to show all the characters and objects necessary for the drama, while a wide shot will be wider than that, focusing more on the environment. Wide shot in Gone with the Wind

Shot Sizes Master Shots- similar to establishing shots, but record the whole scene with not breaks to other kinds of shots. If a tighter shot is forgotten or messed up the editor will have enough material to show the scene in its entirety by cutting back to the master shot. Hitchcock’s “Rope” is famous for appearing to be made of a few Master Shots Edits in "Rope“ Inarritu's "Birdman"

Shot Sizes Medium Shot- Medium shots are the most common types of shots in the movies. Showing most of the subject’s body, medium shots are halfway between long shots and close-ups

Shot Sizes Medium shots include the two-shot, with two actors facing the same screen direction, and the over-the-shoulder shot, showing a conversation in which the actors sit or stand across from each other.  

Camera Angles Eyelevel Angle Kubrick's "The Shining" Camera angles affect how we perceive - Is a character going to appear dominant and tall? Or short and weak? Eyelevel Angle Kubrick's "The Shining" Low Angle Citizen Kane High Angle Burn After Reading Dutch TiltTwelve Monkeys Point-of-View (POV)Bad example/Good example

Framing Tightly Framed Usually close ups, people are near the edges of the frame, highly composed, little room for movement. Loosely Framed (and open form films) What ever happened to open form film? Usually a longer shot, people have room for movement. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Focus or Depth of Field Deep focus- far away objects and near objects are in focus Citizen Kane Differential focus- either foreground or background is blurred.

Roger Ebert on Doubt