1. A General Movie Intro

2. Film Language General Intro The Narrative Misè en Scene Cinematography
Movie Types/Genre
Editing
Sound
Film History
Beginnings/Early Film
German Expressionism
Soviet Montage
French Avant-Garde
Hollywood’s Golden Age
Italian Neorealism

3. An art form that employs a narrative
What is a movie?
An art form that employs a narrative
- well, almost always

4. Editing makes it a unique art form:
can control how the viewer sees a story

5. Audiences absorb movie meaning intuitively and instantly
intuitive example: a low- angle shot…

6. A good film gets rid of distractions
producing a highly manipulated & artificial reality
ex: cutting in on action

7. Movies contain implicit and explicit meanings

8. Explicit: what the film is about Implicit:
what is the movie trying to say? what does it mean? an overall message or point?

9. Viewer Expectations… The basic movie structure:
a clearly motivated protagonist
pursues a goal
obstacles
a clear resolution
your experience of a movie is affected by how a particular film tells this story

10. or the means in which the narrative is expressed
Formal film analysis: analytical approach mostly concerned with film form…
or the means in which the narrative is expressed
Dissecting/understanding cinematography, sound, composition, design, mise-en-scene, performance and editing = reading a film

11. It’s possible to read too much meaning…
but know that filmmakers exploit every tool at their disposal
… therefore, everything is there for a reason

12. JUNO *

13. Principles of Film Form

14. Film Form & Content
Remember, very little, if anything is left to chance a movie is exceptionally organized & deliberately assembled

15. Film content: - the subject of a movie - what it’s about

16. Film Form:
the means by which the subject of the movie is expressed and experienced
doesn’t just let us see the subject, lets us see it in a particular way
the tools and techniques that a filmmaker uses to convey meaning and mood

17. Film Form:
the means by which the subject of the movie is expressed and experienced
doesn’t just let us see the subject, lets us see it in a particular way
the tools and techniques that a filmmaker uses to convey meaning and mood

18. Works of art need both: content and form

19. Film Form and Expectations

20. Audiences will form impressions quickly, sometimes opening credits
in Hollywood, producers and screen writers assume the audience will decide if they like/dislike a movie in the first 10 minutes

21. Audiences expect that most movies start with a “normal” world
- that is altered by a particular
incident (the inciting incident)
- compelling/forcing the
protagonist to pursue a goal

22. The film’s narrative structure is written around the viewer’s desire to learn the answers.
will Dorothy get back to Kansas?
will Frodo destroy the ring?
examples

23. This desire stresses the importance of the opening scene.
(American Beauty ; Requiem; Babel; Shining)
American Beauty: opening scene, to ~1:55, putting on shoes

24. Fundamentals of Film Form

25. Movies provide an illusion of movement.
Movies depend on light.
Light can be manipulated to create mood, reveal character, and convey meaning
(Schindler’s List Blade Runner Mad Max)
Movies provide an illusion of movement.
Grapes of Wrath – ch.4, 9:48 - ~13:00 – light shows the collective state of mind - despair

26. Movies manipulate space and time in unique ways.
can move seamlessly from one space to another or make space move or fragment time in many ways (The Matrix)
the camera is always selecting and manipulating what is seen on the screen

27. can rearrange time: Citizen Kane, Atonement, Memento, Pulp Fiction
continuous record of action occurring in different locations - an illusion no other art form can convey as effectively (Godfather)
can rearrange time: Citizen Kane, Atonement, Memento, Pulp Fiction
Godfather: ch 21 ~2:36:00 (baptism and murder) to ~2:40:00

28. Realism and Antirealism
not every film strives to be “realistic”…
but nearly all films attempt to immerse us in a world that is depicted convincingly

29. Verisimilitude: a convincing appearance of truth.
movies achieve verisimilitude when they convince you that the things on the screen (people, places…), no matter how fantastic or anti-realistic they are, are real

30. Cinematic/film language:
- accepted systems, methods, or
conventions that movies
communicate with the viewer
Referring to the ‘text of a movie’ or ‘reading a particular shot/scene’ means to apply the understanding of cinematic language
Film Language
The Narrative
Misè en Scene
Cinematography
Movie Types/Genre
Editing
Sound