FILM STUDY—General Considerations
- Film is a combination of other art forms (music, art, drama, fiction, poetry etc.) and therefore uses the elements/techniques from all of them.
- Film is a carefully constructed illusion of reality—everything in a film is scripted, staged, planned, the film-makers are aware of what they are doing and have a reason for doing it!
- Film audiences enter a willing suspension of disbelief – we don’t point out all the “unrealistic” things in a film—we accept those “missing” details of reality.
- Films often borrow elements and techniques from all different film types—classic, expressionist, realist.
- “Art is made from other art”—films have evolved over the years from silent films, to classics, to art films, to technologically produced films—film keeps building on what earlier films use.
- Film can be examined from different perspectives: the techniques, the stereotypes, the “language of film”, as a certain type of film, as a “business” item—target audience, financial backing etc.
- “Film reading”—involves being aware of how the film was made and how it affects the audience---YOU ARE WATCHING YOURSELF WATCH THE FILM.
ELA Film Elements
- Focal point/dominant focus: the part of the frame(s) that the viewer’s eye is drawn to—often in the center or foreground, larger, different color, most important, --something that the film-makers have drawn your attention to.
- Subsidiary contrast: the “second” thing that your eye is drawn to—could actually be more important than the dominant focus—the film-makers might just want it to ‘sneak up on you’.
- Camera Shots: camera shots manipulate the viewer’s eyes—can “make” you “be” a certain character, can control how much of the scene you see, can create a mood, can focus you on certain parts of the scene.
Consider: -the number of camera shots—more shots=faster pace
-the distance between the camera and subject—closer=a closer
connection to what is happening
-the angle—high angle=power/dominance low angle=weakness
-motion/action created by dolly, handheld, crane shots etc.
- Lighting: light is used to create mood—bright light is open, honest, “happy”—dark lighting is mysterious, gloomy, ‘hidden’. Spotlighting makes us aware of someone/something (in the spotlight), backlighting creates a “halo” effect—we think of gods/angels. A face that is half light/half dark= the unknown/2-sidedness
Terms to know: high key lighting=bright
low key lighting=dark
spotlighting
backlighting
- Color: color has symbolic meaning ex. white= happy, innocence, goodness green: mysterious/envy/growth/birth
-watch for which colors are used, what shade of color, where color is not used ex. Edward Scissorhands—the colors are SO unrealistic—shows that it is a fantasy-type setting
- Character Proxemics: how the characters are placed within the frame.
-Where in frame are they? (top/bottom/left/right)
-Where are they in relation to the camera-looking straight at it, turned to the side, with their backs to the camera—WHAT EFFECT DOES THIS CREATE?
-Where are the characters in connection with each other—close, turned toward each other, one higher or one lower—WHAT DOES THIS SHOW ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP?
- Form and Framing /Density and Depth:
-What is cut out of the frame/what is around the edge? (open/closed, tight or loose—watch to see if the subject could “get out of the picture”)
-How much “stuff” (detail) is in the frame—“busy” “quiet”—dense or not dense?
-How many “levels” you can “see into” the picture (like it was 3-dimensional)
HOW TO “READ” A FILM:
- Create some note sheets/ charts to write down different observations.
- Write down any observations that catch your eye—colors, use of lighting, camera shots, character arrangement etc.
- Watch the scene a second time to catch details that you missed.
- Watch the scene a few more times to notice all of the elements.
- Finally, watch the scene as a “story”—look at how it fits into the rest of the film, how the characters behave, what the setting is, etc.
- Look at your observations and draw conclusions about the technical elements that the film-makers use the most and most effectively.