Looking at Movies Overview

Cinematic Language The visual vocabulary of film Composed of myriad integrated techniques and concepts Connects the viewer to the story while deliberately concealing the means by which it does so

Active Viewing of Movies Recognize the many tools and principles that filmmakers employ to tell stories, convey information and meaning, and influence emotions and ideas. Understand movies as narrative, as artistic expression, and as a reflection of the cultures that produce and consume them.

Sweeney Todd - the play

Sweeney Todd - the Movie

Film Analysis Analysis – the act of taking something complicated apart to figure out what it is made of and how it all fits together. Step 1 – Identify the tools and techniques within a scene, sequence, or movie Step 2 – Investigate the function and potential effect of that combination

Film Meaning No matter how many different layers of meaning are in a movie, each layer is either implicit or explicit. Implicit – lies below the surface of a movie’s story and presentation, more interpretive than explicit meaning Explicit – available on the surface of the movie, obvious

Film Construction Shots – unbroken span of action captured by an uninterrupted run of a motion-picture camera Editing – the joining together of discrete shots With each transition from one shot to another, a movie is able to move the viewer through time and space

How Movies Work Persistence of vision – the process by which the human brain retains an image for a fraction of a second longer than the eye records it (Apparent motion) Phi phenomenon – the illusion of movement created by events that succeed each other rapidly Critical flicker fusion – occurs when a single light flickers on and off with such speed that the individual pulses of light fuse together to give the illusion of continuous light

Film Form Movies are highly organized, and deliberately assembled and sculpted by filmmakers. The synthesis of elemental systems – mise-en-scène, sound, narrative, editing, and others – constitutes a movie’s overall form. Form – means by which the subject is expressed Content – the subject of an artwork They are interrelated, interdependent, and interactive

Movie Types Narrative Experimental Documentary Animation

Narrative Narrative – a cinematic structure in which the filmmakers arrange story events in a cause-and-effect sequence Narrative film – a movie devoted to conveying fictional or fictionalized stories

Narrative Tell a story Directed towards fiction Based on screenplays Primary purpose is entertainment with commercial intent

Realism vs Abstraction Realism – a tendency to view or represent things as they really are Abstraction – an interest in or concern for the non-realistic, speculative, or fantastic Movies can be both realistic and abstract

Employees Leaving the Factory - 1895

A Trip to the Moon - 1902