Film Study

1. Film Study Using film to clarify literature Information Source: Brad Smilanich

2. Camera Movement in Film/Videomuch information from Media Images & Issues, Donna Carpenter, 1989 • In any film, there are two categories of movement: • 1) movement created by actors or objects in the film • 2) movement created by the camera as it films a scene and as the film moves from scene to scene.

3. BASIC CAMERA MOVEMENTS: Moving Frame or Reframing: • The composition of the frame changes as the camera alters its position in relation to the object being filmed. • A romantic close-up of two lovers whispering may suddenly change its meaning if the camera pulls back to reveal a long shot full of spectators; what was at first romantic becomes comedic.

4. Basic Camera Movement Panning: • The word pan is a contraction of the panoramic and is used to describe the movement of the camera from side to side (horizontal movement) on a vertical axis to follow the action in a scene; if your head were a camera, the movement would be akin to you shaking your head “no.”

5. Basic Camera Movement Pan shots are often used to establish the setting for the audience. • A subjective pan is used when the movie camera “becomes” the eyes of one of the characters. • A swish pan is when the camera moves very rapidly along the horizontal plane so that the image becomes blurred.

6. Basic Camera Movement Tilting: • The camera can move vertically up or down on a horizontal axis to record a person climbing a flight of stairs, for example, or follow an object falling from a height. The camera swivels upward or downward on a stationary support; if your head were a camera, the movement would be akin to you nodding up and down. • It may be a way that the director makes a statement about high and low objects, for instance how a mountain climber feels overwhelmed by the peak in front of her.

7. Basic Camera Movement Dollying or Tracking: • The camera is mounted on a cart or some other vehicle so that it can move alongside the subject, and keep pace with it, forward, backward, or around the subject; the camera can also dolly or track in towards the subject or away from the subject. • Unlike panning or tiliting, the camera itself physically moves rather than merely pivoting on an axis. In car chases the camera is sometimes mounted in a car that travels alongside the car that is the subject of the action; in a party scene, the camera may indicate the roving intimacy of the gathering by following a character through the crowd.

8. Basic Camera Movement Zoom (in or out): • Through the use of a special lens (named, not surprisingly, a zoom lens), the camera can appear to move towards or away from a subject quite quickly. • The sense of movement is usually more rapid with a zoom than with a dolly in or out. Note that the camera does not move, merely the lens.

9. Basic Camera Movement Crane Shot: • Moving shot taken by the camera on a specially constructed crane which permits the camera to move in and out, up and down, as well as backward and forward; they are generally used for high angle aerial shots.

10. Tracking, Zoom and Crane Shots“X Men: The Last Stand”

11. Editing • Editing is the job of assembling all the shots and the scenes of film together to tell a cohesive story. • The process that helps directors make cinematic choices is very similar to the process that authors go through to create literary texts.

12. TRANSITIONS BETWEEN SCENES • The most commonly used techniques when a change of scene is required are the following: Cut: • An instantaneous change from one shot to another. • Cuts are used to establish relationships

13. Cut“Seven Pounds” • “A cut is very much a tear. You use a cut to say there’s a separation between this thing and that thing. And so in Lone Star I didn’t even want a dissolve, which is a soft cut” --John Sayles, director of Lone Star

14. Literary Technique Characterization: • noun—1. Representation of a character or characters on the stage or in writing, especially by imitating or describing actions, gestures, or speeches. • From this clip, what do we assume about the characters present? • Who might the protagonist be? How do we distinguish the character from the other one present? • What is the relationship between the characters? What does the director do to help us discover this information?

15. Cut to build tension“Most”

16. Literary Technique Juxtaposition: • –noun 1. an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast. Suspense: • –noun 1. a state or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting a decision or outcome, usually accompanied by a degree of apprehension or anxiety. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • Discuss how the director uses juxtaposition to build suspense in this clip. • What is the overall tone of the clip? • Why is the contrast effective? What elements of the clip help to build the overall tone that the director intends to convey to the audience?

17. Transitions between scenes Match Cut: • A physical sequence that starts in one scene and ends in another • Intended to show connection or symbolism that is linked between seemingly unrelated scenes

18. Match Cut“Chicago”

19. Literary Technique Characterization Foreshadowing: • noun 1.  the act of providing vague advance indications; representing beforehand • the organization and presentation of events and scenes in a work of fiction or drama so that the reader or observer is prepared to some degree for what occurs later in the work. This can be part of the general atmosphere of the work, or it can be a specific scene or object that gives a clue or hint as to a later development of the plot. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • What effect does the match cut provide for us in terms of character development? • What assumptions do we make about the actions of the characters present and what do we assume might happen in the future because of what we learn in the clip?

20. Transitions between scenes Dissolve: • A visual effect created by the gradual disappearance of one shot while another shot gradually appears and comes into clear focus; • for a brief time the images blend in superimposition (exposure of more than one image on the same film strip), which may be used to symbolic effect. • Dissolves are used to suggest a change of setting or a longer lapse of time than in a cut, so it is often used to begin or end flashbacks.

21. Dissolve to begin flashback“The Rosa Parks Story”

22. Literary Technique Flashback: • –noun 1. • a device in the narrative of a motion picture, novel, etc., by which an event or scene taking place before the present time in the narrative is inserted into the chronological structure of the work. • ----------------------------- • How does the director use flashback in this clip to build character motivation? • Describe how the dissolve sets up the character of Rosa Parks. How does the background given during the flashback help the present situation make sense?

23. Transition between Scenes Match Dissolve: • When an image retains its shape during the transition between scenes • Symbolic connection between the image that is fading out and the image that is taking shape in the frame

24. Match Dissolve“Aliens”

25. Literary Technique • Symbolism: • Noun • 1.  a system of symbols and symbolic representations  • 2.  the practice of investing things with symbolic meaning  • 3.  an artistic movement in the late 19th century that tried to express abstract or mystical ideas through the symbolic use of images • -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • What was the director’s symbolic intent in this match dissolve? • What background knowledge might be important to understanding this symbolism?

26. Transition between scenes Fade Out/In: Ending a scene by underexposing to black or overexposing to white; • beginning a scene in the same manner, moving from black or white to clear focus. • The fade out/in is usually used to indicate the passage of time or a change of location in narrative.

27. Overexposing to white“Independence Day’

28. Transition between scenes • What is the significance of the TWO times in the clip that the scene overexposes to white? • What does the clip reveal about character of the pilot? What about the son? • What colour symbolism do we associate with overexposing to white? • What theme is developed in the clip? How do we know that this is a relevant theme?

29. Transition between scenes Freeze Frame: As a way of ending a scene, the film appears to stop and the image is “frozen” or held for a few seconds. • Used for dramatic effect, usually to suggest a lack of closure.

30. Transition between scenes Jump-Cut: • An abrupt transition between shots, usually made to disorient the audience because there is a sudden or illogical transition; the usual “laws” of space and time are violated. • Supradiegetic that is something that is inserted into the scene that is neither part of the natural story arc nor reality but simply a fantastical insert that is intended to impart some sort of understanding about character thought or motivation

31. Supradiegetic Jump-Cut“Slumdog Millionaire”

32. Literary Technique • In this clip, what is the overall emotion that we get from the protagonist towards his brother? • What does the supradiagetic jump cut do for the audience? How does this reveal more character development? • How does the setting help to create atmosphere within the scene? • Do you accept the brother’s words as truthful? Why does he reject them?

33. Transition between scenes Swish Pan (a.k.a. Flash Pan or Zip Pan or Whip Pan): • A horizontal camera movement where the speed of the camera is so fast that only blurred images are recorded; • often used to connect events in different places that are actually connected.

34. Swish Pan“Slumdog Millionaire”

35. Literary Technique • Climax: The highest point of interest in the story • What is the climactic moment in this clip? How is it built up? • What effect do the juxtaposed images (of the boy in the game show and the girl running) present? • What is the focal point of the scene and how does the director make this apparent?

36. Transition between scenes Wipe: • A transition between shots in which a line passes across the screen, eliminating the first shot as it goes and replacing it with the next one; the images do not blend, as in a dissolve.

37. Wipe (Basic)“Star Wars: A New Hope” • See how the scene is literally wiped to make room for the next scene

38. Wipe (Advanced)“Slumdog Millionare”

39. Literary Technique • In the Star Wars clip we saw the wipe in a very basic way—a line that clearly moved from one scene to another. • In Slumdog Millionaire the wipe is more sophisticated—what does the director use instead of a line to move the scene from one point to another? • In each wipe, the director also uses other techniques. What else does he do within the scene? (Look back on your notes to clarify this) • What is the overall tone of the scene?

40. Transitions between scenes Iris-in or Iris-out: • The new image appears as an expanding circle in the middle of the old image or the old image becomes a contracting circle that disappears into the new image.

41. Establishing Mood“I, Robot”

42. Literary Technique • Mood: n. • A state of mind or emotion. • A pervading impression of an observer: the somber mood of the painting.

43. Lighting and Mood • Did you note: • The way the robot was lit in the interrogation room? • The way Will Smith’s character was lit? • The way the guards were in the room? • The props in the room? • What was the director’s purpose by lighting it this way? • What was the implied mood in the room? • How was this enhanced by the lighting?

44. Proxemics • PROXEMICS: the spatial relationships among characters within the mise-en-scene, and the apparent distance of the camera from the subject photographed • Extreme Close Up • -singles out a portion of the body or isolates a detail • -often used for symbolic purposes to reinforce the significance of an object • -may also be used to intensify an emotion--an extreme close-up of an actor generally only includes his/her eyes or mouth

45. Proxemics • Close-Up • -a detailed shot usually showing just the head or a small, significant object • -used largely to isolate a character from the setting and from all other characters so that the audience will pay attention only to that character; • -films with many close-ups tend to feature characters who are lonely, cut off from each other, and isolated from society

46. Close up and Extreme Close up“Castaway”

47. Literary Technique • Theme: • -n. • a unifying or dominant idea, motif, etc., as in a work of art, literature or music. • In this clip we see a character who is attempting a very difficult task. What is the overall theme that the director attempting to portray? What is the evidence of this?

48. Proxemics • Medium Close-Up • -the figure is framed from the chest up • Medium Shot • -the figure is framed from about the waist up • Medium Long Shot • -a balance between figure and background; the figure is usually framed from about the knees up

49. Proxemics • Long Shot • -figures are more prominent, but the background still dominates; the image roughly corresponds to the audience’s view of the area • -the Long Shot or the Extreme Long Shot are often used as EstablishingShots, ones that orient the audience to location and surroundings, showing the spatial relations among the important figures • Extreme Long Shot • -a panoramic view of an exterior location, photographed from a great distance, often as far as a quarter-mile away; often used to frame landscapes or bird’s-eye views of cities • -the human figure is barely visible or not visible at all

50. Reflection on directorial intent • Thinking again about the clip from I, Robot: • What are the proxemics in the scene? • How many close ups vs. medium shots vs. long shots are there? • Why has the director given a variety of shots within the same scene? • How do the proxemics change as the mood within the scene changes?